Chapter 11

Crowkeep, the Kingdom of Wuthia, 1125

Mabel Laenas

No one said a word while we were at the pub. We all just sat in silence at a single round table with only a few candles burning as our light. According to Bridget, Frank, the owner of this establishment, left early and gave her the duty of locking up for the night. So, we had all the time to get acquainted with her, a cousin we never knew we had.

“So,” Solomon started, breaking the silence. “How long did you live here? In Crowkeep?”

“All my life,” Bridget said. “But I do dream of leaving this dump of a place and seeing the world beyond.”

“I could understand that,” Richard chimed in. He was acting very funny. Beyond his normal mischievous self. After all, he was the first of us to really meet Bridget, even though he had no idea she was family. I tucked that thought in the back of my mind. There was something more important that needed to be discussed.

“Bridget,” I started. “Where is your mother? I think we should be talking to her, no offense.”

“None taken,” she said. “But, my mother, she died a few years ago. She was taken when a small sickness came through the village.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I know what it feels like to lose a parent.”

I know what it feels like to lose both parents, but I didn’t say that. This wasn’t the time to weigh each other’s pain of losing parents. This was a time of getting answers about our family.

“Did your mother ever mention having a brother?” I asked.

“No,” she said, taking a sip from her mug. “She always told me that her parents died at sea, and she was raised by an old relative until she met my father and moved to Crowkeep. Never once did she ever mention a brother or me having any other family.”

“Same with us,” Solomon said. “Only now, we’re just learning about our family. We thought it was just us five- me, my siblings, and my parents. But now, it’s just the three of us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “Was it a while ago or just recently?”

“Recently,” I said. “That’s why we’re heading to Olnfield. To start anew. Is your father still around?”

“The bastard left me and my mother when I was small,” she said, bitterness in her tone. “Couldn’t put down the bottle and took most of our money when he got in trouble with the law, fleeing his responsibilities, and leaving me and my mother to fend for ourselves.”

“You’re better off without him,” Richard said.

“We were,” she said. “It was good times, though. My mother made sure I was taken care of and raised right. But life can be cruel like that. Take one parent away, and then take another away later the next. We just have to deal with it and keep moving forward.”

She was right.

No matter how painful and hard life gets, we just have to keep moving forward. I know that better than anyone. I just thanked the gods that Solomon didn’t pry more into my memories of what happened in the woods. I couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. How his sister let a wild man defile her in the woods. How I let myself be open to the darkness that resides within us. No matter how good it felt, and it truly did feel good, I couldn’t look at them the same way or be myself the same way if they knew the truth. I could still hear that wild man growling that word over and over again in my head.