"Ro, you must always remember: be a true gentleman, a kind man, and a man others can depend on."
My mother repeated that ideal so often it almost felt like her own personal mantra.
While I went to retrieve my spear and bow from home, I passed the gathering mass near the city square.
Mearth was the commercial center within the Great Forest. Twin roads ran from Hakrelt in the west all the way through Halb and into the Kingdom of Hallsgrimr to the east, making the city a nexus between the eastern and western reaches of the Continent. Whatever passage was not taken through Halb was taken through the waters of the River Rua.
"I swear to the Mother they're coming."
"You'd swear to all the Gilded Gods if it meant another reason to fill your cup with ale."
"Then see for yourselves. The waters shimmer in the moonlight. That, and the Baron has sent out the call for a great hunt. I've set my best coats and boots aside for when they arrive."
Sitting on a bench formed from knotted tree roots, a group of men loudly shared their thoughts with the gathering crowd.
The arrival of the royal family had set everyone into a frenzy, not just Miss Slova.
I took two turns before I reached the street that put me on the path to the Great Lodge. The stone road.
Arriving at the homestead, I was greeted by Eyla in the kitchen. One of the head aides of the Great Lodge, she served the Baron with command over all his servants beneath her, equal to Miss Slova and my own mother in authority despite her youth.
She always wore her thoughts on her face, a pale and freckled one with an oval shape. Her hair remained in a single braid of fiery red while she worked, resting gently on her delicate shoulders. She was only a foot taller than me, but moved about the Great Lodge with no less respect than anyone older.
Though to me, she felt more like an older sibling with how she treated me.
After I gave her a hug, she told me to help Loc bring the meat from the storehouse. I stepped through the kitchen to find Loc butchering, before he stopped a moment to greet me.
"Once you are done, Loc will need you to—"
"Miss Slova said Mother sent for me. To join the hunt," I shouted, while helping Loc move various cuts of meat to the storehouse.
"Oh, is that why Miss Sienna was here? She waited for you, but at the Baron's request, her duties at the Great Lodge required her attention. However, you may be on your way so long as you take your grandfather."
"Hagio?"
"Yes…"
"Because…"
"Because it means he will not accost any of the maids long enough for them to do their work," she said, wearing an expression of disappointment.
"If he's not already here, I cannot be certain that I can find him in time for the hunt."
"Then you can go on ahead. And if he is late, I will inform Miss Sienna." She gave a confident nod, though I felt unconvinced.
I waited for a moment, holding my next question in my throat before I spoke up.
"Miss Eyla, Miss Slova said my mother wished to tell me something—about my father."
Hearing that finally made her pause for the first time since I arrived. She took a moment to approach me while drying her soap-sudded hands with her apron.
"It has been a few summers since we saw him, yes."
"I would be lying if I said I remembered his face."
"You were much too young for that—"
"And yet, I remember everything else about him. His scent. Even the warmth he covered himself in."
"You speak much like how your mother remembers him. She will make time for the two of you to speak."
She ruffled my hair and planted a kiss on my forehead before sending me on my way.
My father had his own set of values he tried to impart to me, but he seemed more willing to watch me find my own way. And he was hardly home.
Whenever I could afford a moment to myself, I would wander over to those same banks near the River Rin, where I was first washed as a babe. I was alone for most of my adolescence, but as I grew older, the other children grew curious, wondering if what their parents said about me was true.
Approaching the road to Northmearth, I found another young boy.
Stout of figure, with a round and pudgy face swallowing his brilliant eyes, every part of him spoke of his family's wealth. With a tunic and cloak pinned in place by his family's crest, I already knew what to expect.
I drew my hood over my face before meeting the young boy and gave a deep bow.
"My lord. The hunting party? Have they…"
"Departed, yes. They left some time ago."
"Oh, and you are still here?"
"Well, of course. They left on foot while I await my servant to return with my steed. Oh, and to pass along Lord Dorlin's words asking that you remain out of the hunt."
"I don't understand… My mother instructed me to—"
"Well, what weight do the words of women have when it is the men who do the hunting?"
Words steeped in arrogance were not enough to summon a reaction from me. However, who they spoke of was. I caught myself tightening my grip on my bow with surprising force.
When the young lord noticed, I quickly hung the bow across my shoulder.
"And what would Lord Dorlin have me do? All are working tirelessly to complete the last of the preparations for the Royal Visit. If I cannot hunt, then allow me to accompany the party…"
"That will not be necessary. However, if you so desperately need a purpose, you can acquire some measure of fish. If there are members of the Royal Visit's host who prefer it, we must be ready to share our Great Forest's bounty. Ah, finally."
Cloven hooves sounded the approach of a tired young servant boy, leading a chestnut-colored mare by its reins.
With even more strain, the servant helped the young lord onto the steed, before grabbing the reins and leading it on its way again.
Without another word, I left, for both my peace and my new duty, to the first place that came to mind: the River Rin.
When they went out looking for me, they found me there and watched as I leapt into the rushing water of the river. Even with the current as fierce as it was, I battled the waves before leaping out of the water with handfuls of fresh fish.
This was the first time I met my friends.
"What are you doing all by yourself? Fishing?"
A crowd of younglings dressed in refined clothing stood at the edge of the treeline, shouting out to me after I had tied up my fish and put them aside.
"I…" My brow creased beneath my dark curls, and my eyes narrowed. I took a moment to think before I answered.
"I cannot hunt with the elders, so I was tasked with the forest and the river. The work is the same. Catch enough fish to fill the baskets, and chop down all of the blighted Bluerings."
The group looked at me as if I were covered in paint.
"You do all of that on your own?"
"No, I have help. Grandfather does it alone."
The moment I answered them, the surface of the river burst open. Out of the depths of the water, a massive shadow loomed over us with a gentle spray before it landed next to us.
A second thud followed the twitching beast before its head was pierced, the spearpoint thrust with such speed that none of us saw even a tinge of blood on its edge.
Drawing the lance out was a man who was more scars than flesh, with hair as white as the grey fog that hangs about the Au'ratell port, covering most of his body. He stood almost as tall as the trees, and his physique was like carved oak.
"I think your mother will prefer this one, boy."
He expressed it with a nod and a grin of silent approval, lifting the verdant-scaled carp by its silver fins, satisfied with himself, before he noticed the strangers watching us.
"Oh, are they your friends, Ro?"
"Hagio, they… they were just asking about my chores."
"Really now. Well, you all look spry and full of vigor. How about aiding an old man?"
The children murmured something among themselves before slowly walking off.
"Roen… we'll see you around," one of them said, waving to me before joining his group with a quick step.
The old man was the previous Archpriest, Hagio Prance of the Millennium Church, the same denomination as my mother. But in the Great Forest, he had taken on a different name for a different life.
When I was much younger, it was his advice, wisdom, and faith that guided Sienna in the best way to help me with my condition.
After the Archbishop retired, he found himself a home in Halb and took it upon himself to look after Sienna as a service to his daughter in the faith.
"Hmm, that was quite rude," he mused, with a playful expression of shock.
"Aristocracy won't waste their time with the likes of me," I said, while helping to drag the massive fish away from my grandfather. I produced a knife from the sheath on my hip and made quick work of the undesirable parts. They were discarded close enough for the Shadowcat to reach them before it vanished into the cloak of darkness within the forest's canopy.
"Hmm…"
He watched me work through the carcass.
"Roen, come here."
I stopped cutting for a moment, turned up to look at Hagio, and got up.
"Yes."
"I can handle the rest of the work here. You can join the rest of the hunters by the Northmearth Road."
"—Dorlin said—"
"Yes, but I am saying otherwise. I've sent you on hunts by your lonesome since before you started sprouting horns. Just because Dorlin and his friends want something to show off does not mean they can stop you from doing what I taught you."
"I don't understand, Hagio. Why are you so insistent?"
"My boy, if you don't go, your mother is going to ask where I was all day. If I was not with the other elders making preparations for the Royal Visit, then I would be expected to hunt or patrol the Great Forest."
That made sense. He was the strongest person in the Great Forest.
"But if you ask me, trying to overwork an old man like me is just not right. I should be sitting in the shade, quenching my thirst with delicious wine and feasting on meat till I either piss, shit, or retch my guts clean. That is what it means to retire, my dear boy. So if you don't go, I will have to go."
That still made sense to me. He was the strongest, the laziest, but definitely the strongest person in the Great Forest… maybe the strong got bored when there was nothing for them to do.
"Hey, hey!"
He snapped his fingers to catch my attention. My Shadowcat emerged from the luminous threshold to lick clean my blood-soaked hands.
"You have nary a moment to squander on thought."
He reached down for my hunting satchel. Bound to it were my bow, my quiver, several lengths of rope, along with dried roots and slivers of meat within the satchel.
Handing everything to me, he gave a firm pat on my shoulder.
"Whatever you bring will be an honor gift to the King and Queen. Go on now."
He pushed me forward, then leapt into the air before descending into the river with a powerful dive.
"They've arrived. The King and Queen have arrived."
Cheers arose from the growing crowd that had gathered in numbers to witness the spectacle.
"That was quite the entrance, Dioghaltus."
"That's quite enough, dear. We made it in time for the ceremony. Mr. Dioghaltus worked hard to do so, don't you think?"
"Th… thank you, Your Highness."
"Hmph. Very well."
She outstretched her hand, offering it to her consort, who gently led her down the platform.
"Make sure that his family receives the most generous gift for his service," she said in a hushed tone.
"Of course, Your Highness. We will send for his reward upon our return," the twin maidens responded in unison before bowing at their grace-given stature.
"See, you can be nice when you try, dear," the golden-haired figure teased his companion, her fair skin blushing a similar tone to that of her reddish-gold hair.
"Stop… we are in the presence of the common folk," she tried to protest with a stern look and pouting lips.
Reaching the stone path, the crowd was just as suddenly parted as various elk-like steeds, helmed by armored attendants and wearing shimmering reins and vestments, came to a stop before them.
From the first two carriages came the families of the Frunora and Lunahoi clans, represented by familial crests of an ever-brilliant sun and a crescent moon upon a starry night respectively.
After the marriage of Queen Aisly and King Anu, by the guidance of the Seers of the Jewelled Cove beneath the Great Forest, the gods' chosen vassals of the seasons found harmony among themselves. They gave birth to the seasons of Spring and Fall, symbols of their unity, the most coveted periods throughout the year.
And today, that sacred union would be honored once more by the people of this city. For the blessings of that first union to persist, a ceremony had to be fulfilled after the season's first rains.
All the representatives welcomed the regal pair, with the last to be met by them being the city's very own Baron. Stepping out of a swirling mass of leaves from above, the windswept display arrived at a calm stop beside the Queen's carriage.
The Baron, Niall, and his beloved, Siwan, quickly joined the procession welcoming their most important guests.
Understanding that they had traveled far for the ceremony, Siwan offered them a chance to rest and indulge in the feast they were preparing.
Honored by her hospitality, they thanked her. With King Anu's interests directed at any news of note to come from the peaceful Great Forest, he dragged the Baron along with him as he joined the group of bewildered nobles waiting on him.
"I intend to see how you've been treating my lovely forest and her denizens. Those that would rather occupy themselves with talk of politics may join my dear wife on her way to the Lodge."
The king hopped into an emptied carriage with the Baron in tow.
"Now, Niall, take me where you enjoy yourself the most."
"Your Grace, I cannot…"
"That's it. I order you to take me where the fun is. I haven't been here in ages."
He tapped on the panels of the carriage, signaling the driver to move. Unsure of the destination, though fearing the wrath either of his passengers might cast on him for disobedience, he complied, sending the steed onward with them.
Sienna was one of the attendants to the Baron, in charge of serving the residents of Homewood Lodge.
She had a gentle disposition and a kind heart, always eager to help those in need. Her fair skin and delicate features made her stand out among the other attendants, and her gentle voice was a soothing presence in the Baron's court.
Despite her youth, she was highly skilled in the arts of diplomacy and etiquette, making her an invaluable asset to the Baron's household. She carried out her duties with diligence and dedication, earning the respect and admiration of those around her.
Though those who knew her beyond her looks understood the kind of temper that roared beneath those hazel eyes.
"The Queen and Lady Siwan are on their way. So tell me, why do I keep finding dust in the main hall, and why do the fires for the stoves have no meat over them? Anyone?" she cried as she entered the kitchen.
"He isn't back yet?"
"What? It's already nightfall. Where could he be with the game? If he didn't find anything, he should have come home then."
One of the much older maids added this in a tone of surprise, realizing that the young hunter had not returned since he left in the afternoon.
"But I wouldn't worry, Sienna. He went along with some of the children from the Lodge."
Her words quelled the fires of Sienna's frustration with a cold rush of dread, shaking her voice as she held the old woman.
"Brigid, where are the children?"
Elsewhere in the Great Forest, the merry laughs of amused children could be heard near the Rua River.
However, what seemed to have captured their curiosity was how much torment they could inflict upon a strange beast from beyond the forest. Unsure of how it had made its way into Halb, they did the next best thing.
They entertained themselves.
They accosted it with sticks and stones, cheering on two among them to use their magic on it.
A lone dark-haired boy, sporting onyx stumps where his companions had fledgling antlers sprouting forth, spoke against the abuse. I saw no point in the torment.
"We came here to hunt, and we already have our game. Why must we needlessly harm this animal?" I wondered, looking at its flapping tail as it swept in front of it, trying to ward off the children.
Unfortunately for me, the children had enough mischief to go around that day.
Their mockery only grew as I stepped between them, swearing to shield the creature if they continued. Despite their warnings that it was dangerous and deserved none of the forest's mercy as an outsider, I stood against them.
I took a blistering bolt of lightning in its defense. It crackled through my legs, forcing me onto the floor. I looked at the wound but saw only the smoldering quiver that had taken the brunt of the attack.
"Fionn, you didn't have to use that much magic. You almost killed him."
"I was aiming for the beast like you wanted, Maren. Now, are you going to stay there, or are you going to move? I have better ways of spending my time, and you're holding us up."
He opened the book he held while the rest of them marveled at his skill.
"H… Hey there, you aren't hurt, are you?" I asked, holding myself up with my bow.
I turned to the beast, only to be slashed across the face as the creature thrashed about, trying to rush deeper into the sprawling net of roots. The children that watched it attack stood silently in shock, stunned as I tried to calm it.
Blood drenched my face, my eyelids half-raised, but still I reached out and tried to calm it.
Fionn looked up at us after the children urged him to fire another bolt, but then word of the Queen's and King's arrival came from the mouth of another child.
The child warned that everyone was already at Homewood Lodge and that the attendants were looking for them, causing a mild stir as they all ran back, leaving me behind without a second thought.
The truth was not that I was soothing the beast from its distress, but rather holding back its fangs from attacking the children. I was unsure why or how, but looking at it, I instantly knew how dangerous the beast could be.
Though even stranger was that, in my grasp and feeling my warmth, the creature was lulled to compliance. It brushed its scaled nose against me, with a gentler look in its eyes, and licked at the dripping blood while letting out soft whimpers before leaping out of my arms and running off.
I leaned against my bow and watched it move beyond the clearing. Then the shock of my wounds struck me like a rain of pebbles, but I knew that I would need to return soon. I dragged my bow, my quarry hanging from the nearest tree, as I stumbled on my way back home.
Back at the Lodge, celebrations were already starting, with musicians playing their best renditions to covet the Queen's favor, while acts of all manner of fancy filled the hall, from juggling balls of fire to trapeze artists leaping between floating spheres of water.
Queen Aisly engaged with the nobles sitting around her, recounting the changes and events to come from Halb since her last visit a hundred summers ago. Meanwhile, King Anu looked around the room with very little interest in him.
When I finally came through the doors, the other attendants almost took to me with their brooms, had I not already been bathed in blood and marked with several bruises. Some concern grew among them as they shared their fear of my caretaker's arrival and what she would do if she found me in such a state.
So, rather than waiting for her, they decided to speedily wrap my wounds and put me to work.
They prompted me to hurry and place the kill on the table, even as they tried to nurse my wounds. Growing more frightened by how unbothered I seemed and how deep the wounds were, they decided to wash themselves of the situation by sending me out to serve the court in the main hall.
"You will see to those properly once you are relieved," one of them said, scolding me with a stern look.
Grabbing a barrel of cherried mead and slinging it over my lithe frame, I was sent off into the hall.
I wasted no time. The moment I stepped out, requests from all the guests came loud and urgent, calling for me to top everyone's drinks. The unusual display caught the attention of the Queen's table.
What confused the strangely captivated king was the brutish strength I demonstrated as I stumbled between the long tables.
King Anu beckoned me to serve his table next. Parking the hefty barrel beside it, I reached for one of the nobleman's horns when I started to bleed on the table, causing a commotion as the man cast aside the horn full of mead in disgust.
Startling the entire room, everyone's attention turned to the table, with a tense silence echoing around my attempts to apologize while I tried to clean the bloodstain with the hem of my shirt.
The insulted nobleman scoffed after seeing my dark hair. All reason seemed to waver in place of his desire to punish me.
But his raised hand was halted when Sienna came out and, with a hushed voice, scolded me before sending me outside and cleaning the mess. She apologized deeply to the table.
Later that night…
The king managed to sneak himself away from the stifling nobility who, through the strength of their drink, found themselves bolder in their questions and requests of the regal pair. The Queen, never finding enough enjoyment in hearing the machinations each of them had for the Great Forest where they had been installed as Baron, chose to remain with the party.
Outside the main hall, there was a fountain depicting the Queen and King at the back entrance of the Lodge, drawing its crystalline waters from the pool that held the Lodge. Walking up to it from the front of the massive building, you would find it upon thick tree-like stumps above the shimmering waters.
Making his way along the perimeter of the Lodge by following the branch-like rails that guided him to the front, the king was surprised to find me there, my legs dangling above the pool as if I were entranced by the mirror composed by the bright moons.
"So that's where you ran off to?" King Anu wondered aloud.
His sudden appearance caused me to hit my head against the bannister above me.
"Your… Grace, do you need me for something?" I asked, soothing myself as I tried to stand.
"Oh, please sit. You are in no shape to stand," he said, pointing at the scorch marks on my leg.
"Also, you're bleeding again."
"I'm so sorry, Your Grace. I will make myself presentable in your presence."
I fussed over the stream of blood as I tried to wipe it off with my sleeves.
"Enough. Honestly, how you've managed to wander all over the place like a bleeding dog but still find yourself concerned with such formalities is far too strange for me to try and facilitate a reasonable conversation."
"Huh?"
"Hold still…"
He raised a palm to me. With this gesture, the butterflies forming his garment fluttered gently around him as he produced a golden ray from his hand.
Showering me in its light, my bruises began to fade while my wounds were shut by the power of the light.
"Now you can use that bandage over your eyes to wipe away that blood, and we can speak once more."
He gestured to my stunned expression, snapping me back to my senses as I vigorously cleaned myself.
"There. Now, there's not much I can do about those scars you have now, but I doubt anyone will be looking at them when the rest of you is so peculiar," Anu teased.
"I wouldn't dare to complain. You've already blessed me with your healing touch," I thanked him, with the lingering thought of Sienna's reaction at the back of my mind.
"So, do you mind explaining where and how someone your age could get wounds like that?"
I tried to lie, blaming my condition on a terrible fall from a tree that was far too much for me to scale, but the king figured it out the moment he placed his hand on my head, asking why I had allowed the creature to maim me.
This time, I hesitated before answering, apparently amusing him with the various expressions spelling my thoughts out to him.
"When you're as old as me, very few things surprise you. So you learn to seek out the interesting things the world has to offer instead of sitting and waiting for them. You are most certainly one that arouses a lot of questions, so will you continue to indulge me?" he asked, leaning against the rails as he took a sip from his horn.
Varjo was the name some used for me: a young boy abandoned in a strange forest and taken in by one of its inhabitants. Despite facing discrimination for my unique appearance and lack of horns, I had become a skilled hunter, bringing back the game I hunted for my mother, wishing only to be of any use to her.
Despite spending all my life in the Great Forest, as an outsider I understood that I would always be different. But I chose to focus on aiding Sienna. For everything she had done for me, she may as well have been my mother.
With the sun rising into a new morning, preparations for the ceremony were already underway.
Thanks to the King's aid, I made it home in better condition than when I left. But instead of walking through the door to ready myself for the day, I found Sienna waiting for me at the door.
She asked me to come in with a sullen look. Seeing that I had been tended to, she embraced me tightly against her breast.
"I told you not to go out hunting at night. The forest isn't the same then. You could have been…"
"I'm sorry… for worrying you."
She held my cheeks as she looked into my eyes, and she was struck by a shocking sight.
"Hmm. Then try not to get into trouble again. Once you get ready, go and grab some breakfast. Then it's straight to Ms. Brigid to have a look at you."
"All right…" I said, just as I reached for my bow.
She grabbed it from me.
"No hunting till then. In fact, today you're helping me."
She gave me a glowing smile before grabbing me and dragging me out of the room as I struggled in vain.