by Juniper King
There was no defined path to follow like there normally would have been between two towns and the route we were taking was littered with fallen trees, large rocks, and deep holes that could twist an ankle with ease. The horse was slow and cautious with its steps, making the trip even slower.
Eventually, the trees began to thin out as we reached the summit of the mountain. My breath caught in my throat, all the pain and discomfort I was feeling had been forgotten as I stared in amazement at the vista stretching before us.
In the valley below and stretching along the foot of the opposite mountainside was a village nothing like Woodburne, or Rochdale, or any of the few other places I had seen. I craned around Gamel to get a better look, almost falling off the horse in the process.
Stunning green fields and farmland stretched as far as I could see all through and around the town, with simple wooden houses scattered around the base of the mountain and climbing up the side. One larger building loomed over all the others, seemingly overlooking the entire town. A beautifully gleaming river ran around the edge of town and thin dirt roads stretched through like the bare, twisting branches of a tree.
The valley itself was rather small and surrounded by mountains on all sides. There couldn’t have been more than fifty buildings in the entirety of the town.
The horse continued its steady gait down the mountain side. With the abrupt change in our direction, it was my core’s turn to get a workout as I tried to hold myself from tilting forward and leaning into Gamel’s back. At least there seemed to be more of a clear path down this side of the mountain, but it still took the better part of an hour to get down from the mountain path and to the edge of town.
Now that I was closer, the homes had an ancient feel to them, with their aged looking wood, crooked paneling, oversized roofs, and sliding doors, it was a totally different style of architecture from the homes I had grown accustomed to. I wish I was in the right mind to appreciate the subtle elegance.
Even the clothing the townspeople wore would have seemed out of place in any other town. Everyone seemed to be wearing a similar style outfit, like what Gamel was wearing; wide, loose fitting sleeves down to the elbow, loose pants that fell just below the knees, some cinched tight against the leg, neutral colours and simple patterns.
There were no hints of modern fashion here, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had never even heard of denim. I felt rather out of place with my skin-tight pants and hiking boots.
The further we walked into the town, the more unsettled I started feeling.
Some of the townsfolk fully stopped what they were doing, paused in the streets, or stood to their full heights in the fields, as their whispers and wide eyes followed us. Followed me. A few of them nodded or even bowed as we walked by.
Had the whole town been expecting me? They’d never seen me before, how would they know who I was? But I suppose any outsider would draw unwanted eyes in their direction in this town.
I tried to swallow but my throat had gone dry, Gamel’s clothing clenched tightly between my fingers.
Gamel said nothing, not even acknowledging anyone’s strange behaviour.
We continued along the path, through the flatter part of town towards the base of the mountain, finally coming to a stop outside of a slightly larger, more ornate house.
Gamel dismounted the horse, tied it on a post outside the house, and held up his arms to help me down. With a bit of struggle and awkwardness, my feet were finally back on solid ground. My legs shook and my butt hurt, but those were little more than minor annoyances at the back of my mind at this point.
Gamel knocked on the door and after a moment a young blonde woman answered, timidly sliding the door only partially open. She looked at Gamel then at me, and her eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh, you’re here! Come in, come in,” she sputtered, sliding the door open fully.
Gamel swept his arm out, signaling that I should enter, while at the same time the woman stepped out of the way to usher us both in.
I took a few tentative steps into the small foyer of the house. Gamel entered the house behind me and slid the door closed, giving me a sudden caged in feeling.
“It’s wonderful to finally meet you. How was your journey?” All I could do was gape at her. Was I supposed to know this girl? She was acting so friendly and familiar. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? I’m Eliza.” Her smile was bright, but a little overwhelming given the situation.
“Selynna.” I can’t say I was as chipper as she’d been with her introduction.
“You must be exhausted after such a long trip, can I get you anything, water, or—”
“Elizabeth, please fetch your father,” Gamel interrupted.
“Oh, yes, of course.” With one last sheepish smile, she shuffled down the hall in socked feet and rounded a corner out of sight.
Gamel and I stood silently in the entryway as we waited for Eliza and her father to return.
Luckily, it wasn’t long before a man, perhaps in his mid-fifties, rounded the corner with Eliza on his heels.
The closer he walked the wider his eyes seemed to grow.
“By the gods,” he said in a hushed tone, as he rushed the last few feet towards me. “You look just like her.” He took my face in his hands and I flinched at the sudden unexpected contact. “Extraordinary. It’s as though I’m looking through a portal to the past.”
I stood frozen in place unsure of what to do. This was not something I had been expecting. A hug, or maybe even a kiss on the cheek, but his eyes seemed to glaze over as they devoured my features. But it was not me he was seeing… he was seeing through me.
His lashes fluttered with a few quick blinks before he swiftly removed his hands from my cheeks.
“My apologies, dear daughter, I’m afraid I was taken quite by surprise.” He tugged at his more expensive, formal looking outfit as he composed himself. “You see, you look just like your mother when she was a young woman.”
I was at a sudden loss for words. The entire horse ride here I’d thought about all the things I could say to him on our first meeting, but his reaction had thrown me for a total loop.
“Is she here as well?” I already knew the answer, but the words just tumbled out. I needed to hear his response.
His features became sullen. “I am afraid not, child, she passed away soon after you were born.”
How would he have known that if she ran away from town before I was born? Why wouldn’t he have said she left or is missing? Is he just assuming she died? Is he trying to lighten the blow of me being abandoned by making me think she had died before she was able to raise me?
Or does he just not care about the accuracy of his story now that I’ve played right into his hands?
“Come.” He interrupted my thoughts. “You must be exhausted after your long trip. A bath is being prepared for you as we speak.”
“Oh,” I’d just arrived and he’s already getting rid of me? Shouldn’t he be eager to hear all about my life? “I was hoping we could talk for a while.”
“There will be plenty of time to talk later, but first there is much to prepare. Eliza will show you to your bath, then we will have dinner together.”
Wait, prepare what? I had so many questions I wanted to ask, to demand answers to, but any questions could trigger their suspicion. Who knows what that would lead to? It was best to play along for now.
I flinched at the soft touch on my back, but Eliza didn’t seem to notice as she guided me away from the men and down the hall.
“Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Gamel.” The man said quietly.
“I am happy to serve, Lucan.”
Lucan. That must be the man posing as my father.
“Come, I shall retrieve your payment.”
Eliza had guided me far enough down the hall I couldn’t hear the end of the conversation, but I had heard enough. Aksel was right; I was being treated like a high priority package, not a daughter.
I followed Eliza
through the house, my boots clunking heavily with each step compared to her silent stride. Her long, blonde hair was hypnotic as it swung back and forth between her shoulder blades.
Most likely in her late teens or early twenties, she seemed like a nice girl, sweet, though perhaps a tad too cordial and cheery in the current situation. I couldn’t be sure if this was her trying to make me feel welcome or if it was just her personality. I tried to think of a safe conversational topic.
“Is your mother home as well?” I wasn’t sure what story Lucan was telling her, whether or not she knew that he was posing as my father, but since she and I looked nothing alike, even if he was my biological father, we couldn’t possibly share the same mother.
Without breaking her stride, she spoke over her shoulder. “Mother died a few years ago. It’s just the three of us now.”
A mixture of pity and trepidation swirled in my gut. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“Don’t apologize,” she smiled, “You had no way of knowing. Besides, it was an accident. She fell down the stairs late at night, it was no one’s fault.” She didn’t seem to have any sadness in her voice when speaking about it, the open wound of losing a parent seemed to have scabbed over.
What little conversation we’d been having was cut to an end as she came to a stop at the end of the hallway. She slid open the door and I followed her in, blinking against the unexpected brightness.
When Lucan said a bath had been prepared, I was thinking of a normal bathtub in a normal bathroom. Instead, we had stepped outside into a small, fenced off backyard area with a wooden overhang covering half the yard.
A hot spring, sculpted into the ground and surrounded with decorative stones and large rocks, stared up at me, steam coiling up from the surface of the water and beckoning me forward. I had heard about natural hot springs before, but I’d never seen one. Supposedly, they were more abundant in the mountain regions.
In one of the corners of the bath, a steady stream of water trickled out from a little wooden spout, rhythmically splashing into the pool.
“You can remove your clothes and put them over there,” she indicated a small cubby-like shelf area. “Please, take your time.”
After Eliza had left, I took a quick look around. There were no open gaps in the fence and it was quite high, so there was no way anyone could see me.
There was something strangely lewd about removing my clothes while standing outside, but it felt oddly liberating as well.
I placed my folded clothes on one of the shelves and slowly slid into the water, hissing through my teeth at the heat. Once I was situated in the bath, I noticed hair products and soap in a small wooden alcove.
I sank into the luxuriously hot water and couldn’t help the sigh of pleasure that escaped my throat. How long had it been since my hair was properly scrubbed and detangled?
Sorry boys, I’m taking a break from Supers and secrecy to have a proper bath.
25
I lounged in the steaming water, head tilted back and leaning on a smooth rock. The trickling water from the tiny, wooden spout, and the soft sound of birds overhead had lulled me into a deep relaxation.
The more prudent voice at the back of my mind periodically insisted I should get out and try to find answers, but the water was just so intoxicating. This was infinitely better than bathing in a cold river.
A knock on the door, followed by a muffled voice pulled me back to the present. “Selynna? Are you alright? You’ve been in there for over an hour.”
“An hour?!” I shot up to a more alert position, disturbing the water and splashing it everywhere.
A muffled chuckle floated through the door. “I’ve brought you fresh towels. May I come in?”
Before I had a chance to answer, the door slid open, and I quickly sank under the water.
Eliza’s features mirrored my look of shock. “Oh, I’m sorry, does my being here make you uncomfortable? We often bathe communally, so nudity among the same sex isn’t cause for embarrassment.”
I didn’t know how to give a response to that other than a weak, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
Eliza didn’t leave, but politely turned her head and held up a large bath towel for me to walk into.
I hesitated before standing from the water, covering myself as best I could, and shrinking into the large towel as she wrapped it around me.
“Thank you, Eliza.” The girl was oddly mother-like. I wondered if this was a result of her mother dying at a young age.
“Gwen.” She smiled, eyes still looking away until I had the towel fully secured around me.
I blinked in confusion as she finally turned around to meet my eyes. It took my brain a few seconds to parse through what she could possibly mean.
Oh, it dawned on me that this must be ‘the three of us’ Eliza had mentioned earlier.
“Twins?” I asked with a smile, and she just nodded back.
I’ve never actually met a set of twins before. It was uncanny how similar they looked. To people who knew them more personally, I’m sure they could tell the girls apart, but to me they looked identical. I would never be able to tell them apart if they stood next to each other.
“Let’s get you some fresh clothes, shall we? You’re a bit shorter than us, but our clothes should still fit you. I hope you don’t mind the difference in style.”
The clothing that I regularly bought was made in larger cities and brought to smaller towns and villages by merchants, a more modern style. The clothes they wore here looked as if they were handmade and almost decades old in style.
They felt soft when she handed them to me.
I turned around and pulled the loose-fitted shirt over my head. “So what’s it like living in this town?” I tried to make conversation.
Woodburne was small and secluded as well, we certainly didn’t have the foot traffic of a huge city, but I couldn’t imagine never having any visitors.
She shrugged slightly, “I don’t really have anything to compare it to, I’ve lived here my whole life. We’re quite small as you’ve seen, and we are fully self-sufficient. I suppose it’s quiet,” she said almost as a question.
“I suppose it is a difficult question to answer,” I conceded. How could you say something was ‘quiet’ when you had nothing to compare it to, it would just be the norm. “Until a few weeks ago, I was in the same situation. I’d lived in Woodburne my entire life, but I had heard so many stories of other towns.”
“What was it like there?” Her eyes lit up a fraction.
“It’s a small town, though not as small as this. We’re farther away from any mountains, but close to the coast and surrounded by forest. I worked in the local tavern—”
“You worked in a tavern?”
“Yeah,” I said, mildly surprised by her sudden excitement. Come to think of it, did they even have a tavern here? “It wasn’t much, really. I mostly just served food and drinks to people who came in. It was a nice window into the outside world, though, kind of a way to see how other people lived their lives, and what it was like in other towns. I met mercenaries, and traders, even some Supers from time to time.”
“It sounds amazing. I’ve never even seen an outsider before you came here, let alone traders or mercenaries. You must be very brave, they sound so frightening, covered in armour and weaponry,” she trailed off.
It’s true some mercs could be a little daunting, with their weapons and swagger, but I had never found them that intimidating. Branek had been more frightening to me when I’d first met him. I suppose it was possible her father had painted a specific sort of picture for her after all these years, the same way parents in small towns still warned their children about Supers.
I cinched the waistband of the pants Gwen had given me. Pulling my hair over one shoulder, I began towel drying it.
A short gasp from Gwendolyn caught my attention.
My fingers trailed up to my exposed ear where her eyes were trained. Oh. That’s right.
Wh
en she saw my reaction, she peeled her eyes away in her embarrassment “I-I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” she trailed off. “I-I knew you were the daughter of a daemon, but… I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was expecting.”
I tossed the towel over the arm of a chair. “What has your father told you about me?” I asked hesitantly. I could probably get more information out of her than I would from Lucan.
Her eyes lit up. “That you’re Muse’s daughter. And that by bringing you back to Ilonvale, Muse will return as well.”
So, Lucan never bothered lying to his daughters by saying he was my father as well, that was a lie specifically tailored to me to get me here more easily. Muse, Gwen had said. My real father. I wondered did he even know about me? “How will my being here bring him back? I’ve never met him before.”
Her demeanour changed slightly. “My father wouldn’t tell me the details, said that it was not my place to ask.” I had just met her so it was difficult for me to discern a change in her disposition, but if I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn I heard the slightest trace of resentment in her voice. “All he said was, if we wanted Muse to return to us, we needed you to return first. I’ve never met him myself, but many of the adults in town had the pleasure of meeting him in person. Even though it’s been over twenty years, Muse is still worshipped.”
“Why does your town worship daemons?”
Gwen shook her head. “Not daemons, just Muse.”
So Kue hadn’t been entirely accurate when he’d said the town worshiped daemons. “What makes him so special against other daemons?”
“Everyone here knows the story. Muse appeared outside of town one day and saved a child from drowning in the river. The townsfolk thought it was a miracle, a daemon coming to Loam just in time to save a child. From that day, the village worshipped him, he even resided in town in the main hall. Crops seemed to do better, people seemed happier. It was all wonderful. Until one day he disappeared without a word. Since that day no one has seen him.”
