Role

Chapter 24

Once I was to have been a father. Garrick or perhaps Lord Garrick I should name
name him, gave me a doll for the child that was to be. And then she died,
and the child I had hoped for was not to be.

That doll was lost to the winged nightwalkers.

Another was found in the darkest times where the shifters learned their
monstrous forms. I kept it safe, a memory, a keepsake, and something to
shed tears for. Surprised? That I can cry? Why? I bleed, I feel,
and I dream. Dark dreams these days, but dreams all the same.

That doll I gave to one who would play with it, give it a home that my child
never will. That snaffle, a patchwork thing that knows not where its
parents are, will I hope give it a home.

A silly thing perhaps for a Commander of the village, and the Bloodiest Bastard
my King has ever seen, to care about. And still.

That chapter is done now, and greater than the little charm that the snaffle
gave me is that feeling of closure, of the end of that one thread that
I feel would outlive me.

These last years, centuries perhaps, I will keep my Village strong, and there
will be much blood spilled, and many more skulls for my throne.

I have lost some dreams, so darker ones take their place.