Role

Chapter 3

My father was gone to the war for a long while. I was nearly thirty when I
first remember him being gone for months at a time. I had gotten better at
small hunts with him when he had given me the attention of such activities but
I think I bored him the more I grew.

It was during that long war that the pale human first showed his face.

My mother had hidden me during a raid by knights and who she cursed as Maran,
though I hadn't heard the word before. She sat cooly at the table, her dark red
goblet filled by a bottle she opened awaiting what came next. I could see
through the crack of the cupboard door her resolved demeanor and her back
tensed as she waited for our home to be violently entered.

The door burst open and a human, tall and broad with red hair and piercing blue
eyes pointed his sword at my mother. She took another sip of wine and smiled.
Here for me, she asked in a flat tone.

He was injured and sheathed his sword, sitting at the table in front of my
mother. She poured him a glass and they began to talk, my presence never
revealed as they shared glances, harsh words, and then laughter. More wine
flowed and as the evening wore on, he moved closer to my mother. Eventually she
took his hand and they left the main room to retire to her bed. I slept in the
cupboard and in the morning he was gone.