Chapter 2
There
was something strange about seeing the moon, pale and barely visible in the day
sky. It seemed out of place. Only half its face venturing forth, all but
lost in an alien environment; its brilliance diminished and mostly hidden in
the country of the sun. How alone the
nighttime orb most have felt there.
Serendi felt a deep kinship with the sphere. She was just beginning to understand what it
meant to be alone.
She
sat on a large stone two dozen yards from the house where she had lived with
her mother her entire twelve years of existence. She watched as people filed into the house to
pay their respects with solemn faces and empty words. She couldn’t stay in there one more
moment. She left her Aunt Cheldre to
deal with them. Aunt Cheldre wasn’t really
her aunt, but Serendi had always called her that. She was her mother’s best friend and her
apprentice in the herb shop. She was all Serendi had now. Except, of course, her father.
Serendi
hadn’t seen her father in over a year.
He was not married to her mother, but when he was around, they had
always gotten along. His name was
Rwiordes and she loved him. He was a
kind man. Not rich, but generous with
what he had. She remembered him. She knew he loved her. Their time together was always too short, but
he they had always made the most of it.
She longed for his company in this time of her need. Her loss.
And
then her thoughts moved back to her mother once again and the tears started for
the thousandth time that day. Why? It wasn’t fair. She needed her. Serendi was only twelve years old. Too young to be without her mother. She wiped the tears away with her sleeve, and
sniffled.
She
stared up at the lonely moon. Did it
feel its state of loneliness? Did it
know how out of place it was it the daylight?
How its light was diminished? Its
mystery cold and dim? To Serendi it
did. It felt its pain like she did. She was sure of it. All alone and out of place. The moon had no one else to turn to.
“Excuse
me.”
Serendi
was startled by the man’s voice. She
looked down from the moon to see a man sitting on a horse, right next to
her. He was dressed as a warrior,
wearing armor, but no helmet, and a long sword was sheathed strapped to his
back. He had sandy hair and a
beard. His horse was a brown stallion,
with light armor matching the warrior’s.
“I’m
sorry if I startled you, Miss.”
“Oh,
no, I’m sorry. I was just...well, you
didn’t startle me, or, not much, anyway.”
“Good. I was wondering if you could direct me to the
house of Moresta the Herbalist, I come from Lorm. My name is Oglest.”
Serendi
was surprised by the strange knight; and more so that he was looking for her
house.
“Have
you come for the viewing?”
“No,
I come with tidings and a gift from Lord Kiliordes. I left from Lorm ere the Solstice. So, Moresta is dead then?”
“Yes,
sir, she is. She was my mother.”
Oglest
was obviously taken aback by this news.
Serendi watched his face, saw the familiar expressions there that she
had come to know so well. The look of
sympathy.
“I’m
so sorry, Miss. I, I offer my
sympathies.”
He
looked over at the house, at the line of people waiting to enter.
“Well,
I suppose then that this message and this gift are yours. I come with greetings from your father, who
is now Lord Kiliordes, Counselor to the King of Lorm.”
He
unfastened a leather bag which hung from his belt and handed it to her. She numbly took it and looked inside. The bag was filled with gold and silver
coins.
“Your
father sent this for your benefit. He
regrets that his duties prevent him from visiting you himself, however, he did
not know about your mother’s passing...”
“Look,
um Sir Oglest, I think you have the wrong house or something. My dad’s name is Rwiordes, and he’s a
merchant trader by profession. He’s not
Lormian.”
The
man smiled softly and kindly.
“Apparently,
I have much to explain to you,” he said.
Copyright 2015 Diana Hignutt
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