that again. I may
have only been in his life for a week or so, but it seems to me that I’ve had
his back and slept in his bed. I know him better than you think.”
She
was too angry to care that Lleau’s and Aki’s lips
were twitching with laughter and Raul was openly grinning. Daisye nodded at her with approval in her eyes and Hawke… Well, Raven thought maybe he
wanted to roast her with his dragon breath. In the end he just sighed and sat
down.
“Sit,
Raul, your woman is right. This has been a long time coming,” Hawke said.
“She’s also right that sometimes I still see the small boy who I took from a
broken man. But you are a boy no longer. Your mother was my sister and she
married your father against our parents’ wishes. Instead of being kind to your
mother, he was cruel and we slowly saw her beauty fade into nothingness. She
was a broken woman. That is, until she met Colmar and he brought her back to
life. They tried to keep their love a secret, but everyone could see the change
in her including the man who abused her. She became pregnant with you and
planned to leave with Colmar and petition the king to have her marriage
declared null.”
“What
happened?” Raul asked. He was holding Raven’s hand so tightly she felt she
would lose all feeling in her fingers, but didn’t ask him to let go.
“Colmar
was your father, by blood, and he died protecting your mother from being
carried off by a Shen hunting party. She came home to
our mother, steeped in years of abuse and then grief from losing Colmar that
made her inconsolable. In the end, she had you and we saw her life come back
once more as she held you in her arms. The man you know as your father, Jonas, came
to her on his knees and begged for forgiveness.” Hawke ran his hand through his
hair and closed his eyes for a moment before meeting Raul’s eyes again. “ Selmiere accepted and she went home to him. My father and I
had a talk with him that reinforced that no harm would come to you or her. We
saw her smile and laugh as you grew, but her heart was never the same. She
longed for Colmar even as Jonas wooed her. They made a home for you, but her
will to live faded and she gave in to the call of our ancestors. For months
after, we thought Jonas was keeping his word by taking care of you, but he
wasn’t. In the end, he could not live with his guilt on how he treated her and
thought he was to blame for her death. He thought the solution was to walk into
the barrens and let fate deal him whatever hand it chose.”
“So
my father was not actually my father…” Raul broke off. “And you are my uncle. I
always saw that sadness in her eyes when she smiled at me. But this doesn’t
change the fact that the Shen are holding him and I have to save him. Ultimately, he changed and tried to do
right. I could try to hate him for something that happened before my birth, but
how do I when I saw the man dote on her all those years she was alive? He
tousled my hair and took me for walks through the star fruit grove on his
shoulders, talking about life and teaching me how to pick the ripest fruit. I
saw him grieve. Oh, God…” Raul put his head in his hands and leaned forward.
“What do you want me to do, leave him there?”
“You
don’t know he is alive, Raul, and if he is, he would not want you risking your
life for his,” Hawke said harshly. “We can’t take the risk of you being lost or
worse for something that may or may not be true.”
“Damn
it, Hawke, he is the only father I know!” Raul roared. “You cannot tell me to
leave him to die.”
Hawke
stood and roared right back. The walls and glass in the windows seemed to
reverberate with the sound and Raven flinched. He pointed to Raul. “I will not
lose you as well!”
Raul
stood. “You’ve got to trust me, Hawke. By the gods, I do not want to die, but I
have to do this.”
“I
am your elder in the court and I order you to stay here until further notice,”
Hawke replied. “We will
have only been in his life for a week or so, but it seems to me that I’ve had
his back and slept in his bed. I know him better than you think.”
She
was too angry to care that Lleau’s and Aki’s lips
were twitching with laughter and Raul was openly grinning. Daisye nodded at her with approval in her eyes and Hawke… Well, Raven thought maybe he
wanted to roast her with his dragon breath. In the end he just sighed and sat
down.
“Sit,
Raul, your woman is right. This has been a long time coming,” Hawke said.
“She’s also right that sometimes I still see the small boy who I took from a
broken man. But you are a boy no longer. Your mother was my sister and she
married your father against our parents’ wishes. Instead of being kind to your
mother, he was cruel and we slowly saw her beauty fade into nothingness. She
was a broken woman. That is, until she met Colmar and he brought her back to
life. They tried to keep their love a secret, but everyone could see the change
in her including the man who abused her. She became pregnant with you and
planned to leave with Colmar and petition the king to have her marriage
declared null.”
“What
happened?” Raul asked. He was holding Raven’s hand so tightly she felt she
would lose all feeling in her fingers, but didn’t ask him to let go.
“Colmar
was your father, by blood, and he died protecting your mother from being
carried off by a Shen hunting party. She came home to
our mother, steeped in years of abuse and then grief from losing Colmar that
made her inconsolable. In the end, she had you and we saw her life come back
once more as she held you in her arms. The man you know as your father, Jonas, came
to her on his knees and begged for forgiveness.” Hawke ran his hand through his
hair and closed his eyes for a moment before meeting Raul’s eyes again. “ Selmiere accepted and she went home to him. My father and I
had a talk with him that reinforced that no harm would come to you or her. We
saw her smile and laugh as you grew, but her heart was never the same. She
longed for Colmar even as Jonas wooed her. They made a home for you, but her
will to live faded and she gave in to the call of our ancestors. For months
after, we thought Jonas was keeping his word by taking care of you, but he
wasn’t. In the end, he could not live with his guilt on how he treated her and
thought he was to blame for her death. He thought the solution was to walk into
the barrens and let fate deal him whatever hand it chose.”
“So
my father was not actually my father…” Raul broke off. “And you are my uncle. I
always saw that sadness in her eyes when she smiled at me. But this doesn’t
change the fact that the Shen are holding him and I have to save him. Ultimately, he changed and tried to do
right. I could try to hate him for something that happened before my birth, but
how do I when I saw the man dote on her all those years she was alive? He
tousled my hair and took me for walks through the star fruit grove on his
shoulders, talking about life and teaching me how to pick the ripest fruit. I
saw him grieve. Oh, God…” Raul put his head in his hands and leaned forward.
“What do you want me to do, leave him there?”
“You
don’t know he is alive, Raul, and if he is, he would not want you risking your
life for his,” Hawke said harshly. “We can’t take the risk of you being lost or
worse for something that may or may not be true.”
“Damn
it, Hawke, he is the only father I know!” Raul roared. “You cannot tell me to
leave him to die.”
Hawke
stood and roared right back. The walls and glass in the windows seemed to
reverberate with the sound and Raven flinched. He pointed to Raul. “I will not
lose you as well!”
Raul
stood. “You’ve got to trust me, Hawke. By the gods, I do not want to die, but I
have to do this.”
“I
am your elder in the court and I order you to stay here until further notice,”
Hawke replied. “We will
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