40 Chapter 40: The Quiet Silence

ELINA: I figured he'd ask about Julia Abernathy. Ask for the information I kept a secret. Why the Church wanted me. Something of obvious importance.

But he didn't do that.

He looked at me.

"Tell me about your father."

"My father?"

"Yes."

"Why do you want to know about my father?"

"He sounds like an interesting man."

I gave him an odd look. Not what I expected.

"Are you sure? Is that what you want to ask?"

He nodded.

I couldn't help but smile a little. It was rare for him to surprise me. But it was a pleasant surprise.

Maybe my story softened him? Maybe that was why he wanted to know more?

Heh-heh~

Can you afford to have thoughts like this?

"Why does he interest you?" I asked.

"He's a man who decided to have a child with a witch, then had the courage to disagree with said witch, managed to avoid getting killed, then raised a witch on his own."

He paused. Looked ahead. Stared at the endless stretch of grass and road.

He said, "I'm trying to decide if he is a fool or an extraordinary man."

I said nothing. Most said that he was a fool. And then I would kill them. Nobody ever considered the latter. Until now.

I said, "It's a long story."

He said, "It's a long road."

So I kept my word. Answered with honesty.

"After my mother left me to die, my father went into the forest to find me. But my mother thought that might happen, so she hid me deep inside a cave. Wolves and bears could sniff me out, but no human should find me.

"At that time I couldn't control my magic, so I didn't. I cried and sent out waves of magic. Killed every wolf and bear. Anything that walked near the cave. That was how my father found me. Just go in the direction bears and wolves ran from. Follow the stench of blood.

"He waited until I stopped crying. When I was on the verge of death and had exhausted all my magic. Then he picked me up and took me back to his hut. He would've taken me to his village, but his people banished him when he decided to go with my mother. It was in this little hut, in the middle of the forest, far from everything where he raised me."

I fell silent. I waited. What is he going to say?

Salem glanced at me. A look on his face. Like there was something else he wanted to know.

"How did he raise you?" he asked.

Technically a second question. Beyond the reward promise. But I answered anyway.

"I imagine he raise me how he would've raised a human child. He taught me how to make tools, light a fire, build a house, take care of animals, milk a cow, cook a simple meal, trained me in bow and arrow, ride a horse, hunt a deer."

"Was he a good father?"

"He was a good father."

Something in his voice. Still searching.

"Did he teach you how to kill? How to use magic?" he asked.

The look on his face changed. It was subtle. A hint of emotion I couldn't quite catch.

I said, "My father said that because of the choices he made and because of who I was, we were both outsiders. We didn't belong with witches, we didn't belong with humans."

"Which means what?"

"He said if someone shows me kindness, I should return that kindness. But if you are unsure, it's better to kill than to take a risk. Because the only way to guarantee survival is to kill first."

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SALEM: An edge in her voice. A glint in her eyes. I felt like the words I said next would decide if I lived or died.

I stayed quiet. See what happens.

"What do you think? About my father?" Elina asked.

I said, "I like him."

"Truly?"

I nodded. "He could've gone to live in a different village after your mother banished him. He could've abandoned you, married a human woman and lived a normal life. But he didn't do that. He sounds like a man of great integrity."

Her eyes softened. The infinite silver lakes calmed. The corners of her eyes turned downwards, a smile with a thousand meanings on her lips.

"Can you afford to have thoughts like this?"

She echoed her own words.

I shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know."

I took the reins. Urged the horse to pick up the pace. There was a place I wanted to reach before nightfall. A special place on this empty stretch of road.

It was late afternoon. The sun hung at the edge of the horizon, the green plains drenched in melancholy. A lonely breeze whirled across the land, gentle in its touch. Somewhere in the distance a crow announced itself.

I felt a soft weight on my arm. I glanced to my side. Elina leaned against me, her head on my shoulder, her eyes reflecting the mood of the land. She seemed be thinking about something, remembering something.

I said nothing.

We stayed like this. It didn't feel so bad.