7 Life After Death

Ugh, can you just stop already. She groaned, but the people knocking outside of her door refused to listen. Fine. Might as well. She took a delirious step out of her bedroom door. The darkness inside of her home clashed violently with the sunlight attempting to invade from the windows. The darkness won as she shut the curtains one by one. Finally, she stomped over to the front door.

She opened it, revealing another set of belated villagers.

"We came here cuz we wants to thank ya!" One old lady said, while holding out some flowers. A child stepped forwards and extended a basket filled with some random pastries and other edibles.

"We heard about how you defended the village yesterday, Charlotte only knows what would have happened if you hadn't come along." The child's mother (she assumed) said.

"A guard would have killed it." Decena replied. She sighed and backed away. "I, uh, appreciate it but your thanks aren't necessary. Go home."

"Nonsense." The mother said. She walked up to Decena, almost stepping inside her home, and grabbed Decena's hand. She placed some silver in her palm as Decena's anger spiked. "Not many kids out here doing good these days. We have to show gratitude for that. Thank you, once again."

The family backed away and bowed collectively.

"Have a nice day." The mother said as the door slowly closed between them.

Decena turned, but she lacked the energy to take another step. Her eyes half-closed, she pressed her back against the door and slid onto the floor. She huddled her knees together, and placed the basket on the ground next to her, before wrapping her arms around herself. What am I doing? She thought. Her eyes fell on the basket. Did she deserve such kindness?

Another knock sounded behind her. Ugh, again? She pushed herself off the ground, and stood up. She sighed and turned once more, before opening the door with her eyes closed.

"Listen, I..." She started.

"Hello to you too." The woman in front of her cut her off. Decena's eyes opened, and she noticed the familiar face standing there. An elven woman with hair the color of the midday sun, and eyes with a shape that sent icey chills down the spines of any who met them.

"What do you want?" Decena asked.

"You certainly seem to be having a wonderful day." Theresa replied with a smirk. Decena went to close the door, but Theresa placed her hand on it. "Fine, fine, I'll get to the point. May I come in?" Yet again, Decena sighed and let the door swing open. "You are too kind."

Theresa walked inside, and her eyes swept across the living room with a critical glare, before shaking her head and turning back towards Decena.

"I thought you may be interested to learn what I have uncovered regarding your family." Theresa said.

"Another one of your case-breaking discoveries?" Decena replied. How many times had they gone down this road? Theresa's information never did lead to anything of substance. Why would today be any different?"

"Question my reliability all you wish, it'll just make the moment when your jaw hits the floor that much sweeter." She inhaled. "A few months ago, I told you that I knew why your family was murdered, your original family. Well, I'll admit, I was boasting slightly but my sources have confirmed my suspicions. Do you have anything to drink?"

Decena raised an eyebrow.

"Water. Will that be enough?" Theresa scowled.

"I swear, how you can continue living like this is beyond me." Theresa said as Decena moved towards the kitchen. The redhead didn't respond. She poured some warm water into a cup, and brought it over to the table. She handed it over to Theresa, who accepted it with the grace of a noble, and downed its contents quickly. "As I was saying, it seemed your original family was destroyed due to some measure of royal court politics. That much, anyone could have guessed."

Decena understood. After all, her original family, before she had been adopted at ten-years-old after spending several years as a homeless orphan, was burned alive in the comfort of their own home. What Theresa was saying, was that it was probably an assassination, made to look like an accident.

"What was in question," Theresa continued, "was who did it, and why. Well, it seems I've gotten much closer to uncovering their identity. It turns out, the person who conducted this murder, could not have been from Nova."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I arrived at that conclusion based off information my sources have recovered regarding your father's position in the court. At first, I had assumed he was just some random lower noble, and that your family's death had merely come as the result of one house's ambitions to reach a higher status within Nova, however, that isn't the case. You see, two decades ago, your father was the commander of King Nathaniel's army."

Decena's eyes widened. She had always assumed her original parents were inconspicous citizens, living like any other. She had no reason to believe that, she just didn't think she could come from such an important background. It made her question what they were like. She couldn't even remember their image, as they had died before she was capable of forming coherent memories.

"It your family was killed under Griffin orders." Theresa said. A sly smile appeared on her face. "There, that's the expression I was waiting for."

Decena shook her head.

"Okay..." She replied. "Then that's that." Theresa's smile disappeared.

"What? What do you mean 'that's that'? You should be excited! You should be preparing yourself to journey over to Griffin's Sight and hunt them down!"

"What would that accomplish?" Decena asked. "Besides, I didn't even really know my parents. Why should I go avenge them? These vague figures in my mind."

"True as that may be, whoever did this took your life away from you, did they not?"

"No." Decena replied. "They weren't the ones who took my life away." Her voice shook slightly.

"Ah..." Theresa looked down. "I heard about that, what happened. What got you exiled." Those words stung Decena' heart worse than any mention of her first family. It didn't matter to her that she lost them. However, her present position was caused by losing the family that followed. "Well, rather, I heard the rumors. If they are, even somewhat true, you have my sympathy." Theresa continued. "If it's any consolation, I heard that boy was a terrible man. He deserved whatever it was you did to him, which is probably why they merely exiled you instead of executing you."

She stood and walked across the room, until she was standing near the front door, but Decena paid her no mind. Decena's eyes were cast down, but she didn't see wooden floorboards. She saw the night's darkness. She saw the moonlight painting a glimmer onto the grass beneath her feet as she walked closer to the cliff's edge, where that man had scurried. She saw an elf, the man who had killed the woman she loved, trying to slither away from Decena's wrath. She saw herself mounting him, grabbing his skull, and plunging her thumbs into his eyes, before leaving him to rot.

As far as she was concerned, she had taken all the vengeance she wanted to take in her life.

"If you come by the tavern tonight, I'll treat you." Theresa said. "Should be better than drinking warm water, right?" Decena didn't respond, and Theresa simply let herself leave.

Decena fell onto the chair next to her, and set her head down on the table. Should she be angry? Should she be packing her bags, and using what silver she had left to rent a caravan to Griffin's Sight? What was the point though? Regardless of what she did, this was all she had to come back to. This, desolate, cold home. If she went and killed whoever had assassinated her original family, she might experience some sort of happiness for a brief moment, but would it last? Who'd she share it with?

What am I doing? The thought repeated itself. She remembered the personal journey she had gone on three years ago.

Bendry. The man who killed Enverna, her lover, had at one point sought to marry her. He came one day, and abducted her in the middle of the night. At that time, Decena was still a commoner, and so was Enverna. If a noble wanted to marry a commoner, the latter had no say in the matter. He was perfectly within his rights to do so. However, Decena had learned that if a noble were to oppose his claim, they'd have to come to an agreement amongst each other, or the matrimony would be canceled.

So, Decena searched for a way to become a noble. Thinking about it now, it sounded ridiculous. A commoner like her, just up and decided "I want nobility". But, she made that her goal regardless. She was told that if she acquired enough fame and money, she'd have to be given nobility. But, "enough" fame and money meant "an outrageous amount of" in this case.

Still, at fifteen years of age, she did everything she could. She competed in the Fighting Pits, an arena where commoners and peasants gathered to watch warriors fight for money. In that time, she honed her skills as a combatant, but it wasn't enough.

Later, she competed in a tourney Nova's Magical Academy conducted annually, where the winner was proclaimed the "Arch-Student". She had entered for the fame, but this would prove to be her way forward, as she was notified by the king himself, that, traditionally, the Arch-Student was awarded a position in the palace, depending on what their skills were, which came with all of the perks of nobility one did not have them.

After using her experience in the Fighting Pits and proving herself as a warrior, at just fifteen-years-old, she was given a sort of knighthood. Of course, that meant she'd become a noble as well, which gave her the legal right to challenge Bendry's proposal. All had gone in her favor, but Bendry wouldn't concede victory to her.

In one last act of defiance, he abducted Enverna on the night of their wedding, and rode out of the city. Decena followed once she heard what he'd done, and she caught up to him, but in the midst of the ensuing battle, be it because she wasn't fast enough, be it because she wasn't strong enough, Bendry decided to kill Enverna, instead of handing her over, and Decena couldn't stop him.

Enraged, Decena killed him immediately afterwards, but the deed was done. Her vengeance didn't bring Enverna back. She returned to Nova, the next day, and was taken into custody as someone had reported the events that took place. Bendry belonged to one of the most powerful houses in Nova, and Decena had just killed him. The only reason why she wasn't killed herself, as Theresa stated, was because her situation was an understandable one.

Now, three years later, she found herself livng in the middle of a random village she happened to stumble upon, a shadow of what she used to be.

Her mind drifted towards Theresa's words. Should she go look for this person? Whoever it was that was responsible for her original parent's deaths. It wouldn't hurt to look... Of course, she was beginning to run low on gold. A trip like that, into the country that was currently warring with Nova, would be expensive and dangerous. Why was she even considering it?

Another knock sounded at her door.

"... You've got to be kidding me." Anger flared inside of her, and she stood off the chair, and marched towards it. "What!?" She yelled as she opened the door. In front of her, were two armed guards, and a man dressed in a pompous hat, frilly pants, and a white shirt.

"Decena, that's you right?" He asked.

"Yes..." She hissed.

"Your assistance is required at the duke's palace. Please, come with me."