(Y/n) urged the horse forward as the church steeples and guard towers of Forlì came into view, hearing the hard thrumming of the creature's hooves become quieter as the ground gave way to softer marshland. She remembered this village outside of the city's walls, remembered her mother teaching her how to horse ride on its outskirts. She gripped the reigns tighter, biting her cheek to suppress all the emotions that she decided she could deal with later; for now, she just had to find her old home.
She wondered if she even had a home now. Either her old familial home was now abandoned or inhabited by a new family and her Aunt and Uncle's villa no longer felt like home.
She had lived within the walls, far from the citadel (well far for a child to walk anyway), that much she could remember. She could recall one of the guard towers being visible from her bedroom and that the villa had a small courtyard in the centre with a mosaic on the floor.
As she approached the city gates, she made her way to a stall where she paid the boy to watch over her horse for a few hours. Patting down her dress, she made her way into the city, trying her best to not look as lost as she felt, deciding to follow the wall and see if anything seemed familiar to her. She hadn't been here in over a decade but she was alone now and she needed answers.
Always more questions without enough answers to satisfy them.
People bustled around on the streets, children playing, women running errands, men working. (Y/n) pulled her cloak around her, eyes flittering around. She was sure that enough had changed over the past decade and a bit for her to be at a disadvantage in relying on familiarity. But she hungered for answers and the only lead that she had was this villa: confronting her remaining family was out of the question. What if it put her in danger? Surely they loved her too much to harm her? Why did they have her parents killed? Why was she spared? Why did her Aunt talk about them like that?
Why? Why? Why? And absolutely no 'because...' to accompany it. Biting her cheek again, she realised that she had never felt like such a naïve and vulnerable child in her life until now.
After an hour of fruitless searching, she decided that enough was enough and set towards the church, deciding to ask for directions. Approaching the grand building, she stepped into the large, open doors. Her footsteps starting to echo around the room, seeing people seated on the pews or kneeling before lit candles, their prayers to loved ones lost. Slackening a moment, she approached the racks of candlesticks, watching the flames dance.
Picking up one, she used it to light another two on the front row, placing the candle back where she had plucked it from. Her breath caught for a moment as her eyes glanced up for a moment to the stained glass of the holy virgin that was showering her in an array of colours.
"I'll find out what happened to you. . . What happened to us. . . I promise." She whispered before stepping away, seeing a priest walking in. He was old: his hair white, posture stout and skin marked by time, leaving lines of stories and memories upon his face.
"Excuse me," (Y/n) started, approaching him, "I'm a little lost and was wondering if you could give me directions." Best to ask the old people, they were more likely to know the way; past the age of travelling, they must have stayed put for some years at the least.
"Of course! Where would you like to go?" He smiled.
"I'm looking for the (L/n) family villa, well, it may not have been called that for some years." She put forward.
"That place?" He seemed taken aback, "Why would a lady like you need to go to such a tragic site?"
"My cousin survived the attack there years ago, poor girl. She wants to find out what became of her old home but couldn't bring herself to face it again. I offered to go in her place." She lied. Her Aunt and Uncle would have people looking for her soon and she didn't want to be found. Best to not leave any leads behind. They would find the innkeeper soon and she didn't want anyone following her. She had to try and cover her tracks somehow.
YOU ARE READING
Unwoven Fate (Ezio Auditore x Reader)
Fanfiction"Killing my sister and her delusional husband was the best thing I ever did for this family." (Y/n) had been raised by her aunt and uncle ever since she was little after her parents were murdered in what seemed to be a robbery gone wrong. However, a...
