What Is Done

Chapter 32 - In The Sea That's Painted Black

Traversing around the rest of Lake Oribel, we were silent. The only sounds heard were the horses' hooves clicking against the stones and dirt.

I had been letting my mind had wander. We had learned about something new about Sellion, something that I hadn't thought possible. He had had a girlfriend—a lover—at some point. He traveled alongside her and her friends, too. They were all too chummy to have been complete strangers. 

Clearly Noa and Ersli no longer saw him as a friend due to what he'd done to Hollyanne but Grindel hinted that they had been close and that she still thought of him as her friend. Judging from her personality, Grindel was likely the only one who could have forgiven him.

I wondered what had truly given Sellion the impulse to come to Elven Guard; to my father. Hollyanne hadn't known who my father had been to Sellion. It was entirely logical that my father and Sellion had known each other well before Father had hired him.

I wanted Sellion to explain everything to me. I needed him to. Yet, as I prepared to ask a question, Essaerae piped up, posing her own question.

"Are...are we not going to talk about it?" Essaerae squeaked. I pondered if her mind had been spiraling in the same direction as mine.

"No," Sellion said deadpan. I had a feeling he wasn't interested in letting us in on his past.

Fine, I thought. If he wanted to keep his secrets, he could. For now. But one day I'd make him explain everything. 

"Why not?" Essaerae continued to pester. She flicked her pointer finger into the air. "I feel there's a lot to unpack here."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it," Sellion muttered. "Hollyanne told you everything that happened. I'm not going to defend myself. I have no reason to defend myself for what I've done."

I scolded Essaerae. "We do not need to talk about it if Sellion does not want to." Sure, I was curious, but I guess I had no choice to wait around until Sellion willingly revealed the truth in due course. It was always better to let sleeping dogs lie.

"Sheesh, no wonder your ex wants your head on a pike," Essaerae mumbled back to Sellion. Sellion whipped his head around, eyes twitching in anger. Then I had to tear them apart to keep them from killing each other.

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In the southern parts of Icast, there were not many towns on the central plains. All of the towns and cities were on the coasts, the Islands of Elderon or hidden in the forest on the eastern tip of the continent that had no name. No one was sure why the forest had no name yet people called it the Nameless Forest as a placeholder on maps. We spent more nights camping in the wilderness because of that. 

We had passed around the other side of Lake Oribel on the strait of land between Lake Oribel and Lake Ávita. The towns that were on the strait had no names according to the maps. It was as if you didn't live there, you didn't know they were there.

We had a run in with Sellion's old traveling buddies, including his ex-girlfriend. When Essaerae tried to get the rest of the story out of him, they tried to start a brawl. We then agreed to not bring it up again.

"Why did we not stop in Hieracon to resupply?" I, less than jaunty, asked. My feet were hurting. I was tired of people chasing us and trying to kidnap us. 

Nevertheless, I kept my face hidden behind the map so as to not show them my annoyed expression, even though I'm sure Essaerae and Sellion could hear it in my voice. I referred to the large human kingdom that stood at the northwest corner of Lake Ávita. 

The name Hieracon sounded familiar to me somehow. I had no doubt about it after rolling it around in my skull for a moment. I had been there once before.