Forest Guardian

Part 2

I don't remember how I got to my room, but luckily I didn't meet anyone. From the main hall I could already hear ringing voices. Among them I could recognize my father and his assistant, Megir Nisil. This man knows very well how to strike fear without even uttering a word. He is almost twice my father's size, his brown beard reaches down to his chest, and his long, curly hair is always braided into a thick braid. And if you look into his cold gray eyes, it seems as if your whole body is paralyzed and you can't move. Yet it was only his looks that served him well in the service of the king. He was the youngest, yet already one of the outstanding hunters, and therefore appealed to my father. On the inside, however, he is the kindest man I have ever met. I went hunting with him a couple of times, and then I realized that he didn't do it for the praise or the amusement of his own ego. He hunts to survive, so that his family doesn't starve to death, just like everyone else in our town can feed themselves. When he shot another hare, deer, or bull, he would kneel down in front of them and read a prayer, asking the gods to forgive him for his selfishness.

He was also one of the few people who really enjoyed listening to my stories and didn't make me do the archery or sword-wielding exercises I hated. He always laughed heartily and said he would have been glad to have a daughter like me. I liked it, but I always wanted to hear my father say it... But all I ever got from him was shouting and reproaching for not being as strong, nimble, and agile as Vasilisa or Adrian.

Megir has a son, Rys, but I've only seen him a few times, and that was only when I was a kid. Then he was sent to the capital for training, and, as far as I know, he's now in the king's personal army. His wife, Reer, is an amazing woman. She and my mother are good friends, so I used to go to their house a lot when I was a kid. It's not as big as ours, of course, but it's a lot of space. And unlike ours, which smells of animal skins, iron, and wood burning in the fire, theirs always smelled of baked goods and mint. Reer is a resident of Thala, the very kingdom ours had long been at war with. Legend has it that all the citizens of that kingdom have skin as pale as snow and hair as black as tar. Her skin is indeed pale, her hair is long and straight and black as night, her eyes are slanted and her face is regular oval. She is quite petite, and next to Megir she looks ridiculously cute. I used to sneak out to see them when I was a child, and Reer would always greet me with a smile and give me warm tea and still hot apple rolls. I knew very well how much she missed her son, and I always tried to keep her from being sad.

I would have liked to go over and say hello, but I was exhausted, and the only thing I wanted to do now was to wash off all the dirt of this morning and put on some clean, warm clothes.

As I suspected, no one came into my room. It was too cold in the bedroom, and there was no pitcher of clean water on the table beside the bed. Once inside, I shut the door quietly and slid down it. I thought I'd calmed down, but the memory of the monster I'd met today made me shiver again.

I jump up off the floor and rush toward my table. Since my room isn't big, everything is almost flush. The bed took up most of the bedroom. At the foot of the bed was a huge trunk with my things in it. To the right, next to the bed is a small wooden table, fully stocked with books that I read a long time ago. As soon as I get up, I think I should take it all to the city library, but as soon as I get there, I come back with another batch of books. There are two large windows to the right, which offer a stunning view of the forest. Right now, however, just the sight of it makes me shudder. On the left is my desk, which is strewn with parchments and paper that Megir gave me when he and my father returned from Orana. It is the third largest kingdom, and unlike Thala, Perun works closely with them, even though for the first time in history there is a woman ruler, Maureen Klore. I have never seen her, but I have admired her since childhood.

I found clean parchment, and, picking up a piece of charcoal, I drew from memory what I'd seen today. I was never much of an artist, but you don't have to put much effort into it.