Hero

CHAPTER 21: MARIE I

Marie Renway had just witnessed her own brother dying. It felt like whatever had killed him was now killing her. She had never been so upset in her entire life. Loosing her mother was hard enough but her own brother who she had grown up with was heart breaking. She sat on the edge of the bed in her chambers staring blankly at the wall.

There was a knock at the door and Lord Oreon walked through the door tears flooding his eyes. "Look Marie, there is something I have to tell you," he said sitting down on the bed next to Marie.

Marie cut him off quickly leaning onto his shoulder , "No not now, please, just hold me."

Lord Oreon nodded wrapping his arms around her. Marie had a sudden thought cross her mind, it was of how when she younger she had attended a party at the age of around five. Her father had taken her drawing attention towards them as they arrived in a carriage in the town of Skylance. Richard was in the carriage with them since he was going to walk her to the door of her friend because Jarred had been struggling to walk because of a hunting injury.

They arrived at the house of the girl whom was having the party. Richard stepped out of the carriage helping Marie down linking her arm. Hundreds of people had crowded round to take a look at the royal family as they did not go into the town very often. Then all of a sudden Marie started crying running back onto the steps of the carriage. Richard walked back over to the carriage, looked at her and said, "Do not fear them little one, they're probably more scared of you. Remember you are royalty, people are only excited to see you, so come back out the carriage and walk into your friends house. Do not let your life be ruined because you're different."

Marie then walked out the carriage towards her friends house with a beaming smile on her face, not linking her brothers arm. She had never felt so confident in her life and not alone.

A small smile appeared on Marie's face as she thought about the memory as it was one of the first memories she ever had. This was abruptly interrupted by Lord Oreon kissing her gently on the lips.

"Marie I have to tell you something and you will not think fondly of me after I have," said Lord Oreon who had begun to start crying.

Marie slowly moved away from Lord Oreon standing up and walking to the other side of the room still looking at him. "You're scaring me! What are you talking about?!" exclaimed Marie.

Lord Oreon began to walk towards her but Marie slowly moved away again. "I haven't been honest to you about who I am Marie but you have to know before I tell you, that I love you, I have never been in love with anyone as much as I am so very deeply with you. My whole life has been fucked up. My childhood taken away from me, like you I grew up without my mother, I grew up a bastard. My father raped her, she was only sixteen and couldn't cope with any of it so she killed herself. She got a knife and killed herself."

"But I've met your mother, Lady Jane Oreon, you know I've met your mother, what are you saying Oreon?" Asked Marie who had began to look  more confused then scared now.

"I am not Oreon. I'm not some rich Lord who had come here to marry you. My name is James Smith but to most I'm known as Hunter. I was put into an orphanage just after I was born where I would get abused every night. When I turned sixteen I left my home of Penton and joined the assassins order to help those who needed it. As an order we would go in search of people who thought they were better then others. In search of people who treated their brothers like dirt, enslaving them and raping them. But after sometime, the order became corrupt and I could no longer stand what I could see. They had become what they despised. So I lay low for a few years getting jobs where I could find them. Finally I met a beautiful coloured woman and fell deeply in love with her. She meant the world to me. We were to be married one summer evening when she was brutally murdered whilst i waited for her arrival at the alter. Marie, she was murdered in her own home. Slaughtered for a reason I know not. And so I decided that I had to get redemption for such an innocent creature, who only loved, not a bad bone in her body. So I planned and I walked and I searched for anyone who knew who had done this to her. Turns out it was your daddy who ordered this and a man offered me a lot of money to kill him on his evening hunting session in the forest of dreams but someone got there before me. This mysterious figure came back to me a few days later and told me that they would pay me double the amount they offered for me killing your father if I killed his heir," said Hunter still crying.

"I don't understand!" Screamed Marie who kept crying, "but you killed Richard is that what you're saying to me?"

"No I killed Lord Oreon, I was sent here to kill Edward but I can't do it because I love you. I love you Marie Renway and I am sorry I have wronged you. I had nothing to do with your brothers death!" Cried Hunter moving towards Marie reaching for her hand.

Marie picked up the letter opener that lay on the table in her room pointing it towards Hunter, "I don't know you! The man I fell in love with was good and kind and just. I trusted that man! You're just a monster. I can't even look at you."

Hunter stood looking at her crying. All of a sudden the guards rushed in though the doors. "What's wrong we heard screaming?" Asked Revenos who walked in first.

"Arrest this man," said Marie with no emotion in her voice.

"I'm sorry princess, what did you say?" Questioned Revenos who was shocked by what she had just said.

"I said, arrest this man," Ordered Marie still not moving.

"Under what charge princess?" Asked Revenos

"Under any charge I want, are you going to do as I say or shall I report your lack of cooperation to my brother," barked Marie.

Revenos nodded tying up Hunters hands behind his back and the other two guards walking over grabbing either side of Hunter.

"Marie... Please," whispered Hunter as they escorted him out of the room.

Marie did not reply and watched as the door closed behind them. She let out a scream picking up the letter opener and throwing it at her side table next to her bed smashing the photo of her and her mother onto the floor. She walked over towards the picture and picked it up sitting down on her bed. Marie spoke to the photo, "Mumma... What do I do? Please mumma help me, I need you right now, I need someone right now, Mother! Where are you?!"

She got the photo and threw it again on the floor with such aggression she fell onto the floor herself. Marie felt like she couldn't breath. She faced up towards the ceiling of her room and saw that the flowers that where engraved on there previously in bright colours had withered and died being replaced with weeds and nettles coated in darkness.