Lowell

Chapter 14

Hanna sat at the bench watching Lowell play with the local children. The man was such a natural with kids. Like he was born to be a father. Hanna's dear friend Casey looked at her anxiously.

"When are you going to tell him?" She asked.

Hanna waved at Lowell when he glanced back her way with that silly grin. She loved him. She really did. But, everyone in the world looked and saw a relationship that was doomed for tragedy. Hanna just saw happiness. "When I'm really sure. Besides, it's only a day late."

Casey huffed and crossed her arms. "Then what? You can't expect him to take care of you."

Hanna furrowed her brow. "Lowell is a good and responsible man! Even if it was an accident he'll take responsibility."

Casey knew her and knew there was no changing her mind. "Just be careful. I worry about you." Casey looked at the man pretending to be a big scary monster for the small children and a smile tugged her lips. "At least, he'll be a wonderful dad."

Waking up in a back alley was sadly nothing new. Repede yelled at Yuri to get up. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. He remembered something about a well and this asshole trying to pick on some girl in a bar. He knew he got into a fight and his nose hurt like hell.

Yuri slowly sat up. "You're a mess." Repede complained.

"Yeah, I know." He huffed and walked down to get an idea of where he was. He was in a small town not too far from Zaphias. Yuri had come looking for information on his parents. The last two years were spent following broken leads and trying to find information. The most he knew was almost twenty-one years ago, a Krytian man named Lowell made some sort of huge crime against the empire. Lowell had a hostage with him a female knight that he'd allegedly raped. He was on the run a year before he was caught and killed. Yuri knew there had to be more to it.

He kept digging and digging. Yuri needed the truth on the man named Lowell. So, he was traveling around where he could and asking questions. He was following frayed leads and learning mostly nothing. It sucked. He took in a breath and walked back to the inn he was staying at. If he could find a Krytian who knew his father Yuri could finally figure something out. But, Krytians had virtually vanished in the last twenty years. The empire treated them as criminals associated with the enemy in the Great War. A lot of hate crimes happened and it took another government statement to keep people from killing a Krytian on the streets. The group wasn't native to Ilyccia all the same so Yuri would have to cross the continent.

Yuri cleaned up and sighed at his reflection. His ears started to turn into a point about half-a-year ago. It was subtle, but he could see it. He clenched his hand and cringed. This trip had been another false lead. He was going to return to his room in Zaphias. He hadn't had any solid leads in weeks so heading back would be best. He brushed his hair out and kept looking at the mirror.

Repede yawned from the floor as nosed his way through a book. When Yuri first took off the dog had been fascinated by reading and wanted Yuri to teach him. This made Repede certifiably the world's first literate dog. "Vanity is often considered a sin."

"I'm not vain. I just like making sure that I look nice before I go out." Yuri brushed through a rough tangle.

The dog snorted. "It's funny. That woman last night tried to court you."

Yuri thought it over. Right, that girl had. "I wish there was a way I could just tell everyone I have no interest." Flirting got old very fast when there was no interest in it.

Repede stood up and walked to the sink. "You could pretend to be mated."

"That's another hassle entirely." Yuri gathered his things and got ready to leave town. Once back it be nice to see everyone. He planned to see what he could do for the folks back home while he gathered some more intel. Repede handed over the history text he'd been reading. Yuri had been looking up on ancient Geraios civilization and mythology. He was hoping maybe there was a clue in that information, but he hadn't seen it yet.