TELVIN

Waiting for a letter back was agony. I didn’t know if she had received it. I didn’t even know if she would ever receive it. I heard whispers of the vampire royal wedding, but nothing that could be confirmed. No one really transported reliable news back and forth between the two kingdoms. Human and vampire relations have always been rocky at best. Until I got word back from Iara, I would let the whispers remain rumors to me.

I spent my time pounding out metal for the guild. The days were long and hot. Pa would yell at me and I’d try to get as much done as I could. I would deliver them to Hark and he would pay me. Pa would ask me for the money at the end of the day, but he never counted it. I was relieved he was a bad bookkeeper. If he was any better, he would have asked about the missing coins I spent on the courier. Pa didn’t even know I had asked Iara to marry me, let alone the situation I was in now. I would have prefered to keep it that way. Let him think my only interest was working metal like him.

Shaping metal had never been my passion, but I sure had gotten good at it. It annoyed me that I was so much like my father. Hark told me how well my blades were crafted every time I went up to see him. If he did want me to travel with him so badly he must have been truthful when he said my blades were near perfect. I did amuse myself with the thought of leaving with them. When I was little, being an adventurer was my only dream. I would play with a wooden sword and pretend to slay beasts all day. I wish things were as simple as they were back then. I have grown up faster than I would have liked. There was never any time to be a kid anymore.

One particularly rough day was coming to a close. I had just gotten done delivering some blades. Walking back into town and seeing the outline of my small home made a pit of dread form in my stomach. Pa had been irritable today, more than usual. The smallest thing put him into a yelling fit. I was glad to get away for a while, but when I could hear the yells from outside my heart sank. He must have gotten after Ma when I left. I rushed to the door and swung it open. My blood ran cold at the scene I walked into. Ma was pinned to the wall, Pa holding her with his forearm pressed to her neck. Her face was red from lack of air and fear played in her eyes. Pa looked wild, like a wolf biting down on a rabbit’s neck. His face was shiny with sweat and his breathing was labored. I ran over and shoved him away from my mother. He stumbled back and set his hateful eyes on me.

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“What happened?” I yelled.

“It’s okay, Telvin. I’m fine,” Ma said between gasps. Her words broke into a cough. She grabbed her chest and heaved. With her other hand she reached for me, pulling me back.

“It isn’t okay,” I snapped.

Pa grabbed me by my shirt collar. “You better not step in my way again, boy,” he spat in my face. He shoved my back and I stumbled. “Make sure you’re up at the break of dawn. We have more swords to make.”

I kept my arm over Ma in case he tried to turn back around. He went into the other room and slammed the worn door shut. The whole house shook with the force he used. I turned around to wrap my arms around Ma. “Are you okay?”

She clung to my shirt. Her face was buried deep in my chest as she started to sob. We both sank to the floor. I let her cry for as long as she needed. Nights like these were becoming more and more frequent. The horror we had to face at the hands of that man was becoming too much to bear. On nights like these, Ma would sleep in my room. I would prop myself against the door, my head setted into the corner. I never got much sleep, but I don’t think either of us ever did. When the sun started rising, I went straight out to the forge and started working. My arms felt like lead and my eyes could hardly stay open. I would bite my tongue every time I felt myself nodding off. I pressed on though. I wouldn’t give Pa another reason to start a fight with us.

This is why I longed to leave. I would do anything to help my mother, but it took a toll on me. I hardly got any sleep. This work exhausted me to the point of nausea. I had to get out and find something better than this.