Chapter 10

It had been several days since Naria had been killed, the first bloodshed in the Hunter's Camp in more than two years. Cedric slowly peeled his shirt from his skin with a groan of pain. The Witch was careful not to touch the black and blue splotches that covered his back as she examined him, knowing herself just how painful the Hunter's training could be. Blood trickled from the many deep cuts he had obtained, and his arms and chest were just as bad. He looked like he had been awake for weeks although he had slept the night before, the dark circles under his eyes dragging down almost to his cheeks.

Due to the sparse knowledge Cedric had about the beasts that lived in the Forest of All, the Hunter had been putting him through an intense and fast learning process, for his body and his mind.

"The only fighting I was trained for was to fight people that were afraid... these beasts show no fear." He murmured over his shoulder.

"That is what sets them apart from the normal things you have had to kill." The Witch said while grabbing a clay pot from a shelf and began rubbing the thick green contents into the cuts and bruises on Cedric's back. "The beasts you have been fighting the last few days are nothing compared to the ones that lie within the inner rings. Did he say you were doing well?"

Cedric shrugged. "He never says much of anything, besides scolding me when I have done something horribly. I suppose I am doing better as he is yelling at me less." He winced as the Witch rubbed the salve into a particularly deep cut on his shoulder.

"You must be more careful, Cedric. If the cuts are too deep, they will not heal for a very long time, if ever."

There was silence for a time as she worked her way down his battered back and arms, careful to get every laceration and bruise completely covered.

"Can you tell me of their death?" It fell out of his mouth before he had a chance to swallow it. He could never seem to keep quiet when he knew he should.

The Witch sighed deeply. "Your parents?" she questioned, although she already knew the answer. Cedric nodded before the Witch continued on, "It was a dark day. Both joyous and dark the day they died."

"How so?"

She grabbed some clean cloths from a bowl of water at their side, ringing them out before she answered, "It was only days after the battle at the Mother Tree... The King of Winter had only just made it back to his fortress when we got word that the Queen of Summer was in labor. We had pushed the fallen Guardian out into the Winterlands, a cold and unforgiving place in hopes he would wander until he perished from the cold. There had been no sightings of him, but no body had been found either, so he felt it best to return to the stronghold and wait for any word on Korva.

"I had rushed to the queen's side, and by the time I arrived, she was already near death. The midwives were unprepared for the sudden and hard labor that had come upon her, and the wounds had reopened... There was so much blood..." She gazed off for a moment as the memory rushed over her.

"There was nothing I could do to save her. She lived just long enough to birth her children, and I held her hand as the light left her eyes." Cedric looked at her puzzled.

"Wait... I'm sure I didn't hear you right. Did you say children?"

"Yes," the Witch smiled. "She gave birth to twins. A girl I named Reala, and you, Cedric."

"T-twins? I have a blood sister? Where is she? Is she here at the camp? Can I meet her?" His words poured out of his mouth so quickly, they all mashed together in a jumbled heap. He had a sister in Tea'ala, but she was considerably older than he and had never given him much more than the occasional smack on the back of the head. To know there was someone out there that shared his blood, to the point she had shared a womb with him, would have knocked him off his feet if he had been standing.

"With the queen's death, her riches and crown would fall to the next in line old enough to rule, and with the only heirs far too young, the rebel group from the south would come in any day. They would seek out any who could contest their rule, even for the future. For your safety, I stole you both away. Just as I hid you with Tempam and Durah, I hid your sister with a trusted family in the Summer Sanctuary, hoping that maybe one day, she could claim back the Summer throne. I lost track of her, as I did with you for a time. I was going to take you back to the castle in the Winterlands to be raised by the king's advisers, but as I crossed over the boundary, the wind told me the news." She stopped again to pick up her clay pot and put it back in its place.

"We had underestimated the fallen Guardian, and he had traveled straight to the Winter Mountains where the king's castle laid. Slit Frost Slayer's throat while he slept." The Witch's eyes took on a faraway look as she shook her head. "I still have trouble accepting it, and it's been twenty-five years. The most powerful, courageous man ever born in Da'nu, slaughtered in his sleep like a hog, all whilst his wife died in childbirth." Cedric didn't quite know how to process this. From the moment he had found out that his true father had died, he had hoped that he had maybe done so in battle, been run through with a sword, or taken down by a beast, certainly not like this. Not killed in cold blood at his weakest point. He clenched his fist so tightly, the knuckles turned white, and his teeth ground together. He questioned why he had ever put his faith in such a vicious, hateful king, and couldn't help but wonder if that made him a bad person too.