Seventh Part
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A Stranger
Part 8: End to a Dream
~~~~
Even after the Stranger's supposed
death, her legend lingered. Stories of her exploits continued to appear for the
next few years. Bards would sing of the time she brought rain to a desert city
and turned the dry land into a fertile oasis. Poets loved to recite about her
adventure through a valley of gigantic beasts, and how by the end of her
journey the beasts would flee from her. A tale of how she rescued a village
from a dark wizard become a popular children's story. Whether these stories were
true or not depended on who you asked. While many of these stories were total
fabrications, even the most outlandish tales have a grain of truth to them.
Despite claims the foreign woman was
sighted in every corner of the land, the council dismissed the notion. The
judges put their faith in Galatine. All the reports of the Stranger were
labeled as nonsense or the work of imposters. The council suppressed the idea
that the Stranger still lived, and encouraged others to do the same. After many years the stories of the foreign woman grew fewer and more
infrequent. Eventually, they finally stopped and she drifted into legend. The
vast majority had accepted the idea she was dead, others believed she returned
to where she came from. But, only one man knew the truth, Galatine.
Despite his new responsibilities and
fame, the judge found time in his life to visit the Stranger in secret. Always
with the hope, she would accept his offer to join the judges, but she never
did. However, the blonde man never gave up and continued to try until one
certain day.
~--~
Galatine trudged into the forest
village, it had been almost a year since he last visited. Numerous questions
swirled around his mind, all of which concerned the Stranger. The smell of
fresh wood and cooked food passed by his nose. As he entered into the village
he took note of some of its new inhabitants as they held a small cookout on the
forest floor. They waved to the blonde man and he returned the gesture.
'I wonder if they still don't
realize who I am,' the judge thought. He was unarmored and wrapped in a cloak
to remain inconspicuous. The villagers may recognize him as a frequent visitor,
but Galatine was concerned they'd realize he was a famous judge. It would be
better for all involved if they didn't, but if they did the blonde man hoped
they could keep a secret.
The judge made his way to a familiar
trio of oak trees and scaled the rightmost one through a series of hidden
ridges. As the man neared the treetops her spotted several more residents in
their homes among the trees. Most of them were in the middle of repairs, a few
watched Galatine as he climbed the tree. All together there was likely no more
than a few dozen people in the village. However, it was clear the community was
still in mid-growth. The judge wasn't certain where they all came from, but
theorized they were in some way drawn to the Stranger.
Finally, the blonde man reached the
top of the tree and entered the house situated there. Inside the building was
no more furnished that it was when he and the Stranger first spent the night
there. It was certainly cleaner, but that was the extent of it. The Stranger was
seated in a chair faced away from the door, a book was in her hand as she sat in
front of a lit cooking fire.
"Hello, your honor," the
Stranger welcomed the judge.
"How can you always tell it's
me?" Galatine asked.
"You're the only one who enters
uninvited," the redhead replied bluntly.
"Fair enough," the blonde
man walked around to face her directly. "It may be sudden to ask dear
Stranger, but why have you stopped-Oh." The judge froze mid-question. He
had wanted to know why the foreign woman's adventures had come to an abrupt
stop recently. The Stranger did not even have to open her mouth to answer,
there was a small infant in her arms illuminated by the fire. "Is that
child-?"
"Yes," the foreign woman
replied.
"Who's the father?"
Galatine asked.
The redhead turned and looked him in
the eye, "I do not know." Galatine sweated, he could not tell if she
was honest or not.
"When did this happen?"
The judge inquired.
"About a month or so ago,"
the Stranger revealed. "It just so happened a midwife was among the newest
residents, lucky me." Galatine chuckled at her statement, but the Stranger
remained stone-faced. Given a chance to look closer the blonde man noticed one
of the redhead's "marbles" clutched in the infants tiny hands.
"Already preparing for the
worst?" Galatine pointed to the "marble."
"Look again, the worst is
already here," the Stranger replied. The judge glanced back at the child
and finally noticed how pale its skin was. The infant shivered even in the
warmth of the fire.
"How did this happen?" The
judge asked in a panic, "what illness has swept through this
village?"
"None," the redhead
answered, "she was born this way."
"I can help her," Galatine
assured, "I can bring you the best healers in the land within the
week."
"At the cost of your
credibility?" The Stranger countered, "Am I not supposed to be
dead?"
"Not a soul has to know it is
your child," the blonde man continued, "I can take the girl with me
and go to a healer. I'll swear them to secrecy, trust me."
"It's not that I don't trust
you," the redhead replied, "I'd rather not be indebted to you.
Besides, I don't know if the child can survive travel."
"It is not a matter of
debt," Galatine stated, "I'm merely doing my duty."
"Such stubbornness," the
Stranger chuckled.
~--~
As Galatine promised he had an
exceptional healer come to the Stranger's doorstep to treat the ill child. The
judge had more than enough clout to keep them sworn to secrecy. However, he
dropped some deceptive hints that the child was of noble birth, just in case.
The healer was a man of the church, trained in the art blessings and miracles.
Galatine had relied on similar individuals to treat himself and his allies
before. If they could not save the child, no one could.
After several hours of treatment and
medicinal spells, the healer emerged from the other room with the child in his
arms. A somber look consumed his features as he returned the infant to the
mother. "Forgive me for my failure, your honor," he apologized,
"but I could not free the child from whatever ails it."
"What do you mean?" The
judge exclaimed.
"Whatever affliction grips that
child, it is not borne of disease or poison," the healer explained.
"The child has a weak constitution, it is her body that betrays her. It is
a miracle she has lived for as long as she had." Galatine prepared to
reply, but the Stranger interrupted him.
"I understand, thank you for
all your effort," the foreign woman thanked the healer.
"Allow me to give you some
space," the healer left the room. After the man left Galatine turned
towards the Stranger. He could not see her face through the tangled mass of her
red hair, but he could faintly hear a small whimper. He could not tell if it
was from the child or not.
~--~
The next time Galatine returned to
the Stranger was mere months later. He returned to the same sight, the Stranger
in her chair, faced away from the door with the baby in her arms. As before he
approached and greeted her.
"How is the child?" The
judge spoke in a near whisper.
"She continues to fight,"
the redhead replied.
"Do you have any plans for,
well the end?" The blonde man spoke with hesitation.
"I'll decide when the day
comes," the foreign woman replied.
This pattern of events would repeat
itself, again and again over the next few months. Galatine would continue to
sneak out the forest village, uncertain of the child's fate. Yet, he always
arrived to find her still alive in her mother's arms. All he would receive from
the Stranger were cryptic responses in regards to the child's eventual fate.
Even as months became years, and the infant became an adolescent.
The Stranger's child grew into a
small girl with pale orange hair and soft features. She grew her out long like
her mother's but took better care of it. The young girl remained ill, her body
thin and frail. She remained confined indoors and always clutched one of her
mother's "marbles" for good luck. The judge believed the child had
great potential, based on her parentage. But, he knew her sickly body would
always hold her back.
As the blonde man watched the child
grow further, a horrific sensation began to well up in his chest. This
indescribable guilt haunted him as he watched the child struggle to make it
from one day to the next. As the girl neared her teenage years he struggled to
face her and her mother. Eventually, his visits became less and less. From
months apart to several months apart, to half a year and so on, until he
finally stopped.
On the last day he spent with the
two he warned them his visits would need to cease for a time. He explained how
he could no longer maintain the frequent visits because his peers had grown
suspicious of his absences. He was a man of status after all, and he needed to
keep up his appearance. He assured them it'd only be a temporary measure until
he could throw his peers off the trail. The mother and daughter seemed to
accept his explanation. As the judge prepared to leave, the Stranger approached
him one last time.
"If you were afraid you could
have just stated outright," she told him.
"I don't know what you speak
of," Galatine denied, "this is only a temporary measure, it is for
your sake as much as mine."
"If that is what you believe
then there's no point in trying to argue with you," the foreign woman
sighed.
"I will return, do not
worry," the blonde man assured.
"That is not why I am
concerned," the redhead shook her head. The two shared no further words,
and Galatine left the village. The judge returned to his duties and planned for
his eventual return, whenever that would be.
~~~~
Can you believe it? There's only one more part left in this tale. With that in mind I'll post a collection of my general thoughts on the story when it is finished, plus a few extra tidbits. I also have an announcement to go hand in hand with it, so look forward to that.Next Part
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