Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

47 - Fjörutíu og Sjó

I watched him.

I processed the information he had just given to me. Trying to piece together whatever I could make out.

I watched him. Closely.

Instantly, this face of a stranger, became a little familiar.

Instantly, I saw his dark hair that matched my raven mane.

Instantly, his strong, lean build resonated with my own.

Instantly, I could see that his skin was of a color close to mine, but there were no other similarities.

I was still unsure, and even though all of the evidence was in front of me, I thought this man, Tei, was not my father.

"Are you-"

"I am," he said simply, as if he expected me to put the pieces together sooner.

"We only ever had one child and, I see her in you. My Zisa."

It was good, I realized, that I was sitting on the cold cell floor, rooted to the spot. If I hadn't been, surely I would have fallen in shock.

Zisa. My mother. A Dryad.
Tei. My father. A werewolf.

"What kind of name is Rayne?" Tei asked me, his eyes lit up with genuine curiosity, as if he had already gotten over seeing his only daughter again.

Unbeknownst to him, I was still in the process of recovery.

"I-"

He stared at me expectantly.

Nothing about his demeanor was impatient. Perhaps being in a cell for over twenty years does that to you.

"It's Raynhildur," I told him, to save him from asking again. "Raynhildur Ylva."

That was the first time I saw Tei smile.

"She would have liked that," he said. "Fridure was always good with names. Seems as though he raised you well."

It took me a moment to register that name. It was in no way new to me, only very far off, very distant.

Fridure, Valente's father.

"I- I don't understand. What does Fridure have to do with anything?" I asked him.

Tei visibly sighed.

"He never told you?
Well, when I was sentenced to prison for life, they'd already taken Zisa, and I knew they would come for you next. Fridure was my closest friend, so I trusted him to hide you away in his small pack and take care of you," he said.

With this revelation, two things came to the forefront of my mind.

My parents had never abandoned me in that forest. And Fridure died the night he brought me to Fathilagt.

My eyes were suddenly burning from unshed tears.

Perhaps Tei noticed this, but chose not to comment.

My voice was awfully quiet as I gathered the strength to say my next words.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Fridure was killed the night Fathilagt was first attacked. That night, I was found by the woman that raised me," I said, my tone solemn.

I looked up to find Tei as still as a statue, looking outside his cell at the floor in front of him.

As he processed the news of Fridure's death, I came to the realization that Fridure died protecting me.

It was him that covered up my scent with mud and hid me in a place where someone else from his pack could find me.

He ensured that I'd survive while sacrificing his own life in the process.

I couldn't help but think, then, that I was the direct cause for the death of my mate's father.

My voice had now turned to a whisper, perhaps from the weight of all the information that I had just received.

"Did you know about his family? He had a son-"

"I will not talk any further. If in these long lost, forgotten dungeons, my quiet words to Fridure were overheard, then those words are why my closest friend is dead, and only I am responsible," he said, all in one breath as if trying to come to terms with it.

He turned away from me and headed back to his seat muttering to himself. "The walls have ears."

I watched him sit back down as he faced me, but his eyes seemed to be staring blankly at the floor.

I knew I couldn't convince my father to answer my questions, yet I couldn't suppress them either.

"Rayne," Ima said.

I remained quiet, waiting for my wolf to speak again.

"Do you still have the cloveroot potion?" she asked me.

A chuckle escaped me.

With everything I'd been through, I highly doubt it would have survived in my pocket, even if I never dropped it in real life.

Instinctively though, my fingers went to my pocket, where the small vial seemed intact.

In an instant I dug out the Haykadi vial, and it was perfectly fine with perhaps just enough potion for two.

I could feel Tei's eyes on the vial as I quickly opened it to take a sip.

"What is that?" he asked as I put in the stopper.

I put my arm through the bars with the vial in hand, and rolled it across the hallway till it touched the silver of his cell.

I looked up at him, hoping we had enough curiosity in common for him to take it.

"Only one way to find out."