Owin #25 — A History Lesson

“What did you and my father do?”

Owin did not want to meet Gwen’s eyes, but she continued to stare at him. I knew this day would come. Still looking down, he cleared his throat. “It’s a long story.” When she did not say anything, he looked up. He could not see any hate or anger in her expression, but there was a reservation he had not seen before. If only I could read minds like the priests, he thought to himself.

Seeing her determination, he nodded his head. “Your father and I grew up together. We were close and I would say we even got into a bit of trouble from time to time. However, we weren’t prepared for what happened.” Owin nodded his head, indicating she should sit down. He moved to a more comfortably position himself, trying to delay recalling the memories he had buried in his past.

“My family lived in the city of Gale. They actually owned one ship and were paying on a second one.” He smiled, remembering the party that had been thrown to celebrate acquiring the lease. “Their trade ran along the coast, going all the way to Pandaras and back. Gavin and I were even a bit spoiled. We had as much food as we wanted.  We had nice clothes.  We were not wanting.”

Seeing the look on her face, he knew her mother never really told her much about her father’s early life. “Gavin’s parents were actually better off than mine. They owned two ships and both of them were larger. His house was a deep-blue three-story, right in the heart of the merchant district. My parents lived a block away. Respectable, but the block wasn’t quite as nice.”

Owin looked back to the dirt floor of the barn. “I remember when the Duke’s men came. They demanded proof of loyalty from all the wealthy merchants.” He looked up to meet Gwen’s face. “Several merchants were discovered working against the Duke and he would accept no addition traitors. The result was a member of every family had to be handed over to be schooled and taught by families the Duke considered utterly loyal.”

“They just took you from your homes?”

“To say no meant we didn’t trust the Duke or we feared the Duke would discover some treachery.” Owin shrugged. “It was scary, but at the same time, it was an adventure. Gavin was fourteen and I was thirteen. We felt ready to take on the world. And neither of us being the oldest child meant we were spares anyway.” Owin rolled his shoulders. “Fortunately for us, Gavin and I were kept together. We were athletic and willing and wanted to fight in the war.” Owin looked back to the floor. “We had also tried to steal sweetmeats from the house of the Lord we had been assigned. We got caught doing it, but only because we got too daring.” He looked at her, remembering Gavin’s urging. “You see, we had stolen a number of other things before the day we were caught. The trouble was, instead of being punished for this–which would have been better in the long run–the Lord decided we’d be good for his program of training spies and assassins. If we could manage to sneak through his house and steal so successfully, we should be able to do it elsewhere.”

Owin shrugged and leaned back against the post behind him. “It was good for a while. We learned to fight and got to sneak around. But after a while, we learned the price we were paying. We were told to go kill a man and make it look like he died in his sleep. We said no and the Lord said fine, he’d send someone to kill our parents and make it look like they died in their sleep.”

Gwen shook her head. “That is cruel. How old were you?”

Owin did not smile at her; he suspected where she planned to take the argument. “I was your age, but it’s not the same. I had been trained for a long time in how to fight.”

“Did you do it?”

Owin sighed. “Yes. We had no choice.” He closed his eyes, wishing away the years. “We made a good team and the Duke made use of us often and as time passed, we were given more freedom. Then one day, your father met your mother and they fell in love. The three of us got along quite well. We had money, though Gavin and I sent much of it back to our parents. We wanted to buy shares in our parent’s companies so that we’d be able to retire and live well. We were promised that with time, we’d be released from service.”

“Does mother know? She never gave hint.”

Owin shook his head. “We never told her. She believes we were escorts for nobles and ambassadors. That explained our good pay and why we had to go away from time to time and why we were home and free so often. It also explained why we were never sent to the front.”

“I never knew Dad and you had wealthy families. Can we not appeal to them?”

Owin bit his lower lip. “They are all dead. It happened in one of the uprisings. Whole sections of Gale were burned. They died in their homes and our fortunes were lost.”

“I’m sorry.”

“By the time of their death, I really had no strong memories of them. We had been away for years without actually seeing them. However, the Duke’s hold on us had never been stronger. You had turned three and Gavin wanted nothing to happen to either of you.” Owin put his head into his hands. “Then Gavin died. It was my fault. I should have seen the other guards. I should have stopped him. He…he moved in too quickly.” Owin turned away. “Damn it, Gavin.”

Owin felt Gwen’s hand on his shoulder. “I know how much Dad and you meant to each other. Mother always said you two were as close as brothers.” She knelt down in front of him and waited before speaking. “Can you tell me who this man is that threaten us now?”

Continue to next episode.