How in all gods’ names did you manage this feat?!” She was angry. Yup, pretty upset. My mother hadn’t closed to the door to our house since my father chose to be woefully absent and purchase dinner from the small night market along the way. So not only was I getting an earful, the entire neighboorhood was going to be entertained. Just great.

My home wasn’t anything fancy — just one among the many wooden houses standing in a ring around the city. We weren’t poor, though. Our house had an excellent stone foundation, and we even had a small front yard were mother grew herbs such as thyme or lemon balm. She also had a small fireplace outside where she used to cook her concoctions. Inside, the lower floor consisted of one large room, with plenty of counters and shelves lining the walls. In one corner, there was a curtain clients could pull across half of the room if they requested more privacy. At the center of the room was a small dining table with three chairs. Mother lighted an oil lamp hanging by the door and put it on the table.

I don’t know when or how my father did it, but he miraculously managed to enter our house and close the door without making a sound. The scent of fresh bread and fried chicken alerted us on his presence, but my mother didn’t care for now. She kept her loud voice, explaining in full detail when and where she last told that I was to never go near a temple or even mingle with practitioners and, oh, she knew that this Lilly girl was terrible news, yadda, yadda. Meanwhile, my father chose to remain silent and just began setting the table.

“I know I made a mistake, please, don’t make me feel worse than I already do,” was what I wanted to say, but all this tiny me could squeak was, “I- I’m sorry.”

My mother sighed before she collapsed into the chair next to the table. She buried her face in her cupped hands, before sighing once more and dropping her arms on the table with a loud bang, making the oil lamp clatter. This time, I shuddered. I always knew that loitering in front of temples was a bad thing, but I had never guessed it would cause my parents this much aggravation. I was too scared to move.

“Sweet Love.” My father finally said something, handing her a piece of bread. Go you, father! Be the man! Protect me!

However, my mother could be as fierce as Lilly when she was angry, and she glared at him as if she wanted to chop him into small pieces. My father swallowed and did not speak for a few moments before giving it another try. “Please.” Yes, my father was a man of many words.

But it did affect my mother. She sighed once more before accepting the piece of bread. “Rowan, Rowan…”, she said, taking a bite before putting the rest back on the table. “Come here.”

Naturally, I did what I was told. Instead of receiving punishment, however, she hugged me dearly, as if she wanted to squeeze the life right out of me. I felt her tears run down my cheeks. Was it that severe? What could I do to make her not cry? Couldn’t we convince Hawthorn just to take back his words?

“Hush now, Sweet Love. I have a few ideas we could talk through. But maybe Rowan is too tired to join us for now. It’s been a long day for him, after all.” My father patted me on my head, and I caught a gentle smile on his face.

“You are right. This is not the time to fret.” She looked at me, smiling through the tears, and patted my head as well. “Go catch some sleep, Rowan. As a punishment for not listening to us, you will not have any dinner.”

But the fried chicken! And fresh bread! Don’t tell me you guys will hog that all for yourselves? I pouted, but this time both my parents remained firm. Accepting my fate, I nodded and headed upstairs to where our bedroom was. I undressed, washed my face in the small basin of water, and climbed into my bed. Indeed, I felt sleepy and wanted nothing more than to forget today’s events.

But obviously, I couldn’t. While I lay in bed, tossing and turning, I could hear my parents discussing matters downstairs. Waves upon waves of emotions kept crashing at each other. By the love of Nu, if you want to send your child to bed and do adult talk, then try to be quiet! Little me sighed, and I crawled out of bed, sneaking up to the staircase.

“… I told you, I don’t know. We never received the same concoction the sacrifices received. And we lived separately.” My father sounded helpless. Mother sighed in response. If there were a sighing championship, she definitely would have won it by now.

“If we only had any clues. Was it snakeplant? Thornapple?”

“Even if you gave him an antidote, it is likely they will find out. It is best, I secretly follow them and bring him back.”

“No! You know how well guarded the Pilgrimage is! When was the last time you picked up a blade? And against several guards? If you perish as well, I might throw myself off a cliff!!” She began sobbing.

“Hush now, my Love.”

“We just finally found a place to settle! Hawthorn has always been so kind to us! How could he do this?!”

“Even he can’t go against a Representative. Nobody can.”

“Are we being punished? Is this their way of telling us it was a mistake for you to retire?”

“Ssh.”

I heard smacking noises and guessed my father was comforting her with kisses. Disgusted, I sneaked back to bed and lay there, my mind completely messed up. Sacrifice?! Poisonous plants?! What in Nu’s name was going on? I thought we’d just be sent off to a faraway place, pay our respects and come back! Not only was I feeling guilty for the trouble I caused, but I was also now pretty scared of the things to come. My mind was going crazy with what I was going to expect there. Masked men with falchions ready to chop off our heads? Check. Jumping off the edge of a giant volcano? Check. Being sent into a cave with a savage beast hungry to devour me? Check.

Suddenly, I heard steps coming upstairs. I pretended to be fast asleep, shutting my eyes tightly and pulling the blanket up to my nose. Judging by the steps, it was my mother who had come to check up on me. She gently brushed my hair but didn’t say a word. Her touch was slightly prickly, as if she was statically charged. After staying by my side for a while, she silently headed downstairs again. Her touch was akin to magic. Or, perhaps she really used magic? I felt the restlessness of today’s events slip into distant memory, and I fell into a deep slumber.