LAND FORCED HIMSELF TO CONTINUE READING.

 

        To my beloved son, Gideon,

 

These past three months I have spent in unimaginable anguish. You fled in torment, you ran, ashamed, and that I understand. I always took pains to hide my affliction from you. The night you uncovered my secret, through a simple unlocked door, I thought my world had ended.

    Though I have kept you hidden, it was for your own protection. I want to tell you more about what this affliction means for you, Gideon, but I dare not write it in a letter. But, like it did me, I fear it will strike you in your nineteenth year. I first saw traces of it when you were two years old, and from then on, I did everything I could to find a cure. It was at two years old that my parents, having seen the same signs in me, gave me away. I vowed that I would never do that, that I would give you the life of love that I did not have.

    I planned this coronation, thinking, foolishly, that it might draw you home. Alas, I fear you would have, by now, made yourself known. So this letter is my only hope. I have only revealed your existence to a trusted few: Wickham, Croft and Draefus, the general of my army. Croft is now dead. I am willing that Draefus will find you and deliver this to you.

    I wanted everything for you that I did not have. I wanted you to read, to play, to laugh. But more than anything, I wanted you to be un-afflicted and free. I do not want my life for you. It is not a proud one.

    I write this, not knowing where you are, not knowing if it will ever reach you.

    I beseech you, Gideon, to please return to your father. I vow that I will do everything in my power to cure you and, if that is not to be, we shall face our affliction together.

 

        Your loving father,

        Villius Ren

 

Oland could barely breathe. It was his son who Villius Ren had been looking for at Dallen Falls, not Oland. It was the absence of his son that had made him wild with grief. Oland’s cheeks burned at his confusion. Villius had been forced to confide in Wickham and Croft about Gideon. And that was why Wickham had killed Croft. To get rid of the only other person who knew. That meant Wickham could use the information to his advantage.

Oland was startled by an urgent hammering at the door.

“Master,” came a man’s voice. “Master!” He knocked on the door, over and over. “Master Ren! It is Draefus, sir. I come with good news! I have found what you have been searching for! Open up, open up!”

Oland retreated into the corner of the room. All went quiet at the door. Suddenly, the general appeared at the opposite window. Oland ducked behind a cabinet. Draefus knocked on the window.

“Master Ren!” he said. “I know you are suffering, but please. I must take your letter immediately. Your son is in a shocking state!”

Oland stayed in hiding as Draefus walked all around the house, banging on the windows and doors. Eventually, he left. Oland stared down at the writing desk. In a gesture as involuntary as the rise and fall of his pounding chest, he picked up the letter, folded it up and slipped it into his pocket.

From outside, Oland heard a desperate scream. He ran to the window. Draefus was lying face-down in the garden with Oland’s stolen knife buried in his back. Beside his body stood the newly liberated Frax, holding up a lantern, even though it was daylight. He waved it at Oland, smiling his black-tipped, tiny-toothed smile. His wings twitched.

“Your letter from King Micah was marvellous!” he shouted. “It caused Villius Ren much joy! He laughed and laughed at the idea of you doing anything of worth!”

Oland no longer cared about Villius Ren. He was dead and he could laugh no more.

“Speaking of worth,” said Frax, “I got these!” He set down the lantern and pulled a bag of gold coins from his pocket, shaking it, before putting it away again. “I saw you run across the garden!” he shouted, his tiny eyes bursting with excitement. “I came to see the screaming souls! I have found no trace of them! But I’ll settle for a screaming boy!”

The sun suddenly struck a shiny trail that stretched from just in front of Frax to the house. Frax picked up the lantern and rose into the air. He laughed as he released it. As it struck the oil below the flames shot so high, he brought his knees to his chest, before soaring into the sky.

Oland ran for the back door and searched the ring of keys for the right one. After three attempts he found it, his hand shaking as he unlocked the door. As he ran from the burning house, he realised that with Croft, Wickham and now Draefus dead, he was the only one alive who knew of the existence of Gideon Ren. Oland stopped running. He took the letter from his pocket, balled it up and threw it into the flames. He waited until it turned to ash.

As Oland made his way across the grounds of Castle Derrington, one thought plagued him, and he was sick to his core.

To deprive someone of a father is unpardonable.