Redeemed

Ch. 38

Hearing Dad's name come out of this stranger's mouth was shocking, to say the least, but made even more so by the fact that he apparently knew Dad when he was a teenager. Even I did not know what Dad's childhood had been like as he had never talked about it. He had told my brother and me stories about many other things, such as his reasons for fighting, how to be strong, and tales of the Prince, but whenever we asked for stories from when he was a kid, he would simply tweak our noses and say, "That's much too sad a story for this day."

Learning that Dad had come from a poor family, lost his parents, and turned to a life of crime in order to survive certainly fit the definition of a sad story.

But the rest of the story... I knew he had been in the Prince's army for many years, but I never knew how that came to be, assuming that he had been drafted without a choice. I never knew that he had been offered a second chance by joining the army or that he once had a different name.

"How do you know all of this about my father?" I repeated, my voice echoing against the cave walls.

'Your father and I are good friends," the voice replied. "We have known each other for many years." Are good friends? This man and my father must not have been that good of friends for him not to know my father was no longer in the present tense.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but Dad has been dead for three years." Just saying the words caused a lump to form in my throat and anger to boil in my stomach. "He died serving the Prince he so loved." The words came out more bitter than I had intended, but I was way past caring if I hurt this stranger's feelings.

I heard the man sigh, then the brush of hands on fabric, as if smoothing the wrinkles down. He must be taking this news harder than I thought.

"No, Thea, he is not dead but very much alive," the stranger said, a tinge of excitement coating his voice. "Indeed, he is more alive than ever before."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Even if I was blind, I obviously saw more than this man. "Don't tell me some drivel about how he lives on in me or was reincarnated as some bird or other such nonsense. Don't disrespect his memory like that." Tears rose again to my eyes, and I could do nothing against them running down my cheeks.

"Oh, Thea, there is much you do not yet see." The stranger's voice was so filled with compassion and empathy that I could clearly imagine his expression: downcast eyes, slight frown, worry wrinkles on the forehead. I wanted none of it.

At the same time, though, this man knew a side of Dad that was new to me. Even if this man had weird beliefs about what happened when someone died, it was nice to hear about my father again. Plus, there was not much to do but listen when I could not see. Since I could not exactly close my ears, I might as well try to steer the conversation to what I wanted to hear.

"How did you and my dad meet?"

"Your father met me that day his name changed. We have fought many battles side by side both on the battlefield and off."

"Off the battlefield? You make it sound as if this war is bigger than simply pitting one side against another until one is wiped out."

"Not all battles are fought with a sword. Sometimes, the biggest and most important battles occur inside with the heart."

Silence filled the cave as I let his words sink in. I became intensely aware of the beating of my own heart. What battles had it fought these past months? Many, I realized, and it was not in too good of shape.

Not to be outdone in importance, my stomach decided at that moment to let out an enormous roar sure to scare away all beasts within half a mile. Grimacing, I clutched it. A warm chuckle filled the air.