Twist of Fate

Chapter 13

Disclaimer for all three chapters of Chapter 13: Mentions of domestic abuse, alcoholism, rape, and death. I do not own any of these characters, except for the characters of 'Rae Locksley' and 'Eden Locksley.'

Rae Locksley had been conceived through an affair, a one-night stand with one of the soldiers fighting in the Ogre Wars after a visit to the town's tavern; too drunk to let the thought of a contraceptive cross their minds. Ultimately, Rae's conception was the reason Robin's father began to drink. The fire-like feeling of alcohol acted as the only way to cope with the situation. He wasn't so keen with the idea of fathering another child, and another man's child at that; had always been reluctant of the fact.

So much so, that growing up, Robin's father had always been barbaric and harsh towards Rae. As a newborn, if she began to cry, he would ignore her, leaving her in her cot to cry for hours, leaving a preteen Robin to feed her with the small amount of milk they could afford with the paltry sum of money their family obtained; their family-owned tavern acting as their only source of income.

Since the day Rae had been born, Robin, at the young age of thirteen, had felt this weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He felt the sudden need to protect and nurture the moment those tiny blue eyes had opened to meet his-- bright and filled with love.

It wasn't until hours after his sister's birth that Eden Locksley, Robin's mother, had told Robin of his sister's namesake. It was her eyes, his mother told him. The way they followed an object around the room with a certain grace and elegance. The way their bright blue coloration never ceased to illuminate someone with a small spark of hope.

This led to her middle name.

Grace; for Robin, it was a nickname of sorts.

The fact that that was exactly what Rae's name had meant, had made it all the better fitting.

Since the day she had been born, Robin mentally vowed that he would protect his sister as long as he drew breath. He vowed that he would make certain that she would never turn dark, would never veer astray of the path of truthfulness, righteousness, honesty, and benevolence, and never stray into darkness. Because that is what his mother taught him as a young boy. 

To believe in family.

To be truthful, righteous, and good. The three traits that made a benevolent leader, a man of goodness, and Robin believed in these traits with all his heart.

However his father did not possess any of these traits. His father was but a drunken man addicted to the fire-filled burning sensation that bottle after bottle of whiskey left in his throat. He was but a man who had no sense of love, no sense of family. A man who went against all of Robin's beliefs in the goodness of others. He was a man who performed acts that were hate-filled beyond words; spewing profanities towards his children and domestically abusing his wife. 

Arlan Locksley was the epitome of malevolence, and Robin was disgusted, he was fed up with his father's unjust acts of hatred, always had been, always would be.

Which is where they were now.

Robin, now at the matured age of nineteen, laid in his bed, staring up at the dark ceiling of his bedroom, listening to the bickered yelling of his parents from across the hall. They had been in the kitchen all night arguing; Robin could tell his father had had a few drinks, as he heard the slur of his father's speech, and the constant slosh of the bottle of whiskey in his father's hand as he threw back gulp after gulp. 

"The tavern is long gone, Arlan. We're behind on rent, there are no more customers save the soldiers that come from battle, lonely and deprived of drink, you know that."