On Mount Alyppia

Father

"What?"
"He's your father."
Arista couldn't think. She couldn't think.
Assuntina frowned. "I... I thought you'd be excited. Happy."
Happy. Was she happy? Was she unhappy? "Why didn't he tell me?" she asked suddenly, looking up at Assuntina.
"I don't know," Assuntina muttered, looking uncomfortable. "He said he didn't know about you until he found you, when
"So that's why he helped me," she whispered.
Assuntina shrugged, winding a strand of hair around her thumb and biting her lip. "Are you alright?" she asked earnestly.
Arista shook her head, numb.
Assutina still looked concerned, but Gregor was waiting for them to begin. So she flashed her a smile and said, "tell me if you need anything." And then she was gone, sparring and swishing away without a second glance.
Arista stared ahead blankly, thoughts racing, sword forgotten in her lap. Her thoughts came too many, too quick, one barely forming before another popped into existence. Vivalius, the kind nymph from Alyppia who had griffins. Vivalius was her father. She had a father.
But if he knew why had he not told her? Why had he left her, all alone? No, no, she couldn't be angry about that. He hadn't known any more than she had. But at his house, he'd known. At his house on the cliffside, when she'd been injured and groggy and only half there. WHy hadn't he said anything? Maybe he didn't care much, and had only been kind to her out of a sense of duty. But he'd seemed so gentle, so genuine. Her father. THe nymph. Who hadn't said anything. Washe afraid? Would he come back?
Did he-- did he love her?
She pushed the thought away. It didn't matter. She didn't have time to waste on pondering such a worthless question. She never had, not in the fight-or-die world she lived in. She had to eat and drink and sleep, fing herself cloths and avoid kicks and fists. There wasn't anything else she had the luxury of worrying about. Besides, no one had ever loved her. It wasn't likely he would, even if he was her Father.
That night, as she had a habit of doing on the nichts that were hardest, Arista went and sat on the Kalte Bridge in the iddle of the city. No one went on it, since it had been built by nymphs and was thought to, but she didn't think it would harm a Lippian. She walked to the center of the ancient cobblestone bridge and sat onto the edge, legs dangling, staring at the rushing river below. She stared at the black waters for a long time, thinking. Then she got up and walked off the bridge. It was too late to make it back to her rooftop, so she curled up on a patch of grass with a mangy cat she befriended.

So I felt bad about not updating last week, so here is another short chapter.
Enjoy!
~Amanda