Who is he?
I peer down across the distance, wishing I could get a sense of his scent, but the wind keeps whipping it away.
He has black hair and a tall, muscular physique similar to Father’s. His jaw is strong, his cheekbones high, and he has light brown skin. Hemighthave blue eyes but it’s difficult to tell from so far away and with the sun shining on his face.
He’s wearing simple clothing, certainly nothing so fancy as the garments worn by the other guests, but what’s no doubt concerning them is the weapon he carries in his right hand.
It consists of two sharp blades that sit on opposite sides of a pole that’s as tall as he is. One of the blades is curved, while the other is a solid spike that could be used like a dagger. Interestingly, rather than brandishing the weapon, he’s using it like a staff as he walks in Mother’s direction.
She, Father, and Aksel remain where they are near the tower’s base while he proceeds slowly toward them. They’re facing away from me, so I can’t see their expressions, but their posture indicates that they’re far more relaxed about the newcomer’s appearance than their guests are.
When the man reaches them, he takes a knee and lowers the weapon to the ground, but Mother quickly drops into a crouch opposite him.
I’m surprised when she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
By the way he stiffens, her gestures seem to have startled him too, but he relaxes into it, his arms slowly rising to hug her back.
As hard as I can, I listen for their voices, determined to isolate their speech from the wind.
“Thaden,” she says. “I’m glad you came.”
“I wasn’t sure if I should.”
The wind is against me. As powerful as my hearing is, their speech is like whispers, and I can’t be certain of their emotional states.
Briefly, I consider racing down the stairs to the base of the tower, but even at my quickest, it will take me a minute to reach the bottom, and there’s no telling what I’ll miss in the meantime.
“I can’t stay,” the man called Thaden says.
Mother pulls back a little. “Are you sure? It’s been so long.”
Her back is to me. I still can’t see her expression.
But the way he focuses on her tells me she must be searching his eyes, the same method she uses to pull the truth even from a dark creature like me.
For some reason, he breaks her gaze, his head tipping back a little.
He looks all the way up to the tower’s ledge, and for a moment, I’m certain he’s looking directly at me.
“I came to give Aksel and Charlotte a gift,” he says, even though his focus remains on me.
He does have blue eyes. I can see them now. They seem to shine with sadness and then, more powerfully, with peace.
He exhales deeply before his focus lowers to my mother again.
Slowly, he rises, drawing Mother to her feet at the same time.
Then he picks up the staff, carefully turning it horizontal before he holds it out to her.
“This halberd’s handle is made from the first tree that grew in my village after you banished the darkness,” he says. “Its blades are fashioned from steel that I honed for years. It will never rust, and with a little care, it will always remain sharp.”
“And this emblem?” Mother asks, a little more loudly this time, as if she wants the onlookers to hear her now.
I crane to see what she’s pointing at.
Thaden turns the weapon, the light catches the steel, and I can see what’s carved into the curved blade.
It’s a circular symbol. One side is a crescent moon, while the other side is splayed like the rays of the sun. I immediately recognize the two halves of the symbol—and I’m sure Mother did, too—even before Thaden explains.
