Adoption

    Strom, Jierna, and Adaleine knelt before the figure that sat on a throne of bones. The torches lit the massive tent well, but still an aura of darkness lingered about the figure as he sat. Although her mother and father’s gaze stayed fixed to the ground, Adaleine’s youthful curiosity overtook her better judgement as she snuck several glances at the occupants of the tent. She saw men and women of all races, shapes, and sizes.

    Still a girl of only seven years, Adaleine did not understand her parents reaction to these people. They had traveled for days in the Veshimy Wastes and were running out of food and water. It was only by chance that they and come across the camp, and good fortune that the leader of the camp should grant them an audience so quickly. The gods had smiled upon them, they were saved. So why did her parents tremble in fear?

    As the figure on the throne stood, Adaleine stole one more glance.He didn’t wear a crown as she had expected and he wasn’t like any race her father had ever told her about. His skin was scaled and smokey grey in color. His face had sharp, angular features and looked like a mix of a reptile and a bird of prey. Atop his head were a number of small horns the color of teeth that had not been cleaned, and his eyes were yellow like dandelions. With every breath he took, a thin line of yellowish smoke rose from his nostrils.

    He paced back and forth for a few moments before speaking in a deep, commanding voice. “I am told that you wish to trade for food and water. Is that so?”

    “Yes my lord,” Strom responded, his voice trembling.

    “Then why do you come to me with nothing?” Still pacing, he looked down on the family with a mix of scorn and disdain. “My men have searched you belongings. There is nothing of value there. Perhaps I should have them search you more….. Closely.” A sly grin crept across his face as his eyes turned to Jierna and Adaleine.

    Several of the men in the tent let out a sinister chuckle. Strom grabbed his wife and daughter and pulled them close.

    “I.. I know we don’t have much, my lord. But I can work and… And my wife and daughter can cook and clean.” Strom stammered as the words struggled to leave his mouth fast enough.

    “Hahaha. Look around you. Does it look like we are short of working hands? Does it look like my men go hungry?” His tone grew increasingly irritated as he spoke. “No. You have nothing we need. But…. Perhaps….. Something I want.”

    “Please, great lord. I beg you, have mercy.” Jierna began to sob hysterically as she spoke. “We will pay any price you ask. Anything. But we must have supplies lest we die in the Wastes.”

    “Yes,” Strom added. “Anything you ask.”

    “Perhaps if you knew to whom you spoke you would not be so quick to offer so much. I am Falger Blacktongue and we are the Black Wind.” He said with a bow.

    “Slavers..” Strom said under his breath.

    “Yes. Slavers. And the most feared slavers to ever come from the Wastes if I do say so. And you would do well to remember that while you consider my offer.” Falger went back to the throne and sat, leaning forward. “I will give you enough food and water to make it anywhere you desire, even ensure your safe arrival. In exchange, I will have your daughter.”

    “I’ll not sell my daughter into slavery for some stale bread and a skin of water.” Strom struggled to contain his anger. Anger at the evil Falger represented and anger at himself for leading his family into his vile clutches.

    “Slavery?” Falger leaned back in his throne. “Oh no. Do you think me some monster who takes joy in enslaving creatures as precious as she?”

    Falger paused for a moment and gestured to his right. “No. I will have her as my wife.” As he spoke, two men came forth and placed an empty throne in the place where Falger gestured. “Her safety will be assured. She will live a life of privilege, eat the finest food, learn from the finest teachers. And you may live out your days knowing that she will be well cared for.” A mischievous grin crept across Falger’s face as he looked on in anticipation.

    “Or we can turn you all back into the Wastes, just as we found you?”

    “And we have your word that no harm will come to her?”

    “Strom, no!” Jierna objected in a hushed tone. “She is only a child.”

    “Better this than we watch her die in the Wastes, Jierna.”

    The couple looked into each other’s eyes for several long seconds when, at last, Jierna spoke. “Very well. But know that if any harm should befall her, may my ghost haunt you and your ancestors for eternity.”

    Falger clapped his hands together and stood. “Ferth, Igert. Escort my fiance to my tent and stand guard. If anyone disturbs her, kill them and place their head on a pike.”

    “Yes, my lord.” The two men pried Adaleine from her parents embrace and led her out of the tent.

    “My administrator, Aren, will see to your needs.” Falger left Strom and Jierna sobbing and defeated.

    The walk to Falger’s tent was uneventful. There were a few shouts from groups of men but a quick look from Ferth or Igert was enough to set them in the other direction. As Adaleine was led into the tent and sat down on cushioned lounge, she began to cry.

    “Aw, there sweety.” Igert sat down next to her and placed his massive arm around her. Adaleine had thought his arm could crush a man yet his embrace was as soft as clouds. “You’re one of us now. It’ll be alright. We’re not as bad as you think. You’ll see.”

    Igert was a massive man, a full head and shoulders above any other man in the Black Wind. He sat with his arm around Adaleine’s tiny frame for several hours, squeezing her gently every time she began to cry again. The pair sat on the lounge with no words as the man called Ferth sat at a small table near the entrance to the tent, listening for any sound of disturbance. Ferth had a wiry build, although not as physically imposing as Igert, he carried himself with the quiet confidence of a seasoned warrior.

    As the hour grew late and most of the encampment had settled down for the night, Falger entered the tent. With silent acknowledgment, Ferth and Igert departed. Now alone with his new fiance, Falger began to remove the leather armor he had been wearing over his clothes. Adaleine looked at him with youthful naivety, unsure how she should feel or react in this moment, the gravity of her situation completely lost to her consciousness.

    As he loosened his boots, Falger spoke. “Are you scared, young one?” Adaleine shook her head. “No? Miss your family?” The girl nodded sheepishly. “Ah but you have a new family now. All of those that you have seen in this camp are your family now.”

    “Are you a king?” Adaleine asked quietly.

    “Ah, you could say that.” Having removed his boots, Falger stood to face Adaleine directly. “Wherever I go, I am king of all that I see, for I serve no master and do no man’s bidding.”

    “Will I be your queen then?”

    “Alas, no. You may be A queen one day, but you will not be MY queen. You must master your own destiny just as I must master mine,” Falger paused. “....and your birth parents must master theirs.”

    Adaleine looked confused at his answer. “But I we are to be married then why will I not be your queen?”

    “Because we are not to be married.”

    “But you said..”

    Falger cut her off. “I know what I said. I do not expect you to understand this fully, but I am afraid that you have become a victim of fate’s cruel humor. You see, the Black Wind are not slavers and we do not take children as our brides. In fact, those crimes we punish with death.”

    “So, before, was all a lie?”

    “A test.. The Wastes are filled and surrounded by slavers who prey on the weak and desperate. We survive because these terrible men believe that we are worse. With every band of slaver scum we eradicate, our legend grows and they fear us even more. We cannot allow them to suspect otherwise, no matter the cost.

    “We have been quite successful at maintaining this charade. And one thing above all else has made this possible. Do you know what that one thing is?”

    Adaleine shook her head. She listened intently at what was, thus far, an intriguing story. She only wondered how much of it might be true.

    “Loyalty. Loyalty to a cause greater than one’s self.” Falger grew more animated as the discussion clearly excited him. “A loyalty that your birth parents lacked when they traded you for a few scraps of food. In time you will come to understand this. In time you will see what you see as a tragedy today, is the greatest kindness I could give.

    “Now, you must be tired and hungry. You may help yourself to anything at the table,” Falger gestured to a platter of breads and cheese as well as a pitcher of water. “When you are ready, you may sleep in the bed there. I do not need to sleep tonight. Should you need something, I will be through there.” Falger pointed to a doorway with a thick velvet curtain.

    With that, Falger picked up a thick leather-bound book and headed through the velvet curtain and into the next room.