3 Chapter 2: The Courier

Ah, yes. The letter.

I was so young back then. Just a boy really, not even yet on the cusp of manhood. Maybe all of twelve or thirteen years old, barely even the ghost of a hair on my chest. I was just coming into the start of a man's body when the summons arrived by the Duke's courier. A thickly bound letter bearing the silver seal of the Lord of Vanderly Castle upon it. It wasn't really a letter at all, but at the time I had no other word for it.

You must understand, the Lord of Vanderly Castle was a man for whom many ill-founded rumors abounded, and the very presence of his man on our property was cause for much concern. Many of which I would investigate throughout my life, though most I managed to examine to the conclusion were false. This, I assure you. The man was no Saint and had never claimed to be, but he was no monster either. Those rumors bred on the man's desire to experience the freedom of anonymity, and he went to great lengths to conceal his presence and preserve his privacy. It was that man's servant who came to our farm on that day, bearing dark tidings within those sealed orders.

Of the servant himself, there was little worth nothing save for his exhaustion. He was a young man, not much older than I had been at the time. Though his eyes had that aged look of having seen too much too soon. He had the look of the road upon him, covered in thick layers of dust and smelling heavily of a harsh pace to deliver his burden. Whatever envy I had for the couriers ended that day upon seeing him in such a miserable and dreadful state. Whatever luxuries the couriers might be afforded, I realized that day came with a price. Whatever became of him, I could only guess, though in hindsight, he probably died somewhere down the road from exhaustion, sickness, or both. It really doesn't matter at this point. It was a lifetime ago.

The look my father gave my mother when he collected the summons was one I shall never forget. The anticipation of fear of the contents of the orders rather than actual fear itself. We all knew the courier had traveled by horse rather than by carriage. This was a sign of the gravity of the contents of the letter. No one rushes to send bad news. Even now, I find it odd I can remember this small detail, but of my mother's face, I can remember nothing, only that she smelled of lavender and lemongrass and deserved far more than the fate that eventually befell her.

My father and my brothers knew the contents of the sealed orders would be devastating to our family, and for that reason, they sent my sobbing mother and terrified sister away. However, I was allowed to stay with them, young as I was. I would still be expected to fulfill a man's burden. My father opened the seal under the watchful eyes of the exhausted courier who needed to verify with his own eyes that the contents within had been read. Such was the importance of the duty placed upon him.

Though I had been allowed to stay, the contents of the orders had not been divulged to me. It would be many days before the truth would be revealed to me. My father only took my eldest brother into confidence. I remember watching as both of them furrowed their brows in worry as they whispered between each other. Whatever they had read bore ill tidings. The concern was etched into their faces. When my father realized my other brothers and I were still waiting around, he quickly dismissed us. And I, I was ordered to tend to the courier's horse despite the man's protests about needing to get on the road. I imagine that sense of haste was likely his undoing in doing in the long run. The life of a courier was after all inherently dangerous, as a hunter of monsters I feel I can say this with expertise.

It was not till later as I fed the courier's horse our feedstock did I notice the bags that hung heavy from the horse's sides. Bags full of identical letters with the same seal of Vanderly Castle. Whatever was happening, I knew it to be of grim importance. The country was not an easy place to navigate, and this courier was duty-bound to deliver the orders to every homestead within our small part of the kingdom.

It took the horse only a few minutes to finish off the feed of hay and water I had fetched it before the courier set off down the road to deliver the same summons to the other nearby families. As soon as the courier set off, we prepared to do the same. My eldest brother became all of the tyrant as we quickly packed for the road without tarrying.

Whilst my eldest brother and father quickly hurried us out of our home to head to the east towards Vanderlay Castle, my mother and sister would be heading North to stay with her brother for a time. My father reasoned it would be safer for them up there in our absence. We had no way of knowing or even guessing how wrong that assumption would be.

The five of us watched as my mother and sister took off on horseback down the road, leaving our little farmhouse behind. I could not help but feel the finality of the moment. I hated that with time, that feeling was proven justified. It was the last I would see my sister alive.