A Ray of Hope

"And the life of us, hybrids is even more difficult. My mom was a swan and my father was a human. My mom was hunted when I was too young and my dad went for the revenge only to never come back."

Sylvia's chest moved, hearing that. She sympathised with Roma. She had a big family back home, but they never understood her, and never supported her in her goals. Yet she felt so much hurt by their negligence toward her.

She couldn't imagine what Roma must be feeling about not having a family at all.

Roma was more stronger than Sylvia, the latter realised. She was sad, yes! But she composed her quickly and continued in a straight voice.

"One thing led to another and I got stumbled upon this job about two years ago. It pays fine and I rented this place. It's not much but better than what I had before."

Sylvia nodded her head before finishing her soup. She felt Roma was expecting to share her life story with her, but Roma surprised her by saying.

"You don't need to tell me anything, but just your name. If you are hiding from them then there must be a solid reason for that."

That was when Sylvia realised that she hadn't yet given the girl her name.

"Oh, I am sorry! My name is Sylvia... Sylvia Ibsen."

Roma didn't know much about the witch families, so she only nodded her head with a smile, not recognising who Sylvia was.

"So Sylvia, I think you should rest for the night now. Tomorrow morning, we will think about a way to solve your problem.

You don't need to worry about those people coming here looking for you. Nobody suspected me. So you are safe here. Good night!"

That night Sylvia slept like a baby after staying awake for many nights. The morning arrived, but the grey clouds didn't allow the sun to show up in the sky.

Roma woke up early and got ready. She let Sylvia sleep for a while before getting breakfast for the two of them. She glanced outside through the window to see there was no bright daylight.

It looked like it would rain again at any moment and the chilliness in the air was still the same. She heard the light sounds of the morning rush outside.

A few carriages passed on the road not far from the building, and a few old ladies were out for early grocery shopping while wearing thick coats.

She checked the time to see it was half past six in the morning. She woke up Sylvia with light shakes. Sylvia woke up yawning. She had a great sleep last night and felt rejuvenated after the rest.

She freshened up and sat with Roma for breakfast. But as the sleep flew away from Sylvia's eyes, the reality began to sink in.

She realised that this place didn't belong to her and she had to leave it as soon as possible if she didn't want to get into trouble and pull Roma along with her.

"Sylvia"

Roma's call made Sylvia blink her eyes before focusing on her.

"I thought about your situation a lot last night." That one sentence made Sylvia realise that while she was fast asleep, Roma was awake thinking about her.

She felt gratitude in her chest for the young woman.

"And I have a solution to it. If only you are comfortable with it that is!" Roma added quickly.

"Of course, Roma. Please tell me. I am ready to take any chance for my safety."

"I have a relative, my uncle, in the small town to the west. Greenfield is a small town settled amidst the green forest. My uncle is a farmer there.

I will send him a message about your arrival with you. I will explain everything in that letter, and I am sure he will help you.

You can stay there as long as you want. Then you can think about your future with his help." Roma suggested.

But Sylvia's suspicion peeked in her mind despite her unwillingness to allow it.

"But you said you have no relatives."

Roma smiled, shaking her head lightly. "Yes, I don't. He is my late father's friend. When I was abandoned and was thrown into a life of dirt after my parent's death, he didn't give up on looking for me.

He found me after two years of prolonged search and arranged for a life I have today where I can live with my dignity."

"So he knows?"

Roma nodded her head. "Yes, he does. When my father married my mother, he told his best friend about who my mother was.

You didn't think I will send you to someone who can't handle your truth, now did you?"

Sylvia's shoulders relaxed a bit hearing that. After five minutes of pondering, she agreed. She had no other choice anyway.

Roma was excited that she could help Sylvia in any way. She wrote a letter to her uncle, explaining the whole situation of Sylvia to him.

She then packed a small bag for Sylvia with two pairs of dresses, warm clothes and some food to eat during the journey. She also handed Sylvia some money from her savings.

"Come on. I will help you find a ride to Greenfield."

The two women left the room at seven thirty in the morning. Sylvia wore a hat and had a thick scarf wrapped around her neck which hid her lower face. Her body was clad in a thick coat Roma had given her.

Her dark eyes were alert and were scanning the whole place. Roma was tensed too, but she tried to put up a smiling face as if she was not helping the most wanted witch of Larnwick.

Roma paused to greet a few familiar faces and introduced Sylvia as her friend whenever someone questioned.

About ten minutes of walking later, they reached the square where many carriages were waiting for their passengers. Roma's eyes wandered around to pick up the right ride, but most of the rides were already about to fill while others were not ready to travel far.

After some searching, she finally spotted an empty carriage.

"There! Come on." Roma dragged Sylvia by her hand toward that carriage.

The coachman was cleaning his horse while whistling, lost in his own thoughts.

"Excuse me," Roma's voice made him turn around and look at her.

"Yes?"

"My friend has to go to Greenfield. Is your carriage available?"

"Pardon Miss. But I already have a passenger. He has to go to the next town to the Greenfield."

Sylvia's face fell upon hearing that.

But Roma was not ready to give up just yet. "Then there is no problem. My friend will get down at Brynfield. It's on the way anyways."

"Yes, but you will need to ask the passenger if he is ready to share his ride with your friend. If he is then I don't mind some extra coins."

"Roma, I think we should look for another carriage," Sylvia said nervously.

"No, Sylvia. There aren't many carriages around here. And you have to leave before..." She trailed off.

But Sylvia didn't need her to complete her sentence.

"Where can I find this passenger?" Roma asked the coachman.

The man's eyes scanned around before pausing on a young man. "There he is." He pointed at him.

Sylvia was nervous about this whole thing. She didn't trust anyone, especially after last night. But Roma was not ready to listen to her.

"Wait here." She told Sylvia before she walked toward that man.

His back was facing Sylvia as he scribbled down something on the paper.

Sylvia watched as the man turned around after Roma called for his attention. The moment he turned around, Sylvia felt a shiver run down her spine.

That man was young, maybe twenty-five years old with blonde shiny hair. His blue eyes glinted under the daylight. He was one of the few handsome men she had ever seen.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Sylvia noticed his pearly white teeth. She was awestruck, looking at him for some weird reason that she didn't realise she was drooling over his masculine beauty until those blue orbs snapped up to look straight at her.

She quickly startled from her daze and turn her gaze another way, pretending she wasn't gaping at him a second ago.

Her cheeks burned as she felt his gaze on her. She didn't know what Roma was telling him or how she convinced him but ten minutes later the man was already inside the carriage and Sylvia's bag was loaded inside by the coachman.

She was ready to go now.

Sylvia's chest tightened as she felt overwhelmed with so many emotions. But she couldn't find the right words to voice them out as she stared back at Roma.

Roma held Sylvia's shoulders and said, "Don't worry about anything, Sylvia. I promise my uncle will definitely help you. Just be strong, okay?"

Sylvia pulled her into a hug and said, "Thank you, Roma! Thank you for everything! I will be waiting for you there. Please visit me soon."

"Of course, Sylvia. Take care!"

Five minutes later, Sylvia watched Roma's smiling face as she waved back at her until the carriage disappeared from her sight.

Up in the sky, she heard the sound of a raven accompanying the carriage.