Lilith & Hunter: The Raven's Nest

Realization

It was the middle of the night now and yet sleep eluded me. After the discussion with Darius, I was left feeling lost. The more I thought about Hunter’s past the more my insecurities started to bubble up to the surface and the less likely I was of getting any rest. I had so many questions but nobody to ask them to. Had the emperor wanted me to know the true identity of Hunter’s father he would have told me. Why didn’t he want me to know? What would he do if he found out I knew? Would he try taking Hunter from me? 

So far emperor Belos has not spoken a single word to me about Hunter or his brother since the night he gave me Hunter. To be completely honest sometimes I feel like that night never happened. I tried giving him a report on how Hunter was doing a month after I brought him home and he acted like he had no idea who I was talking about. Months later I had pressed him for more information on his brother’s case but he dismissed me as if I was talking about something insignificant. My first thought was that he was afraid of discussing the subject in the castle even if it was only us two in the room. But in time I came to realize that he didn’t care if I investigated or not. He had never intended for me to find anything. That night he had only wanted someone to take Hunter without asking any questions. He even said it himself that's the reason he chose me to be his guardian. 

He knew I would do whatever he asked of me without a second thought. Even if it didn’t make any sense that he wouldn’t want me looking for this rebel group that was out to get him. I ended up convincing myself that it must have been his way of keeping Hunter safe. If I didn’t investigate whoever was behind the attack would leave me and Hunter alone. For months I held on to that belief but in time it faded. 

I hadn’t expressed the details of this to Darius but I had launched an extensive investigation into what happened to Hunter’s parents. One of the first things I tried doing was locating the house where everything occurred. I was sure that if I found it I would be able to find some clue that would set me on the right track. I was convinced that I would be able to find the group that did this and bring them to justice. Doing so would of course earn me favor with the emperor and I would be guaranteeing Hunter’s safety. Unfortunately after months of searching, I was not able to find the house that was mentioned in the report. Nor any house that had experienced a fire on the day of the attack. I had even looked into past fires thinking that emperor Belos must have had Hunter longer than he had originally let on. I looked at all fires on the isles from the day Hunter was born onward but I was unable to find any record of a fire matching the information I had. After learning that I started to suspect that emperor Belos had lied about the attack. 

At that moment I couldn’t imagine why he would lie to me about something like this. He knew he could trust me so why make up a story? My best guess was always that it was to keep me out of harm's way, therefore, protecting Hunter. Now that I know that the Golden Guard might have been Hunter’s father that theory no longer seems plausible.

The Golden Guard passed away months before the attack that had left Hunter an orphan. I can’t remember the exact day off the top of my head but I’m almost certain he died around the time Hunter was born. I’m not sure if Darius came to the same conclusion as I did but it’s unlikely seeing as I didn’t give him the exact dates of when the events took place. I hadn’t been trying to withhold information it’s just something I didn’t think about in the moment.  I was just so taken aback to learn about the Golden Guards' relationship to Hunter that I didn’t think about it. 

I can’t quite understand it myself but I had found comfort in not knowing Hunter’s biological parents.  Learning the true identity of his father was quite the shock. Even now I still can’t believe it. I know it’s just my own secret desires but I have this feeling I can’t shake that tells me that he wasn’t Hunter’s father. I saw the picture and I have the staff as proof yet it still feels wrong. Perhaps it's because part of me was holding on to the hope that emperor Belos would not have lied.