Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Nineteen

Iris had spoken through a haze when Master Dyran had asked for her accounting of the mission. As she spoke, the rogue had done her best to map out what she'd heard Hench say --and how much vigor she'd put behind the words. And it all fell back to "He takes little girls." Whatever struggles Iris had gone through as a soldier, they seemed to pale in comparison to whatever it was that her mentor had dealt with.

After her recounting, Iris and Hench left the room. First, they were both completely silent. Once they'd reached a common room, Iris took a seat by Hench. She didn't even know why she stayed; she was too dumbfounded to even notice she'd instinctively stuck around the guardian. But she did. Hench didn't seem to mind.

The woman looked around for a minute, finding no one in her immediate vicinity. Rhalla spoke to Iris. "I apologize," she said. "I didn't mean to... lose it." She said thoughtfully and slowly, as if she'd tasted the words on her tongue before saying them.

Iris just looked back at her, still dazed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hench just stared, mouth set in a hard line.

Iris continued anyway. "You said in there that Baron Riasion took little girls." She paused, "He took you too. You were kidnapped... weren't you?"

It took the woman a minute to reply. "Yes," she finally said. "I was taken away from my home as a very young girl."

"You escaped. You got away," Iris said, a bit of innocence passing in her voice --as if she were trying to relieve the horrible feeling she bore for her mentor. The things Azabela and Kayde had said about Hench were suddenly started to make a little more sense. "I am so sorry. I... had no idea."

Hench took a breath. "You didn't know because I didn't tell you. And yes, thankfully, I got away."

"And came here?"

"Wasn't a direct path," Hench answered after a moment of thought. "But yes. Eventually, I came here. I was so weak... so soft... when I was taken. But now, the years have been gracious --have made me strong so I can help other people. The girl I was is gone now, and because of that, I will never be taken away again."

Iris nodded, a little more than disturbed at the thought of someone stealing a child. "What happened to your real parents? Did you ever go back tell them you were okay?"

Hench shook her head. "The last I heard, both my parents passed away. I never got the chance to talk to them again."

Iris shuddered again at the thought. "Any other immediate family? Any friends?"

"Aside from my son? Not really," Hench said, staring blankly across the room, quite deep in thought. "Just a sibling I didn't really talk to and a couple of friends... but that was a great many years ago now, I can't imagine they would still even care anymore about what happened to me. The Remorda Guardians are my family now, as you well know."

"Now, I'm no expert on the matter here," Iris began, "But you should probably let them know you're alive: your friends and your sibling. I'm sorry about your parents."

"Shit happens," Rhalla said, waving a hand in dismissal. "And eh, I doubt either remember me. No need to bother with it."

"Whatever you say," Iris conceded. "But you're kind of memorable, you know. I think you'd be surprised at how it would go."

"Eh, maybe," Hench said. Iris could tell the woman was no longer in the mood to talk about her past. Even still, the rogue was satisfied. After all, it was the most she'd gotten out of the mighty woman since she'd been here. "But it's dinner and I'm going to go get a drink because I sure as hell need one after all this. You can come, if you want."