A Forest On Fire

Eliseo Vargas

It should be made known that Abraham did not choose to become a hunter. He is a kind, gentle man at heart, and to kill creatures for the simple fact that they exist was absolutely unfathomable to him. His family had been hunters, as far as he knew, since the earliest documents he possessed of his ancestors- even the women. Abraham, perhaps because of his roots, tolerated what other hunters did, whether he liked it or not. He did not step in to stop it; he did not speak up against it. As long as he was not part of it, he was content.

But Abraham knew he was part of it.

He was part of it, no matter what he did. If he stayed on the sidelines, if he stepped into the fight, if he aided the hunters, if he protected the telé, no matter what he did, he was part of it. He had been part of it since his birth. His only living blood relatives were his cousins; they were no longer in Rousétte. The last time Abraham had heard of them, they were in Poland together, but they could be dead, for all he knew. Maribelle was the only active hunter in his immediate family. She wanted to train their children to be like her, to keep up the Volleh and Abêlone- that is, Maribelle's family- names. Abraham did not want to, but he loved her; so, he did not interrupt. He had faith that his children could make their own decisions when they were in the full swing of things.

That being said, Abraham did not like Émile. Émile was, in a sense, obsessed. He was obsessed with, as he put it, "purifying" Rousétte, if not the world. As to why he had such an intense inclination toward slaughtering telé'l, he did not know. Émile was a mystery to him, perchance to everyone. And, while Elliot rested at her own manor- for, in the months she was away, she had resumed her position as governor of Fluie-, the Governor had tasked Abraham, Lydia, and Merlin to find out what they could about Oliver and Victor, starting with Fortuê, where the roses laid on Delilah's grave had come from. Abraham knew where exactly to go, for the shop which sold the largest variety of roses in Fortuê was the one he had appeared beside after he left the candle shop, the one Raphael and Heidi had visited.

Personally, Abraham thought that going there was unnecessary, but, perhaps, they could find something of use. He trusted the Governor, and, after all, she was putting her very life on the line to help him. Abraham could not remember what he had done to earn this kind of repayment. Maybe he would ask Elliot about it sometime. Nevertheless, Abraham inside the carriage with Merlin, Lydia sat outside in the coachbox and guided the horses along. He knew very well that Lydia could predetermine where they could walk and suspected that the only reason she decided to lead them manually was so she didn't have to speak with him or Merlin. And on the subject of Merlin, his hand really had ended up needing to be amputated- what was left of it, anyway. Émile's rifle had done most of the work for the nurses. They said gangrene was the issue, but none of the others could be quite sure; they were not allowed to see Merlin before the decision was made. Merlin did not speak about it, understandably. 

Getting to the shop wasn't a problem for them; it was maneuvering throughout the crowd of people that was the challenge. Compared to other provinces as populous as Chlealiva, it was relatively small, smaller than even Fluie, which meant the streets were always usually crowded, especially in the marketplace. The rose shops were only open in the spring and summer, and they ran short of roses frequently; thus, there was somewhat of a rush to get them, considering a portion of the roses were being shipped overseas to other nations or else kept in Rousétte to be turned into oil and used in fragrances. But these behaviors were not without justification.

Chlealivian roses are the only beautiful things about the province, and, perhaps, the most beautiful things on the swampy island entirely. Their petals are most commonly a light, pastel pink, comparable to the gentle hue of a baby's blue eyes. They were so soft to the touch that many considered it to be- somewhat of an exaggeration- like feeling pieces of cloud. The petals were many, but they were spread apart, instead of bunched closely together. Pink was the most common and the most popular, but white and red Chlealivian roses were often bred and sold in addition to the pink. It was those, the red ones, that Elliot was after, the ones that had been laid on Delilah's grave.