Morien

For a moment, Morien could scarcely comprehend. He had chased his father to a new land, a task that his mother thought was pure folly and yet here he was. Here among the new city being built, his father had come to him. In Sarras, Morien had begun to build a home and a reputation. It seems that the latter had found his father before he could. Now Algovale stood before him, flanked by soldiers at the ready. It gave Morien a shiver just to think of it, but he was not afraid. How could he be afraid? His father would be with him.

"Hello, father." Morien's voice was surprisingly steady as he took his father's hand.

Algovale's eyes seemed to soften as he looked at his son.

"Morien..." his voice was a whisper, a half forgotten memory of the voice that Morien could still hear in the back of his mind.

Algovale stepped forward and placed a hand on Morien's shoulder. "My son," he said, his voice was a whisper, "you have grown so much."

"It has been so long since I have seen you," Morien said, his voice still low. "I thought... I thought you had forgotten about me."

"I am sorry that I could not be there for you, for your mother, for all that you've lost. I wanted to... to..." Algovale closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Wanted to seek new fields? New thrills? You abandoned our family. My mother." Morien's eyes were hard as flint. "Your son."

"Morien," Algovale's voice broke as he spoke. "The stories you heard, they are not true."

A cold rage filled Morien. This was not how he had expected their reunion to go. This was not how he had expected to feel. Here was the man that he had traveled so far to find, who seemed to appear and disappear at will, now come to him like a shadow in the night. This was the father that he dreamed of, the father that would take him as a squire, would teach him sword and shield, but here he was, breaking his trust and his heart in one fell swoop. His fists clenched, and his jaw set. His voice came out in a growl.

"I heard stories of a restless knight full of wanderlust. Who wanted to fight and conquer and lust and could never allow himself to commit to one place or one woman. Who never had enough."

"Wanderlust?" Algovale's voice was a whisper. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "No, Morien, no. It wasn't like that. And besides, that old life is gone forever." He hung his head.

Morien's mouth gaped open, and his thoughts raced. He felt his anger swell up inside of him, swelling like a tide, threatening to drown him.

"What do you mean, that old life is gone?" Morien's voice was hard, his jaw clenched tight. "You're the same man that you were before, you're still going after the next challenge, the next adventure. The only difference is that you're further from home, you've got new places to leave your mark."

"No!" Algovale shook his head, and he began to pace. "The stories... they are not true, but they are not untrue either. My wanderlust is gone." He placed a hand on his chest. A pained look crossed his face, and he seemed to look inward for a moment.

"I left you and your mother," Algovale said, his voice a whisper, "because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe."

His voice grew stronger. "It was the first step on a path that I never thought I'd return from. At first, I thought I could escape it, but it kept finding me. I could not be rid of it, and it began to consume me."

"You could have returned to us," Morien said, his voice a whisper. "You could have been here for us. You could have been a great father, a great husband, you could have been..." He stopped, shaking his head. "You could have been a great man."

"I could have but I am not. I am sorry, Morien. Please, please forgive me." The lines of the older man's face seemed to take on an even deeper appearance as he braced himself. "But it has brought me here, to this place and to this other, greater calling. I have taken up the task of protecting this king and this city, and it is my responsibility to keep them safe, to build them up, to support Astlabor as he builds a new bastion of civilization."

"But at what cost, father?" Morien's voice was dark. "Is this your answer to abandoning us?"

"No," Algovale said, shaking his head, "it is not. But my love for you and your mother was my inspiration for it. All that I've done since then, it's all for you."

"For me? How could you think that tearing your family apart would be for my sake, that it would make me happy? That I would want to be your son when I could not see you or even talk to you?"

A crowd was beginning to gather around the two. Some of them had come to see a fight, but others had come to see who was speaking. There were a few people that Morien thought he recognized from the town, but he couldn't be sure. He tried to ignore them, but he could feel the whispers starting.

"I was brave once," Algovale said, and he turned toward Morien, "I was strong. I was angry. And I thought myself a hero. I went off to fight in the wars, fought in the crusade, I slew the wicked and the vile and the black hearted alike. I returned home with golden coins and tales of the far off lands that I had seen."

He fell silent for a moment, and a cloud seemed to pass over his face. "But a man like that makes enemies. Enemies that he must sometimes be smart enough to flee from. And when I saw your mother, when I fell in love with her, I was weak."

"Weak?" Morien's voice was soft, and he took a step toward his father and then stood still. "I do not understand."

"I was weak, Morien," Algovale said, and he looked down to the ground. "Not strong, and I was afraid of my weakness. I was afraid that I would lose her, that I was not worthy of her."

"So you left," Morien said, and his voice was as dark as a storm cloud. "Your cowardice was greater than love."

A bitter smile passed over Algovale's face. "I am not a coward, Morien. I would have gladly died for your mother. I would have gladly given up my life for you. But the enemies I made were not the kind to simply stop there. They were the kind to take an torture every piece of every thing that you loved before they killed you."

"So I left," Algovale said, and he hung his head.

Morien stared hard at his father. His mind raced. He didn't know what to say, what to do. He had been on the hunt for this man for so long and now that he had found him, they didn't know what to do with each other.

Finally, Morien stepped forward and put a hand on his father's shoulder. "Maybe it is not too late. Maybe you can still be a father to me. I will help you. I will learn from you. I will be your squire and your son, but you must be there for me first, and you must protect the ones that you love, no matter what."

"I will," Algovale said, and he walked forward, wrapped his arms around his son. "I will."

Morien stood there and let the tears pour down his cheeks. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He felt as if a door had been opened again, and a new journey began.

He felt his father pat him on the back. "You are my son, Morien de Galis."

Morien stepped back and wiped his tears away. "Well, then," he said, "we have work to do together."

"Yes," Algovale said, and he smiled, "let's begin."