Chapter 2 - Leaving

The spots on the ceiling were silent. They had always comforted her, watching over her while she slept. Laehry imagined they were the wise, old eyes of the pine trees long-ago cut for the construction of the Midwood home. Laehry's father had built this house with the help of some villagers when they first came to Riversend.

Laehry turned over on her side and hugged her damp pillow. She didn't have any tears left. Even her mother in her bedroom down the hall had stopped quietly sobbing.

He's not dead, Laehry thought. She felt in her heart that her father was somewhere in great danger, but he wasn't dead. And now, no one was looking for him.

She stared up at those knots, searching for an answer. Finally, she dropped into a restless sleep.

"Laehry, are you in bed?" a deep voice spoke behind the door.

"Yes, Papa. I just finished dressing," she replied, diving beneath the covers.

Her tall papa stepped into the room. His blond hair was rumpled and dark half-moons of fatigue showed under his eyes. Fort Midwood had come home today from a month-long journey canvassing the country, trading their farm's meager produce for supplies they would need for the winter.

"Princess, it's time we had a talk." He sat down next to her on the bed. "Soon you'll be turning thirteen. I can hardly believe how you've grown in these short years. You're nearly a young woman, now." A smile spread across her father's weary face.

"I remember the night you were born - how you screamed! It was as if you were angry to have been taken from your peace and quiet in your mother's womb. You were only calmed when we took you outside. There, you must have decided that the tall fir trees and star-swept skies were reason enough to stay." He tilted back his head and gazed at the ceiling. Laehry knew that her father was not looking for answers in the knotty pine, as she so often did. He was instead seeing some far off place - the mythical place of her birth where her family had come from.

"Papa, where was I born?" Laehry asked.

"You, my darling, were born a princess in a castle in a land far, far away," her father replied, his eyes twinkling.

"No, Papa! Where was I really born?" Laehry was impatient. This was the answer he always gave. She wanted the truth!

"I've told you, my love." He took her hand gently and his blue eyes met hers. "This is what I wish to speak of tonight. Your life will require great bravery and daring. You must keep your wits about you at all times, for there are those already afoot who wish all of us evil." His eyes grew somber as he gazed past her out the window. "I have a gift for you. I want you to keep it with you at all times from this moment on." He reached down and Laehry saw that he had brought a small wooden box with him. He drew back the lid and handed Laehry what was inside.

A heavy dagger, no more than ten inches long, lay in her hands. Four round, polished red stones ran in increasing size from the hilt to the end of the handle like drops of blood. With great effort, Laehry turned her eyes to her father.

"These are jewels," she stammered. She had never seen real jewels before, yet these stones sparkled with a clarity that belied their value. "We're so poor. Why do we have a dagger with a jeweled hilt? Shouldn't we sell it to pay off the farm?"

"This dagger is your only link, aside from your mother and I, to your heritage. Use it bravely and wisely and never let it part from you from this day forward." Her father again reached down beside him and withdrew a thin leather strap. "Wear this around your calf just below your knee. The dagger will always stand ready for you, yet the [dagger holder] will allow you to go about your everyday business without much thought to it."

"But, Papa, I don't need a dagger and we need the money so badly!" Laehry's fingers caressed the stones.

"My dear child, I cannot tell you what you will face. You will have to find that out on your own. Yet I can promise you that you will have need of the dagger someday."

"But, Papa!" Laehry protested. She knew they needed the money, yet the desire to keep the dagger grew outward from the pit of her stomach.

"Goodnight, my Princess," murmured her father as he bent to kiss her forehead. "It will all become clear in time."

Laehry watched her father leave the room, pulling the door shut behind him. She knelt close to the candle to examine the dagger. Below the four jewels, carved in flowery script were the words "Kingdom of Midra". Midra? Laehry thought. It doesn't exist anymore. The children in the village told stories about Midra and how, many years ago, evil swept over the small country, swallowing it up. Now, it was said that large beasts had come out of the water to roam the land, doing the bidding of their master, Lord Meldrum. Laehry had never had much time for fairy tales and legends, but now she was curious.

She climbed back into bed, placed the dagger safely under her pillow, and curled the down comforter around her against the cold spring night. Tomorrow she would ask her father more.

Tears slid down Laehry's cheeks as she made her decision. Reaching under her pillow for the dagger, she silently climbed out of bed and dressed. Creeping down to the kitchen, she packed some bread, dried sausages, and a skin full of water in her school rucksack. She scribbled a note to her mother on a scrap of parchment she found tucked in her mother's desk:

Dear Mama,
I've gone to save Papa. I'll come back soon.
Love your,

Laehry

The front door squeaked just a little as she pulled it shut behind her and stepped into the moonlit road.