That is when both mom and dad bowed their heads down and I felt I should do the same and so I did. Skelige made big eyes as he listened to my father's plea for help and quickly jumped to hold his hand as he was not worthy of how we threw ourselves at his feet.
He held both my mom and dad's hands in his arms and with cheerful eyes and smile added:
'Such modesty I've never met in my entire life, our people's customs forbid throwing away an honorable guest especially when he cared for your home while you were away, I am indebted to you and no other way, my heart would kill me if I threw you out and I would be hunted for doing so by the very kin I keep close to my heart. I have a better offer for you. We will build together your own shack so that you can live with us.
We can't miss having such partners so close to our home. You are welcome to share our food and drink at our table. So I swear on my arm ring'
That's when he touched a golden ring around his arm that could be seen under his sleeve, it was a snake that went to bite his tail .
My parents were looking at each other in awe as they heard those words and it seemed as though they were keeping something to themselves, looking again back at him leaving no trace of what they were thinking about:
'We accept your offer; we are in dire need of a place to stay for a while. We've been through a lot as our house was burned down by raiders and we were chased off our estate . That day leaved a mark on our lives and we would really like to settle somewhere, peace and quiet is all that we need right now' my mother gracefully told Hathor.
'Good, then it's settled , I'd like to build this house myself, it should not take a very long time, in the mean time I invite you to stay at my sister's house in Vienna, I believe you ought to meet as we will be living together.'
The next day we found ourselves travelling with Hathor and his daughter on the back of his ox cart to the outskirts of Vienna. The road was rough for most of the journey but as we got closer we found a main road leading to town.
The sun light didn't left our side for the whole road as barely any clouds could be seen roaming around the horizon and the eventual deer that crossed our path .
Hathor and his daughter Hylda sat in the front of the cart while we enjoyed being together at the back. It was incredible to see that big black ox with huge horns pulling the cart as easily as I could pull a toy car around. It was slower than riding on a horse but more quiet and relaxing as the ox didn't let out any sound of struggle or pain and because of the clean road that we were on the ride was smooth and quiet.
While enjoying the view, Hathor looked behind with worry in his eyes which I clearly noticed as I quickly asked him if anything was wrong. He responded slowly barely after looking back at her daughter :
'I am afraid that you might reject us after finding out what we are, probably your parents have already realized what I am and made the decision whilst knowing that but your pure eyes worry me that I have to tell you for my daughters sake.
'I am a pagan, I worship the Norse Gods of Scandinavia and that it is the legacy of my family, we try to keep up to the old ways whilst adapting to the new way of life.
My sister abandoned our ways and became a Christian when she met a local duke near Vienna but when he died, she inherited one family estate of his and none of her children, and she still blames our ancestors for being born in this family.
She never wanted a modest life. I hope she will see you as I do. If not I will make sure she respects at least one tradition of our people.
But please don't fear me, we are not evil, all I have has been passed down from father to son for a thousand years. So please forgive me for keeping this from you. All I wanted was to keep Hylda safe, I won't allow her to endure what we endured when we were young, the persecution of the local church (at that moment Hathor quickly put his hand over his scar and looked down upon it).
We were put to trial as heretics, and treated as such with torture methods as old as my ancestors. My father tried to save us but was hanged quickly after, while we remained in that cursed church to answer for our sins, but not even one of us has forsaken our gods, even my sister .
We eventually escaped and settled far away in these woods close to the river so in case something happened we could escape quickly. I don't want my daughter to experience any of that because we are no longer savages, we are one flesh and blood with the Christians, that's why when my sister left our family to live with someone who demanded her to give up tradition and our gods, we were all mad, I am the last survivor because we stood up for our sister, the church again found us and all I could manage to save was my daughter.
My wife was the first one who got caught and then my brothers quickly followed .
Thank you for listening to my story, it's nice to tell someone of my past, it's a burden that got harder to bear over the years.'
We listened to his story and I watched closely my mom's reaction, I saw that mom showed signs of crying and took father in her arms and hid herself at his shoulder.
Father gave Skelige his full attention and listened to every bit of detail, acknowledging that the pain he endured was as worse if not worse than what happened to us. If I can't take the sight of my burning house off my mind I wonder how he sleeps at night.
Father responded to his story with our own telling him all we had to endure this winter, all we have lost and who we are and Hathor stopped the cart to turn back to dad and hold his hand in regret for what he heard
'You passed trials both of fire and of ice, and endured the savagery of the wilds, nature accepted all of you I saw it when I arrived. If someone entered my house, and was not accepted by the forest, you would have had rats and insects and all manner of creatures invade your home but you enjoyed your stay without a single intruder and as I came towards you yesterday I saw The Owl watching over you, she never did that before it was incredible. You are blessed by the gods mark my words.'
And as soon as he said those words he returned to steering the cart left and right across the open road.
We approached the mansion by sundown and could clearly see it in the distance, it was majestic, it was old, with marble columns and a big oak door, a pair of stairs led to the entrance and the façade was decorated with ornamental statues and flowery patterns, and its color was brownish red with the statues being pure white.
The roof was of a bright red with one angel statue on one end and another in the opposite end, one singing the flute and the other spear and shield looking upward ready to battle.
The sight of that mansion, reminded me back then of the type of people we managed not to become, lavish lifestyles and big mansions always bring bad people and bad blood between families.
There was no awe coming from us as we encountered houses like this, they don't impress us, they hide the madness inside.
As we got near the door, I could see two guards sitting next to it and opening it for us. The door opened and I saw a large set of stairs leading to the upper floor , it was garnished with a big ornamented red carpet with golden threads sewed onto the fabric and golden lions decoration on each step , two big statues welcomed us again, the same that I saw on the roof, the huge room shadowed us with an opening that led to the roof, the marble floor was decorated with mosaics of biblical scenes of angels and when I looked up towards the roof, the head of a lion met my eyes with ferocity as he stood proudly below the roof, his eyes had rubies whilst his teeth were coated in pure silver, his skin and fur were made out of marble.
Two big stained glass windows rose behind the stairs each with an angel on it, one with archangel Michael and the other window was covered in a red silken fabric and no light came from it, you could see that it was sealed shut from the other side with brick, we could not see what angel stood there but that stained glass window rose all the way up the second floor.
When I looked right I could see a door where one serving girl passed through and as the door was opened and closed me could see a big kitchen with people working.
Contrarily when I looked to the left there was no door but an arch leading to a conference room with a big wooden rectangular table that seemed to never end, behind that table a faint image of another stained glass could be seen, this time with the image of Lucifer's fall from heaven while another statue of an angel, this time covered in, once again, a red silk fabric, nothing could be seen but I just imagined it was another angel .
I wonder why would images of angels be hidden from view, as strange as that moment was it was just the beginning of an even stranger day.
Down the stairs came her, again red haired and pale skin just like Hylda but the eyes were both green and as she stood at a distance I could not see any details of her face but she wore a red dress with silver and gold threads decorating it, and a faint image of a pendant around her neck draw all attention from the small crosses that she had for earrings.
As she got closer I could see the red high heels and the noble way she moved her hips and her body, imposing her superiority over us while I could see more of her face as she got closer. Just like Hylda she had a small birth mark on her face but the freckles were just a decoration for her cheeks as her red lips and green eyes drew all attention from every detail of her face, her ears were hidden behind her wavy hair that went below her shoulders.
Her brother came in front of us to talk to her:
'It's good to see you again even if so little time has passed, I would like these people to live here with you while I finish their home near mine, I hope you would honor this and protect them as you would protect your own kin'.
She did not give a straight answer but first looked at us, at our clothes, at our scars and bruises and to our worried eyes. She proudly responded after a few seconds:
'I will care for them for as long as you need me don't worry brother. That is one tradition that I have not forsaken and never will, guest will always be welcomed here especially if my family vouches for them.'
As we listened to her a guard came and whispered in his ear something and looked at us, she then dismissed him and quickly responded:
'Please you are surely hungry from your journey, brother please stay here the night, the sun set and the road back is long, come have a seat'.
As we were showed to our table and the big room, we were waited by an army of servents putting the table on and setting us at the table.
The madam sat at the head of the table with Hathor at her right side and us at her left. She then made a sign to the servants to quickly bring the food.
In a few minutes two servants came bearing a roasted boar an put it in front of us, while others brought side dishes and soup, mashed potato, fried or baked, other brought different types of bread , and at the end came the wine and apple juice for me and Hylda.
And as the last servants left she rose to her feet and cheered us for being a guest to her home, it was all like a fairy tale. I've never ate so much my entire life but as months went by without me eating anything or eating rationed food, I couldn't control myself as I ate a little bit of everything, tasting every delight this house had to offer
We all fell in love with the food as we ate every last bit of it, my taste buds burst with joy after I finished eating. All the taste of grass and burnt rabbit washed off my tongue as I took the last bite. I saw the delight on my parents faces as we enjoyed the drinks we were given and the pleasure of saying our story to someone else.
It seemed that the lady was nicer than we first expected and our stay would be one like in fairytales and as we were getting ready to be escorted to our beds, the lady started to speak:
'It seems I have forgotten to present myself; My names is Astrid, Lady of Auhof, and I welcome you to our great estate, your will is my will and all your wishes will be followed with strict precision, you have my word'.
We all rose a cup in her name that night for her unmatched hospitality and the nice words he said to us. We were quickly showed to our rooms and Astrid and Hathor stayed back to talk, I could see her looking more serious at him than when we arrived ,I couldn't get anything from that distance and at that time it seemed to me unimportant and just a waste of time to linger on that as it was surely a family thing.
We climbed and climbed all the way to the second floor and as we passed the great statue of Archangel Michael I could see that at the right eye he had the begging of a small tear and he was not looking forward but looking to the left like was sorry for something that happened.
It's sad to see an angel in that position, they are beings of light and happiness but it seemed to me back then that they are a little bit human just like we are and they think and feel just like us.
My parents were taken to a room next to mine. When the serf opened the door to my room I was met with the bed in the middle, it was a big two person bed and a big red silken curtain behind it that it seemed like it was looking at the great city of Vienna and the show of lights that I have never seen before as all mom and that had at our home in Germany were candles and oil lamps.
On the right side it was a big wardrobe made out of black birch ,I can't imagine why such a large wardrobe was needed and even if something that big existed and when I turned away from that to the other side of the room I could see a beautiful desk with a small place for a candle on the middle, while I was enjoying all the things in this room I was struck by the white light of a full moon as it was passing through the ornamental cracks in the curtains.
The light that passed through was scarlet and beautiful as it made a flowery pattern on the bed and on the brown wooden floor. A maid came into my room and asked if I wanted a change of clothes before going to bet, she had dark skin and black curly short hair, with brown eyes and small lips and nose, it looked as if she was a princess and I asked for her name, she said her name is Maha and that she comes all the way from a land called Sahara in Africa.
I asked her if there is any good left in the world. She looked at me surprised but with a smile at the same time and sat next to me. She grabbed my hand and said:
'Good and evil are both oscillating and relative to the way we see those around us and yes milord there is still good in the world, look at Lady Astrid she has everything in her palm and she is not evil like any other noble. I was a slave not too long ago but Lady Astrid saw something in me and bought me from a slave trader and immediately set me free and offered me a job.
Even if you have just seen the bad in the world there is still much good to be seen and good worth exploring into.'
She then kissed me on my forehead and rose from near me, I didn't want her to leave and I held her with my hand, she looked at me and kneeled in front of me:
'I will come back, I promise, be patient milord.'
As soon as I left her hand Hathor barged in like a bull, all sweaty and agitated looking tirelessly for me and threw Maha away, she fell and nearly hit her head against the wardrobe, she rushed to my side and grabbed me by the hand
' Boy we have to leave! Now! There is no time to explain, I will go over the details after we've escaped, I curse my sister for what she's about to do, I can at least save you boy.
In short your mom and dad are prisoners and a squad of marines has been sent to get rid of you all, it will be a setup, all will die inside this mansion if I don't get you out, your parents are locked up I can't get them out and there are too many guards near that door and soon at yours. And you are coming too missy.'