Chapter Text
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The Duke came across you near the Village a year or so before everything went to Hell. You’d been wandering around aimlessly looking for shelter before a snow storm hit. The portly man’s owl form had spotted you through the trees and saw you were mighty far from the village or any house. He’d taken pity on you and invited you to warm yourself in his carriage.
You’d offered up the only thing of worth you’d had on you at the time, just a couple fish fillets, as thanks for helping you out of the freezing cold. The Duke graciously accepted your gift and told you it was no problem but was curious as to why you were out wandering alone so late in such unhospitable weather. He noticed the forlorn expression on your face as quietly you explained that you’d had nowhere else to go.
After a bit of prodding from the man you’d elaborated that two years previous you’d left the Village to attend higher schooling, despite knowing Mother Miranda didn’t like her followers leaving the ‘safety’ of her Village. Your father had been furious (he’d always been a blind follower to Mother Miranda..) and told you if you left then he wouldn’t welcome you back. You’d left anyways and your father stopped speaking to you. He’d ignored all letters you sent him, and you weren’t even sure he was opening them or just tossing them in the fire for kindling.
But a few months ago you’d returned to the village after getting news of your father’s passing. You weren’t horribly shocked. He wasn’t the most healthy man, what with the amount of cigars and liquor he indulged in. And your mother was long gone while you were an only child, so of course you inherited your father’s house. Your schooling had ended so you’d been living alone in your father’s home. Feeling extra alone after you noticed none of the villagers seemed to want anything to do with you, even hurling insults at you in some of the more hateful ones’ cases.
And when you’d gone to pick up some fish from the market you’d caught the scent of smoke on the way back. Then you’d seen the tower of dark smoke in the distance… coming right from where your home was. You’d sprinted home and were horrified to see your family home burning to the ground. You cried for help as you tried to see if there was any way to get in to save anything, but the flames were too hot and your cries went ignored. You had to watch as the home you grew up in along with everything you owned was turned to ash.
You cried there in the snow, for everything you lost, both physical and sentimental. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, none of your fellow villagers reached out to help you. It seemed they wanted nothing to do with you either after the years of your father bad-mouthing you. You guessed they didn’t want to risk catching Mother Miranda’s ire by helping a ‘deserter’. Some of the younger villagers looked at you in pity but made no move to go against the path their parents had chosen. So with nowhere to go and nothing tying you to the village you just left and started wandering to look for somewhere to stay.
And after almost a day of aimless roaming the Duke found you and gave you shelter, showing you more kindness in that moment than your entire village had shown you in months.
~
Hearing your unfortunate tale filled the Duke with sympathy. He knew the villagers for the most part were pretty brainwashed by Mother Miranda’s influence. But it was sad to see they all so willingly abandoned one of their own so casually. Knowing you had nowhere to go and no one to turn to the large man stroked his cleanly shaved chin while humming, then he smiled and asked you a question you didn’t see coming,
“How would you like to work for me? I’ve been meaning to acquire an assistant for some time now. You would travel with me and help while I make my deals and trades. You could be fairly compensated for your work, of course.”
You blinked in shock, not seeing that coming, but you weren’t so foolish as to look a gift horse in the mouth. You’d have somewhere to stay, get to travel around, and also get a nice paycheck. It sounded wonderful, so with a cute amount of excitement you nodded and agreed to work for the Duke. He gave a laugh, amused by your energy, and welcomed you aboard his business. You would start tomorrow, bright and early.
And you couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for you.
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