Chapter Text
She lived alone in her world. Outside her room were nothing but loud noises, hurtful people, and strange looks. Imogen blamed it on her father, though it could be her fault. Her father always told her it was her fault. It’s been over 18 years since she lived in this small town and ten years without her mother. Her father got a lot louder and more demanding since Liliana left, and he would barely tell Imogen why she left. At this point, Imogen has dropped it altogether. From what she’s gathered, they didn’t separate in a lovers quarrel, but neither she nor her father knows if she will ever return, or in the worst case if she’s dead.
Imogen has learned to live with this all, including a gift she developed as a child. At first, she thought it was special, but her father has shut it down completely. The power was the ability to peer into people’s minds and hear what they are thinking. It quickly got upsetting to hear what people didn’t say out loud; even the good thoughts made her uncomfortable. It always felt wrong, and she hated doing it, but it was involuntary. Though she always tries her best not to, it’s gotten a bit easier over the years. Whether that is because she no longer sees many people, or maybe she does have better control of it.
It is just her, her father Relvin, and their many animals at home. That part was excellent, Imogen loved tending to the horses. Those were her friends, her lovely mares, and one stallion. There were other farm animals, but for some reason, Imogen always gravitated to the horses. Luckily her dad let that be her focus as well. That was her primary job daily, tending to them—no complaints from her.
Her father did the farming, and they grew a lot of crops. Their land was pretty large, and they sold their goods in Gelvaan. Imogen used to go with her father to sell things but hasn’t gone in nearly a year. Which was crazy to think about, but it was true. It was easier for the both of them, and sometimes people could tell Imogen was peering into their minds. Not only was it embarrassing to her father, but it was also embarrassing to her.
Despite everything, Imogen and her father still ate meals together every day. They usually wouldn’t talk, only the occasional thing if either had anything to say about the farm.
“I got an offer today that I am taking,” her father started as they ate dinner. “A woman was in town today looking for a family who would sponsor another family from Whitestone in Tal’dorei. They said the family was good farm hands and that the Lord and Lady from Whitestone would send them with animals and goods. The Lords were looking to extend their reach and be in good relations with the people in Marquet.”
Imogen stared at him, confused. She had a hundred questions. Maybe as a kid having another family come sounded exciting but now? A family joining them would be terrible. “Why?” She muttered out. It was a dumb question, and she knew she shouldn’t have said it.
“Because we can get help paid by a lord of another city? It would be a great honor and give us a better reputation in this town. Why would I say no, Imogen?” She was silent. Imogen knew not to reply.
“That is what I thought,” he continued. “It’s a man, woman, and a child, but she’s your age, so another woman. So I’m giving them the small unfinished house near the barn. They are coming next month, as they need to take a boat and then carts to get here. So I’ll be working on the house until then, and you will tend to the animals.”
Imogen had about a thousand things to say but kept quiet and looked down at her food. She didn’t want to pry, but her father’s thoughts drifted into her mind at such a painful and worrying moment. It was calling out that it was true, he just wanted honor back to their name. The town knew the Temult’s as weird outcasts. But Imogen couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“What about… my problem?” she asked, still heavily avoiding eye contact with the man across from her.
“Just don’t scare them away,” he replied. Like it was that easy.
They ate in silence for the rest of the meal. Imogen started getting a migraine. When she was feeling emotional, it was harder to control her power. It was so straining to keep her father’s thoughts out. Once finished, she cleaned the plates and headed outside to tend to the animals and bring them in for the night. The last animal she let inside was her favorite mare, Flora.
She got all the animals into their stalls and Imogen knew she was about to spend too much time here. Imogen didn’t have human friends, but she had her best friend Flora. It was sad, Imogen was already crying as she hugged Flora’s long snout. “Why? Why does he think this will even fit us? A whole family? I don’t want more people here.” Imogen was sniffling through the words, snot dripping onto Flora. “I’m sorry,” Imogen said to her and grabbed a rag to clean off Flora. The mare simply stood there, but happily let Imogen cry and hug her.
“What if they are bad people? My dad doesn’t even know them. I can’t believe he would do something like this,” Imogen looked deep into Flora’s eyes, maybe wanting a reply that would never come. “What if they hurt you, Flora?” This made Imogen wince, she couldn’t stand the thought. It made her cry harder again. Flora finally huffed and slightly nudged out of Imogen's hug. “Sorry Flora. I know I’m overreacting, it’s just scary.” The thought stayed in her mind. She had a month to mentally prepare for this, not that Imogen thought she could ever mentally prepare for this.
As the few weeks went on Imogen did slightly get used to the idea. Mostly she was excited to have more farm hands, even if they were bringing new animals. She just hoped she didn’t embarrass herself or peer too deeply into their minds. Imogen went to town a couple of times this past week to remember what it was like to be near people and how to block their thoughts. It was overwhelming, but she needed practice. At first, it was terrible again, but as she got closer to the heart of the town, she could hear all the roaring voices. When she first had this power, it was only bad when she heard someone saying something rude in their head. But then she would hear inappropriate thoughts and those were almost worse. Then she started hating even the happy thoughts, ones of families who loved each other. All the thoughts bothered her, and she had to work on her resistance. By the end of this month, it was better, she could tune out a lot of them, and was even improved at tuning out her dad.
The scariest part of the new family was the woman her age, what would she be like? Finally, Imogen got their names from her father. The Hallow family, and their daughter Laudna. There was no description of what they looked like, her father said they were human though. It would have been exciting to meet some different folk, but humans were okay of course. Her father also did touch up the unfinished house pretty well, though he kept some unfinished so the new family could “add their flare to it” but Imogen believed he just didn’t want to finish it himself. Imogen worried about her powers but also worried her father would bother this new family as well. Though she knew damn well he was a lot harsher to her than others, when they are in town he acts fine. But this family will be by them a lot.
Tomorrow was the day the family arrived. Imogen couldn’t sleep, it was mostly fear. Maybe, just maybe, she was excited to meet these new people. They would have no impressions of her and don’t even know her powers. They could be kind and forgiving people. They could also be terrible. It still scared her, the thought of them being wrong. She also still hated this idea, why did this have to happen? Laudna made her worry the most, a woman her age. Again she tossed in her bed, it was going to be a long and painful day tomorrow.
It was a sunny afternoon, a young woman sat under the Sun Tree eating lunch. This was Laudna’s favorite spot to eat and people-watch. Though most Whitestone residents heavily avoided her gaze and walked a distance from the tree when Laudna was taking her lunch break. She knew that she needed to be off the tree within the next hour though. The Lord and Lady were making their way down to the city to make a public announcement. Laudna was always excited to see the royalty and never missed when they came to town. Her parents were even coming this time, mostly because this was one of the few where they demanded every citizen arrive.
Families were not allowed to leave Whitestone. Merchants were allowed in, but if you settled here, you were stuck. There were rumors of people who left that ended up dying. So no one dared leave. Though every so often the Briarwoods would allow for families to leave. But so they could spread the grace of the Lord and Lady to bring more people back to Whitestone. This was the rumored endless cycle since De Rolo’s passing. Maybe people debated if being able to leave was a good or bad thing. As far as they knew the people who got to leave continued to live. Laudna sometimes dreamed of being able to leave this city and its rude people.
Laudna listened to these rumors by eavesdropping, as she didn’t have many people to theorize with. She had none. Most people in Whitestone avoided Laudna Hollow. It was known she had sorcery powers, and a small number of people were born with them. But maybe because Launda was so loud and proud with hers it turned people away. For a while, she went to Whitestone’s school, but it didn't end great though. There is a lot of shit Laudna can handle, she’s been called so many names. But one day this other little girl pushed her to the ground, and then kicked her. It was just self-defense when Laudna cast frost which when the little girl hit it broke her foot. This only led the kids to bully her more and shun her.
From then she left school and worked on a farm near the outskirts of the city. There was an older couple who didn’t judge Laudna, but they obviously weren’t Laudna’s age so didn’t care about the same things she did. But they were nice to her and that’s all that mattered.
More people were coming to the Sun Tree and Launda stayed near the front. She liked these events even though some people looked scared. Delilah was a gorgeous woman, and Silas was just as attractive. Laudna wasn’t really into cheesy love stories but she hoped to someday have a love like those two. They were always by each other’s side. The crowd got larger and Laudna debated staying upfront or going closer to her parents who were more likely waiting in the back. With so many people in Whitestone, it became a bit crowded to where people needed to stand next to Laudna and she happily greeted them. Some replied, and some turned the other way.
Finally, it was time and the crowd parted as the Briarwoods made their way in front of the Sun Tree to greet their people.
“Gentlefolk, we are pleased to be here speaking to you all again,” Silas’ deep voice poured out. “Today we will be announcing the next family to go on our great journey.”
“Yes, it is quite a lovely family. Would the Hallow’s come join us up here?” Delilah said out to the crowd. Some people clapped, as that was the custom. Laudna was not clapping, did they say her family name? Then she felt someone push her to move forward. Laudna was a bit of an awkward person, she started to laugh a bit and nervously grab her hair. Though she was so excited, she knew so many people would be scared to be going up. Right now she feels so many emotions. Her parents were also pushed up to the front, and now it was the three of them facing the Lord and Lady.
“Hello Darlings,” Delilah said to them and she walked close to them. “What a wonderful family.” She moved in front of Laudna, “Aren’t you just a beautiful young woman?” Delilah said as she cupped Laudna’s face. Laudna couldn’t help but blush, no one ever said anything like that to her. This was one of the most amazing moments of her life.
“We have found a place in Marquet for you three. It is a smaller town, but we think you will enjoy it,” Silas now spoke to them. “There will be a letter sent to you explaining all the details of your trip tomorrow. Everyone please, cheers for the Hallow family for taking on this trek!” He called out to the crowd. People did cheer for their families. Some louder because they were happy to get rid of them, some quieter as they worried about what happened to these families. Laudna was smiling ear to ear. She never expected her life to be this exciting.
Laudna and her family returned home with a letter they received from the Briarwoods. “May I read the letter out loud?” Laudna asked her parents. She was so excited to read it and see where they were going. Her parents let her read it out loud and she got to learn all the details of where they were going. Gelvaan, Marquet, with the Temult family which has the father Relvin, and the daughter Imogen. The daughter also happened to be Laudna’s age. She couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of becoming best friends with Imogen. Instantly she started to think about what could Imogen be like? Would she be a strong farm woman? Laudna did some hard work but she was still so slim in the figure. Maybe Imogen was really tall, or maybe Elvish. Laudna always thought Elves were so pretty, in fact, she even learned Sylvian.
Looking at her parents, Laudna could tell they were still in shock. “It’s good we got picked,” she said to them. “It’s an honor to be picked by the Lord and Lady,” Laudna tried to reassure them.
“Yes Laudna we know,” her father said. Her parents didn’t express themselves much. In fact, they rarely showed emotion at all. No loving, happy, proud, or even sad emotions. Laudna wondered if somehow she sucked all the emotions out of them with how much she always felt. Regardless of what her parents thought Laudna was excited. It was a long journey to get to Marquet but she was so ready. After they ate supper Laudna immediately went to her room to start packing. It was a week until they headed out, but she couldn’t help herself.
The next week went by slowly, it was so painful. Parts were fun, like imagining all the fun she would have with her new best friend Imogen. Laudna knew it wasn’t smart to put these high expectations on this random woman, but this was Laudna’s chance. A chance to finally have someone who wasn’t mean to her. Though she needed one more friend before she left, something to remember home by. That is when outside she found a beautiful raven’s skull along with a few of its other bones. It was perfect, but it needed more. After searching for nearly a full day Laudna came across a freshly dead rat. This is exactly how she pictured Whitestone, this little rat, with this raven skull for a head. She then spent the latter half of a day combining the two creatures, along with red strings to puppeteer it.
“‘Ello, Pâté here,” the rat said. It was just Laudna speaking in a deeper voice and accent.
“Hello Pâté pleased to meet you,” she replied. It was wonderful. Pate de Rolo, to remember Whitestone in all its glory.
Finally, it was the day. Their first day of travels. It started off with a one-week cart journey to Emon. That within itself made Laudna excited. Emon was the biggest city in Tal’Dorei and would be a great trip just by itself. From there they would get on a ship to Marquet, another first for Laudna. Really the whole trip was a first and Laudna was taking in every moment of it. Of course, some of the people on the trip could only stand her company so much. The captain of the ship demanded she wasn’t allowed near him anymore. She had just been curious about everywhere they had been and what kinds of monsters they have seen. It was probably a good thing they didn’t see any monsters on the boat ride to Marquet, but Laudna was a tiny bit sad they didn’t because she wanted to see one. Overall the trips were fun, Launda loved the smell of the ocean.
Next, they were finally in Marquet and nearing their final destination. Laudna was so nervous and excited she felt like she was going to be sick. Sure she had to do farm work with this family, but it was brand new people. People who had no preconceived notions of her might actually want to be her friend. Most of all she was excited to meet Imogen. It was probably bad with how much Laudna has planned out their meeting in her head in fifty different ways. One where they bonded over animals, one where Pate and one of Imogen’s little toys became friends and one where they were inseparable. The idea of having a best friend sounded like a dream to Laudna.
The days went by so slowly traveling to Gelvaan. It felt like minutes took hours. One day one of the horses seemed to be sick which made them lose a day of travel. Laudna was almost in physical pain. All she wanted was to be in this new town. But after three more days of travel they made. They were getting close to Galvan. The family wasn’t going directly into the town just yet, the Temults live a bit outside of the city. She could see the farmstead in front of her, there it was, her new home.