Silver 7. Hide

Tara’s point of view

For years now, i’ve done everything i can to protect my seedling.

Before, i lived my life going with the flow. I lived my life just wandering around.

But i have a responsibility now, i have someone to care about. Now, i can’t go with the flow, as a single mishap could lead to her death.

If i were alone, i could have defeated everyone in my way without breaking a sweat. If i were alone, i would have been somewhere far away from this place. If i were alone, i would just wander around without a destination. If only i were alone, everything would be easier for me.

But, never in a million years would i exchange the happiness that i feel right now for that easy.

Being with my daughter brought me the most happiness. Being with her gives me strength to go on with my days. Being with her made everything easier to handle.

So if i were alone, i could defeat anyone in my way, but i don’t have any reason to. If i were alone, i would have been somewhere far from this place, but i’ll never have someone to call my home. Because i’m not alone, even wandering around a backyard became an adventure. And because i’m not alone, everything is harder, but everything is worth it.

When she was two months old, she almost lost her life because of my weakness.

We already lost her mother to that man, i can’t lose her too. I faked her death so i can bring her away from that place, far away from that monster.

The years i had with her are my happiest years, after i got separated with Deborah.

My sweet Seedling, my sweet, sweet Silver. She’s my happiness now, my baby, my beloved daughter.

She became the reason why i wake up with a smile. Everyday became the best day.

Silver is a very smart kid, she always know what to do in every situation. Because of her, everything i lacked is fulfilled, especially with the things that needed thinking. I am well aware that i’m not that smart, just smart enough to know how to survive.

Because of that fact, i’m sure Silver didn’t get her wits from me, i’m sure it’s from her mother. She’s so smart that even i, an adult, can’t help but to be amazed. I’m not saying this because i’m her mother, but because it’s the truth.

When she turned two years old, Deborah found my whereabouts. I know that in no time, she will be able to find me, but not this soon.

She sent me a letter saying that she wants us to meet, but we can’t, i can’t. I can’t risk her knowing about Silver, or else her husband will surely find out too.

I wanted to see her, i badly miss her. But i can’t, because i need to protect our love, and that love is our daughter.

So even if i want to see her so bad, i swallowed my urges. I need to bury this desire deep within my heart, i need to bear with it.

I never wanted to hide anything about Deborah from our daughter, so i told her everything that happened. I just hope that she will never hate her other mother, because i know how much Deborah loves our child.

But i forgot that she’s a very smart kid, that she will understand everything if i explain it to her well.

She said that she wants to become strong, and i want her to be too. I thought that my daughter would become a girl who would love girly things like dresses and jewels.

I’m willing to give her everything that she wants, if she wants to have all dresses in the world, i will give it to her. If she wants all the gems in the world i will dig the entire world just to give it to her. If she wants to destroy the world, i would gladly do it, without missing a beat.

But she’s not that kind of a child, she’s a very kind girl. She’s a very warm person, very charming, and very loving.

So even if i pay her, she will never want those things. She said that she wants to work hard to earn everything she wants, and i loved her even more for that.

After years of training her, i came to realize that she’s gifted in fighting. She may have gotten her intelligence from her mother, Deborah. But i’m proud to say that she got her talent for fighting from me.

She can easily understand my explanations and evaluations and implement them in her fighting.

I’m sure that her future will reach the skies.

Everyday are days of joy, but every day has it’s ending.

When i came back from training my daughter, i saw a familiar figure standing in front of our house.

“Fabian? What are you doing here?” I asked as i approached my old friend.

He looks like he’s contemplating wether to answer me or not, or he’s just nervous about it.

“It’s been a long time since we last met, how about a cup of tea?” I offered him and stand before him.

“We don’t have time for that, Tara. You need to leave, he already knows your whereabouts. He already knows that your child is still alive.” He said panicking.

What he said made me surprised, i didn’t think that he would be able to find out about her this soon.

“What about the Assembly? I thought you did what i told you?”

He looked at me feeling sorry.

“We did everything that we can to hide you both. But Douglas Burkly is a persistent man, he did everything in his power to find you. But we underestimated him, he found out about Silver, for however reason.” He explained to me.

The Assembly is a tight knit group, everyone of us knows each other. It’s a group full of people from the different walks of life, it’s purpose is to simply gather information and to protect it’s members and their families.

So this kind of mishap is certainly not possible, unless…

“Do you think there’s a mole?” I asked.

“What do you mean… don’t tell me you think that there’s a traitor within the Assembly.” His eyes widened in realization.

“Yes, but we need to leave now, find out about it. For now we will get away from here. I will send you a Magus pigeon to let you know our whereabouts.” I said as i saw Silver standing not far from where we are.

“Alright, be careful Tara.” He reminded and goes running in the opposite direction.

I called Silver over and told her that we need to leave. After we packed everything we can. We got on my horse, Shade.

“Ready?” I asked looking down at her.

“Yes.” She answered

I lightly pulled the horse’s rein, to make it go forward.

“Why are we leaving mother?” My little seedling asked looking up at me adorably.

I took my eyes away from the front, and looked down at her, “He found us, he knows that you’re alive.”

“Who, mother?” She asked still looking up at me.

I moved my eyes away from her and back at the road, contemplating wether i should tell her or not, but i decided to tell her so she wouldn’t be left in the dark.

I sighed and answered her, “That dog, Douglas, your mother Deborah’s husband.”

“The one who wanted to kill us before?” Silver asked now looking at the front too, as if thinking something deep.

“You need to understand Silver, until now he still wants to kill us. We need to get away from him no matter what, before he gets here.” I said thinking about the possibility of him laying his dirty hands on my daughter.

Merely thinking about it made my blood boil, i will never let that happen, over my dead body.

“Where are we going now mother? Are we going to find another forest to hide in?” My little ball of sunshine asked, rather excitedly.

“Why do i feel like you’re more excited about it, than scared?” I asked her amused.

“Because we’ll be going in an adventure. This is the first time i got out of the town.” She said, now pretending to be serious as if her excitement earlier never happened.

I felt bad about what she said, because we are hiding away from that Douglas, i can’t feed her curiosity of the world.

When she asked me to teach her reading, writing, and numbers. I was not that surprised about that, given her intelligence and curious nature.

It’s a good thing that i know how to read and write, or else my daughter would be illiterate, and i wouldn’t want that.

But right now, i have the opportunity to give her a new experience, so i definitely will give her a great one.

“My seedling,” i called to get her attention.

“Yes, mother?” She asked.

“Can you guess where we are heading?”

She put her index finger below her chin and looked far away.

“Hmmm… You said that there are two types of hiding, one is hiding from everyone’s sight, and second is hiding in plain sight,” she paused.

“If the dog found us when we are hiding from everyone else, far away from the capital. That just mean that he’s concentrating his eyes on places away from people. He wouldn’t think that we are going to move near him, so he will never assume that we are just under his nose. If he’s smart enough, he’ll think about it, but given him not finding us for years, he’s probably not that smart. So… right now, we’re going to the capital, his territory, to hide in plain sight, somewhere he will never think we will hide in.”

I was dumbfounded when she said all those things, it took me years to think of a perfect hiding place if ever we got caught. But she thought of everything that took me years to ponder upon, just now. She analyzed everything within minutes.

“My daughter is really a genius.” I thought to myself feeling proud once again. I can’t help but to smile at that thought.

“Am i right mother?” She asked, as she once again, looked back at me.

“Yes, my dearest daughter, we are heading to the capital.”