Chapter 32: Ch 32: Julia’s story

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Julia's story

"My parents were merchants... We traveled from village to village and throughout the kingdom.

 Cloth, seeds, salt, tools. We traded everything the villagers might need. I don't remember much from that time, I was very little...

One day like any other, we were robbed by bandits. I was 5 years old when it happened.

 When you're always on the road, sometimes those things happen. 

We didn't have money to pay guards. So, my parents usually stopped the carriage and, after delivering what the bandits asked for, we could continue on our way in peace.

This time, however, the bandits wanted my mother and me.

 I don't remember very well what happened.

 I just remember my father arguing with them and his head rolling on the floor a moment later… My mother crying.

They tied us up, bundled us into our carriage, and set off in the direction of the demon empire. Taking us in with the carriage and leaving my father's corpse behind for the beasts to eat it. 

They wanted to sell us into slavery. 

The sale of slaves, a very famous practice during the time of the war, was prohibited since the signing of the alliance between the four races. But, even today, there are still people who don't care about those things.

It's ironic that when the ban wasn't in place, at least the members of the races protected each other, or so history says. But now that it was forbidden, members of our race were kidnapping people to sell. 

The group that had kidnapped us was made up of members of all four races, with members of both genders.

I don't remember much of what happened in my days with the bandits.

 I remember my mother coming back crying at night after someone had called her for something. I remember the beatings, forcing us to eat and drink. And although I don't know exactly how it happened, I remember my lifeless mother's body on the floor of the carriage, next to me; the cries of the bandits upon discovering her, and more blows…

But everything has an end, and my situation was no different, as dark as it seemed.

One day, when we were close to crossing the kingdom border, I woke up hearing screams outside the carriage.

 They were cries of pain and, added to them, the sound of metal tinkling could be heard. 

A moment later the screaming ceased and, opening the canvas doors, a bearded face, covered in blood, appeared at the entrance of the carriage.

 A face with a look of concern and compassion that, after so many days living as I did, touched my heart. It was Ragnar and, as you can see, he adopted me as his daughter seeing that I had no one to take care of me.

At that time, he lived in a large house with a garden, in the outer ring of the Estella district. He took me to live with him and, over time, the memories of my kidnapped days became more and more blurred.

After the experience, I couldn't speak for a few days. 

Ragnar gave me my name, a new one because he didn't know how to refer to me. And I accepted it gratefully, wanting to forget everything about my past. 

Ragnar became my hero, my savior, an example to follow.

So, when I turned 16, I enrolled in the military academy. 

I had practiced with the sword almost every day since I was 10, the age at which Ragnar started to teach me. So, by the time I had been in the academy for two years, I was greatly admired by my peers and instructors for how diligent and skilled I was. 

But, dazzled by the image I had of my father, I couldn't see that his colleagues in the military didn't have to be, necessarily, like him… 

It happened in one of the incursions into the labyrinth that those of us who were in the last year of training at the academy did. 

Vector was the instructor in charge of our practice and had always treated me with care and respect.

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 More to me than to the rest of the students, but back then it seemed normal to me. After all, I was Ragnar's daughter and everyone in the army had known me since I was little. 

We were a group of 10 people, counting Vector. 

We were always advised to stick together in the labyrinth, so when Vector suggested to the other 8 to retire earlier while we were resting in a secure room, it seemed strange to me. 

However, I didn't think badly of him, after all, he was my instructor and he had never shown me anything to distrust him...

When we were left alone, he lunged at me and, taking off my clothes and armor against my will, he began to do things to me... Things that should not be done to anyone by force...

I couldn't get rid of him because, although I was the strongest in my class, he was an instructor and was much stronger than a simple student.

When he finished doing what he wanted, he told me that it was better that I didn't say anything if I didn't want to ruin my future and my father's. 

When I said ‘yes’ to him, he left me alone in the labyrinth, thrown in the 'safe room' that had failed at what its name promised.

I was mentally traumatized. 

My strength and skill, which I had cultivated over all these years, had failed me. The image of soldiers as figures embodying heroism had been destroyed.

I cried for some time, alone in the labyrinth.

 When I left it was already dark, a vague thought told me that my father would be worried, but it soon dissolved in the apathy that enveloped me.

 I went home without paying much attention to anyone or anything. I was in a trance, trying to get back to my safe place.

I went into the house trying not to make any noise, seeking the safety of my room, but Ragnar was waiting for me. 

When he saw my face, he realized that I had cried, and, approaching me with the same look of compassion that he had when he rescued me, he hugged me.

 I broke down crying again, heartbroken, clinging to the only person I trusted, the only person I knew wouldn't betray me. As I cried, Ragnar held me in his embrace, comforting me and slowly restoring some of the security I had lost.

When I finally calmed down, I wanted to go up to my room, but Ragnar asked me what had happened. 

I... at first, I couldn't bring myself to tell him, because I didn't want to put him in trouble. But, wanting to believe in the security that he had conveyed to me with his embrace, I told him what had happened.

Ragnar listened to me patiently and sent me to sleep when I finished telling him about my experience. Throughout my story, he had a strange lack of expression on his face, but he didn't interrupt me once.

The next day I woke up late and, when I was having breakfast, Julius came to our house. I didn't know whether to let him in, since the image I had of the soldiers was just a memory. But he was Ragnar's father and he had always treated me kindly. So, doubting a bit, I let him in.

He told me that Ragnar had been arrested for attacking Vector.

 He had accused him in the barracks of having attacked and harassed me during our stay in the labyrinth.

 Vector defended himself by saying that Ragnar had no proof and that no one would take my word for it, causing Ragnar to lose himself and attempt to assassinate him.

He told me that Ragnar would be released in a few days, given his rank, but that he would no longer be part of the militia. He also advised me to stay home and not let anyone in except Ragnar or himself.

So, during the time that Ragnar was detained, I waited at home, afraid to go out and regretting that I had told my father everything. 

The little security Ragnar had given me was gone again.

When Ragnar was released, we moved into this house. A building which was in another district, in a location closer to the labyrinth and the militia.

 Julius had recommended that we leave the city, as he thought that Vector might attack us by hiring assassins. But Ragnar refused to let, to use his words 'a trashy nobleman dictate his life'. 

Also, in his opinion, in the Protego district, we would be safe since, although Vector being a member of the Estella family had a lot of connections, he would not be able to use his family's influence to reach us in another family’s district.

Over time, we were able to verify that my father was right, we never had any problems in this district, but... 

Considering that 9 months later, I gave birth to Mia, in hindsight perhaps it would have been better if we had moved to a quieter place. 

After all, Mia is living proof of the veracity of Ragnar's accusations from that day, and for that reason, she has to live almost exclusively indoors... 

You might think that we should try to prove that my father's accusations were true, but we would never try to use my daughter as evidence, as Mia's safety is far more important to us than getting Vector to his punishment.

Well, that's my story. And that's why we can say that we know better than anyone how rotten Vector is. 

Therefore, you don't have to worry, thinking that you can cause us problems with your presence here, dear. 

We have been living here for years, and we can assure you that the poisonous tentacles of that vermin do not reach this house and district."

 

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