Lord Harold invited William's family to leave their small forest hut and move to Lindor Castle, but they declined his generous offer. They feared the vengeful lord might still pursue them. However, Owain agreed to work as a blacksmith in one of Lord Harold's forges. Meanwhile, William was fortunate to receive an education alongside Edward. Lord Harold hired tutors to teach the boys essential skills for nobility, including reading, writing, arithmetic, and combat techniques like sword fighting and archery.

William's parents expressed immense gratitude for Lord Harold's help. They trusted him deeply and eventually revealed the reason for their secretive life: Cathleen, William's mother, had fled her father's castle to avoid a forced marriage to her father's neighbour. Despite learning this secret, Lord Harold kept it quiet, prioritising the safety of his new friends and offering them unwavering support and protection.

As William approached his eighth birthday, his family expanded. Cathleen gave birth to two beautiful children, a boy and a girl, whom they named Dylan and Seren. William eagerly helped his mother care for his younger siblings, embracing his new role as an elder brother and finding joy in the responsibilities.

As his siblings grew, William spent time with them, playing, laughing, and sharing his knowledge of the world. Their family home was filled with affection, creating a loving and joyous atmosphere. Surrounded by his loving family and dear friends, William felt deeply content, knowing he was cherished.

Although happy at home, William didn't forget his best friend, Edward, and regularly visited Lord Harold's castle. He still enjoyed his solitary hikes in the woods, often exploring new territories and sometimes staying out until late evening, savouring the quiet solitude that contrasted with his noisy family life.

༺ ✧ ༻

One summer day, while taking a leisurely walk through the woods, William noticed the sky darkening unusually early—a storm was coming. Leaden clouds gathered rapidly overhead, and powerful gusts bent the trees toward the ground. The trees groaned and screeched as they collided, and branches fell from above. The air turned heavy and stifling, punctuated by the first distant rumblings of thunder. It was dangerous to stay longer without shelter, so William decided to return home immediately.

As the boy approached his house, he paused. The front door swung wildly on its hinges, slamming and creaking in the wind. A wave of unease washed over William, but he cautiously stepped inside. An eerie silence engulfed the house, soon broken by the sound of heavy raindrops drumming against the roof. The dark interior made it difficult to discern anything.

"Mother?" William called out softly, but there was no response. He called out again for each family member, one by one, only to be met with the same oppressive silence.

A metallic scent wafted to William's nostrils. It was too familiar, one he'd encountered often when his father returned from a hunt. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he took in the disarray: belongings thrown about, as if there had been a struggle. Among the scattered items lay Dylan's favourite toy, a wooden horse their father had crafted, discarded on the floor. It was strange to see it like this, since his younger brother always kept it close.

Instinct held William back, stopping him just short of the next room. He hesitated, a foreboding sensation gnawing at him. Deep down, he knew what awaited him inside.

With his heart racing, he took slow, cautious steps, his shaky legs forcing him to reach out to the wall for support. The dimness of the room made it hard for him to make out any details. His mother always lit a candle in such weather, but now an unnatural darkness mingled with a deathly silence.

He tried to call out for the others again, but only a hoarse whisper escaped his lips. Then, a flash of lightning lit up the room, if only for a moment. But that brief instant was enough to etch the horrific scene into William's memory. The room was covered in blood, and his parents and younger siblings lay lifeless on the floor, their bodies brutally injured.

The sight hit him like a physical blow, and he stumbled backward. 'This can't be them, this can't be my home,' he thought, desperately hoping it was just a nightmare he'd soon wake up from. But the surreal scene refused to fade. He struggled to reconcile the lifeless bodies on the floor with the vibrant family he knew—their laughter, their warmth. The faces were unrecognisable, alien.

Gasping for air, eyes wide with horror, William pressed himself against the wall, unable to move. He stayed there for some time, until, in the silence, cautious yet heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor, the floorboards creaking under the weight of an unknown intruder. Hidden in shadows, William remained unseen as a tall figure of a man emerged, carrying a lantern in one hand and a sheathed sword at his side.

The boy couldn't see the man's face, hidden behind a dark cloak with a hood. In that moment, the cloaked figure seemed like a malevolent spirit invading the living world. William's heart pounded fiercely, and his entire body trembled as he pressed harder against the wall, wishing to disappear.

Then the stranger entered the room where the corpses lay. He was so close that William could have reached out and touched him. Holding the lantern aloft, the man examined the bodies, casting light on their lifeless faces. After a grim inspection, the stranger passed among the bodies and left the room, disappearing as silently as he had arrived.

William remained frozen in place, trapped in the stillness of the moment. Driven by desperation, he finally bolted towards the entrance, fleeing the nightmare his home had become.

As he ran through the pouring rain, lightning tore through the sky, casting surreal shadows around him. Confusion and disbelief swirled in his mind, while his body was driven by instinct to escape the unimaginable horror that had shattered his world.

He ran blindly through the storm until Lindor Castle loomed before him. Terrified, he couldn't remember how he had covered the distance, only that he had arrived soaked and shivering.

Lord Harold and his son exchanged worried glances as they took in William's distraught appearance, immediately understanding that something horrible had happened.

Still reeling from shock, William struggled to find the words to describe the gruesome scene he had fled. His voice trembled, and his friends' faces turned pale as they grasped the full extent of the tragedy that had struck the poor boy.

Lord Harold arrived at the scene with his men, where they found the lifeless bodies of his friends and their children. They had been brutally murdered with swords. The cruelty was almost too much to bear. After investigating, Lord Harold and his guards discovered that a group of men had committed the atrocity and escaped on horseback. Despite their pursuit, the carefully hidden tracks led them to a dead end.

With heavy hearts, Lord Harold and his men buried the victims near their forest house. William, overwhelmed by grief and unable to face his old home, stayed in Lindor Castle. Edward and Lord Harold stood by him, doing everything they could to help him overcome his despair.

At first, the boy cried incessantly, his sorrow raw and overwhelming. As the days went by, his tears turned into a blank stare. The weight of his loss seemed to drain his will to live, dimming his once vibrant spirit to a faint spark in his empty eyes.

Amidst his silent mourning, William clung to a remnant of his past: his mother's exquisite silver ring adorned with a dazzling sapphire. When Cathleen fled with his father, she had taken only her love, this ring, and a golden amulet bearing the Daurleigh family's crest: an intricately carved oak tree surrounded by emeralds.

The amulet was now gone, likely stolen by the heartless murderers, leaving a void that William tried to fill by gripping the silver ring tighter. To him, it was more than just jewellery—it held joyous memories of times past and the cherished people he had lost.

As he clutched the sapphire ring, he felt the remnants of his family's love soothing his wounded heart. Memories of his mother's face, her comforting touch, and her affectionate gaze flooded his mind, along with his father's strength and his siblings' innocent laughter.

The boy had never returned to his home since the tragedy. His house, once full of warmth, now lay abandoned, succumbing to decay with each passing year. Its roof sagged on rotten beams, and the door creaked under the relentless assault of the wind, echoing through the solitude of the woods. Inside, their belongings remained untouched, frozen in time since that fateful day.

Eventually, the roof collapsed, and the dampened walls crumbled, burying William's past beneath the rubble. The silent ruins stood surrounded by four mounds—graves dug by Lord Harold's men. William often pictured this scene in his mind, and his heart wracked with anguish at these thoughts. Yet, he never dared to face his past, choosing instead to let it remain buried forever. Internally, he numbed himself, trying to remember the home as it never was.

With time, William found the strength to move on, but the tragedy had left its mark forever. A part of him also died the day his family perished. And something inside him broke. Irreparably.

----------------------------------------------