"Alright, then. The truth."
He used his cigar one last time before putting it out and tossing it out the window.
"To be honest, most of what I have said has been the truth. I mean, I have embellished here and there, but it was mostly true. I guess I ought to go back to when I first met her.
"I was out hunting in the forest. I was winter, I remember. Our supply of food here on the farm was running low. We had sold more than we meant to in the fall, and that winter was especially harsh.
"There had been far too much snowfall to make the trip in a reasonable amount of time to the village, so we spit up. My brother would ride to the village, expecting to take 4 or 5 days. In the meantime, I would try to hunt. It didn't go great, but I did manage to catch some game over that week. Mostly rabbits. It was enough to tide us over while we waited.
"On the day we expected my brother to come back, I was out there mainly just for fun. Our food would last for a few days, so I really had no reason to be out there. But I was. And I am very glad I was. I noticed blood in the snow. I thought... well, I'm not sure what I thought.
"I had been out there long enough to know there shouldn't be anything other than me hunting. I just remember hoping I could find something if I followed the trail. Turns out, I found more than I bargained for. At the end of that trail was a young woman, lying against a tree. You have to believe me when I say she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.
"She had long, striking red hair, and eyes to match. She was dressed for travel in this cold weather. Colder weather, even. It was like she was over prepared. That preparation clearly wasn't enough for whatever it was she had encountered, though.
"I couldn't see were she was bleeding from, but it was bad. I tried to approach her, but the next thing I knew, my clothes were on fire. I remember dropping into the snow and rolling around, which put the fire out rather quickly.
"As I stood back up, I noticed her hand was aimed at me, with smoke rising from her finger tips. I put my hands up, and, I can't remember what I said, exactly, but it was probably something about not wanting to hurt her, or wanting to help. Whatever it was I said seemed to work.
"Her hand dropped into the snow, and she just... looked at me. I walked up to her slowly. By the time I could touch her, I noticed just how bad her wounds were. There was a lot of bleeding around her stomach, and one of her shoulders.
"I remember picking her up gently. What I don't remember was the walk back to the house. It was like I was tunnel visioned on her, and her alone. Somehow, I made it back to the house. There was some fiasco with me bringing a stranger into the house.
"Apparently my brother had returned just a bit before me. Your grandmother was quick to help the woman I had brought back. I was in too much of a rush to explain where she had come from, or what had happened. I just wanted to make sure she was alright.
"I didn't explain anything until your grandmother said she would be fine. She was a smart woman, your grandmother. When she realized she was never going to have an elemental affinity, she decided to become a wizard. Well, that didn't work very well either. She just wasn't compatible with mana.
"What it did do, though, was ensure she was smart. She studied a lot. So she knew lots about how to stop an injury. This woman's injuries were from arrows. One in her shoulder, one in her abdomen. She had broken off the shafts of the arrows. After some work, Grandma had managed to remove the arrow heads. Something interesting, she mentioned, was that these arrows looked enchanted.
"Anyways, after the arrows were removed, I had calmed down, and started to explain what happened to everyone else. They were as confused as me, to say the least. So, we waited for her. She had fallen asleep after Grandma's little surgery, so we would have to wait.
"She was in and out for a few days. I think it was after three that she finally woke up and could hold a conversation. Most of it was just getting her what she needed. Food, water, and all that. Making sure she was comfortable.
"I'm not sure how long things were like that. Only a few days, probably. She finally started to explain who she was, where she was from. Octavia Vanir, daughter of the great Vanir family. Loyal to the Therian Empire, yet considered their own sovereign state.
"They are in charge of the Volcanic Island Torah, in the center of the Therian Gulf. A large trading hub for any and all sea-faring vessels travelling the Theri-Oran coast. The one thing she never explained, though, was what she was doing this far north, or how she got hurt. She would always avoid the topic, and refuse to answer.
"I won't bore you with the specifics of her time her, but she and I entered a relationship of sorts. I'm not sure I would call it love, because I'm not sure if that is what it was. But it certainly felt like it. After spending nearly 2 months with us, she said she had to leave. She needed to return to her family. We, of course, didn't want to see her go. But she had to. And that was the last I ever saw of her."
There were tears gathering in his eyes. He took almost a minute to compose himself, after that.
"Very early into the winter of the next year, a man in expensive clothing knocked at the door. He came with four things. A name, Casius, a ring, your ring, and you. He brought you to us. The last thing, was something I could not accept.
"He said that we were to never speak of your mother. She was never here. We could make up whatever story we wanted, but we were to tell no one who your mother was. Everyone else in the family followed that to a T with anyone not in the family, and seldom talked about her in the family. But I refused to forget about her. Maybe I couldn't tell other people, but I wasn't going to let anyone on this farm forget."