I never had role models when I was young. My parents have been gone for so long I don’t even remember them to use as models. The monks I grew up with were the epitome of humility, not something a young Alke was very keen on. Master Orrin was probably the closest to a role model I had, though he was always so wise. And wise is something I’ve never been and thus never aspired to be, like a vicious circle. You'd think I’d know better by now…
But to make up for it, now as an adult I can see the role models I should have had as a child and as a teen. I should have found someone like Corrina. The girl who returned to the Mossy Temple to save her friends despite barely being a fighter. The girl who came to the Great Games to win not for glory but in order to support her family. The girl who turned around on the bridge and gladly jumped in the fray or the harpy fight to help her friends and bystanders. The girl who doesn’t believe herself a hero. And how wrong she is!
Or maybe I just want to believe that Loreas’ choice in helping her escape was the right one, just like I was to believe in his other choices. In his choice of me...
A note neatly folded and left on Braz’s pile of hay used for a bed in the barn we’re staying in Pamplaxia:
I am so very sorry Braz. I did not mean to hurt you. I just saw no way out of the conundrum and I had to try and test if there was a chance that your pain may mean the cackling harpy’s end. I should have known better, curses are not that easy to escape. I can only hope I can make it up to you somehow. I am sorry…