The Thorn (wlw)

8 - Getting to Know Gabriel

Leonore perked up and jumped at the chance. "Did you have a family?"

As far as she knew, Gabriel was an orphan. At an early age, she had started living in a barracks, as was customary for training. But even those institutes kicked their soldiers out periodically to go on leave. Where did Gabriel go?

"I still do," said the knight. "They haven't disappeared."

She leaned over the table separating their chairs. Gabriel gestured across the page Leonore was holding, their fingers brushing against each other. "This is from my sister."

"You have a sister?" Leonore started reading again, her motivation renewed.

It said:

Sir,

da says you won t come hom e for a long time. is it becuse you maried PRINCESS leo? papa says there's knights coming up and I tought you were here. it gets cold here now and winter coming and we had to sel l one of the pigs.

flo plays with the dunsley boys now and they put sily ideas in his hea d like be mean so its up to me to teach him right. he is young er than me by III years and i tell him my examples. if you were here he woul d not do those stupid things and i tell him you wouldn not like it if he did those th ings.

da showed me a portait of PRINCESS LEONORE and she is so pretty!! are you maried forever or until death? papa said marriagess last for ever and da said thats right so pick the right one becusse if you dont then it don t.

wich one is wich? i think you will be the papa becase you do soldiering and PRINCESS leo could be da, but are PRINCESSS farmers?

write soon!!

love wendy and

In line with the signature, another scribble appended the letter. Gabriel said, leaning over, "That must be Flo's."

Leonore concluded that Gabriel's sister was illiterate, or a child, or an illiterate child. But the letter was heartwarming all the same.

Gabriel said, as if reading her mind, "Don't be rude about her spelling. She's eight and the school in my village is a clearing under a magnolia. I suspect Papa taught her himself."

"She writes well. Better than some adults," said Leonore, who—with the added information—became less strict with her verdict.

"She insists on writing to me herself instead of adding to our parents' letters. She's interested in it, could be a scholar one day."

"You have parents?"

"I said one question."

"Please," begged Leonore, grasping onto Gabriel's arm. Coming to her senses, she let go. "Isn't it nice to have someone to tell?"

Gabriel said, "I don't think you get to decide that for me."

Leonore smiled at her, sheepishly, and it deepened when Gabriel's own lip quirked up. The knight said, "It is nice."

The conversation lapsed into silence. Gabriel's unexpected openness compelled her to share something about herself. Leonore said, "I don't have a father."

She inhaled before continuing. "I'm not sad about it or anything. To be honest, I don't particularly want a father. But I did have one, right? Can you come into this world without one?"

"Your mother plucked you out of a crack in a tree," said Gabriel, who—despite this comment—had put down her letters and was giving Leonore her full attention. Leonore smacked Wendy's letter against Gabriel's shoulder.

"Mother never talked about him. She just said he died. That door closed early."

Gabriel looked at her, her face deep in contemplation. Then she said, "I have two fathers."

"Really?" Leonore discarded all thoughts of her childhood to question Gabriel about hers.

"Two fathers, no mother. There's three of us, me, Wendy, and Florian. Papa and Da took us in."

Gabriel stared contentedly at a spot in the far corner of the room, lost in thought. "Papa used to be a soldier. Settled down with Da on the farm, some ways north of the Queen City."

"I don't remember my birth family. I don't think I ever knew them," said Gabriel. Her hand lay on the armrest, and Leonore covered it with hers. Gabriel glanced at it and didn't move away.

She continued, "It's always been the three of us, and then the littles came a little later. They were supportive, but Papa and I did have words about me going off to be a soldier."

"Really? I'd have thought he would approve that you'd follow in his footsteps."

"He was worried I'd get hurt. I told him, obviously, it's part of the job. But he understood it was something I wanted. He cared."

Gabriel smiled, and it was a peaceful thing on her face. Leonore always noticed.

She said, "Tell me about the farm."

"It was a small plot, leased to us by the local lord. We planted and we raised some livestock. I helped, but I spent most of my time talking to the animals. When the littles joined the family, I did the same thing, but with the two of them tagging along."

Leonore mulled this over. "Was it difficult having two fathers?"

"Not particularly. I suppose they had some resistance when they got married, because Papa was a soldier with very little money and Da's father didn't like that they wouldn't have children to take over the farm."

"But then you turned up."

Gabriel muttered, "Life finds a way."

Throughout this whole conversation, their hands stayed on top of each other. Gabriel's thumb twitched, and Leonore gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.

"That's the last of my letters," said Gabriel, pushing herself out of the chair. "Excuse me, I have to go."

At the doorway, the knight turned back. "I'm glad we spoke."

Gabriel started to say something else, hesitated, and closed her mouth with a sigh before closing the door behind her.