Chapter 4

“Cousin? What the heck are you two talking about?”, Stephon replies even more confused than before. Amelia and Luke walk over to Vincent and stand by his and Colin’s side.

A knot of nerves forms in Vincent’s stomach. He never thought about being in this situation and as a result never thought about what he would say. His mind starts racing with options when a voice comes from the house.

“What is going on out here?”, the question is closely followed by a woman in her early forties. “Are you coming in or n-,” her words catch in her throat at the sight of Vincent and her eyes widen as if she had seen a ghost. Amelia, Luke, and Stephon turn their attention to her.

“Mom? You okay?”, Amelia asks. Amelia’s mother doesn’t answer. She walks carefully over to Vincent until she is right in front of him. Vincent faces her calmly while her gray eyes search his.

“You look like him...and you have her eyes. Could it be?”, Amelia’s mom says breathlessly.

“Aunt Ledia?”, Stephon calls out.

“H-hello, my name is Vincent,” he brings himself to say. The woman’s eyes fall to Vincent’s necklace. At the sight of it a slight gasp leaves her lips before her hands can reach her mouth.

“Mom!”, she calls, turning to the house.

“Luke and Amelia’s dad is coming.”, Colin breathes as he tugs on Vincent’s shirt. Vincent turns to him before another voice reaches his ears.

“Whoa! What’s going on?”, another voice calls. Everyone turns to two men coming from the way to the fields.

“Dad, Uncle Aaron look who Amelia and I found!” Luke calls to them. One of the men squints his eyes in Vincent’s direction. At the sight of him the man runs to him.

“What are you doing here?! Where’s Norra?” he calls as he charges in Viucent’s direction.

“No, no Aaron! It’s not Duragus.”, Amelia’s mother quickly says, intercepting him.

“What is going on?”, at the same time a new voice rings out. It belongs to an elderly woman at the entrance to the home.

“He’s their son. He’s Norra’s son.”, Luke’s mother’s words are heard by everyone gathered. All eyes go to Vincent. He feels the heat of their eyes on him as he looks around to the people around him.

“Everyone inside this instant.”, at the sound of the elderly woman’s words, everyone immediately moves into the house. Luke and Amelia stay by Vincent and Colin as they walk them in.

“This is going to be interesting.” Luke sighs. Amelia nods.

“For once I actually don’t know what to do really.”, Vincent admits as they near the door.

“It would take something like this to throw you off.”, Colin comments amused.

“Don’t worry. We are right here with you.”, Luke assures him.

Once inside everyone gathers in the family room. It’s an open space with a raised walkway outlining a depression in the floor. Two windows allow light in through the wall opposite of the entrance. Candle stands are placed in the corners of the room. Some of them with candles still burning on them.

The air is filled with the smell of candles mixing with compatible incense. Two small tables with ornaments and statues are placed in front of the windows. In the wall to the far right after entering is a fireplace.

A thick rug covers the bottom of the depression with three younger kids on it. Their eyes follow the adults as they take a seat on the cushions around them. Once Vincent comes they focus on him before one of the girls scurry off to Amelia and Luke’s mother. Vincent remembers Stephon saying her name, Aunt Ledia.

Vincent and Colin take a seat on a long cushion between the fireplace and door. Luke and Amelia sit close to them as they promised. Stephon sits near the windows as well as the other man from the fields named Aaron and the woman who had stood with the elderly woman in the entrance. She sits down opposite of the fireplace with a cushion against her back. Her eyes first land on Vincent and stay there for a moment before flickering between Luke and Amelia.

“You two took your time getting back,” she starts off calmly.

“Well, that’s because we had to come back by land from Tymes instead of taking the canal,” Luke explains. “We completed the sales and brought back the earnings, but things got...complicated. We apologize for making you all worry, Grandmother Alice.”

Vincent catches the name and remembers that Amelia mentioned her before. He looks at the elderly woman. She is Amelia and Luke’s grandmother which means she is his grandmother. Grandmother Alice’s eyes land on Vincent’s necklace. That moment her eyes sparkled.

“We will discuss business later. Right now it seems we have a very special guest to get to know,” she says nodding to Vincent. He guesses she is prompting him to speak and takes a breath.

“Forgive me for intruding. My name is Vincent and this is Colin. We met Amelia on our way to Tymes where we later met Luke,” he begins.

“We brought them here because... Vincent is from our family. Although we weren’t completely sure how until now”, Amelia chimes in. She looks at her mother who stated that Vincent is a woman named Norra’s son.

“I’ve heard that name before. My mother was named Norra, but she was from the northeastern part of the kingdom.”, Vincent speaks up. A glance is shared between Amelia and Luke’s mother and uncle.

“The northeast, huh? What was the name of the village?”, the other man from earlier asks.

“I don’t know that. She never shared it as far as I know.”, Vincent replies carefully. Aaron lifts his hand to his chin thoughtfully. The other man shifts his eyes to Luke and Amelia.

“Hmm, so how did you two come to the conclusion that he is related to you?”, he decides to ask them.

“Because, dad, only members of our family have the handmade necklace that Vincent is wearing. Not only that, but come on we look so much alike.”, Luke answers.

“Actually you share similar features, but he looks like his father more just a bit younger.”, Luke’s mother corrects.

“She’s right, but...tell us. What is your father’s name?”, Aaron asks. Vincent realizes what they are doing and doesn’t blame them.

“Considering you shouted two names earlier when you saw me. You wouldn’t believe me even if I answered. For what it’s worth though my father was named Duragus.”, Vincent answers him.

“He’s got a point he could have just remembered the name.”, Grandmother Alice speaks up. “For him to think in such a way shows that he is bright.”

“Thank you. I’m a knight” Vincent replies with a smile and nod.

“Not just any knight. He is the silver knight Sir Vincent.”, Amelia clarifies.

“Wait, you mean the “holy knight” Sir Vincent? “King Winston’s knight” Sir Vincent?”, Stephon questions. Luke and Amelia nod.

“Let’s just cut this short. Aaron, Ledia, I know you two can sense your sister’s aura in that necklace. Just as I can.”, Grandma Alice speaks. Her teary eyes settle on Vincent’s face. “And I know you can tell that her aura plays a part in the makeup of his,” she goes on. Aaron and Ledia look to each other then to Vincent.

“I just wanted to make sure.”, Aaron sighs, lowering his eyes.

“Vincent? Your mother Norra is our sister, Aaron and I. She is the second eldest of us.”, Ledia says to him. Vincent’s eyes widened at the news.

“That makes him our cousin just like Stephon.”, Luke says.

“Which means I was right.”, Amelia tells him happily. Luke and Amelia grin triumphantly.

“I can’t believe it and to think you found your way here.”, the woman from earlier speaks.

“So Vincent, how are your parents? Where are they now?” Aaron asks. Vincent’s smile fades away once he hears the questions. His eyes fall to the floor before looking back up to his aunt and uncle.

“You should know that I have never met my parents. They died when I was one year old. I was raised in a convent in the town that they lived outside of, Gordowe.”, Vincent speaks up. Looks of shock and hurt flashes on everyone’s faces.

“What?”, Amelia says in disbelief. Vincent nods regrettably.

“I didn’t receive this necklace until a couple of weeks ago before I left on my current journey. The woman who raised me and is over the convent gave it to me,” he says, grabbing the crystal.

“You didn’t tell us that.”, Luke says gently. Ledia gets to her feet and approaches Vincent. She kneels down in front of him and places both hands on his shoulders.

Vincent finds himself face to face with tears rolling down her face. A silent exchange occurs between them. Her grip tightens before bringing him into a tight hug. Unsure at first Vincent hesitates before bringing his arms up to return it. Amelia and Luke follow suit and it isn’t long before everyone else present joins in except for Grandma Alice.

She stays where she is with her hands clasped together. Tears fall from her closed eyes.

“Oh God,” she says with a shaky voice thick with sorrow for her daughter and son in law, but joyously thankful to see her grandson.

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