Rafe's parents abandoned him at birth - his red hair and gre
en eyes
were a Bad Omen, they said, how they matched neither his father nor his
mother, nor the description of anyone else in the village nor even any of the
travelers who had passed through. He grew up in a series of Orphanages,
passed from one to the next like so much chattel.
Rafe's childhood was spent head down, eyes front, do as you’re told.
He learned early never to question the fate others laid before him. Anytime
he stepped out of line, he was slammed back into place; hard. He repressed
all his desires and needs into one small, tiny corner of his mind until they
receded from his view and no longer caused him to 'act up'.
In his 19th summer, he noticed that a girl, Lilly, had been following
him around for most of a week. He studiously ignored her, until she
confronted him after he had finished this errand or that. Rafe was surprised
to learn that Lilly found him quite attractive and by the end of the day,
they had dallied several times.
Two weeks later, Lilly found Rafe again and informed him that she was
pregnant. Rafe's first reaction was disinterest, the affair had been her idea
after all and he felt that his lack of experience in such matters cleared him
of any inconvenience; but Lilly, or more accurately, Lilly's father, Ston,
convinced him that marriage was in his best interest. As Rafe had never been
claimed, Ston arranged the marriage himself - Ston often bragged about not
having to bother with a dowry - and part of those arrangements was that Rafe
would apprentice under Ston to eventually run his Inn, The Flirty Sprite (or
Scott can provide a real name), as a figurehead for his daughter.
Swallowing his distaste for the situation with practiced habit, Rafe
capitulated and went along with the marriage and the apprenticeship. Despite
his reluctance, he found learning the Inn-keep trade was a challenge and
cultivated an inkling of pleasure towards mastering the trade. A year after
his son, Gregory, was born, Ston passed away and Rafe found himself suddenly
the proprietor of the Inn, if only as a mouthpiece for Lilly. Nevertheless,
Rafe found the burden was heavier than expected and he withdrew into the
business, soon surpassing Lilly's expertise.
Three more years passed, and Rafe had fine-tuned the Inn into an
efficient, profitable establishment. One night, after Lilly had taken Gregory
to bed, she elicited an affirmation from Rafe that he would come to bed
early, there was something she needed to tell him, Rafe found himself staring
at the fire. Rafe had gone over the business figures three times that night -
after four years, there was nothing new left in Inn keeping.
The fire cracked and jolted Rafe into a revelation - he no longer
needed to stay. There was no one keeping him here, locking him into a life he
never desired nor enjoyed. All the feelings he had held back for 23 years
suddenly broke from their dam and rushed through his psyche. Years of anger,
indignation, curiosity and wanderlust flooded over him and shattered his
programmed servility.
His mind firing faster than he had ever experience before, Rafe
quickly came to a decision, Rafe collected a pack and cloak from the check
room - not really caring whose they were or what they contained - and walked
out into the night in search of his next challenge.
While Rafe has never particularly disliked Lilly, nor being a father
and is in fact quite proud of his son; but they have always been an
obligation he didn't choose. And while he does send letters back to Gregory
occasionally, sharing some little piece of his current pursuits and
cautioning his son never to bend to another's will as he did, he's never once
mentioned ever coming back to the Inn, nor has he ever checked for a reply.