Just as so many others had before him, he had come to Aetharyn seeking refuge from the harshness of the world he knew. He sought acceptance. Everyone wants to belong, and they had told him what he desired so badly could be found here. But everything has its price. The Aetharyn "family" was not so different from the heirarchy he had left in the first place. He would be accepted at the expense of his freedom, to let his life be governed by whomever the House Masters were at any given time. Thorn gave up any hopes of ever fitting in, and in time he began to adjust to a life of solitude. He had befriended some of the higher ranking Aetharyn: Amiara, Ryael, and Myarallis. Because of this, Thorn keeps his own home in the forests closeby, always doing favors for Amiara, his talents as a rogue and his ability to blend in with his surroundings, as well as the few useful magics he had mastered, coming quite in handy. But he refused all the attempts of the others to coax him into joining the family himself. He would act as a guard and a scout of sorts. And though he hates to admit it, he would forfeit his life gladly to protect the Aetharyns. Thorn was pleased with his life. Everything was in a perfect order, and he had managed to stop wanting things that he could not have.
And then he found something less attainable than any of the other wants and needs. Further from his reach, and all the more precious.
Thorn still dreamt of that first meeting, out in the forests. In fact, he had many dreams of Robyn. She was his best friend. His first love. And she belonged to another man. Yet the child she carried was his own. A mistake. She had come to him one night, as she had so many times before, needing to hear the words of comfort she knew he would give her. She had married so young, and realized her mistake too late. Her husband treated her poorly, but she was the one who kept the others from doing anything about it. She loved him still, and yet that night she had sworn she would leave. That -they- would be together. She couldn't have known what the words meant to him, what it meant to for once be allowed to kiss away those tears. And she couldn't have known how she would hurt him when the next morning she said it was just mistake. When she went back to another man. And perhaps she was just using him all along. Comfort. So convenient... He had given so freely, and yet she always left. Always took what she needed from him, took another piece of him and then left him to regret and curse himself for his foolishness... And to wait for her return. There were rumors, when the babe was born full elven blood, but nothing could be proven, and Robyn made him swear he would speak nothing of that night. There are those who despise Thorn for the truth they suspect, but there are those who will not hold it against him as well, those who pity the choices the hard choices he has been forced to make. He harbors bitterness toward the mother of that child, much as he loves her still. There is no chance now, to make those dreams come true. And sometimes he accepts that as well.
And so, secretly, Thorn wishes to leave this "haven". But he fears for his love, as well as for his child, and cannot bring himself to hurt his friends. He will not abandon them. No matter how they hurt him.
And in that, this outsider is perhaps the most loyal Aetharyn of them all.
Lost and suppressed by your own righteous fears,
You will stand idly by as my world's torn apart,
The culprit that taunts me, your own frozen heart.
I knew what you were when I let myself fall,
Foolishly sure I could tear down those walls.
You were right when you told me that life's fairytales,
Were just hurt and betrayal, false love destined to fail.
But the pain now is sharp and these tears are real,
The folly was mine, when I let myself feel.
There just comes a time when the pain that you know
Makes it harder and harder to finally let go.
So I cling to this pain and I cherish the strife,
these memories that burn me, they alone give me life.
To love you then lose you, it's best in the end,
But can broken hearts ever feel love again?"
