Stephania
I sat in the plush armchair, a little too relaxed. I leaned back further against the
backing.
“Last question?” I asked my interviewer.
She nodded and smiled. “Who was or who were your inspiration through life?” She
asked the question slowly, almost as if it were a trick question. I sat there, trying not
to sink too far into my chair. I closed my eyes and thought back in my history to all
those who have inspired me in a significant way. I thought foremost of those great
paladins whose teachings and values I long endured to uphold: Destructor, Gabriel, Mallac,
Violet, and Waarg. These people, long gone in body, but eternal in spirit will always be a
part of me.
I scrunched my brow, wondering if I should share all those names and more, giving credit
where credit was due. I opened my mouth to speak forth the names that meant so much to me
over the years, but then I promptly shut my mouth. I realized that I was thinking of those
great people who shaped the paladin I am today, but what about the person I am today?
My interviewer looked at me patiently as I slowly opened my eyes with a smug look at my
face. I grinned at her and simply stated, “Caleran.”
My interviewer blinked at me and she started to quickly review the interview notes. I had
not mentioned his name in our interview. There was no real need to. His name brings me
confused feelings of sorrow and happiness. But right now, for this particular question,
Caleran’s name was the appropriate answer.
“He was my elder half-brother,” I told my interviewer. That had satisfied her
pending curiosity. “I, of course, won’t go into the details of his history.
However, it was because of him that, eventually… made me who I am today.” I
grinned at my interviewer. “Many people tend to copy their heroes otherwise known as
older siblings.”
“Cal gave me pride and courage. Not haughty pride... but rather, a humble vision of
oneself that is to be carried at all times. He taught me respect. He showed me kindness.
Many times he gave me hope, hope to just live. He showed me the basics in courage even
when we were children. He showed me how to be strong, mentally and physically.”
I looked at my hands, they had scars that even an empath could not remove. I quickly
rubbed my hands together as if to get them clean.
“Cal and I grew up with some younger siblings, but they weren’t treated as badly
as we were. Our father was some soldier I guess. I don’t really know too much about
him. Every campaign he took was longer and longer each time to the point where he never
returned. Cal was sort of my father during those years when my mother attempted to keep
our family going. I don’t honestly even know how we got by.” I sighed.
My interviewer had stopped writing down notes at this point. I knew I was telling her more
than she wanted to know, but I felt that I had to explain at this point who I was.
“My mother remarried when I was old enough to know what a wrongful beating was when I
got one.” I smirked at the memory of my childhood. “My mother, at this point,
was so lost and mentally beyond repair that she didn’t recognize what was happening
to the children.”
“Cal protected me and our younger siblings as much as he could. Cal was a strong man,
but he couldn’t save all us children when he was but a child himself. Caleran had
simple views of life. If something can easily be resolved, then he’d try it. He and I
simply ran away from it all. We ran as far as our adolescent legs could carry us. That was
when we found Crossing. We vowed we would go back home when we got money. And we did, we
went back to get our siblings and took care of them after that.”
My interviewer glanced at her silver orlog. I sat forward peering at the orlog. “My
boat back to Ratha!” I rose to my feet and said, “I am sorry, but I must run. My
husband will be waiting for me. There is only so much evil he can fight on his own.”
I said my good-bye’s to my interview and some of my past. I pulled open the ironwood
doors and stepped through.
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