Liv and His Lessons - Part 2
So far, he had survived for 5 days, eating what he had managed to take with him. It was on this night that he'd begun seeing a pair of red eyes following him. Night after night they'd observe him.
Something instinctive arose in Cencia that first night with the red eyes. Something deep within him that he didn't understand. Later he'd understand it was instinct. But he wasn't going to confront something that wouldn't confront him first.
On what he counted as the 10th night, there was a stir behind the spot in the meadow he'd chosen to sleep on. It was another man with a face like his. The man wielded a mass that was now emitting a low heat that Cencia could feel on his cool cheeks.
"You?" said the man, astonished.
It had been so long since Cencia had seen another man.
"What are you doing out?" said the man, in a stern, patient voice.
"I left my home. I know what's within those walls," he says pointing in the direction he'd come from "and have memorized what they've taught me. I want to know what lies beyond them. Please! Teach me of life beyond the walls!"
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His name was Liv. For 3 days he taught Cencia what he could. He taught him how to start a fire, build a shelter, and how to reel in a fish. But Liv and he didn't fish much, as Liv had been carrying food with him.
"Was this all for you, Liv? Are you trying to learn about the outside too?" Cencia asks innocently.
"This food was given to me to deliver to the Prince by the King himself... You are the Prince of these lands, Cencia."
Cencia only had more questions. "My father is a King," he says "but he's left me here. Why has he left me, Liv?"
Liv felt pity for the boy and tells him about the situation with the Queen and her jealousy toward the first Queen's son. This Queen wanted her son to be the heir and forced the King to banish Cencia.
When the time came that Liv had to depart, Cenica begged to take him along. He said he feared living out here with all the dangers he now knew existed. He said he didn't trust the red eyes. His prior indifference towards them was gone. In its place was fear.
"If you must know one thing about the world you've just been born into, it is this: it's full of treacheries. If that beast in the wood hasn't mauled you yet, he'll wait until you're sick and cold. Until you've been beaten by the times and the elements, so strike first and true. Kill before being killed."
Liv rode away. Cencia was once again alone.
Cencia sobbed into the night. He learned so much from Liv and now he wouldn't know more.
He looked up and there were the red eyes again. Cencia, now fearful of this beast Liv has deemed a threat, approaches it slowly. The fury takes over and he hits the figure in the head with a stone.
The animal let out a yelp and stumbled back. In the moonlight, Cencia can see the wolf's full form. It is white with red eyes, lean, and half his own size. The animal fell into the lake behind it.
