Drexen Tarys, the only son of Emilia and William Tarys, was born in a cabin, in the forest near the Kingdom of Norland.
Life was hard for the Tarys family. Emilia wanted to move into a settlement, but William did not think having food in one's belly justified the discrimination suffered by Adunians. Emilia constantly argued with her husband about this, calling him a prideful fool, until she passed away due to a plague during the winter time, when Drexen was nine.
William, who blamed himself for her death, drank profusely. For the next nine years, Drexen did all of the work on the homestead, while taking care of his drunkard father. When Drexen turned eighteen, his father also passed away, after his heart gave out.
Wandering into Alisgrad to look for work, and needing to take a break from living in his childhood home, Drexen met Alena. She was human, around his age, and mightily curious. She was aghast when Drexen told her he could not read or write, and taught him, while he found work as a woodsman for the steward for the next three years. Eventually, Alena's contagious love for literature and knowledge spread to Drexen, and the two spent a great deal of time together, learning about the world, and discussing moral philosophy. Alena, who was born to a well-to-do human family in the city, asked Drexen to take her away from Alisgrad, otherwise she'd be married off to some much older man for her family's sake. Drexen agreed, and the two eloped.
Drexen took Alena to his childhood home, and the two had a good life there for the next two years. Alena smiled and told him she was pregnant with his child. Drexen was incredibly happy and overjoyed. He promised Alena that once they made a bit more coin, he would take her and their child to a grand city, with all of the knowledge in the world. They held each other tightly that night, excited for the future and for what it might bring.
The world was too cruel to allow that to happen, however. Drexen woke in the middle of his night to see his wife gone. He scrambled out of bed, and wandered out of his cabin, in the windy winter dark. Snow blew all around him, in a turbulent flurry. He followed Alena's footsteps in the snow, and became increasingly frantic to find his wife, as the winter storm raged onward. And he did. Just ahead, he saw it. Saw his wife there, collapsed on the frozen forest floor. He stumbled through the heavy snow, and grabbed her, hefting her over his shoulder, and trudged through the snow back to his apartment.
She was weak, pale, and her fingertips were dark blue. Drexen kept her near a fire, hoping for some miracle. He warmed her up as she came in and out of consciousness.
”Why?” he pleaded with her, tears in his eyes.
”Because I… loved you. I wasn’t supposed to love you.” She coughed, furiously.
”I don’t understand, Alena, I-” Drexan began, before Alena lifted a trembling hand to his face, silencing him, as she laid there, next to the fire.
”This… land. Very… fruitful. Your land. We were supposed to get it. The deed…”
Drexen tilted his head, still reeling from the despair, “This land? This marriage? It was all for that?”
Alena nodded, taking another shallow breath.
Drexen found he couldn’t even be angry. He just loved Alena so much. But he felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest.
”That’s why you taught me to read and write. So you could have me hand over the deed. The steward would’ve been suspicious if it was you who wrote it for me, as I worked for him. This whole time…” Drexen’s eyes welled up with a new onset of tears.
”We don’t have a child, Drexen. It was a lie. This marriage. It was… a lie. You and… me… it was… supposed to be a lie.”
She began coughing as tears welled in her own eyes, and she held herself near the fire.
”I’m taking you back to town in the morning. From there, we’ll go our separate ways. Your family can take care of you.” Drexen said, sadly, before returning to bed and leaving Alena there, crying, and coughing.
He was lost in himself for months, drinking, and understanding somewhat the pain his father had felt when his mother had died. He vowed it would not end there, however. On the first anniversary of their farce marriage, he made the commitment that he would live his dream for them by himself. He sold the deed to his land to the steward. He would venture to the grandest cities and gain so much knowledge. And he would use that knowledge to purchase a large, beautiful plot of land, and live there, building a library perhaps.
