Work Text:
Some say that coldness led me to walk out of my village and follow in the wake of the
queen's carriage. Some say no regret could ever pass the mind of so cruel a man. But I
am not cruel. I am not unfeeling. The talk of people who know nothing but my reputation
is merely borne of their own fear. If they served the queen, they would have no fear.
I have not forgotten and am not immune entirely to regret. I wake at night, and I reach for
my wife. I think of the way her hair smelled and her smile. Those thoughts pass. They are
an echo of something long since gone. The memories that linger are certainly warmer
than the times they reflect.
The dreams of my son are more persistent. The sight of my wife weeping over his body
as I left moved me, but it did not change the fact that I have a greater destiny than being
her husband or his father. I left them to claim a reward beyond the prize of the bow.
I do not regret my decision. Though my life is no longer my own, my life's passion is
now my life itself. The queen allows me to delve deeper into my true nature. I become
the forest and the creatures within it, human and not. I see the things that they see and
know their ways. I learn so that I may better serve my queen.
I am no longer father nor husband nor lover nor son. Such things are no longer possible
for me. My will is not my own. I gave it willingly to the queen along with what was left
of my soul. I gave her my life so that I might help her gain her rightful place.
For better or worse, I am her huntsman.