Web of Deceit

The merchant's eyebrows rose as she spoke. "I have been over those mountains once or twice," he stated. "Not in some years though. Tell me lass, what are you called?"

"My name is Mistake," she retorted caustically.

"Mistake?" chuckled Rejji. "You aren't serious, are you?"

"It is the only name I have ever known," she replied. "I know it was intended to be cruel, but I can handle anything she can dish out."

"You are indeed a tough lass to carry a name like that voluntarily," agreed Brontos. "By she, I suppose you mean your mother?"

"She is not my real mother," spat Mistake. "Her husband found me at sea and brought me home. He cared for me, but she always resented me and called me a mistake. After a while it became my name. I cannot remember her ever calling me anything else."

"And what of the father who found you?" queried the merchant. "Did he call you anything else?"

"I don't remember much of him," Mistake admitted. "He died when I was still quite young. I do remember that he held me softly and smiled at me. He is the only person I have ever known to care for me."

"So you ran away," surmised Brontos. "Can't say as I blame you, although you have set out on a rough course to steer."

"I would rather be dead than to suffer in her house," stated Mistake defiantly.

"But you have nowhere to go," interjected Rejji. "What will you do?"

"I have a plan," smiled Mistake. "What will you do Rejji? You are in the same boat now. You make fun of my name but how much better is Rejji? It is just a bunch of letters thrown together without meaning. At least my name is a constant reminder that I am someone other than her daughter."

Rejji looked shocked as her words hit him. He was as lost and abandoned as she was.

"Actually," smiled Brontos, "The name Rejji does have meaning. It translates from the old language to 'Son of the Moon'. Tell me Mistake, what is your plan?"

"I plan to find the Sage of the Mountain," she proclaimed. "It is said that he knows everything."

"I believe that is just an old myth," stated Brontos. "I have traveled most of this land and while I hear him mentioned often, I have never talked with anyone who has ever seen or talked to him. Not even anyone who knows anyone who has. What would you ask him if he did exist?"

"Who my real family is," declared Mistake.