15-17 Rekindling 9048

We encountered some bounty hunters on the road on the 15th of Rekindling. Four of them to be exact. They had instructions to capture me alive and dispose of the remainder of my party which obviously didn't happen, but they put up quite the fight. It was very scary and without my party members I definitely would've been captured. While I would never let them know it, it warmed my heart that they rushed to protect me. I haven't felt like anyone has cared about my safety in that way in a long time. The bounty included a crude drawing of us along with information that the bounty is now 10,000 platinum. The handwriting was not familiar to me, however I doubt that Vulren himself would have come to a Bounty Hunter's Guild site and write out the bounty.

 
Avalanche departed close to midnight and from what we heard he's headed to Hi Ba. It's surprising to me that the King would send members of his Bulwark across the ocean to Hi Ba when the Crag has invaded their backyard, but that's none of my business I suppose. I'm hopeful that Avalanche won't tell the King about Kieran. I can't believe that in the past few days we've managed to tell two people about my son, as if I didn't explicitly say that we should never talk about him. Both Miloš and Dwaiyn have apologized but that doesn't really cut it. We took great care to ensure that Kieran's existence was a secret and I fear for him in a way that I never have before. With Tanyl's whereabouts being unknown, I worry that Kieran has no one to keep him safe if Vulren or his agents come looking for him. In Raleth's letter they said that Vulren and his forces had been driven off the island but they fear retaliation. If Vulren believes that Kieran lives, his desire to retake the island will only grow.

 
Wind apologized for telling us that we "weren't a mental priority," which still makes me laugh. They let us ask them one question each and said they would answer it truthfully, it was very informative. It got us on the subject of names and families and such. Miloš talked about his father and how he had never known him and how he didn't want to know him. I asked him if his father did come to him if he would be angry with him or if he would want to get to know him at all. He said that he didn't want to know him, that he abandoned him. Does Kieran feel that way? He's still young but I don't know how long I'll be gone. I had hoped that his father would be with him to tell Kieran that I didn't abandon him, that I had to run. But nothing is turning out how it was supposed to. I bet Kieran hates me like Miloš hates his father. I deserve as much.