The day after the storm broke with quiet sunlight pressing through soft clouds, casting pale gold across the hills and river beyond the village. The air was damp and cold, but the worst had passed. It was the kind of morning that smelled like new beginnings.
Inside the cottage near the mountain's slope, Aldric Blackmare moved with unfamiliar care. His home, once filled with the calm solitude of old age, now echoed with the soft, fragile sounds of a newborn. The fire had dwindled to glowing coals, but the warmth lingered in the stone hearth and wooden walls.
Wrapped in a bundle of fresh cloth, the infant lay in a worn basket lined with wool, sleeping in the fragile way only newborns do—utterly still, as if the world itself held its breath.
Aldric sat in his chair, elbow resting on the arm, his weathered hand curled under his chin. He had not slept. The night had been long, filled with feeding struggles, pacing, and whispered oaths. He had called Marta, to help him figure out what to do, how to clean and wrap the child, how to warm milk and coax it into such a tiny mouth.
She would return again soon. Until then, it was just Aldric and the boy.
He studied the infant for a long while. The child's face was delicate, his skin slightly pink now from warmth, lips pursed in sleep. There was no question—he had been born only hours ago. Whoever left him must've done so quickly, without time to think or explain. The fabrics the babe had been swaddled in were fine, soft to the touch, expensive even in their simplicity.
Not a poor family, then. But not one that wanted him.
Aldric leaned forward, his voice low, thoughtful.
"You need a name," he murmured. "A strong one."
He had already settled on Aaron. It was a good name—steadfast, quiet, steady. But the boy needed more than a first name. He needed a place in the world.
Aldric's eyes drifted to the sword hanging above the mantle. The hilt was worn from use. The scabbard, engraved with a name he rarely spoke aloud anymore.
Blackmare.
He smiled faintly. "I've carried my name long enough. It's time to pass on something of it."
But the boy was not his blood. He wouldn't pretend he was. He deserved a name of his own—one with its own meaning, forged from this new life.
He looked toward the window, where the bare blackthorn tree bent in the breeze. It was a tree that bloomed only after frost. Tough, thorned, but still capable of beauty.
"Blackthorn," he said aloud.
A name born of winter. Like the boy.
Aaron Blackthorn.
Aldric said it again, softly, testing how it felt on his tongue. It fit. More than he expected.
Later that morning, Marta arrived, apron dusted with flour and a folded shawl tucked under one arm.
"You look like death warmed over," she said dryly as she stepped inside.
Aldric only grunted in response and gestured toward the child, who was now cooing softly in the basket.
"I named him," he said after a pause.
"Oh?" she asked, crouching beside the basket with a practiced gentleness. "Well? What is it?"
"Aaron Blackthorn."
Marta's brows lifted slightly. "Blackthorn? Hm. Has a noble ring to it."
"He's not noble," Aldric said quickly, though his eyes remained thoughtful. "Just… meant for more than silence."
She didn't argue. She simply nodded and ran a gentle finger down Aaron's small arm.
"Well then," she said, "Aaron Blackthorn it is."