His Only Reward **Completed and Free**

Chapter 1 : Foundling*

“We cannot keep this baby! We barely have enough feed us without having to take a foundling in! What were you thinking Robert?” Robert’s wife said.

Robert sighed and stared at his wife. He knew it was fear talking and for good reason. The years of struggle had begun to be etched on her face 

The Moon Goddess and the Sun God had not been kind in recent years and the harvest has been a third of what it normally is. Religious people were talking about something happening in the Realm of the Gods, that Chaos was trying to push past the barrier to feed on the world.

 The Gods barely managed to defeat the Empress of Chaos last time, it was only the fact that one General and three of his followers turned against their Ruler and helped the Gods of Light. Those Immortals were named The Honour Bound by the followers of Light and Order. The followers of dark and chaos called them the Anoki or unspeakable ones. 

The Honour Bound had slipped past the borders of the Realms of Chaos and set up barrier stones. The Sun and Moon Gods activated them and the Starlight Barrier was formed. The Empress has been trapped for the last two thousand years.

This did not matter to Robert at this precise point in time, as he could feel his wife's distress. Robert was not a hunter by any means but he could still manage to catch a few rabbits or if he was lucky a deer to help feed his family. Today though he didn’t come back with any Game, he came back with an extra mouth to feed. Robert felt guilty, but there is no way that he could just leave a defenceless babe in the woods. He had heard it crying and went to find the source of the sound. He was shocked to discover a baby with purple eyes and a few strands of bright red hair on its head. He quickly wrapped the baby up in his jacket and headed home to his farm. 

“Are you even listening to me?” Shouted his wife. 

Robert's eyes snapped back to his wife, who was the foundation of his life. Robert had fallen in love with Lana as soon as he saw her. At 5 foot 6, she was of average height with a round face and brown eyes. When she let her Chestnut hair down it reached her hips. He loved stroking her hair in private moments. The Gods of light or chaos had not blessed them with a child until now. He knew that it was not so much the fear of lack of food, but the fear of motherhood. He stepped up and hugged his wife. He placed his lips to her ears and whispered how her it was going to be alright and that she would be a fantastic mother. That the Gods had given his child and we should not dishonour them by rejecting this gift. Richard  then gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Lana knew that he was right she’s always wanted a child but was never able to carry one. This was a true gift from the gods. She looked at the sleeping baby, and she realised that she didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. After a quick careful examination, she realised it was a baby girl. She also noticed that there was a strange birthmark on the babies right shoulder. On closer inspection, she noticed that it was in the shape of a crescent moon. 

Lana went into a room and opened a trunk. Ever hopeful of being able to carry a child she had made a few baby things including blankets. As time went on, her hope had disappeared but she could not give away the things she had made. She took out a blue blanket she had knitted and gave it a good shake inspecting that it was fit for its purpose. She then gently move the baby from the jacket to the blanket and wrapped the child in the blanket. The baby protested and opened her eyes. Lana gasped when she saw that the eyes were purple. She suddenly felt love swell in her heart and knew that this babe was her daughter. 

“ What shall we call her Robert? “  Lana asked.

Robert smiled and said, ‘Well, I found her under a Jasmine bush. Maybe Jasmine or Jamie for short ?“

“Jasmine? Sounds good to me. Now you hold her, I got a lot to do!“ Lana said happily.