M sick of being followed by a bunch of kids who don't even understand what the hell they're doing out here anyway." He stops in front of Hugo as he looks at him expectantly, waiting for a response.
Hugo looks over at Hector for a moment. He knows that the other boy wants them to stay calm; they don't know anything about this situation. He has no idea what to say either; he doesn't know what to believe anymore. If they're not innocent then what are they doing out here? If they aren't guilty then they couldn't possibly want them dead, right? Maybe they can help them get home.
He thinks for a moment as he turns around to face the man that he's been following, "Hey, can we ask you a question?” the man raises an eyebrow, but Hugo ignores his expression as he continues: “Who are you?”
“What do you mean, 'who am I'? I'm your father's brother." the man says. "And you, young man, should take care of your manners." Hugo frowns at his father's brother as he speaks to him, feeling confused.
"Is that true? Is that really what happened? Wasn't my mommy with her family in the castle? I thought she was coming with Papa?" Hugo asks.
"Your mother wasn't going anywhere. Not unless you tell me that she is. She might have escaped to the castle but she's still in the forest and I know that she's alive.” The man replies, looking annoyed. “Don’t waste my time asking stupid questions. Where is your mother?”
"She… she had to go somewhere. She needed to go somewhere else, away from the town because…" Hugo hesitates, not wanting to talk about things that he shouldn't be talking about. "Because it was unsafe for me... because of what I did." he adds after he realises that he may as well say what he did.
"So that's how it is? That's why you took those people to that forest? Your mother told me that there was some kind of accident that caused you to turn bad, that you killed someone in self-defence, but your mother didn't want to tell me what happened after that.”
Hugo nods sadly, “I… I’m sorry. It’s just… my mother…” he starts speaking before stopping himself and taking a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry for hurting someone like that, I really am. But I wasn't going to let my brother suffer like that and I had to protect him."
The man shakes his head. “So you turned yourself in? You really think that that was the best idea? Because it sure looked to me that you ran away from the scene of the crime.” he pauses for a moment before smirking slightly. "You've changed a lot since then." he mutters.
Hugo shakes his head vigorously before speaking up again. “My dad said that I had to go back. He said that I had to do whatever he asked me to do to make the pain stop. He also said… he wanted me to be strong enough to fight.” Hugo pauses for a second as he looks down at the ground, unsure of whether or not he should say the next sentence. “I… I promised him. I promise I’d be a better fighter when I got older, so… so I’ll be stronger than him. Strong enough to help everyone and save our village from destruction.” His voice trembles as he continues talking. It seems as though every word that leaves his mouth feels heavier as it passes through his lips. “That’s what he asked me. To be strong enough to defeat the evil sorcerer. I-” his words are interrupted as someone suddenly grabs him by the hair and forces him to lift his chin