“You’ve had enough time, Milnas.”

It was dark, but in the candlelight, I could see a light mist that drifted in through the roughly cut window. Rebert sat across from me at the small table. He held a pipe in his hand, and a small trail of sweet-smelling smoke wafted out as he watched me.

I looked around the room, wondering if Clidale or Shay had awakened, but they seemed to be still in a deep sleep.

For nearly a year, Rebert had barely said a word to me. I could always feel his presence, his dark moods on the outside, always watching us.

I said nothing to him.

Rebert sighed and looked down at his calloused brown hands. “You have gifts, my boy.”

I remembered what Shay had said to me nearly a year ago. Since then, we hadn't spoken of what happened, but now it was all coming back. But I didn't want it to come back. I didn't need to know more about what I could do or what I had done. I wanted to forget it all, and the idea of living on the sea with honest, hard-working sailors didn't seem like such a bad life to me.

“What do you want me to do with my gifts?” I waved my stump at him. “I am no fighter. And even if I was, I want nothing to do with the church.”

Rebert glanced at Shay and Clidale, who were still asleep. A part of me wondered if they were awake now, but we had traveled far, worked hard, and spent all day exploring the city of Southport, so I wouldn’t be surprised if their sleep was genuine.

My own tiredness clung to me, and I wanted to end the conversation and go to sleep, but I was angry too, angry at the man who was the last vestige of my past that I couldn't get rid of.

“He killed your family.” Rebert looked at me with his dull red eyes, devoid of any expression or accusation. He was just stating a fact.

Anger made my gut twist and churn. “And what did you do to stop it?”

Rebert looked at me for a moment, then moved to the window and looked out at the city. When he looked back at me, I saw deep sadness in his eyes.

“Is it such a terrible thing to forget what happened?” I said the words quietly, and some part of me knew I was asking myself just as much as Rebert.

“Let’s go outside.” Then, without waiting for me, he left the room. I looked at Clidale and Shay. Clidale lay on the ground, curled up in his rolled mat, and Shay lay on the cheap straw mattress. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep.

When I left the inn, the brisk night air surrounded me with its cold, causing my arms to prickle. I regretted not bringing my coat, and if I had been sleepy before, I was now fully awake.

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“Over here, lad.” The voice came from around the corner, and I peeked around to find Rebert leaning against the building. He had a pipe in his mouth, and a small trail of blue smoke came out in wisps as he considered me. For a moment, he said nothing, and we just stood there together, outside in the cold air of the dark morning.

I heard light footsteps and the soft mumbling of a song, and then suddenly an old man turned the corner and stared at us. He was older than anyone I had ever seen before. Deep creases lined his face, and he had strange, milky-white-blue eyes. He stared at us so long I wondered if he even knew we were there. But he had stopped singing, and he seemed startled somehow.

“Keep moving, old man.” Rebert growled. The man winced as if Rebert’s sharp tone had hurt him. He shrugged and walked away. The old man looked back at us once, which I found odd. His milky blue eyes seemed blind.

We both watched the old man retreat into the distance of the street for a moment. Then Rebert spoke. “You were the reason we stopped in that clearing. It was not by accident.” Rebert looked at me and blew out a ring of smoke. I stared at him, not having the faintest idea of what he was implying.

“It’s your magic. The King sensed it, and he sent us to find the source of it.”

I felt guilty for what happened to my parents, as any would. But I did not truly blame myself. But if what he said was true, then it was my fault.

“We didn’t expect a metal mancer. If he had just let us take you, then we would have let them be.” He had a faraway look in his eye, as if was reliving the scene of the battle. “Never seen anything like it.”

I let Rebert’s words sink in. The burden that the salt and sea air had lifted suddenly came back. But this time, it was more than just shame and fear. The guilt that I had done nothing to save my parents was my own. I was the reason that my parents had died. And now, I finally understood what Rebert was getting at.

“They’ll find me again,” I whispered.

Rebert said nothing, but he nodded.

And then suddenly, the pieces came together. “That’s why we’ve been on the ship for a year.”

He nodded again.

“Shay?”

“Just a girl I found that needed some coin. The plan didn’t go as it should have. The guard wasn’t supposed to be paid off. And the girl wasn’t supposed to die. But in the end--” he trailed off and gestured at me.

“But why did you want to save me?”

The grizzled warrior eyed me for a second then blew out smoke. He squinted in the distance. The ships bobbed slowly on the pier and the moonlight cast each in a heavy shadow on the pier.

Then, slowly, he spoke. “That my boy, is a tale for another day.”

For a moment, I considered his words. Nearly a year ago, I found myself saved by this man. I did not know why or how. But now, I saw that he had planned all of it, and without him, I would be dead or enslaved by the whims of the church.

“The church sees something in you, lad. They will be back, and this time, you’ll need a weapon. Luck would have it, I know where to find one.” He snuffed out his pipe and put it in his pocket, then walked back to the inn.

“I’m not my father.” I called out to him. I missed my father, and at that moment, I felt angry. It was as if I never truly knew him. He was not a man of swordplay or of some strange power. He was a farmer, a woodcutter, and a husband. My dad. But he was gone now, and I would never know who he really was.

Rebert looked back at me with a sad smile. “You will learn to be.” And with that, Rebert walked back inside the inn.