“I swear, do none of you understand the concept of vacation?” Bauteut asked.

Joan paused outside the door of the room, considering if she should listen or not. She didn’t know why she even argued with herself in the end, when had a little eavesdropping ever hurt her? Besides, if they were hiding things from her they should know better by now. If Bauteut didn’t want her to hear, she wouldn’t be talking so loudly.

“It really wasn’t that much trouble to find,” Searle said. “I just heard a rumor and was looking into it.”

“You’ve only been back a few days, how did you get dragged into this already?” Bauteut asked.

“Sorry,” Zorn said. “It was my fault. When I was asking about the rings she came up. Considering Joan’s condition, I figured it might be a good idea to look into it.”

“Of course,” Bauteut said. “So, how do we tell her?”

“We’re going to tell her?” Zorn asked. “Is that wise?”

“No,” Bauteut said. “But if we don’t, she’ll find out herself somehow and throw herself at it. So now that we know we don’t have much choice, do we? So, how?”

Joan felt her cheeks going a little redder. Well, at least they weren’t trying to hide things from her. That was a step in the right direction. Maybe she didn’t need to eavesdrop anymore.

“I’ll tell her,” Searle said. “We should tell Myrin and Korgron first, though. If she has a bad reaction, we’ll need Myrin.”

“Why Korgron?” Bauteut asked.

“Korgron is working on a way to break that spell,” Searle said. “If this woman is connected to it then it might help her make progress.”

“So, uhhh, forgive me for not fully knowing,” Zorn said. “But I thought you said before it was on everyone supposedly?”

“Kind of,” Bauteut said. “We’re not really sure. It’s directly impacting Joan, though. Likely because of all of her memories and how they interact. But if these people really lost all of their memories it might be connected. Or maybe it’s just amnesia.”

“To all of them?” Searle asked.

“Okay, unlikely,” Bauteut said. “I’ll try and break it to Joan, you go find Myrin and Korgron and I’ll--” The door swung open and she stopped in mid sentence.

Joan gave a little squeak and stared, her face going a little red. “You, err, were talking really loud.”

Bauteut just sighed. “Of course. How much did you hear?”

“Not enough to know what’s going on, but enough to know you were planning to tell me,” Joan said sheepishly. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“I would just like to say this proves my point,” Bauteut said. “I’ll explain it to her, can you two go tell the Chosen?”

“Are you sure?” Searle asked.

“It’s fine,” Bauteut said. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t run off and get herself hurt.”

Joan watched the two of them leave before giving a soft sigh and bracing herself. “So, what’s wrong? How serious is it?”

“We found some people who might be connected to the Hero. Or, at least, to his family. There’s only one of them still here, though.”

“Oh,” Joan said. “Okay? I mean, a lot of people are connected to the Hero in some way. Or were. Why is this a big deal?”

“Apparently they ended up here about fifteen years ago or so, refuges,” Bauteut said. “It’s not altogether uncommon. Hearth’s Calling usually helps people who’ve lost their home, after all. The big thing, though, is that none of them knew who they were or where they were from. They assumed it was something traumatic and eventually their memories would come back to them, but they never did. Over time most of them went off on their own. Some joined the war effort, others joined different mercenary companies. One of them is still living in the city as a member of Hearth’s Calling.”

Joan blinked a few times before nodding. “That’s it?”

“Err, yes,” Bauteut said. “I thought you’d be more excited, honestly.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I mean, it’s interesting,” Joan said quickly. “Just, you know? I was expecting something more dangerous. Not to mention last time I tried to look too much into the Hero’s history I passed out and nearly died. I still can’t even think on his name too hard without getting headaches.”

Bauteut nodded. “So do you not want to see her, then?”

Joan gave a small shrug. “I mean, I can take a look. If I get any headaches or feel anything I’ll let it go. But I doubt it’s that connected. Of course, now that I said that she’s pretty much guaranteed to be important, isn’t she?”

“Knowing you, probably,” Bauteut said.

Joan nodded. “So I guess, well, I’ll see her from a distance. If I feel any pain, I’ll go away and worry about it after we fix this spell. Otherwise, probably not connected at all and just coincidence. Maybe the fae are involved or something. Messing with people’s memories is something they’d do. Not to mention there’s probably a bunch of other spells that do it. Between Korgron and Myrin they could probably find out how to fix it easy enough.”

“You’re handling this better than I thought you would,” Bauteut said. “I figured you’d be busting down the door to try and figure it out.”

“I’m calmer now. More mature and cautious,” Joan said, ignoring the snort of laughter from Bauteut. “Besides, I only need one more Chosen. So long as we get the last one and break this stupid spell, I can worry about that after. Once I figure everything else out. No need to rush it when I already have the answer coming, right?”

Bauteut gave a small smile to her. “I see. Well, it seems you’re growing up. I’m proud of you.”

Joan’s cheeks turned a little redder and she tried to ignore the way it made her stomach tighten into a small knot. “Well, you know all I’ve ever wanted is your approval.”

“And to get out of your way when you run head first into danger?”

“I mean, what else could a girl want?” Joan asked.

Bauteut gave a small snicker and nodded. “Well, at least this will be easy, then.”

------

Joan was wrong. Joan was so, so wrong. So incredibly wrong.

“Let’s go away. Now, please,” Joan said, tugging on Bauteut’s and Searle’s hands.

“Joan? What’s wrong? Is she bad?” Bauteut asked, though neither of them resisted her tugs. “Is it your head? Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s not, it’s just, it’s… I… I can’t…” Joan shook her head before looking back towards the woman. There was no mistaking it. No matter how little sense it made to her. It was her mother.

No, not her mother. The Hero’s Mother. She was alive. She was here. More than that, though, she was smiling. She looked happy. In all of the Hero’s memories Joan couldn’t remember a single time she ever saw the woman smile. Now, though? She looked healthy and happy. More fit than she’d ever been. She didn’t know what she was talking about with another one of the workers, but every so often she could hear the Hero’s mother’s laughter.

It hurt, but not her head.

“Joan?” Bauteut asked.

“It’s not, she’s not a part of this,” Joan said quickly. “She’s, I mean, she is, she’s just… I wanna go. I just want to go. Please.”

“I’m going to go see if she’s under any magic,” Korgron said with a sigh. “If she could--”

“Don’t!” Joan almost yelled that this time, drawing all of their eyes on her. She glanced back towards the woman and eyed the ship they were working on. Of all the work she’d imagined the Hero’s mother doing, carpentry wasn’t one of them. “Please. Don’t. Just let her be happy, please. Don’t ruin it. Please. Please please please.”

“Okay,” Myrin said in a soft, soothing voice. “Your head doesn’t hurt?”

“It doesn’t,” Joan said softly. “Just please. Don’t do anything. Let her be happy. Just this once.”

“We won’t do anything,” Bauteut said softly. “Right?”

“… Fine,” Korgron said softly. “So, who is she then?”

“My mo-- I mean, the Hero’s mother,” Joan said softly.

“Wait, what?” Korgron asked. “That’s your mom?”

“Was,” Joan said. “Not mine. But the Hero’s.” Her eyes widened when she saw Korgron turn and start to walk towards her. She let Bauteut and Searle go and lunged forward, grabbing the demon’s hand. “Please. Just… I don’t want to ruin her life again.”

That made Korgron stop. She could feel her hand tensing before Korgron let out a soft sigh. “Fine. Just fine. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Joan said softly.

“Fine,” Korgron said. “The moment we break this spell, though, we’re coming back.”

“But… but she…”

“Might know something,” Korgron said. “If she’s under the same spell as you, I don’t want to hurt her by forcing her to remember things. If she suddenly has a lot of memories flooding in then she’ll need answers anyway, won’t she?”

Joan stared up at the demon before, very slowly, she nodded. “Okay. We can add it to the list. After… after everything else. Please? After we deal with everything else.”

“Fine,” Korgron said before turning back around. “Let’s go back.”

“Yeah,” Joan said softly before glancing towards the others. They didn’t look any happier than Korgron.

But they weren’t forcing her, so maybe that was enough. Besides, they’d told her about the Hero’s mother, so wasn’t that plenty?

Joan did give her one last fleeting glance, her chest aching terribly. She looked so happy. So relaxed.

She wished she could have seen his mother like that at least once while she was the Hero.