They pretended to sleep when she awoke to go to breakfast and shifted right after she was gone. Arion had to sprint naked for his room and it would be better done while she was dressing. Or he could get another kick.

When Renna left her room she found breakfast set for two. So he was back… She sat down and tried to decide if she was going to ask about the bracelet or not. On one hand, she wanted to know… Yet…. It was fine the way it was, it was done, no need to trouble herself with it.

Arion dressing was debating the same question. Should he tell her, or not. He sensed that she felt no rush to rid herself from his beast, but he was not sure about himself. If she asked to unbind her now… he would have to agree. To make it mutual so she would not hurt. He did not want to do that… the beast would fight him for one thing. So he resolved to not say anything unless she asked. There would be time for it.

They had a quiet breakfast, but at the end of it Renna had a couple of requests to make.

“Could you teach me to read?” She asked.

Arion was surprised, “You were not taught as a child?”

“No, Lord Aris thinks knowing how to read is not good for women. Teaching girls is not allowed in his domain.” She said.

“Mother would have taught me regardless if she had known how herself of course…” she admitted bitterly.

“Only my brother Aron knows how to read. The priest taught him at my fathers request because he was clearly too weak to be a farmer or a smith like his older brothers and had ideas father believed some book-wisdom would cure.” Renna smiled. “He was disappointed - he only got bigger and wilder ideas from reading. He didn’t think it was worth trying with Tom.”

Arion contemplated this for a bit. There was no harm in it. It would fill their days and would let her use the library eventually.

“Alright, I will teach you, ” he said.

Renna smiled. She had one more thing to ask.

“I looked around when you were away and found the weaving room. Is it fine if I work there?”

Renna had found the room on the last day. It had a big weaving frame, a drawing table and lots of supplies. She had had a small frame at home and knew how to work it. Doing something with the big one here was an exciting idea for her. It would give her hands and mind something to do.

Arion looked at her wondering what else she had found. That room was quite far along the great hall. Has she seen the mirror? And more importantly… had she been seen?

“Yes, you can do whatever you wish there.” He said.

“But… if you looked around, did you go to the room with a big mirror?” He asked.

“Yes, but the mirror was blank. It showed nothing. Not even my reflection. Is it magic?” She told him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He was relieved. She wasn’t seen.

“Yes, it is. Please don’t go there again. It isn’t safe.” he insisted.

“I wasn’t going to. It felt… unpleasant.” She assured him.

“So, when do my lessons start?” She asked.

“Now?” Said Arion laughing.

He led him to the drawing desk in the weaving room.

“First, we will need to learn the letters.” He told her.

So until lunch Renna struggled with sounds and shapes of the letters. She felt that she was making a little progress.

After lunch she went back to the weaving room alone to work on an idea of a wall rug she had in her head. She sat herself down at the drawing table and was soon lost in sketches. Time passed quickly. It always did when working.

When Renna went to her work Arion sighed, went back to his room and looked for a shirt that would completely cover his bracelet. Beast rumbled with disapproval in the back of his mind. He wanted to show it off, but Arion wasn’t ready to share her with anyone yet. Not even his mother.

Reasonably satisfied with his attire he went to the mirror room, stood in front of the big mirror and waited. Minutes passed without anything happening. Then suddenly an image of an older woman appeared in the mirror.

“Arion” she said with a warm voice “how are you, my child?”

“I'm as good as I can be alone in this world, Mother,” he said sadly.

“But don’t you have company again, child?” She asked.

Arion was surprised - had she seen Renna after all?

“It is that time of the year is it not?” She inquired.

Arion let out a breath, she had simply guessed.

“It is, but I meant company of my own kind…” he responded.

“Remember, dear, sage said your exile would last for 8 years? It has almost passed.” She softly told him.

Arion bristled. Considering the reason for his exile, this piece of fortune seemed… unlikely to come true. Unless he was to die within a year.

“Sages say too much and leave even more unsaid. You know this very well, Mother.” He retorted.

His mother looked sad at his words. She loved her son and hoped that by some miracle he would be able to return from this exile was all she had left.

“Enough about me and my sad fate - what news of home?” He asked, trying to change the topic.

They talked about various small matters for a while.

Mother eyed her son carefully through the magic glass while they spoke. There was something he was not telling her. She had her suspicions. There had definitely been a girl here the other day and not just any girl. There was a binding bracelet on her wrist. She had seen her for only a moment before closing the connection, but she was sure that was it. And now his son was carefully not exposing his left wrist…

Mother’s heart both rejoiced and worried. If it was indeed true there was hope that he was returning soon… But… Why was he hiding his happiness if it had indeed come his way? She chose to let him tell her when he was ready.

Soon they parted ways. Neither could tolerate the drain mirror was inflicting on them any longer. This was why he could only go there when he had fed the beast and why it would be dangerous for Renna - it would suck her dry of her life energy if she connected to mother by accident.

Humans didn’t have enough to support a connection for more than a second. The mirror was a powerful item, but as such things tended to be, it was also dangerous.

He locked the door behind him.