{-Farrar-}
He stood there and watched as Rhenei proceeded to argue to herself.
“He knows more than us!” A pause. “If he wanted to do that, he would’ve done it by now.” She sighed. “Come on, it’ll be better than us going on our own. I thought you’d like that!”
Farrar blinked and, after a moment, mustered the courage to ask, “Do I want to know who you’re talking to?”
Rhenei stopped, glancing at the other side of the couch. “Kalleira.” When that clearly did not make any more sense, she continued, “She’s like my sister. We grew up together—never a moment when we were apart. You’re giving me this weird look. I know it isn’t normal but my parents never looked at me like that…”
“No wonder you acted weird,” he mumbled. “You either have a spirit or you’re completely insane.”
Rhenei tilted her head. “What was that?”
“It’s nothing. What was it that you wanted my help with?” He wasn’t sure why he was even still offering. There was nothing about this that his father would’ve liked him doing, or that wouldn’t gain wary glances from neighbors. At this point he didn’t even know for himself if this was truly something he wanted to get himself into.
Maybe that was exactly why he was doing it.
“Kalleira had a dream,” Rhenei began, then she must’ve realized that didn’t make any more sense. “She never had a dream before, in all our time together—and she remembers some things a lot better than I do. She wants to figure out what the dream meant, and I think that can be where we go next. Except we don’t really have any idea of where anything is. You seem to know a lot, so I was wondering if you’d help us. I mean, I don’t have anything to give you, but…”
He gave his answer without much thought. “You don’t need to give me anything. I would like a better explanation on what you’re trying to hide from, though.”
Rhenei paused for a moment to think over the best response. “I don’t want to go back home.”
And, somehow, Farrar understood at least a fragment of that message. There was something there that she definitely didn’t want to go back to, no matter the consequences… the only thing he wished to know was whether it was a real or an imaginary threat.
She waited for some reply, giving him a hopeful look.
“Where is it that you want to go?” he asked, finally, despite all logic. “Things should be fine here if I’m gone for a couple of days—my dad should be back soon anyway. I’ll help you out until we have to leave the Andrea Province, if we ever have to, and then you’re going to be on your own.”
“Really? You mean it?” She got up in a second and began excitedly bouncing in place. “When can we get going? We should probably leave soon. They’re going to wake up and realize I’m not there if we wait any longer.”
“Slow down! We’re not going anywhere until we’re actually prepared to travel.”
She slumped then, after a moment, perked back up again. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
What he really wanted to say was that he didn’t trust her enough to get anything they actually needed. But, knowing she might not like that answer, he said, “There’s a couple of bags by the staircase, the kind those merchants usually use. Just get me one of those—a lot more stuff can fit in them than it looks.”
She eagerly nodded and darted off.
With that distraction out of the way, he first located a piece of paper and something to write with. He couldn’t get any further until he could find the best way to explain it to his father… not that it would be so much of caring about his whereabouts as doing something without his father’s consent. Ever skilled at lying and believing it the best course, Farrar’s letter simply said he was going to be gone for a few days to help a customer. He liked to believe that was all his father needed to know and was closer to the truth than some of the other options he thought of.
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He made sure to set it in a place he was sure his father would see it then, noting how Rhenei was coming back with the bag, asked, “Where do you plan to go? You never actually answered me the first time.”
“Was there anything else you saw?” she rephrased, glancing once again at the person he couldn’t see. “Or anything you felt! That might be able to help, too. Just something other than the Strings.”
The Strings? Well, at least that gave him a bit of confidence that Rhenei wasn’t simply insane…
She waited for a moment until she was able to look back at him and confidently say, “She said there might have been a flash of something before she woke up—a flower field. She thinks there was something in the distance, but she wasn’t able to get a good look at it. Whatever it was would’ve been big, though, and aside from that there was nothing but open plains.”
“Something around here, possibly…” Farrar mused after a moment of thought. “In the east there’s not a lot of surrounding villages and Hyasari isn’t exactly something you can miss.” He took a small pamphlet off the mantle and handed it to her. “Did any of the flowers look like these?”
She looked it over slowly until finally stopping to point at one. “This one—ikretta. It was mixed with wildflowers.”
“Alright, just give me a couple more minutes to get ready,” he said. “I’ll make sure we have everything and we’ll leave as soon as possible.”
“Thank you so much! I wish I had something to give you for this…”
“Don’t worry about it, I could use some time away from the shop anyway. Just sit quietly until I say we’re ready to leave.”
She nodded and wandered back over to the couch, though she didn’t hide her growing excitement—or nervousness, as after a moment he couldn’t tell the difference.
This wasn’t necessarily his first trip out of the city, but the more he considered it the less prepared he thought he was. While he was gathering the things he knew he’d need from the kitchen, he tried to determine what they may need to buy along the way. “What do you have in that bag of yours?”
It was tiny—similar to those a specific stall gave out for free last Spring’s Calling—and clearly used much more than it was meant to. He honestly didn’t expect her to answer at all.
“My dress, doll, and a few coins. Nothing else fit.”
“How many coins?”
“Two bronze and a silver.”
He repressed a sigh. That was hardly enough for anything. “Do you have anything like a coat? I’d hardly call you dressed for chilly weather.”
“I never had one. I didn’t go out when it was really cold.”
He glanced over to look at her before going back to his work. “There’s a closet next to the staircase. Try on the coat on the far left and see if it fits.” He thought nothing of his offer and continued gathering things; by now he was starting to double check what he put in there.
Rhenei proved to be more observant than he gave her credit for. “Is the lady in the picture going to need it?”
“Does it fit?” he instead asked.
“Yeah.” And her pause made him believe that was all. “But someone else was wearing it in that picture you have on the mantle. Is she going to need it?”
“No. She’s not here.”
“Is she going to want it when she comes back..?”
He was quiet for such a long time that he was surprised she didn’t pick up on it. “‘The dead don’t have the right to complain about the living,’” he mumbled, slowly, without even expecting Rhenei to hear him.
“Is it… really alright that I use this, then..?”
“No one’s worn it in so long and no one’s going to notice if it’s gone. It wasn’t ‘fancy’ enough for Tess so she didn’t even bother bringing it with her. Other than that, it’s just me and my father.”
“Who’s Tess?”
“That woman you probably passed on your way into my shop.”
“Is she a friend of yours? From what little I saw, it didn’t look like you liked each other.”
“She’s one of my father’s friends.” He figured that was all she needed to know for now; if she wasn’t going to tell him anything more about her own past, he saw no purpose in elaborating on his.
Satisfied with what he’d gathered and almost certain he had everything, he took the bag and headed towards the door. “I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten everything we needed and I’ll pay for whatever I might’ve forgotten. It’s time we get going.”
Rhenei pulled the coat around her, giving it an almost reverent look. She couldn’t have been lying to him earlier. Just what was her life like before yesterday?
She nodded and walked up next to him. “I’m ready.”