The crows of farmland fowl woke Jonen the next morning. Pallik groaned at the sound before tossing in the pile of blankets. Jonen lifted himself off the bed of their shared room and used the staff to stumble into the main area of the home. Relya had set the table for a morning meal for four. He looked around to find Mira, but there was no sound or sight of her inside.

“Do you know…” He got Relya’s attention.

“Merawl, eh,” Relya tapped a finger against her chin to try and remember the words, “Is help. Is fields.”

Jonen nodded and sat at the table. A plate of warm bread and herbal butter slid across the table to him with a slight curtsey from his hostess. He sighed and stretched his back. The previous pain of his wounds now ached as soreness from the healing the young girl managed. He decided that the cut in the delicate region of his body was not something he should request next. After Tella was put to bed, Mira closely examined the marks and went to bed herself.

“Morning, Mommy Relya!” Tella bounced from the larger bedroom of the house.

The girl ran and hugged her mother about the waist. She lifted the girl and snuggled her closely. Seeing the two reminded Jonen of his own mother. He wondered when he would get an opportunity to see her. He decided to send a letter when they got to the temple and hopefully ease her mind if any news of the battle had made it to her. He wondered how many of his fellow knights made it out alive.

“I’m too tired for anymore healing today,” Tella yawned and dramatically flung herself into a chair, “I never did so much before! It was hard to concentrate for so long.”

“You could have taken a break,” Jonen teased, “I look and feel much better. Thank you.”

“How did you get so torn up?” Tella scratched at her unkempt hair as Relya brough her a brush.

“Well,” Jonen sighed and rubbed his hands across his face, “I was in a battle against someone.”

The thought of the piles of corpses a day’s ride away made his muscles tense. The wraith’s unnatural movements played in his mind as the mouthless mask warmed in his mind. His jaw set as he tried to think of any way to explain to the young girl without terrifying her.

“Was it the ghost man?” She looked away and whispered, “He’s scary.”

Jonen lifted an eyebrow,” You’ve seen him?”

She hid her face and nodded. He patted her back lightly as Relya brought fresh berries to add to their breakfast. The woman scrunched her face as she tried to find the words.

“Ghost man, hmm,” Relya drummed her fingers on the table before gesturing to the somber girl, “Ghost fight monster. One make orphan.”

Jonen looked between them until it clicked, “Oh, Tella… I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head and sniffled slightly. Then, Tella lifted her head and ignored the conversation. Both the adults saw the sadness in her crystal blue eyes, but she tried her best to ignore it.

“Mira saved us after that!” She tried to grin, “Plus, we get to go to temple soon!”

Relya and Tella chattered in the unknown language for a few moments before Jonen decided to make his way outside to get fresh air. With the sun lighting the sky, the village no longer looked like a desolate place. Most of the tiny homes opened so anyone could lean out of to yell to a neighbor. Men and women spoke openly to each other across the village, laughing and doing chores together. Poultry and small farm animals chittered about the ground without a care unless chased by a giggling child.

The slice of normalcy felt surreal from the field of bodies his mind kept drawing back to.

As Jonen shuffled towards the edge of the houses, he saw a large field of wheat and corn. Dozens of men worked the soil or harvested the grains. Scythes, sickles, and hoes swung in rhythm to the work song sang across the field. Amongst them was a short woman with a large, hastily made straw hat covering her braided auburn curls. Jonen hardly recognized Mira as she worked with the village men. She wore a similar work outfit to them: a ragged tunic covered by a thin cloth overall. He couldn’t hear what she was singing, but Jonen saw her smile and laugh with the others like he never saw before.

Here, she looked happy. Mira could’ve grown up in this village if he didn’t know better. Her pale skin seemed to drink the sun and more freckles speckled her face. This wasn’t the cold woman that begrudgingly joined him. This was a simple farm girl that enjoyed bathing in the sunlight and playing in the grass. Jonen watched as she tucked a loose curl behind her ear and turned to speak to Delpho.

“Beautiful, yeah?” Another man elbowed Jonen with a grin.

He adjusted his weight off of his bad ankle, “It’s a gorgeous day.”

“Not day, elf,” The dark, tanned man laughed enthusiastically while he smacked his back, “Girl.”

Jonen looked towards the man with a slight frown. He was covered in sweat and dirt. His unkempt beard and disheveled dark locks made him seem ancient. The shorter man wasn’t wearing a shirt, but that didn’t seem to bother the odd human’s pride.

“I admit,” Jonen smirked as he looked back towards Mira, “Seeing her look that happy is nice.”

The man grunted in response and the two studied the distant woman. Mira’s skin crawled with the sensation of eyes on her. She immediately clocked the two pairs of eyes. She waved politely and Jonen looked away as his face heated. The other man friendly nodded at her with a laugh. She set her basket on the ground and walked towards the two. Jonen stared at the ground as if she caught him doing something embarrassing. Whereas the man next to him whistled as she walked up.

“Good morning, Mira,” Jonen cleared his throat, “What are you up to out here?”

“Delpho asked me to help gather some crops for the village this week,” She stretched her arms upwards before turning to the other man, “Mikel.”

“Merawl,” He grunted and scratched at his beard, “Bath?”

Mira shook her head before replying in his native tongue, “Maybe later. Too busy right now.”

“Did… Did he just ask to take a bath with you?” Jonen looked between them.

They laughed with each other. She pointed towards the well where a young man and older woman stood in soapy buckets and rinsed each other off.

“Here, people bath in pairs to reduce water usage,” She looked to Mikel, “He needs a shave. If I bathe in the village, I offer to shave whoever may need it.”

“Close,” He scratched his beard, “Merawl close.”

“You… shave people?” Jonen touched his face where facial hair would grow, “I haven’t heard of that. Is that a human thing?”

“There aren’t any mirrors here,” She shrugged, “Grooming is a communal act.”

“That’s… different.”

“I shave closest out of anyone here without cutting them.”

“It seems too intimate,” He pursed his lips, “Plus, I don’t think there’s many people I’d trust that close to my throat with a blade.”

Mira smiled, “They all trust each other here. It’s nice.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Mikel grunted and spoke to her in his native tongue, “He’s been watching you. Seems interested.”

Jonen watched as the man’s eyes rolled over Mira’s form and got flustered. He didn’t understand what was said but did not like the implications. She smiled slightly and shook her head. Both of them chuckled as he tried to understand what they said.

“I think he’s more worried I’ll kill him,” Mira took the straw hat off and fanned herself, “He should be. He caused Tella to get sick.”

“Tella? He’s a brave man.”

“An idiot, I think.”

“It’s almost worth the risk for such a sweet woman. If I were twelve years younger, I’d have tried to buy you myself,” Mikel winked and patted Jonen’s back, “Why not take this one? He’s handsome and strong.”

“You know I am not allowed,” She rolled her eyes and switched back to elven to speak to Jonen, “We will leave after the last meal of the day. Make sure the kids are ready.”

Mira bowed her head and turned away from them. Jonen watched her take a few steps until the man’s arm rested across his shoulders like they were old friends. He didn’t know if it felt awkward because of their closeness, the man’s smell, or their height difference.

“Safe.”

“What?” Jonen slid his arm off and looked at the man.

“She safe,” Mikel grunted and tried to think of the words, “You safe.”

“I’m safe?” Jonen tried to understand.

“Merawl bring if safe,” He nodded, “Here safe. You safe.”

He jogged off to catch up with Mira. She laughed and looked back over her shoulder at the stunned half-elf. Jonen slowly walked away with the confusing conversation on his mind. As he entered the shack again, Tella focused on the broken bone. Much to her own frustration, the pieces would not fuse together.

“I thought you weren’t healing today?” Jonen chuckled.

“Mira gave me a challenge,” She flipped through pages of the large book on the table, “But I can’t read very well. It’s supposed to have instructions.”

“Why doesn’t Delpho or Relya read to you?” Jonen looked towards her mother.

“Nobody knows how to read here. Mira’s been teaching me and Pallik. She doesn’t come by often,” Tella looked up to him as a flash of excitement crossed her face, “Do you know how to read?”

“Yes,” Jonen cautiously answered, “Well, I know how to read in elven. I know some dwarven and humanin too. What’s the book in?”

“It’s humanin but I don’t understand,” Tella swished her mouth about, “Can you check?”

He took the dusty, leather-bound book from the small girl and through the pages. Much to his surprise and dismay, he understood very little. The anatomical diagrams showed more detail than he thought suitable for a child Tella’s age. She snuck over to the other side of his chair and tried to read over his shoulder.

“This is very… medical,” Jonen looked towards her, “I don’t know what a lot of these words mean. Sorry.”

Tella frowned, “At least see if there’s any hint on bones?”

Jonen nodded and thumbed through the book until he found a rough sketch of a skeleton with arrows pointing to different bones. His gaze shifted between Tella, the book, and the broken bone.

“Do you know where this came from?” He pointed to the bone.

“Daddy told us a story about it a couple of times,” Tella scrunched her nose and concentrated, “But I never really paid attention.”

He sighed and read over the complicated spell’s directions. Most words he had never seen before. He could pick up more common phrases and his finger trailed a line as he read along.

“I believe this is describing types of breaks and fractures,” He skimmed the to the next page, “It looks like if it’s in two or more pieces, it’s called a committed fracture? That doesn’t seem right.”

He shook his head and tried to figure out more phrases. Tella became frustrated with him.

“I don’t care what it’s called,” She frowned, “How do I fix it?”

“Something called… callus?” He deciphered, “It’s a form of healing tissue, I think.”

“Like calluses??” Tella looked at her small, worn hands, “I’m supposed to rough it up? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m not sure, Tella,” Jonen sighed, “This is advanced text. I think it’s supposed to be soft then harden the bones in place. Maybe? I don’t think it helps if the bones aren’t covered in anything.”

Tella took this as a queue to put the bones together. She walked to her mother and grabbed a chuck of fat from out of the stew pot boiling on the wood stove. She placed the chunk in between the bone fragments and held them together.

“What are you doing?” Jonen shut the book and watched the girl.

“Momma won’t let me use meat,” She shrugged, “Lots of animals have fat, right?”

It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea to Jonen. He didn’t think the boiled fat would help much, though. The girl pushed the bones closer and concentrated. When nothing happened, her frustrated groans echoed throughout the house. A responsive mumble came from Pallik’s bed to quiet it down. Tella rubbed the exhaustion from her face and tried again.

Jonen spent most of the morning watching the unhappy healer attempt to make the bone whole. Pallik exited his room when Relya whistled outside of the front door. The older woman shooed Tella’s experiment away from the table with a loving smile as she placed bowls of stew in front of each seat. When Jonen counted only four seats, he wobbly attempted to stand up.

“No! No,” Relya shook her head and placed her hands on Jonen’s shoulder to force him back down, “Husband, son stand.”

“You’re injured,” Pallik yawned, “Next time you can get a chair from the neighbors.”

“Next time?” Jonen asked out loud.

“Mira doesn’t introduce anyone to Tella and me. Unless, she trusts them,” Pallik patted his sister’s head, “So, I assume you’ll be coming around like the priestesses at the temple.”

“Yes!” Tella grinned, “Mira doesn’t ever let anything bad happen to us.”

Jonen wondered if there would be a next time he was anywhere near the little village. As soon as word of his mission got back to Hangral, he would probably be whisked away and interrogated. He hoped to be shipped back to Vanora to see his mother for some much-needed leave time. But it wouldn’t be impossible for him to bring soldiers back through her to help set up some sort of patrol to protect these people.

Relya rolled her eyes and berated the boy as he left the house. Jonen chuckled and pulled his chair closer to the table. The mismatched bowls and utensils gave the table an asymmetric, friendly feel that Jonen hadn’t seen since his visit to his dad’s village.

“Why stew?” Jonen looked to Tella, “Do you too like it?”

“Easy to make and reheat,” Pallik pulled in a chair from outside, “We’re low on crops and there aren’t enough chickens to make eggs for the whole village. We’re taking the shortage this week.”

“Why don’t you go buy some at the market?” He asked.

“The nearest market is in Vimgraunt,” Pallik unfolded the wooden chair and sat on it, “It’s a day’s ride and only happens if the temple has enough donations to share. If not, there are usually some merchants selling things.”

“They’re really expensive though,” Tella frowned, “Plus, we only get to go once a month.”

“Once a month to temple?” Jonen blinked in surprise, “That’s… that’s not very often.”

“Goddess can be praised in many ways,” She smiled, “Priestesses showed us how to offer crops and dance to praise her here when we can’t make it to the temple.”

Human culture, in general, was vaguely foreign to Jonen. Even though the half elf summered at his dad’s shop in Saceida until his early teen years, he never bothered to learn much about humans. He didn’t know if all humans took this approach to worship, or just this village.

Elves went to the temple weekly, if not more. Most elves believed the Goddess was once an elf. Another thing Jonen knew about elves was their constant need to feel superior to everyone else.

“I haven’t heard of that before,” He smiled, “If I come back, I’ll try to see it.”

The wooden door creaked open as the sweat-soaked Mira and Delpho entered the house. Relya tossed two damp towels to wipe away the stench radiating from them. Mira laughed and thanked her. As she lifted the straw hat from her head, bundles of curly locks flowed over her shoulder. Mira pulled most of her hair over her left shoulder and tied it out of the way as she sat at the table next to Jonen.

To make it look like he wasn’t just watching her, Jonen asked, “How are the fields?”

She pointed to Pallik, “Would’ve gotten more food if that one didn’t sleep in.”

“I couldn’t sleep well,” Pallik’s face reddened as he looked away from her, “Too much noise.”

Everyone but the children laughed. Mira grabbed the spoon next to her soup bowl and slurped up her early lunch. Jonen followed her actions. To his surprise, the watery stew tasted amazing. The floating herbs distracted from the otherwise lacking appearance.

“Relya,” Jonen looked to the woman of the house, “This is delicious. Thank you.”

The pudgy woman blushed and began eating. Everyone drank the meal with satisfying slurps. Jonen felt warm and cozy until his foot bumped someone else’s under the table. His face winced and he looked to see Tella innocently batting her eyes.

“Mira, your friend tried to help me with learning new healing today,” The girl smiled, “He says the book you got me is too hard to read.”

“What?” Jonen looked between them, “I never said that.”

Pallik snickered, “Maybe you’re dumb too.”

Mira closed her eyes and spoke with a scolding tone, “Tella, you know we are not allowed to use that word. I do not have friends.”

Jonen looked at her in confusion. True, they didn’t know each other very well but they had spent over a day traveling together after she spent a week caring for him. Some of his actual friends would have left him for dead –if they were still alive.

“We are not friends,” She shook her head with a raspy voice, “You are a traveling companion. That is it.”

Mira reached for her neck as the brand burned under her skin. Jonen watched the faint black lines crawl around her neck and up her chin. Her breath strained as the brand closed on her windpipe. Jonen had completely forgotten about her enthrallment.

“Correct,” His lips fell into a slight frown, “We are not friends.”

Of course, she wouldn’t be allowed to make friends. That wicked elf would never allow her a strand of happiness to cling to. The thorny roots retracted back towards her brand. Her eyes fell away with an uncomfortable sadness as she took a deep breath. The coldness from before washed back over her as she stood to clear the table.

“Sorry!” Tella clapped her hands against her face, “I forgot!”

“That is okay,” Mira nodded softly, “One day I will be allowed to have friends. You will have the honor of being my first.”

The girl giddily clapped as Mira chuckled at her enthusiasm. Pallik rolled his eyes.

“As for the book,” She narrowed her gaze between the girl and the half elf, “Maybe you just need to practice reading to understand.”