Jonen followed Mira and noticed her sitting at the edge of the outer garden. He walked pass the flower beds and she climbed into a nearby tree. She pulled her knees to her chest and studied the branch next to her.
“Want to talk about it?” He offered as he leaned on the branch next to her.
With her just at shoulder height, he looked up at the frustrated woman that gripped her hair in her hands. He frowned as she shook her head furiously and mum led to herself.
“I follow instructions completely. I incorporate the advice. I still fail,” She grumbled, “I do not understand what else I can do.”
“It’s just magic you’re not compatible with,” He tried to cheer her up, “I’m not great at it either.”
“It worked for you.”
“Mira—”
“I’ve excelled at every other type of magic I have attempted,” She cut him off, “I cannot heal. Any so-called healing. Any delicate magic. All I’m capable of is destruction and chaos.”
She pulled her hands away and sizzled the remaining dampness away.
“Am I only here to destroy?”
“What do you mean?” Jonen looked into her amber eyes.
“My purpose. You asked what I would do if I wasn’t enthralled. I’ve tried to imagine what I could do…”
Her voice trailed off and he grabbed her hands. The heat washed away as Jonen leaned towards her.
“You didn’t destroy me. Nor Tella, Pallik, Delpho, Relya, or the rest of the village,” His sapphire eyes stared directly into hers to keep her gaze, “Healing is notoriously hard magic. There could be a number of reasons it isn’t working.”
“Like what?” She scrunched her nose.
“Maybe your master doesn’t want you to learn it to help others,” He thought, “Maybe your branding is interfering with your spells.”
“I don’t have a pain from it now.” Mira shook her head, “I am just… terrible at it.”
Her hand went to the mark on his arm, and she frowned. Her fingers delicately lingered over the scarred skin. Jonen placed his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly against him.
“I will just have something to remember you by,” He whispered with a sly smile, “Not too bad to have, considering you saved me.”
She blushed and looked away from him. The tender moment between them made his heart flutter.
“Well, let Tella do all the healing. She seems to like it,” Jonen grinned enough to bounce his pointed ears.
Mira looked back to him, “She does, doesn’t she?”
“I’ve never seen anyone use a weapon as expertly as you,” He shrugged, “I’d take you as a warrior over a healer any day.”
“Do you want to leave the class, then?” She pulled her hands away from his.
“What else would we do?”
“I have an idea,” She grinned devilishly and dropped from the tree.
He followed her out of the garden. She slowly walked around the edge of the temple to thick vines of ivy fell from the roof. Mira tugged them once to test their strength then turned to Jonen.
“I will race you to the top.”
“Race?” He laughed, “How am I supposed to get up there?”
“That is for you to decide.”
“Well, what does the winner get?” He looked up at the large building to see what handholds he could use.
“I will answer any question you ask,” She nodded, “Is that a fair trade?”
Jonen wondered what question she could possibly want to ask him. Mira knew she would beat him in the race, that much he understood. He shook his head at the thought.
“If you want to ask me anything, I’ll answer,” He ran his fingers through his hair, “No need to make a game.”
“What’s the fun in that?” She lifted a finger, “If you manage to win, then you can ask any question and I’ll answer it.”
“Are you going to let me win?” He laughed, “I don’t see any way I can make it to the top.”
“Oh, I won’t let you win,” Mira looked up to the roof, “But it is quiet up there and a nice view of the garden.”
“Okay, on your mark then,” Jonen grabbed onto the stone wall.
“Go!” She shouted and shot up the side of the wall.
Jonen blinked and looked up to see her scurrying up the wall. Her slender body nearly flew up the vines as if she had wings. He grabbed the stretching plants and noticed they were unnaturally strong. He climbed after her and enjoyed the sounds of her laughter in the air. She reached the roof much faster than him, as expected. Mira helped hoist the man onto the clay tile roof once he got close enough.
Jonen took in the view. The gardens looked beautiful from up here. The patches of green with sprinkled colors of flowers moved in the gentle breeze. The courtyard bustled with people readying themselves for the temple’s worship later that day. He even saw Pallik and the yellow orc sparring near the crypt’s entrance.
Mira stretched and laid gently against the tile roof. She soaked in the warm sun like a cat lounging by a window. Jonen chuckled at her victorious smile.
“You’re right that was fun,” He sat next to her and shook his head.
“I knew you wouldn’t win. Hopefully you at least enjoy the view.”
“You’re quick. I’ll give you that,” He looked up at the cerulean sky, “It is peaceful up here.”
Jonen laid on the roof’s incline, just perpendicular to her. He closed his eyes and soaked in the sun just as she did. The gentle breeze brushed her hair against his face. He reached up to move it but felt her hand instead. He retracted his hand and she giggled childishly.
“You’re skittish,” She teased, “I won’t hurt you for moving my hair out of the way.”
“Good to know,” He smirked, “You did throw me out of a cart for waking you up.”
“I already apologized for that. You were not trustworthy then.”
“And now?”
“To an extent.”
“That almost sounds like a compliment,” He grinned.
“It was.”
The two rested in as much comfort as hard tiles could provide. Jonen felt he could almost take a nap in the midday sun. When he heard her turn, he looked up to see her amber eyes curiously watch him.
“What is it?” He raised an eyebrow, “You won, though. What’s your question?”
“Do you not have a question for me?”
“I have many questions for you,” Jonen whispered, “I’m guessing most of them you can’t answer.”
“I cannot answer anything about my master, the wraith, or most of my powers,” She counted on her fingers, “It may be trivial answers, but I’m interested in what you’d ask.”
“Why?”
“You’re an odd person, so I’m curious to what you’d ask.”
“I’m odd?” He laughed, “That’s news coming from you. You’re the odd one.”
“Hmm,” She tapped a finger against her chin, “Different? That might be a better word.”
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Jonen didn’t know what to say so he thought about what question to ask. She rolled onto her stomach to watch him think. After a few moments and rowdy cheers from the healing class, he had his answer.
“You mentioned this before…” He paused, “How did you find out your name?”
“I see,” Her neutral face cracked to a small frown.
“You don’t have to—”
“It’s fine,” She sat up and perched herself on the incline next to him, “I just didn’t expect that.”
“What were you expecting?” His brow raised.
“Where have I lived, how many people have I killed, or things like that,” She shrugged, “The origin of my name seems tame compared to what a knight hunting my master might want to know.”
“I don’t care about your master, Mira. I wanted to ask something about you.”
She smiled and bowed her head, “There is the oddness again.”
“So, how about it? How did you learn your name?” He looked back up at the sky.
Mira turned and laid next to him on the roof. Her legs bent over the ridge to keep her stable. Jonen turned to see her look at the sky. She took a few deep breaths before she spoke again.
“I wasn’t always this compliant to my master’s demands,” She paused, “There was a time, especially when I was younger, that I tried to escape my master.”
“I thought you might have tried to get away,” He sat up, “What stopped you?”
“I would always awake in his presence,” She ignored him, “It didn’t matter what happened.
“Mira… There has to be a way. We can—”
“He won’t release me, Jonen,” She ran a hand through her hair, “When I was younger, I tried everything.”
“Are you sure?”
“I have never known the terms, only that I am what my master tells me to be. I searched for the paper document everywhere, but I believe it’s long gone,” She met his gaze, “Every other way, I looked into. I studied thrall contracts for years until he ordered me not to. I even tried to end my life.”
“What?!” His fist clenched, “That’s—”
“At least twenty different times,” She ignored his outburst, “From tying rocks to my feet and diving into the sea, jumping from a mountain with a noose around my neck, or slitting my own throat… I always woke up. Perfectly healthy, minus new scars or healing bones.”
Mira waited for him to retort.
“I only stopped when I learned my name. Silly, isn’t it?” She laughed sadly, “I thought my name was ‘insufferable child’ for the longest time.”
Jonen didn’t know what to say, so he simply stayed quiet. Her hollow honey-colored eyes looked for an answer. Something besides the sadness reflected back at her. She knew this would be his reaction but needed him to understand why she could not be his friend –even if she wanted to.
“When I dove off a cliff, I woke up surrounded by dead animals. When I filled my pockets with rocks and jumped into the ocean, there was a beached whale next to me when I woke.”
“Because you’re a blood mage,” Jonen answered, “Something kept saving you.”
“Though magical beings give me more energy… animals work in a pinch.”
“I never heard of that before,” The knight asked, “Do you think that wraith kept saving you? Is that why you aren’t scared of him?”
Mira wished he would stop bringing up her other form. He didn’t understand that they were the same person, and she couldn’t tell him. Though, that is when that form started to appear. It made since to her that he asked about it. Perhaps he tried to understand the wraith more to accept it.
“I wrote a letter to whatever kept saving me. I told them to stop and to let me die. A nameless child did not want to live this way,” She paused, “Then, I slit my own throat and hoped that would be the end of it.”
“Mira…” He grabbed her hand and held it close to his chest.
Jonen’s heart broke. This woman admitted something so horrible with a content smile on her face. Her coldness and guarding made perfect sense. The tense silence in the soft light, held the somber mood between them. Her auburn curls stuck against her pale face almost seemed angelic compared to her story.
“I woke up surrounded by a… large number of corpses and a message carved into the dirt by me,” She held up to fingers, “Stop, Mira.”
He laced his fingers between hers, “I’m so sorry.”
“Sad, isn’t it? Only learning my name when I was around Tella’s age,” She shook her head, “When I told someone my name, my master had me kill her. Even then, he didn’t acknowledge my name. He never has.”
Jonen saw the tears escape her eyes besides her trying to cover her face. She did not like to feel weak. He didn’t say anything as he reached to wipe it from her cheek. She looked away from him, but he pulled her into his arms and embraced her.
“Let me hug you,” He whispered, “You deserve one.”
She rested against his shoulder and shook her head, “I’m telling you this so you know that I cannot be freed. There is no use in befriending me.”
“Don’t say that,” He pulled her into his lap and squeezed her against him, “There’s got to be a way to save you. What if… what if someone kills him?”
“I would be forced to die or kill them before they touch him,” She answered coldly, “Don’t… don’t make me do that to you.”
“I won’t hurt you,” Jonen brushed a hand through her hair, “If I can’t kill him, then I’ll find a way to help you.”
Mira liked the warmth he gave her. She understood why everyone liked hugs when he held her like this. She felt small, but safe. The odd spell he continuously cast on her mesmerized her. She hate her vulnerability but didn’t mind it in the presence of this knight. Something about him comforted her more than she realized.
When that thought crossed her mind, the brand on the back of her neck burned. She didn’t want to move from his arms, though. She wanted his comfort and warmth.
“Nothing is waiting for me, Jonen. I cannot escape him. My master owns me –even my death,” She whispered, “So, I won’t dream of a different life. There is no use for you to either.”
“I’ll be the only one that believes then, even if it kills me.”
“Why?”
“Because, Mira, I think you deserve it.”
She snorted, “Then, you’re a fool.”
“That won’t be the last time someone says that I’m sure,” He chuckled, “But, if you think so, then maybe I am.”
Jonen rested his chin on her head and sighed. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she looked into his sapphire eyes. He smiled softly and waited for her to speak again. Mira scrunched her nose and crawled out of his lap. She sat next to him and put her face in her hands.
“This brings me to my question,” She looked up at him, “Why are you nice to me?”
“I’m sorry?” Jonen blinked, “Why am I nice to you?”
“Yes,” Mira tucked an auburn curl behind her ear, “When we first met, you were kind to me. When you learned I was enthralled, you did not change your attitude towards me. Now, you attempt to help me understand my weaknesses, try to comfort me, and look at me with kindness.”
“I don’t understand the question. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Most treat me poorly, or they’re terrified,” She paused, “Even now, Pallik and Tella are scared of me at times. Why would you be?”
“Mira, you saved my life,” He laughed wryly, “You brought me to healers so they could save me from limping the rest of my life. Why would I ever look to you with anything but kindness and appreciation?”
“Is there a spell?” She tilted her head to him, “You’ve always… seemed kind to me. More so than others. Even now, there isn’t even a hint of hesitation to help in your eyes.”
“I don’t think you’ve met many good people,” He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think of what to say, “I doubt your master lets you meet them, honestly.”
His mind swarmed with questions. Did she feel the same way as him? Is that the question she actually wanted to ask him? Why did she bring him all the way to the top of the temple to ask that?
“Even here at the temple,” Mira pointed to the courtyard, “High Priestess Nara is terrified of me, like many of the priestesses here. I know they stare at me and wonder what will happen.”
“They’re scared of your master, Mira, not you,” Jonen leaned closer to her, “They know you don’t want to hurt them. But, if he shows up, they don’t know what will happen.”
She held the thought for a moment, “I do not know either.”
“What do you want to do?” He asked.
“I don’t want to hurt these people,” She looked down at the cheering class again, “They’re happy… I don’t want to destroy that.”
A gentle breeze passed between them as she stood up. She bit her lower lip and looked her amber eyes looked gently at him. He met her gaze with a smile and followed her to the ridge of the roof. She stood closer to him than she normally would. He wondered if she felt safer because she confided in him. He moved his wavy hair from his face as she tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
“I like the way you treat me,” Mira whispered, “Thank you, Jonen.”
Jonen felt his hand reach for her, even though he didn’t think he would. He cupped her face slightly and tilted her chin up so their eyes met. She studied him intently as his sad sapphire eyes washed over her.
“Everyone should treat you this way, Mira,” He smiled softly, “You deserve it.”
She shook her head then leaned into the warmth of his hand, “I do not.”
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind screamed at him to hug her –to kiss her, even. Mira stepped back and walked away from him as the temptation nearly overtook him. He wiped his hands on his shirt to relax himself and keep his mind off of her lips.
When her hand rubbed at her throat, he noticed the black veins retract back into her hair.
Mira deserved better than this. He had to help free her, whatever it took –Isaan be damned. When a grunting voice called up to the roof, Jonen looked over to Mira. She waved and responded to the voice. With a cheerful smile, she ushered him to the edge of the roof.
“Do you need help getting down?” Mira asked.
“I don’t think so,” Jonen shook his head, “Why?”
“It’s nearly lunch and we have to get ready for the service,” She pointed to the ground, “Sunodagh wants me to spar a bit beforehand.”
“Oh, yeah?” He grinned, “When should we head?”
He watched her walk to the edge of the roof and looked over her shoulder at him. The wind blew her hair from her face in an almost picturesque way. Jonen blushed at her smile and how her amber eyes sparkled at him.
Then, Mira subtly leaned backwards and fell from the roof.
Jonen reached out to catch her with a frightened shout. She flipped through the air and gracefully landed by Pallik and Sunodagh. His throbbing heart calmed down as she dusted herself off and looked up to him.
“A little warning would have been nice!” He laughed, “Bloody void, Mira! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Did you need to show off?”
Her laughter rang out towards him, “Come on down! I can catch you!”
“For goddess’s sake, children!” The yellow orc yelled, “There’s a ladder around back. Get down that way. No need to risk your neck.”
Jonen took a deep breath and looked over the edge. The fall was at least three stories, but Mira held her arms out like she would surely catch him. The only thing stopping him from crashing into the ground was the arms of a woman that silently cried into him a moment ago.
“Do you trust me?” She yelled, “I’ll catch you.”
“Oh, Vanora help me,” Jonen held his breath, “This is going to hurt.”
He let go of his breath as he jumped forward. He closed his eyes as the wind whipped through his hair. Unlike her silent cascade to the ground, a few women screamed when they saw him. He felt something collide against his back before he tumbled to the ground. He opened his eyes to see Mira gleefully examine him. The pair were on the stone floor of the courtyard with Sunodagh and Pallik laughing at them.
“You’re a fool,” She chuckled, “You trusted I would catch you?”
“You said to trust you, so I did,” He grinned, “Do you fully trust me now?”
“You haven’t tried to kill me yet, despite having more than enough chances to,” She scrunched her nose, “So, you have some amount of trustworthiness.”
Jonen just tussled her hair as Sunodagh glared at them. He planted his fists against his hips and shook his head. The orc offered his hand to Jonen and lifted him off the ground. He slammed a hand against his shoulders and threw him aside to offer Mira a hand up.
“Don’t hurt the man, Sunodagh,” She chuckled, “He’s supposed to take it easy for the next few days. Healer Irae would be upset if you hurt him.”
“I’m not giving him any leeway after he jumped from the roof.”
“You grouchy old man,” Mira grinned proudly, “You always tell me I act too serious. Let me relax and have some fun.”