Rueln Layheart

Just after breakfast, I was helping Cyrus wash the dishes and put them away when a bird landed on his windowsill. It was the strangest looking bird I had ever seen, its feathers such a rich blue that even the sky couldn’t compare to it. There were only a few yellow feathers around its eyes that made it look like it had over-exaggerated eyebrows. It didn’t fly off, even when I gave a startled yelp when it landed out of nowhere. The thing even had a leather bag resting on its back.

“A messenger,” Cyrus said, drying his hands off and offering the bird a perch on his hand. The creature didn’t hesitate, cooing a greeting to him as he stroked a finger along its chest. “A Vori bird at that. Expensive these are to send, but more reliable than the more common species. What do you have for us, pretty one?” Cyrus unclasped the leather flap and pulled out two rolled letters, both sealed with wax.

“What is it?” I asked, standing on my tiptoes to see better.

“A moment, Rueln,” Cyrus said, setting the letters down long enough to grab a handful of seed from a jar and sprinkle it along the sill. “There you are,” he said, letting the bird down to eat.

Pursing my lips, I did he asked, handing Cyrus a silver and watched him place the coin in the bird’s bag. “That’s done. Let’s read these letters before we send our new friend off.”

Returning to the letters, he looked at one, then raised a brow at the other. “What is it?” I asked again, determined to get an answer this time, standing as close as I could to him to see. I just knew it had to be from Master Esra. They wrote back after receiving Cyrus’s letter. It had to be.

“You have a letter here,” Cyrus told me, then offered the smaller letter.

My eyes widened, but before I could take it, my shoulders dropped and I shook my head. “I can’t read,” I admitted. “Master Esra hasn’t taught me my letters yet.”

“Well then, I’ll have to read it to you in just a moment. Let me look at this one,” Cyrus said, setting my letter on the counter and breaking the wax on his own.

I watched quietly as Cyrus’s eyes shifted over the parchment, reading it over thoroughly before placing it on the counter and smiling down at me. “Your master received my letter in time. They are returning as quickly as their horses can travel. From the sound of it, they were halfway to Hobel, so it will be a few days before they arrive.”

“And my letter?” I urged him, hardly able to resist it anymore. The smile that spread over my face was so full of joy my cheeks were hurting in protest. “What does it say?”

“Calm yourself, I’m looking,” Cyrus scolded as I bounced beside him. He broke the seal before reading aloud, “We’re coming for you, Rue. Finn.”

For just a moment, my excitement was so overwhelming I thought I would burst with it, but when Cyrus lowered the parchment, my smile slipped. “Is that it?” I asked, confusion slipping through.

“Yes. Did you expect something else?”

“There’s nothing from Master Esra? She wrote nothing? Nothing at all?”

“She wrote my letter,” Cyrus said, catching on that something was bothering me. “What’s wrong? Are you not happy to hear from this, Finn?”

“No,” I realized what I said and shook my head. “No, that’s not it. I just...” My frown grew. Finn couldn’t read or write either, so Master Esra had to have written that out for him. Why didn’t she write anything for me too? Did she forget about me so easily? Am I a burden now that they have to travel all the way back for me?

While he left to my thoughts, Cyrus walked over to his desk and wrote out his own letter before taking some wax from a small drawer and melting it before he finished sealing the letter with it. Pulling a small maroon pouch out, he withdrew a silver then returned to the bird, who was still waiting, pecking at what little remained of its grain.

Cyrus took the silver and placed the coin in the bird’s bag along with the letter he had just written out before closing the clasp shut. “I would offer you the chance to write a letter as well, but it is likely your Master won’t receive it if she is on the road,” he explained before he offered the bird his arm again then leaned out the window to send it off. When that task was done, only then did he turn back to me and offer me a patient smile. “Would you like to tell me what is bothering you, Rueln? You seem upset.”

“I’m not upset,” I lied, lowering my eyes.

“Rueln-,” He began, but I interrupted.

“I’m not. Just leave me alone!” I insisted, running out of the cabin.

I didn’t know how to unravel the mass of emotions rolling through me as I ran down the trail toward the river. I just knew I needed time to be alone, to think. Panting behind me told me Toga had followed me, but with him I didn’t mind. I just didn’t want human company right now and until I had a moment to think it over, I couldn’t guess why.

By the time I made it to the river, I was warm; the blood rushing through my body from the run helping to still my thoughts. Toga walked into the water, lapping it up while I plucked several smooth river rocks up and threw them into the water. One after another, until I lost count.

What was wrong with me? Why was I so… angry? Sad?

“UGH!” I yelled, throwing the handful of rocks I had picked up rather than one at a time. As they splashed into the river, scattering in every direction, I flopped down into the dirt and sand just breathed. It wasn’t until Toga joined me, laying down patiently at my side with his head resting against my leg, that I considered using what Cyrus had been teaching me.

Closing my eyes so I could concentrate, I covered myself in soulforce, letting the memories of my past life flood into me until I held a tedious balance. Only when I was sure that it felt as if Vhal could almost look out from my eyes did I let all my emotions and thoughts come rushing back. Vhal had been so much wiser than I am. She knew how to settle herself and untangle the mess of emotions that I was currently struggling with and if she did, then so could I.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

When I opened my eyes, I fought the phantom sensation to push long black hair back behind my ear. It took me a moment to recognize that it wasn’t real while my soulforce faded back to its dormant state, taking Vhal’s memories with it.

Why did I feel betrayed? I thought, knowing now that it was why I was so upset. Master Esra had done nothing to warrant that from me. Finnley hadn’t either. Yeah, I had been mad at him before, but I wasn’t anymore. I should be happy they were coming back. Instead, I was…. angry with them.

“Rueln,” Cyrus said, his footsteps quiet as he emerged from the trail leading back up to his farm. “Talk to me, boy. Get it off your chest.” When I lifted my head, turning to look at him, his lips pressed together as he saw my expression. “You are angry with them?”

“Not them,” I corrected, my voice hardly audible over the flow of the river. “My master.”

“That’s reasonable,” he said, walking over to me until he could lower himself to the ground beside me. “It’s okay to feel this way. It’s okay to be angry sometimes.”

“How is this okay?” I demanded, glaring at him. “Why does it feel like she doesn’t want me? I’m just a burden to her and everyone else!” Angrily, I picked up another rock and threw it. My balance wasn’t as good sitting, and I leaned too far over and had to catch myself, my fingers digging into the sand just for something to grab on to.

“I don’t believe you are a burden,” Cyrus said softly. He was quiet for a moment before he nudged Toga and used the dog to help keep himself steady as he got back up to his feet. “If you feel unwanted by your Master, you are more than welcome to stay.”

I took Cyrus’s words to heart. I considered it. He didn’t push or try to sway my decision, leaving it to me to decide on my own. While we waited for Master Esra to arrive, he taught me more about magic, and how to restore my mana reserves, as well as going into detail on how I could carve out more of my mana channels so my capacity was greater.

Before I knew it, another day had passed, and we were well into the next when I heard Toga barking near the cabin. Dusting myself off, I slid out of the hayloft where I had been trying to push a bale down for Bosco and hurried outside. I barely made it out of the door when I heard my name. Master Esra was riding up on Peach at a full gallop, with Finnley clinging on behind her.

Peach slid to a stop and first Finnley jumped off her back and then Esra came, both of them throwing their arms around me. My shocked surprise quickly melted into a grin as they squeezed the life out of me. Finnley hardly let Esra have a word in, he was so happy to see me.

“Why don’t you all stay for dinner,” Cyrus said, chuckling as he walked out of his chicken coop, hammer sticking out of his pocket. He had been in there for an hour trying to fix a hole that something had made overnight to get in after his chickens.

Esra let me go, kissing my forehead and telling me how glad she was to see me again before she turned and offered her hand to Cyrus. “That sounds wonderful. Hello, I’m Esra Greyborn.”

“A pleasure. I’m Cyrus Lone.”

“Thank you, by all the lords and gods. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you saved him and have been taking care of Rueln these last few days.”

“The company’s been nice,” Cyrus admitted, smiling. “Come on inside while the boys catch up. I’d like to have a word with you, anyway.”

“Do you need any help?” Esra asked, gesturing to the dead chicken dangling from Cyrus’s other hand.

“Sure,” he agreed, and they disappeared inside the cabin, leaving me to squirm out of Finnley’s hold.

“Can you let go? I can’t breathe!” I complained, laughing as I tried to push his arm away from my neck.

“Don’t ya ever die on me again!” Finnley ordered me. “I don’ care how mad ya are at me. An why didn’ ya tell me ya were a mage?! I know better than to tweak a mage tail.”

“Come on let go,” I said, and finally freed myself, taking a step away from him and holding up a hand to stop him from squeezing me to death again. “I didn’t know I was a mage before,” I explained. “That was the first time I ever used magic. What happened anyway after I fell?”

Finnley told me everything while he helped me finished the chores Cyrus had asked me to do, including a dramatic reenactment of my fall into some hay. He was definitely braver than me to crawl out of the cage and climb up the bars. I guess he’s pretty smart too to come up with all that on his own, though I think he was twisting it a bit when he said he dragged all three cages up onto the cliff side by himself.

We unsaddled Peach and let her go into the paddock with Bosco, since Master Esra said we were staying for the day. She was not happy about her new accommodations and after only a minute in there, Finnley decided it was wiser to put her in the stall. Poor Bosco had a new hoof shaped mark on his side from where she had kicked him.

“Where’s Apple?” I asked, not having seen the gelding since the attack on the caravan.

Finnley winced. “He’s back in the town we were goin ta cross a portal in. I think it was Hobel? Anyway, he’s still limping a bit from an injury and Master Esra didn’ want to take another day to get back to ya.”

“I’m glad you guys found him. I hope he’s okay.”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. Even Peach gettin soft on em.”

That had me laughing.

Master Esra and Cyrus found us feeding the goats tufts of grass through the fence. When Master Esra put a hand on my shoulder, she made a motion for me to follow her and we moved closer to where Bosco was grazing on the opposite side of the paddock. “Cyrus told me what’s been going on.” Guilt hit me like someone throwing a bucket of water over me. All the anger I had felt toward her before they had gotten here. I knew I had been wrong, but that didn’t stop me from feeling it. Or was she talking about when I stole Bosco?

“Master-,” I began, but she shook her head and I fell silent.

“Cyrus explained that I have been neglectful of my care for you in more than one way and I hope you will forgive me.” She kneeled so she could look me in the eye as she continued. “I was ignorant of what you were dealing with after your recall and what it would mean for you. I am sorry about that. Just as sorry as I am for leaving you and Finnley with the caravan. I promise I will not leave you like that again.”

My gaze fell to the ground. “You don’t have to apologize, Master. You didn’t know it was going to happen.”

“You are my responsibility, Rueln,” she said, lifting my chin and brushing back my hair. “You are more than that as well. I care about you and I don’t want you to go through something like that again. You are my first apprentice, and just like you, I’m learning how to be a good Master. That means I will own my mistakes and learn from them.”

As we walked back to the cabin, Finnley chasing Toga around trying to get the stick from him so he could throw it, I slowed down so I could walk beside Cyrus.

I was quiet, not sure how to start, but he seemed to read my mind. “You’re not staying, are you, boy?”

“No.”

“I thought so,” he sighed, nodding. “You have a good master. She’ll treat you right and she cares for you.”

“Yeah, I’m seeing that,” I admitted, ducking my head to hide my shy smile.

Cyrus ruffled my hair and smirked. “I think you’ll be just fine. Come on, let’s eat. That chicken smells pretty good.”

“Come on Finn,” I called, turning back to see my friend racing toward me. I had a long way to go, in training both with the sword and my magic, but I didn’t have to be alone. I had Finnley with me and Master Esra, and if I ever needed him, I knew I would have Cyrus too. Maybe one day the empire will know me as Rueln Layheart and not Vhal Aairith.

As I closed the door, Finnley darting by with Toga at his heels, I would bet on it.