Tales of Fire and Ruin

Hidden Intentions

Conrad took one of the few horses left in our stables and went on his way with the antidote tucked safely into his bag. Gisela and I watched him go down the path leading to town. Neither of us I asked questions. I didn't because Conrad wouldn't give me truthful answers, and I supposed Gisela cared not how Conrad convinced the town this antidote was real, as long as he did.

"Laurence! Gisela!" Valda's voice rang out behind me.

When I turned, a very indignant-looking Valda came storming out the front door with little Fynn on her heels. He had to run to keep up with her.

A frown was etched onto Valda's face. Her black hair, which was usually neatly braided, was now a disheveled mop. I would've teased my sister that she wouldn't want a future husband to see her like this, if she didn't look like she was about to spit fire like a dragon.

"Mother told me what happened," Valda said, her cheeks red with rage. "You faced Ytel's men in here at the mansion without me? I cannot believe it."

I held up my hands in defence. "We didn't exactly face them without you here. You were just in your bed."

"Honestly, Valda. You would sleep straight through a ball organised by the queen herself in Wildewall's court if it was held too early in the morning," Gisela said with her hands on her hips.

"I would not!" Valda huffed. "And that's not even all! You also let Oleander get hurt?"

"And you gave them Spot?" Fynn sniffled. A tear rolled down his cheek.

Shit, I had already almost forgotten about Ytel's men taking two of our horses. One of the two, a speckled horse, was Fynn's favourite. He had called her Spot. In all the commotion, I hadn't had the time to wake Fynn and warn him so he could say goodbye to Spot.

"Oh, Fynn, I'm sorry." I walked over to my little brother and kneeled to give him a hug. "Maybe we will be able to buy Spot back from Ytel's men. We have something of value to sell in town now, thanks to Oleander."

Fynn threw his arms around me. "Really?" he asked in a small voice. 

"Yes, we can see what we can do," I tried my best to reassure Fynn without lying. I couldn't guarantee that we could get our horses back. Ytel's men would surely be suspicious as to why I wanted those horses back in particular, and be purposely unaccommodating.

Fynn kept clinging to me, so I scooped him up as I stood. "However, we need to prepare and sell antidotes on the market first. After that, we will have the coin to get Ytel's men off our back for good and to reclaim our property."

"Yes, well, Oleander will need to recover before all that, won't he? He's the only one who can make the antidotes." Valda clacked her tongue. "Laurence, I cannot believe you of all people would let him stab himself with vile Elvenear."

I felt a clenching in my chest. "Don't call it Elvenear. It's Bleeding Ivy," I said. "And I didn't let Oleander stab himself, alright? He made that choice and I didn't agree with it."

Both Valda and Gisela stared at me, clearly taken aback by my sudden protest against the use of the word Elvenear. It was a common folk term, after all. Used interchangeably with Bleeding Ivy. It just didn't sit well with me anymore to use that word now that Oleander was in our household.

"I will bring Fynn to his room now," I said, giving Fynn's back a rub. "Then I will be back to align our plans."

"Very well," Gisela said. "We will wait for you."

Valda looked like she wanted to ask me why I didn't want her to say Elvenear. I was grateful that Gisela placed her hand on Valda's back and took her along. It didn't stop my younger sister from shooting me curious glances over her shoulder, but it did stop her from asking questions.