The price of madness vol.01 : Dream and Condemnation

The beginning of a long road

It had been several days now since the two young women had taken up residence in the Dafaris' house. Julie had received a mysterious crow, again, asking her to lay low. She had only uttered three words here and there apart from the daily politeness. She spent all her time among the apple trees working, avoiding people as much as possible and Lucia in particular. This one had undertaken to teach young Amaril what she knew about swordsmanship. It worked pretty well for them and although the father didn't quite agree at first, he quickly felt a little pride in presenting his daughter as guardian of their orchard. After he saw her do her first successful combo against Lucia, he seemed to have completely changed his mind and even encouraged them. The two youngest saw their day pass by observing Julie from afar, a little poorly hidden and bickering constantly. The mother was in charge of going to sell the apples in town and take the opportunity to glean as much information as possible about the pursuers of Lucia and Julie once the witch had treated her properly.

For now, they seemed to have completely vanished. The rumors were mostly about what happened to the two towers and what happened to the witch. Many thanked the gods saying it was karma, others toasted her health praying that she had just undertaken a pilgrimage. They were few of this group but you could hear them singing the witch's praises for hours, especially after drinking too much. The two friends were forbidden to leave the orchard because if they were spotted by anyone, their presence could endanger the entire Dafaris family. Suddenly, Julie could not dodge Lucia for long. Especially since they shared the same room.

"Hey, would you like to come and give Amaril some advice with me tomorrow ?"

Lucia began one evening as Julie was going to bed. The applicant did not answer.

"She would be really happy if you were teaching her, you know?" She continued.

"I'm a witch, not a swordswoman." Retorted Julie.

Lucia sighed.

"I know you're lying, I saw you fight against these two Nar'. Plus the little bit of magic you do other than your gift-..."

Julie jumped on her feet, her face flushed and her jaw clenched.

"A gift ? A GIFT ?" She began.

Lucia curled up slightly on her bed, her back to the wall. The witch was now hunched over her.

"Sometimes you really should shut the fuck up." Julie spat.

The young human looked down, a lump in her stomach.

"I won't train anyone. Never. Is that clear?"

Lucia nodded silently then Julie left the room. Amaril stood in the hallway, armed with a half-melted candle.

"E-Everything okay?" She threw to Julie who was standing straight as a pole in front of the door of their room.

The tall Nar' passed by her side.

"You should go see her. I think it would do her good." She answered just before continuing on her way.

"What would do her good would be if you deign to speak to her for something else than gratuitous hatred." Amaril stung bitterly.

Julie stopped for a moment in the middle of the stairs before resuming her way out.

"You've already learned bad manners from your teacher. You should stop telling me what to do."

Julie did not come home that evening. The Dafaris found her already harvesting their apples as the sun had just peeked through his nose the next morning.

"You haven't slept?" Marcus asked him.

"I do not sleep a lot. I don't like it." She answered him, her eyes blank and even darker than usual, while continuing her work.