I will burn

III. Three wishes

,, La la la la la la" Dorian sang while mixing his bowl of butter and honey.

He pushed my arm with his elbow as if he wanted me to sing along. I shook my head, not wanting to embarrass myself. He kept looking at me with a wanting expression.

I've been at the Viactrices for a month and a half by now. I was a part of their family now.

,, La la la la la" I sang quietly. If anyone heard us we would bury ourselves in embarrassment. Despite that at least I wasn't thinking about my past.

Later that day went on a walk to a nearby lake. I laid on the grass and looked at the passing clouds, determining what they looked like

Martha was making a potion in the cauldron and some kids were helping her.

Some kids were playing tag, making animal houses, or practicing their gained powers like levitation, telepathy, telekinesis, or others.

Dorian was making one too, with his father in the pergola.

I don't think I've ever had a normal conversation with my father.

When we did speak, it was only when we had to, like in public, or it was him yelling at me for some reason. He never did anything other than that. To him, I was never good enough, even when I went on hunts and mastered archery perfectly, battled like a true warrior, and debated like I was already king it was still never enough.

Likely due to my powers, which I never brought up to the point I sometimes forgot I was different.

,, Learn to imagine things in place when thou bring thy hand up, thou can't let thyself use these powers on accident."

,, Control your anger. And don't thou even dare think about using thy powers, ever. Thou hear me? If you do, I'll kill thee"

,, Never tell anyone about thy powers, they'll use them against you"

He told me those things almost every day when I was young. And when I did accidentally use them, he would beat me to the point I was bleeding.

saw a boy approaching me and I snapped back to reality.

,, Li, come play with us!" He said and grabbed me by my sleeve. I got up to follow the boy. ,, What are we playing?" I asked.

,, Hide and seek, you are seeking! And we will hide. Count to 25 and then come find us" the boy explained and before I could say anything he demanded I started counting. So I closed my eyes. ,,1, 2, 3, 4.." I wasn't necessarily irritated, but I envied the joy of these children, one that I never got to experience. The innocent joy of not having to worry about getting killed by their father. ,,48, 49, 50. Ready or not here I come" I announced and began searching for the little people. They didn't journey far because I could see them peeking behind trees.

,, Hmm... There thou are!" I snook up on one of the boys from the back. ,, Hey! That's not fair thou can't sneak up on us" he announced. ,, Who said I can't" He had nothing to say against that. ,, Fair enough" He snorted and then helped me find the others. It was a pointless game but it made me feel better.

We started heading back for dinner since it was getting late.

,, Hey, do thou like it here so far?" Dorian asked me while eating.

,, Ay, I suppose" I lightly smiled and he reciprocated it with an even larger smile. There was something about his smile.

By the evening we all sat outside by a campfire, to do some sort of moon ritual.

,, Alright ya guys. Get up, and let's get this started!" Cassius announced when he and Martha took out all the essentials. I was guessing we would throw herbs, water from jars, bay leaves, flowers, and other foresty elements into the fire.