Secrets Within the Estate

9

Three days had passed by when Lyra came to see Caspian again, on her own.
She knocked on his door, and he answered several moments later.
"Oh, Lyra. Hello. Is there something a matter?"
"Can I come in?"
"Of course ^_^"

Lyra followed Caspian into the living room where they both sat on the sofa.
"What did you come for?"
"Could I get some more of the tea leaves?"
"Of course, you can. Is the tea helping?"
"He seems to be handling it better since I gave him the tea,"
"That's good."

"He said he likes it a lot, so him continuing to drink it won't be a problem."
"Do you think he'd be willing to let me come visit? I have something I need to discuss with him."

"Is it super important?"
"Yes."
"What is it for?"
"That's something that should stay between Liam and I, but it's nothing bad. Will you ask him if he's willing to let me come visit?"

"I'll ask,"
"Thank you, very much."
Lyra nodded.
"Let me go get some tea leaves, I'll be back shortly."
"Okay."

Caspian walked down the hall and disappeared.

Lyra looked around the room and noticed that every single shelf was stuffed with books, leaving no empty space. The walls were plain and there was only one tapestry hanging. She still couldn't read well, so she didn't know what the words all said, but since it was the only room decoration, she assumed it must be something special or important to Caspian.

Several moments later, Caspian emerged with another fabric bag, this one bigger than the other.
"This should last a lot longer, and if you run out again, it's very easy to find at the market. You can ask Miriam to get some for you, or to tell you where to get it. They call it Aila tea. It's made from the Aila plant that grows only in Lata."
"Thank you, I'll leave now."
"Have a good day."

After she left, he sat down and pulled his skirt and left pant leg up to look at his leg.

It's starting to tingle.

He looked out the window at the snow covered trees.
I need to make a trip to Turia soon... let's hope my leg doesn't stop working.

He pushed his pant leg down and stood up. He left the estate again and went to the market.

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When Caspian returned, he saw Liam sitting outside the door to Caspian's side of the house.
"Liam?"
Liam had a faint flush on his cheeks as he looked up at Caspian.
"L-Lyra said th-that you w-wanted t-to talk to me a-and th-that it's i-important..."

"I could've come to you, you didn't have to sit and-"
"N-no, I d-don't w-want anyone g-going inside..."
"...Alright. Well, you can come inside, then. You don't need to sit out here."

Liam stood up. "I-I can open th-the door," He said as he reached his hand to push the screen open.
That's when Caspian noticed that Liam was missing two fingers on his left hand.
"Wait,"
"Wh-what?"
"Your hand,"

Liam immediately pulled his sleeve over his hand and pushed the sliding door open as he said, "L-let's go inside... my h-hand is f-fine..."

Why didn't I notice that earlier...?

Liam followed Caspian inside to the living room where they both sat down.
"Wh-what did you n-need to talk about...?" Liam asked.

"There is an event coming up soon, next week, actually; and all of the Fae family must show, including me, even though I'm sure they'd prefer I stay. But it's something that happens every year. Every single person bearing the Fae name by blood must show."