The Claim

Chapter Nine - On The Job

Merek took Mirabelle away from it all before she had a chance to compose herself, react. He did not want to end up like that innocent man, dead, his head removed from his body for using magic.

He held her hand, leading her out and towards the inn, she stopped dead outside it, slapping him across the face, the cold harsh sting was nothing new to him, so he took it confidently.

"Are you finished?", he asked in a serious tone.

"How can we just stand there, as our kind are slaughtered by a man who is not even king, just a replacement for a child?" she hissed, thumping his chest rapidly.

"Are you done?" he asked as he turned his back on her.

She clung onto his arm, but he just let her drag it as he walked normally. She cursed at him, but he ignored it as he kept walking. Her plan was disgusting, no doubt it would fail. To ever be accepted, she would have to be the only heir and with their half-brother alive and well, the rightful and named heir, she was not the only heir but possibly not even bottom of the list.

She let him go as he walked towards the apothecary, ready to collect and deliver if Cristiana wished. He opened the door slowly as the smell of lavender filled his lungs. She collected a few bottles filled with various colour liquid, labelled with names, some from families he recognised.

"I will start you off small but if I were you, I would be careful, folk do not always trust new faces" she explained as she handed him a bag. "Nothing dangerous is in there, you just need to give the bottles to the right people, understood?".

He nodded carefully. Work was easy enough, walking around the town, letting people see his face, get to know him. He waved a little, almost feeling like he was at home for a little bit, but he could not deny, he missed the forest, the calm and peace of it all. It was beautiful in there, like time stood still, he could spend hours nursing animals, healing trees, helping roots grow stronger, unlike his sister, who liked to burn the trees as target practice for her elemental spells.

Her words of warning rang true as people opened their doors reluctantly, staring at him occasionally like someone would a pile of manure but he brushed it off and kept going, hoping something a little more interesting would come along in the future.

He had to keep his powers a secret, so the poor townsfolk would not suspect a thing, they would not see just who they had invited into their city, an enchanter who simply wanted peace but would be branded monster and executed for a single spell.

He finished his last round of deliveries, taking the coins from her hand with a delighted smile. He could afford another room for himself and his sister in the inn without too many problems but that was not where he was headed, he was headed elsewhere, into the forest itself. He was allowed in or out of the city, his name was not on the forbidden list.

The forest was so beautiful, so relaxing, after time spent in the city, hiding who he was, it felt good to be in it, in somewhere he did not have to hide, a place he did not have to pretend to be mortal in for the trees and animals could see through all that, through any mask, no matter how well hidden the person's true face was for nature could see it all.

What was best, was that he did not have to leave, there was no one there to force him to. He could spend as little time as he wanted without judgments or having to answer awkward questions with fear in his heart, in case the soldiers came to kill him.

He walked deep into the forest, sitting down next to a large, old oak tree, leaning on it with a comforting delight. He felt his eyes shut as he began to drift off to sleep, if he could then it would no doubt be a peaceful one, of silence and care, the best night he had since he and Mirabelle decided to go back into the city, a place that was dangerous, a place that frightened him yet intrigued him, the change intrigued him, and he was curious about the regent, what his role was.