Mortal Magic: Broken (Book 1)

10. Plans

Two days passed since I woke up in Brickbourne. If I said that I felt comfortable here, living in the house of the young healer of the village without just like that would be a lie. I felt like I was intruding in her house, in her life, and I was sure that people were starting to wonder who I was and what I was doing staying with her. And as if that wasn't enough I had Yuto bringing gossip about her and me being a couple from some of the old hugs in the near houses and some jealous as he called them girls.

If I didn't have the pressure to find Lars before the blood eclipse then I would have time to find this amusing but now it was just a disturbance. Besides I knew he was overreacting and making the situation more dramatic than it was. The guy was literally a living, walking and talking reason to get me embarrassed.

Despite being his usual teasing self though he was actually trying to get information on Lars and that was more than enough reason to put up with him. He was almost always out to inquire the villagers about his whereabouts while being discrete and the only times he came back was when it was time to eat. And I was grateful for it but it was not easy for me basically being fed by the healer who insisted I just call her Maia. She said it was no problem and that I we were not a burden; in fact she was living alone for years since her parents passed away.

I asked her how they died and she was more than happy to share the story as she had no one to talk about even if everyone in the village knew her and they were not bad towards her. They were just avoiding her when they could afford it. She told me her father was part of the magi guard in Redgard and he rarely came home after they moved here when she was born. Her mother was a tailor and a gifted one at that, making clothes that were considered fit for rich people most of the time and many other things like saddles and fixing damaged clothes. Her mother liked to go to Redgard to sell some of her products and buying materials for new ones, but it was mostly an excuse to see spend time with her husband when he was off duty.

One day she left like usual but she never came back, and when she went to Redgard to ask her dad they told her that he died while on duty. She searched for her mother but she was gone and she assumed she was dead too, possibly in the same incident as her father. She was 10 when that happened and she had no one else to turn to. It took her months to recover from the feeling of emptiness and the loneliness but she decided it was time to grow up and be her own person, care for herself and someday have the life she wanted. I asked her what was the life she dreamed and she said that she wanted to see the world. The five continents were vast and her dream was to someday be able to go see each continent, explore and have fun.

That was when she asked me what I wanted to do in my life. The moment she said that I lowered my head and tried to avoid the question, but she was insistent. I had only one goal in my life for now, or rather two. And they both had to do with one person, Lars. But I could not tell her I wanted to kill someone. Nor could I tell her what I have been doing before. So I did what I felt was better for her and lied. "I want to go home, to my family, and live the rest of my days there". This was partly true, I wanted to go home but right now I had no family there, and it had to wait for now.

My expression told her that this was a sensitive matter and she didn't pry and more. Maybe she thought that it wasn't her place to demand a person to tell her something he would normally tell to no one. We were still waiting for Yuto in the table to start with lunch and he was late. After I woke up again the same night for the second mana potion I was shown around the house. It was a simple small house with a living room connected to the kitchen, two rooms and the toilet. There was an old couch in the living room near the fireplace that served as Yuto's bed now and the kitchen had all the necessary equipment for cooking and some ingredients that didn't spoil fast. Meat and what had to be eaten the same day was bought on the spot. The other room was Maia's and I didn't want to go there even when she offered and said it was okay.