I wanted to know more, but Tobias interrupted me as we stopped. “Alright everyone,” he twisted to look back at us in the cart. Landon had jumped off the front to begin tying the reigns of the horses to a couple of poles. One of the steeds was already eagerly drinking from a poorly filled trough as Tobias continued. “Remember that your top priority is making sure Mira stays safe. I’m not anticipating anything happening, but we can never be too careful. Eli, I’d like you to stick with her and provide any assistance she needs while working on the antidote. Riella and Risa, can I have you two stick in the main lobby and watch for anyone suspicious?”
I glanced at Risa, surprised that he had phrased his request as a question instead of an order, like with Eli. Risa’s gold eyes met mine. “Yeah,” I agreed, returning my gaze to his. “That’s fine. If anyone is causing a problem I can just wrap them up in my magic.”
Tobias nodded in acknowledgment. “Very well. Landon and Theo will be staying with the cart to ensure our stuff stays safe.”
We all nodded in agreement and got out of the wagon. Theo climbed off his horse, and went to twist a knob on top of a pipe that immediately released water into the trough.
I blushed when Eli grabbed my hand while we walked through the back entrance to the Apothecary. His expression was reserved though. I pushed gently on our bond, before immediately pulling back when I realized that being reminded of his mother’s death was what was bothering him. I squeezed his hand to try to comfort him. He squeezed back but didn’t look at me.
The hallway leading towards the front of the building was extremely wide, and it was obvious it was designed for customers to come and go through the back, since there were almost no doors leading to restricted areas of the shop. Which meant there was no access for thieves who weren’t actively being monitored.
Once we reached the main room, we passed underneath an arched entryway made of several layers of brick. The wooden ornate walls were even more luxurious on the inside of the building than what I’d seen before.
The primary lobby was massive, with shelving built into the walls that were full of potions organized by what they were used for. We entered the main area from the back next to a large display case showing one of each elixir they sold. There were eight customers currently browsing, most of them dressed finely and in good health. I wasn’t sure what they were doing here if they weren’t sick, but then I had to remind myself that this place probably sold potions for reasons other than health.
To our left side was a large counter with a guy and two young women around Mira’s age. The youngest girl was currently talking to a well-dressed woman about the benefits of a salve she was thinking about purchasing. The girl had blonde hair like Mira and Landon, while the guy who was now walking up to us had light brown hair like Theo.
“Tobias! Mira! You’re here!” He announced, his brown eyes glancing at Eli, followed by me and Risa. He quickly continued. “I’ll let my dad know you’ve arrived.”
“I’ll do it,” the other young woman announced. She flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder as she spun around to go through a door in the back of the other side of the room. A few of the other customers were watching the sudden activity, before returning to their browsing. One man huffed at the sight of Risa and me, and walked out the front door with a look of disgust on his face. It was the first time I’d really seen anyone react negatively to my appearance since entering Vanardis.
I was so focused on the other customers that it took me a moment to realize Tobias had started introducing us. “And this is Riella and Risa, who are actually both mages themselves.”
The guy looked at us with renewed interest, but didn’t comment as Tobias glanced over at us and continued. “This is Finn’s son, Miles, and the blonde girl is Finn’s daughter Madeline.” He paused, looking at Miles again. “I’m not sure who the woman with darker hair was,” he added expectantly, still speaking to us.
“Ah,” Miles replied, running his fingers through his hair. “That’s Lyla. My dad hired her more than a year ago now.” He paused. “It’s been too long Tobias. Is Landon here?”
Tobias nodded with a chuckle. “Aye, him and Theo both.”
Miles grinned. “Well, my dad should be out any moment. I’m going to run out and greet them while I can.” He then gave Mira a warm smile before hurrying down the hallway where we had come.
“Well,” Eli said quietly, “he was very pleasant.” He sounded surprised.
Tobias chuckled again, moving to slap him playfully on the back, before hesitating when he remembered that Eli’s wings were in the way, just invisible. He then quickly began rubbing the back of his neck. “S-Sorry about that.” He paused when Eli shrugged. “Anyway, he knows better than to do something that might be offensive to Mira or anyone else in our company – we’re a huge source of gold for them after all.” He chuckled. “His father would smack him across the head if he wasn’t on his best behavior.”
The man who I assumed was Finn came out then, with Lyla close behind. He was taller than I expected, and a lot skinnier. At least now I knew Miles probably got his light brown hair color from his mother, because Finn’s hair was so blonde that it was almost white – much lighter than Madeline’s. Although, he shared the same brown eyes as his children. Tobias introduced us to him briefly, before sending Mira and Eli off to one of the back rooms to get to work. Finn then led Tobias into one of the other back rooms to socialize.
Suddenly by ourselves, Risa and I exchanged a glance before deciding to occupy our time by looking at the different potions on display in one of the cases. I habitually readjusted my sword on my hip, while working up the courage to bring up the bleeding curse again.
Even though weapons weren’t usually allowed without a special permit, Tobias had decided that my sword was small enough to not be taken seriously by anyone. Not to mention, the law was primarily written with guns in mind – both the kind that fired pieces of metal, called bullets, and the magicite kind – not swords. Not to mention that carrying a knife was allowed. I was relieved to have my weapon on my hip again, because being without it the previous night had been uncomfortable. Even though I wouldn’t have needed it to beat up Risa’s stalker, not having my sword felt like going into a fight while missing an arm.
My ears twitched when Risa sighed beside me. I looked up at her from the corner of my eye to see that she was focused on a clear bluish potion that claimed to restore magical energy. It had a short description that described the dangers of a normal person consuming it, as well as a brief explanation that it was made from an elaborate process of extracting the energy from magicite.
It was priced at five gold, which made me wonder if that’s why she had sighed – maybe she wanted it, but knew she couldn’t afford it.
My thoughts wandered to the bleeding curse again. Risa hadn’t seemed too interested in talking about the subject before, but I really wanted to know more about it. I just needed to work up the courage to bring the topic up.
“Umm,” I began, glancing over my shoulder at one of the customers who had just come in. “Can I ask you about it?” I managed simply.
Risa’s ears flattened out slightly as she met my gaze. “About the disease?” She wondered.
I nodded hesitantly.
Her tail drooped behind her more too, before she took a deep breath. “It’s horrible,” she finally whispered. “It starts off as really bad bruising – unexplained bruising.” She sighed. “And then it just gets worse from there.” She met my gaze again. “All the bleeding is internal, but just before a person dies they often start bleeding out of their eyes and ears.” She lowered her voice even more. “They cough up blood a lot too, and just before they die they start vomiting blood.”
I reached out and gently grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers. She looked down at me briefly, her eyes widening slightly before she looked away again. I kept my voice quiet. “How bad were you?” I wondered seriously.
Her eyes tightened at the memory. “I
t can take a few weeks to kill, sometimes longer.” She took a deep breath. “I probably didn’t have much more than a few days at most.” She then laughed humorlessly. “You probably wouldn’t have even recognized me. My entire body was just one large bruise, and I was coughing up blood all the time.”
I grimaced at the thought, knowing if I had known her even just a few days ago that I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help her. The idea made me feel miserable, especially when realizing that she had been suffering horribly only a few days ago. It also made me realize how traumatic it must have been for Eli, seeing his mother die like that.
Risa finally tightened her hand around mine, meeting my gaze. “The antidote Mira has created truly is a miracle. I was back to normal within a day.” She grimaced then, lowering her voice. “I’d probably be dead by now without her.”
My ears drooped slightly hearing that, not wanting to consider such a horrible reality, before flinching when someone approached us. I turned to see that it was Madeline. Her blonde hair was braided starting at the top of her head and running down to the middle of her back.
Her smile was welcoming. “Hello!” She announced. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself when you got here. I’m Madeline.”
She held out her hand towards me, so I accepted it. I was glad I had seen Eli do this two days ago, so I knew what to do. I still found it strange that humans greeted strangers like this though. Elves definitely didn’t ‘shake hands.’ Instead, I wanted to instinctively take the appropriate posture and incline my head, but I resisted the urge.
“Riella,” I replied simply. “And this is Risa. We’re with Magus Eliakim.”
I remembered to put in the effort to be formal.
She nodded. “Magus Eliakim,” she repeated. “And did I hear that you were both mages as well?” She looked at Risa expectantly as she spoke.
I glanced up at her too, seeing that she was looking away. It was obvious she felt uncomfortable talking with a human stranger – possibly any stranger. “Yes,” I replied. “I’d say Risa here is actually the strongest of us, but Eli and I have the most experience.”
Madeline’s brown eyes widened in surprise as she looked over at Risa again. “Wow! I wish I could use magic. You two are so lucky.”
That caught Risa’s attention. She finally met Madeline’s gaze for a moment, but didn’t respond.
“Both of you have really pretty eyes too,” she added, before pouting. “I’d take purple or yellow eyes any day over my plain brown ones.”
I laughed at that. “Yeah, but you have pretty hair,” I retorted with a smile. “You’d be too perfect if you had it all.”
Her grin widened. “Well, thank you for that.” Unexpectedly, her focus shifted towards the top of my head. She immediately bit her lower lip like she was trying to prevent herself from blurting out her next question.
I cocked my head to the side. “What?” I asked hesitantly.
She met my gaze again, before glancing at Risa briefly. She then clasped her hands together in front of her chest like she was praying. “Please forgive me,” she whispered. “But can I ask you a potentially offensive question?”
I kept my expression reserved. “Umm, I guess?” I offered.
She bit her lip a second time as she looked up again. “Can I touch your ears?” She asked quietly.
My eyes widened in surprise. I exchanged a glance with Risa to see that she had the same expression as I did. “W-Why?” I finally managed after a moment.
Madeline looked embarrassed now. “Well, I just really love cats,” she blurted out, “and I know you’re a person, but your ears are so adorable, and I just really want to touch them.” She quickly lowered her head. “Sorry,” she added.
I exchanged one last glance with Risa before shrugging. “Okay, I guess.” I offered. It was a weird request, but it seemed harmless enough. There were only a couple of customers lingering, and none of them were focused on us.
“Really?” She asked excitedly.
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
She reached up immediately and began gently running her fingertips along the fur on my ears, almost squealing when they flinched automatically, before getting a hold of herself. After a moment, I actually started to enjoy it until I realized Risa looked uncomfortable. I finally pulled away after a second.
“Sorry!” Madeline repeated. “Did that hurt or something?”
I shook my head. “No, but we need to focus right now,” I hedged. “We’re supposed to be on guard duty.”
She nodded in understanding. “Well, if you have any questions about something you see, let me know.”
“What about this potion?” I wondered, pointing towards the bluish one Risa had been eyeing.
“The mana potion?” Madeline clarified, walking up to the case.
I nodded, when she pointed to the right one. “Yeah. Does it really work?”
She spun on her heels and nodded cheerfully. “Of course. Although…” She hesitated. “I mean, I assume it does – we don’t sell very many here. But it does sell well further north. Why? Are you interested in buying it?”
I shook my head. “We can’t really afford to spend five gold on something like that right now,” I explained, not wanting to admit we didn’t have five gold to begin with.
Madeline nodded in understanding. “Well, if you are interested, I think my dad would be willing to part with it for four gold, but that’s as low as he will probably go.”
My eyes widened in surprise when I realized the prices weren’t necessarily set in stone. Would she haggle on the price for other things too?
Before I could respond, Risa abruptly spoke up. “What was the salve for?” She wondered, seeming to have relaxed a little. “The stuff you were showing that woman earlier,” she clarified.
Madeline’s eyes brightened. “Oh, that stuff is wonderful. It’s primarily used to prevent infections in wounds, but it’s great for clearing up the face too.” She looked over her shoulder then, before leaning closer and lowering her voice. “It’s actually made from mold, but I promise you it really is amazing.”
Risa and I both made a face, prompting her to laugh quietly.
I was about to ask if she was serious about the mold thing, when the front door opened again. The woman who entered the store didn’t seem necessarily unusual by herself, except for the fact that she was dressed in rags. However, that wasn’t the most shocking sight. She was holding the hand of a little boy, no older than five years old, whose entire body was covered in horrid black bruises.
If I had any doubt the boy had the disease, it was immediately confirmed when Risa flinched and took a step back. The few customers who were browsing had similar reactions to the pair, all of them quickly making their way for the exit when they noticed.
Before any of us could really respond, Miles was already approaching her, his expression unwelcoming. “Can I help you?” He asked in a firm tone.
“My son!” The woman said urgently. “Please help him!”
Much to my surprise, he shook his head. “I doubt you can afford the antidote,” he replied seriously.
I gawked at him, speaking up before I thought better of it. “You’re really going to just turn her away?” I wondered in disbelief, beginning to move towards them. Risa didn’t budge from her spot.
Miles looked at me in surprise. “Of course!” He exclaimed. “If we gave the antidote away for free to slum rats then our shop would be overrun with them expecting handouts.”
I was surprised by the disdain in his tone, especially towards fellow humans. Especially since he didn’t treat me, a pantherian, like that. Was it all a ruse? Or was it because I was supposedly the pantherian of a high-value member of society?
I stopped a few feet away from them. I realized there was nothing I could do on my own, so I did the only thing I could.
‘Eli. Bring Mira.’
Eli bolted through the backdoor so quickly that everyone else jumped in surprise. “What’s
wrong?” He demanded, looking from Miles to me, and then to the woman with the boy.
Miles was gawking at him. “How did you…”
Mira was right behind him, her hand covering her mouth when she saw the boy. Unexpectedly, Mira looked at me firmly.
“Riella get back,” she said, much harsher than I was expecting. “I don’t want you to get sick too.”
I looked down at the boy in surprise. Could he really get me sick that easily? It didn’t seem like it should be possible. He wasn’t coughing, and overall didn’t look ill except for the bruising. I looked back up at Mira. “How does it spread?” I asked seriously.
Eli gently grabbed me by the arm then and tugged me back. I begrudgingly complied, taking a few steps away.
Miles was already talking to Mira now. “You can’t do it,” he hissed firmly. “Even if you do it personally, more will come thinking we’ll help them.”
“I know,” Mira replied quietly, looking the woman over.
“Please!” The woman begged again. “I’ll do anything! He has already started coughing up blood at night! He’ll die at this rate!”
Mira took a step back when the girl tried to approach her. I realized they were actually close to the same age, with her being maybe as old as twenty-three. I suspected that life in the slums made her look older than she really was though. But either way, I couldn’t believe they were really going to let this boy die.
“Mira,” I began in disbelief, “you’re not really going to–”
My eyes unfocused as a voice stirred inside of me.
‘Touch him.’
I heard Eli speak up beside me, but his voice felt far away. “Riella? Riella, what’s wrong?”
‘Touch the boy.’
My head snapped away from Mira and my eyes focused again on the bruising covering the boy’s arms, going up underneath his torn shirt and up his neck. His face had splotches of black and blue, with hints of green around the edges. He was surprisingly quiet, though there was pain in his eyes. And possibly fear as well.
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