by Simon Archer
At that question, I smiled, albeit sadly. “I didn’t want to. If I stayed, she would have been in danger.”
The children launched more questions at me, but my attention faded when another figure emerged from the dark village as it neared the fire. Without another word to the kids, I left the firepit and made my way over to the older woman I’d been waiting for. She had pulled her long silver hair back in a loose, frizzy bun that somehow matched the scratchy cotton blanket she always wrapped around her arms since she was always cold.
“Well?” I asked expectantly.
“The answer’s no.” She shook her head. “I told you the answer would be no when you asked me hours ago, but since you want to hear it again, I’ll say it again. No.”
“Raven!” I sighed. “Come on, you know--”
“Don’t you dare!” She shook her head again, more pointedly this time. “You won’t heal while you’re traveling, anyway. It’ll take me at least one day to fix your weapon, if not more. That’s what you get for bringing me a sword split down the middle. Why you won’t just let me make you a new blade--”
“You know why, Raven,” I said softly.
She paused, pursing her lips. Finally, she rolled her eyes. “I know. It’ll probably take two days, but it’ll take more for you to heal. You’ll stay here in the meantime.”
“Ralevainne!”
“Don’t use that tone with me! You haven’t acted this reckless since the first time I met you.” That wasn’t actually true, but it was certainly what I told her. “You’ll stay with us for two days, at least, unless I can talk you into more. There’s some of that sugar-coated roast you like back at the house, and it’s about to go cold.”
I sighed, taking a deep, calming breath before finally nodding. “Thank you, Raven.”
Her face finally cracked into a smile, and she nodded, leaning in to kiss my cheek. Before she turned back to the village, she looked past me to the kids.
“Next, why don’t you lot ask him about the time he let a wild animal loose in my home?”
“Do you have to call her that?” I chuckled.
“I never like your girlfriends,” Raven huffed before turning and heading back into the village. My shoulders shook with laughter for a moment before I moved to follow her.
As soon as I took a step in the direction of the village, there was a collective cry from the children behind me asking to hear a plethora of stories, but most asking about the favor Aviri asked of me. Finally, I turned back to them, a smile on my face.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you another story tomorrow.”
Author’s Note
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