Chapter 24  

After Kai reassured Alana that, no, he did not get kicked out and that, yes, he would return to the estate after his seventh birthday ceremony, she calmed down a little.

She asked why he chose to come back alone, instead of waiting for her visit. No, it was not her fault for not visiting often enough. There were other ‘reasons’.

Taking advantage of this moment of peace, Kai looked around the house and asked a question of his own.

“Am I wrong or there was no door on that wall when I left?”

Both Alana and his sisters had many more questions, but they fell for the distraction. He did not even have the time to put down his backpack and he was curious about what happened to their house.

Looking proudly at what was once a full wall, Alana explained the situation.

“Well, Lady Virya was very generous with her commissions, and we took the opportunity to expand to the nearby block. After the famine, there was a lot of shuffling around. Many houses were left empty, and others were ditched in favor of a proper new building somewhere else. When our neighbours moved away, I got it for dirt cheap.”

“Now we have our own rooms!” Ele excitedly explained, pulling his arm to show him around.

Their old house hosted the living room, plus Alana and Eleni’s room, while the main room of the other house worked as a kitchen and storage area.

“That is Kea’s room.” Ele indicated one of the two rooms in the ‘new’ house.

Kea immediately jumped in front of him, “You can’t go in there right now, it’s too messy.”

Kai had no intention of looking inside, but after Kea told him not to, he grew curious.

“Keandra.” Alana threw Kea a look, but she didn’t budge and looked back defiantly.

“What about the last room?” Kai diffused the situation.

There will be time for snooping around later.

With a last look at Kea, that promised they would talk later, Alana replied smiling.

“That one is for you, sweetheart. You’ll always have a bed here. But it needs a bit of tidying up since you gave us no warning.” She punctuated with a half-scolding glance.

Opening the door revealed a few random chairs and boxes strewn around. A small bed laid on the side with on top the few belongings he had left behind. One spare pair of clothes that wouldn't fit him anymore, a few pretty shells Ana gifted him and a thin layer of dust.

It wasn’t much, but it warmed his heart knowing they left a place specifically for him. His gaze wandered to the spare furniture occupying the other half.

Well, it was good enough for him.

“Don’t worry sweetie, I’ll tidy things up immediately.”

Kai put down his backpack by the bed, “Mom, it’s perfect.”

He blocked the way before Alana could dart off to clean his room. She seemed conflicted, but in the end agreed it could wait.

After the long journey, his legs felt like jelly and he couldn’t wait to fall asleep.

“Kea, why don’t you go fill the basin for your brother to clean up while he settles down.”

“Do I have to go fetch the water right now? It’s dark outside and—.” Kea’s protests were silenced with a glance from Alana.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Grumbling to herself Kea left, not before glaring at him.

Kai suppressed a smile.

It’s so good to be home.

Alana turned back to him, “We can clean up in the morning, but let me help make a little space.”

As they were creating a path around his bed, his empty stomach loudly protested. His last meal had been eight hours ago.

His mother watched him disapprovingly, “Have you been neglecting yourself? When was the last time you ate?”

Kai shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression.

Half an hour later Kai had cleaned up, changed his clothes and sat at the kitchen table. In front of him was an emergency meal of enormous proportions. Roasted vegetables, fish, some kind of crab legs and bread.

Without having to be told twice, he started eating with gusto. The ingredients may not be as varied and expensive as what Dora used, but the thrifty food had a nostalgic taste that more than made up for it.

He started answering his family's questions between one bite and another, giving a watered-down version of his stay at the estate. He cut out a few parts and focused mainly on the positives.

The conversation continued long after his belly was full, with him asking questions in return. How were they doing? Did Ele still like her job? What did Kea want to do?

Around two hours later, Alana realized how late it was and sent everyone to bed. By the time his head touched the pillow, he was already asleep.

The next morning Kai woke up later than usual, the sun had already risen for a while. He enjoyed a few more minutes lazing around in his bed, before deciding it was time to begin the new day.

As soon as he stood up, he discovered the recklessness of the previous day had not gone unnoticed. Both his legs hurt with every movement. He was used to pain due to Elijah’s demands, but this time he had gone beyond the limit of what his body could tolerate.

He massaged his legs and looked into his alchemy chest to see if Dora gave him something that could help. He made do with chewing a couple azulea leaves. They tasted bitter and were not as effective as prepared in a proper herbal tea with a trollroot, but they would help with the pain and prevent swelling. He could brew something else later if the pain didn’t improve.

Walking into the kitchen, he was greeted by a bored Kea.

“Our great magician finally rouses from his sleep.”

Kai rolled his eyes, “Good morning to you too.”

Half a mango laid on as his breakfast together with two hard biscuits.

“Did the other half walk away by itself?” He suspiciously eyed his sister.

She showed no sign of guilt. Not because she didn't eat half his mango, but because she felt no remorse.

Her gaze challenged him to say something, but Kai didn’t let it affect his mood. After having been tempered by Elijah’s irritating behavior, he was beyond such primitive means.

Kai went back to his room and grabbed a sweet tart from the extra food Dora prepared for him. He enjoyed the look in his sister's eyes as he slowly chewed one bite after another.

Kea’s mouth closed in a thin line as she thought of a retort.

“It’s not fair! You go on a year-long holiday and when you come back mom treats you like a hero and buys you a mango!” She stomped her foot and stormed off.

Kai finished his tart and his remaining half mango.

Was she always so prone to anger?

He started to feel bad for her. His year away had been as far from a holiday as he had ever gotten. Perhaps it was his fault for making it sound way easier than it was. Now she was jealous of him.

It must not be nice to have your younger sibling be called a genius and sent off for a special apprenticeship. Reality was very different from how Kea imagined it, but he understood how that might feel if their roles were reversed. She had always been very competitive and, after what happened to their family, she had the right to be angry.

After the accident, he should have spent more time making sure she was okay. He was technically an adult with the means to deal with complicated situations and he had been a mess for a long while. Maybe still was in part. His sisters had to go through the same things much younger.

I’ll try to be nicer to her. Kai promised himself.

The house was empty, both his mother and Ele were probably out working, and Kea ran off who knew where.

Left alone, he wondered what he should do. He could practice the routine Elijah gave him, but with how his legs felt he didn’t think it was a good idea to do any intense exercise.

It wasn’t ideal to skip his training on day one, but he could do nothing about it. To feel better, he decided to explore the town and practice Keen Eye. His legs should be able to handle a slow walk.

Kai was about to go out when he stopped in front of Kea’s room.

Should I go in or should I not?

The reaction she had last night was weird. Kea was never the tidiest person, but she never cared either. He didn’t want to invade her privacy, but he wasn’t doing it to snoop around. He only wanted to make sure she wasn’t hiding something dangerous.

That was the only reason.

Opening the door, her clothes were strewn around together with all kinds of pretty knick-knacks a child may find interesting.

He inspected the room, being careful to leave everything as messy as he found it. He doubted she would be able to tell anyway, but better safe than sorry.

There was nothing suspicious, apart from a surprisingly big collection of bracelets and necklaces. They were all made from twine woven together with colorful shells and pretty rocks. A few half-finished attempts proved she wove them herself.

It was a surprising discovery for sure. He never saw her wear any of them. Was this what she had been hiding?

Kai was about to leave when Keen Eye noticed a floorboard under her bed had no dust on it.

It was the oldest trick in the book for a good reason. As expected, he was easily able to remove it. Pushing his hand inside, he took out a cloth wrapping tied with a braided twine. He loosened the knots without untying them completely. He wanted to remove its content without destroying the complicated braid. It would take hours to replicate it.

A small knife with a wooden handle fell into his hand.

Why did his sister hide a knife? Did she steal it somewhere because she thought it was ‘cool’ to own something ‘dangerous’? She would not be the first kid to do that.

Kai put the knife back where he found it, making sure to leave no trace of his passage. Probably it was nothing, but he would keep an eye out for her to make sure.

With too many thoughts in his head, Kai closed his house and walked into town to clear his mind.

He walked towards old town. He wanted to stay as far from the shady slums as possible. Following the flow of people, he found himself in the market. It was larger than he remembered. The vendors put up stalls or used a blanket on the ground to display their goods.

Fierce haggling, sellers shouting the quality of their wares, and the bustle of the people going to get their groceries, merged in a loud cacophony. Kai jumped into the crowd and looked for something that could interest him.

As the smell attested, the main products were fish and crustaceans. He also noticed a couple stands selling different kinds of meats from hunters who went into the jungle.

They had been mostly skinned and chopped up, so he couldn’t tell which animals they belonged to. Probably some kind of oversized rat if he had to guess. And the other one was definitely snake meat, it must have belonged to a big one.

Kai curiously browsed the stalls. So far, he wasn’t interested in buying anything. Dora gave him ten copper mesars, quite a lot considering he had never possessed any money. He had to be careful how he spent it, the ceremony could be a couple months away. He made a mental note to ask his mother when it was exactly.

After looking around the market for a while, his eyes landed on something he might be interested in buying.

The stall belonged to an old woman. Her face was wrinkled but her eyes were still sharp. She had a variety of wild herbs on display. Kai recognized blueleaf, spirits’ tears, maselia flowers and other common ingredients.

With Herbology it was hard to forget something, the features of each plant remained imprinted in his mind even months later. It also gave him an inkling of an unknown herb's properties if he studied it closely.

He activated Mana Sense to see if something stood out. Nothing exceptional, but most of them had a higher concentration of mana than common weeds.

“Are you sure you have the money to buy something, child? These herbs are not for playing, they all have wondrous powers. Why don’t you bring your mom and dad here?” The old woman said, a bit annoyed he was taking the place of potential customers.

Kai flashed a couple copper mesar in his fingers.

The sellwoman immediately smiled in a grandmotherly way, “I’m old Selia, but you can call me granny Selly. What are you looking for, young man? I have the best herbs in all Greenside. Do you want to grow tall and strong, I have exactly what you need.”

She showed him some common coral flowers, holding them like they were some precious and rare plant. Not something that grew everywhere in the outskirts of the Veeryd jungle.

Their most notable characteristic was their delicate blue and pink petals. They made nice decorations and smelled sweet, but they had no use in apothecary and alchemy.

Kai decided not to make a fuss. It was an open market after all, what else did he expect?

Ignoring her attempted scam, he asked a few questions about the herbs on display. A glimpse of disappointment passed through Selly’s eyes, but it was soon replaced with a cheerful energy as she hyped up her wares.

He casually corrected all her exaggerated claims with a childish smile like he was playing a game and winning. Selly didn't seem deterred and smoothly continued talking. She adjusted her answers to something that could resemble the truth.

After he showed he knew his herbs, Kai started asking about the unknown plants he actually wanted to know amidst the useless questions. He didn’t trust her words fully, but he could always study them with Herbology and ask other sellers to check the answers.

“And what about this?” Kai pointed to a bundle of heart-shaped leaves with dark blue veins.

Old Selly had assumed a defeated expression, but he was sure it was all an act, “Oh, those are called lover’s mercy. In small uses, they numb the senses and put you to sleep. Everyone chews them to ease the pain of reaching Orange, you should buy them when the time com—.”

Kai froze on the spot, as Selly continued talking.

“—The advancement can be quite excruciating without them. I’m sure such a knowledgeable young man will need them soon. Some people also buy them for… recreational use. I would never sell them for that, but not everyone is as upstanding as me. You have to be very careful with them, they are deadly if you take too much.”

Selly noticed his state and misunderstood his reaction, a shrewd smile on her face. “Are you interested in buying? Everyone comes to old Selly for them, I only sell the best of the best.”

“Fuck!” Kai exclaimed. He had taken no painkillers for his advancement thinking that was what everyone did. Now he discovered there was a convenient herb that put him to sleep for the process.

People around looked at him weirdly for his outburst, murmuring what a disgrace it was that children had no manners.

Old Selly didn’t seem deterred, “I’ll give you two leaves for two mesars, deal?”