I nearly choked on the fruit in my mouth. After a mouthful of water, I was able to clear the blockage.
"…What!?" I managed after a few coughs. I have never heard an elf who has ever acted against elves like that before. Elves are born with the sense of togetherness, so the idea of an elf selling others, is utterly insane.
"Has he gone insane?" I questioned. I wondered how everyone was dealing with the news, if I was this shocked.
"I am unsure. He has disappeared. We have wardens out searching for him. Even the matriarch, herself went out looking for him." Zale explained, looking down at the tray on the table. She seemed to be in internal conflict, probably why she was still here and not out looking for the lord.
"I see." I replied, not knowing what to say in this situation, though I could see that the next few days are going to be quite the shake up.
Zale and I sat in a solemn silence for a while, before she excused herself, once the sun had fully set. I was left in the dark wondering how things could take a complete deviation from the storyline I knew.
'I knew that my actions would drastically change the future I knew.' I sighed, looking up at the wooden beams along the ceiling. 'But as long as I get what I need, I don't really care about anything else.' I smirked, as I began to think about everything I've gotten since coming back in time. Though, I wasn't one to rest on my laurels, I was an incredibly cautious person, so much so, that people often find me to be overbearing.
The next morning, the estate I stayed at was remarkably quiet, even more so than usual. But that was to be expected, considering the last past few days. I decided as the outsider, to stay out of the way.
I decided to spend the day in Luralie's private library. However, I have already read most of the interesting books, the other day, so I was just passing the time. By the time the evening set in, I was sitting in a chair at a table, rocking back and forth feeling completely bored.
"Whatcha doing?" The disembodied voice of Luralie spoke. In the next second, the upside-down face of her appeared above me. Pure white strands of hair fell down beside my face.
"Reading a boring book." I answered meeting her eyes. Ever since I awoke soul arts, I could sense nearby souls, though only if they were around ten metres away. So, as soon as Luralie entered the room, I had already sensed her.
"You're no fun." She harrumphed and stood up straight, then wandered over to a nearby shelf.
With a sigh, I rolled my head back. "Fine, I was bored without you, and I missed you." I exaggerated, to appease her. Though, I was pretty bored, and she was a lively character.
After a small silence, of me swinging back and forth on my chair. Suddenly, a force fit the back of the chair, causing it to tumble out from under me. With a loud thud, I hit the cold, hard wooden floor, with the chorus of childish laughter to accompany it.
I closed my eyes and stayed quiet. Soon, the laughter stopped and was replaced with a worried voice. "Cain, are you ok?" Luralie asked, as I heard her creeping closer.
"Cain?" she asked once more, arriving in front of me and sounded like she was bent down in front of me.
I quickly opened my eyes and grabbed her by the wrist she had extended. With a quick pull, I managed to topple her over and by supporting her weight, we rolled around the floor for a moment, before coming to a rest, with me on top of her, faces inches away from each other.
"Careful now. Or you might hurt yourself." I whispered. Getting my own back and letting her have a taste of her own medicine.
"…." She laid on the cold, hard floor looking up at me with eyes that resemble a deer in headlights. I could tell that her brain was working a mile a minute so process the situation, however, it kept falling at the first hurdle.
I looked into her wide eyes for a moment longer, before I got up from the floor. Only then, did the doe-like woman, blink. I thought I saw the spark of disappointment in her eyes, but I'm sure I was mistaken.
"Come, time to get off the floor. Don't want anyone to stumble in and come to any misunderstandings." I said, offering her my hand to help her up from the floor.
After a moment, she gracefully accepted my hand, and I helped her up. Once she was standing, I released her hand, and she turned away from me.
"Such a brute." She whispered, though loud enough for me to hear her. I knew that she was just teasing, as I spied the upturned corners of her lips.
I ignored her and picked up the chair, which was now overturned. Luralie pulled herself back together and came over to my side and sat on the table. The table was too high for her, so her feet were dangling over the edge. I wondered if she was going for a seductive look, however, no matter how I look at her, I only saw it as adorable.
"So, I heard that you managed to brew enough potion to save everyone in the village. We even have some spare, just in case." She spoke, gently swinging her legs with a slow rhythm.
"It wasn't all me. Jane and his apprentices were a huge help. If they were alchemists, they would have eclipsed me in both experience and talent." I said, honestly. It was a shame that it was too late for them to become arcanists.
"Funny, Jane told me the opposite. To think that you were more talented than our head herbalist, who has hundreds of years of experience. And humble to boot. You certainly are full of surprises." Luralie smirked. Though, I doubted how much of that was true. My knowledge of alchemy was quite shallow. But then again, elves were isolationist, so it makes sense that they would only know about their own home.
"How are things on your end?" I asked, changing the subject as I always felt uncomfortable with praise.
However, Luralie furrowed her brows and stopped her swinging legs. She didn't speak, only looking at the floor, falling into her thoughts.
"Stop with those dark thoughts. Those wrinkles don't belong on such a cute face." I said as I poked her forehead with my index finger.
She battled my finger away, with a small smile on her face. "You are such a smooth talker." She said, a little weaker than before.
"I'm not some playboy, I only speak the truth." I felt a slight pang of annoyance, as I picked up the books on the table and began to place them back onto their shelves.
The room fell into silence as I set about replacing the books. Luralie had left the table and had leant against the bookcase I was standing at. Then, with a morbid sentence she broke the silence.
"We found Langer by the border of the forest, dead. He had his throat slit." The sound of the final book hitting the wood of the shelf, followed shortly after her dark words.
I looked down at the powerful woman, who now looked like a vulnerable little girl. A sadness had gripped her and the cheeky spirit of hers had all been replaced with gloom.
I placed my hand on her head. I know that words meant nothing in situations like this. I felt her tremble through my hand, so I pulled her head into me. As soon as she hit me, she gripped my clothes and started sobbing.
'She must have tried to keep it all in. After all, people seem to forget that those with power have feelings as well.' I held her and let her use my chest as pillow to let out all of the sadness she had kept with her, for God knows how long.
Ten minutes, or so had passed before she felt secure enough to leave my side. "I think I'm going to need a change of shirt." I said, as I looked at the large wet patch on my chest. Luralie, looked at my shirt and gave an embarrassed look and laugh.
"I'll replace it," She murmured. But I waved it away, as I had enough spare clothes in my inventory and easily replaced the shirt.
After the emotional outlet, she and I were both hungry and tired, so we decided to have an early dinner. And after, I retired for the evening.
It was quite abrupt, however, Luralie was tired and retired to her room. Zale was busy so I had nothing to do, but to sleep. I was promised some update with my pledge tomorrow, but for some reason I had a little apprehension, as my intuition was telling me that I'll be having a headache from something.