The day passed quickly after my visit to the graves of the fallen. People needed various medicines delivered and bandages changed. I cleaned the inn quickly, with the help of Tal, and visited as many of the villagers as I could before it finally felt like I could step away for a minute. Someone had used the massive fireplace at the inn to make a thick stew for the community with the vegetables and meat that was purchased from the next village over, and I grabbed a small bowl before collapsing, quite literally, in a chair in the main room.
It was bustling with activity. Laughter and conversation from adults and children alike floated in the space, and I couldn’t help but feel that tiny thread of hope woven throughout again.
We were going to be okay.
The thought warmed me almost as much as the stew as I took large spoonfuls, uncaring that it burned my tongue and throat on the way down.
When was the last time I ate?
The bowl was gone all too quick, and my stomach was still growling loudly.
Mr. Henshaw came up to my chair and took the bowl from my hands, replacing it with his own full one.
“Oh no,” I said, trying in vain to give it back, “I can’t accept this Mr. Henshaw. Everyone else needs to eat, too.”
“Everyone else didn’t bring someone back from the brink of death, watch their loved ones die, collaborate with the Warlord’s Mages and single-handedly keep us alive with their healing and runes,” he said with steely determination. “Eat, Faylinn.” He shoved the bowl back in my hands and I took it reluctantly.
I took a small bite before throwing caution to the wind, again, and inhaled a second bowl. I groaned when I finished, my stomach finally feeling stretched and full. Mr. Henshaw took that bowl as well before offering me a cup of wine, which I took happily.
He sat in the chair opposite me, both of us sipping our drinks in silence as we observed the happy chaos around us.
“What a difference a few days make, eh?” he asked. I hummed in response, feeling content and sleepy.
“It’ll be a bit before everyone is functioning fully again, but this is a better start than I could have hoped for. The pain of loss will last the longest, but I hope we’ll get there soon,” I said.
“I like to think that those who died gave us the ability to live for them, do something that they woulda been proud of,” he said, looking directly at me. I sat my wine down and turned in my chair to face him fully.
“You’re hiding something, Mr. Henshaw, give it to me plain,” I said.
“We grew up together, Fay, you can call me Grant.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “That we did, Grant. I’m sorry about your wife and children.”
He waved away my condolences. “Thank you, Fay, but this isn’t about me right now. This is about you. And how you’re going to leave with those Mages tomorrow.”
I groaned and rubbed my temples, the start of a headache blooming behind my eyes. “Not you, too?”
“Oh yes, me too.” He grabbed my hands, forcing me to look at him. “You are made for more than this place, Fay. Holt knew it, hell it’s all he could talk about. How smart you were, how you were meant for bigger and better things than this little town.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he simply held a finger over my lips before speaking again. “And don’t give me some crock of ‘oh well, we need you here.’ We’ll be fine, Fay. Weall knew you wouldn’t stay here long and were surprised and grateful that we got you as long as we did. We survived with Peti, the old bat, before you and we’ll survive with her after you.”
He removed his finger from my mouth, but I was silent anyway. I chewed my lip, my gaze focused on my hands in my lap as I twined them together continually.
“Go, Fay. This is your chance, hell, maybe the only chance you’ll get. Don’t waste it. Holt wouldn’t have wanted that and would be beyond pissed if he knew you’d passed it up just to stay here in this backwater town.”
I gave a watery laugh at that, picturing Holt fuming and crossing his arms over his boulder-like chest.
He would be pissed if I stayed here just for his body buried in the earth.
I absently touched his crystal on my neck. I’d carry him with me now, wherever I went. Resolved, I shot my eyes back to Grant’s. There was sadness there, but also a deep resolution. This little village, this place that raised me, would be fine. They had the spirit to survive.
Grant must’ve seen the decision on my face because his lit with a smile from ear to ear. He stood up and let out the loudestwhoopI’d ever heard. I covered my ears from the abrupt sound and removed them to deafening silence in the inn. Every eye was on us now, and it felt like every person left alive was crowded into the inn’s great room.
“Listen up, now! Our own Fay hasfinallydecided that she’s too good for us and is leaving! She’s going to join that General and those Mages and have an adventure and a life she’s only dreamed of having.” The inn was silent after his announcement, and my stomach dropped, thinking I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. That was, until the room erupted with cheers and clapping.
“It’s about time, Fay!”
“You deserve it, honey.”
“Make us proud, girl.”
