Page 16 of An Arrow to the Heart

“What’s this?” Ardál asked, with what she took as genuine curiosity holding up a glass jar, inspecting it with crunched brows. The dark thick contents of the jar swirled as he inspected it. Surprisingly, he’d taken quite the interest in herbology. At first she’d figured he was trying to find a distraction, and perhaps that’s all it was but she could swear he now had a genuine curiosity about the subject. She liked that he never hesitated to ask questions, even when at first she had been nothing but short and aloof with him. She hadn’t been used to having someone in her home for so long, and no one had ever really bothered to ask her much about her healing work, not even Valeska.

“Elderberry syrup,” she said and his face became etched in confusion. One of the things she had liked about him was that he wore his emotions on his face, he was easy to read, no hidden agendas but equally no expectations. “It’s a remedy to combat colds, sore throats and coughs. With winter coming, I like to be stocked up. Due to its sweet taste the children take it without complaint. You could also have it with tea or even drizzled over a sweet treat,” she added, before he could ask, for by now she knew he would.

“Hmm,” he said, stroking his beard as his eyes moved to the next jar. “You really should label these you know.”

Sylvie looked at him briefly, her expression puzzled, “Why? No one else knows how to use them even if they were labelled.”

“I guess,” he pondered for a moment as though thinking it over, “what about August? Isn’t he like a healer in training or something?”

“He’s just helping at the moment, but if he was serious about becoming a healer then he’ll need to learn all the ingredients by sight, smell and taste regardless. Nature doesn’t put labels on things either.”

“You make a good point.”

He opened his mouth to no doubt ask yet another question but Sylvie cut him off, “I need some quiet to ensure I measure quantities of the medicines correctly.”

Truth be told she was enjoying his company, and she liked that he filled the silence but that in itself was part of the problem. He distracted her, and regardless of the fact that it was actually a welcome distraction she did need to get these measurements correct.

“Ah yeah, of course,” Ardál said, as though he just remembered she wasn’t just his healer. “I’ll harvest some beans to go with supper tonight.”

That was another thing she really liked about him, how he knew what needed doing without her saying.

“Careful with your knee though, you’ve already been on your feet a lot today, don’t work it too much,” she paused for a moment before adding, “and thank you.” He gave her a smile that made her weak in the knees before he gave a nod in response and called for Phelan to accompany him in the garden.

Sylvie brought her attention back to making up remedies to sell at the upcoming Autumn fair for she wanted to ensure she had plenty of wares to sell. Despite all the work before her though, her mind kept wandering back to thoughts of him.

“I don’t know what to do Valeska,” Sylvie said as she looked to her friend for advice, face awash with confliction, as she nursed the bottle of cloudberry mead in her hand.

“Just fuck him already,” Valeska said nonchalantly.

Sylvie’s eyes widened at her friend's bluntness. Though she supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised, the woman always found a way to steer the conversation to sex.

“It’s clear you’re into him and the man’s been undressing you with eyes from the moment he saw you. What’s the issue?” she said, whilst wiping down the bar. It was late at night and the Alehouse had just shut its doors to punters, even Sera had already left for the night.

“I agree with Valeska,” Ortolf chipped in. He’d been busy clearing the tables and righting the chairs, Sylvie hadn’t realised he’d even been listening. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And for what it’s worth I think he’s a good male. He didn’t hesitate to defend the village that day, not for a second,” he said, coming behind the bar to help Valeska clean up.

“I know, I know,” Sylvie said, shutting her eyes briefly.

“So what's the problem? Is it that you don’t find him attractive? Because if that’s the case, open your eyes woman. Have you not seen the man with his chest out, with a body like that I bet he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Valeska added with a chuckle.

No, no that certainly wasn’t the problem. She had noticed him in ways that heated her core and caused her heart to flutter. And those big strong thighs, Gods those thighs, she was nearly salivating at the thoughts of them.

But wait, what? Why had Valeska seen him undressed? A burning sensation filled her gut.

“Why have you seen his chest?” Sylvie said with a pinched expression.

“Why? You wouldn’t be jealous would you?” Valeska giggled, Ortolf just rolled his eyes at his wife’s teasing.

“No,” Sylvie blurted out. A flat out lie.

“So why have your cheeks turned red?” she chuckled, “I’m only teasing Sylvie, though I seriously think you should consider fucking the man until he sees stars.”

“He’s my patient. it would be unethical.”

“Not for much longer,” Valeska said with a wink.

Gods, she wasn’t sure if it was the amount of mead she’d had tonight, but was she actually considering this? She’d come straight here after supper, leaving him to clear up. Him no doubt thinking he had offended her in some way, she knew that much by the disappointed look on his face when she’d abruptly announced that she’d be going out for the evening. The truth of the matter was that she had been feeling particularly frustrated and she’d worried that if she didn’t cease being around him she would have gone to her knees for him there and then.

“You’ve done nothing but talk about him all evening,” Ortolf offered. “Take it from me, don’t waste time where matters of the heart are concerned,” he said looking lovingly at Valeska, sliding his hand around the female's waist, then planting a kiss on her lips. Sylvie rolled her eyes, though deep down she had always admired the relationship Valeska had with Ortolf and Lonan. The three of them shared something special, and until recently Sylvie hadn’t really considered that she’d been missing anything.