Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 16: Oh Let's Not

CW: choking, knives, and blood

Patton sat with his arms and ankles crossed, tapping his finger on his arm. Virgil could feel the annoyance coming off of him, he didn't need empath magic to feel it either. Any time Randsted was even mentioned, Virgil could feel a wave of negative feelings come from his brother, who would frown or do something else to show his hatred for the place. Whether the feelings be sadness, anger, fear, or just annoyance, which felt familiar to anger but weaker.

"Thank you, have a nice day," Virgil told a customer, her name was Sandra. Over the years, he's learned the names of everyone in the village. It was useful, even if they were nothing more but acquaintances.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Patton said for the third time that morning. "They don't deserve to eat any of the crops that we grow. Not after they killed our parents."

"They're our main source of income," Virgil reminded him. The fairy gestured to the crates of food they packed for delivery. "This one sale will pay off our rent for the month. Besides, they only come once a month. Kinda like Roman."

"I would love to see Roman more often, but I wish that we would never see anyone from Randsted ever again!"

Virgil flinched at the spike of anger. He never really told Patton what other people's emotions feel like, so his brother didn't realize that anger hurt. "I know what you mean. But we just have to get through today, and everything will be fine."

Patton softened a bit. "You don't believe that."

"I don't, but I know it's true." Virgil rubbed his arm.

His brother sighed, "Why don't you head over to Logans? The people from Randsted should be here any moment, and I don't want it to get too much for you."

Honestly Virgil's anxiety was screaming at him to leave, find a safe place and hide. But... "I don't want to leave you here on your own."

"I'll be fine, I'd feel more comfortable if you were somewhere safe."

"It's not like they're going to start a fight," Virgil tried to laugh to lighten the mood.

"Maybe not them, but I could."

"No, don't do that. Besides, I highly doubt that any of the men coming will be one of the hunters." Or at least he hoped so. What if they were?

"You're right." Patton deflated in his chair. "I still don't want to do business with them."

The fairy chuckled, "Yeah, me too. But we still have to if we want to be paid."

They heard familiar chatter and the sound of horse hooves, looking over to see the carriage that came once a month to pick up the food for Randsted. "They're here now, so be ready to be passive aggressive."

"And don't let them pay a coin less than they're supposed to," Virgil added. His eyes went from each person there, and his heart dropped when he found a familiar face. "Shit." He took a step back. One of the men was a hunter that he had run into, would he recognize him?

"Virgil?" Patton asked, seeing the scared look on the fairy's face.

He started to slowly leave the stand, his eyes not looking away from the hunter who was loading the cart with food from another stand. "A-actually, I think I would rather go to Logan's."

"Wait, what's wrong?"

Virgil looked at Patton for only a moment, trying to gather his words. "I-I um...-"

"Hey!" They both flinched at the loud voice, turning to see the hunter glaring at Virgil. Yup, this was the same guy that yelled at Virgil for taking down the trap last time.