Daughter of Azeroth

43 | THE BANK NOTE

Twelve days later, just as he said he would, Logan arrived an hour before dawn, during that soft, quiet time when the night held its breath, and all its creatures lay silent and still, waiting for the first light of a new day.

He came in, his boots scuffing, loud against the bare floorboards. His hair had been washed and combed and his armour looked recently polished. He pulled a little linen bag from his belt and held it out to Idira. She opened it. A warm, bitter scent rose up from the dark beans nestled inside. She looked up at him, perplexed.

'It's coffee,' he said, smiling, shy. 'It's from my rations, I thought you might like to have some. You'll need to grind it first of course.' He took the bag from her and looked around the empty house searching for a grinder. His cheeks reddened. 'Oh right. You don't have one. I didn't think about that. I'll just, um, make sure to buy you one today. No problem.' He handed the bag back to her, awkward.

Unambi held out the list. Logan looked it over. 'Um. I'm probably going to need to buy a horse and wagon to get all this back to you.'

'Ya be doin' whatever ya need ta. Jus' ya get dese tings.'

'Right. I can do that. I know a lot about horses and wagons from working in the smithy.' He looked up, eager for their approval. No one said anything. His cheeks flamed anew, bright red in the stove's firelight. He scratched his head. 'Well, I guess I better be going. Lots to do.' He knelt and wrapped the waiting candelabra into some lengths of wool, packing them into the hessian sack he'd brought. He looked up at Idira. 'The cloth is so they don't clank and draw unwanted attention.' He tapped his forefinger against his temple. 'I was thinking ahead.'

Idira said nothing. His cheeks darkened again as he hefted the bag onto his shoulder and turned to go. He went to the door and reached for the door's latch.

'Wait,' Idira said, her heart clenching. She couldn't bear to waste her chance. She had already spent twelve days dithering over this. It was now or never.

He turned, his face brightening, hopeful. She went to her book about growing up and pulled out Nin's bank note. She held it out to him, hesitant.

'Use this to buy me as many books as you can.'

He reached out and took it, his eyes widening as he read the amount. 'I can get a lot of books for this. Um. What kind of books do you want? Fairytales, I guess?'

Idira shook her head. 'Books about using magic. Anything you can find. Oh. And maybe some books about the hero Khadgar, too, if they have any.' She felt warmth creeping into her cheeks. She turned away, embarrassed. 'That's all. You can go now.'

'Um. Right. No problem. I'll get your books.' She heard the rustle of the note as he tucked it into his tunic. The door opened and his booted feet scuffed their way out and down the steps.

'Bye!' he called out from the shadows. This time he didn't wait for a reply. He moved on, hurrying towards the north, his footsteps swallowed by the silence of the night.

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The day dragged, hot and oppressive. They occupied themselves making nets for the crab traps from the sea grasses Idira had collected. Making nets was slow, laborious, and not very challenging. Unable to escape her thoughts, Idira sat on the porch and endured in silence the gnawing fear she had made a terrible mistake trusting Logan with her bank note. He was probably never going to come back, and worse, he was probably going to tell someone about them. He had almost all their gold now, so why wouldn't he? He had nothing to lose, he could just go to Stormwind and live like a king.

She yanked on the softened stalks of grass, weaving them together, tight, her movements jerky and rough. She shouldn't have given him the bank note, it was a foolish, thoughtless thing to do. But as he stood there, about to leave, she couldn't resist taking the chance. The thought of having books which might explain her magic and how to use it had driven her to stop him. At the time, she couldn't bear the thought he might return trustworthy, and bookless. It would have plagued her with regret for years. But now she regretted having trusted him. Of course he would not come back. He was probably spending her gold right now, sitting in a tavern and buying drinks for everyone, pretending to be a big man.