Eliona's War 1: Hesitant Healer

Chapter 18

Severance sat against the tree, arms wrapped protectively around his knees. They'd untied him, but his freedom was little more than an illusion. Especially with the three men in black watching him.

The older one, Rasin, sat in front of him, completely relaxed with his hands on his thighs. The silver dusting his chin and temples added an air of experience and wisdom. Both Dhin and Maun stood off the side, far enough to give them space, but still well within earshot.

"What's your name?" Rasin asked, breaking the silence.

Severance was immediately grateful for it. He hated the silence. He hated the watchful eyes even more. He tried not to look at any of them.

"Severance," he answered. It was a reasonable question, since they'd already introduced themselves.

Rasin tilted his head. "That's an interesting name."

So is Rasin. A little tweak and it'd be raisin. Being called a wrinkled grape would ruin any professional assassin's reputation. But Severance kept that thought to himself. He didn't want to anger any of these people.

He shrugged, and picked a dried piece of grass off his pants. It was a pity, but already his white clothing was turning gray from dirt.

"Can you tell me what you were doing in the forest?"

Severance looked up, briefly meeting Rasin's steady gaze before returning his attention to his dirty clothes. He scratched a brown stain with his fingernail. "I was supposed to pick some Twisted Pods. The Guardsman wanted me to get them before he let me into Ascendance."

"Is that so? Twisted Pods are near the forest edge. They need sunlight to grow."

"That's what the Guardsman said," Severance admitted. "But I got lost."

Dhin made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Severance looked up, only to see Dhin looking back with a perfectly composed expression.

"I suppose it can be disorienting for those not used to it," Rasin agreed generously.

Maun wasn't so nice. He mildly said, "You were deep into the forest, Severance. Even if you were lost, it'd be difficult to wander that far."

Severance tightened his arms around his knees. He gave Maun a wary glance. "I was chased by a giant animal. It wouldn't stop until I fell off a cliff."

In the silence that followed, Dhin made that strange sound again. "There's hardly any predators in this part of the forest, you know. Did you get scared by your own shadow?"

Severance's expression turned sour. He'd already been through this with Uncle Fenn. "It was a maditas and it looked very angry."

"Right, of course." Dhin didn't outright burst into laughter, but it was obvious he was trying hard to restrain his amusement. "The big scary bark-eater that runs away at the slightest sound."

"Dhin," Rasin gave his son a reprimanding look. "Bark eater or not, it would frighten anyone who didn't know what it was. Please forgive my son, Severance. He loses his manners occasionally."

That made Dhin snort. "Come on, it's-"

"Dhin." Rasin didn't raise his voice, nor did he change his tone.

But the message got through, for Dhin shut up. Still, he folded his arms and gave Severance a smirk from behind his father's back.

"So the maditas chased you off the cliff," Maun mused. "And from there, you coincidentally wandered to our House."

"It's entirely reasonable. That cliff is not far from our House," Rasin said.

Maun's cobalt eyes settled on Severance. "Still, he should not have found it."