17 The old man (3)

After introducing herself, she couldn't help but question Thomas about what he was doing here, in the mountains, a couple of days away from the deeper parts.

The man sat on one of the rocks near and started his tale about how his youngest granddaughter, Sara, had been sick for a while now. And while they had called a doctor and had even received a prescription on what medicine she needed to take, it was too expensive. Especially one plant that was supposed to grow in a lake near the border of the deeper parts and was apparently out of stock.

"So you came to search for it? What about your daughter?"

"She's with my wife. They've got enough medicine to last for a week. This herb is pretty common in all the continents of Emain, but..." He sighed, seemingly aging a couple of years. "But the hard part is being able to reach it. They hide deep underwater, after all."

"Oh, right. There's a lake a couple of days away, but are you sure it's the one you're searching for?"

He nodded twice. "Yes, it can be whichever lake near the borders. Usually, it grows where light doesn't touch, so deep underwater. However, I was hoping to find some near the shore of the lake, under the shade of trees."

His positivism lit a smile on his lips. However, she couldn't help but picture the man in front of her swimming alone. It was true that it wasn't too cold, but it was still a bit chilly.

She stood up, cleaning some of the dirt from her bottom as she did so. "Okay, then let's go."

He looked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to help you," she said with a small smile. When she saw him about to protest, she added, "See it this way, I help you and then you share with me the information about the person you saw with this tattoo, okay?"

"I would have told you anyway. No need to help me," he mumbled, but still let her help him cross to her side of the river.

"I have to ask my companion first. Though I don't think it will be a problem. He's a good kid."

She couldn't see her own fond smile, but the old man could. He smiled, too. "Is he your brother?"

"Eh? No, no. I met him recently, actually. We were..." When she trailed off, trying to find a correct word, Tomas put a hand on her shoulder. "Were you slaves?"

She contained her startled expression behind a stoic mask. She still twitched, though. It was a small thing, but considering Thomas had his hand on her shoulder, he must have felt it.

Before she could think of possible ways to fix the situation, Thomas smiled at her. His eyes were almost invisible with the deep wrinkles around his eyes, but it was honest and without pity. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. You've my word. Though you should probably get rid of those."

She looked at where he was pointing and smiled sheepishly at the bundle of brown clothes she still held in her hands.

Trying to change the subject, she motioned to the back of her neck where the tattoo was now hidden behind her hair. "So, can you tell me how you met this guy?"

"Well," he started, scratching his small beard with a finger. "Did I tell you how I fish near a river near the outskirts of Dudria?"

"You mentioned it, yes."

"Yes, well. For a couple of days every two months, there are students from the Castian Academy that come with their teachers near to teach them who knows what." He looked at her to see if she was following, so she nodded. "They were mostly Sea mages, but there were some of the other types, too, you know? One kid fell into the water that day. It wasn't a Sea mage, I think it was a Forest one? Yes, I'm pretty sure it was one because of his tie. A green one."

He nodded once, deep in thought. I had to cough once to get his attention again. "Ah, sorry. Where I was?"

Her lips trembled, trying to contain her smile. Still, she helped him. "A guy fell into the water."

"Yes, yes. He fell and another student saved him. It happened too fast so I don't remember what mage type he was as he didn't have his tie. The kid swam to where I was, so I helped them. I helped them take their jackets and gloves off, so I saw the tattoo there. I remember thinking, 'Youth these days, so quick to mark their bodies' as I gave them something to wear. Though they dried fast, so the kid who helped the one with the tattoo was probably an Inferno mage."

Now it was her turn for her to remain silent. She didn't want to go to Dudria because that was the place where the bosses of the slaver-traders that bought her were, but probably now she didn't have a choice. She needed to know if it really was a soulmate mark on the hand of that guy.

With a sigh, she looked at the old man who had been respectfully silent, waiting for her to sort her thoughts. "Can you describe him to me?"

He blinked a couple of times as he glanced at her. "Yes, of course. He looked a little older than you are. With auburn hair and green eyes. I couldn't say more about him as it had been a while since that happened. I just remembered his tattoo when I saw yours."

"Oh. All right. It's fine. Thanks for everything, Mr. Thomas."

"Nothing of this formality, girl. Call me just Tom."

With a smile, she answered, "Okay, Tom. And thank you."

- -

Getting Amycus on board to help was pretty easy. They only had to mention how Tom's granddaughter needed some medicinal plant and that was enough. Going on by his teary eyes, he was remembering some memory, probably something to do with his father. As she walked past to give him the fishes to fry, she grabbed his shoulder in silent support.