Page 107 of A Soul to Guide

Raewyn screamed, and her entire body jumped.

Merikh flinched in return. He shouldn’t have been so shocked by her reaction, considering he’d given plenty of people a fright because he was usually silent upon approach. It was more that it was done in his own home, where it would make sense for him to be there.

“You nearly scared me half to death!” She wiped at her cheek with the back of her wrist, looking utterly defeated. “I can’t find my cane. I tried earlier but got frustrated, and I knew I didn’t need it while I was washing. I thought if I came back to look, I’d find it.”

Not wanting to bring everything inside, Merikh dropped the multiple bags he had across his body. Dirt sprinkled from the bottom of the burlap sacks as he placed them down next to the entryway.

The entrance was permanently open, with one side of the closing sheet hooked to the opposing side.

His orbs turned a flaring orange from guilt.I shouldn’t have touched it.

It’d been laying on the bed with her. He thought she might kick it off, break it, or roll on top of it, which would be uncomfortable.

“It’s here,” he said, walking inside and taking it from its upright position against the wall next to the bed. He handed it to her while she knelt on the ground. “Next time you’re not using it, I would like to alter it to better suit you.”

He’d made it without measuring her height, and it was longer than it needed to be. Now that he had the time and the tools to make another version, he’d like to improve it.

Merikh then held his palm forward. “I have my hand out. It’s your choice whether you take it.”

She reached up, and he directed his hand to clasp her own before he helped her to her feet.

“Did you move my cane?” she asked as she clutched it.

“Yes, but I won’t do so again without informing you.”

With the way she was holding it, he now understood it was a very precious item to her. He wouldn’t mess with it again, even with good intentions.

The fact she didn’t have one when I first met her must have been upsetting for her.Yet, even so, she had found a way to navigate her way around Clawhaven without one.

The smile of relief she shone at him was hurtful, simply because he didn’t like doing the wrong thing for the right reason. He wasn’t used to helping others, and he often felt like he was making a mess of it with her.

“Thank you,” she said, before pushing her hand through the loop.

“While I was gone, I obtained some vegetables and fruits that would survive the trip. If you are going to remove my glamour enchantment, I won’t be able to buy you more food, as I won’t be able to walk into a human town again.”

Just the thought sent a numbness through him. Even his orbs tried to flicker to white, but he pushed down his unease as best he could.

He didn’t want to give it to her. He didn’t want to give up the one item that gave him a sense of normalcy.

“I thought it was best if I bought plants rather than buying the vegetables themselves. I can go back and sneak in throughout the night and steal whatever else you like to eat.”

Some plants had been too delicate and wouldn’t have survived being uprooted and then travelling such a large distance on his back.

“You have a lot of forethought,” Raewyn complimented.

Merikh scratched at the back of his neck.

“It’s best if you let me know what else you’ll need for your experiments before you destroy my enchantment.” When she opened her mouth to probably start rattling off some kind of list, he said, “Tell me outside. The longer the plants are exposed, the less likely they’ll take to the soil.”

She followed him to the entryway, where he checked on the plants before unstrapping everything else he was carrying. He took what he needed to a section close to the Veil’s cliff walls, where they would get adequate sun throughout the day, close enough to the lake and waterfall that he doubted he’d need to water them.

Then she gave him a list while he dug into the ground with his claws. He had no idea what some of what she needed was, some ingredients unknown to this realm.

Most of it, though, he did know, like a scale, heat padding, a flask, and various other items. He even already had a lot of it, since he’d been experimenting with various charms and had stolen a few books from the Anzúli – some illegible because they were in a different language.

“You’ll have to use what we have here. I don’t know what asolisfloresis,” he answered plainly.

“I’m sure any kind of flower will work, to be honest. I just need to teach the mana stone to absorb sunlight and photosynthesise it into radiation, heat, and light. Doing this with asolisflores is easier because they are one of the flowers that glow the brightest. I guess it would translate to sunflower?”

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