Page 89 of The Last One
If you can identify saffron, dearest, then I’d say that Peria is your home. I tear off a piece of bread.Peria…on the southern side of Devour, the deadliest sea in Vallendor.I dip a hunk of bread into the stew. Well, then, that’s where I’ll head after healing.
Spirit lifted, I close my eyes as the combined foods melt in my mouth. “This is beyond delicious.”
Veril steeples his hands and presses them to his lips. “Well, thank you. I work very hard to make something out of nothing. That is an unspoken power of the Renrian, a passive skill, one would say.” He dips the ladle into a smaller pot hanging over the glowing orange logs and pours liquid into a mug. “It just so happens that the leaves in this tea are known for clearing one’s mind, Just Kai. And if it’s not enough, then there are stronger tea leaves in one of these jars. So tell me: What else have you forgotten?”
I laugh and take the mug. “How much time do you have?”
“No, dearest…” He doesn’t laugh. “How much time doyouhave?”
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Veril’s memory tea smells like berries and cinnamon bark.
“Does this tea do anything else?” I rub the sides of the mug. “Will it make me stronger? Open my mind enough so that I can see the future?”
He sips from his own mug. “It’s not a strength serum, dearest, nor does it foster clairvoyance. It’s just something I created to nudge forward what’s already there. And it tastes lovely.” Veril plops into a chair by the window. “Usually, I enjoy a cup of tea with little cakes made with apricot jam and cocoa, but I didn’t bake last night. I didn’t plan to have guests.”
I sip my tea and grimace—I just burned my tongue. And now it tastes different than it smells: melon and pepper instead of rum and acorns. “What were you doing out at that dell?”
The old man says, “Searching for plants that only bloom hours before dawn. The burnu attack interrupted my foraging. I heard the growling and peeked through to see that you were in a bit of trouble. I don’t fear them—as you can see, Warruin and I made quick work of one.”
I nod. “There’s something else I’ve been thinking about,” I say. “When you said, ‘You’re here,’ after we bumped into each other, what did you mean by that?”
He takes a while to answer as he brings the delicate cup to his mouth. “Imeant: No one’s crossed that meadow in a very long time, and the last people who tried didn’t survive. They were the emperor’s scouts—no tears were shed on their behalf. But I saw that you weren’t wearing the sigil of that awful man and so I decided to help. Even still, I was shocked that you were alive.”
I sense his explanation is not complete.He’s not lying but he’s not forthcoming, either. I swirl the tea in my cup and watch bits of the leaves circle. It would be helpful to read this old man’s thoughts, but my mind wanders through haze as I try. Is he purposefully blocking me out?
“Yes, I am,” he says.
I startle. “Huh?”
His eyes glisten above the rim of the mug. “Iampurposefully blocking you from hearing my thoughts. For us Renrians, our thoughts are our last refuge. Over hundreds of years, we’ve honed the ability to block intrusion into our minds, and now, only Supreme can poke around.” He taps his temple. “Don’t worry—despite this one trick, I haven’t listened in on your thoughts. However, if you ask me what it is you want to know, I just might tell you.”
“Okay. If nothing in the woods scares you because of your trusty staff, then why did you run from us?” I ask. “Truthfully.”
“‘Us’?I wasn’t running fromyou. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in that part of the forest—I hadn’t since those scouts. You caught me off guard, and so I reacted in a more extreme manner than I customarily would have. I wasn’t in the best state of mind, understand. There weremanybeings in that forest I wished not to be around.”
“Beings. Like…?”
Veril’s lavender eyes brighten and then settle into brown. “Like sunabi. And burnu.”
“And?”
There is a pause before he answers, “Your companion.”
Oh.“Because he was wielding his sword? He didn’t mean to frighten you.”
He tugs an earlobe. “I’m aware you haven’t known him for long.”
“And?”
“He’s willfully doing all of this for a stranger?”
Heat climbs up my neck, and I say, “Sometimes, life comes at you fast.” I pause, then add, “And here I am, under your roof, accepting your kindness and generosity, when I’ve known you for less time than I’ve known my companion.”
“I’d say you and I are different than you and he.” He sits back in his chair. “And just as you did with me moments ago, dearest, you should slow down and ask more questions ofhim.”
Now, my scalp prickles with countless pins. “It’s not like I’m blindly following him, Veril. I’m not following him at all. And Ihaveasked questions, and he’s answered them.” The prickles move down my neck to my shoulder blades. “And he’s been open and honest with me. For the questions he can’t answer, we will seek out a sage who can.” Before he interjects, I say, “Jadon’s helped me all this time. He’s protected me, and he didn’t have to. He’s out there, in the woods, right now, searching for my amulet. He’s been nothing but kind.”
