Chapter 26: Conflicted Emotions
After that emotionally charged conversation, Ira opened up a bit but still didn't talk about his past. Thinking about his parents and where he came from seemed to be very painful for him.
He did display more of his true personality though. Underneath all that seriousness…was more seriousness. Unlike Leo, he didn't have a goofy side at all. He was similarly observant though it was without a goal.
Ira was curious about things and, once he realized he wouldn't get in trouble for doing so, he asked Daisy all sorts of questions about farming, flowers, animals, and anything else he could think of. She wasn't the all-knowing being he thought her to be so she started double and triple checking the budget to see if anything could be skimped on in order to buy some used books in town.
With the extra help doing the heavy garden work, she had more time to focus on her tiny dairy-product side business. She spent what seemed like hours a day churning butter to sell. He helped her with that too.
It was cute how determined he was to churn the butter. He acted like he was stabbing someone with how forcefully he did it. But with his skinny little arms, he wasn't getting anywhere.
Daisy did her best to muffle her laughter because she didn't want to offend him and he was clearly trying his best but it was hilarious. If she had her phone on her, she would definitely want to film it to look back on and laugh later.
Sometimes she really missed her phone. It was incredibly lame to finally be socializing enough to want to capture memories on film and now she couldn't.
If cameras existed in this world, she had never seen one. She didn't have any pictures of Leo but the memory of his soft smile was still clear in her mind. She worried that it would dim if she went too long without seeing him but there was nothing she could do about it.
Was he doing okay? She had sent her latest letter and those jars of preserves quite some time ago but didn't know if they had arrived yet. There was nothing she could do about that either.
Being separated from someone you loved in a fantasy world sucked. Back home they could text, call, video chat, and send care packages in a matter of days.
Daisy sighed. She couldn't wait to receive Leo's next letter.
===
Rukelion had never ripped anything open as fast as he did when Daisy's package finally arrived. He laughed when he realized that each of the jars was perfectly cushioned with a load of winter items such as hats, scarves, gloves, and socks she had knitted. There was even a sweater the color of his hair that she had knitted him last winter.
Classic Daisy! Killing two birds with one stone was just like her. The jars didn't have a single crack and she had managed to send the winter clothes he hadn't had room for in his rucksack when he left at the same time.
It was the one good thing that had happened lately. He was still getting absolutely nowhere in his quest to take over this country.
He would be able to eat a decent breakfast for a while if he rationed his preserves properly. At least he had that to look forward to. And Daisy's reaction when he was finally able to afford that ring. He was about halfway there right now.
Aside from that, he was slowly getting nowhere. The preserves had perked him up but the letter should too. It was tucked between some of the jars and the side of the box and he pulled it out carefully.
Rukelion thoroughly enjoyed reading about her daily life at first until he realized she had randomly gone and taken in an orphan. He knew she needed help on the farm and was kindhearted to a fault but he hadn't expected this!
This didn't bode well for getting her to come to the capital. She wouldn't want to leave a kid behind but he didn't want someone who would take up her time coming with her. She was his. He was hers. They were supposed to be all the other person had but now she had found someone else to care for as well.
At the very least, Ira couldn't be considered a love rival since he was almost young enough to be Daisy's son. She might care about him—she did have a soft spot for people in trouble—but Rukelion's place in her heart should be unshakable.
It sounded like she hadn't trusted him with all of her secrets. She had mentioned that she missed having people call her by her real name so that had to mean she hadn't told it to anyone else.
She was maintaining the illusion that she was Veronica May with everyone on the farm, including the kid. That meant she didn't trust him as much as she trusted Rukelion. That was what mattered.
They were only two years apart, had exchanged secrets that absolutely no one else knew about, and spent a lot of time together. And she did say that Ira didn't like to talk much. People couldn't get close if they didn't talk to each other properly.
The one positive about this kid hovering around Daisy seemed to be that he was protective. He could function as a bodyguard of sorts in Rukelion's place while he was away.
He sighed and flopped back on his bunk with very conflicted emotions. Was there even a point in his being apart from the one he loved for so long? He wasn't getting anywhere and their fake engagement wasn't deterring flies as much as he had hoped.
He should have been there to discover that meadow with her, play harvesting games, and help with making preserves and baking with all of the leftovers. He would kill for one of her apple tarts right now.
"What's with you? You're normally over the moon when you hear from home," Conrad said with a frown as he approached.
"I got mixed news," Rukelion said grimly. "What do you need?"
His squad members knew not to bother him unless it was urgent by this point. He had earned a bit of a reputation within headquarters to the point that people called him the Lone Wolf. He supposed it was a play on the fact that he was on the Silver Wolf Squadron.
"Some of us are going into town and wanted to see if you were interested in coming," Conrad informed him.
"Not this time but thanks. I need to write D—Veronica back."
He almost slipped up there! All of his mail was addressed to and from Veronica so that was who they thought his fiancée was. He couldn't spill her secret when she was keeping so many of his.
"Suit yourself. I'll bring you something back from the bakery."
A tiny smile appeared on Rukelion's face. "Thanks, Conrad. I appreciate it."
"No problem!"
Conrad left and he was once again alone in the barracks. It was their day off so no one else wanted to hang around. He only was because he went to the main building to check for letters after breakfast and discovered his package had arrived.
When he was done writing his letter and delivering it to the office to be mailed, he didn't know what to do. His previously poor mood was back. Maybe he should find some secluded place out of town to practice his fire powers. He hadn't used them in any obvious way since leaving the farm since secrecy was paramount here.
Rukelion didn't need to be back in the barracks until nightly roll call so he wandered as far from the center of town as he could go until he found an abandoned stone building largely hidden by trees a few miles away. It was a disgusting little hovel crawling with bugs with cobwebs hanging all over the place. The windows were so filthy they were impossible to see through as well.
Perfect. This was exactly the sort of place he had been hoping to find! He could come practice here easily enough to keep his skills sharp and continue improving them. He may have trained hard the past few years but it would all be for naught if he didn't retain them.
He began by casting small trails of fire around the room to clear up the cobwebs at the very least. There was nothing he could do about the dirt—burned dirt was still dirt—but he didn't want to walk all the way back to the barracks feeling sticky.
Every so often, he walked outside of the tiny structure to check the sun's position in the sky so he wouldn't be late for roll call. He continued practicing until it looked like he needed to get back to town.
Rukelion managed to hit the showers before his absence would be noted and made it to the barracks with ten minutes to spare. As promised, Conrad had bought him a thick slice of bakery bread. His mouth watered at the thought of spreading some apple preserves on this.
He cleaned one of his knives before doing precisely that and munched on his treat with lifted spirits. Good food could do that to people.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone