Chapter 2: A New Man in the House
Alice was staring at the fireplace, her legs were up at her chest as she wrapped her arms around them warming herself; the flames flickered and dimmed casting dancing shadows along the sides of the house. The squeak and slam of the door had Alice look over to the front of the house; her father's familiar footsteps sounded before she could see them and heralded his entry into the household. Alice's father was quite your typical farmer, wearing commoner clothing caked in dirt; it did nothing to hide the sheer muscle and bulk that his form had and with a heavy sense of masculinity always seemed to fill the room with. Her father had the same colour hair as her but a darker shade, a beard decorated his face that while messy and wiry still had some attempts of keeping it under control much.
¨Alice, I need you to go out back with your mum to grab some more covers. Looks like it's going to be a cold night.¨ her father said, looking over at the new visitor who was lying in front of the warming fireplace
¨Yes Papa¨ Alice said racing outside to grab the last of the bedsheets hanging out on the line before it was too dark to see. Her father could already see through the narrow windows in the house that dotted the house, the ball of fire was disappearing behind the hills off in the distance from the house with a rapidly growing shadow covering the land. Glancing over at the man his daughter had brought home, he felt trouble was brewing. It wasn't too uncommon to find travellers stranded and brought back to the village to heal, having been lucky enough to survive whatever layout in the countryside. Bandits, monsters and all imaginable horrors were waiting to take the unwary along these roads and many a villager had disappeared in much the same way. Although they were far away from the protections of many of the guards that patrolled the highways, it was often too late by the time they did arrived. Crouching down he looked over the man, noticing the necklace that was lying on the traveller's chest but something in the back of his mind told him he could ignore it for now, despite how much he wanted to look at it. The traveller's clothes after having been dusted and his face cleaned showed the stature that wouldn't be unfamiliar to a constant traveller. He would have to keep an eye on the visitor as the man rested in the house. Alice came rushing back inside carrying the last of the covers and heaped them in the corner of her father's bedroom. He could hear Narissa, his wife, was making the stew outside on the wood stove he had built. The faint bubbling sound was barely audible from inside but he knew it was always going to be good food. Reaching under the cupboards he grabbed a few candles and handed them to Alice to start illuminating the house before night came. As he lit the house, Narissa came in with a black crock pot; the stew bubbled and steam as she brought it onto the table. Narissa was quite different from the rest of the family, seeming quite foreign with her pure black hair, kept short at her neck. Narissa was short, coming up to her husband's chest though despite her size her eyes with an emerald green easily showed her authority in contrast to her appearance. The scent of wild mushrooms and other vegetables wafted in the air and caused the family's stomach to growl, that they had harvested earlier that day, along with some freshly baked bread Narissa had prepared earlier.
¨Mama, what are we having for dinner? ¨ Alice said finished from her chores and duties and sitting dutifully in one of the chairs at the table, patiently waiting for dinner to be served.
¨Mushroom soup dear¨ Narissa said with a smile on her face, glancing down at the sleeping man in front of the fireplace. Arching an eyebrow at her husband, he gave a reassuring nod that the traveller was still out cold and posed no threat. Placing the pot down she grabbed some wooden bowls and poured out soup along with sliced bread to go along with it. Alice was hungrily gulping down the food, while her father stared intently at the newcomer in their house letting his food cool down.
¨Alice, you've got to remember that you can't leave behind the water bucket. It cost money and we can't afford to buy another if we intend to eat¨ her dad said to Alice, his berating not having much bite to it as he refused to move his eyes from the traveller.
¨Sorry Papa, I promise I´ll make it up to you tomorrow¨ Alice said in apology
¨You sure will pumpkin. I´m gonna make you help me out in the field¨ her dad said with a grin on his face. Alice pouted in response at the idea of hard labour, though looking over her shoulder to see if the traveller was still breathing normally.
¨You think he'll be alright Papa? ¨ said Alice.
¨He looks like a tough fellow; with mama helping I'm sure he'll make a full recovery¨ her father said with a smile. Looking towards Narissa, who had left the table having finished her meal quickly. Narissa started preparing some herbs to help speed the recovery, crushing a number of leaves and mixtures in the mortar and pestle that gave a steady grinding sound as it was mashed into a green paste. His wife always had an air of mystique ever since the first time they had met long ago, there was a magic about her and her knowledge made it easy to take care of the family's needs and helping them. A herb or root here could break someone out of a long running fever and many of the villagers came to them for their ailments. He was lucky to have a partner that could cover the things he could not, and luckier still she hadn't turned it on him yet either he thought to himself with a bit of a nervous feeling. But the same feeling made him proud of his wife, also seemed to emanate from this man. And he couldn't shake the feeling that something was oddly unnerving about him, unfortunately he would have to wait till the man woke up to question him further. As Narissa had finished with her herb mixture, she walked over and sat down to feed the man the herbal medicine. Prying open his mouth with a tight grip on his mouth she spooned the mixture in, closing and holding the jaw shut to make him swallow it. The man started to spasm and bolted upright, his eyes unopened and still unconscious being held up by an unseen force. No matter how many times he saw his wife do this it was one of the stranger ways she had to cure her patients. It made him feel uncomfortable, magic was certainly rare and useful out here in the country but many people were unable to use and it caused as much animosity and worry compared to the guarded roads and cities closer to the capital. Narissa started spooning the mushroom soup into the traveller´s mouth who ate it, Narissa having emptied the bowl put it to side and slowly pushed the traveller back down onto his bedroll and covered his body with the sheet that was piled at the man's, Narissa changed the cold towel that had been resting on the traveller's head trying to keep his temperature down as the visitor started to regularly breathe again.
¨Time for bed now Alice¨ Narissa said after finishing tending to the injured man.
¨But I want to stay up¨ Alice said getting out of her chair and walking over to her father. She was trying to convince her father to stay up a little later with an tug at his wrist. Alice's father reached out his hands and grabbed Alice by the hips and sat her down on his legs as she watched and waited at the table with him not making a peep in complaint. His arms wrapped around her shoulders keeping her warm from the slowly rising cold from outside.
"I tell you what, you can stay up a little longer if you grab another log from outside" Alice's father spoke softly to her.
"Ok" Alice said cheerfully and jumped off his lap, running around the back of the house to grab some more firewood from the wood pile at the back of the house.
¨So what do you think of the man? ¨ he asked Narissa once Alice had walked out of earshot. When it came to the unknown and mysticism his wife was always a wealth of knowledge and understanding that he could never fathom to comprehend, something which he decided long ago that he should not probe into much or into his wife's own secrets.
¨He's not dangerous from what I can see, I'm sure by tomorrow he'll have fully recovered but the necklace he's wearing is however a rare thing indeed. Even people in the capital would have a hard time trying to obtain something like this¨ she said nudging the pendant on the man's neck, Narissa could feel the pendant go cold and left it on the man's chest, rising up nonchalantly as she started to clean up the table and bowls.
¨My hairs are standing up when I look at him, there's something more than meets the eye with him¨ he said glancing over his shoulder at the sleeping traveller. The traveller was resting still not having moved aside from the rise and fall of his chest.
¨Something tells me he's bad news and a thing I don't think we can handle¨ he continued looking back at Narissa into her eyes, probing for any answers she could give.
¨It´s ok dear, I'll be sure take care of it if anything happens¨ Narissa said with a simple but dangerous smile. It seems that her old habits came back every now and again, sighing he simply left the subject alone as he heard the light footsteps of his daughter come back in. Alice came back in with both hands full with a large log and teetered toward the fireplace. Crouched in front of the fireplace she threw the log onto the already burning pile, the flame flared with the new source of fuel.
¨You can go to bed now sweetie, I'm sure the man will be better in the morning¨ her father said reassuringly. Alice gave a short worried glance at the sleeping traveller and went off to her room. The father went around to all the candle holders and proceeded to blow out the candles decorating the house. Narissa had already gone to bed ahead of him. He looked at the traveller resting on the floor, the crackle of the fireplace breaking the silence that filled the house. Blowing out the last candle, he followed Narissa into bed as the stress of the day allowed sleep to overtake him easily.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone