Erin was the first to shake herself from the daze. She put Orun on the ground before questioning me, still a bit shocked by the sudden events.
“What happened? Why’s the house burning? How did you suddenly appear in the room?”
I removed my eyes from the sad spectacle in front of me and extended my hand toward her, palm facing her.
“Wait. We can talk later.”
People were already rushing our way after hearing the loud sound of our fight, but that wasn’t enough. The most important thing now was to stop the fire from spreading. It would be a disaster if the rest of the village were affected. I took a deep breath and screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Fire! There’s a fire in the village! Fire! Please help!”
I couldn’t do much about the fire, but this was a village filled with bunnies, most of them being of earth affinity. More were coming now after my shout, together with Geola’s army protecting the village. They reacted well. The first ones to arrive immediately queried us.
“Is there still someone inside the house?”
“No, it’s empty.”
“Alright. Help me, everyone.”
Several earth mages combined their efforts, and a few earth walls rose toward the house. They engulfed it, smothering it by depriving it of oxygen. A few water mages from the army also helped, and it didn’t take long before the fire was extinguished. Most of the villagers were out now, and all the people present breathed in relief. Fires were no joke, especially with houses and fields everywhere.
After that, we were interrogated by the army. The others didn’t know anything except that the alarm suddenly rang and the house caught fire soon after. This made me the primary target for their questions. I told them I saw a rank 5 mage outside, who had set the house on fire before escaping, after which we ran outside as fast as possible and called for help.
The questions continued, but there wasn’t much more to say. Fortunately, the bunnies, a species used to being persecuted, didn’t seem to resent me for the attack that happened. On the contrary, they sympathized with me.
Kuini was now with her family, and her parents checked her meticulously to see if she wasn’t injured anywhere, before sighing in relief. I felt bad for them. Kuini ended up being dragged into this nightly assault when I probably was the target in the first place.
For now, Kuini was invited to spend the night at her family’s house. The children and I would exceptionally sleep in the military barracks for this one time. If there was a sliver of good news in this disaster, it was that the stables hadn’t caught fire with my house. The two carriages were still parked there, and the horses were fine. We could use them to get to Geola tomorrow.
The barracks were simple and not very comfortable, but at least we had a safe place to sleep. The children were strong and used to a hard life. Orun was extremely sleepy and fell asleep quickly. Even though Erin and Aren were glancing at me as if they wanted some answers, I ignored them for now.
The next morning, I sent the kids to prepare the large carriage while I went to the Muyal’s home to speak with Kuini. We made our way to the warehouse, our previous spot to talk without being disturbed.
“I’m sorry, Kuini. You got involved because of me. I put you in danger unnecessarily.”
She shook her head, her eyes looking determined.
“You don’t need to apologize, my Lord. It was my choice.”
“It might be better if you took your distance until I’m strong enough to avoid these sorts of incidents.”
For the first time since I knew her, she scowled at me a little, touching the brooch I offered her on our first meeting.
“No.”
“I don’t want to put you in danger for no reason.”
“No.”
“Please understand.”
“No.”
She was in her obstinate mode, and nothing I said could reach her when she was like that.
“Well, there’s no house anymore anyway, so it’s not like there’s a choice.”
“You can rebuild it. I’ll help.”
There was no compromise at all in her eyes.
“We’ll see about that. You’re as stubborn as always, Kuini.”
“I don’t mind being stubborn.”
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
She nodded, and I continued.
“Can you keep what you saw yesterday a secret?”
“Of course. I’ll never betray you, my Lord.”
“Thank you. It’s time to leave for Geola now. I’ll see you later.”
“Please come back fast.”
The carriage was ready when I reached the stables. I watched the house’s ruins for a moment, my heart hurting, before sitting in the front seat and leaving the village. When we were far enough, I looked at the three children sitting together in the back.
“I’m sorry, you three. You must have been scared.”
They didn’t answer me, only staring at my face wordlessly. Eventually, it was Erin who mustered the courage to speak first.
“Why did that mage attack the house?”
“I don’t know either. Maybe someone’s jealous of my business. It’s not certain. It could be anything.”
“Then, what about when you appeared in the room? How did you do that?”
“That’s one of my tricks. I need that much to survive in this world.”
“Didn’t you speak of trust between us? I can’t see any of that now.”
“You’re right. Trust is something that’s built over a long time. I don’t know yet if I can trust you, and you don’t know yet if you can trust me. That’s normal.”
This time, Aren was the one to speak.
“I want to trust you. You’ve never lied to us. You’ve only done good things for us.”
“What is there to trust when I couldn’t even protect you from a single attacker? It’s fine. We can build trust over many years. You and I need to try harder so that others can’t destroy what’s ours, just like last night.”