7. Celia
Chapter seven
Celia
No matter how much she wanted to feel annoyed at all the impertinent questions, Celia couldn’t help feeling welcomed as she left the home above the general store and made her way through town.
There was something about the shopkeepers that was so friendly and reassuring; no matter how much she wanted them to ignore her, she couldn’t tell them no.
She couldn’t get them out of her mind. It was almost like they were her uncles too. Something about them stripped away all her armor. Even though she was used to retreating, avoiding contact with people, she’d very nearly found herself sharing with them everything that had happened.
Her defenses hadn’t been so low in years.
“I’m sorry for my uncles,” Darian said as he caught up to her with his long legs. “They mean well, but they don’t always know when to stop talking.”
“I know they mean well,” Celia admitted. Something in her chest was threatening to choke her.
She didn’t want that emotion.
She didn’t want any emotion.
She began to walk faster, and Darian easily matched her pace with his confounded long legs. She wanted to outpace him, but to do that, she would have to run—and running was for people who were being chased by a bear. If only she could ride one of her baby dragons and fly far away from him.
But even as she thought that, another part of her thought that she wanted nothing more than to stay with him forever. Where were these thoughts coming from? She had no wish to stay forever with Darian and his uncles. All she wanted was her cottage in the meadow and her dragons. Nothing more.
Certainly not a tall, handsome young man who never stopped talking and had more energy than all of her baby dragons combined.
She had no use for that.
“Breakfast was delicious. Thank you,” Darian said as they made their way to the edge of town and took off into the woods, following the trail. “Where did you learn to cook like that?”
“My mother,” she said shortly.
“I wish my mother had taught me how to cook,” he said. “She passed when I was a baby, so I never got to learn. My uncles never had the foresight to learn how to cook well from their mother before she passed, either. Apparently, they depended on my mother or just ate bad food.”
“And with all their resources, they couldn’t find someone to teach you how to cook?” she asked. That seemed rather far-fetched.
“They said that their cooking was enough to keep me alive, and that my time was better spent learning more important things,” Darian said. “Though, frankly, I don’t understand why they had me learn all the things they did. I suppose I know more than most grocery store owners ever will.”
“Oh?” she asked.
“They had Conrad, the new schoolteacher, teach me more advanced subjects since he’s been here.
I just graduated from what he said he can teach me.
I don’t know why they think I need to know more than basic math.
What use does a general store owner have for public speaking?
” He shook his head. “I think they’re ridiculous. ”
“Or they’re not telling us the truth,” Celia pointed out, “Because you’re right. That does seem like they were preparing you for more than being a general store owner, and it’s odd that they say the only thing they know about you is your last name.”
“Did you see the way they were looking at each other?” Darian asked. “I know they know more, but I didn’t want to press them on it. Perhaps they don’t want you to know.”
“I’m the reason you even know to ask questions,” Celia protested. “That seems unfair.”
He shrugged. “If it’s so secret that they don’t even want to tell me, I can see why they don’t want to tell someone who’s a stranger to them.”
The words stung for some reason. She swallowed hard. “I’m not really a stranger, am I?”
“Not to me,” Darian agreed. “You’re more than a stranger.” The words felt heavier than the tone he’d said them in.
What did he mean by that?
But before she could ask, a deer came crashing through the trees as if running from something. Something big. Celia looked around, all her defenses on alert. Deer didn’t run like that for no reason. Something had spooked it.
They were at the edge of the forest, so maybe whatever it was, was in the meadow.
She paused at the edge of the woods to look out, hoping to see whatever had spooked the deer, but all she saw was a couple standing in the meadow.
That was odd.
The man held a basket while the woman had shears and was clipping plants, placing them into the basket. That seemed less odd, but the deer had seemed spooked by more than humans—almost as if it had seen a bear or some other predator.
As much as she didn’t want to be seen by other people, she didn’t want to sit and wait or walk all the way around them. The meadow stretched on as far as one could see. There was no way to avoid being seen.
Celia sighed. It wasn’t often that there were people in her meadow…but it was always inconvenient.
Before they should have been able to hear them, the man turned, his brown eyes piercing through her as if he were investigating a threat.
How had he noticed them already?
Before she could caution him to stop, Darian stepped out, a grin on his face. “Hello,” he called, sounding genuinely thrilled to come across humans in her meadow.
She almost shook her head at him as she followed him out into the meadow. He was far too innocent.
“What are y’all doing out here?” Darian asked as the strangers turned to them.
The man didn’t respond, but the woman with him turned with a smile. “Hello,” she said. “I’m just out gathering some plants. It’s not often that we see anyone out here. Out for a romantic stroll?” she asked.
“Oh no,” Celia said quickly, even as Darian nodded. She whipped her head around and glared at him, and he stopped nodding.
“I wanted to come see the Gloaming Mountains,” he said, glancing between Celia and the woman. “They’re beautiful.”
The woman smiled. “I’m Guinevere. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Darian,” he said, stepping forward and offering his hand to shake. “I’ve seen you in the store before.”
Guinevere shook his hand, and Celia could almost swear she heard a growl come from the man behind her.
“I knew I recognized you from somewhere. This is Gideon,” Guinevere said, turning to him with a smile, letting her hand rest on his arm.
Darian took another step forward and put his hand out, and the man slowly took it, shaking it firmly.
“This is Celia,” Darian said, gesturing to her, as if he had the right to introduce her. “She’s my…friend,” he ended slowly, as if he wasn’t sure how to refer to her.
Celia tried not to grin. He should know better.
She looked at the basket the man held, which contained a collection of plants she hardly recognized. “What are you collecting?” she asked.
“Oh, some medicinal plants for tinctures,” Guinevere said.
Celia’s ears perked up. “Are you a healer?”
“Yes,” Guinevere said. “Do you have an ailment that needs helping?”
“Oh, no,” Celia said. “I’m also a healer.”
Guinevere smiled widely. “I didn’t know we had a new healer in the area. Where do you practice? I shall be sure to send folks your way if I’m unable to help them.”
Celia shook her head. “I don’t help humans, only animals.” She didn’t quite meet Guinevere’s gaze.
“Oh,” Guinevere said, somewhat surprised, but then her voice changed. “Is that your cottage I saw out there?” she asked, gesturing toward home. “I wondered if there was a certain kind of animal that you healed.”
Celia’s eyes widened, and she looked at Guinevere. “You know?”
“I am one of the few,” Guinevere admitted.
“I didn’t know if that was you or not, but I’m very glad to meet you.
And if I have any wounded animals, I may bring them your way.
I do better on humans. At least, I think so.
I don’t know that my human subjects would agree with me.
Some of them think my services are only fit for animals. ”
Behind her, Gideon gagged, and Guinevere playfully elbowed him. “Oh, hush,” she said. “I fixed you.”
“But at what cost?” he muttered. “I still can’t get that taste out of my mouth.”
Celia’s lips twitched. Darian had no such restraint, however, and he laughed. “I can only imagine.”
“No, you can’t,” Gideon said shortly.
Guinevere and Darian laughed together.
Celia turned to Gideon with compassion. He apparently also suffered from a companion who was much too lighthearted.
“I must go,” she said. “I need to make sure my home is still standing.”
“Do you have a patient who might be causing issues?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
“There are three fire dragons,” Darian informed Guinevere, who clapped her hands together in delight.
Celia sighed. He couldn’t go around spilling that information.
“Oh, that sounds like so much fun!” she said. “I need to continue harvesting, but perhaps sometime I could come and see them?”
“I don’t know how much longer they’ll be with me,” Celia said. “But if they are still with me when you are able, you would be welcome. Please do not share my location around, though. I prefer my privacy.”
“We will be sure to be discreet,” Gideon said, his voice a quiet rumble.
Celia looked at him, her eyes searching for what her healer’s senses were telling her wasn’t quite right with him. There was something different about him. His voice had a rougher quality to it than she would expect, but that was hardly something she could pinpoint.
“I hope you have a safe journey home,” Guinevere said with a smile.
“And we will be sure not to bother you,” Gideon said, standing a step closer to Guinevere as if to restrain her if she tried to suggest otherwise.
Guinevere looked up at him, mirth in her eyes. “Yes, of course,” she said. “I apologize if I am overexuberant. I’m just so delighted to find another healer with less conventional healing talents.”
Celia frowned at Guinevere, but Gideon had reached for her hand and began to tug her away. So Celia turned and began making her way more toward home, Darian following after her.
“They seem very nice,” he said.
“I’m sure you think so,” Celia said, glancing at him. “You can’t go telling everyone that I have dragons, though.”
“I know, it just seemed right to tell her, and she already knew.”
If Guinevere had not already been taken, she might expect Darian to find someone like her attractive. She was beautiful, but she also had a zest about her that seemed like it would be very appealing to Darian.
Darian seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Have you ever been in love?” he said after a moment of silence.
Celia’s head snapped up almost involuntarily. Her breath caught in her chest like in a trap.
“Why do you ask?” she said, her voice tight. Perhaps she’d been right about him, but that didn’t give him the right to ask that.
He seemed to realize how impertinent his question was, because he ducked his head.
“I’m sorry. I just noticed how he seemed completely in love with her.
Did you notice the way he looked at her?
I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way about anyone, and the words came out of my mouth before I realized I shouldn’t be asking them.
Please don’t feel like you have to answer. ”
Celia nodded silently, and they kept walking.
How could she admit to Darian, of all people, what had happened? She didn’t want him to think badly of her—and yet the words began spilling out of her before she could even stop them.
“I was in love,” she admitted. “And then we lost him, and I was unable to save him.”
There was a lump in her throat that wouldn’t quite go away. It had been over two years, and she still couldn’t forget the day she lost him—how she’d cried, begged him to stay, begged him to keep fighting.
“I’m sorry,” Darian said, the words barely a whisper. He reached for her hand, and through a haze of tears, Celia let him take it, if only so he could lead her toward the trail she could no longer see.
“I shouldn’t have asked,” he continued.
Celia couldn’t say anything else, but she did not agree with him. It was the first time she’d admitted what had happened to another human since she’d left everything she knew behind.
She couldn’t imagine staying after losing him, and she couldn’t imagine ever trying to heal another person—not when she had been unable to save the man she loved most.