Chapter 59: You’re such a hopeless girl, you know that, Dune?

Felix forced his way into the room with André shaking in his arms, soaked with blood in his sleeves. "Mira! Mira, I need your help, where are you?"

Mira rushed into the room from behind. "Who is— Felix? What are you—" Her gaze fell on the man in his arms. Whatever she was going to say died in her throat.

"Heal him. You can heal him, can’t you? He’s dying." Felix ran across the room, desperation breaking out in every word he said.

"Yes, but I don’t know, this looks terrible. What happened to him?"

"I was doing a job. He got caught in the middle of it. But this does not matter now." He pulled out a handful of silver from his pocket and shoved it towards her. "I’ll pay you. Take it. Take it all, just make sure he starts breathing properly."

"You don’t have to pay me for this," Mira pushed his hand away softly. "I’ll do it. Just bring him in."

Felix followed her into the other room and laid André on the bed carefully.

She rolled up her sleeves, raised both palms above André’s chest, and gathered a slight green light under her skin. "His Numen is totally destabilized."

She looked at Felix quickly, then put her hands over André’s stomach and let the glow flow inside, creating a funnel that helped gather all the scattered energy and form in a clear rhythm.

She stood still for fifteen minutes, sweat pouring down her forehead, until André’s breath evened out, and the blood stopped flowing from his eyes and ears.

She took a deep breath, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, and left without uttering another word. Felix remained motionless, watching every single movement of André’s chest.

She came back a minute later with two papers, which had circles drawn on them with ink. She put the first one on André’s chest, while the second one on his stomach. She pressed her palms against both circles. "By the old rites unbroken, no wound shall linger past this seal."

A soft green glow emerged from beneath her palms and washed over André’s entire body, lasting for one whole minute.

"He will be alright in a few hours," Mira said and straightened.

Felix approached her and watched the tremors disappear from André’s hands. "Thank you, Mira. Thank you very much."

"You are very welcome."

They entered the front room. Mira dunked her hands in a bowl of water next to the wall, washing the blood from her fingers.

"It’s been a while since that time in the dungeon. Things have been going alright?"

"I’ve been doing alright, things get rough sometimes."

"You know, the man in there. What was it that hurt him like that? You can’t fool me into thinking it was an accident."

"It was a mistake. It was just a bit complicated."

"Hmm," she frowned, "you seem different somehow."

"Different how? I’m not training or anything."

"Oh, never mind. So, you still got that girl, Dune?"

"Yes..."

"And?"

"She’s getting there slowly, that’s all."

"Oh, and I almost forgot. I’m going to the capital in a few days."

"So are you? Everyone seems to be going to the capital nowadays."

"Well, there’s a job opening in one of those healing houses, better pay and better training. Might as well go before I’m too old to bother."

"That’s great, I must say."

"You wanna come with me? I bet you could find something in the capital too."

"I’ll think about it."

Two hours later, Andre shot up from his sleep, panting wildly as he scanned the unfamiliar surroundings around him. His hands instinctively sought his abdomen.

"It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would." Andre levered himself out of bed and began to walk haltingly towards the door.

"You are awake."

Andre stumbled back at the sound of the voice and saw the woman approaching from the direction of the other room. "Who are you? And where is that son of a bitch that did this to me?"

"Felix went home."

André’s eyes narrowed. "You know him? Tell me where he is."

Mira gave him a knowing smile. "He told me you would ask that. Left you a message." She crossed her arms, quoting the message. "I hope you understand."

"Understand?" André echoed silently, repeating the words, thinking that perhaps the second time it would make more sense. But instead of looking up, he gazed down at his trembling hands and realized that what happened out there had torn something deeper inside him.

"I understand," he whispered, and this time he really did understand.

Dune sat cross-legged on the bed, staring into the wardrobe, her hands tightly folded on her chest.

"Everything will be okay in its own time."

Nothing like that. Did you believe that man, what was his name?

"Jackson."

Yes. Can you really trust Jackson’s words? His face says it all for me. The man has no understanding of human relationships.

"Jackson understands Felix better than I do. They spent many years together."

Doesn’t matter. Jackson understood who Felix used to be, not who he is right now. Things have changed. People along with it.

"So, what can I do?"

You’re such a hopeless girl, you know that, Dune? Hopeless without me.

"I need your help."

Of course, I know that. First things first, stop talking in a boring monotone. You have to feel what you say. Understand Felix first and then react.

"Okay. I understand."

No, you don’t. It is easy to drive any man mad, drive him insane enough to forget about his pain and regret, but that’s not something I’ll recommend, Felix is not that kind of man.

"What should I do?"

Don’t ask me all these stupid questions, just give me some time. In cases like this, you just have to listen to your heart. You were afraid when he pushed you away, right?

Yes. I was scared. I did not understand why he did it.

That’s the kind of feeling I’m talking about. You’ve already felt it once before. Now, just transfer that feeling into the words you say to him.

Knock knock.

Dune’s head turned towards the door.

"Dune, are you there?"

"Yes." She got up from the bed and went towards the door.

All you have to do is follow my example. Don’t do anything else by yourself.

"Yes." She nodded and opened the door.

Felix stood a few feet behind the door when it opened, managing to put a smile on his face. "I think—"

Dune threw her arms around him before he could even continue speaking, squeezing him into a strong embrace. "I am sorry. I did not mean to bring you any trouble. I only meant to be helpful but I should not have interfered."

"Yeah, yeah." Caught off guard, Felix patted her back once, then gently pushed her away from him. "Got it. I get it. You tried to be helpful."

"You do not hate me, right?" The tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I will listen to everything you say from now on. Do not push me anymore."

"I won’t. I won’t." He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "Just calm down first, okay? I don’t hate you, or anything of that sort. I only lost my temper briefly, that’s all it took. But you need to learn how to read a situation better from now on. It is not acceptable to kill a man because I got hit; regardless of whatever triggered it. Got what I mean? You need to control your strength."

"Yes, yes, I got it." She nodded, but still seemed slightly unstable.

"Good. All I needed to hear. By the way, André will pull through just fine; job’s officially done." Felix rolled his shoulders; the tension was slowly leaving him. "Let’s go eat something."

Yes." Dune closed the space again, her face tilted up to his. "I love you, Fe—"

"Hold it right there." Felix caught her by her shoulders and held her back an arm’s length away. "What has gotten into you suddenly?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She averted her eyes. "Let’s go eat."

Felix tilted her chin with his hand, making her look back at him. "You have been acting strange all along. Tell me the truth. What are you hiding from me?"

Tell him. Dune’s expression changed momentarily, then returned to normal. "Sabrina is inside me."

"Wha-what?" Felix released his grip and stumbled backwards a step. "But that, that Sabrina? The ghost? Inside of you? Didn’t she already move on with her kids?"

Felix shook his head, "no, no, no, don’t mess with me again. I know what you’re doing."

"You told her that you would have been honored to marry her, if she’d still been alive." Dune said plainly.

"Ah," Felix’s mouth fell open for a moment. "Yes, I did say that."

So that’s why she’s taking care of herself, dressing herself, tucking her own bed in. I thought it was because my teaching was finally starting to sink in.

He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Well. Sabrina, hello. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon."