The Unknown Alchemist

Chapter 7 - Bedtime stories

For the first time since he arrived at the Cabin Roedin saw Avery rest. His body was still healing but he had done nothing but sleep for what felt like months. Avery, however, had reached the end. She had been nursing him non-stop and now she had her own injuries to tend to. With renewed tenderness she changed his dressings and they talked for a while before he saw her head nodding at the table.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" he suggested gently.

She tried to blink away the sleep and then nodded in acquiescence. "Can I get you anything?"

Always putting him first, he thought. Why? What did she have invested in his health?

"I'm not really sleepy, so maybe you have a recommendation from your library?" he asked.

She smiled mischievously. "Well I have an excellent new release on farm management. It's surprisingly relevant."

Roedin was again stunned by her attitude. She could barely hold her head up but managed to see the humour in her situation and smile. How long had she been going through this? Had this all become habitual, or did she cope by talking to foxes and rescuing faunids from the forest? He knew seasoned soldiers who had crumbled under less stress.

Roedin returned her smile. "How about your favourite? I'd like to read that one."

Avery rose and went the shelf immediately plucking the book off with hardly a glance. She hesitated before giving it to him and he thought he spotted a small blush under her bruises. She looked down at the cover and Roedin could see the pages were dirty and worn from hundreds of reads.

"It's actually a children's book. Each chapter is a different story of make-believe and imaginings. I think I always liked it so much because none of it is real, and when I read it I can pretend I am far away from here."

She let out a small chuckle and when she looked up her eyes sparkled with that sense of humour that never dimmed. "I don't know if you can handle it, some of the stories are very scary. Vicious faunids creep out of the forest and steal naughty children away. Children who didn't listen to their parents."

Roedin didn't often let his emotions show, but Avery seemed to pull down his defenses with her youthful innocence. He smiled and said, "As long as we leave the light on tonight." 

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In actual fact, the book was fascinating as it touched on events that had actually happened. It was a collection of tales that had been twisted for a human audience and brought back fond memories as Roedin tried to sort out the fiction from the actual events.

It had the story of the Kalmyk, the Equus who ran across the desert to warn of an invading force. Though in Avery's book they were called centaurs and trampled human children to bring the primes to safety. Roedin frowned at the twisting of the heroic tale.

The children's book even included a famous love story that was re-enacted in theatres every year. A young girl falls in love with a 'disgusting faunid'—from the bizarre description of horns and fur and tails Roedin couldn't figure out which race and concluded it was some fabricated monster. The human is kind to this beast and when she kisses him the spell is broken and a handsome prince is revealed.

Roedin almost spit out his tea in disgust. The love story had sapiens slaughtering the lovers for contaminating blood lines! He could only imagine the uproar if the Corinthian theatre producer found out.

It remained Dark outside but Roedin read by the glow of the lumenstones that brightened Avery's tiny home. He read through the rest of the human fables, chuckling quietly or scowling at how similar they were to bedtime stories read to faunid or sapien younglings. Always the humans were good, sapiens evil, and faunids cruel beasts. Roedin sighed and shook his head in frustration, glancing over at the human tucked under a heavy blanket by the fire. How could she have read stories like these and still chosen to help him?