Children of Fyre

Chapter Twenty-Two

The following day, I followed Lyra to the apothecary. Now that we were married, I technically owned the store, but I told Lyra that I would prefer her to keep it as her own still, rather than transferring ownership. I didn't know hardly anything concerning it and I did not want to take away one of the few things left from her family. Being an orphan meant she had to grow up quickly and lonely. The town shunned her, despite relying on her for their medical supplies, because they thought she was cursed as the sole survivor of her family. I thought she was blessed, surviving a potentially horrible fate. Afterall, if she had not survived, I would not have gotten to meet her and none of this happiness would have ensued after. 

I noticed as we approached the building that Lyra had placed a sign against the door stating they were closed for the day. It was amazing the things she knew, such as to read and write, when she grew up without anyone for the longest time. Sadness for her washed over me quickly, but passed just as quick as I realized that she now had me, which meant she was no longer alone. 

"Lemme just, grab this really quickly," Lyra said, her voice pulling me from my thoughts. She grabbed the board from outside the door, then walked inside, holding the door for me to enter after her. "You sure that you don't want to keep the place in your name?"

"I'm positive, it's yours and not something I could stand to take away from you. Retain possession of it, please. You grew up here, this is one of the few things you have from your family. I'm not about to take it away from you. Besides, I only know a few things when it comes to this stuff; you're better dealing with it still than me taking over," I respond, repeating myself from yesterday afternoon, a smile on my face as I watch her work. 

"Okay, only if you're positive," she said carefully, unsure still. 

"Hey, come here." I pull her into me, kissing her gently. "It's yours, yours only, keep it," I murmur in her ear. 

"Okay," she murmured back, a little more confident. I kiss her again, holding her close. 

"I would love to learn more about this place though," I said. "It's interesting, even if I may not be good at remembering much of it." 

"Well, lemme teach you a bit then!"

We both got to work, Lyra showing me where things went as she prepared some ointments and medicines for the shelves. A couple of the ointments I recognized from Acacia making them quite frequently, like the one for burns. People in our village quite frequently burned themselves somehow. 

It was a busy day, catching up on orders from the day prior, which people had written on the board. Some of the people's spelling was better than others, showing that there was some education here, though not much. I was proud of how Lyra handled herself, even under the pressure of getting about twice the amount of orders done in a day. It was evident in how she carried herself, head high, confident, how much she cared about this place and her customers. Despite being shunned in society, she was a confident and proud young woman. Even if the town was not proud of her, I was extremely proud of her and the life she had built for herself on her own. 

She did mention she had an aunt that she was semi-close with, though, so maybe I could convince Lyra to reach out to her so that Lyra could come with me when Damien decided it was time to move on from this town. I hoped she would come with me, I would love that. I did not want to be apart from her quite yet. 

As I was handing jars of ointments to Lyra, I noticed a customer had come in. Lyra quickly took charge, which I loved. She was just perfect to me. Rather, perfect for me. She had some quirks that would take some getting used to, but nothing crazy nor annoying to me. 

"How can I help you," she said, cheerful as can be. 

The customer looked to me, speaking to me instead. "Do you have something for a cough and fever," he asked me. 

"Uhh, um," I stumbled on my words. "Ask Lyra, I'm not sure still," I respond carefully, directing them to Lyra. 

"I asked you," he responded simply.

"Well, I don't know and I'm not the owner of this place, Lyra is. So ask her," I said, refusing to assist any further. 

It appeared that Lyra was not concerned with the fact the customer interacting with me rather than her as she gathered the syrup that he was looking for anyway. She sat it on the counter and said the price. "Half an itra," she said. 

The customer handed the coins to me and picked the syrup, walking out the door. 

"How do you tolerate people like this," I ask her. "I told him to talk to you."

"Some people are just like that," she replied nonchalantly. 

"I don't know how you tolerate it," I respond. 

"You deal with it often?"

"You get used to it after a while." She shrugged it off as we continued working. 

The rest of the day passed quickly, mostly consumed with filling miscellaneous orders that came throughout the day. It made the day pass quickly, learning a lot as we progressed through. It was enlightening and very interesting, though I wasn't sure how much I would remember come the next day.