Magic's Memories

Chapter Nine

"Buying for someone special?" the shop clerk asked, her smile a bit friendlier than the one she'd given the older gentleman before him.

Reiden shook his head, a shy smile on his lips. He skimmed a long, ink-stained finger down one of the fancy perfume bottles at the shop. "This one."

The shop girl obliged, taking the bottle and carefully wrapping it up. "So not a gift?"

He shook his head again. "The smell just...reminds me of something. You know that feeling?"

She tied a piece of twine around the package. "Mhm. What does this remind you of?"

Reiden searched his head for an answer, but it slipped away the moment he thought he had it. "I don't remember."

He hissed, touching his temple as a suddenly-building headache jabbed at him.

"Sure you don't want something for your head to go with it?" she asked.

Reiden shook said head. "I'm going to a healing house later anyway." He reached into his pouch and dug out nearly the entire contents, leaving just enough for said trip on the bottom. Good thing he'd taken that second job at the docks in addition to his one as a bookkeeper. His last bottle was almost gone.

Some forgotten instinct rose to the surface. He handed the woman the coins as the hair on his arm prick up. Reiden glance over his shoulder, but no one was there.

"Pity what happened at the new house," the woman answered as she counted out his money.

He mumbled something in agreement while still looking around.

"And so close to lord's season too." She shook her head in disapproval. "Brings back bad memories. You remember what happened last century? With Lady Calinya's family and that wretched wizard?"

She kept going, talking faster and counting slower while trying to catch his eye. "My sister Henna works at the Magic Ministry and she said that she heard the mages talking about his brother popping up again."

"He might not be like his brother," Reiden shot back, his shoulders tightening in uncharacteristic defensiveness.

The girl packed away the money and smiled as she finally caught his eye again. "Maybe not. Guess we'll have to wait and see." She handed him the wrapped bottle of perfume, and he took it from her with both hands like he was cradling a child. "Good luck with your headache. Stop by again sometime." She winked at him, and his ears flushed as he turned away.

Reiden shuffled out of the store, still clutching the bottle. He weaved his way through the busy main street until he could duck into a side alley. The hair on his neck stood up again, but Reiden brushed it off. Away from the jostling people, he tore the carefully tied paper off his purchase and then pulled an old, faded handkerchief out of his pocket. Lace, yellowed with age, trimmed the edges and a yellow sun was carefully stitched on one of the corners. Little gray dots rested just below it; the stain of whoever's name used to be embroidered on it.

He popped the fancy lid off the bottle and doused the handkerchief in the perfume. The scent hit his nose, reminding him of people he'd never met and places he'd never been. Reiden carefully corked the remains of the perfume and held the handkerchief to his nose. He breathed deeply, letting the rich smell of coastal flowers and forest herbs seep into his senses. A ghost of a woman's voice rang in his ear, laughing out a name he couldn't hear.

Reiden didn't remember much before his accident. The healers had said he'd been a dockworker and that they couldn't find any family of his. The handkerchief was one of the few things in his pocket when he'd woken up. It had taken him weeks of visiting shops to find a scent that matched the faded one on the small piece of cloth. He liked to think that it meant someone out there had known him, maybe loved him. A sister, a mother, a sweetheart. Just someone.