Kaine Ashford's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

Kaine stayed with Jane until her breathing steadied and the bleeding stopped. Then he walked outside and watched the road. The inspector had taken his certification an hour ago—maybe less. The sun hung lower now, throwing long shadows across the clearing. A courier appeared on the stone path that wound toward the elven capital, carrying a leather case marked with official seals. Kaine recognized the inspector's handwriting on the attached document—his certification would be inside, along with the report about the boarding house. The courier paused at the waypoint marker, a flat stone where the path split toward the watchtower. He placed a folded paper beneath a rock there, weighted against the wind. The blood-red wax seal caught the light. Then he continued down the road without looking back. Kaine ran to the marker after the courier disappeared around the bend. He pulled out the paper and broke the seal. Inside, in the inspector's precise script: "Certification held pending investigation closure. Estimated duration: six to eight weeks. Alternative income advised." Jane's denied medical certificate application was listed as evidence against the boarding house claim. Without his blacksmith certification, he couldn't take paid commissions. Without income, he couldn't buy supplies or hold the property long enough for the claim to stand. He walked back to the boarding house and found Jane sitting up, pale but awake. He showed her the paper. She read it twice, then looked at the empty forge across the clearing. "Six weeks," she said. "We'll starve before then." Kaine folded the notice and slid it into his pocket. The clinic had always cost more than he could afford, but now the price had a number attached to it—forty-two days without the only trade that fed him. He'd walked away from his old life to build something that mattered. Now he'd have to find another way to survive long enough to finish it.