Levi Ashborne's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

Levi did not sleep. Aria had run into the dark knowing the exact path to his pond. By morning she could stand in the village and point the way. Every stranger she told would come. His three seasons of quiet would end in one week. So he left the shack at dawn and followed her trail through the trees, toward the village he had spent years avoiding. The village woke around him. People carried water and pushed carts. Levi tried his hardest to avoid the villagers, dogging every glance in his direction and hiding in the shadows. Levi kept his head down with a hood over him, and walked faster. He feared someone would see his monstrous appearance, and that would be it. He tried so hard to find peace and he wasn’t about to lose it. He found her shop by the smell. Dried herbs hung in bundles from the timber frame. Colored bottles lined the stone sills. A wooden sign swung above the door. Through the window he saw Aria bent over a table, grinding something in a bowl. Beside her lay a single ivory flower, its layered petals pale and open. Levi pushed the door. Aria looked up and froze. Her hand tightened on the bowl. "You followed me here," she said. Her voice stayed flat, but her knuckles went white. "You know where my pond is," Levi said. "I came to make sure you keep it to yourself." Aria set the bowl down. She did not run this time. "Threaten me again and I'll scream," she said. "There are many people outside who will come to my aid.” Levi said nothing. She was right. He heard the street behind him, the voices of a large crowd. His fears were beginning to set in. Aria picked up the ivory flower. "This is the last remedy I have," she said. "It failed. The fever is winning. Three are dead. More will die by frost's end." She held the bloom out to him. "Your pond revived a flower I threw away. I am not hiding it. I can't." Levi stared at the flower in her hand. He thought of the dead. He had come to silence her. He saw now that he could not fully. "Then we do it my way," he said. “ You can tell no one of the pond but on that condition I will allow you to gather water from it”. You. No maps. No crowds. You cannot tell anyone." Aria studied him a long moment. "Fine, but you have to help me bring back water at night." "Okay but on my terms," Levi said. "Or you find another cure." She wrapped the flower in cloth and nodded once. "Agreed. I'll see you tonight." Levi turned and walked back through the whispering street. He had not silenced Aria. He had made a bargain instead.