Chapter 7

Milla couldn’t help thinking that things had gotten worse. Ciroz wasn’t talking much, and whenever someone had tried to start a conversation, he just looked away and changed the subject. She knew that he was hiding something – she had seen through his lie when he had come to their rescue – but she was afraid to say anything lest he lash out at her as he had been behaving these last few weeks. She knew that she wasn’t the best person to speak to right now – she hardly ever got herself involved in other people’s business – but she was the only one left who he trusted. She just hoped that it wouldn’t hurt his feelings for a reason that she didn’t know. Even if she was the one who had caused everything to begin with. Or even if it was her fault in general. There seemed to be lots of possibilities regarding those events; after all, she had dragged them into this mess. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been careful enough and maybe it was all her fault in the first place, but either way she had started it. Now she had to finish. 

That thought was a very dark one in her opinion. At least one of the problems with the situation was getting darker as time went by, and although she didn’t have to work in that field anymore, it certainly didn’t change the fact that she still felt responsible for whatever happened during the attack. However, there was no use dwelling on it. If she didn’t focus on working now, she would only think about it and she didn’t want to think about it right now. She wanted answers; she didn’t want to keep blaming herself, especially if she didn’t have any concrete evidence. So the only thing she could do now was to wait patiently, hoping that she would be able to find something more useful soon, before things escalated.

The sun was setting outside and everyone else had already gone inside and the sky was growing dark. As Ciroz sat down against one of the walls to rest, Milla returned and looked up at him, a concerned expression on her face. She had already made sure that he was completely covered in bandages before going to bed, which helped him calm her down a bit as she had felt nervous about the boy walking home with all of the blood on his clothes. Thankfully, no one had seen him, as there were a few houses close to the inn where nobody would see anything, so they should be relatively safe until the morning.

“Do you want to come with me to my house?” she asked cautiously. “We don’t have anywhere else to sleep, and I doubt my mother would mind sharing another room with us.”

Ciroz hesitated for a second, looking uncertain, but then he gave her a faint smile.

“No, thank you, Miss Milla.” His voice was hoarse and barely more than a whisper.

She frowned at him, unsure what to say. What kind of answer had she expected from him? That it wasn’t safe for her to go home by herself with a stranger at night? That her parents didn’t trust her enough, or perhaps that they would never forgive her if she went alone to the cottage?

“Ok... Then… if you need anything, please ask someone,” she replied quietly.

Ciroz nodded and smiled once more, but his smile faded quickly.

“What are they doing here?” he whispered, pointing toward the town. “Why are they watching the inn? Is… is my sister alright? Did something happen to her?”

Milla pursed her lips nervously, wondering what the answer to his questions would be. After taking a deep breath, she shook her head, but before she could say anything else Ciroz stood up.

“Then I won’t stay here,”