There was something about the warm sunny day and blue skies that swept an unsettling feeling through Dacien’s tired body. Everything felt too calm, too jovial, for a day following such unforeseen events. 

Surely, it made Dacien’s suspicious head turns and frantic glances look wholly out of place as he ventured through the town’s market. He kept an eye out for the authorities, any of their small-town police or even any posters with Myra’s face painted onto them, but every glance brought up empty results.

That just couldn’t be…right? Magic isn’t exactly banned, he figured. Magic is too much of a tale for the courts to take seriously. But he knew using magic to tie people up and threaten them with fire was certainly something they would take seriously – more seriously than the burglary staged just beforehand. Besides, almost the whole town hated Myra.

And magic was too much of a tale. Having living, sparking proof of this tale would alert the authorities, would it not?

It was for that reason that Dacien left Myra in the security of his own home while he ventured out for food and a look at their situation. So far, the latter was no clearer.

He stopped before a stall of freshly picked vegetables and gave the shopkeeper a tight smile. He carefully collected the food he needed.

“Day? Man, why aren’t you at work today?” A familiar voice beckoned his head up. 

Dacien’s green gaze met the confused smiles of two of his friends, Henley and Enderson. A squirming feeling sank within him, but he kept that tight smile on his face. “I’m not feeling too well.” He managed out and was grateful for the way his sleepless night wore on his face, it helped his lie.

“So you came to the market?” Enderson raised a brow, but his tone was light. He truly wouldn’t care for the answer.

Dacien did anyway, “Even sick people need to eat lunch.”

His two friends shared a look, communicating something Dacien wasn’t privy to. Henley reached out an arm to lay across Dacien’s shoulders as he guided him away from the stalls. “Day,” he began slowly. Something in his demeanour made Dacien’s heart surge. The only comfort he felt was in the knowledge that he was a good liar. “We heard about what happened.”

“My wife saw it!” Enderson added with wide eyes as if he himself were re-invisioning the blaze of the night.

“And I get it, man,” Henley rubbed his back briefly before bringing them all to a stop by a small, stone bridge connecting the market to the town square. Just like the rest of the happy day, a stream trickled blissfully below, paying Dacien’s poisoned pulse no mind. “Well, maybe I don’t fully get it – you did fall for a witch after all – but I understand heartbreak. It’s okay, Day, you’ll move on.” He smiled, genuinely.

Dacien opened his mouth to speak, but Enderson beat him to it, “You'd better move on to someone– well, better! No more trying to date the girl no one else can! It was funny at first, before you clearly caught real feelings.” 

Again, Dacien opened his mouth to speak, to tell them both how little romantic feelings he had actually developed for Myra, or even to tell them to be quiet about their remarks. He knew he couldn’t, though. He never could. So instead, he put on a feigned face like he always did. 

“Sure. Thank you, both.” He looked down to smile. “But maybe I’ll hold off on finding someone…better, for a while.”

“It’s easier to get right back on the horse when it kicks you off!”

Dacien scrunched his face lightly, “Is it?”

Henley shook his head, “Not on the same horse. Why would you want to get back on a horse that doesn’t like you?”

“Who said it doesn’t like you?” Enderson replied with folded arms. The look he gave Henley could offend most. 

“You did, just now.”

“No, I said when it kicks you off. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t like you!”

“It completely implies that!”

Their heated bickering quickly dropped from Dacien’s focus. He caught the movement of an old woman turning through the small crowds dawdling through the market. He recognised her as Magnolia from Myra’s shop. She was coming straight for him, and she moved quicker than Dacien thought a woman her age should.

While seeing his own friends had induced some level of panic in Dacien’s gut, seeing a woman he hardly knew beelining straight for him, surprisingly, did not. Maybe it was the grace she carried herself with, or the kind attitude she always held toward Myra. Regardless, Dacien felt almost relieved when she came to a stop right before him.

She looked between his friends, who had stopped their arguing to watch Magnolia just as curiously as Dacien. “Sorry, boys,” the smile she wore felt endearing, “could I take your friend for a moment?”

The men all shared looks, communicating the same wilderment with their eyes. Dacien watched Henley’s expression quickly change, with a twitch of his lips into a smirk and the wink of an eye. “It’s a very old horse, but she can probably hold your weight.” He muttered, making a brief, inappropriate gesture with his fingers.

Dacien stood slack-jawed, the fizzle of embarrassment colouring his cheeks.

Enderson snickered but managed to say, “Of course, ma’am! Have a great date guys– day! I said day.” 

They barely got over the bridge before they cracked, unable to contain their howls of laughter. Dacien glared after them, clenching his teeth and regretting his need to turn around and face the poor woman they were making not very quiet jokes about.

“Sorry,” he mumbled when he found the courage to turn.

Magnolia ignored all of it. She pulled her pink, floral shawl tighter around her shoulders and leaned fractionally closer. “Do you know where Myra is? She never returned home. No one’s looking for her– I’m worried they’ve taken her…” She spoke in a hushed voice, panic circling her dark eyes.

“Taken her?” Dacien repeated. He realised Magnolia must be talking about the police and quickly shook his head. “She’s safe.”

Magna let out a long sigh of relief that moved her entire body. “Thank goodness!”

“I,” Dacien started, giving the market before them a quick search through, “I can take you to her if you’d like.”

“Please do! I have something important to tell her.” 

Dacien nodded, studied the world one last futile time before guiding Magnolia towards his house a few streets over, halfway up the hill. He never could’ve recognised the boots that followed behind.