"Oi mutt! What the h.e.l.l are you chilling all cozy in my bathtub?" I hear a grumpy familiar voice say angrily at the same time that the bathtub shakes as it gets kicked by him."Oh, shush it, you were the one who took so long and left me here doing nothing at all, so I just took the liberty to make myself at home." I answer back grumpy, annoyed that my cozy nap was interrupted.
"Can you behave yourself for a second here? We have a guest."
At that I open my eyes and look around, sniffing the air to confirm it, thankful that the bath area is covered by a gazebo so the stranger could not see me naked, but the cover only allowed me to see a silhouette on the other room, which makes me dress up quickly for only a woman could be waiting on the other room, which I confirm with my nose and the smell of some sweet perfume.
"Why didn"t you say before?" I angrily retort back at Isa who only shrugs.
"How I"m supposed to know you would "make yourself at home" so quickly?" He says, looking me up and down ina mocking way before turning around and making company to the other person.
I brush my hair back and start to fasten it on a messy ponytail when I walk around the blockage and see the person for the first time.
It was an elderly woman sitting on the sofa with grace, her hands resting over each other on her lap, only her face and wrinkles visible under the full cover that the nun clothes gave. Her eyes were a little white, but she still carried a loving gaze on her.
"h.e.l.lo, I"m Sister Isa servant and it is my pleasure to meet you…?"
"Eanna, darling, my name is Eanna and I"m a retired nun, had my share of adventures back in the day. Hope you are treating Isaac well." She says while brus.h.i.+ng the air with her hand, as if brus.h.i.+ng the past behind.
"Of course I am ma"am, I … Wait, Issac?"
At that both look at each other, exchanging expressions and looks, making me even more confused.
"Don"t worry Thilgon, I know about you and Isaac, and why you are here."
"Wait, what?" I say, dropping my facade of little good servant and staring wholes at Isaac. He should not have done that, spilling the beans for who knows whom like this, without even consulting me!
"Don"t worry Thilgon, I won"t talk about it to anybody. "Says every person who ends up telling everyone about it." I have been Isa confident for many years, he can a.s.sure you of that. Ugh."
"What is it Eanna?" Asks Isa quickly, so worried and caring that has me taken back for a second, and once I think is another faceted of him I brush the thought aside; is more like this is finally his true self, genuinely worried about another person, which makes my eyes hurt with the image.
"Ah, don"t worry hon, is just this old bones of mine creaking again." She says, rubbing her back.
"Wait here, I"ll get some medicine to pa.s.s on your back, this is the minimum this place should afford for you. I"ll be right back." At that Isa stands and rushes out of here, leaving me with this strange woman and an awkward silence without even explaining why she was here to begin with! Eanna stays looking over the exit for a while, but once satisfied with the distance between Isa and us, takes her hand off her back and looks at me.
"So you are the infamous Hound uhm…" I say nothing under her intense gaze, just staring back and trying to scan her the same as she was doing with me.
"And you have become Isa companion… Bet it wasn"t easy for what I heard back there…" She says, pointing at where the bathtub was, hidden.
She bends forward as her gaze softens and she smiles: "Image my surprise to know that Isa is working with a magical creature of all things, haha, surprises don"t do well for someone of my age…"
"Why magical creatures of all things? And, sorry for being blunt, but who are you?" She couldn"t be a n.o.body since she knew Isaac"s secret for a long time and, well, kept it.
"Could you be so kind hon and fetch me some water?" She says, her hands motioning to the side where a jar and some cups stood.
I turn around to do so and, once with the cup of water in hands she starts talking, stopping from time to time to sip the water.
"I"m glad to see him doing so well with others, because of his… condition he has always had trust issues." Understandable since if anyone found out he would end up dead; a little bit too much at stake. " So he ended up being a traveling nun to avoid other people… and healing the poor, of his adventures, he has seen a lot of the bad side of the magical creatures… They are animals after all, only that they are even stronger than that… Is the natural cycle of life, but it"s hard to understand that when the only part you see is the obliterated bodies you need to mend and the broken family members left behind…"
Well, it is understandable that he has that type of opinion about us, but just because is Isaac we are talking about I"ll have to disagree.
"It doesn"t matter, his misconception is still prejudice no matter if he had some reason for it, is still unacceptable. Even more, many humans have killed magical creatures too and you don"t see me killing yours indiscriminately. " In this lifetime at least, but she doesn"t need to know that. "What makes you think this behavior is excusable?"
"I don"t. Just thought you should know." She says simply, not giving s.p.a.ce for the subject to continue as she sips her water. If her intention was to make things easier for us, she thought it wrong.
"And I was actually the one responsible for recruiting Isaac. You see, the church keeps an ear and eye out for any light healing magic users out there so they can bring them here to train as quickly as possible, and since he always had such a baby face I was able to keep his secret hidden… and thankfully I was the one sent to find him, otherwise…"
She lets the silence drag out, taking her time to finish the water and hand me the cup, only to gaze at me and say: "Thilgon, I know I"m not in position to ask you anything, but I"ll do it anyway, so please grant me my request. I want you to take Isaac with you on your journey." I- what?
I"m about to answer a big and round no when she starts coughing, signaling for me to wait with her hand, talking once she calmed down.
"He has feared for his life day and night for years now, that"s not a way to live and… I fear that things will change for worse from now on and I won"t be able to protect him. After you are done with your mission, please, please take him with you."
With that she stands only to, with visible difficulty, kneel down on the ground and bow down to me, but right down the ground, her forehead touching the floor.
"I beg of you, please keep that child safe."
"Wait, no that"s a little too-" Before I can say anything Isa arrives and, seeing Eanna on the ground, rushes to her side and quickly helps her up to her feet.
Not before staring at me with eyes full of hate.
Wait, what did I do this time?!
"What were you thinking Eanna? At your age, kneeling down like that. " He sighs. " Just what are you two up too?" He says, but his eyes were clearly staring at me.
"Oh we were just having a nice chat and I tried to stand but tripped, you don"t need to worry about it hon, but can you bring me to my room? I"m feeling quite tired now, and I"m sure your friend here has a lot to do tonight, I won"t stand in your way." She says, and with a final look at me leaves the room, followed by Isa, who turns around on the door and says, narrowing his purple eyes:
"We will talk about this later." He says and leaves, making me shuffle. As if I"m going to wait for him, I have an important mission for tonight, and I"m not going to waste my time haring him complain.
And I still intend to leave behind you hear me? I"m no nanny! Just you watch!
Hum!