Right concern and wrong naivety

I directed the freezing stranger and the horse towards my house, making sure to not move too fast, seeing the mare’s trembling legs and harsh breathing, alongside the tiredness of the freezing man himself.

Hopefully I did not have another fool under my hands, Lucrezia was enough, but a feeling-

I would keep them in any case under my roof, my oath said as much.

I shook my head, hearing some sounds just under the harsh wind and the crunching of snow, but I could not translate them into words.

There was something strange, but I could not pierce what that “strange” was, other than a feeling of constriction, of a rope around my ne-.

It was nothing, I was sure of that.

One step led to another in silence, better to not use words to avoid tiredness taking its own toll to the weary man, even if he-

No, there was something wrong, mayhaps he didn’t eat enough and hadn’t been able to really get the calorie intake necessary, or simply being hit by a blizzard in the first month of winter without other people around to share warmth, but just from a look I could not be sure of his situation.

But the strangeness of the-

I grasped my head, groaning due to the headache pulsing painfully, and decided to just lead them to have a cover for the night, some food, and then kicking them out the next day.

No. Wait. If they-

No. They would be out if there was no problem. It was winter, and this was not a time of just taking up people for no reason.

The fool was already in my home, and I could not have another mouth at that moment, and I would not ask for help for this.

The headache subsided for a moment, and I heard a cough from behind me, of feet dragging and of a tired horse, for which I had to avoid getting in the thicker part of the white painted forest.

Poor mare, hopefully she would be better with a night of rest.

“What made you move so much, if I may ask sir…” I started speaking, trying to piece together the situation to better, to better…

Damn it, what a thrice damned headache!

“Lucius, my good man. And it was mostly for reasons connected with his lordship, so may I ask to not make me speak of them? It would be dangerous to speak them aloud, after all.” He answered, his voice as sweet as honey, but something continued to-

Continued to…

Nothing, it was nothing.

His voice was soft, but there was something un-under it. And the spirits were clamoring for something, something about danger.

But they were being drowned as well, and I could not understand why or how.

Maybe I would have had to lied down, and it would pass. Maybe it was just a cold I got, and I was a tad sick.

But it was not that, I knew how my body reacted to sicknesses and it was not like that.

So I just stuck with the conversation, maybe it would help to take my mind away from this sudden headache: “Well, I am Victor, a pleasure. Other than the cold, do you have something else? Shortness of breath, blue extremities, or did you lose some toes?”

Not like my arguments were good, but I will blame the headache for that, and they were necessary.

The headache flared for some reason, but the stranger’s voice came through in any case, a small laugh, dry and cold but amused all the same, followed by these words: “You are a direct man, are you not? Well, last time I controlled I had all my appendages, I made sure to be covered well, with a lot of wool, just in case.”

There was something that was not said, something he had hidden, I knew it from the many pet owners who did not say they gave much more food to their pet than they ought to, but I could not pin it.

But he did say wool…too many layers meant sweat, meaning…

“Do you feel hot right now, sir Lucius? Maybe do you feel like you need to take out clothes? Or are you just sweating in your shoes?” Hypothermia was not a joke, and I had risked it the first winter.

So much that I stopped and turned, looking at him in the eyes again.

The headache was back, the words from the spirits, a mess of sounds and sensation, as well, but I didn’t stop my stare.

I had oaths to follow, and if there was a problem I would take him up and start running for the house.

Another cold, yet pleasing for some reason, laugh, followed by curt words with an equally cool smile: “Do not worry, mister Victor. I and my horse are simply tired. I will rest, give you payment, do what needs to be done, and then go back to the barony.”

Hmmm.

It seemed that…no, why was he here then? With this time? This could only be about the-

The headache was back, and I remembered immediately the moment the altar was created, the light and the feeling of it, the Alfa-Lucrezia’s happiness for its creation, while also remembering how I found her, the explosion and the-

I grasped my head, unheeded by the man behind me, while continuing the quick walk back to my house.

I really hoped it was a cold, really much.

One step lead to the other, steady and in that fast, retracing my own footprints thanks to the lack of snow, and from afar I could see some smoke rising.

Good, the fire hadn’t gone out, the spirits had done well. I would immediately had to put water for a tea for me, the stranger and Lucrezia, make space for the horse, and then sleep.

This headache would maybe be taken care off by then, its hammering done and gone.

The spirits had also not stopped trying to talk but, for some reason, I could not understand them.

I would later know why, and I should also have been far more concerned about the lack of hearing.

But I was not, for reasons that I would later know.