"Leon?" Vera’s voice trembled as she checked up on Leon. He lay motionless against the ground, his breathing steady.
Marcus had also examined him several times, but he noticed nothing. He couldn’t explain why he had released that pressure.
"Have the healers arrived?" she asked.
"I have informed Thomas, and he went to find the best in the city," Marcus replied, keeping his eyes on Leon. "They’ll come as quickly as they can."
Vera swallowed her worry and held her son closer. "Then someone must be able to tell us what happened to him."
Marcus looked down at the child. He had no answer to offer her. He could only wait for the healers and hope that one of them might discover what he had missed.
Leon remained unconscious as he began to dream of something.
The sound of a wooden staff striking a stone drew Leon’s attention from the book in his hands.
His daughter, Lyra, stood in the courtyard, frowning at the staff as though it had personally offended her. At ten, she had inherited her mother’s stubbornness, and anything her father could do was worth attempting.
"Why does it keep slipping?" she muttered.
"Because you’re holding it too tightly."
She turned toward him. "I’ve been holding it this way since you showed me."
"And I’ve been telling you since then that you’re holding it too tightly."
She looked at the staff, then at him, still unconvinced. Leon sighed as he placed the book down and went towards her. After adjusting her grip, he asked her to try the movement again.
This time the wooden staff remained steady throughout her movements as she glanced at him with the unmistakable satisfaction.
"There," he said. "Now do it hundred more times."
Her expression fell. "Hundred times?"
"You wanted to learn."
She sighed dramatically but returned to her practice. Leon returned to his seat, but he barely managed to relax as she had called him again.
Her movement had gone wrong halfway, and she wanted him to explain where she had gone wrong. He showed her how her feet had shifted and made her repeat the stance until she could maintain her balance.
When she finally managed it properly, he nodded. Her whole face brightened, and she immediately asked whether she was ready to practice against him.
"Not yet," he said, resuming reading his book.
"You always say that."
"Because you’re always asking before you’re ready."
She followed him toward the house, arguing that she would never know whether she was ready until he let her try.
His wife, Mira, was waiting inside, watching them with an amused expression. "You know she’ll ask you again tomorrow," she said as their daughter went to freshen up.
"I made no promises."
She raised an eyebrow. Leon stepped closer and gently brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.
"Though I suppose," he continued, "I could be persuaded to make time for the two most demanding people in my life."
"Persuaded?" She caught his hand before he could withdraw it. "I seem to remember you making that decision yourself."
"Perhaps I was influenced by your charm."
"Perhaps you simply had nowhere else to go."
He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "After all these years, you still wound me."
She laughed and pushed him toward the washroom before he could attempt another compliment. He went willingly, catching her smile as he left.
The continent had always been a meeting place for different races and ambitions. Many adventurer guilds maintained their halls throughout its cities, gathering commissions, organizing expeditions, and negotiating with the authorities who governed the settlements.
Their leaders possessed considerable influence, and most adventurers eventually joined an organization for the security and resources it offered.
Leon had chosen otherwise. He worked independently, and accepted assignments on his own terms. His reputation had grown until even the largest guilds knew his name. His refusal to join one had never prevented him from maintaining friendships among their leaders.
One of those leaders had been his friend for years.
Darian, his friend, arrived at Leon’s house that evening, carrying a small box of sweets. His demi human features were unmistakable, and he already begun complaining about how difficult it was to find decent sweets near the guild headquarters.
"You have an entire guild at your disposal," Leon said, accepting the parcel. "Surely one of your people could have found these for you."
"And let them eat half of them on the way here? I am not a fool."
Leon opened the box and found the sweets his daughter particularly liked.
Before he could comment, she appeared in the doorway, as she was drawn by their voices. Darian handed her the parcel and she immediately thanked her, and asked him to stay for dinner.
"That depends," he said, glancing at Leon. "Has your father learned to cook yet?"
"No," she answered with complete confidence.
"You know your friend. He only knows how to fight," her mother spoke from inside.
Leon looked toward the doorway, betrayed by his own family, while his friend laughed. Dinner passed as Leon’s friend recounted a dispute between two adventurer teams.
Lyra listened with curiosity and after the story finished, she brought out a board game she had been trying to master and insisted that their guest play with her.
They played the board game and slowly the evening also bore. Leon noticed his friend had gone quiet a while ago. When his daughter finally carried the game away, Leon walked with his friend towards the gate.
"Is something troubling you?" he asked.
His friend paused with one hand on the gate. For an instant, his usual composure slipped, revealing a tiredness Leon rarely saw in him.
"Just guild business. There is always something waiting to be settled," he said, dismissing his weariness.
"You know you can speak to me."
"I do." His friend patted Leon’s shoulder. "And I appreciate it. But this is something I should handle myself."
Leon studied him, reluctant to accept the answer but he did not press on him. He nodded as his friend turned and walked away. Leon watched until the man disappeared before closing the gate.
Behind him, his wife called from the doorway, asking whether he would stand outside all night. He turned toward her, and his faint concern faded away as he went inside.
"There is still a chance to steal my daughter’s sweet."
"She has already hidden them."
"Then I shall have to negotiate."
Mira chuckled, shaking her head as he joined her inside, and the door closed softly against the night.