The rain hit the roof of the inn loudly.
And Gineviv served tea...
When she finished, she remained standing by the window, arms crossed, staring directly at me.
The tension was so thick I could cut it with a knife. And it only got worse with the two pointy-eared creatures sitting at the table in front of me.
Then Lurya broke the silence.
"My mother disappeared looking for this sword... and a way to break its seal."
Her eyes sparkled in the lamplight. The dark circles under her eyes deepened slightly at the mention of her mother.
She pulled a scroll from inside her cloak and unrolled it on the table.
"This is a piece of one of the records she left behind."
The scroll was old, the edges worn by time. It wasn't just an ordinary document. It was a message, apparently encoded with information and instructions about the sword and the seal.
From a distance, it was possible to see that there were several symbols and numbers, which could be coordinates or something else. But what astonished me were some runes present in the inscriptions, incredibly similar to those on the seal.
Lurya ran her fingers over the written lines.
"She discovered something. But before she could reveal it, she..." Her voice wavered, but she quickly regained her composure. "...she disappeared."
Her eyes analyzed me. Waiting, as if I were about to spit out her mother at any moment.
Then, without haste, I picked up the parchment and read a small excerpt.
"The blade cannot bend without its master.
The one who wields the sword is the one who forged its destiny.
If one is not freed, the other will remain dormant."
My fingers tightened around the paper.
So that was it. The sword could never be freed while I was sealed... and vice versa.
Shit.
Lurya watched me even more closely, her eyes attentive to my every little reaction.
"You already knew that, didn't you?"
I placed the scroll on the table.
"I knew something was wrong because I could never break it. But I didn't know the seal was two-sided.
Gineviv kept her eyes on me. Then she crossed her arms and spoke.
"And you, what do you intend to do about it?"
I turned to her. Unfortunately, she already knows the answer.
"If I stay..." I wiped my face with one hand, feeling the headache grow. "...you will become a target."
The silence that followed was sharper than any blade.
Gineviv's arms fell to her sides.
"So that's it."
The weight in her voice hit me like a shower of arrows.
"You came back saying you were going to stay out of trouble. That you wouldn't get involved."
"I didn't promise anything." My voice came out rougher than I meant it to.
She snorted.
"No... you didn't."
What could I say?
"Thank you"?
"It was a pleasure living with you, see you later"?
"It was a mistake to stay here"?
"You should never have cared about me"?
Nothing seemed right. So I did what I always did. I simply accepted it. I looked at Lurya and pointed to the scroll.
"This..." I touched the scroll. "Does it lead somewhere?"
Lurya leaned forward.
"If we follow the directions, and the other manuscripts, we can find the last place my mother was before she disappeared."
She didn't say everything, but I understood what she meant. This place might hold answers.
I took a deep breath and looked at Gineviv. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Her eyes said it all.
I picked up the scroll and rolled it back up.
"Well, then I'd better get my rags."
Lurya smiled.
But I knew.
None of this was going to end so easily.