The Alchemist's Practice Chapter 12

Two weeks came and went in Mayel, with little in the way of goings-on. Farms were tended to with crops in a crucial period of growth, with this being late spring. The inn became busier and busier with the warmer weather drawing more merchants coming to or from Tishani and Sybold.

Preparations also began for the festival of Kokkini, the God of Sun and Life, that happened on the first day of summer. Along with the traditional feast of the villages remaining preserves from the year prior and spring vegetables, they butchered some goats to eat. The locals also had a yellow rose hunt, where kids could swap roses, both hand made and grown, for prizes. With more stalls being set back up in the square, and an increase in activity, Mayel began to look more like what Edric remembered.

Edric passed the time as he had before, eating and drinking with his friends, foraging and making remedies for a few villagers, and waiting to see if anyone would lease his land.

And waiting, it seemed, was about all Edric could do. Kennard didn't bring up the lease during their leisure time, so when Edric did, Kennard told him flatly that there was little interest, and if that changed, he would let him know.

Garrick, Edric knew, couldn't lease the land as he was busy enough with his own family's farm, but he still felt he should apologize to him over it. So Edric reassured his friend that all was well and that he shouldn't worry about his issues.

Edric did his best to put the thought of the land out of his mind. Kennard was far more adept and skilled than he in this matter, so he could do no more for it than wait.

One afternoon, when Edric was having his early supper with Wynn, she brought up something he hadn't thought about, and that took his mind wholly off of the lease.

"How are your parent's roses coming along?" she asked.

Edric was caught off guard by the question so thoroughly that his mouth, full of food, was left agape. When he realized that Wynn was talking about his parent's graves, he finished his bite and took a drink before answering.

"Rorick's taking care of them for me."

"You're not watering them?"

"No, why?"

Wynn looked as confused as Edric felt at that moment. "It's tradition. You should be the one taking care of them at least until they bud."

Tradition. Edric balked at the word. It felt like Rorick's words coming out of Wynn's lips. Edric didn't have an issue with such traditions before, but ever since their encounter on his first day back, he was soured towards Rorick and his sensibilities.

Edric took a moment to think of his words. "I didn't know how long I would be home for, so I asked him to look after them in my stead."

Wynn went quiet. Edric evidently didn't choose his words wisely enough. After a moment of awkward silence, Wynn set down her utensil and looked Edric straight in the eye.

"You're here now," she said, "you should care for them while you're here."

Wynn's tone brooked no argument, but Edric couldn't bring himself to say anything more on it. He didn't want to care for them as he didn't see the point in it, and he felt Rorick, despite his annoyances, was the best steward.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence and mercifully shortened as patrons entered the inn not long afterwards. Wynn didn't bring him his usual drink as she had done before, further cementing that she was angered with him.

At first, Edric scoffed at her anger. Women, he thought. Then, as he cooled down sitting alone, he became angry at himself for thinking such thoughts. He supposed Wynn was only doing what she thought was best for him and for his parents. To her, Edric not watering the seedlings might seem like he wasn't taking care of them in their afterlives. As though he didn't care whether they lived again.

And, to a lesser extent, he felt now that not watering his parent's roses continued his being an outsider in this town. He figuratively spat on the traditions that he was raised with and expected everyone to treat him as though he never left. He felt a fool.

Edric rose from his seat, left Nuumad's Blessing, and headed to the House of Yynndal. The sun was still high despite it being nearly time for supper. Many of the farmers of Mayel were heading towards Nuumad's Blessing after a long day's work.

As he walked towards the church, Edric exchanged pleasantries with a few passersby, and he could feel their eyes lingering on him. No doubt they weren't used to seeing him outside of Nuumad's Blessing at this hour of the day and wondered what he was doing and where he was going. Before long, his short walk would travel about the town, and he might find he was the discussion of the evening.

Edric pushed open the church's doors and entered the main hall with the looming statue of Yynndal watching him as he walked inside. It was no doubt thanks to the skillful hands of the artisan carver of Mayel that her eyes reflected the observer's mood. To Edric, she looked sad, almost disappointed, at that moment.

Before Edric could linger on that thought, Rorick was there in front of him. "Edric," he said, with mild surprise, "I didn't expect you at this hour. Is there something you needed?" Rorick had a look of genuine concern on his face. Despite their small argument and Edric not talking to him since the funeral, Rorick was ever the man of the Goddess.

"I just wanted to know how my parent's roses are coming along."

Rorick's look of concern faded away, and he smiled. "They are getting plenty of water, I've made sure of that, and the spring sun is in our favour. Kokkini is doing his part as we do ours," he said with a slight bow. "We should see some sprouts in a few weeks."

This made Edric pause. Though he grew up as a farmer, they never grew roses. "Is it normal to take so long?"

"No need for concern, my young Edric. Roses are gentle creatures and take time and care to sprout up. Yynndal didn't create the earth in a day." Rorick smiled reassuringly.

Edric nodded, then took a deep breath to swallow some of his pride. "Can you teach me how to care for them?" he asked. "I'll be here longer than expected, so I'd like to do what I can while I'm in Mayel."

Rorick looked surprised again for a brief moment, and then he smiled even more intently. "Certainly, my boy," he said as he placed a hand on Edric's shoulder. "They don't call me teacher for nothing."

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Alchemist's Practice. Be sure to heart it at the bottom and share it with friends and family. And if you want to read more of my writing, you can see my novels at www.mcleansnovels.com

This one took a bit longer even though it's fairly short, sorry about that. It was a busy week, and I wasn't sure exactly what to do with this chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take as long.