A few days later.
Having risen early for the first time in a while, Gene somehow found himself sitting at the bar as naturally as could be. The weather had grown considerably cooler over the past few days. It was the most pleasant time of the year in Delphinad. Autumn sunlight streamed through the open back window, drawing dappled patterns across the wooden table.
Terry, on breakfast duty, brought bread, cheese, and a few vegetables. It seemed the morning-duty man had been responsible for breakfast since the repairs. Gene did not know how many days that arrangement would last. He cut off a piece of bread and took some cheese on his fork, then, finding it a bother, sliced the bread in half, put all the cheese and vegetables inside, and bit into it.
Just then, the door opened.
“Captain, there’s a new applicant. But…”
Gene had recently told them to recruit replacements for the men lost in the siege. The applicant who entered with Creses, today’s doorman, was small and slender. If the figure was as quick as that build suggested, there would be no particular problem, so Gene beckoned them closer. As he did, he took another bite of his breakfast. The applicant approached and greeted him.
“My name is Melisara.”
Only then did Gene understand why Creses had looked so uncomfortable. It was a woman. She was dressed like a man, but her voice sounded younger even than Rosa’s. In the past, he would never have considered a woman. But with Rosa and Nana here now, it felt awkward to dismiss her outright.
Melisara was looking straight at him, thinking of all the years she had spent preparing for this moment. And confirming that Gene did not remember her at all.
At the same time, she was troubled by the simple breakfast he was eating. There was no meat, no sauce. The food hardly deserved to be called a sandwich. From what she knew, Gene was not someone who should be living on such coarse food.
As Melisara stared at him eating it, Gene suddenly rose, as though something had occurred to him, and searched the shelves. He took out Luke’s special pickled ginger. Having never seen it prepared, he simply poured some cold water, dropped in several pieces of ginger, and pushed the cup toward her.
“Well, then. Tell me why you want to become one of the Hawk Brothers.”
Because of you.
Their eyes met. The boy’s eyes, gazing at a gold coin in his hand twelve years ago, were still beautiful, and still knew nothing. A man who had offered a small kindness without thinking and could not even remember it. Mocking that brilliant but painful moment, Melisara answered.
“I have nowhere to go. I’ve been living by stealing in the south, but now I mean to come to Delphinad and try living honestly. I’m fairly good with a sword and dagger. I’ll be useful.”
Gene tilted his head.
Melisara stepped back, lifted a box set to one side, used the wall as a foothold, and landed after a backward turn in the air. In the meantime, the three daggers she threw struck precisely, one after another, between the pickling jars on the shelf behind the bar.
Beside her, Creses started back in surprise, his eyes wide. When he had brought her in, he had told Gene not to expect too much, given her small build.
Turning to Gene again, Melisara tilted her head a little, just as he had a moment earlier. As if to ask whether that would do.
Gene’s mouth was slightly open. He looked flustered, still holding the sandwich he had been eating. He spoke.
“Hey. How am I supposed to digest my breakfast when you show me something like that?”
ArcheAge Chronicles
The End of The Heirs
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