Chapter 3

Mr. Limer had a plate of cheese, bread, and bacon waiting for me when I came out of the room. I sat down at the table and tried to eat. I was starving, but had no desire to eat. It was still sinking in that I lost everything. That my family was gone. What should I do now? I am 20 years-old. I am supposed to be married, have kids, and already started my own business with my husband or be a at home mom. Our parents didn’t make us worry about what we were supposed to do. My sister put the bakery first, so she never found a man. My older brother was training to take over the winery.  Once he was in charge, he could get any girl he wanted in just a few years of starting his own business. I was going to help Phebe with her bakery. She had always dreamed of expanding our family business to the capital. She wanted to give the queen her baked goods. 

It hit me right there. The choice was a sample one. I should do what my siblings dreamed of. I should take our family business to the capital. I should keep our little bakery going. Everyone worked so hard, and gave up so much for our bakery. I couldn’t give up on it just because everything is gone. They may not be here, but I am… I have to live for them. 

“Are you ready to talk about what happened, Layla?” Mr. Limer broke my thoughts. 

“I do not know what happened…” I did not want to tell him the truth. That a mysterious man came into the bakery, and burned everyone and everything to ash. That I grew wings, horns, and had flames all over me. That the flames didn’t hurt. That the man caught fire on his own. I wasn’t sure if he burned with the bakery, field, and cottage or not. I was not sure if he was even dead.

“I was alway in the flower field, by the apple tree when I saw smoke. When I got close enough, I heard screaming from inside the bakery. It was my family yelling for help…” This was somewhat the truth. They yelled for help, and I could do nothing. I could not move till it was too late… Why couldn’t I move? I could feel tears trying to come out my eyes, but I held them back.

“All of them?” He asked, sorrow filling his voice. You could tell this bothered him alot, but it was also normal to lose everything and everyone in a fire. 

“Yes, Phebe, Isaiah, Damine, and Isabell…. They are all gone. Dead. Ash.” I could feel the tears falling again. I could not hold them back any longer. The food sat there staring at me. I felt like I had a lump stuck in my throat. Like someone had stolen my will to speak.

“You need to eat something dear…” He looked at me with pity. I felt a pit in my stomach. It was my fault they are dead. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him they died because I was there. How could I eat when I felt so much guilt?

“What will you do now?” This question was easy now that I had decided. I had to live for them, It was my fault they are dead. I couldn’t do nothing. I couldn’t give up. 

“I will go to the capitol.” I tried to say it with as much confidence as I could muster. 

“How will you get there?”

“Would you be willing to let me borrow your carriage?” He rubbed his forehead. It looked like he had something on his mind.

“You know your mother was the kindest woman I had ever met since my wife died years ago. She helped me through tough times. If it wasn’t for your mom, I don’t know if I could run this farm the way I have been. I’m sure your father thought she flirted with me, and that’s why I gave her free stuff… But the truth is she was just friendly to me. I needed that too...so I feel like I should repay the favor in your time of need..” He got up, and went to a box on the table. I couldn’t see what was in it, but he pulled out a pouch. 

“This is all my savings over the years. I had planned to use it to get Isabell a small bakery to thank her, but since she is no longer here…” He paused, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. He was letting it sink in that she was gone. 

“It’s yours to have.”  He smiled, but all I could see was sadness. He must have really cared for my mom.

“I couldn't,” I said, looking at him in awe. I stood up shaking my head no.

“You can, and you will.” He set the pouch in front of me. There was a hint of order with a joking tone to it.

“This will get you started in the city. You should have enough to buy a place.” He smiled. I picked up the pouch and looked inside. There were 10 small gem balls of different colors. Most people would use gems, or jewelry for money. The money worked like this: Small gem shard was $1. 100 small gem shards were the same as 1 shard. 1 shard was $5. 20 shards was the same as 1 small gem ball. A small gen ball was $10. 10 small gem balls were the same as 1 gem ball. 1 gem ball was $50. 2 gem balls were the same amount as jewelry. Jewelry was worth $100. For a small place in the capitol, I would have to use five of these gems. 

“I can’t accept this Mr. Limer.” I said pushing the money toward him. It had to take a lot of work to get this much money. It was like a small fortune, and I had done nothing to earn it. 

“It’s okay Layla. I’m getting too old for this… so I am selling the animals and 700 acres of the farm. All I am keeping is the house, a cow, and a chicken. Enough to have eggs, cheese, milk, and bread.  I’m getting a lot of money out of it, so this is nothing.” He pushed the pouch closer to me. I sat back down. I did need the money. I couldn’t do this on my own.I may not deserve it, but I needed it.

“Thank you, Sir.” I picked up the pouch, then handed him a gem.

“Can I please buy a horse and your carriage?” He grinned at me, then let out a laugh. It was only fair to buy them since he had given me so much already.

“Yes dear, you can. Let’s go pick you out a horse.” He got up from the table, and I followed, grabbing the cheese off the plate. I felt I could eat a little bit now. He had cheered me up by talking about how kind my mother was.  We went into his horse barn, and there were 3 horses. There was a white horse with an odd mark in the center of his back. It was the shape of flames going down his spine with wings on either side of it. The mark left his hair the color gold. There was also a black horse, and a yellow-brown horse, but they did not catch my attention like the white horse. 

“How about this white one?” I asked Limer. He walked over, then went to touch the horse. It neighed at him, and stepped back.

“I have no clue where this horse came from…” He was surprised it was even in his barn. 

“Is it not yours?” I went to pet it, and it walked into my hand. It was like it already knew who I was. 

“I have no clue, but it seems to like you.” He handed me an apple.

“Give her this.”

“Her?” He pointed to her underside.

“No penis.” I walked closer to her with the apple in my palm.

“Here girl…” She sniffed my hand, then ate the apple. I smiled in excitement. She really did like me. 

“I want her.”

“Okay, take her then. Do you have a name for her?” I thought long and hard for a perfect name for her. I settled on Alsie for strong-willed. I had a feeling this horse would go far. 

“Alsie.” He smiled at the sound of it.

“Perfect!” He led me back into the house.

“You will stay here for the night. You can head out in the morning.” 

“Thank you, Sir.” He waved me off with his hand. 

“No worries.” I was still tired from the walk so I ate the bread, and went to sleep on the bed. I fell asleep with tears in my eyes, and awoke tired. It had only been a day, but I was already home sick. I knew I had no home to go to though. Mr. Limer was waiting for me in the kitchen. He put together a bag of food, and water for me to take on my trip. 

“The carriage and Alsie are ready to go.” He pointed out the window opening. There was a wooden carriage with leather straps for Alsie. There was no roof for the carriage, but there was a back part for me to put my stuff. Mr. Limer gave me two of his dead daughter’s outfits, two loaves of bread, a block of cheese, and a canteen of water. There were also the 9 small gems in the pouch. I hugged Mr. Limer, and headed out. I was grateful for all he had done for me and my family.

The city was 40 miles away. It took almost the whole day of non-stop riding. Aisle didn’t seem to get tired out, or need to stop to eat or drink. The city was surrounded by a giant wall. There were four gates to get in and out of the capitol. My family's cottage was on the outskirts of the Mouradian territory. The ruler of the Mouradian territory was a young queen by the name of Cecilia. I did not know much about her, other than she lost her parents from a assassination. They were poisoned at a banquet that Cecilia did not attend. She was only 12 when she came to power.  I’ve heard she is a fair ruler. 

I entered the north gate. There was a guard that took a fee from you to enter. I gave him a gem, because it was all I had, so he gave me shards of a smaller gem in return. The capital was called Epithet. It had about 32,000 acres inside the walls, but Mouradian was about 1 billion acres. We were in a bigger territory than most.  Inside the walls were stone buildings with two stories. They looked like houses. There were stands along the stone road for people to sell their goods. It was rare to have a shop of your own, but I was determined to get one. 

To get a building, I would have to go to the merchandising guild. I had no clue how much it would cost to get a license to sell, but I would pay anything to keep my family alive. The building was easy to find, because every building had a sign hanging from the roof. There were bars and taverns, clothes and shoe shops, and homes with many rooms to live in, cafés and more. There were also guilds. Each guild specialised in a specific thing. Lucky for me, most of the guilds were in one spot. Thanks to the signs, I was able to find the merchandising guild easily.