Emrys was staring up at her with wide eyes. There was spittle on his cheeks, his lips, his glasses. He was frozen, unable to move. What had just happened? They had been walking, talking, both acting as if he hadn't almost kissed her, even moving past the way he was part of the Aureate who was playing Seraph, and then that woman was running at them. He'd moved without thinking. His only thought had been to keep Solenne safe. But at what cost?

  She looked like she was going to cry. He quickly got to his feet and reached out towards her. "I'm okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Emrys didn't want her to cry. He was fine. There were no wounds. He wasn't bleeding. It had just been a fall back. The worst thing he might have had was a bruise on his back somewhere.

  Solenne reached into her trouser pockets and pulled out a handkerchief. He recongized it as one she used to wipe at her hands in the shop. It didn't matter how much she rubbed at her hands, nothing ever came off. He'd noticed that after they'd worked on the pouches when he started to realize whatever was on her fingers never seemed to come off. She wiped the spit from his face, taking his glasses and cleaning them too before returning them so he could see.

  "Come, Emrys. Let's continue. We are nearly to the blacksmith." Her voice was shaky.

  He understood that. His nerves were shot too. The two of them continued on only now he was more hyperaware of their surroundings. It seemed she was too. Both of them were quiet, looking around more, and seeming as if they wanted nothing more than for this to be over with. Thankfully it would only be a few more minutes before the blacksmith shop came into view.

  "Aye good day to you, apothecary." The blacksmith was a large man, standing taller than Emrys and he looked as if he could easily kill someone. Just his appearance alone made Emrys hesitate for a moment.

  "Hail Leander. I've come with your lucky pouch." She motioned for Emrys to take one from the satchel that he still luckily had.

  Emrys quickly unlatched it and grabbed one of the last pouches inside. He placed it in Solenne's hand. For a split second he swore he saw a flash of orange in her palm but he couldn't be sure given the forge was glowing on the other side of the trio.

  Leander bowed deeply. "My thanks to you, apothecary."

  She rolled her eyes. "You know my name."

  "That is true but we both know I much prefer apothecary." He was teasing her based on the mirthful smile on his face.

  Emrys looked between the two. This was still very unlike how the shop keepers in the Center treated each other. They acted more like every other shop owner was competition. Yet here in the Veil, they all seemed to be friendly. There was an odd ache in his chest as this realization. The scholars would all act as if they were friends but there was more backstabbing in academia than anywhere else in this world. He tried not to think about his fellow scholars. He was sure that they had written him off as soon as he didn't come back to the Aurifer.

  "Emrys?"

  Hearing Solenne's voice made him blink a few times. Then his face flushed from embarrassment. He looked between the two of them. They were both looking at him with concern.

  "Just heard you were attacked out of nowhere. Sure you didn't hit your head?" Leander asked nodding towards Emrys' head.

  Emrys reached up and touched various parts of his head. Nowhere felt tender and there was no blood on his hands. "I'm sure. I think I am just a bit shaken up still." He admitted noticing how his hands still shook a little as he looked down at them.

  Leander walked over and put his hand gingerly against Emrys' back to lead him into the shop. There they would sit in rather comfortable chairs. Leander brought out cups of hot tea and snacks. He told them that Diedre brought the little cakes over earlier. They were technically yesterdays but they were still good. Emrys didn't mind day old cakes.

  "He isn't the first to be attacked."

  Both Solenne and Emrys perked up at that. Leander continued without them needing to ask. "Aye. It can't be Bloom. No one has ever been violent before. Rumor has it that its something from the Wilds. Geor says he saw a group of men coming in from the Wilds at the beginning of the week. They didn't look like anyone he had seen in Caelora before."

  While Solenne sat there looking into her tea, he was trying to figure out how Geor would know that. Caelora was a giant city. Even being born here, he had no idea who everyone was or even every nook and cranny in this place. How was it that Geor would know if someone was from here or not? Yes he knew that certain factions or people dressed certain ways but that didn't mean they were outsiders. Moreso, there was no way the Primarch allowed outsiders in when Lustration was coming. Not unless...

  "They could have been sacrifices." He blurted out.

  Both of them looked at the scholar. Emrys kept going. "Its almost Lustration. We know people live in the Wilds. It could very easily be they were members of the Pale who were sent to gather someone for the sacrifice. It isn't stated that whoever it is has to be a current resident of Caelora. The sacrifice could be anyone. We have done no wrong so perhaps it was decided by the Archons to bring someone from outside of the city." He was certain that had to be it. It made the most sense after all.

  Solenne sipped her tea. Leander looked as if he was mulling it over. After what felt like the longest silence in existence, Leander chuckled.

  "You might be right there lad. I'll have to tell Geor he is just paranoid huh?" The blacksmith grinned widely. "Now go on, drink up and enjoy the snack. You two need to take the longer way back to your side of the Veil."

  ???????????????

  It was nearly dusk when the two made it back to Solenne's shop. On the way back they'd talked about various projects she wanted to try to finish by the time Lustration came. After the ritual, the city would shut down until the next Midday. No shops would be open. Even the Basilica would be closed to the general public. It was meant to be a time of reflection and gratefulness that they were not sacrificed this time. Emrys had always enjoyed it because it meant he hadn't had to go to the Aurifer. Yes, he loved being a scholar but even he was human.

  Emrys unlocked and opened the door for Solenne. She thanked him for the gesture as she passed by him to enter. He followed, closing the door behind him. Once inside he took the satchel off and quickly returned it to where it lived. He noticed as he hung it that the strap was fraying. Looking at it closely he had a feeling it happened whenever he hit the ground. That was something to note and try to fix if he could.

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  He turned to find Solenne watching him. Emrys felt a little unease with that look she was giving him. What was she so worried about? Had the attack scared her that much? He knew the woman had been crazed but Solenne was looking at him as if he was marked for death or something. Emrys walked over to her, standing in front of her like he had been earlier. Only this time he wasn't thinking about kissing those soft lips. Okay he was always thinking about that but not as much at this moment.

  "I promise you I am okay, Sol." He had taken to using her nickname thanks to Gwen.

  "I know. I don't mean to fret. Just with the way the Bloom has been spreading again..." Her words trailed off as she looked down.

  Emrys reached up, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, his fingertips grazing her cheek ever so gently. "It will be okay. Lustration is happening soon. The Bloom will be purged like before and so long as no one strays too far from the Light, perhaps this time it will not return." That had been his hope with the last Lustration. It obviously hadn't happened.

  The two of them stood there, his hand still resting against the side of her head. His heart was racing like it always did when he was close to her. Emrys found himself thinking of moments like this when he shouldn't. At night he even dreamed of her, of them, of what they could be if she wasn't... He nearly sighed but held the defeated action. Solenne looked up at him as she leaned into his hand. Without hesitation, he opened his palm, moving it to rest against her cheek. She was so warm, so real.

  How was someone like her cursed? What had she done to deserve such a fate? He had been with her for weeks and never once did she do anything that should have been considered heresy. Yes she hid things and there were conversations with others, the stains on her hands, but were such things truly going to end up damning her to the darkness? How was it fair? It wasn't. The Light was not fair. The Light was just, it only took in those who believed in basking within it, listening to the Choir sing their angelic songs. Those like him.

  "Thank you, Emrys." She finally spoke as she brought her hand up to rest on top of his.

  "For what? I haven't done anything." Truly he felt like he had done very little in his time as her apprentice. Despite it being a false cover, he still felt as if he should be doing a better job at his duties.

  She smiled that warm smile that made him feel as if he had never truly known warmth. "You have done a lot more than you realize. Now come. I want to teach you how to make that breathing salve. It seems as if we are going to need a lot more than what I have in stock."

  Emrys almost grabbed her hand as she let it fall from his. Could they not just stay that way? Oh how he longed to grab her and kiss her until they would both need that salve. Yet he couldn't. Falling for her would bring him nothing but pain, anguish. The simple thought of never seeing her again once he was finished with his report was enough to make him feel as if his ribs were lined with glass and every time his heart beat for her, he bled.

  "Of course. I've been meaning to ask you about that one and the one you have for allergies as well. We are coming up on the time of year where my own get awful. It would be much nicer to be able to make my own remedy instead of having to buy them from someone else." He brought his hand back to his side. He watched her as she made her way to the cellar door. Like a trained pup, he waited where he stood until she returned.

  The two of them walked over to the counter. Solenne laid out a variety of herbs, roots, and florals. He knew what some of them were but a few looked downright terrifying. There was a root that was as black as ink with streams of a brilliant blue running through it. "Hylarin." She told him as he leaned down to peer at it more.

  "Hylarin." He repeated. Emrys unhooked the journal from his hip. This one wasn't the one he typically had when he was learning new things but it would do in a pinch. He went and gathered an ink pot and a quill. Of all the different recipes that she had taught him, this one was the one he really wanted to write down. It was the one that he would truly put into practice.

  She took the Hylarin, picked up her small boning knife, and sliced pieces of the bark off. They were thin and curled at the ends. Emrys took notes of how she angled the blade, how deep she cut. He knew with her it was all practiced precision. It was something that would take him a while to learn given his need for perfection - but he didn't need to be perfect did he? That was what she had been trying to teach him.

  They would take the Hylarin along with [herbs and florals] and put them into a pot on top of the coil. She poured in some kind of concoction that smelled like alcohol but was far thicker and looked oily. At some point she had told him what it was but that had been days ago and those notes were in the inn with his other things. Solenne turned the coil on. While that came up to a boil, she took him back to the counter.

  "Now I take what is left over and get it prepared to be stored. Hylarin is not something that can be dried like most everything else. It needs to retain its moisture. Those blue rivulets are what gives the plant its cooling breath effect. It also makes for a beautiful dye." She told him as she placed what was left of the root into a clean jar. "Can you get some water from upstairs please? There is a pitcher hanging near the sink."

  Emrys nodded. He left her down there to put up everything else, taking the stairs two at a time to not be gone for too long. As he reached the top of the stairs, he paused. Had they left the window open? Odd. He couldn't recall Solenne mentioning it would be open. The weather was cooling down more even during the day so unless she was truly just that warm, or needed the fresh air, the window being open made no sense. He didn't dwell on it too long, going to grab the pitcher and fill it up.

  A soft hum came from him as the water filled the pitcher. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. By the Light, he wanted this to be his normal. How was he supposed to go back to the life he had before he knew her? Easily. He would have to. If it was true that she was Marked, she would be dead anyway. You couldn't love the dead. Not in a way that mattered at least. The pitcher finished filling up. He turned and took a step, then another, and then a creak came from his right. Emrys turned just in time to see a flash of gray falling from her window.

  The pitcher threatened to fall from his failing grip. Just before it fully exited his hand, he regained his hold of the glass handle. Emrys quickly rushed down the stairs, put the pitcher by Solenne, and dashed out of the door. He ran to the side of the building where her window was. Turning on the sidewalk, he looked but saw no one.

  "Emrys!" Solenne had chased after him. She looked confused and none the wiser that someone had just been in her flat.

  "Someone just jumped out of your window." The words came out in a rush. He did another spin, slower this time.

  She walked by him, moving to stand under her window. Solenne was looking down instead of around. He walked over to join her.

  "Do you see anything?" He asked. Would she even know what to look for?

  "No. Whoever it was, they knew how to land properly." She took a step back and looked up. "It doesn't seem that high but if you jump and land wrong, there is a good chance that you'll hurt yourself. Maybe even bleed and I don't see any blood here." Her hand made a gesturing motion to the ground.

  Emrys felt a chill run down his spine. While he didn't want to rule out a potential thief, the only people he knew who would be skilled enough to stick that landing perfectly were the Pale assassins. Had they sent one after her already? Or after him? But why would the Primarch do that? He knew he hadn't sent them back anything more than speculation recently but surely that wouldn't be enough for them to try and take her life. They typically always needed solid proof from what his research had told him.

  He felt his chest getting tight. Emrys ran his hand through his hair. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. His eyes closed tightly. Feeling Solenne touch him simultaneously made him jump and calmed him at the same time.

  "Sorry." He apologized as if he had done something wrong.

  "No need. Everything is okay, Emrys. It was probably just a thief. They do exist here in the Veil." She smirked playfully, teasing him. His Center upbringing would always have him at somewhat of a disadvantage here. It was yet another thing that separated them.

  Solenne ran her hand down his arm to his own hand. His entire body felt electrified. As she held his hand, tugging at it to make him follow, Emrys Durand forgot the world around him. For the time it took for them to walk from the side of her shop back to its interior, they were the only two people who existed. If this was how he felt just holding her hand... Emrys knew kissing her would be his undoing.