Anore frowned sharply, his brows knitting. "Do you… think I'm crazy now?" he asked, his voice quieter but laced with hurt. "Do you want to throw me away now that you've seen I have problems?"
Eiden's lips twitched, and then he rolled his eyes, flicking Anore's forehead with just enough force to make him blink in surprise.
"I'm not throwing you away. Stop thinking like that. I brought the physician so we can figure out what's wrong and help you. I want you to be able to sleep normally without… what happened last night."
Anore's frown softened, but he didn't answer right away. There was a part of him still braced for rejection, still expecting someone to push him aside once they saw too much.
Yet here Eiden stood, steady and unyielding, like the night before had only made him more determined.
Reluctantly, Anore followed him to the sitting room, where a man in his early forties was unpacking a leather medical case. His calm, steady presence filled the room.
"This is Caven.." Eiden introduced. "He's not here for anything physical, he's a mind healer. I told him about your nightmares."
Caven gave Anore a reassuring smile, gesturing for him to sit.
"Eiden tells me you've been having troubling dreams. Do you want to tell me about them?"
Anore hesitated, fingers curling against his knees. "I see my mother leaving me.." he said at last, his voice low. "Then… there are these hands, cold and heavy, trying to drown me. And… one of my previous masters."
Caven tilted his head slightly. "Your mother? Is she still alive? How was your relationship with her?"
Anore swallowed hard. "I loved and hated my mother at the same time. But I loved her more than I could ever hate her. She was the only one who looked at me and truly cared for me… and for my master." He drew in a shaky breath.
"What about your previous master?" Caven asked.
Anore's lips pressed into a thin line. "I killed him.." he said, the words tasting like rust in his mouth. "The scars on my body… even the animals in his farm weren't whipped the way I was. So am I less than an animal, that I deserved to suffer like that?" His voice cracked, his gaze unfocused as the memory replayed in his mind.
"I wasn't thinking. I grabbed a shard of glass and stabbed him, just to make him stop. But I… I kept going. I didn't even realize he was dead until the room went quiet. I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted him to stop. But… I killed a man."
Silence settled heavy in the room. Eiden's jaw was tight, but he stayed close, his hand resting lightly on Anore's shoulder.
Caven leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression thoughtful yet gentle. "And apart from these.." he asked, "have you had any other dreams? Anything recurring that feels important?"
Anore shook his head. "No. Just those."
Caven gave a slow nod, then set his pen down on the small notepad he'd been using. "All right. Here's what I think. Your dreams aren't random, they're tied to your past experiences, your fears, and the way your mind is processing trauma. The drowning hands? That's your feeling of being trapped and powerless, perhaps by memories or emotions that threaten to overwhelm you. Your mother leaving, whether it happened in reality or feels like it did, is about abandonment and the deep fear of losing someone you love. And your previous master? That is both guilt and anger, all tangled together, still living in your mind as if it happened yesterday."
Anore's gaze dropped to his lap.
Caven's tone remained steady, professional but warm. "You are not insane. What you have are wounds that were never allowed to heal. Nightmares are your mind's way of shouting for help when it can't make sense of what you've been through."
He tapped the pen against his palm thoughtfully. "For now, I want to start with methods to ground you when you wake from these dreams. Breathing techniques. Sensory anchors, things that remind you where you are and that you're safe. And we will work gradually, to help you process the memories so they no longer have this hold over you."
Caven added a few final notes to his pad, then glanced at Eiden. "I'll check back in a few days to see how he's responding. In the meantime, keep the exercises consistent, especially before bed and immediately after waking from a nightmare. The mind needs repetition to learn safety again."
Eiden nodded, his expression firm. "Understood."
The healer rose, packing away his instruments and papers into the worn leather case.
He gave Anore a brief, reassuring smile, then excused himself. Eiden followed him out into the hallway, the low murmur of their voices fading toward the front door.
Anore remained in the study, alone.
Silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating. He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, staring at the floor without really seeing it. A million thoughts clawed at the edges of his mind.
What if someone found out?
What if they decided he should be arrested—beheaded—for killing a man?
Did Eiden see him as a murderer now?
He gripped his hands together, the old ache of shame gnawing at his chest. He had never meant to hurt anyone.
He just wanted the pain to stop. But that didn't erase the fact that he'd ended a life.
His stomach twisted.
He didn't notice the footsteps returning until a shadow fell across him.
Eiden was back, standing just inside the doorway, studying him.
"Did you get cold feet? Are you afraid I'm going to arrest you for killing a man ?."
Anore nodded, he knew he'd only be here for some days, but the freedom he had gotten...he didn't want to lose it.
"Are you going to behead me?"
Eiden raised a brow and laughed, behead him? And let such a pretty specimen leave this world?
Never .
"Don't worry about that. As long as I'm here, no one can touch you."