The woman watched him for a moment longer and then said: "Come on."
Her voice echoed the pain and her expression changed. Lina came to her and stroked her arm with her hand: "Mother," she said in a soothing, low voice, "we have to move on, remember?"
The women looked into each other's eyes for a moment. As if they were saying something only with their eyes, without words.
"Yes, you're right. You can't live in the past," the woman said, smiled slightly and stroked Lina's cheek.
Then she turned to Brax: "Come on, young man. Let me see if the dog still bites the same way. I'm Lorina," she introduced herself.
Brax watched the long exchange of glances between the two women. They were very similar. He could already understand where the girl got her beauty from. However, he tried not to pay attention to it as much as to the thoughts of what the words they had said probably meant. It was not his place to ask about the personal matters of people he did not know.
He nodded at Lorin's introduction and then took off the saddle and halter from Burinsfel and placed both by the door. At least for a moment the horse could graze in peace. He patted it to indicate that it was safe to move away. He watched with a satisfied look as it bit into the nearest grass. He was not afraid that it would run away. Burinsfel was a smart and well-trained animal - it would stay nearby and come running when called.
He had also put away his armor, including all the guards, with the saddle, bags and halter, exactly as he had promised the girl. He may have been just an ordinary mercenary, but he kept his word.
Lina, meanwhile, ran to her room, where she changed her wet clothes into dry, dark brown ones made of warmer material, which began to warm her pleasantly.
The man did not intend to put down his hammer, so much so that he did not yet trust the girl and her mother. He took the weapon in his good hand so that the handle wouldn't get in the way and quietly followed the woman into the house.
He sat down where Lorina had shown him, put the hammer on the ground and reached out to her so she could look at the bandaged wound. By brushing off his sleeve, he unknowingly revealed several scars.
The woman didn't show any surprise when she saw his scars. She quickly removed the bandage and with it the herb leaves he had put there himself. She examined the wound carefully. It wasn't bleeding so much anymore, but it wasn't healed enough that it wouldn't start bleeding again if he moved any further.
"Adara, you rascal," she said to the dog that was sitting by the door and now had lowered its head.
"Lina, hand me..."
She didn't even finish, and the girl placed a piece of linen cloth on the table and with it a clay bowl with a thick yellow-green ointment. Then she turned to the shelf on the wall and took down a bottle of some liquid, which she also placed on the table.
She unscrewed it and was about to pour it on Brax's hand, but stopped herself and looked at him: "I guess it'll... hurt."
She looked into his eyes and suddenly felt her cheeks heat up.
He returned her gaze. He didn't flinch, he didn't want to flinch. When drinking with soldiers, the general rule was that looking away was a sign of weakness. This was something different. It was probably the first time he had looked someone in the eye and genuinely enjoyed it. So her name was Lina. He intended to remember that.
"Go ahead."
Lina carefully poured the liquid onto the wound. It burned as if it were a liquid flame, about to burn his hand to ashes. But he didn't flinch, he didn't move his hand an inch. He just gritted his teeth.
His face twisted slightly in pain, but he didn't moan, he didn't scream, he didn't make a sound. He lived with pain, he earned his living with pain. She was as much a part of his life as the warhammer or Burinsfel.
"So Lina," he smiled.
It might have been a rather bizarre smile, but whatever. She looked as if it hurt her more than he did. She truly sympathized with him, something like that hadn't happened to him in a long time.
The girl nodded barely perceptibly.
Then she looked away and looked at his hand. She checked to make sure the liquid had gotten everywhere. Then she carefully closed the bottle, turned it over, and put it back in its place.
In the meantime, her mother had been rubbing the ointment on Brax's hand. She was only putting it around the wound, not into it.
Once his hand was thoroughly smeared, Lina went back and began bandaging his hand. First she put a linen cloth over it and then a bandage on top of that. She wrapped his hand carefully and quickly. She felt his eyes on her, but this time she didn't look at him.
When she was done, she said to him, "Now sit here for a moment."
Brax watched the two women work. Their knowledge of nursing was remarkable. Her mother must have taught Lina a lot.
The ointment felt pleasantly cool, and Brax finally relaxed. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the shirt sleeve of his good hand.
"Thanks, but I should go now. It's late," he said and started to get up to leave. "How far is it to the village? And is there an inn there?"
Lina smiled at him incredulously and raised her eyebrows: "Well, I guess I'd need some earplugs, for better hearing."
Then she approached Brax and pushed him back into the chair with her hands.
"I told you to sit down," she looked at him sternly.
"But the wound is already treated. Thank you, I'm grateful for that, but it's time for me to go," he frowned and prepared to leave again.
The force with which the girl pushed him into the chair surprised him somewhat. It was definitely not a little tremor.
His gaze slid to Lina's mother. It was her first glance that had prevented him from staying. Just remembering that glance sent a chill down his spine. Staying was definitely not a good idea.
"Stubborn as a ram," Lorina shook her head. "Young man," she said, starting to clean up the table, "you must realize that if you cross the threshold of the herbalist's house, her rules apply. The wound is treated, but I would prefer to take another look at it in the morning. If it is all right, you can leave now, as you please."
She looked at him for a moment and then continued: "Lina will bring you some clothes and I think you wouldn't mind some food too."
Out of nowhere, the woman smiled: "I think it will be quite an adventure for you to spend one night instead of outside, under a roof."
Lina laughed and left the room and went into the next one.
"T...thank you," Brax stammered. "I just wanted to avoid any trouble," he lowered his head, "you should know that I am a mercenary. You probably figured that out right away." He
sadly picked up his hammer and stroked its head.
"This is all I have, what I am and what I live for. People normally avoid me," he said, looking up from his weapon. "And I just want to avoid any more scorn."
He looked in the direction Lina had gone.
"You can be proud of your daughter. She is kind-hearted and tries to see the bright side of everything, or so it seemed to me. Today, with the war and fighting all around, that is rare. I promise I will not endanger you or your daughter, and I will leave tomorrow."
The woman paused as she placed a bowl of soup on the table in front of him and looked at him.
"Yes, yes, I knew it right away. Especially since you drew so much attention to yourself with your armor," she nodded her head toward the outside, where he had left his armor.
When the woman saw that his hand was still on the hammer, she smiled and patted him on the cheek, the way mothers do to their children.
"There is always more to a person than just one or two things. We just forget them sometimes. Try to remember."
Then she turned and took a bag of bread, a knife, and salt from the shelf and placed them on the table in front of Brax. Lina entered the room immediately. She was holding a clean set of clothes, which she had placed on a vacant chair.
She looked at the table and saw her mother placing a wooden spoon on the table. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Brax. She quickly turned and took another spoon from the shelf, walked over to the table and scooped some soup from the man's plate. Then she put it in her mouth and swallowed. She ignored her mother's astonished look.
She waited a moment and then looked at Brax and with an overwhelming effort not to laugh, she said, "I don't think it's poisoned, so you can eat it."
Brax stared at her in disbelief for a moment. She kept surprising him. Then he laughed out loud, as he hadn't laughed in a long time.
"Don't worry, I don't think you're trying to kill me anymore," he said, looking at Adar. "He looks calm too."
With a cheerful smile, he started eating the soup. It was delicious. A vast difference from the standard military food he was used to. Even some innkeepers would pay a fortune to sell such soup to their customers.
Lina just shook her head with a smile and changed the water in Adar's bowl.
"Thank you, it was delicious," Brax smiled when he finished eating. "I hear there are a lot of bandits and extortionists in this area. Did the local mayor offer a reward for their elimination?"
If the mayor did offer a reward, he could make some money again. He hadn't been doing too well lately, so he had to work as an enforcer in a few towns to make ends meet. With the main royal troops gone, all sorts of subversive elements had sprung up.
Some mayors paid to eliminate them, and that's what people like Brax were good for.
"Yes, he did," Lorina replied, picking up a mortar and pestle and grinding herbs in it.
"Our men are still trying to find them. Sometimes they might succeed, but the bandits are probably multiplying like mushrooms after a rain. We still have to deal with them."
Lina, meanwhile, scooped up another bowl of porridge and a piece of meat. She placed it in front of Brax and sat down on a low chair by the door, stroking Adar behind his ears.
Brax nodded his head in thanks to Lina and continued talking to Lorina.
"Are you having any problems with them? Do they want a ransom or something?"
He eagerly began eating his next meal.
So there would be work for him after all. He could make money and earn more by selling the bad guys' equipment and weapons. It sounded too good to be true. He would have to talk to the mayor, find out the amount of the reward, or negotiate a slightly higher one, and find out as much as possible about the numbers, actions, and movements of the robbers in the area.
"Are there even those who would ask for it?" Lina asked incredulously.
Lorina sighed: "Yes, these people here are definitely not that polite. They will come and take whatever they like if someone doesn't stand up to them and protect their property."
"I could take care of them. If they came here for more money, it would be too dangerous. I would kill them all," he snorted. "However, if they are even slightly well-coordinated, they will come for revenge. I will have to capture them somewhere in the forest. Did you not hear if they mentioned a leader? The snake needs to be beheaded."
If he had indeed managed to eliminate the leader, the rest would have scattered or at least not known what to do for a while.
Lina shot Brax a look that was a mixture of anger and pity and quickly stood up. She was out the door in a flash. Her mother pretended not to notice.
"First you should rest and recover, and then do whatever you see fit," she replied, continuing to grind dry herbs in a mortar.