Elias squinted at Kenneth, searching his face for the slightest change in expression, but there was none.“You shouldn’t be joking about things like that, Kenneth. Dad taught us better,” he said flatly before starting towards the house, expecting Kenneth to follow.“You think I’m joking with you?” Kenneth’s gaze moved over his face. “Throughout my training, having both of you pinned to my name has been a pain in the ass. Do you know how many times I was looked down upon because of you?”Elias lowered the bags and turned back towards Kenneth, his expression flat.“Bro, are you for real right now? Are you even hearing yourself? How is any of that our fault?”He gripped the bags so tightly that his fingers tore through them. His eyes stayed fixed on Kenneth, hoping the boy he had known for so long hadn’t changed this much, but Kenneth’s expression only soured further.“Of course it’s your fault. Everyone else had wealthy brothers who could get them whatever they needed. What did I have?”

Daniel stared at Elias, waiting for him to smile or say something that would make the promise sound less impossible.When he did neither, Daniel’s eyes began to fill.“I told you that you shouldn’t be thinking so much,” he said. “You’ve been worrying about everything, and now look at you.”Elias moved his chair closer, but Daniel caught his arm before he could sit.“If we have to go home, we’ll go home. I can rest there.”“You need treatment, Daniel.”“And you need to rest too.” His voice broke as he looked towards the chair beside the bed. “You’ve been sleeping there and still going to work. Please don’t make yourself sick because of me.”Elias looked down at the hand holding his arm. Daniel was trying to pull him back into the chair, his fingers trembling with the effort.“I’m not sick.”“Then why are you saying things like that?”The tears finally slipped down Daniel’s face. He wiped at them quickly, looking away as though he didn’t want Elias to notice.Elias sat on the edge of th

Before Elias could answer, Tiffine stepped forward, almost grinning from ear to ear. She dipped her forehead until it almost touched the crowd when she was just before Tiffine before glancing a disdain filled look at Elias again. “Don’t listen to him Miss Rachael. He is just another wannabe, miss. He knows nothing about medicine and definitely cannot heal the beast.”She looked towards the guards, expecting them to continue where they had stopped, but neither moved. One still had his hand around Elias’s arm, although his grip had loosened.“I’ve been trying to get him to leave,” Tiffine continued. “There’s no reason for you to concern yourself with him. We’ll take care of everything.”Rachael looked past her towards Elias. Her eyes moved from his face to his clothes, lingering on the worn sleeves before returning to his face. Elias waited for her to ask him something, but she remained silent.He could already see what she was thinking. Anyone who could heal beasts would have people l

Tiffine remained crouched beside the fox, her hand resting against its back. She looked at Elias, then towards her companion, who was watching her as closely as everyone else.For a while, she couldn’t find anything to say. The fox nudged her fingers, and she lowered her eyes towards it before getting to her feet.“He must have guessed it,” she stammered. “That’s all it was. There’s no way he could have known those things. That's the only explanation.”Her companion glanced at Elias, then nodded fiercely. Almost knocking her head off.“That has to be it. People guess things like that all the time.”“You see what I mean?” Tiffine asked, her voice growing steadier now that someone had agreed with her. “Anyone could have come up with those symptoms.”The man leaning against the counter gave a short laugh.“Or perhaps he’s been looking through records he had no business touching. His brother has been here long enough for him to learn his way around.”“That makes more sense,” someone behin