What the Hunter Found

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"If you feel up to it," Oliver told her, smiling slightly. "Do you want anything? I'm afraid I might have to do some work, but if you want, I can try doing it in here. It's just paperwork, really." Knowing that it would help him keep an eye on her, he continued, "I'll go get my things and be back here in a second, okay?"

((Sorry for the short reply, and it's okay, I understand computer problems. Thanks for telling me about it))
 
"Alright," she said, attempting once again to get that one stubborn strand of hair out of her face, but to no avail. She sighs, flopping down on her back in defeat. She stared up at the ceiling, tracing an old scar on the back of her hand with a finger. "What kind of paperwork?" Alyss asked, curious, then realized she was probably being nosy. "Sorry - I'm probably being a bit intrusive, aren't I?"
 
"It's fine...it's just some stuff for the lord of the city...He hasn't gotten a new Magister since our last one died, so I've been taking some of his duties. But I'm pretty sure I'm already considered the Magister since I'm the only one who gets anything done around here anymore." He chuckled softly, before standing up to go to his study. Getting the papers he needed, he returned to her bedroom and sat back down. "Today, he's having me review the money he has left, isn't that exciting?" he asked sarcastically.
 
She laughs. "I can't think of anything else I'd rather do," she responds, equally sarcastic. She continued staring at the ceiling, and stays silent for a moment. Then, she asks, "How did the old Magister die? Old age, or...?" She couldn't help asking. She was a generally curious person, and couldn't help but ask these kinds of questions. She liked to know everything.
 
"Um..." Oliver began, running numbers through his head. Once he had the right number, he wrote it down on a clean sheet of paper before continuing. "He had a disease, as I've heard it. Was bedridden his last few weeks..." Returning to the numbers, he wrote down a few more numbers as he added and subtracted in his head.
 
"I see," she said, glancing over at Oliver as he did his paperwork. "Sorry, I won't bother you any more - I'll let you do your work." She falls silent for a moment, but Alyss's silence doesn't last very long. She can't help but ask another question. "Do you think you'll be appointed officially as the new Magister?" She continues staring at the ceiling.
 
"Maybe," Oliver replied. "The lord's known me for a long time, since we were both kids, so he trusts me...I'd have to move, if I was. He'd want me to live in the castle with him...I'm not sure how I feel about that, since I wouldn't have a reason to go hunting anymore." He chuckled goodheartedly. Finishing one page, he flipped to the next, occasionally muttering a number to himself as he did the work.
 
"True," she said. "I h-" she cuts herself off suddenly, as if she said something she shouldn't have. She pauses for a moment, and then starts speaking again. "I don't think I'd like living in a castle, being waited on all the time." she mused. "You know what I mean?" She doesn't wait for an answer, and keeps talking to herself quietly, though not in one of the weird, creepy ways that made people think you're crazy.
 
Noticing her stumble, Oliver pondered it for a moment before deciding that it wouldn't matter. "Exactly my point...I like to dress myself, thank you very much." Laughing, he shook his head before returning to his work, wishing that he could just flummox all the numbers to ruin the lord's trust in his intelligence. Of course, that would never do, not with Oliver's honor, so he was stuck with it.
 
Alyss nods, thinking carefully at her next words, not wanting to slip up again. She finally just decided to keep it simple - something that she couldn't make a mistake with. "Yeah," she said, rubbing her arm where a sword had cut it, as it was stinging unbearably. She was in terrible pain, but she didn't show it. She continues murmuring to herself, something about "fire," and "stupid," but then she stops talking and falls into silence.
 
Falling into silence, Oliver continued with his work until he was finished. Once he was, he sighed heavily, set it aside, and stood up. "I'm going to put this away, then I'll be right back, okay?" He smiled briefly before leaving, walking into his study with the papers. Setting them down, he tried to remember if he had anything else that required his attention before returning to the bedroom she was at. "I don't think I have any more paperwork today, so we can do anything you want."
 
She chuckles slightly. "There's not much I can do, confined to a bed like a cripple," she said, a slight hint of bitterness in her voice, though she smiled slightly. She sat up, and pulled her hair over one shoulder absentmindedly. "Unless you want to sing songs and make shadow puppets," she said sarcastically, wrinkling her nose as though that's the last thing she'd want to do.
 
"Sometimes shadows and songs are what a healing body needs," Oliver said, smiling slightly. He hadn't made shadow puppets or sung songs since he was a child, but whenever he would get sick, his mother would always do that. "But we can just talk if you want. About anything..."
 
She leaned her head back against the headboard of the bed. She thought for a second, trying to get a question in her mind. She wanted to find out who was making Dusk Elves. One thing she knew was that a man had been going through every town east of the western city of the seaside town of Brighton. How she even knew that was a miracle. One scouting party had returned that Pywillan had sent out - one. They'd said he'd been traveling around, capturing elves from wherever he could. Maybe he'd been through here...No harm asking, she thought to herself.

"Have any strangers traveled through the area recently?" She asked, after thinking about how to phrase her question.
 
"I wouldn't know," Oliver answered. "I've been busy with getting enough food for the winter, and with the stuff the lord's been having me do, I only ever really go to the woods and the market when I need other food." Smiling, he asked, "Why do you ask? I could probably ask around sometime to see if anyone else has seen anyone new."
 
"Just wondering," Alyss muttered, but her eyes lit up when he said he would ask around. "Really? You would do that? That would be great," she said, smiling, her eyes lighting up, and for the first time she actually radiated happiness. She was happy because this near-stranger was going to help her, even though she didn't know him that well. She was happy because he was so friendly, even though she thought herself not. And most of all, she was happy because she had a chance of finding who had destroyed her home and taking revenge. "That would be great," she said again. "Thank you so much!"
 
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