Chapter 10: The Watchful Eye
Balen had been quiet for three days now, observing from the corner of the clinic as Elric worked.
The scholar had seen enough to understand that Elric wasn't just a healer. He was a man who had unlocked the secrets of the body in a way no one—magic or science—had ever done before. Each movement, each diagnosis, each treatment felt like a page in a book, written by a hand that knew the story intimately.
It was unnerving.
On the fourth day, Elric finished cleaning his instruments and turned to Balen, who had his nose buried in a thick tome.
"Do you need anything else?" Elric asked, his tone uncharacteristically sharp.
Balen looked up, startled. "Oh—uh—no, nothing more. I've... gathered what I needed."
Elric stared at him for a moment, as if reading his thoughts. "You're not here for knowledge, are you? You're here to report."
Balen froze. "I—I don't know what you mean."
"You know exactly what I mean," Elric said, his voice was soft, yet firm. "I'm not blind to the games being played. I see the way they look at me from the shadows, the way they whisper my name."