Chapter 4 - 04: Dying Wish IV
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He began to do everything. Fetching firewood from the frozen sheds. Carrying water from the well before dawn. Cleaning ashes from the hearth and scraping dried herbs off the rafters while others in the manor above slept soundly beneath silk blankets and carved ceilings.
Even the servants who passed by the cottage lowered their eyes when they saw him. Some turned corners to avoid him. Some mumbled prayers under their breath as if his shadow might bring bad luck to them. He did not know their names and they did not want to know his.
But the ring stayed.
It pulsed from time to time,softly. A faint warmth that throbbed against his skin like a whisper in the dark. It did not glow or sing or speak but it reminded him he was not entirely alone. Not every day. Not every month. But just enough to make him feel like something was waiting, like something remembered him.
He had asked the midwife once, Why does it do that?
She had stared at the silver band around his finger, her eyes full of things she had never said. Her mouth moved for a moment before she finally spoke.
"It is older than this land. Passed through your blood. That much I know."
He just nodded, unsure what it meant. Then he asked, "Without you, why does no one talk to me?"
"Because they are afraid," she said.