After Tahir returned home, he immediately checked on his mother. He saw that she was still napping. So, he decided to start the evening meal since he would soon start receiving donations from the orphans again. Once the stew was over the fire, Tahir went back to the garden to continue working.
Only an hour or so passed while Tahir was in the other world. So, he didn't miss too much time. However, his thoughts were running rampant threatening to overheat his brain in the process.
Tahir spoke to himself in his mind. "I know if I want to live a better life, I'll need strength, but what will happen once people see me getting stronger. I know too many people who will start to move against me. Also, they might target the people around me. I don't want anyone else to suffer for my choices. What about mother? What if they target mother? Will I be able to actually craft a pill and save her? What if the poison becomes active again while I'm learning to craft pills?"
Because he was busy thinking, Tahir didn't notice the passage of time. When he stopped thinking, he noticed that half of the new garden was already completed. He'd already tilled the ground and made holes for the different plants and seeds he'd place in the garden. He knew he'd received some fertilizer in the past that was stored in a sealed box and hidden along with their other things he'd received in the past. He felt there was no better use for it than his garden. He found he enjoyed the process of getting the ground ready for the garden. He found that it helped calm his frantic thoughts.
He knew he couldn't make this decision alone. While there were massive benefits for taking this new path, he could see problems coming from everywhere once he began. He decided to finish the garden tomorrow since he'd need to get some more input before he could make this tough decision.
Tahir went back into the house and checked on the food in the kitchen. He went to check on Adria again, and found her awake. "Mother, you're awake. How do you feel?"
Adria smiled when she heard her son's voice "I feel as well as I'm going to feel. I can't say I feel great, but I am content with knowing that you should be alright after I pass."
Tahir grabbed Adria's hand "Stop talking like that. What if I told you I had a way to cure you?"
Adria frowned, "I'd say stop with the foolishness." Tahir wanted to interrupt Adria, but she stopped him by holding up her hand. "Like I said foolishness. The only things that can resolve my illness is a pill we can't afford or people we shouldn't provoke. It's one thing to steal food and books. However, if you start stealing pills, then you're provoking some of the alchemists in this city. They can keep you living in a state where you wish you were dead indefinitely. The only other way is to make a deal with the devil that lives with the City Lord, and we both know she'll want your suffering in return."
Tahir grabbed Adria's other hand and said, "Normally, you'd be correct, but I have another way. I can't show you now, but if you trust me, I can show you after all the orphans get their meal, and I promise that I won't provoke any of the people you mentioned by stealing or making deals."
Adria stared at Tahir trying to find the hidden meaning in his words. "I'll trust you. We'll talk about this tonight before we go to sleep."
Tahir let a rare smile appear on his face. "Great! I won't let you down. We'll talk later."
Tahir left his mother to rest while he handled the group of orphans that came by in the afternoon. Gin and Rin also stopped by, but they decided to eat their meal there. Tahir watched Gin and Rin eating and had an idea. "Hey. You two stay here often. Where do you sleep?"
Gin immediately froze midway to eating another spoonful of stew. He sat there for a few seconds with his mouth hanging open as though in suspended animation. Finally, Tahir snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. "Did you hear what I asked you?"
Gin came back to his senses. "Uh yeah. I heard you. I just never expected you to ask a question like that. Why do you want to know?"
"I was just curious. I'm working on a project in the back of the house and figured the two of you could help out since you're here most of the day."
"What project?"
Tahir stood up from the table and proceeded to walk towards the rear of the house while waving to the two of them. "Follow me and you'll find out."
As they walked through the door. Rin and Gin had a shocked expression on their faces. The yard that was full of weeds and stray plants had been mostly transformed into a garden. They'd seen some garden in some of the homes they "visited" at night. While looking at the plants in various pots, they were able to recognize some of the herbs they studied in the books left by Tahir's grandmother.
Noticing the look of shock on their faces, Tahir smirked. "As you can see, I decided to grow some of the herbs used for medicine. I happened to notice some of the plants in this yard were the herbs in the book. I assume my grandmother brought them with her and planted them here so she wouldn't need to keep leaving the city to gather them."
Rin looked at her brother still standing there with his mouth open and reached up to close it for him. Turning to face Tahir, she said, "That's fine. I can come by here during the day while Gin is out and about to help with this."
Tahir shook his head. "I meant both of you work here. You can also help with the other kids that come by throughout the day. I stumbled across another opportunity to make money. So, I'll need someone to look after things here and continue to help look after my mother."
The siblings looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders at the same time. "I guess we can do that. But what about meals and other things?"
"Maybe I wasn't clear. The two of you will stay here from now on. I expect that I will be busy and gone for most of the day. So, I need someone here full time. The 2 of you can stay in the extra room in back. We even have a work room. So, who knows? You may be able to mix some herbs for remedies one day. I intend to try it myself. We can grow our own herbs now. So, it only makes sense to try."
Gin and Rin were still somewhat skeptical of Tahir's offer. After all, he would faithfully kick them out every day when he felt they stayed a little too long. He also kept a wall between others and himself, as if afraid to get close to anyone. Tahir noticed their hesitation and sighed, "You can think about it before making a decision."
Rin abruptly replied, "No. I mean yes. We'll take you up on your offer. It's better than sleeping in a dark corner of the sewer, and it beats having to hope no one finds our spot while we're out, especially if one of us is sick and can't leave." Gin still felt some apprehension but decided to go with Rin on this decision.
Tahir smiled, and scared the siblings because they��d never seen him smile before. His smile was attractive. However, it was greatly unexpected. Tahir noticed the reaction from the two of them. "I'm not going to bite you. Just go lay down and we'll discuss it in the morning."
Gin remembered something and said, "Hey we'll come by tomorrow morning. There's something we need to handle tonight, but we'll finish it up and move in tomorrow."
"Works for me. I'll see you then." Tahir then went back in the house knowing that Gin and Rin would just hop over the fence to leave.
Later that night, while most people were asleep, Tahir was restlessly pacing back and forth. He didn't know how to explain what was going on to his mother. He finally gave up thinking about it and decided to just tell her plainly. He went to Adria's room and found her already sleeping. He gently shifted her shoulder to wake her up. "Mom. Mom. I need you to wake up."
Adria's eyes popped open, and was somewhat frantic while replying, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Tahir felt a little guilty because he clearly scared his mother. "No. Remember I said I would tell you about my plan to cure you."
Adria immediately calmed down. "I didn't think you'd actually come back to tell me. It seems you're serious."
"I'm very serious. However, in order to explain everything, we'll need to go somewhere else." As soon as he said those words, the background shifted from their home to a lavishly decorated bedroom. Adria was still laying down. She was shocked and scared. She didn't understand what was happening. Tahir immediately worked to calm Adria. "Don't be scared mom. This is what I was talking about."
Adria turned to intensely stare into Tahir's eyes. "Where are we? You need to talk, and fast."
She then noticed a middle-aged man walk through the door of the bedroom with a tray that held a tea set. She could see steam coming out of the pot. He placed the tray on the table next to the bed. "I think it's best that I handle the explanations from here."