A few days back, before Gwen left the village was the day of the local market. In Gyros on every Wednesday and Thursday were the days of the Dias Market.
Dias market was a place for all kinds of merchants from the nearby cities and states to come and display their special goods. Since Gyros was near the sea, the port also served as the medium for the exchange of goods to the neighboring kingdoms.
And just like any other Wednesday, Hera got up when the sun came up. Gwen always used to go to the farms to work at the crack of dawn. Even though both of them were witches, their community code restricted for them to use their magic for personal purposes unless in danger. So ultimately both had to work hard.
The golden rays of the sun made the atmosphere less chilly and fresher. The birds were chirping and there was a delicious smell of freshly baked sesame bread and earl grey tea.
"Guess Gwen left again..", she mumbled while yawning as she got down from the bed.
She trudged from the bedroom to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. They didn't have a big house, on the contrary, it was just a small cottage near the street of the mansions that belong to the nouveau rich or just temporary residing merchants. But it was big enough for the two of them with two spare rooms.
They loved to live there for there were markets and farms nearby, and because it was easier for them to live peacefully among the humans.
It was a normal morning for Hera. She woke up with lazy expressions and eye bags, had no interest in going and working, and thus started cleaning the house just so Gwen doesn't come and yell at her.
"I guess today also I don't have much work." She pretended to think with furrowed eyebrows.
"Yes nothing, so I'll be reading the entire time, Yay." she gave herself a discount. She arranged her table to sit and read and just then someone knocked on the front door.
"Huh? Who will it be? Gwen?" she mumbled as she left her table and walked towards the door.
"Who is it?" she asked with a strong and loud voice as she was opening the door.
She opened the door to a man. He stood tall with a handsome face and crisped ironed clothes and a gentleman hat. He also had a face that screamed 'I am annoyed'.
"Uh! Who is this handsome weirdo?" Hera thought to herself.
"Hel.." he interrupted her sentence and said,
"May I ask if you provide lodging services?" he said with neither a polite nor respectful tone.
"Huh?" she tilted her head in confusion.
"Sorry, we don't accept rude weirdos." She said as she was going to shut the door.
"I think you are the one who is rude. And the sign outside the lawn clearly says, 'VACANT ROOMS'." He stopped her and pointed.
"Huh? Where did that come from?" she asked.
"Are you stupid? How do I know?" he asked as his butler bought his bags over.
"Can you please move, this man here has to keep those bags down?" He asked her to move.
"Umm? Ok, sure." She replied.
The man and the butler both entered inside and sat down on the chairs around the table.
"This must be Gwen's doing. But why must I handle these things?" she was whining to herself inside although she portrayed a calm smile on her face.
"So how much each room will cost us? I need two." He said as he removed his gloves and picked up the book on the table.
"I would love it if you don't touch anything." She said with a sarcastic tone with a polite smile. The old butler giggled a little but stopped so he could protect his job.
"Young miss, can you please give us lodging for two days starting from today. We are here for business matters." Said the butler as he got up and stood behind the master.
"Yeah. So you need two rooms right? What names should I put them under?" she asked as she opened the register on the counter.
"Tyler. Put them under Baron Harrison Tyler." Said the man with confidence.
Hera, who was clearly unimpressed, just entered and gave the butler two plates of freshly baked pastries and tea.
"Have them and then I'll show you the rooms." She said to the butler and completely ignored the Baron.
They had their teas and Hera guided them to their rooms on the second floor.
"Even though this is a small cottage, I feel safe here. And this girl seems interesting." Thought Harrison to himself.
"Wait. What am I thinking? I need to get successful with my business first." He quickly came back to reality.
By the time he was done thinking, Hera already left them with their rooms and now it was only the butler and him.
"Hey old man where is the lady?" he asked.
"Why? Are you interested in her?" asked the old man slyly.
"Wha? What nonsense are you spouting?" said Harrison as he blushed,
"You better remember Harrison. You are here so you could prove that you are a loser. Don't try too much as all the wealth will to second master." Whispered the Butler with an evil smile on his face. And Harrison was enraged but was totally helpless in front of the sickly old man.
"What is up with these people?" thought Hera as she heard them by mistake while passing by.
There wasn't much difference in Hera's schedule since Harrison Tyler and his butler didn't create any significant disturbances.
It was soon dusk. The sun was almost near the horizon, and the sun's rays reflected on the glasses of the cottage's windows.
"It is the time of Gwen's return." Thought Hera as she got up to make dinner and do the dishes from the afternoon meal. And suddenly a letter appeared in front of Hera.
"What is it this time?" she proceeded to pick up the letter after wiping her hands to her apron.
"To Hera,
I am not coming home today. Just as I predicted, I hope you got a new customer to rent the rooms for two days. That's why I put up the sign outside. Sorry, I didn't tell you, I knew you would remove and throw it away if I did. Sorry about that." Hera read.
"I can just imagine her expression of how unapologetic she is about this." Thought Hera and continued reading.
"Well anyway, I hope the money you earn will be enough for you to enjoy the market for two days. I am visiting the next town to search for someone. I believe we need to get married soon to live peacefully. Let's not forget the prophecy mom made. We need to stay in Gyros. I wish you can find someone. If not use your magic, but we just have this and the next week. I'm going to go now. Take care of yourself. If that man seems to be a danger kill him, I'll clean the mess. Lots of love. Goodbye." She completed reading.
"Does she think cleaning people is that easy? What a bad and evil creature, but then again she is a witch." Hera shrugged her shoulders and made the letter disappear.
They had dinner and Harrison walked outside the cottage. Hera got busy with washing dishes before going to sleep and glanced outside the window. She could see Harrison sitting on the porch of the cottage.
"What does that have to do with me?" she thought and got distracted with other tasks.
She cleaned everything, arranged the utensils, and also sorted the dirty laundry to clean. And still, Harrison was sitting on the porch, looking up at the sky.
"Maybe I should take a look." She grabbed a coat and stepped outside.
"Hey what are you looking at?" she asked with a soft voice.
"Nothing, what does that have to do with you?" he said.
"Hey, no need to be so rude rich guy. I'm just here to give you a coat and warn you about the cold." She said as she was going to walk away.
"I'm looking at my mother." He replied softly with a little bit shaky voice.
"The look in his eyes? He looks lonely unlike how he was in the morning." She thought and turned around.
"May I take a seat?" she asked politely and handed the coat over to him.
"Do you like looking up at the stars?" she asked and sat down.
He kept quiet for a few moments and then replied, "Not at all. More like I hate it. They just make me remember the things I don't want." He replied as he looked into her eyes.
"May I ask, What are those things?" she asked carefully and politely.
He looked in her eyes with hesitation but replied, "I lost all the people important to me on a beautiful starry night, just like this one. I just feel lonely sometimes." He said as he again looked up at the sky.
"I don't like nights either." Said Hera with a warm tone.
"I feel I can lose anything in the dark abyss that takes over the world at night. More than hating it, I'm scared of it. I just don't like the thought." She replied and they continued to look up at the sky.
The darkness went far beyond the hill that stood just as a mere obstacle. The eyes didn't know what was there beyond the hill but the heart knew that darkness met the land somewhere near the horizon. Someplace the heart can never reach.
"If you don't mind I would like to ask, who is that old man? Is he really your butler?" she asked.
And suddenly all the walls around Harrison that just come down got high up again. He went to a total alert mode and Hera felt uneasy.
Unknowingly she charmed him with the magic of her seducing eyes and he started to blabber everything in his mind.
"He is just a spy placed by my stepmother on my side. I always wanted to become a successful businessman and she didn't want it. Now even my father thinks I'm a loser and I want to prove him wrong. He thinks my younger brother is more capable and wants to remove me from the family business. Also, I like you." He completed his little speech and Hera nodded as she completely understood the situation.
"So your stepmother is bull crap and your father is stupid and you also like me…" she was just repeating and revising the things she just heard and suddenly she stopped.
"What?" she blushed. Harrison was still under the spell. "Oh! Maybe because you are under a spell you are feeling it." She tried to come to a rational decision but Harrison said, "No I liked you since the first time I saw you." He said mechanically like a possessed puppet.
"Oh god. You need sleep. Just go up and sleep. Tomorrow you have work to do." She whispered as she was shy and disabled the spell.
"Oh? What just happened?" he asked as he came back to reality.
"Nothing, just that we should go up and sleep for now." Said Hera with a blushing smile. They got up and went to their own rooms.
Hera got in her bed, "Why did he have to say something like that. I've never got something like that with my mind-reading ability before." She was just busy being shy and embarrassed.
"I wish this could be real." She thought, "Wait, no I don't at all want this to be real. He is so cranky and rude and also really handsome." She facepalmed herself. I need to go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day.
She got lost in all the thoughts that came to her as a big tide. She slept with all of the thoughts buried deep inside her heart.
"May he get all the happiness he deserves."
And thus she slept.