The local dockhands surrounded Cordelia. Their voices blended as they all tried to talk to her. She raised a hand to stop the barrage of questioning - quickly, they all hushed.
"Gentlemen, please. I was just in the right place at the right time. Is everyone ok? I hope no one was hurt." The men looked around themselves and shook their heads. Everyone was fine. Not one of them had suffered a single scratch.
"Excellent. Now, please. Return to your work. I have kept you all long enough." Cordelia smiled, hinting she no longer wished to be bothered.
Luckily, they took the hint. After a few bows and words of thanks, the crowd around her dissipated. Before the boy tending to the horse could turn around, she stopped him.
"Dear, please give this mare another try." She leaned in to whisper to the young boy who had blushed profusely at her sudden closeness, "I fed her an enchanted flower. She should be the calmest mare under your care from now on. But don't tell anyone, ok?" She winked at him before turning away.
"Thank you, Madame VonElise." The boy bowed deeply to her before returning to his job. His chest puffed out with pride now that he had a mare who had been graced with magic by the Madame herself. Cordelia tucked the loose hair behind her ears again before looking at the mysterious boat and crew.
She saw what was about to happen. On instinct and against her better judgment, Cordelia put on a proper display of magic in front of the whole dock. Benoni would give her an earful for this when he found out. And just as the attention surrounding her finally started to die down… she had to go and make everything on the dock float around.
She could get away with dismissing a single box or two, but two whole platforms of heavy wooden crates and calming a runaway horse? While the magic wasn't complex for her to do, it was still more than the townspeople were used to experiencing. In their eyes, what she had just done was nothing short of a miracle. She had been involuntarily showing more of her power recently and was nervous about the attention it may draw.
She rubbed one temple with her free hand and mourned the shattered bottle of wine on the street. She had dropped her basket in a hurry when she saw what was about to happen. Unfortunately, the bottle did not survive the impact.
The crew from the mysterious crimson vessel were currently bickering amongst themselves. Sitting on the platform was the man who caught her eye earlier. He seemed fine, except for his leg. Two men were helping him off the platform to take him up to the ship when Cordelia called out to them out of nowhere. Her action surprised her. She wasn't typically one to do such a thing.
"Oh, excuse me. But I couldn't help but notice that one of you is hurt. If you don't mind, I'd like to look at it. Perhaps I could be of some help?"
The individuals around looked at her, and it seemed that the majority didn't have a clue about what she said. Instead, they just looked at her blankly. The tall man, who was even more impressive up close, spoke to the two carrying him in their native tongue. They sat him back down on the platform and backed away.
"Apologies, my lady. My crew is apprehensive of strangers. Even if the stranger just saved my life." His manly laugh filled the air with what felt like sunlight. Cordelia couldn't help but smile slightly.
His eyes met hers unapologetically. His golden auburn eyes practically glowed in the sunlight. It took Cordelia off guard; most people in Ville Marais never made direct eye contact with her. But this man looked at her as if she were the only important thing currently in his life. It made her feel slightly embarrassed, which was new for her. Cordelia hadn't felt embarrassed in such a long time. She had forgotten what it felt like.
"It seems I might've broken my ankle." He lifted the injured leg, showing her which one.
Cordelia walked forward cautiously, placing her basket on the corner edge of the platform. She could sense the apprehension from the men and woman that surrounded her and the man. She moved slowly and respectfully as if not to spook the overprotective crewmembers.
"I apologize I was unable to stop the other platform sooner."
The man looked around, and as if reading her mind, he barked orders at the crowd surrounding them. They glanced at him and Cordelia apprehensively before slowly walking away and returning to their work.
"Dear lady, you just saved my life. A hurt ankle is little to fret over. I apologize for my crew. They are all a bit protective of me. It's rather annoying."
It was a bit ridiculous in Cordelia's mind. She figured a man like the one sitting before her didn't require any protection - unless it was from falling boxes. The man swung his legs onto the platform for her to inspect easily. As Cordelia walked closer, she felt his eyes follow her. But unlike other male gazes who looked at her hungrily, his glowing amber ones looked at her with curiosity. She suddenly felt self-conscious, which frustrated her.
All these feelings she hadn't felt in so long suddenly washed over like a tumultuous sea. Cordelia told herself it was a residual effect from her earlier experience with the young man at the dock, mixed with the adrenaline from what had just happened.
But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but feel she was too conscious of the man sitting in front of her. The closer she got, the harder her heart pounded in her chest. It was a wildly new and slightly uncomfortable feeling.
Despite that, Cordelia tried to brush off the growing warmth in her body. "I'll have to remove your boot. I'll try to be as gentle as possible." The man nodded at her, his eyes observing her carefully.
Cordelia took a deep breath and hovered a hand over the boot. She could tell it had already started swelling. The laces and leather looked inflated and strained. Without warning, the boot's laces unraveled slowly and methodically until they were completely unlaced. The tongue of the leather boot lifted gently, revealing a socked foot. Very slowly, the boot slid out from under the man's foot. The sock slipped off in a single careful motion revealing an already deeply purple, swollen ankle.
Without touching, Cordelia hovered her hand over the ankle, "You may feel some warmth…." Cordelia closed her eyes and felt the energy from the ankle surge into her hand. There was a sharp pain, a snapping sensation, followed by a deep ache. The energy and blood she felt flowing through his leg were distorted and fuzzy. Mana, the energy that flowed through all life, rushed aggressively to the sight and then muddled and built upon itself as if it were swelling within his foot - unable to release and flow properly. His ankle was definitely broken.
There was another sensation swirling around that she wasn't familiar with. It felt icy, but not in an unpleasant way. It was like the refreshing feeling of a cool drink of water on a hot day. It was inviting and calming in an odd way. She wanted to chase the feeling but stopped herself.
"It's broken," she said, not opening her eyes. "Give me just a moment. You'll feel some pressure and momentary discomfort…."
Cordelia reached and twisted her energy, swirling together with the man's. The pooling mana in his ankle felt twisted into a vicious knot. She exhaled slowly, relaxing her energy, letting it flow like water. Instinctively, his energy followed hers, and like a rubber band snapping, the bundled energy released quickly, returning to normal. She opened her eyes. The ankle was still extremely bruised, but the swelling had already subsided. The warmth that was radiating off the busted leg had diminished.
"Wow." The man exhaled quietly as if he had been holding his breath. He swirled his ankle a few times, testing the pain, which had disappeared entirely.
"I fixed the break. You should be back to normal. The bruising will take some time to dissipate, but you shouldn't have any issues. I can wrap it if you'd like to offer some stability and to help assist with lessening the bruise. But it's not really necessary." Cordelia reached for her basket, her eyes not meeting his.
"So this is the power of a sorceress? Amazing." The man hopped up quickly off the platform, testing the weight on his ankle. He seemed like a child, hopping up and down on his leg, balancing on his bare foot.
"Oh, I'm no sorceress. I'm just a simple witch." Cordelia offered a small smile. Sorceresses were different from witches. While they both manipulated energy and used magic, the core of their powers stemmed from entirely different sources. Despite being both magic-wielding bodies, they couldn't be more different in nature. Cordelia's smile grew. If a sorcerer knew a witch was compared to them, the insult would've sent them into a rage.
"A witch." The man looked at her with intrigue. "I have never met a witch before. May I know your name, Madame Witch?"
"Cordelia VonElise." She nodded ever so slightly in his direction, "And you are?"
"Lyonis Dymitrus Tualon, my lady." He offered her an extravagant bow. Cordelia felt her ears grow hotter in embarrassment. "Please call me Lyonis."
He glanced up at her and flashed a dazzling smile. His messy hair hung over his auburn eyes. They sparkled up at her, piercing right through her. He looked ridiculous, wearing only a single boot, bowing deeply to her while standing on the pier. He didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
"It's been a pleasure, Sir Lyonis. Please take care of yourself." Cordelia spun on her heels and turned to walk away. She suddenly felt the urge to run away. Not because she was scared of him, not because she was angered, and not even because she was in a hurry. No, it was because a sudden swarm of butterflies erupted in her gut.
Lyonis Dymitrus Tualon had somehow made her feel something… new. And what made her more unwary was that she didn't necessarily dislike it.
"Cordelia!" She stopped in her tracks as Lyonis called out to her. He used her first name without honorifics. She paused at the sound of her name on his lips - she wanted to hear him say it again.
"What a dangerous man." She thought to herself. There was something about him that drew her to him. The longer she was near him, the more she wanted to stay.
It was not that she hadn't known beautiful men before. She had seen many come and go in her lifetime, and she had even felt the intimate touch of a few of them. But all had left a disappointingly sour taste in her mouth. Beauty was indeed something only skin deep. The beautiful men of her past had never quite lived up to their looks.
She learned from a young age that lust and love were very different. The men who pursued her attention in the past were only after her body and power for their own selfish reasons. The kind words and tender affections they half-heartedly tossed her way were little more than baits to ensnare her in a spider's web. She couldn't help but feel taken advantage of and resentful of falling prey to those men in the past. It had made her extra wary of any man who approached her.
"You cannot leave before I thank you for your help." Lyonis glanced her way and flashed a small smile her way. His golden eyes were pleading for her to stay awhile.
Cordelia sighed, "Sir Lyonis…."
"Just Lyonis, Cordelia." He interrupted her, wagging a playful finger in her direction. He was busy putting his boot and shoe back on his foot. His cream-colored tunic stretched across his broad shoulders as he leaned forward. The sweat that had collected on his skin made the light shirt cling to his skin. Cordelia caught herself staring and quickly turned away from him. She felt blood rush to her ears and a heat flood over her body.
"... Lyonis. I was simply doing my part. Any good person would've done the same in my situation. There is no need to thank me." She straightened her back and walked away. "Please… return to your work."
She heard him call out to his crew in his native tongue and figured that he had dismissed her. She exhaled profoundly, feeling relief. A slight tinge of disappointment poked around the back of her head, but she immediately rejected it.
Mystery and adventure oozed from the red vessel - it called out to her, inviting her to learn more. But her days of adventure were well behind her. She wanted a simple life and thoroughly loved the life she had built for herself in Ville Marais.
She resigned herself to never seeing the crew or Lyonis ever again.
...