"Before you answer that question, take a walk with me," I heard Laura say from inside my head.
I suddenly found myself standing beside a younger version of her in Dagger's End. She was sitting on the ground, picking up handfuls of dry, gray dirt and letting it pour through her fingers. She smiled up at me as she did.
"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked. This sudden shift in reality had me on edge.
"Just take a look around you, really pay attention. You have to understand your audience if you truly want to win people over," she said and stood up.
I looked around the village as she brushed the dust from her green dress. I was standing in the same place I had a few moments ago when we snuck in. I saw the same animal hide tents, nothing looked any different.
"I've already seen this place, what should I be looking for?" I asked impatiently.
Laura smiled and gestured to the village around us.
"Maybe focus less on what you do see and pay more attention to the things you don't," she said.
I looked around the miserable place again. How was I supposed to know what I wasn't seeing? Why was Laura being all mysterious all of a sudden? She obviously knew what I needed to notice; a more helpful spirit guide would just tell me. I imagined what being her child would be like, I would've always been confused. I reminded myself to tell Bella not to be that way with Mila. The poor child had enough going on without trying to solve a riddle every time she needed a little help. The answer occurred to me so suddenly that it shocked me I hadn't noticed it sooner.
"Hey, I think I figured it..." I started to say but didn't finish.
I stopped talking when I realized I was back in Julia's tent.
"You figured what out?" Teresa asked me with a raised eyebrow. Her right hand was resting on her sword.
Before I could answer her question someone walked into the tent. She was carrying a stack of papers so tall it hid her face.
"Hey Jules, I arranged for our next shipment.....," The woman stopped talking when she bumped into Bella.
"I didn't realize we had guests," she said as she sat the papers on the table in front of Julia.
"Julius is dead," Julia said. Her voice was so weak she was almost whispering.
"What, how?" the woman said and rushed over to Julia and put her arms around her.
"It was Conlin, it happened before we got to the village," Teresa exclaimed.
"And where is Conlin now? We should be allowed to make him pay for his actions," the woman said with fists clenched tightly.
She was a short, fair skinned woman with short blonde hair. Her face turned a bright shade of red as she waited for a response.
"We killed him before we had any idea he owed you all a debt," Bella answered.
"And in doing so you stole my only chance to avenge my brother. That's why Lilyfield has to be destroyed," Julia said without looking up at us. Her eyes were fixed on her own hands.
"You don't mean that, Jules, that has to be the pain talking," the blonde said.
"What does it matter Leah, all Julius wanted was peace with that village and they killed him. If I don't wipe them out now, whoever takes my place will, dragging it out is just pointless," Julia said. Tears hit the table like raindrops as she quietly spoke.
"Julius doesn't have to be a wasted life. We can use this to make his dream a reality. You both wanted to make Dagger's End a better place. That's still possible," Leah knelt beside Julia and pleaded with her.
"No, it's really not. It was a stupid dream, and now my brother is gone forever because he didn't realize that soon enough,"Julia said flatly.
"I understand you need time to mourn, but that doesn't make it okay to diminish the work your brother literally gave his life for," Leah said and stood up with her arms folded.
I felt like I was invading their privacy by listening to this conversation, but I couldn't leave until I was sure we wouldn't be attacked.
"I hate to intrude but I think we can help you all out," I said cautiously.
"What, do you wanna kill me too and reunite us in death?" Julia asked and looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy.
"There aren't any people moving around this place.. Where is everyone?" I asked as Bella and Teresa both realized I was right.
"You're right, this place is as dead as Lilyfield was when we got there," Teresa said.
"How did I miss that?" Bella asked herself.
"We don't need a lot of people to wipe your tiny village out, What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Julia scoffed and pounded her fists on her table.
"I'm only asking because it's a sign that something is wrong in a village. We may be able to help you solve the problem, if you'll accept our help," I said in the most soothing tone I could manage.
"The truth is that we have to use every able bodied person we can to fill our order," Leah said with a sigh.
"It's the soil isn't it, I noticed on the way here that the dirt became drier and thinner the closer we got to the village," Bella said as it finally occurred to her.
"Yeah, the soil here is too thin and rocky to grow plants. That means that we also can't raise livestock. So we have to order all of our food and animal based materials," Leah said.
Lilyfield has tons of fertile land. We can grow enough crops and raise enough animals to feed your people," I said.
"We will provide you with enough food and materials to care for your people, free of charge for a year, and after that, the price will be reduced to fifty percent for the foreseeable future," Bella said.
"And this is supposed to make up for my brother's life?" Julia asked with disgust in her voice.
"Of course not. Nothing can replace that, but we can do our best to make the future he dreamed of happen," I said somberly.
"And you have the authority to make this happen?" Leah asked while she ran her hand through her hair.
"Yes, there is no higher power in Lilyfield," I said.
It technically wasn't a lie, there hadn't been a new governor installed in Lilyfield yet. I just felt bad about strapping whoever did get the position with this responsibility. Then again it beat trying to rebuild a village from a pile of smoking rubble. Either way we would have to get the village back on its feet quickly.
"This could work, we have able bodied workers who hate being in the mines. We could send them to Lilyfield to farm instead," Leah said.
"So, are you okay with this arrangement?" Teresa asked Julia.
"I honestly don't care about anything right now. Talk to Leah, Julia said and walked out of the tent. She seemed so much smaller than she was a few moments ago.
"This is something that needs to happen, but it will take some time for Julia to recover. We'll reach out when she is able to," Leah said just before leading us to the village gate.