Chapter 234 - The Proof Needed (1/2)

Saying he would find proof and actually finding it were two entirely different things. Rassa had honestly been stumped as to what to do on the way home that night, and it had led to a sleepless night gazing out his bedroom window. Though, admittedly, this time the night sky had been a little more welcoming than it had been the past couple of years.

When Rassa heard his parents stirring the next morning, the routine of the past few years pushed him from his position, only for him to realise as he placed his feet on the floor that it was unlikely there would be consequences worth his time if he didn't stick with routine for the day. The thought carried itself through breakfast, enough that when his father was finishing up, Rassa feigned leaving early so that he wasn't obligated to walk with him to the fields.

Instead, Rassa made his way towards the Baron's manor. What he wanted was unlikely to happen in the illusion, but Rassa needed this. He needed to speak with Aegin.

Of course, without help from his abilities, he was not nearly as stealthy. Not to mention the mindset of a hunter was something that Rassa had avoided for over two years. He would have liked to think it was something he could just fall back into, but without his enhanced senses and abilities, he was just the regular human he'd desired to be.

It took him only a few moments to locate where the Ridge Men were, but isolated Aegin was not nearly as easy. Rassa waited an hour on the outskirts of the garden before he was ready to find another method, but just as he was about to move, he felt a blade at his waist.

”You better have a good reason for standing there, I'm not all that tolerant of spies”.

Rassa froze, turning ever so slightly to find the lavender eyes he'd waited for staring back at him.

”Actually,” Rassa said, ”I'm waiting for you”.

The brows over those familiar eyes drew together in confusion, ”I don't know you”.

”No,” said Rassa, ”Not here you don't...but in another life”.

Aegin frowned before he withdrew his blade and put it back in its sheath, ”They weren't lying when they said those out in the boonies have a screw loose”.

Rassa cocked his head to the side as he watched Aegin turn to walk away, then he called out to him, ”Hey”.

Aegin turned back, a barely there tolerance in his gaze.

”If you had a choice between a normal life, and the one you've lived, which would you pick?”

He frowned, clearly confused as to why Rassa was posing the question, ”Man, I've got no idea who you are, and I'm not inclined to talk to you”.

”It's just a question,” said Rassa, ”One which I would really appreciate the answer to”.

Aegin huffed, ”Does it really matter? We're all only born once, no matter your beliefs of another life. Even if we are reincarnated as some cultures believe there is no proof that anyone actually remembers the lives they've lived before”.

”Of course it matters,” Rassa replied, ”It's your life”.

Aegin sighed as he looked away, as if exasperated that he had to deal with the mentally unstable intruder rather than a dangerous one, then he turned back to Rassa, ”My life has led me here. I don't see the point in worrying about an alternative path if I can never go back, just forward”.

Aegin then turned and walked back towards the manor. Rassa stood still as he watched Aegin walk away, then he couldn't help smiling.

”Yeah, figured,” said Rassa, ”Though I wish you were actually here to tell me that, or at the very least complain about how stupid I've been”.

After all, that was what family was for.

***

”Rassa,” said Jane, a little surprised as he walked into the bakery later that day, ”What are you doing here?”

”I just needed some time to think,” said Rassa as he sat down against the wall opposite the counter. Jane smiled as she placed her wash cloth down and turned to come sit beside him.

”Oh? What brought this on?” asked Jane, ”Making big plans are we?”

Rassa scoffed, ”What kind of big plans can be carried out here?”

Jane shrugged, ”Whatever you put your mind to. You've never been one that lacked imagination”.

”Just the courage to see it through,” Rassa muttered.

”Huh?”

Rassa shook his head, then turned to her, ”You know why I did it right?”

”Did what?” asked Jane.

”Why I cast you aside like that,” said Rassa.

Jane's smile dimmed as she turned away, ”Well...I get that it wasn't because of me”.