Before his foster son could react, he continued, his hand raised as if to ward against any objections.
“And on the topic of the potion… It is yours; your patient gave it to you as payment for a treatment well done. You can do with it as you wish, but… if you want my advice, I wouldn’t drink it. You don’t need to change who you are to impress people. Once they see behind the green skin, they will recognize how wonderful you are.”
The brief speech left Kraghtol stunned. Merrick had always been nice, and he was the best father Kraghtol could imagine. But such confidence in his son, expressed with so much conviction, was so rare that Kraghtol couldn’t remember having heard it ever before. Then again, at least in his own eyes, he rarely gave Merrickreasonto be proud of him. It moved him so much he almost cried.
“But… what about money? The tuition fees the old geezer mentioned. I don’t have much money.”
At this point, a part of Kraghtol’s mind was just trying to conjure up excuses.
“Yes, you will probably need to earn some money while studying. But you won’t start with nothing, either.”
Merrick stood up and went to his bedroom, only to return with a small lockbox shortly after that he opened using a tiny key he produced from his pocket.
“I have saved a little money over the years for an occasion like this. Well, this, or the house burning down.”
Kraghtol shook his head decisively.
“No! You can’t give me your life savings, not for a… stupid idea like this!” he protested, but Merrick just chuckled.
“It’s not that much. If we’re being honest, it won’t be too much use if the house really burns down. The goodwill of the young and strong villagers — many of whom I helped to deliver myself — however, will. And I am not giving you that goodwill.”
Merrick took out a small leather pouch that clinked slightly as he put it on the table. Then, he reached into the lockbox once more.
“Besides, part of the money is actually yours, in a sense.”
“Mine? What do you mean? “
Merrick hesitated a moment before he continued in a slightly pained voice.
“When you were born, your mother — a soldier, as I have told you before — was passing through our village. When it was time, she came to me, and I helped to bring you into this world.”
Kraghtol nodded curiously. That much he knew already, as his foster father had told him the story before. He had the feeling, however, that the next part might be new.
“After you were born, she gave me a gold coin, both as payment for my work, as well as for… getting rid of the baby.”
“Getting rid? She wanted you to…”
Merrick smiled unhappily.
“Yes, that is what she wanted me to do. I refused, of course, but she wouldn’t take her child with her. If I liked the infant so much, she said, I should care for him myself. She did, however, decide on a name for her child, and since I did not know what it meant by then, I had no reason to refuse.”
Kraghtol felt more anger rising in him, mixed with a deep respect for his foster father, the only proper parent he had ever known. He had known, of course, that his mother had given him to Merrick as a child. The healer had never told him the specifics, however, until now.
Still trying to form a coherent answer in his head, the quiet clink of a coin on the wooden table distracted him.
“This is the very gold coin she gave me that day. I never spent it, because I think it should belong to you.”
Kraghtol picked up the small piece of metal and looked at it. A gold coin was worth a lot, as much as 10 silver coins or 100 copper coins. Healers rarely got paid that much for delivering a baby. No, this was payment for not having to deal with the baby anymore. As much as Kraghtol wanted to believe that this money was for making sure Merrick could care for him, the story clarified that his mother couldn’t have cared less about that. If it hadn’t been for the kind-hearted healer, this money would have been payment for a murder. A thousand thoughts were racing through his brain, and none of them could fathom what kind of mother it took to kill her own child.
He closed his fist around it but was careful not to bend the soft metal.
“I’ll take this coin, but I will not spend it either. I will keep it, and if one day I meet my mother, I will give it back to her.”
It took him a lot of effort not to suggest that he would push it down her throat. Truth be told, he did not know how he would react if he ever met her, and since there was little chance of just randomly running into a female soldier, he didn’t even know the name of, he felt no need to think about it properly. But one thing was for certain:ifhe ever met her, he would give her back her blood money.
“I understand. However you choose, it is yours to decide.”
Merrick pushed the small leather pouch over to Kraghtol.
