Chapitre 25: A New Apprentice

**BRIAR'S POV**

I was happy to see that the girl was awake. Happy enough that it made me not even care that that moron, Boberre, had known right away that I was a werewolf as well. I didn't know why he had come back with the Mercers, it made no sense to me at all. Most of the time, wolves like him would find it funny to trick the humans that were asking them for help.

As I thought more and more about it, there was only one reason I could think of that the man came back with them. I hoped I was wrong, because if I was right that would eventually lead to this family being truly devastated. I didn't want to see them be ripped away from each other when they went through so much to stay together and be a family with each other.

There were other things that interested me though, aside from Boberre's unusual actions, there was the glowing of the runic marks on Addie's wrists. That was not something that you usually see in humans at all, and if I wasn't mistaken, that meant that she had a gift for magic.

If she truly did have a talent for magic, then giving her the flourish potion could have unimaginable side effects for her. Nothing negative really, but rather extraordinary things.

For a werewolf, the Flourish potion was meant to make them physically stronger. Not to gain muscle or strength, but to heal them when they were feeling ill. It could be used on a weak and sickly baby that might not make it and it would save the child from almost certain death. It could make someone with a weak constitution healthy so that they didn't have to worry about being ill all the time. For a wolf it wasn't much but an everyday remedy.

For a human though, it meant something else entirely. I had not been around too many humans that needed the cure over the last century. I had brought several of them with me when I was banished from the city, as well as the ingredients to make it. But they have long since been used and perished.

The humans that I treated with the potion in the past never showed any signs of magical abilities before or after they were given the special potion. Then again, none of them had ever had runes on them either. I had heard though, that in the past there were humans with a small affinity for magic that became a lot more powerful and competent in the use of magic than even a lot of wolves were.

Those humans with magic had been why wolves were forbidden from selling the potion to them. The previous kings were afraid that the humans would buy them all as soon as they could and attempt to overthrow the kingdom. They simply wanted to control and contain the human population.

The problem with most of my species was that they didn't care if the humans died out all at once or slowly over time. They didn't realize that they needed these people to grow their food, raise the cattle for their dinner plates, and make the mundane items that they were too 'good' to make for themselves.

I didn't care that I was banished from the city because I wanted to help people, to help humans. The only thing that upset me was that I couldn't get my ingredients to grow outside of the city's magical gardens. Those herbs were special and needed special conditions.

Putting thoughts of my past out of my mind, I did my best to focus on Addie and her family. I was going to be going back there in a day or two to check up on her, even though I was already certain that she was going to be fine. I was still going to do my job and check up on her.

I appointed myself this village's healer about ten years ago. I typically only stay in an area long enough for people not to get overly suspicious about me not aging nearly as much as I should be. I had been here for a decade, and I would need to leave before too much longer. Perhaps I could train that girl to be my replacement when I leave. I could train her to be a healer and hope and pray that she is still here when I leave to run my small clinic as her own.

I went back to the Mercer family house the next day, not wanting to make the now healthy young girl wait in bed for another day. I found her sitting up in bed and playing a small game with her little sister who was smiling and giggling happily. There was a light in her eyes that wasn't there either of the previous times that I had seen the little girl.

"Hello Addie." I called out to her in my deep, rumbling voice and the two girls looked at me excitedly.

"Hello, Mr. Briar." Addie nodded at me with a soft smile.

"Hello Mr. Briar, thank you for helping my sister so much." It seemed that Addie wasn't the only one misplacing her thanks with me. Then again, I couldn't blame them, Boberre wasn't a pleasant man, and I barely knew him enough to make the call.

"I am just happy that she is doing well now." I didn't exactly accept her thank you, it was more like deflecting it. "May I speak with your sister now?" I gave the little girl a kind look as she nodded happily.

"Yes, I will go help my mother with lunch. Would you like to join us, Mr. Briar? I am sure that Mom and Dad will be happy to have you."

"That would be lovely. If they truly do not mind, then I would love to join you." If I was going to make this girl my apprentice, then I needed to be on good terms with her family as well.

"I will go tell them. Thank you again." She bowed her head to me before rushing out the door.

The younger girl had closed the door instinctually, however I opened it back at once. It was not proper for a young girl such as Addie to be alone with a man in her room.

"Thank you for coming today, Mr. Briar." Addie nodded at me.

"Please, just call me Briar. The mister part of it is a little more than I am used to." I chuckled as I pulled a chair to the side of the bed. "Now, Addie, how are you feeling today?" I got right to checking on her.

"I am fine. I have never felt better." That was likely true. Her body would literally be at its peak of health following that administration of the Flourish potion.

"That is good." I nodded as I got some tools from my bag. I started with the chest scope, putting the listening device over my ears.

"That's an odd looking stethoscope." I heard the girl speak as I listened to her chest.

"What was that? What is a 'steth-o-scope'?" I couldn't quite figure out what it was that she was saying.

"O..o..oh, i..it's n..nothing. S..s..sorry, just ignore me." She stuttered then blushed with embarrassment. I let it slide for the time being, I needed to check her heart and breathing, but both seemed to be clear and sounded normal.

"Any fevers since yesterday?" I asked as I placed my hand on her forehead and then moved it to the back of her neck to check for excessive warmth. I watched her shiver from the coldness of my hands, they were only cold because I kept them that way, usually they were too warm.

"N..no. No fevers."

"That is good." I nodded at her and looked into her eyes, checking for anything that might be off about her pupils. "You seem to be back to perfect health. This is wonderful."

"I am? Thank you so much." Unthinkingly, Addie threw herself at me and hugged me with her overflowing gratitude.

I hadn't been hugged by anyone in a long time. Not by friends, family, or any other loved ones, and I admit that the slight amount of affection made me miss the people that I had left behind in the city when I left. Without even thinking about it, I patted her back in response to the hug. This was new to me, or out of practice for me is more like it.

"Addie?" I called her name as I pushed her gently away from me. "I have something that I want to ask you."

"Yes, Briar?" Her eyes were sparkling.

"I am looking for a new apprentice, and something tells me that you would have a natural talent for being a healer. Would you like to work with me?"

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