Cedric Gregory was an enigma most villagers tried to solve. He appeared out of nowhere with an old yellowed medical license and a letter saying that he was reinstated to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, the villagers were glad. They didn't have a healer for quite some time.

But villagers were very weary of strangers. And this one looked very strange with his ash blonde hair and pale blue eyes. His skin was pasty pale most of the time, a healthy hue on some days. He had a beard which was always cleanly cut and the same length. Most ladies swore he would look younger if he shaved it off. Some argued he looked good with it.

All in all, all agreed that the man as a certain charm to him, no matter how brooding he seemed.

He was given the small shack at the end of the road as a livingspace and for his work. There was no other residence available and the young man didn't seem to mind living at the far of the village.

It didn’t take long for it to became apperant that he was good at what he does.

He doesn't talk much, but he could tell anyone's sickness by just looking. He didn't need to prod around too much and the powders he ground worked like a miracle.

No one questioned why such a genius was sent to the outskirts of the kingdom. No one cared to even think about it. But they were quite concerned whether he was planning to marry or not. He already seemed to be in his early thirties, it would be a shame to not have a child at that age.

"I am unable to sire children," was his answer.

It was followed by looks of sympathy from all the ladies. The men snickered from behind while some respected his courage to actually admit it. But it did stop the marriage proposals, which was what the young healer wanted accomplished in the first place.

And so peace echoed in the valley, save for the occasional attack by wild cats and the family dramas which were a regular. Yet although Cedric wanted to believe that his life was boring and rather peaceful, he had a lot of reasons to realize that it was not so.

Actually. It was one reason.

"Healer Gregory!!!"

There was a loud tud, as if something heavy had fallen onto the wooden floor. There was also a bit of scrambling before the door of the little shack at the end of the village opened, revealing a girl with disheveled hair.

"Saphira?"

"Sapphire!" A high pitched voice said.

"Yes. Sapphire."

Cedric looked back at the fireplace. It was already dead. He then looked at the sky. There was barely any light. Him sleeping for half a day and a whole night, which didn't mean anything good. To make things worse, the storm clouds hadn't much receded yet.

"What in damn incarnation are you doing this earl in the morning?"

The girl with a messy mane of caramel brown hair shoved an old wicker basket on to Cedric's stomach.

"Herbs!"

"What? Where... Okay," Cedric said. He moved around the uprooted plants. He had to admit, they were some of the herbs he needed restocks of.

The girl stretched out her palm.

"Uh... Wait a minute," Cedric said.

The girl said nothing before slipping past Cedric's side to enter into the shack. She then rummaged around the shelves packed with jars and the sill above the fireplace with the drying herbs. She pulled out a few books off the messy table, flipping them over.

"What are you searching for?" Cedric asked, rubbing his eyes.

"An ink stick!"

"Why?"

"I know you have one you don't use," the girl said. "I will sell it to Priscilla for twice the price. I can give you half."

Cedric rummaged through his medical satchel, his fingers slipping into the small pocket he kept for coins. He took out five coppers, which he placed in the little stool by the table.

"Your coin."

Sapphire took the fice coins, looking them over. She then sat on the stool. "What's for breakfast!"

Cedric shot the girl an annoyed look. "Don't you have other adults to look after you?"

"My aunt said I was the biggest... Something in her life. I don't think it was something nice. She is angry today. I better stay away."

"And they ask me why I don't want to get married," Cedric muttered. He look out the loaf of bread from the larder, which was on the verge of going stale, but still salvageable. The goat cheese in the clay pot he owned was still edible at least. He smeared a generous amount of cheese onto the half hard bread before handing it over to the girl. Cedric himself cut three slices for himself.

"No meat?" Sapphire asked.

"Didn't hunt," Cedric replied, tearing into the bread.

The two of them ate in silence.

"Any work I can do?"

"You are barely eight years old? What can you do? And you should know that more than half of my earnings goes about paying you for your unnecessary services."

Sapphire shrugged. "You are the only person who will pay me."

"Which I am starting to regret."

"Ahh! That's the word Aunt Marge used! What does it mean?"

Cedric looked to the girl, who had dirt smeared on her face and wearing the same dress for the last two years, which now reached above her knees. Her shoes were barely functional. Over all, she was a tiny bundle of sticks with a heavy attitude.

"I will... Teach you later."

He gave her what remained of the loaf.

"It might rain soon again, don't go out to the forest."

The girl simply sat of the chair, her feet dangling two finger lengths above the floor as she swung her legs on the stool.

"You are going to bother me the whole day, aren't you."

The little girl grinned, flashing her full set of theeth, in which there was one missing to the side.

And so was Cedric's usual day. He ground some herbs which seemed seemed dry enough and hung the new herbs above the fireplace to dry. He then read the same book for the hundredth and thirty second time. So much so he had almost all the texts memorized. He then left the girl in the hut in hopes of catching some mountain pheasant.

There was another reason why Sapphire was very fond of staying in the little shack at the end of the village.

It was the meat.

"You caught a goat too!" The girl exclaimed, taking the two dead pheasants from Cedric's arms.

A dead mountain goat rested on top of the man's shoulder, the cut which killed it visible in the neck.

"Are we having goat or pheasant tonight!"

"Both."

And so the house was filled with the smell of roasting meat. Strips of goat meat hung below the herbs, drowning in smoke. Sapphire sat on a stool while Cedric sat on the armchair as they ate a stew of goat meat with root and roasted bird. It started to rain in the evening.

Sapphire finished half a bird and two bowls of meat stew. The rest was gobbled up by the village healer.

"Aunt Marge said that when someone eats too much, they blow up like a ball and end up ugly. She said no one will marry an ugly girl and that's why I should eat little."

Cedric raised a brow.

"You should take less advice from your aunt."

"I think I ate too much. Will I blow up?"

"You need to blow up a bit. Being sticks and bones won't help you either."

"To marry?"

"To survive," Cedric replied. Cedric had long realized that villagers in the outskirts tended to think alot about marriages. For one, they were a good source of entertainment besides drinking. In small villages, everyone knew anyone and few rarely left to pursue fortune in the cities, so marriage partners were found from the same village or the neighboring ones. Thus everyone wanted to be matchmaker.

Little Sapphire Shelving on the other hand, was the black sheep in the flock. So much so that it was believed that her family is cursed. Or at least, the poor little girl was.

The Shelvings were quite well endowed. The two sons who carried on the family name were good hunters. They both married beautiful wives and the younger one even had a son. And what a smart and handsome fellow he was.

Things were fine for a while, and the wife of the eldest brother was even found to be expecting a child. It was quite an occasion when Sapphire was born. She was named after her eyes, which shone in dark blue like jems which the villagers had heard of, or at least imagined them to be. The following day, both the Shelving brothers left home to hunt a good stag for celebrating the occasion.

One brother was stabbed to death by an angry stag. The other fell over a cliff while carrying back his brother's dead body. Sapphire's mother, who married the love of her life, fell into despair and died months later. Sapphire's elder brother, probably fifteen at the time, left with a hunting guild in hopes of earning a fortune and never came back.

And so Sapphire was left with Marge Shelving, the wife of her uncle who was plagued with miscarriages. She had always wanted a child, and yet none survived till term. Most said that it was due to her fault, and that she was too unpleasant in temper to carry one. The rumours soured the already fragile mindset, which worsened when Sapphire was shoved into her care.

Although Aunt Marge wanted a child, she didn't want a cursed one. And it was difficult living as a widow. Everyone tended to blame women when misfortunes happened.

And thus, Sapphire was left to her own devices, who learnt the importance of money early on. She did small favors and odd jobs for a price, and some villagers were kind enough to lend her a copper piece or two for her efforts considering how miserable she seemed.

But the girl never minded. At least, she never knew what it was like to be supported by a family who cared to feel that she is missing something important. She seemed fine just the way she was.

And then Cedric came to the picture. She learnt that the young healer was a good source of coin and food, since he didn't seem to be able to say no to her. Also, he ate so much at a time that he gathered alot of food, enough so that he could spare some for her, which eventually became a habit.

Sapphire ran errands. Cedric payed her in money and meat.

The only down side was that Cedric had no clue how to send her away once she stepped into his house. She stuck like glue. And even the glue sticking to your pants become something you get used to after a long time.

Eventually, Sapphire Shelving became a regular in Cedric's life, although he did forget her name at times.