“Who is it?” a tired-sounding voice asked from the other side.
“It’s Voker, Linnetia. Please open up,” I asked, my voice hoarse.
The chanisms locking the giant door in place began to work as Linnetia swung the door open. Our eyes t, and for so reason, I knew she was acting odd. She appeared to be tired, most likely woken up from her slumber by knocking, but I felt that she was faking it.
Her hazel eyes betrayed her.
There was no fatigue in those eyes, and she was ready to fight whoever may have been at the door. Most likely with that weapon she is trying to conceal in her nightgown. But those dangerous glints in her eyes vanished as she looked up at and saw who I was carrying.
“Voker, are you okay? Who—”
“I need your brother imdiately. This child is in need of healing.”
Lin ushered in without a second thought, but there was no need to retrieve Sylas as he ca stumbling out of his room. The young man was rubbing his eyes ferociously and yawning constantly, but he stopped in the middle of the doorway to his room when he saw . Then his eyes narrowed at .
“Voker? What is going— ah!” Sylas let out a yelp of surprise upon seeing . The imdiate fear in his eyes was also washed away as he noticed my apparent injury and the girl. “You’re hurt? Did you—”
I quickened my step till I was directly in front of Sylas. “If you are about to assu that her condition is my fault, you are sorely mistaken,” I said with a far more threatening tone than I had wanted.
Today was supposed to be a break… yet I sohow feel even worse. I wish killing those n felt good at least… but I only got that odd sensation again.
“Sorry, I understand,” Sylas side stepped out of my way and motioned for to go into his room but not before grabbing ahold of my shoulder.
The warmth of his light magic spread from his hands and out through my body. I felt marginally better as the wound on my shoulder began to heal. I gave Sylas my thanks as he finished and laid the child on his bed.
Sylas waited no ti in nudging past as he began examining the girl. He quickly shooed away, and I reluctantly agreed. There was nothing I could do for this child, and Sylas was the only light mage I knew how to find. I had the passing thought of finding the church of Amon-Ra, but I had no idea where they were located. If Sylvia were here…this wouldn’t even be a problem.
Linnetia was sitting straight-backed in a chair, her early sharpness had vanished, and it honestly made second guess myself. Her tired eyes just gazed off into the distance, and she didn’t even bother to suppress her yawn.
Today was a long day…
My back and behind hurt from the rough carriage ride here. I had to pay the carriage owner twenty gold to drop all of his cargo off and only take the two of us back to the capital. Then it was another two gold to rush us there… if I knew how to ride a stupid horse, I would have done it myself. But unfortunately, animals and I do not get along, and I’ve never ridden a horse in my life.
I was about to take a seat when sothing hissed at and sank its claws into my hamstring. I looked down more in annoyance than in pain, and a black house cat was glaring at with yellow eyes. Its hair was standing on end as it continued to hiss at in anger and fear.
“Don’t you dare hurt him, Voker,” Linnetia… hissed?
I had no plans to hurt her cat…it was the one that injured . And why is she threatening …
Not wanting to find another seat and more out of spite than anything, I waved the cat away until it left its nest. The cat imdiately went straight to Linnetia and purred as it rubbed against her leg. Lin picked up the cat and set it in her lap as she began stroking its fur.
“So…what happened, Voker? You look awful, and your mask has a giant gash in it,” Lin asked hesitantly and with a small yawn.
I rubbed my mask, and there was indeed a large gash running down the front of it. At first, I was afraid it may have affected the seal, but it appeared no damage had been done to whatever magical components allowed it to change my appearance.
I looked towards Lin and shrugged. The atmosphere between us was…awkward. Linnetia was a part of the group that went with Sylvia and, much like everyone else, hasn’t spoken to very much since then. Although, I must admit that Linnetia and I don’t talk very often to begin with. I’m more involved with her brother than her.
“A lot happened. I—” I stopped myself short and tried to make sense of the situation.
Artemius ntioned that he had contacts within Luminar, most of them being ex-Brax nobility. So that ans there is a good chance Linnetia and her family are involved… maybe not her herself but…
No, Linnetia does a lot of work for her family. If she were the next head of the Paine household, she would absolutely be in the know.
“A lot happened, and what?” she questioned, giving a slightly annoyed look.
“It doesn’t matter. So bandits captured the girl while I was out on a quest. I took care of things,” I lied.
Linnetia stared off into the corner of the room with a complicated expression on her face. “I see…did she have anyone else with her? I an like… was she alone? No family or friends?”
“Yes.”
A sort of deep sadness rolled over Linnetia’s face at my words. She seed to age right in front of my eyes as her eyes hardened. But she quickly recovered and looked at with wide, surprised eyes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t an—”
“It’s fine. I understand,” I told her.
Linnetia tilted her head at and nodded to herself. A sad smile crept up on the corner of her mouth. “Yeah…”
Sylas opened the door to his room and looked straight at her. “Dear sister, I require your assistance.”
Linnetia sighed and gently guided the cat off her lap while heading to her brother’s room. She gave an apologetic look, but I nodded it away. Now it was just this cat and …
Today was not a good day.
---
“Voker?” Sylas asked while coming out of his room.
It had been over an hour since I’d seen the twins. I’ve only heard muffled conversations and the occasional grunts of frustration co from the room, but that was about it.
“Sylas.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help the child more than what I have. Her injuries are… extensive. I can not regrow her ears or the damage done to her internal organs. The infections and diseases as well are simply beyond my ability as a healer and apothecary; I’m sorry,” Sylas apologized with a deep bow.
I was surprised at his sincerity. Sylas had a grim and frustrated expression as he bowed before . But it was wishful thinking that he could help the child.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ve done your best. I’ll take her—”
“No need for that,” Sylas interjected. “The girl is still in dire need of assistance, but she shouldn’t die. I will retrieve assistance from the Paine estate imdiately.”
Linnetia looked at her brother like he was a different person. “You will? But Father is going to be angry with you…”
Sylas had donned an overcoat and was fully dressed in a fancy suit. He ignored his sister’s complaints and turned to . “We are leaving to get my uncle. Please watch over the child and the room while we are gone, Voker.”
“But I can do it myself, Sylas. It won’t take but a minute… to… fetch—”
Sylas looked at his sister with such an intense stare that she stopped talking. Sylas was… an interesting man. I didn’t know what was going through his head half of the ti. One mont he was dead serious, the next unbelievably passionate. Then sotis…especially when we were in the test together, I caught this glimpse of him.
“These events are unfolding due to my inadequacies, not yours, Dear Sister. I’m going, and you are either staying or coming with .”
Linnetia gave a concerned look, but I nodded my head at her. “Okay, please give one mont to change as well.”
Sylas smiled brightly at his sister and then extended it to . “I’ll have the child healed in no ti, I promise you, Voker.”
“Thank you, Sylas.”
Linnetia was surprisingly fast at getting ready. Typically it took Sylvia a long ti to get prepared for anything. Looking back at it… it took Mom a long ti as well…huh.
The two gave quick waves as they set off to their estate. Part of was conflicted…which seems to be a recurring issue for . If the Paines were indeed involved in all of this and Linnetia managed to piece things together… I may just be sitting here, waiting to be encircled by enemies. But that is unlikely, considering we were still in the dorm for nobility, and security was still high. Sylas and Linnetia were only a single floor below us, after all.
But if the military was involved, there could be rogue elents within the nation's elite guards. Of course, that would make it much easier to assassinate a princess or three…ah, damn.
Well, if there were indeed dissidents surrounding , then all I had to do, in theory, was hold out until the War Gods ca down from the palace. If Bowen, Professor Garrison, and Mason Fields were loyal to the crown, then that ant there were at least three War God-level people within the campus. I don’t imagine the Paines if they were traitors, could muster such a force as to beat all of them…
Unless they are traitors as well…that is very unlikely… hopefully…
At the very least, I could check on the girl’s condition. I was already rough with her transportation here, and I’m sure I made things much worse for her, but it doesn't matter if she dies anyway. If she was stable enough, then I could extract her if things got too hot.
But that all depends on her. I may have to abandon her…but why don’t I? It’s the most logical solution to all of this…I owe this girl nothing.
I opened the door to Sylas' room and closed it quietly so as not to wake her. Looking into the man’s room was… very interesting. It was essentially the exact opposite of my room, ssy, disorganized, and cluttered with everything imaginable. Glass bottles containing plants or other unknown substances. Books piled high and often left open to whatever page Sylas was last reading. And mountains upon mountains of paper.
It looks like the stereotypical mad scientist laboratory…how does he even sleep in here? Wait, this isn’t even a bedroom… at least not according to the layout…did he just shove a bed in here?
The floor around his bed was littered with random assortnts of things, including a bloody wash basin, destroyed clothing, and used rags. But, at least his bed appeared clean. The Beastn girl’s breathing was shallow and erratic, but it seed her fever had died down. I had noticed Sylas had given her a small amount of Blood Root along with so orangish-brown rub sared across her upper chest and forehead.
A small amount of the color had returned to her face, but the child was still looking worse for wear. Most of the bruises and external damage had been healed, and anything that Sylas couldn’t handle had been wrapped in bandages.
However, even after Sylas healed the skin, I could see that her left wrist was swollen and most likely broken. Her cheetah ears were cut in half, which sent my heart into my chest. The only saving grace was that it didn’t appear that she was suffering from any critical organ failure, but I could hardly tell just by looking at her.
Supposing it ca down to a life or death situation in which I had to get her out alive, the odds would not be in our favor. Let’s just hope it doesn’t co to that.
I managed to wipe one of Sylas’s chairs free of clutter and pulled it up next to her bed. I let out a long groan and ran my hands through my hair. I peered through my fingers at the girl, and a slight pang of guilt and sadness washed over . This wasn’t the first ti I’ve been in this situation.
I guess the past really does repeat itself…what a cruel joke this is…
When I opened my eyes again, I nearly let out a gasp of surprise. The girl was awake, and she was staring at with swirling dark blue eyes. Her face was a completely emotionless mask that quickly broke away as her eyes went wide and her face contorted into fear. Then she started screaming.
“Wait, please relax—”
Her blood-curdling screams drowned out my words as she frantically rolled around in her bed. Between her yelling, she would cough like a dying old man from the infection in her lungs. She tried pushing herself up, but the second she put any weight onto her broken wrist, she collapsed back into the bed which only served to increase the magnitude of screaming. It was loud enough that it was legitimately causing pain, and she seed to have all the energy in the world.
Any attempts to reach out for her were t with more shouts and screams as she wiggled like a worm away towards the corner of the bed. The only thing I saw when I looked into the blue eyes was pure confusion and dread. I tried communicating with her, but there was no recognition on her face of my words. I couldn’t tell if she was so panicked that she couldn’t understand or if the mixture of pain, drugs, and her current state were doing this to her.
Probably a little bit of everything…but wait…
“Relax,” I said in Beastn.
The girl imdiately ceased her screeching, but the fear didn’t leave her horrified face. Well, at least that solves the communication issue. She seemingly doesn’t know the Human language at all.
“I am friend. I took you from those n. I brought you here.” I made sure to speak as slowly as I could manage in this language. However, it definitely wasn’t a good thing that I sounded like I was threatening her.
My spoken Beastn was atrocious, and I hadn’t used this language since my ti with Muriel in Sandervile. Of course, I learned it in school, but reading and writing a language is very different from speaking it aloud.
Even more so when the language is built around a group of people with animalistic traits. So…how am I going to defuse this little bomb?
“My na is Voker. What’s yours—”
Wrong question…
My attempts to converse with her were t with continued screeches as she tossed her pillow at . Finally, I just swatted it out of the air and sighed deeply. This girl is clearly distraught, and I’m hardly the person to be handling this kind of situation. I was just thankful that the rooms were soundproofed so at the bare minimum, she wasn’t going to wake others up.
But am I really the worst person for this?
I decided if I couldn’t de-escalate with words, I was going to have to take a much different approach. If worse ca to worse and she continued freaking out, I could just wait until she tires herself out. Her strength is already waning, and her voice is going hoarse from screaming so much. I was surprised she hadn’t popped a blood vessel sowhere from how hard she was yelling.
So as I was taking my shirt off, I didn’t bla her for continuing to yell at . It got to the point where adrenaline had beaten out her injuries as she curled into a ball, doing her best to try and minimize her presence. After a while of her continued screaming, she eventually stopped and peered at through the sheets she had wrapped around herself. Of course, I was just sitting in the chair, not moving or saying anything.
Her panicked eyes scanned my body, and I could see her tracing the outlines of my scars. “The people who did this to you are the sa people who did this to ,” I said calmly while running my finger across the long scar on my chest.
I looked the girl dead in her eyes through my mask. “You have nothing to worry about anymore. I will find the people who did this to us. I promise I will get revenge for us, so you don’t have to.”
My words seed to click in her head as her hands dropped to the bed and her shoulders slumped. Tears started forming in her eyes, and she tried wailing, but her voice was destroyed from all the screaming she had been doing. Instead, it just ca out as a tired, scratchy sobbing as her body shook.
I figured she didn’t want to be touched as she probably didn’t trust and the last thing I wanted to do was repeat the previous few minutes. So instead, I just watched her cry herself to sleep, her adrenaline running out and fatigue claiming her. She didn’t even have the strength to wipe the tears and snot from her face and fell asleep, leaning against the corner of the bed and wall.
Once I was confident she was asleep, I put my dirty and bloodied shirt on before gently laying her back down in bed. I made sure to apply a makeshift splint on her wrist with so random equipnt Sylas had lying around. Once the girl was tucked in, I sat back down in the chair and let out another tired sigh.
I’m just not cut out for this.
—
Bowen Tarus’s POV
I absent-mindedly gazed out from the carriage into the late spring vista of Luminar with what I imagined was a stupid look on my face. I always found this country to be extrely beautiful at nearly all tis of the year, far better than visiting the Federation or going south to the Empire. Sumr was upon us soon and that ant the Founder’s Festival was right around the corner.
What an absolute nightmare this is going to be…
I rember the tis when I was the one that got to enjoy festivals and such. But now I was leading them, and man, was it a pain in the ass. So I’d do almost anything to go back to those days, almost…
An adorable little creature pulled at my coat and looked up at with her mother’s blue eyes. “Papa, are we almost there?” my wonderful and beautiful daughter asked excitedly.
I’d make a thousand festivals a year if it ans Rosemary gets to enjoy all of them.
She was busy crawling over my lap, so I picked her up and sat her on my lap. She craned her neck back and looked up at expectantly with a silly smile on her face. “We are nearly there, Rose.”
She pouted at and started kicking her legs out. “I don’t wanna go…I just wanna go ho…”
As do I.
“It’s only for a few days, Rose,” Jass said with a warm smile.
Rose may have gotten her mother’s eyes, but she inherited my hair. Which for her was… probably going to be a very unfortunate thing in a few years. Oh my…can she just stay this small forever? I wonder how Alanis handled his son. Then again, Elves don’t have to worry about half of the things Humans do during puberty.
Please forgive , Rose…
“But it’s sooo far! Let’s go—”
Rosemary’s complaints were cut off by the loud squawk emanating from a creature far too large to be making that noise. The horses were imdiately spooked as the carriage ca to a screeching halt. Of course, I imdiately knew what the creature was, and so did my wife.
Jass’s black spear materialized from her Spatial Storage Ring. Her face hardened, and her jaw clenched tightly as she stepped out of the carriage. I didn’t believe it was necessary, but one could never be too careful.
And I was hardly going to stop her myself. I’m not even sure if I could anymore… but we are both getting old.
“Bo, co out, please,” my wife called out to . However, her voice seed relaxed, so there was no need to worry.
Can she not call that during a situation like this, though…
“Pappa…” Rosemary cried.
I sat her on the bench and ran my hand across her face. “It’s fine. It won’t take but a mont.”
I stepped out of the carriage and made sure to give my robes a quick patting. It was a simple gesture, but I was told it’s supposed to make one seem more important. Not that it was necessary…
My eyes fell upon the landed Gryphon. However, it wasn’t armored like a Royal Knight. The man kneeling before my wife bowed deeper as I approached him. He was the school’s personal ssenger, and if he sought out, then sothing of importance must have transpired.
“My Lord, I bring a ssage from JD,” the man said.
JD is sending a ssage? This better not be one of his pranks again…
“Please rise, Sir. Now show what you have.”
I accepted the scroll and noted that it was indeed stamped with my coat of arms along with the schools. I broke the seal and imdiately began scanning the pages. Huh… JD didn’t write this… Voker did? His handwriting is so nice…
Wait… what the… what is this piece of cloth?
Slaves outside the capital?
Chapter of Despair?!
Traitorous nobles?
Military dissidents?
“Honey…unclench your jaw before you hurt yourself,” Jass suggested with a motherly tone.
Bad habit…but you’re one to talk…
“What’s wrong? Did sothing happen?” she asked with a worried expression.
“The rats are finally crawling out from their holes.”
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