"Boss."
Romeo had just taken the first step onto the grass of the clearing when Horan spoke up. It was only then that the boy noticed that the others had all stopped and didn't go any further. Wasn't the clearing as safe as they thought?
"Why did everyone stop?"
"Well..."
Horan glanced behind him. His slim body blocked Zosan's view of what had made everyone stop. "There are two bodies in the middle of the clearing." The news let the older mercenary's facial muscles twitch slightly before he walked past Horan and continued to move forward. Romeo followed silently. The words of Horan had aroused his interest and he miraculously felt obliged to inspect what the bodies were all about. Maybe those bodies were what made him feel so threatened in one way and called out "fate" to him in another. Quite unbelievable if he was honest with himself, but who knew what his trial would offer to him. A higher difficulty wouldn't be bad, would it?
"Dead or alive?" Zosan asked from afar. Thea, kneeling in front of the broad stump on which the bodies lay, turned to her teacher and confirmed that they were indeed alive. "I would say human in appearance. However, since some Yinnians can also change and therefore misguide even powerful protecting arrays, it is possible that they are not human. We would have to wait for them to wake up, then we can check their identities."
"All right. We seem to have no choice but to take the risk. Everyone, you can start putting up our camp. There's nearly nothing left of the night and morning is already waiting for us…" With a jerky head movement and some encouraging feast referring words from their boss, everything started to move except Romeo. He was still looking down at the sleeping bodies. His eyes just didn't want to let go of the sight. The two looked so peaceful to him.
The girl, who was clearly older than the boy, was wearing worn-out clothes. Slightly torn linen trousers and a rough shirt covered her body. In the light of the stars, her skin glowed in a soft snow-white, while the deep black hair gave off a blue shimmer. Her hands were clenched into fists, so tight that you had to be afraid that her fingernails might have drilled themselves into the delicate skin. Romeo swallowed and his eyelashes trembled at the sight. The feeling of insecurity was now at its strongest. Without realizing it he squeezed his own wrist dangerously hard; such tension had built up in him. Something made his emotions run wild. His body control degenerated little by little as a mist spread across his head. A fog of uncertainty and again something in his mind whispered: "Fate."
Romeo bit his tongue until the metallic taste of his own blood spread through his mouth. Only then did he manage to look away from her, from her full black lashes and the childlike beginnings of mature beauty. He knew it. This was the cause. This was what the trial set up for him. As the king had said: "It may seem easy in the beginning, but you will live through something that makes you wish you never had said yes."
With another deep breath and new determination, the boy took a step to the left. He tried to concentrate on the second body. Romeo immediately noticed how the fog quickly evaporated and the tension disappeared. He was deeply surprised, which is why his gaze fixed on the little boy. Romeo immediately determined that the child could not be older than 8 and, despite the thin body, wasn't malnourished. The skin was healthy in colour, perhaps comparable to ripe wheat, but he couldn't be sure since the sun had not shown herself yet. The hair was light, probably blond and slightly wavy, but completely stretched out in all directions. It covered the sleeping child's face.
However, what worried Romeo the most was the provisional bandage made from a macro tree leaf that twisted around the boy's left shin. He also trembled slightly, which suggested hypothermia.
'No wonder.' Romeo thought to himself as he slipped his coat off his shoulders. Under the astonished eyes of some mercenaries, he wrapped the child in the warming coat and then lifted it up. The little boy wore nothing but a torn piece of linen as underwear. It wasn't surprising that the small body trembled like dead leaves while at the same time burning up like fire. Romeo's hand almost flinched away at first touch because of the heat.
"Should we hand him over to Cheng? Cheng has medicine and could help him fast."
Romeo's pupils immediately narrowed and he looked up, directly into Korey's amber eyes. She promptly winced, looking first in one direction, then the other before daring to look at her little brother again. That brother was more than worried that he hadn't even realized that someone stood right in front of him. Pale lips pressed together. After a few seconds they loosened again, but no peep left them.
"If you're worried, I'll bring Cheng here. Wait a moment." She said softly and quickly moved towards a tent that had just been finished setting up. She disappeared into the tent and came out with an older man shortly after. She led him to Romeo, who was still holding the little boy tightly in his arms.
"At first glance, I would assume fever due to exhaustion." Cheng murmured after a short period of observation. Dimples formed on his face as the corners of his mouth lifted. "Don't worry about the little one. We don't know what these kids have been through, but he will survive." Cheng's hand went to his hairline and thoughtfully stroked it before his facial features softened again.
"I can lie down in the big tent today and you both stay in my treatment tent. It's best to give him a Jorona potion right away. The plant extract will help him sweat out the fever. Oh, and for safety's sake the little reinforcement pill. This increases the body's own defences and this child will therefore suffer less." The old man happily stepped aside and cleared the way to the treatment tent. Romeo looked away from Cheng, then looked at the tent and finally back at the feverish boy, curled up in his coat. His hands tightened twice, grasping the well-packed child a little harder, before turning back to Cheng. "Thank you very much."
He also thanked Korey and then slowly got up.
If Rehan knew that the protagonist didn't care about Brie and instead devoted all of his attention to him, he would surely shake his head and laugh bitterly.