Calibri watched the crystal-clear river water flowing down the canal, deep in thought. Earlier on, he was certain he'd heard that young man have at least three quite violent heart palpitations. Those were never good and usually indicated some underlying illness.
He exhaled through his nose. His sect had finished their exams in the shortest time possible and left, because of their eyes, so he didn't have the opportunity to further question the young man or give him any advice. Being someone who'd studied medicine and anatomy since childhood, and had been developing medicinal remedies for many years, he felt extremely inadequate for being so unhelpful.
Then again, it wasn't as if he could have told the young prince that Verbatium had extremely advanced hearing to make up for their varying degrees and types of awful eyesight ailments, and that he'd heard the strange heart patterns from such a distance.
But even as he thought that, he felt he should have helped the Prince narrow down the possibilities of having a disease better than he had in the few minutes they spoke. What if the prince died because of it?
"Your Majesty, where are you? Your Majesty? Calibri, come on, you can't get sick again as soon as you've gotten better, it's getting cold, where are you?"
Calibri blinked, snapping out of his thoughts upon hearing his best friend's voice.
"I'm here, Alexei." He said.
Alexei made his way through the trees and finally appeared before the prince.
"Your Majesty, why are you out here? You haven't eaten anything as yet, and it's been hours since we got back. You didn't even take a cloak." Alexei said, moving to sit next to Calibri on the ground. He adjusted his white robes carefully, not wanting it to get messed by the moist riverbed soil, then he raised a hand to check his friend's temperature.
"You're not running a fever again. Why do you look so ill? Should we take you to the healer?"
Calibri looked down, speaking softly. "I've been unhelpful today." Calibri said honestly, more to himself, but Alexei frowned upon hearing it.
"Why do you say that, your Majesty? Did something happen?" Alexei asked.
The prince was quiet for a moment, but then he shook his head with a small smile. "Have you eaten as yet?" He asked, looking at his fair friend whose violet eyes were laced with concern.
"I've not. But we should. It's been a tiring day and you haven't taken your medicines as yet." Alexei said, his eyes flicking to Calibri's forearm. Calibri nodded in agreement and let out a yawn, "Perhaps we can go see the butterflies after dinner."
"Are you sad, your Majesty?"
Calibri raised a brow at the sudden question and looked down at his forearms. Sure enough, dark blue swirls reminiscent of steam were moving across his skin. Verbatians did not wear their forearm coverings at home. He pursed his lips and sighed through his nose. Who was he trying to hide from? There was no point.
"I met another prince today, and I heard him having heart palpitations. All I had on me at the time were powdered medicinal roots for anxiety and pain, so I'd given him that. But when I'd spoken with him, he seemed so unaware that he could have been seriously ill. I should have talked it over with him properly or at least let him know of the possibility because it was a very irregular rhythm, one that I've not heard before. But I didn't. And now he's headed towards impending doom."
Alexei sighed and placed his hand on Calibri's shoulder. "Your Majesty, the exam was commencing, you didn't have the time to do that. It wasn't as if you purposely avoided helping him."
"That's all true, and I've been telling myself that for hours. But Alexei, what if he does die? What if all of a sudden he perishes because he didn't know he was ill?" Calibri asked, looking guiltily at his friend. Alexei began to laugh at the solemn expression on his friend's face.
"You're always overthinking everything, Your Majesty. Tell me, do you really think the other sects don't have health care measures in place to stop something like that happening? Especially considering that he's a prince?" Alexei asked rhetorically.
Calibri twisted his lips in thought.
"Listen to me, you theatrical worrier. You gave him the pouch you've been preparing for months for the exam. You showed concern when you didn't have to. You have a place in Heaven but you stayed down here and took the exam despite not needing to. You helped us all to write comfortably. You've done more than enough today, your Majesty." Alexei said, giving Calibri's shoulder a squeeze. After a moment, his expression turned curious.
"Was this the prince that was talking about our sapphire hall and saying it's difficult to tell who's male and who's female?"
Calibri shook his head. "Not the one calling me a princess. The one next to him, the calm one in the black robes."
"Ohhhh, the long-haired guy!" Alexei exclaimed.
Calibri nodded, pouting, wrapping his arms around his knees. "That's him."
Alexei stood up and offered his friend his hand to pull him up. "He looks as if he barely speaks. I wouldn't be surprised if his voice was raspy from underuse."
"When I spoke to him, he did seem flabbergasted, as if he didn't normally speak to many people, but he wasn't impolite," Calibri said, grabbing his friend's hand. After a while, "And he had a smooth voice."
Alexei glanced at him. "Do you think he'll get into the sixty?"
Calibri's eyes lit up and he snapped his head to Alexei. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Why didn't you think of what?"
"If he places in the top sixty, I can most probably treat him. He'll definitely get in. I hear the royals of the other sects are quite smart. Ha! This is a load off my chest!" Calibri said.
Alexei laughed nervously. "Your Majesty, your creations are extremely effective and potent, but it's doubtful that people outside of our sect would subject themselves to it."
Calibri ignored him. "I could watch him and see if his condition is deteriorating, study his symptoms and try to heal it if his sect doesn't know how."
"But if it goes wrong, and it has adverse effects, his sect could accuse you of poisoning him. And with all due respect your Majesty, your concoctions trigger the gag reflex quite strongly."
Calibri pouted. "It's better than death."
"No, your majesty, no it's not." Alexei said between laughs.
He sighed. "Well, there are always acupuncture needles."
"And if he doesn't get in?"
Calibri exhaled. After a moment he spoke. "Then I have killed a man. Lock me in the underworld for my sins."
"You're so dramatic, your majesty."
Calibri grinned. "Anyway, what about you? Did you decide whether or not you want to accept the offer when you get it?"
"Your majesty, if I don't go you'd be very lonely. I'd imagine the other sects already think we're quite annoying. If you were alone, they'd pick on you, no doubt."
"Ah, but I don't mind that. " Calibri said.
"You say that, but then you overthink."
"You shouldn't follow me there and forget that you have your own dreams, Alexei. I wouldn't want that."
"With all due respect, your Majesty, your mother called you to heaven, you don't want to be at the Grandmaster training either. Why should you suffer alone?"
Calibri paused mid-step.
"Alexei, you know that I'm going to be outcasted because Verbatium customs are considered different. Everything about us is different. Our curt speech. Our appearances. You've also heard the gossip on their lips today. They don't like us at all. Aside from that, they desperately want to know our secrets. They're ready to scrutinize us at any moment." He turned to Alexei.
"Yes. I don't want to go there, you're right about that. But Kreia doesn't want to be the Grandmaster either. She's told me this years ago. She wants a family; she wants to live a simple life. Kreia also tends to make unconscious mistakes, I can't risk our sect being endangered. I have no other option but to become the next Grandmaster to protect Verbatiums secrets. But if you go with me, you're going to be subjected to all of the ridicule too."
Alexei sighed. "You really are silly, your Majesty. What sort of best friend would I be if I let you walk into that kind of hell on your own?"
"A smart one who listens well," Calibri said.
"Yes, well, of the two of us, I'm not the smart one, am I?" Alexei shrugged, then grabbed his friend's arm and tugged him along before he could argue.
"Besides your majesty, you may great at academics and combat, but you have barely any life skills. You'd die without me. Just look at your robes, already covered in mud. And you know you have a severely weak constitution, who would take care of you when you fall ill? You always forget to take your medicines. Your father would go insane wondering whether or not you're fine or if you've fainted and fallen down a staircase again. And who will stop you from overthinking that you've caused someone's premature demise? You seem to think you've killed everyone. And what about your lip pigment? You always forget to put it on. People will see right through you. As you can see, your majesty, I clearly have my work cut out for me."
"I'm not that bad. I recently learned how to braid my own hair. Look, it's magnificent." Calibri said, pointing to a strangely braided segment of his hair with a small pout.
"And besides that, you cry all the time. You can't be crying in front of the other sects. They'll think you really are a princess. In fact, your sister cries less than you." Alexei said.
"I happen to be moved very easily, it's not a bad thing," Calibri said, his nose turning red.
"It's not, it's not. But it's worthy of the other sects deeming you a 'Crybaby', your Majesty."
"Alexei, you're so mean." Calibri sniffed.
"But in all honesty, I want to go with you to get stronger. I don't plan on abandoning you, as long as I'm alive, so being strong enough to help you can't hurt." Alexei said.
Calibri glanced at his friend, then smiled appreciatively.
"I can feel your future lover cursing me already for taking away too much of your time. Please stop them from poisoning me when the time comes." He said, snickering.
Alexei scoffed. "Future lover? Am I supposed to summon one from the ground or sky? Silly. And what about you? Sounds to me like you've been thinking a little too long about that handsome prince from the examination hall. It's very suspicious, your Majesty. Is there something you're not hiding? I can't be covering for you if your future wife finds out about your escapades and rendezvous. I physically cannot lie. "
Calibri rolled his eyes. "If anyone is suspicious, it's you. Look at those arm muscles, you're maintaining your physique for someone, clearly." He said narrowing his eyes at his friend before tossing his head dramatically.
"And you've been sitting here, not eating or drinking, thinking so deeply. The Calibri I know is always devouring every vegetable in sight. You are evidently a man deeply in love." Alexei said, shaking his head as if he pitied the beautiful man.
"Do people genuinely starve themselves when they're in love?" Calibri asked.
"How would I know, your Majesty? I've never been in love."
"I suppose the hormone imbalance would make you lose your appetite," Calibri said.
"Then, are you hungry or not, your Majesty?" Alexei laughed.
"Absolutely ravenous," Calibri said.
"For now. Wait till you meet your prince again. Who knows? Or maybe you'll fall in love with a lovely lady and have dozens of little babies. You know Verbatium fertility is strong."
"Alexeiiiiiiii, stop saying strange things." Calibri whined, shaking his friend's arm as they walked through the dark forest, laughing at things they considered non-sensical at that point in time.