Chapter 41:
Penance
"Step out, elf!" Clarence shouted, holding his sword in both hands, "Or your companions will pay for your cowardice!" Though Clarence's usually handsome face was contorted in immense anger, his hands shook slightly. He gripped his sword tighter and willed himself to be strong. Now is the time for revenge, Clarence thought to himself bitterly, Not fear. Be brave. You are the future king of the Yursear Kingdom.
As Clarence stared at Silas's frame, hidden behind a tall knight and a Vartien soldier, and disguised with a human appearance, he was bewildered by his lukewarm appearance. The cloak that covered Silas hid part of his features, but Clarence could still make out a small bruise beginning to form on Silas's cheek, and he stared harder to see Silas's thin figure from behind their backs. The elf was disguised as a human, much like he had been when they had run into each other again in passing at the brothel. Unlike before, the elf had grown paler, his face pallid and the dark circles under his round, human eyes pronounced. Even Silas's suit jacket had been dirtied, looking as if he had been shoved to the ground in the dry dirt. Even his short hair had been blown by the wind, making him cut a sorry figure compared to the robust men in front of him. His boots were covered in grime and dust, but what surprised Clarence the most was Silas's weak spirit. He seemed half the man he was ten years ago, when he attempted to assassinate Clarence. He seemed like an odd, hollow shell of what once was.
As the prince stared towards him, Silas's eyes widened as he returned the prince's gaze and took in the prince's appearance. The young human's hair was in disarray, and beads of sweat trailed down his temple as he steadily held his sword in his grasp. The collar of his formal dress shirt had been opened, and his clothes were dirty with dust and wrinkled with his past movements. Unlike the noble image he had presented before, now it was much different, and the princely aura Clarence once had had all but dissipated with his current frantic appearance.
Why has he come here? Silas thought, his hands shaking, feeling the bottom of his stomach drop. Why do we keep meeting like this? Is it fate? The thought of the prince's sudden, unwelcome appearance weighed on Silas's shoulders as his eyes narrowed, looking at the prince with a dark light stronger than the prince's own heavy gaze. The mission had already been changed repeatedly by odd circumstances, and now it seemed it would come to a disadvantageous close.
"We need a distraction." Holland whispered to the group as he stepped back and glanced behind him. All around them, an audience was beginning to form. Whispers and hums quickly came from the group as they discussed what was said.
"An elf? In Cailith?" One whispered to another.
"Which one? None of these men look like elves. They have no pointed ears, or sharp teeth."
"No, no, no. They don't have pointed teeth. They have bright, red eyes."
Vaan only listened momentarily to the buzzing of the crowd, confusion and anger beginning to seep all through the large crowd at the thought of an elf in their midst. With a deep grimace, Vaan turned on his heels and glared down eerily at Silas. Silas gulped as he stared back at the tall, imposing knight. Meredith kept moving his glance between the two also, bewildered. They knew that they had to escape quickly, otherwise they would be swept up in the trouble caused by the prince and possibly caught by the guards. There was no time to fight like this.
With one swift motion, Vaan bent at the knee, grabbed Silas's waist, threw Silas over his shoulder, and began walking right into the crowd, the opposite direction of the self-righteous prince. Silas gasped in surprise as Holland shrugged his shoulders at the bemused Meredith. They managed to completely ignore Clarence, who was screaming and swinging his sword wildly, and prepared to move.
Holland and Meredith began following Vaan quickly, as if fires had been lit under their feet. Holland stood to Meredith's side as they hurried away, making sure no other distractions or threats would arise, but their escape was short lived. Holland, without a second's notice, pushed Meredith to the ground with a heavy push of his hand and turned rapidly on his heels, moving in front of Meredith as he pulled his sword at the same moment. Meredith sighed in frustration as he glared at a knife sitting on the ground mere feet from where he was previously standing. Vaan only glanced back for a moment before he continued to move forward, still carrying a protesting Silas.
"I appreciate you saving me, Holland, but I was just about to move out of the way." Meredith said with another sigh, standing up and dusting himself off with an irritated expression. He adjusted his travel cloak and then looked up at the disgruntled prince, who still held his sword and looked eager to fight. With some spite in his voice, Meredith then turned to Clarence, "Listen here, you little brat. I don't care who you are. You are too old to be acting like such a troublesome child!"
"Well, we needed a distraction." Holland said with a tight grin as he shrugged again, glancing around at the large crowd beginning to enclose around them. Though his face was relaxed, he was beginning to become irritated. Silas and Vaan were already escaping, and he had to get Meredith out. The young man was stirring up trouble, and he would not be able to afford the consequences.
"You're not going anywhere! You are all under arrest for conspiring to hide a felon!" Clarence shouted, pointing his finger at Silas, who was getting away on Vaan's shoulder, his protests still ringing through the crowd.
"You'll have to get through us first, little boy, before you can arrest anyone." Holland said tightly, holding his sword firmly in his right hand as he smiled the dangerous grin Meredith was all too familiar with.
There was a hand placed on Clarence's shoulder, and the prince stepped back as another noble stood forward. "Actually," Alywin said, slipping in front of Clarence, his shortsword also drawn as he stared back challengingly at the Vartien man, "I'll be your opponent."
Alywin then turned his head back to Clarence, though his eyes stayed locked onto Holland's as he said in a low tone, "You just had to jump into this without thinking, didn't you?"
Clarence could not respond, he only glanced towards Alywin momentarily before he said in a low tone, "That noble escaping there," He pointed to Silas on Vaan's shoulder, who was quickly, unwillingly retreating into the distance. "That's the elf that tried to kill me ten years ago, Alywin. I know it's him." Clarence's blue eyes were dark like an abyss, sucking in the light around them as his eyes fixed on the fleeing noble, the distance between them growing. "This time, I'll be the one killing him."
A bad premonition passed through Alywin's mind as he listened to Clarence's words. He glanced over momentarily before he quickly moved away from the prince's side and closer to Holland, who had stood with Meredith at his side, holding his sword up high to meet the young blonde noble's gaze. This cue led Clarence to run into the parting crowd, his sword drawn. Meredith attempted to stop Clarence, but Holland stopped him, holding his sword out in front of Meredith, blocking his path.
"Don't." Holland said, his eyes staying forward, "Vaan can deal with him. Besides, I'll need someone to help me get through the crowd. This should only take a moment." At this, Holland slyly grinned, which caused Meredith to furrow his eyebrows in frustration. He nodded in understanding though, and stepped back. Holland, seeing as Meredith was listening to him, put all of his attention back on the curious-eyed young noble, who smiled like a mischievous kitten as he lifted his sword towards Holland.
"Last chance. Leave now, and you can walk away unharmed." Holland shouted nonchalantly, his grip tightening around his sword handle.
Alywin replied to his offer with a sharp laugh, "And then what? You're going to go after my companion, right?" Alywin then shook his head, his sword still gripped in his hands, "I need this to be over with, so I can't have any of that."
It was then that their discussion was interrupted. "Gentlemen, please!" A young servant screamed, running out between the dueling men, his outfit and hair in disarray, "This is not the place for something like this! This is a proper establishment!"
"Get out of the way before I slice you in two, you annoying little crow." Alywin snapped annoyingly, pointing his sword at the sweating servant.
Swallowing hard, the servant loosened his collar. "Please, sir! We cannot have you both fighting here!" The servant cried, staring at the pointed sword.
Holland sighed before he walked up to the servant and pushed him sternly out of the way, "Get out of here before you get hurt." Holland then rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Go find the guards if we're such an issue. This is not worth your life."
The servant whimpered slightly as he felt the sting on his back where he was roughly pushed, "Fine! At least I tried to stop you two!" He then scurried to his feet and ran into the crowd, who laughed and booed at him as he ran.
"Are you finally ready to fight?" Alywin said, his eyebrow raised as he lifted his sword back up into the air.
"Of course." Holland said sourly, "You can't say I didn't offer you a way to leave unharmed." He then ran at Alywin, his sword down at his side as he swept through the air. Alywin watched closely as Holland approached and dodged to the side at the last second, just as Holland's sword ripped through the air with a force that startled the surrounding crowd.
"What? Are you trying to give me a haircut?" Alywin laughed mockingly as he planted his feet in the dirt, sliding backwards as his left hand steadied his body on the ground.
"Something like that." Holland replied back shortly, before he threw himself at Alywin again. This time, Holland quickly closed the distance between them, and as he readied himself to swing to the left, he switched his sword to his left hand and swung his sword to the right. Though he was sure he was going to catch the young noble off-guard, Holland's eyes widened in surprise as his opponent grinned slyly.
Out of nowhere, Alywin moved his clenched left fist and dashed towards Holland. With a quick flash of his wrist, something came into contact with Holland's eyes, and a force threw him back onto the ground. Holland groaned and tried to wipe at his eyes as he stood up, but whatever was in his eyes was making it impossible to see. His eyes itched and watered, and the more he blinked, the grittier his eyes felt, and he could only resist the urge to rub his eyes. Holland took a deep breath as his eyes began to sting, trying to focus on his other senses to finish the battle.
I just need one hit, and this will be over. Holland thought to himself as he bit back the scream that was rising in his throat. Adjusting his hands, Holland pulled up his sword again, straining his ears to hear where the mischievous little noble had gone, but he could not hear anything, not even the crowd, or Meredith. He could only stand with his sword in a defense position, anticipating an attack from where Alywin had last been standing.
Within moments of losing his vision, Holland felt something fall heavily on his arms from the side, knocking his sword out of his hands and to the ground with a heavy clattering sound. Then, he felt a hard push to his chest that had winded him, pushing him heavily onto the ground. Suddenly, as his body hit the ground, all of the sounds around him exploded. He could hear people screaming and howling as he listened to footsteps that were hurrying away from him. As Holland laid on the ground in a daze, he felt someone next to him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, as if trying to pick him up off of the ground.
"He did a number on you, didn't he, Holland?" Neema's voice rang out, chiding him as she dusted off his collar with her hand, "Underestimated him, huh? Oh, well. Don't worry too much about losing, Holland. That street kid's a sneaky little brat, no matter what fancy outfit they put him in." He then felt two pairs of hands grab him and pull him up to his feet with one swift motion.
"Don't worry, Holland." Saorise's voice whispered to him, "You'll be fine in a few minutes. He threw some sand in your face. Just keep blinking. You'll get your vision back soon." She then clicked her tongue as she reached out her hand and put a canteen of water in his hands. "What a cheater. He never would have beat you fair and square."
"I hope you enjoyed the performance, everyone!" Neema yelled excitedly to the crowd, "Unfortunately, that's all we have! Please start making your way home!"
"A performance?" The crowd whispered to each other, "Was this part of Lady Ivana's final performance?"
"Of course!" Neema yelled as she smiled and waved, "But unfortunately that is all we have today! Thank you for coming!"
As Holland Joey listened and blinked furiously, Saorise and Neema grabbed him by each arm and began dragging him away from the mumbling, confused crowd, not giving him the chance to rinse his eyes yet, until they were out of the vision of the crowd. Following quickly behind them was Meredith, who seemed to mix in quietly with the two women, even holding Holland's sword that he had dropped in the fight earlier.
"Do you know where the others went?" Neema whispered, still retaining her happy smile as she waved to the large crowd, as if it was planned for her to do so.
"The noble followed the blue-haired man." Meredith explained, smiling lightly as he stared on at the crowd, looking all but out of place in the large crowd of people. "The blue haired man dashed towards the northeastern gate, and it looked like he was following Silas and Vaan." Meredith looked on in the direction Clarence had run, thinking of what would happen if there was an altercation between Silas and the prince.
If he's caught by the prince, Silas might get killed. We have to hurry and follow them. Meredith looked calm, but inside he was in turmoil.
"Keep going forward." Holland grunted, shame beginning to fill him as he thought about how he was so easily defeated. Next time, he found that slippery little noble, they would have a rematch, and Holland would be ready for any sly tricks that time. Their next battle would not end in Holland's loss.
…
"Vaan," Silas called out, wiggling on the back of the large, tall knight, "Let me go. This is my fault. I need to deal with this on my own." As Vaan continued to carry Silas away from the crowd, going through odd turns and alleys in an attempt to shake off the bloodhound prince. Vaan had not mentioned where they were going, but Silas safely guessed they were going to the abandoned sawmill where they were planning to resupply before making their way out of the Yursear kingdom. Silas frowned heavily and his heart sank into his stomach as he thought about how he once again ruined their plan. Time and time again Silas did something that would ruin the mission, and everyone would have to adapt for him. Shame grew in his chest at the thought, and he continued to escape Vaan's grip in vain.
I have to fix this. This is the only way the mission can be saved. If this fails, the one person who knows where my family is will keep them from me. It's been so long. I've got to fix this.
Vaan stopped momentarily, which lifted Silas's hopes, but they were quickly crushed when Vaan simply tightened his grip on Silas's back and kept moving forward, as if Silas had not said anything at all.
Silas shook his head in frustration before he snapped, "I need to stop this, Vaan! If I don't, this will only get worse! At this point, you guys will get pulled into this! Eva will get in trouble too!" Though he yelled aloud, it was difficult to hear him with the sound of Vaan's armor clanking against itself, and the sound of Vaan's heavy footsteps smacking against the ground as he ran quickly towards the city gates.
It had not been long since they had started running away, but as they reached a small grass clearing near the riverbank towards the north eastern part of Cailith, Silas saw the prince's figure rapidly gaining on them, his disheveled coat blowing back in the wind as his eyes burned with determination, fixed on Silas's figure on Vaan's shoulder. From the distance between them, Silas could only hear the prince's muffled shouts as he chased them, looking crazed as he screamed, waving his arm.
"There's no way." Silas said, in shock, "He's still following us?"
These words caused Vaan to stop and turn around. There was an odd silence that surrounded the three, as Clarence began closing the distance between them. Vaan was silent, but Silas could tell Vaan was quickly growing annoyed by their insistent pursuer.
"He's coming after me, Vaan. He and I have some unfinished business. Put me down. That's the only way this will stop." Silas snapped as he tried to shake off Vaan's grip. Vaan was still for a moment, contemplating, before he shook his head and firmly grabbed Silas, gently placing him on the ground.
"Make this quick." Vaan said, his voice gravely and rough. His voice momentarily shocked Silas, before Silas forced his attention back onto the figure that was closing the little distance left between them.
"You! No more running! This ends today!" Clarence shouted between pants, his sword hanging by his side.
"Fine." Silas said, unsheathing his sword, "I don't know why you keep coming back to haunt me, but this nightmare ends today."
Vaan could only stand to the side, his sword still in the scabbard as they stood in the empty clearing. After being persuaded by Silas, he kept watch of the pair as he stood with his arms crossed. Vaan was familiar with Meredith's fighting strength and style, but he was unsure of Silas's skill. Knowing Silas had a long history with the Faelfier kingdom's military, Vaan felt the elf would be able to handle the battle on his own.
Standing facing the river, Clarence looked up towards Silas with the same heated gaze he had when he was a child, but the feelings were different now, and there was only the heavy feeling of hatred and distance between them. The prince's blue eyes moved towards Silas's face, and then down to his skinny frame, eyeing the man as if he were attempting to remember every piece of his appearance. There was something about the man that was still the same, human or elf, that made it impossible for Clarence not to recognize his past savior, that martyr he had once celebrated. Maybe it was the air around him? Maybe it was the dull sense of life in his eyes?
"You finally stopped running away." The prince stood, smiling mockingly as he spoke up, his voice low.
Silas retrieved his sword from his waist and pointed it towards the prince, the edge of the sword gleaming in the afternoon light. "Let's finally end this, Crown Prince."
"My name is Clarence." Clarence snapped sharply, "Don't forget it. You'll scream it while I kill you."
There was a short pause between the two, when no words were expressed. The only sounds that could be heard was the passing of the wind and the sounds of their breaths, focusing all of their attention on their opponents. After only a moment, there was a sudden movement, and Silas shot forward, moving towards the prince who had already responded, running forward with his sword drawn. The closer they came to each other, the clearer the animosity between the two became. Their eyes were glued to each other's figures, leaving no room for anyone to interrupt them.
The tips of their swords clashed as the sound of metal resounded in the grassy clearing, signaling the start of their long-awaited battle.
Huge thanks to Hunny for her hard work this morning ♥ Her and I both wrote things into this chapter that had us giggling :D
I wanted to thank you all too for your sweet comments (≧◡≦) ♡ They really cheered Hunny and I up, and my old crow eyes got all misty (lol) ♥ Reminded me of what someone said about Stephen King's novels, roughly it's less about plot, and more about characters and world building. I really love his works (highly recommend his short stories too), and I would like to think most of our focus has been on those two points >u< Though, all my stories are very unique as far as the worlds go, so I hope to share those more with you all once YMtK comes to a formal close!
(⇀‸↼‶) Thanks always for reading ♥ The day after you all commented, a lot of my friends reached out to me, so I'm in a better mental space, still stressed about something else, though. I'll get into that when it gets closer..... Much love, all, and hopefully you enjoy this week's chapter!