Chapter 43:
Au Revoir
The battle between Beau and Vaan was heated, but it was unclear who had the upper hand between the two battle-worn knights. Vaan had some light and dark bruises on his face, but Beau had a split lip and the bruise on his face darkened from before, making them both look particularly weakened. Their armor was dirty, and their short hair was in disarray. All that could be seen around them was the dry dust lifting into the air with their movements, and the sound of their heavy fists landing on each other as they fought, hand to hand, attempting to tire out their opponent.
As Vaan and Beau fought more, the smile on Beau's face grew, until he was chuckling to himself, immersed in battle. "A Bethilian knight… a high ranking one at that. What made you join a witch of a woman like Eva?" Though fighting, Captain Laurent's attitude was lax, as if he were playing with the man. "With your skills, you would be a well decorated knight… what a shame."
Vaan lifted his fist and sent a punch towards the captain, landing a heavy blow on the other man's arms. "That's none of your concern, Laurent." Vaan's voice was low and cold, cutting off the conversation with ease. More than words were exchanged between the two men. Their moves were agile and heavy, landing each hit with a heavy impact that made the other fall back somewhat. As Vaan was fighting to delay the man's chase after them, the captain was fighting to harm Vaan enough for him to take the young soldier into custody, taking the elven man with them. Beau aimed for weak points, such as Vaan's knees and neck, sending swift kicks with his long legs. Vaan was quick to respond and blocked, yet he was unable to grab hold of the captain's leg.
Just as the battle had begun to escalate, the sound of an explosion tore Beau and Vaan's attention away from their battle momentarily as they stared off in the distance, seeing a cloud of dust kicking up in the distance in the direction of the Ivory Inn. From their position in the field, they could make out a large group near the front gates of the inn, but it was difficult to see anything else. Vaan's eyes narrowed as he looked over for only a moment before preparing to fight again, raising his fists.
Looking at the location of the explosion, Captain Laurent's face dropped a bit, now looking irritated. "Those incompetent fools." He said aloud to himself, shaking his head lightly with a grimace.
Vaan lifted his sword, thinking to himself as the captain approached again, I only need to hold him back until the group arrives. Once they're here, we can escape. The captain would not be willing to fight more than he could handle. At most, he could call the guards for reinforcements, but he knew Eva and her group would be long gone before the guards arrived.
As the battle progressed between the captain and Vaan, there was the sound of shallow footsteps trailing towards the two bodies lying on the ground with steady steps of their boots. Once the figure's feet stopped near Silas's body, they bent at the knees and knelt by his head, lifting their gloved hand to check his breathing. After feeling a warm, shallow breath from Silas, the figure stood up with a dark expression, dusting off their long travel coat with the back of their hand.
"Why am I not surprised." Eva stood over Silas with a tight frown, looking down at the unconscious, disguised elf with some annoyance. The hat on her head shadowed her eyes as she looked down at the bleeding Silas, clicking her tongue as she shifted her weight to her other foot, moving her cold gaze towards Vaan and Captain Laurent, who were still enraptured in their fierce battle, unable to look away from the enemy in front of them. "At least one of you is useful."
Though Silas's condition was poor, Holland had regrouped with Neema, Saoirse, and Meredith, and they would arrive any minute to provide medical treatment to him. For now, she waited, watching over Silas and the unconscious body of a noble who looked to be in as worse condition as Silas was. It was difficult to see the noble's facial features due to the bruises and blood on his face, but his deep, navy blue hair was a striking feature that Eva recognized immediately.
The only people with blue hair on this continent are nobles. Most commoners and even nobles were unaware of the royal family's features, but it was common knowledge only nobles in the Yursear Kingdom would have blue hair. Looking at Clarence's disheveled appearance, Eva could only imagine the battle that had taken place between the two men. With Silas's current state, it could only mean that the young noble was well trained.
Wait. Eva thought to herself as she knelt down, grabbing the unconscious noble's face roughly. She turned the battered face towards her and glared heavily, trying to recognize the features she had heard from Meredith. He had blue hair. Sharp eyes. He had a companion with him too. Curly, blonde haired boy about the same age.
Eva looked over Clarence slowly. There was no movement from his chest, and the young man was still on the ground. Blood pooled around his body on the ground, and Eva's eyes moved towards the man's fingernails, where bits of blood and skin were embedded under his nails. Her eyes then slid down towards the man's pants, towards his ankles, where there was a dark red spot of what looked to be teeth marks and some torn skin. Whatever had occurred between the two was violent. They had fought with their lives.
Eva lifted her hand and patted the prince's shoulder, but there was no response. Finally Eva moved her fingers towards Clarence's neck, touching his neck with the tips of her fingers to check his pulse. Her long fingernails traced the prince's neck under her gloves as she moved her hand to the right side of his pale neck. It took only a moment to feel a weak pulse, revealing the prince was indeed still alive from their bloody battle.
Hmm, he's still alive. Eva looked down heavily at the limp body, curiosity creeping into her mind, Well, no matter who he is, he can still be useful. With Eva's gaze moved back to Clarence's face, she found it was difficult to tell who the young man was or what his role was, especially with his bruised and bleeding face, but Eva thought his appearance was close enough for what she needed. Carefully, she unbuttoned her long traveling coat and pulled her jacket open, pulling out a knife from a padded pocket. She then held the knife in her gloved hand as she leaned down and held the blade to the barely breathing prince's neck. The cool blade traced the prince's neck, but did not touch his flesh directly.
"Captain Laurent!" She hollered with a malicious grin, immediately catching the attention of the two fighting men, who stopped and lowered their bloodied fists slightly. Beau's eyes widened in anger and surprise as he stared at Eva's form, who was crouched over Clarence, still holding the sharp knife close to his neck, "I think you have bigger worries right now than fighting my men. It looks like this young man won't make it if you don't attend to him soon." Beau's face twitched, but his body stayed stiff. He could only stand in place, attempting to remain calm as the prince's life weighed in his enemy's hands.
"That boy isn't with me, so he's not my problem." Beau replied nonchalantly, adjusting the anger in his voice.
"Is that so?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow, pressing the shining knife closer to Clarence's throat, "Maybe I should put this poor child out of his misery then? It seems like he won't make it much longer anyway." As the tip of the sharp blade looked to pierce Clarence's skin, Beau began to sweat, and he could no longer delay his response.
"Stop!" Beau shouted back gruffly, his patience wearing thin, "If you kill him, I'll take you in on murder charges. Besides," Beau said, his eyes in slits, "I don't think your elf will make it much longer either if you don't get him treated." He hid his panic under the gruffness in his voice, feeling the weight of the kingdom resting on his shoulders. If anything were to happen to the prince, he would lose his life. Eva was intelligent. If he reacted too strongly, she would know something was amiss. Beau swallowed his anxiety and stared forward with an unwavering glare, attempting to distract her.
Captain Laurent's distraction did not fail, and Eva was slow to glance behind her to the limp form, still in his human disguise, laying in the grass, still as death. Irritation built in her chest, but Eva's tinted lips did not change expression as they rested flat on her face, making her appear unruffled by Beau's prodding.
"An elf?" Eva laughed, "I think you're losing your senses, Laurent. Besides, if he dies, then he was no use to me anyway." Eva retracted her knife from Clarence's neck, but remained crouched beside him, "You've lost yet again, Laurent. It's time to give up, so no one gets hurt."
As the two reached an impasse, Beau glared at Eva, then shot a heavy glance behind him. In the distance, quickly approaching, was a small group of mercenaries with their weapons drawn. Knowing who the mercenaries belonged to, Beau sighed and stepped back with an aggravated scowl. There was no chance of him defeating them all by himself. Without the assistance of the guards, he would be courting death, or possibly delaying the treatment the prince desperately needed. Knowing of Eva's ways, Beau could only resort to raising his hands at his sides in surrender, keeping his sword in its scabbard on his waist with no intention to draw it.
"You've got me this time, Eva." Beau said with a somewhat sour smile, "But there will be a day where you won't get away. You can tell that to your elf companion too." Beau said, gesturing with his head towards Silas's figure on the ground. He stressed the word "elf", putting Eva's companion on notice.
"Oh, Laurent," Eva began, standing up and smoothing out her jacket with her free hand, "You say that every time. And each time you fail to even get close to me." With a wave of her hand, Eva placed the knife back into the inner pocket of her jacket as she took a step back, stepping away from Clarence's limp body.
As the group approached, Eva nodded over nonchalantly to Silas as she motioned to Holland, "Grab him. We're leaving." Eva then looked over to Meredith, who momentarily let something flash in his eyes before he looked away and pulled his hood up to cover his disguised features. The group quickly hurried over to Silas's limp form, their eyes locked on the still body of their companion. As Meredith looked over Silas's wounds, Holland walked towards him and patted Meredith's shoulder with his right hand.
"How is he?" Holland glanced over Silas's wounds, his face falling at the sight of the serious wounds.
"He's alive, but he'll need immediate treatment. For now, we need to take off the pendant, otherwise Silas could exhaust his mana stream and die." Meredith said, lifting his hand up to remove the pendant. With a hard tug, he pulled the gem off of his neck and placed it into his jacket pocket while the mana in Silas's body recirculated, changing his appearance rapidly as it trailed through his blood stream. With the cover of a spare cape, Silas's face was hidden from view, and Meredith grabbed a small bottle of medicine from his travel bag, preparing to give it to Silas.
"Do you need me to help with that?" Holland asked, attempting to help.
Meredith shook his head and pulled off the cork, placing it into his jacket pocket as he lifted Silas's upper body from the ground and tilted the bottle towards Silas's lips. As if he felt something, Silas opened his mouth and allowed Meredith to pour the medicine into his mouth, tipping the vial inside until all of the liquid had emptied. Silas had unconsciously swallowed the medicine, causing Meredith to sigh in relief.
Meredith grabbed the cork from his pocket and placed it back onto the vial as Vaan returned to Eva's side, bowing his head as he greeted her with his steel expression. Neema and Saoirse quickly approached Eva and looked over the scene with anxious glances. They could only assume what had occurred from looking at Silas's condition.
While Eva collected Silas, Captain Laurent was quick to move to Clarence's side. Vaan and Holland had already been told to pull back, preparing to leave the scene before Beau called for the guards. With Clarence's current condition, the captain would only be able to tend to the prince's wounds, allowing their group enough time to escape without notice to the guards.
Once Holland had picked up Silas, he and Meredith were quick to move and waited for Eva's instructions. It only took a moment before Eva shot one more glance at the young, unconscious nobleman on the ground, and then towards Beau's anxious expression before she said coolly, "Let's go."
Having collected Silas, their group prepared to leave before they moved towards the northern exit of town, leaving behind the captain to tend to Clarence. Eva led the group, her jacket buttoned up to her neck and her hat pulled down to cover her eyes. She did not turn back to her ragtag group, but she did say in a voice slightly louder than a whisper.
"This will not happen again, Meredith."
Meredith's expression was serious, but he did not respond as he walked closely to Holland, keeping a close eye on Silas's condition. With a light sigh, Meredith closed his eyes and thought of their escape. He lifted his hand and adjusted the cape on Silas's head, pulling it down farther on Silas's face to cover his eyes.
We'll deal with the rest when you wake up, Silas. Meredith thought to himself, worry building in his chest. All he could worry about now was helping Silas heal his injuries. When they returned to Moireach, they would discuss their next steps, and discuss how they could recover their plan. The package had been secured by Meredith, but it was impossible to consider the mission a success because of the problems that had occurred. None of the group knew what Eva was thinking. They could only escape the Yursear Kingdom before any other issues could occur and prepare to return to the Faelfier Kingdom.
…
Alywin had attempted to follow Clarence to the field, but he lost track of Clarence after the colorful object had been thrown into the air. It was as if the prince had been injected with something upon seeing that object, as if something had been awaken deep in his mind as he ran, looking frenzied as he pushed aside everything to pursue the elf that he had become obsessed with, overtaken with the thought of enacting his own revenge, a sick sense of justice, the thought of killing the elf with his own hands.
Clarence had changed, and Alywin could only watch as the prince he had known changed.
After running around the Ivory Inn, Alywin was able to find a trace of the prince, and it was only after the mercenaries had escaped with the elf that Alywin found Clarence. He was greeted by the sight of Clarence lying in a cool pool of his own blood and the sight of Clarence's battered face and body, bruised and scarred. Looking at Clarence, Alywin's heart froze, his limbs grew stiff as he stood, only a short distance away, looking at his unconscious figure on the ground.
He could only ask himself, Is he alive? The bleeding figure was pale and clammy, lifeless as a fresh corpse. Alywin's fingers trembled as he ran across the field, moving towards Captain Laurent who had already begun to provide treatment to the prince, wrapping bandages around the most critical wounds on Clarence's body.
"Marquess Cyneric?" Beau asked as he looked up, shocked by Alywin's sudden appearance. Beau pursed his lips for a moment before shaking his head and continuing to treat Clarence, "I knew something was wrong when I saw Prince Clarence without his guards. You can explain to me later what you both are doing outside of the palace without your guards."
Alywin bit back a sharp response and sat down next to a pale, bloody Clarence, before he whispered shakily "Will he be alright?"
"His condition is poor, but he should be able to recover." Beau said sharply, finishing wrapping Clarence's wounds. He then stood up with a sigh, "I have to go find the guards. Please stay with the prince. I'll be back soon." Beau did not wait for Alywin's reply, instead he hurried down the field, shouting for the guards with his deep voice.
Away from Captain Laurent's view, the tips of Alywin's fingers brushed over Clarence's colorless cheeks, brushing past his long eyelashes as they quivered, making the young man look weak. The majority of his wounds had already been cleaned and bandaged by the captain, and Alywin had already cleaned off the dirt on the prince's face that was now stained with cold sweat.
Carefully, Alywin lowered his face, hovering only inches away from Clarence's face as he stared at the prince once again. Alywin closed his eyes, and with a sense of urgency, he lowered his lips and kissed the prince's forehead, gentle as a dragonfly dancing across the water. Before Captain Laurent could return and see him in the compromising position, Alywin sat back up and adjusted his shirt collar, feeling somewhat unlike himself, before he looked down again at Clarence's pale frame.
"This whole thing was a mistake. I should have never taken you out of the castle." Alywin said sadly, rubbing a thumb across Clarence's cool cheek, "I'm sorry, Clarence."
For a few minutes, Alywin sat next to an unconscious Clarence, periodically wiping sweat that dripped from Clarence's forehead, until Beau came back with a group of guards, sharply at attention.
"Marquess Cyneric, a carriage will be arriving shortly to take you two back to the palace." Captain Laurent bowed his head, appearing more refined than he had before as he adjusted his hair with his hand. "Allow me to take the prince."
"Thank you, Captain Laurent." Alywin responded, gently moving the prince as Beau lowered himself next to the prince's side and lifted him into his arms. Blood stained his suit, but Alywin paid no mind, loosening his arms wrapped around Clarence's chest.
After the royal carriage arrived, the prince was carefully placed inside, laying down on his back as a small team of soldiers assessed his wounds and provided treatment. Alywin was checked for wounds and sent inside another carriage provided by the castle, allowing him the entirety of the carriage to sink into his thoughts, and it allowed them to drift as his mind turned back to the scene before, when he had lowered his lips and kissed the prince's forehead.
This time, rather than a joking kiss, there was something different. Alywin had always been very open to his displays of affection due to his upbringing. A hug or a kiss was as natural as a handshake to Alywin, but only moments ago, when his lips met with the prince's forehead, he could feel his heart beating faster, and his hands sweating like a nervous young boy in love. He could only shake his head to dispel the stupid thoughts invading his mind.
Maybe this will all end now, and we can go back to the way things were before this happened, Alywin looked out the window as the sound of the horse's hooves grew louder, signifying the start of their journey home as a sinking feeling of dread grew in his heart.
…
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Aha, Clare and Silas are alive and well! Well, not quite well, but... prepare for more fighting, and the appearance of the mental illness tag in full force ♥ You can't see it, but I'm rubbing my hands together, doing my research on psych and some other things to prepare for it :D This has been a very useful resource for me that I spent a good portion of my night reading! Huge thanks to Hunny for listening to me babble about it this morning and for her edits for this chapter!
Well, I wanted to say something short as well.... I may need to take a week off in a month or so because I have to go to court to testify (nothing bad, I promise ;u; ). It's been incredibly stressful. I apologize if I seem absent, as I'm attempting to stay productive as well as I can. Thankfully I thrive on stress (well, good stress.... ಠ_ಠ), so I should be fine ;;
A short holiday hiatus is coming soon, possibly within the next two weeks depending on what we can fit into those two chapters. After that we will resume normal updates and hopefully working ahead! I apologize for now as it feels like we can only write week to week for now. As much as I want to write ahead, it may take us some time (〃＞＿＜;〃)
RIP thank you all so much for reading and putting up with this human ball of stress ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡ and thank you again for all your sweet comments o(TヘTo) ♥