The boy pushed himself off the table, and took a seat at the table, still holding onto his glass of wine. Iris sheathed her sword and looked around, the stench above else was the most disturbing thing she ever encountered in a long time. One way or another, they had to find a way to deal with the corpses.
" Has anyone else survived?" Iris probed further, gaining the boy's attention. He'd fallen deep in thought, or on the verge of losing his sense. It didn't matter which was, he was the only one that could offer the answers she needed.
" No" The boy took another sip of his wine, looking at her sideways " None, just me" he sighed " And now you. Whomever the heck you are. Never seen you around Redkite." he placed the glass on the table, wary of her. She'd stabbed him in the leg after all, in the spur of the moment. Her patience was wearing thin, after a long journey with no sleep or food.
" I'm not from here." Iris added " But, I need your help since you're the only one left. We need to bury the dead, and give them a proper send-off, so they can rest in peace." She added as her gaze fell on one of the maids, piled in a corner, just as everyone else, rotting.
The boy scoffed, mocking " You stabbed me and now you want my help?" he smirked " I don't think so, lady" he snickered, slumping in his chair, contemptuous, head held high. Quite an irritating little fella. Maybe she should stab him again to chip some of that scorn away. Or slap him silly. Iris smirked, at that thought and approached the boy.
" Listen here, you little nitwit" Iris leaned in close enough to feel his rancid breath, and grimaced, repulsed " You will help me clean this place up or I will slap you silly" Iris smirked and pulled away to stand straight, mostly because she couldn't hold her breath anymore. Her words didn't seem to be as effective as she thought they would be, since the boy simply just carried on looking at her as if she was nothing. Stabbing it is then, to teach the boy a lesson.
Iris pulled out her sword, gaining his full attention, wide-eyed, and stunned, he jumped to his feet and pushed the chair between them. Little did he know that his attempt to side steps her, wasn't going to cut it. In one swift move, Iris shoved the chair to the side and punched him in his windpipe. And just like that, he fell on his knees, gasping for air. Whatever smugness the boy had left in him faded as he turned pretty docile, with one single punch.
Iris leaned in " Now," Iris hissed " Get your drunkard ass up and help me clean this place up" She straightened herself up, stoic. With no desire to deal with a nincompoop, Iris pinned him under her punitive gaze, hopeful that it would suffice and she won't have to stab him again.
The boy coughed, wheezing for air " You're crazy. There are too many dead for us to bury them all. It would take a moon or two, at least." He rasped, as he pulled himself up to stand, still struggling to breathe.
" We will burn them on a pyre. There is plenty of wood, so I don't see any issues with that." Iris calmly said, unequivocally, sheathing her sword. The time to fool around had passed. Now, it was time to clean up and begin anew. Since none had placed a claim on the throne of Hessia, it was a good time to set her plan in motion.
" Still, it would take quite a lot of time to get a pyre large enough to burn all these people" The boy pointed out rubbing his throat, grimacing.
" I know" Iris sighed " It needs to be done. It most certainly won't get done if we sit here, debating the issue." Iris poured herself a glass of wine. She needed something to dull her pain. She was healing just like a human would, painfully slow. So much for special. Iris grunted at the acrid taste of the wine, scrunching her face, disgusted.
" It tastes awful. How are you even able to swallow it down?" Iris placed the glass back on the table, still very much disgusted with the taste the wine had left in her mouth.
" The same way you did. You'll get used to it." The boy smirked" You need to stop stabbing and punching me. I'll die and you'll have this shit to deal with, all on your own." The boy pointed out, incredulous as he finally moved away from the wine.
" I will, as long you stop being stupid. Tit for tat, boy" Iris smirked as she followed him through the throne room.
The boy sighed " Evin is my name lady, not boy" His cheekiness was somewhat amusing. His laid-back nature was a little irritating but she was sure that with time, Evin would come around.
" Iris" She sighed and stretched her hand to Evin.
Evin nodded and shook her hand " So where do you come from Iris?" Evin asked as they stepped outside the run-down castle and looked around, dismal.
" I'm going to need a lot of wine before I can stomach any of this" Evin turned on his heels, and walked back inside, to get his wine.
Iris puffed her cheeks, as her gaze strayed from corpse to corpse. Evin's question echoed in her mind. It was hard to tell where did she come from. With all the lies floating around, she had become doubtful of her ancestry.
Evin's footsteps closing in broke her thoughts.
" Whenever you're ready" Evin pulled the cork with his teeth and spat it out " We can begin" He took a large swig of wine and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Iris nodded " What do you want to do? Gather the wood for the pyre or the corpses?" Iris asked but she already knew the answer to that question.
" Wood. The dead are all yours. It was your idea, anyway." Evin scoffed and shook his head, in disbelief.
" What if the monsters come back? Have you thought of that?" Evin asked as he began descending the steps " Why bother if all will eventually get turned into smithereens?" Evin glanced over his shoulder, questioning her judgement.
" Yes, possibly. But we cannot allow chaos to prevail and live in fear. We will have to build better, stronger, and prepare ourselves for that day." Iris sighed and halted her steps next to the posts that the royal family was nailed to.
" Gather the wood. I'll deal with the rest" Iris looked up at the bloodied corpses, dangling on the posts. She had given herself a daunting task, but it was the only way to feel less guilty about what had become of the realm, due to her lack of foresight. Mistakes have been made, too many.
Evin nodded" I'll leave you to it " He raised his bottle, as he looked up at the Hessian royals, pitying.
Latched to the bottle, Evin, limped away to gather the wood for the pyre, leaving her alone with the sea of dead people surrounding her. Amon Sometreken and those who loved and served him had paid a dear price for her mistakes. The weight on her shoulders had just turned unbearable.