----------------------------------------
Chapter 7
Fatigue. Exhaustion. Laziness. Whichever she chose to blame, she certainly felt the full extent of its effects. It was a cycle of hot and cold. A transition between clarity and fog. It seemed endless and taxed her fortitude all throughout her insensibility. Were she coherent enough, it would be placed as one of the most strenuous recoveries she had ever been through. Not that she saw many of them.
However, it was more than a matter of biding time. Duress lingered. It was as if two golden eyes followed her in the void. A glow that illuminated the darkness of her slumber. Wherever her attention fell, it looked right back. Why she was unable to discern its will, she could not tell. But, after what seemed an eternity, its presence eventually laxed. The mist overtook it and the notion of its piercing gaze was lost entirely to the corners of her mind.
Soon after, Ezabel woke. Before her, all was hazed over by a sheet of morning light. From underneath cozy white sheets came her slender arm, which wasted no time in rubbing her eyes. It would be a lie to say that there was not a moment in which she believed herself back in Alm. But, unfamiliar walls and a swift breeze gave that thought a quick end. A lantern dangled on the ceiling above her, on which the empty slot of a sealstone caught her eye. Was this an inn?
The aroma of freshly baked bread wisped lazily through the window beside her. Its shutters were opened halfway, through which a handful of thatched roofs peaked underneath a blue, summer sky. Faint as a whisper, came the subtle ambience of a rural farmstead. First came the chiming of cowbells that seemed well away from wherever she was. Then, the wheels of a wagon that rolled over loose gravel.
By all accounts, it should have been a welcomed type of morning. Yet, frustration sat firm in her stomach. None of it was doing a thing to fan away the haze. So, she sat up against the headboard. She expected soreness, dry lips, or maybe even the inability to move. None of them were at all present. Her mind raced to recollect her thoughts. Why was she here? What happened? More importantly, why did she hear snoring?
Wait, snoring? It took a moment for the obnoxious sound to register. When it did, Ezabel’s attention shifted from the ceiling and fell atop the silhouette of a man on the opposite end of the room. She could easily make out that he was tall, whoever he was. Even despite the fact that his frame leaned deep into a wooden chair. Over the back of the seat, his neck leaned in an incredibly uncomfortable position.
Ezabel tilted her head. He was covered up to his face by an old blanket. As if the morning had not offered enough uncertainty, she was now at a complete loss. If it had not been for his snoring, she would have thought him dead. Who in the world did she find herself in a room with?
“I said don’t worry, Serra. I’ll visit again another time!”, the man mumbled. “Yes, yes. You’re the only gal for me!”
Curiosity saw Ezabel’s ears perk straight into the air. Was he awake? No. His words came behind a slur in his voice. Almost as if he had been drooling. He even giggled.
“No no, Jade! You have great assets!!”, the man added.
A twitch pulled at Ezabel’s eye. She wasted no time in branding him a pervert. A scumbag. The type of man she never thought she would encounter. She even considered getting out of bed just to push him off the chair. For a moment, there was disgust. Soon came confusion. Then finally, realization: she was stuck in a room with him. A wave of anxiety washed over her. Delicate, shaky fingers clutched tight against her sheets.
Yes, that quickly, she found herself afraid. So much so, that she slid over to the farside of the bed. Just so there was that much more space between them. But, the man mumbled once again, incoherent. His neck shifted ever so slightly. Ezabel’s attention followed every bit of movement on his part, as if her life depended on it. Then, he turned his head and the blanket slipped slowly off of his face.
He was drooling, alright. It trickled off his cheek, where a narrow scar began towards the bridge of his nose. A long, dark headband was wrapped around his forehead and dangled to the floor. It kept from his face a short, orange mane. Everything about him was absolutely nonchalant. Which, of course, made Ezabel all the more timid.
Ezabel found his age to be somewhat around that of Xavier. He was older than her, that was a sure thing. Not that it mattered. So long as she could slip out of the room, his identity and reason for being here meant little. So, with every ounce of effort she had in her current state, Ezabel slid a leg off the edge of the bed. With pointed toes, she pressed against the floorboards and hoped to lift herself up, quiet as possible.
Stolen story; please report.
Too bad the floor beneath her feet was older than the two of them put together. A wooden creak mewled sharp across the room like a stroke of lightning. It ended just underneath the man, who stirred all of a sudden. His face turned and his lips pushed against one another. Ezabel froze, stiff as a tree. She hoped, begged, pleaded with all her might that he would not wake.
His eyes opened. Two brown pupils underneath furrowed brows. He blinked once. Twice. Then turned his face to the bed, where it looked straight into Ezabel’s stunned facade.
“Oh hey, you’re awak--!”, is what he tried to say.
Only, Ezabel went first and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“You’re awake! Good morning!”, he greeted her anyway.
The man, ready as ever, greeted Ezabel with a firm wave of his hand. He rose with playful elation. It seemed that even having slept in such an uncomfortable position, there was no effect on his person. His blanket had been tossed aside at once with quick precision, all with a smile that came from both his eyes and lips. Ironically, everything about him thus far was the exact opposite of what Ezabel had imagined of him. Too bad she was still too busy screaming to even notice.
She wasted no time in sliding back against the headboard where she held forth her white sheets with outstretched arms. A wall to keep away the stranger; it was a knee-jerk reaction, entirely. Her desperation in a moment of panic. Still, it was as if she believed the fabric to be unbreachable. But, the shadow of the stranger grew behind it. He neared with casual steps. The floorboards creaked every time. So, of course, she screamed louder.
“How are you feeling?”, he tilted his head to the left. “Are you hungry?”, he tilted his head to the right. “Want some water?”
It seemed her shriek did little to deter him. Or rather, it had no effect on him at all. That, or he simply did not mind. After having folded his arms, he scratched his chin.
“Get away, pervert!”, Ezabel wailed.
“Huh-?”
“I-if you lay a hand on me, I s-swear my brother will--!”
“QUIET DOWN. YOU’RE SCARING MY SHEEP!”
Another voice blared through the window, one that struck a frightening quake across the room. Ezabel silenced herself at once, wholly taken aback by the wrath exuded by the warning. The tingle of goosebumps came all at once. She got the same feeling when Bastion used to scold her. Or when she pushed Xavier to his limit. It was as plain as day that she had done wrong.
“Aha, sorry there mam! I promise she’ll shut up now!”, the man replied with feigned laughter.
Before Ezabel had even realized, the man waved his head out of the window. He held both hands up and emphasized his words. Below, a flock of sheep stared back with empty faces. They chewed, gnawed, and spat. Completely unbothered. It seemed that the only resentment amidst the wooly pack, came from the elderly woman that herded it. She brandished her sorting stick. To which, the man chuckled nervously.
“You best make sure that woman keeps her wretched voice down.”, she warned through the wrinkles on her face.
Wretched? The word stung a spear right through Ezabel’s self-esteem.
“Yes, yes. I’ll see to it that she doesn’t bother your sheep anymore.”, the man smiled. “Enjoy your morning!”
With a grumble, the old woman nudged her animals away. When the blather of sheep sounded off, the man breathed a sigh of relief. A hand ran through his head of short, orange hair and adjusted his headband. Not a second later did he turn back to Ezabel, who was left dazed. - Wretched, in other words: miserable. It hurt. She did not sound like that. She most certainly did not. Did she?
“Yo.”, the man called. “Are you done being weird?”
His words floated into her ears. After which, she promptly blinked away her heartbreak. Against the window and without a sheet to obscure him, the man’s frame stood clear. There was an air of calm about him. Though, not the same calm that was prominent with Xavier. Rather, it was as if he did not take much seriously, if anything at all. His shoulders leaned. His head leaned. His back leaned. Frankly, his whole image leaned to one side. Even down to the way his hands fell into his pockets.
“Um.”, Ezabel muttered. “I think I am.”
“Okay.”, he smiled. “So, you’re the girl, huh?”
“The girl?”
“Yeah, yeah!”, he pointed. “You’re the Grover girl, Xavier’s sister.”
“You know Xavier!?”, Ezabel gasped with curiosity.
“The youngest Attendant to ever make captain? I’m pretty sure everyone knows who he is by now.”
There it was again. Ezabel knew that her brother was talented. But, was he actually that extraordinary!? She had only ever seen him as her older brother. The only family she ever knew. A person she joked around with. A sibling she bothered simply because she could. Now he was a captain of the Order? She had thought the same thing when Auguste mentioned it. As did Leonora.
“Oh, Miss Leonora had said the same thing when--.”
Ezabel froze. It all came back to her in an instant. It was an outright cleansing of the fog around her morning. A moment of realization that sprang her legs off the bed. She fumbled forward and stopped on her bare heels just short of the man. Though, her sudden panic did little to break his laxed stance. He only perked a brow.
“The assessment!”, she squealed. “What happened to my assessment!?”
“Your assessment?”, the man shrugged lazily. “You failed.”
----------------------------------------