“I want you to join my kingdom.”

Eisen’s eyes narrowed in thought. A grin formed on his face.

“Now why would I do that?” He asked in return.

“Because we need a proper doctor. And because you want to solve the case of my undead state.”

“I’ve been living here in Tarenfall at this house for quite a while now. I’m not one to up and leave so easily,” Eisen explained back.

“Look at your home now, doctor. It’s not suitable to live in anymore. Come live with me. I will grant you a large amount of space in the basements of the castle. I will fund all new tools and supplies for you. You will be paid a generous allowance. Food, housing, all taken care of. All I ask is that you tend to my subordinates whenever they require a doctor.”

Edward Eisen folded his hands together. He had been on his own for sometime, and much preferred it that way. Living under a King was not a facet of life he was ready to take on. Two facts though, would sway his decision.

He wanted to solve the mystery of Marin’s immortality potion, and secondly, he was nearly out of funds. He couldn’t finance the repairs of his house, or his destroyed supplies for experiments. He had money for food, and that was nearly it.

“You’re going to pay my food, housing, and all the resources I want in exchange of taking care of your servants?” He asked.

“Indeed. You will also be granted access to all my notes and old science lab to assist in your efforts of solving my case,” Marin explained.

Eisen nodded. He rubbed his hands together. It was too much to pass up, and seeing his current situation, he was practically forced to take the offer.

“Alright. Deal.”

Marin smiled. “Excellent.” He reached his hand forward, and shook Eisen’s. The doctor was now officially a part of the Nocturne Kingdom.

“So what are we waiting for?” Gus said, sitting in a chair in the opposite corner of the living room. “Let’s get back home.”

“Hold on, Gus. There’s a few more things that need to be taken care of before we leave. Our belongings are still in the Rose Garden in Taren Heights. We also need to be back there to check the mail office to see if I’ve received a return letter from Helva and Loid back home.”

Marin then looked outside, and noted the falling sun. The day was nearly over.

“I propose we take a walk to our inn and stay there for night. Tomorrow morning, we will check the mail, then return here for Eisen to pack up whatever he needs.”

Eisen threw his hands up. “I have much more stuff here that I need to take than what I can fit in a backpack, Marin!”

“I understand that. That is why I will be renting a horse drawn cart to take your belongings back with us. That and I don’t want Gus making the large journey on foot with his still-healing wound.”

Marin seemed to have everything figured out.

“I would also like to be dressed in something finer than these beggar clothes at this point. Crossing into Taren Heights was hard enough with the bribe I needed to pay, and at this point I care not to risk investigations by any more guards.”

“I have some clothing that looks at least better than that,” Eisen offered.

“Then let us not waste time. Show me to your wardrobe, and we will depart for the inn.” Marin stood up, and Eisen led him to his own bedroom.

The doctor opened the door to the room that was still intact. The inside was ravaged, but not from the fight earlier. Marin had never attempted to clean Eisen’s sleeping quarters. Clothes lay all over the floor, some chewed away by bugs. Dishes and silverware dirtied from use dotted the room, as well as various knickknacks and scientific tools.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Eisen of course, bothered not with what was on the floor. He managed to barely pry open a wooden wardrobe that was unable to fully swing open due to said items on the floor. Inside, were clean clothes still hung up, that probably hadn’t seen the light of day in years.

“While you lend me these clothes to wear, I was hoping you could inspect some stab wounds at my neck and all over my back,” Marin requested.

Eisen raised an eyebrow with a few garments in hand. “Something happen?”

“It was the encounter with the rogues from earlier. At their base, I was ambushed.”

Eisen agreed to have a look. Marin began undressing himself, and revealed his entire top. His head, shoulders, and torso were completely bare. He had never shown so much of his bare body to anyone at this point since his zombie form.

He never would under usual circumstances, understandably. The sight of his decayed skin and shriveled appearance would cause most to repulse, but Eisen drank it in. He found no disgust in his new King, only curiosity and excitement.

“Wow…” Eisen stated as he felt the multiple stab wounds all over his back. They were deep and wide. The knife had been a large one, and intentionally driven into the flesh to kill. If Marin had a normal, functioning body, the gashes would’ve caused him to bleed to death in mere seconds.

“Your body is greatly damaged. That’s a large amount of lacerations. And this one at your neck, yikes. Are you still able to move your head around?” Eisen said, with actual rare concern.

Marin displayed he could by moving his head up and down. The large cut on his neck stretched and contracted with the movement.

“Not good. This stuff will not heal, by the way. Your body is incapable of repairing itself, I found out.”

“No surprise there,” Marin responded in a rapsy voice without his mask on.

“The best I can do for you is to stitch this all up. I might use something more heavy duty for the threads, seeing as it will be permanent stitches,” Eisen offered.

“Whatever you can do,” Marin said back gratefully.

“You can’t allow your body to take damage like this anymore. If this becomes a regular occurrence, you won’t have a body left to move around in. I have no idea what your limits of living are,” Eisen warned.

The doctor quietly left the room, and promptly shut the door behind him as he left for the basement to grab some thread and a needle to stitch Marin up. He saw Gus in the living room still, and warned the young lad to stay away from his bedroom as Marin was changing.

From the basement, the doctor skimmed over his mismanaged shelves until he found some black thread, and a needle. There was no need to sterilize the tools he would use on Marin since he wasn’t capable of infection. Confirming he had what was needed, he returned to his bedroom to find Marin sitting on the bed, patiently waiting.

“Let’s get to it.”

Eisen snipped the thread with scissors, and began stitching each and every wound, careful about his punctures into the fragile skin.

Marin couldn’t feel a thing as the doctor worked. This was expected of course, but it still shook him that the pain he instinctively expected never came. It was just a reminder that he wasn’t technically alive anymore.

Every moment or so, Marin heard the snip of scissors, indicating that another stitch up had been completed. There were quite a few to work on, so a considerable amount of time would be needed to complete the job.

Eisen worked in silence for a while until Marin spoke.

“You have my gratitude for saving Gus once again,” he said.

“Ah, don’t mention it. As a doctor I have to protect my patient, yes?” Eisen responded.

Was that the only reason that Eisen defended him from the attackers? Because he was under his care? With that response, Marin wasn’t sure how much up to the task Eisen was to defending his kingdom.

“And when he’s not your patient?” Marin tried.

Eisen chuckled. “Well, I’ll still protect him. Protect your whole kingdom now, seeing as I’m a part of it.”

It brought a bit of relief to Marin, but he knew Eisen’s only true motivation for joining was to solve Marin’s case. If that ever came to pass, he wasn’t sure the doctor would be willing to stay much longer.

“Thank you, Edward. I’m grateful you’ve joined us.”

Eisen snipped the scissors for the last time, and explained to Marin that he was finished with the work. He warned the king not to exert or contort his body too much, as it would run the risk of tearing the stitches. Marin clothed himself in the doctor’s garments, which fit him a little more well than he expected. This was due to Eisen being nearly as bone skinny as Marin’s dead form.

After placing his mask back on, Marin was fully concealed once again. It was now safe for him to leave the room and see Gus.

The sun was setting, but the walk back to Taren Heights was only an hour away, and they would be back to the Rose Garden Inn by dusk. They departed, and began the journey through the slums to the inn that Marin purchased a week’s long stay at.

The doctor’s clothing that Marin now sported was in good condition, and shockingly classy. Marin had never noticed it due to Eisen always wearing that lab coat, which he never took off. At departure though, he had thrown on a brown leather long coat over that, to at least blend in somewhat.

Eisen had a briefcase with him that contained a few items he would need for an overnight stay at the inn. He wanted to just sleep in his home, but Marin persuaded Eisen not to, due to the unsafe status his house was in.

In fact, Marin wouldn’t have been shocked to see the place collapsed by the time they returned tomorrow.