The light faded, and Wilt fell into a carriage. Janette appeared across from him, though she collapsed as soon as she arrived. She had expended more Ein than her body could handle and was going into a similar shock like Stella had before. His eyes were drawn away from her, but he spoke the chant automatically.
“Purify my Ein and Pass it to another, grant them a portion of myself.”
Ein flowed into her helping get through the deficiency. He didn’t check on her though and moved to Pali’s side instead. He had appeared in the carriage with them as well and was in a much worse state than Janette. His hair was parted awkwardly, blood causing some of it to stick to his scalp. Wilt hadn’t realized that the councilor had been hit on the head, but that brought up a much larger concern. Those rocks had been moving quickly, and there was a lot of blood on his head.
There was a hole in his shoulder too. It looked like a wild animal had torn the piece off, and Wilt shivered as he looked down at his own broken arm. There was no pain thanks to whatever Janette had done, but his arm had a disgusting purplish color to it now.
“Get the healer!”
Janette's throat scratched a little as she forced the words out, and Wilt stumbled towards the carriage door. He was shaken by the words, remembering that he could actually do something. He crashed into the door falling outside as it swung open.
“Healers!”
It had been a while since he least yelled like that, but he didn’t care if it sounded girlish. People saw him, his knights included, and rushed to see what was happening. At first, the people were concerned about Wilt, but he didn’t let them help him. Instead, he pointed inside to Janette and Pali. Eventually, his arm would start hurting again, and he was afraid of the pain, but it was more important than the other two getting healed properly. Thankfully, most of the people around were trained soldiers, and they rushed past him. The sound of crunching boots made him flinch. It reminded him of the sound of rocks hitting his barrier. It was strangely similar, and he felt a shiver run through his spine.
A coat was wrapped around him, and he turned to see Roy had given him his coat. A quick glance down showed him that his coat was soaked through. Probably from when he fell into the snow at the end. Wilt felt like he should give the coat back but didn’t really want to use Ein to heat up his body. His mind protested at the very thought of it, and he didn’t fight the feeling. He pulled the coat a little tighter and finally felt like he could relax a little.
That was a mistake, as images flooded his mind. The fire and the people. The callous way Janette and Pali had treated the whole situation. The anger and hatred that had radiated off of the monster like waves of heat. The worst part was that Wilt couldn’t help but feel like the monster was in the right. It felt like something inside of him fell, and he doubled over.
Vomit poured out into the snow, mixing with it. It was nasty and the smell was worse. He didn’t stop, continuing to vomit until nothing but the water was able to come out. Tears fell from his eyes, mixing with the vomit, and he was finding it harder and harder to breathe. Vaguely he wondered if he could die from vomiting too much. Thankfully it didn’t come to that, as he started dry coughing. There was nothing at all left for him to vomit, and he tried to regain his senses.
He felt an hand on his back and could vaguely make out someone speaking to them. Then he remembered Pali and Janette and attempted to rise to his feet. That was another mistake as his vision blurred, and he fell. Thankfully, he fell backward and not into his vomit. He didn’t hit the ground as someone caught him. He guessed that it was either Roy or Jesse. While he wanted to thank them, he couldn’t manage it and instead fell unconscious.
“Wake up, you need to eat and drink something.”
Sometime later, he awoke from someone’s calls. It took a second to even grasp who was speaking, but he saw Jesse standing beside him with a tray of food in her hands. It took him a second to realize what was happening, and he just stared at her as memories flooded his mind. He felt the urge to vomit, but only managed some scratching coughs. Which only prompted Jesse to shove a canister in his face.
“Drink, it's supposed to make you feel better.”
He did as he was ordered. Jesse sounded concerned more than anything else, and he felt bad for worrying her. The drink was warm, not hot or cold, but pleasantly warm. It soothed the pain in his throat and seemed to rejuvenate him. He coughed a little more, but it sounded a lot better than it had before. As soon as he set the drink aside, she handed him the platter of food.
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He stared at the food, uncertain about eating it. There was still a lingering feeling of disgust, and he wasn’t sure if he could stomach a proper meal. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed her check his drink, before pulling another flask out and filling it again. He raised his eyebrows at her.
“I was given very specific instructions regarding your meal and drinks. So, I’m going to need you to drink at least twice as much as you just did. Plus, eat all the food there.”
She still sounded concerned more than annoyed, and he found himself speaking without caring about whether it would be considered proper or not.
“Why are you doing this? I thought…”
He trailed off realizing that what he was going to say would have been offensive. He was about to say that she was acting more like a servant than a knight but held his tongue. It didn’t seem to matter as she responded to his unsaid words as well.
“You’re wondering whether this was something a knight should be doing. When we took this position, we were told that you were more important than a princess from a story. And that we would be expected to handle anything in regard to you. So, yes, it is my job to treat you like this. If you told me or Roy to do anything we would do it without hesitation.”
She sounded proud as she spoke, though the words caused him to just stare at her. It sounded like they would be around him all of the time. Not to mention, the conviction she held frightened him. He didn’t feel like he had done anything to earn such a position. He never imagined he would have people who would listen to him so devoutly. Hearing it did have an effect, and he forced himself to take a bite of the food.
He grabbed it with his hands, eating it in a barbaric manner. It was only a piece of dried meat, and it tasted salty. It didn’t matter and he quickly stuffed another piece into his mouth. At the same time grabbing a piece of cheese indiscriminately and eating it as well. Before long, his mouth was full, and he reached towards the drink. Jesse handed it to him, and he drank from it deeply. Swallowing the food along with the fluid. If people cared for him like this, then he could at least stay healthy for them.
As he ate, he looked around, only to realize that he was in a tent. Then he remembered about Janette and Pali and asked his questions in a rush. It caused him to cough since his mouth was full of food, and none of the words he said could be understood. Still, he managed to make sounds that indicated what he was asking about.
“Ja! Pa!”
It made enough sense to him, and thankfully Jesse was quick on the uptake. She handed him the drink again, letting him get his cough in order while explaining the situation.
“Janette is fine, and only needed rest. Pali didn’t make it. Currently, we…”
The rest of her words tapered off as he stopped caring. The news that Pali had died horrified him. He was the strongest chanter in Elpis, and he had died that easily. A simple thrown rock had been enough to kill him.
Memories leaked into his mind, and he remembered his encounters with Pali. The councilor had always seemed invincible. The perfect soldier and commander. Unshakable and unmoving, he was an embodiment of everything that people feared about the council. In a sense, he was the closest thing to a king that Elpis had. For all of that, Wilt remembered him as a teacher before anything else.
Many lessons where the man had worked with him specifically. His slight bias to his daughter and the cockiness he occasionally spoke with. The way he always found a need to tidy his uniform or living space when anything was set amiss. Wilt had seen him reorganize a bookshelf when he had received a new book. He couldn’t just put it anywhere and had moved every single book to place it where he wanted. Despite all of those things, the strongest memory was of his final action. That unflinching demeanor as he dropped the ball of fire on an unsuspecting army.
Suddenly feeling a little cold, Wilt took another large drink of the warm juice. He realized it was juice now, though he didn’t know what kind. It was vaguely sweet, but also had a surprising kick to it. The heat came from the temperature and the slight spice the drink held. It helped distract him from the image a little, and he had another thought at the moment.
He didn’t know if it would work, but he attempted to use his earring to communicate with Stella. While he wasn’t alone, he just wanted to talk to her. The earring started glowing a little and it took a second for the connection to be established. When it did, he slumped in relief.
“Are you ok?!”
He heard her voice in his mind and felt how panicked she was. It confused him, and he replied quickly thinking that she must have heard about the situation.
“I’m fine it was just a broken arm.”
Jesse stepped out of the tent when she realized what was happening, and he was glad to receive the privacy.
“You broke your arm! What happened was there a fight, is that why you're late? What about Pali and Janette, they were supposed to protect you!”
She was yelling, though the earring could only make so much noise. Her words told him that the news hadn’t been spread around, and she had just been concerned because he was late. Then he wondered how much time had passed but decided that he had something more urgent to talk about. Slowly, he began telling her of the situation. It took a while to explain what had happened, and he didn’t bother hiding anything. It might have been smarter to hide what Pali and Janette had done, but he couldn’t lie to her. Plus, he included himself when he mentioned what they had done. He might have been able to push the blame onto the councilors earlier, but not when talking to Stella. She deserved to know about what he had done, and the monster that he was now.