BK1 Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chaos splintered around me as I stood at the centre of our dining room. The table had been shoved from its position, its cloth strewn, and cutlery thrown on the floor. Food soaked into the polished wood dripping from the edge of the table. Angry and afraid glares stared at me from hollow husks.

My hand tightened around a shard of pottery that had once been my plate. I looked at it as blood began to seep down my wrist from the wound it caused in my palm. My hands were small, smaller than I remembered.

"What is the meaning of this" Roger Heversham stamped his cane as he entered the destroyed room. His expression was made of hostile fury.

"Correcting their mistake," I spat at one of the maids huddling in the corner of the room, afraid. They had tried to feed me spoiled food again. It was insulting; I was a lady of this house; they should not treat me this way.

"Lynette", Roger gritted his teeth with a younger face. "Apologise."

"What?" I narrowed my eyes. "Why should I apologise to a servant who gave me spoiled food."

"Your delusions are impeccable." Roger raised his cane toward me. His water snake slithered from its handle and dropped to the floor. I gripped the shard harder as it came closer, rising on its tail to worm its tongue. Like its master, the snake had an edge of irate.

"Apologise," Roger stated with a tone that didn't accept anything else.

"No." I tried to hold back the lump in my throat.

"Eduard", Roger called, and my brother stood out from the hallway, his hands behind his back as he took in the mess I had made. Eduard was shorter, his features more like a boy than the man he was.

"I will deal with her father", Eduard scowled at me.

"Make sure she understands this is not acceptable." Roger sighed with a look of disappointment.

“Yes Father” Eduard strode towards me.

I stepped back, but he quickly grabbed my wrist, blood sticking to his fingers. He lowered his gaze to the shard and forcefully pulled my fingers apart. The shard fell to the floor as I tried to rip my wrist from his grip.

"Foolish", Eduard chided me. "Your hand could scar."

"I don't care", I muttered, looking away from him.

"Stupid girl", he clicked and tugged me forward. I couldn't resist his strength as he dragged me out of the room past Father.

I pushed and smacked his arm with my free hand, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not break free. Instead, Eduard yanked me relentlessly up the manor's staircase and down the desolate hallway of paintings until we reached my room.

Wrenching my door open, he brought me inside and deposited me on my bed. I crossed my arms and flexed my bleeding hand as he released me.

"You will stay here until you learn that disrespecting the servants like that is wrong" Eduard glowered his hand on my door frame. He watched me flex my hand with a small grimace before closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"You must learn to be a noble, Lynette. You are no longer a street beggar."

"Then why do they feed me spoiled food!" I shouted, rising to my feet, my hands clenched to my sides.

"Stop it!" Eduard growled. "They would never do such a thing."

"B-But they did!" I felt my tears well; why did no one believe me? "Cassandra would believe me", I hiccuped, rubbing my small hands across my eyes.

Eduard's eyes steeled as he cracked his Jaw. "Mother isn't here anymore" he slammed the door, leaving me alone to my sorrow.

***

My body seized as I tried to turn in my bedroll. It felt heavy like a weight was holding down my limbs. I blinked open my eyes and held in a shriek at Eduard's face looking down on me. His hands squeezed my arms as his eyes searched my face, concerned.

This was not how I thought I would wake up today.

"E-Eduard?" I said, unsure what he was doing over me like this.

"You were crying" Eduard released me and leaned back, giving me room to pull myself up and rub my eyes. I was surprised to see he was fully dressed; his high-necked cloak was without a crease, and his black armour was without a speck of dirt. Had Eduard been awake for some time already?

"I was? It must have been a dream" I hesitantly inched away from him.

"What was your dream?"

"Oh, um, I don't remember," I lied. I remember it vividly. I hadn't thought about that day in a long time. It was the first time Eduard had locked me in my room for my behaviour. The first of many after Cassandra.

"Lynette", Eduard raised one of his eyebrows. "You are not good at lying."

Heat rushed to my cheeks. Was I that bad?

"I-I should change" I tried to change the subject. I did not want to talk to him about my dream.

"Hm", Eduard frowned, displeased. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again firmly. "I will be outside" Eduard stood and opened the tent flap, pausing momentarily. He looked back at me and scrunched his eyebrows before finally leaving.

My chest released the breath I had been holding.

What would he have said if I had told him I had been crying due to his actions?

I pinched at the hem of my blue shirt, the first present he had ever given me. Unfortunately, it was ruined; there was no point in clinging to it anymore. Pulling my backpack over, I shuffled around its contents until I found the spare burgundy cotton shirt I had packed. It was inferior to what Eduard had given me, but it was better than a torn-holed mess. Pulling off the blue shirt, I checked the gauze on my shoulder, peeling it away. The poultice had soaked into my skin, and the redness had faded. I rolled my shoulder, happy that it no longer felt as tender.

Putting on my new shirt, I attempted to get my short cuirass back on. The grey leather was scratched and worn at the centre from the rat beasts. Holes pierced through it against my right shoulder where Agiluf's teeth had tried to rip the flesh off my bones. My matching gauntlets sat nicely against the fabric of my new shirt. However, they were still loose on my arms. I re-stuffed the gap with the spare material I had left. My boots were caked in mud; they had dried in the heat of the fire last night. The mud crinkled away as I bent the leather before pulling them up to my shins.

Finally, I debated if it was worth using my cloak. It was torn and no longer reached my knees; the fabric was shredded to my waist. I decided to keep it; it would be useful if it rained again. Attached it around my shoulders with the clasp, I readied myself at the tent opening.

Hesitatingly I lifted my hand, then dropped it again. Was Eduard going to ask about my dream again? I pressed my lips and took a deep breath.

As I adjusted, I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the morning light. The area outside Eduard's tent was quiet, empty.

I looked around and finally spotted him a short distance away, talking to a man with fluffy brown hair. The man had a spear strapped to his back; his eyes were sunk, surrounded by dark circles. He slouched his posture in comparison to Eduard's upright stance.

"Lynette", a kind voice alerted me to another presence.

"Zachary", I smiled as the blonde of his hair glinted in the sunlight. "How did you sleep?" I moved to the fire pit, its embers still burning from last night.

"Very well, thank you" he lifted his lips. "How are you feeling?" He held out his hand in a gesture I recognised. I placed my hand in his, and his fingers glowed green, his Aether tingling my skin.

"I don't think I have a fever anymore" My skin did not feel as warm as it had last night.

"No, you seem to have recovered." Zachary dropped my hand gently. "That's good; the swelling in your shoulder has calmed down too," he said, and I noticed how he seemed to ease a little.

Had Zachary been worried about me?

I smiled; he really was an interesting man. I had found Zachary difficult in Talbour; he often talked to me with disapproval. My actions in society were loud and, quite frankly, obnoxious at times. There were many cases I could have solved an issue with my words, not my actions. Maybe, if I had, Father would have believed me about the spoiled food.

"Does this mean I can go back to the trainees?" I asked, hopefully. I wanted to check on Rian, she had been hurt, and she hadn't been waiting outside Azriel's tent as she had promised.

Zachary creased his lips. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brow, confused. I was healed; I had no reason to stay at the front of the brigade longer. I should surely return to my group.

Zachary glanced toward Eduard, "The Young Duke has made it very clear you are to return the capital."

"What? Did he? When?"

"This morning", Zachary gave me a look of pity. "He is very interested in your claim to ride Wild Kreshna."

"How do you…"

"Gossip travels" Zachary smiled apologetically. "Eduard was not...happy about it."

"I see" I slumped my shoulders and slouched into one of the earth chairs. Zachary handed me a cup of water and joined me in the other chair.

"I didn't know you could ride Kreshna" Zachary raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

I half smiled. "It's not something I thought was worth sharing."

"Eduard told you not to then", Zachary said with a knowing tone.

"Yes," I sighed, drinking my water as it refreshed my body.

"He likely didn't want this happening."

"The Young Dukes interest?" I asked, a little puzzled by what he meant.

"Among others" Zachary leaned forward and lowered his tone; his expression drew tightened. "Lynette, no one can ride Kreshna. The fact a young girl like you can is strange." He reached out and held my hand. I felt the warmth of his skin, surprised I didn't flinch from his touch. "Promise me; you will be careful."

His gaze made my stomach crumple. "I will be careful."

I knew riding Kreshna was unusual; I had thought Eduard and Callan making me hide it was because they were embarrassed by me. Had I been wrong? Had I maybe… not understood just how strange it was. Were they actually… trying to protect me by making me hide it?

"Lynette", I jumped at Eduard's voice as he approached us with the man he had been conversing with.

"Hey there" The man waved sluggishly and yawned. "Lady Heversham, right?"

"Ugh, yes", I blinked at the man as he scratched his beard.

"This is Lord Stobel", Eduard introduced the Fire Summoner. This must be Lorand, the man who was on patrol last night. No wonder he seemed exhausted.

"A pleasure to meet you" I bowed my head slightly as I did not know his rank. The man yawned again, covering his mouth.

"Sure, Zachary, can you give me a boost?"

"Yes, you need it" Zachary grinned and pushed up out of his seat. He walked over to Lorand and held his hands out towards him. I watched as Zachary's hand glowed green, Aether strands as fine as silk sprouted from his fingertips. The Aether sank into Lorand's face, and as it did so, Lorand's sunken eyes began to perk, his skin brightened, and his posture straightened.

"Perfect", Lorand smiled, rolling his shoulders.

"What did you do?" I asked, amazed at how different Lorand was now. He no longer had sluggish movement; all signs of his tiredness had vanished.

"Aether transference", Eduard answered. "We take turns on patrol on the night shift and share our Aether in the morning to revitalise our stamina."

"It allows us to safely keep watch whilst travelling in the day", Zachary added. "It's something all Summoners must learn how to do."

"Is this something Lord Cragborn teaches?"

"Yes." Eduard narrowed his eyes towards me. "The Summoners class is not something you will need to take."

I frowned but didn't respond to his statement. If we had been alone, I may have said something I would have regretted.

A noise behind us made us all turn as one of the tents collapsed. Brendan grinned, a tent pole in his hand as he shoved the end to compact it. "Best we get cleared up; we will be setting off soon."

"Yes. You need to return to your group Lynette" Eduard raised his hand, and water droplets began to form in the space between us. They formed faster and thicker, grouping together into a blob. The blob bent and shifted, legs, then arms formed and finally a head. Then, with a pop, the water shifted its colours and changed from its watery hue into a solid form.

A second, Eduard stood, his arms folded behind his back.

"My clone will escort you."

"What about…" I glanced at Zachary. "The Young Duke…." I trailed off as Eduard's face darkened.

"I have spoken with him. He has permitted you to return."

"A-alright", I hesitantly stood up. "Let me get my backpack" I quickly returned to the tent and collected my belongings.