| Part 3 � What were you reading?� � Something about the Dragon Campaign eleven thousand years ago.� Albert pretended to be exasperated. � Can�t you be any more romantic than that?� He observed, perversely delighted, as Lavitz got angrier. He finally laughed outright at the other man. Lavitz took a deep breath to calm himself. � Look, you, I don�t know enough about her to be able to call her more than an acquaintance. Her actually being more than a friend is absurdly ludicrous.� � You have surprised me before.� The knight growled. � What�s that supposed to mean?!� � Now now, boys,� Kysia said as she entered. � Mind your manners. You are eating, are you not? You wouldn�t want to choke and die.� Her tone indicated that she wouldn�t mind if they did. ~)(~ They both looked slightly embarrassed at my reprimand. That accomplished, I greeted them properly and took my place beside Lydia. Breakfast was once again wonderfully delicious and I excused myself right afterward to scour Bale on my own. The city was quite large and I was so curious that I wasn�t aware of the passing of time until it became too dark to see. It was then that I looked around, recognized nothing, and decided I was lost. I felt rather stupid for not paying any attention to my surroundings, but reminded myself that I was not familiar with Bale and that was why I�d gone scouting in the first place. As I wondered how I would get back to Lavitz�s house before he thought I�d run away, I noticed that I could see the top of Indels Castle. Using that as a beacon, I made my way through the city. But it didn�t work as well as I�d hoped, for I ended at the end of a street that overlooked the lake. The castle was ahead. I scowled at it and tried to think of a street or alley that would lead to the castle. As my mind refused to obey and think about it, I noticed a shape running at full speed toward me. I identified it as a dog just as it snarled and snapped. I flipped over the rail to get away and fell into the freezing water. Well my problem was solved, though not the way I would�ve preferred. I turned and began to swim toward the castle. Once there, I pulled myself onto the dock and got up, wringing out my hair and clothes the best I could, shivering at the cold draft that constantly moved under the castle. Two patrolling knights found me and ushered me upstairs. I had already sneezed at least twenty times by the time they got me to the throne room. Albert, again dressed in his cloak (contrary to the battle-ready clothing he�d been wearing that morning), stood and rushed down to me. The knights stepped aside as he wrapped me up in it. Looking at the knights, he ordered, � Go find Lavitz. Tell him she�s here.� So Lavitz had already begun to fret, eh? I tried to wriggle free of the cloak--no point in letting such a pretty thing get wet because of me--but he just pulled it tighter and made me sit on his throne. I was beginning to feel just a little self-conscious by this point; I was wearing a king�s cloak and sitting on a king�s throne. King Albert knelt in front of me, using a corner of the cloak to dry the water on my face. � Kysia, where have you been? What happened to you?� � I was exploring,� I told him. � I never left the city.� � Well what happened?� he pressed. � How did you get so wet?� � I . . . got lost,� I admitted. � I was going to find the castle and then go to Lavitz�s house from there, but I got caught in a dead end. I turned around and saw this dog running at me, barking and snapping like he wanted to tear my throat out. My first reflex was to fight, but I didn�t have my sword and I didn�t want to get myself injured again, so I went on my second reflex, which was to run. There was nowhere to go except into the water, so down I went. I swam here from there.� ~)(~ Albert knew the street she spoke of. That dog had nearly taken off his leg hardly a week ago. When he found out who owned it . . . Then he realized how far she must have swam to get to the castle. And this early in the summer, the water was still nearly cold enough to freeze itself. Add that perpetual draft . . . She probably had pneumonia! Lavitz entered the room wearing a large, dark rain coat. Beads of water ran down the back and dripped onto the floor when he stood still. He ran up to the throne and pulled out a large towel from somewhere in the coat, dropping it over her head and furiously rubbing to dry her hair. � Hey, hey!� she cried, trying to stop him. � Not so hard! Besides, you�re creating enough friction to set my head on fire! Gods, I�m not that wet!� As if to prove herself wrong, she went into a fit of violent sneezing that was immediately followed by several rounds of coughing. � Oh no . . .� she murmured to no one. � I�m going to die here. Of a cold! What a way to go . . .� ~)(~ There was a yelp from outside. They turned and looked at the door behind them, but seemed ready to dismiss it. Well I wasn�t. I lunged from the chair, throwing the towel and cloak on the floor. I flung the door open and dove just as the servant lost his grip on the railing. I followed without a thought, only summoning the strength to get both of us back up to the castle. The sapphire blue light drew in raindrops and froze them into my new armor. I flapped my newly-acquired wings rapidly to slow our descent, then slowly headed back up to the pathway. Lightning flashed warningly and I prayed that I wouldn�t get hit. I didn�t need that to compound everything. I set the servant on the stone and then settled farther back, allowing my armor to disappear. Arms lifted me and carried me back inside, wrapping me once again in the soft green cloak. The towel dried my hair again and I felt a coughing fit coming on as if to punish me for saving the servant. � You can�t take her back, Lavitz. It�s nearly a monsoon out there. Besides, you�re drenched too. Why don�t you just put her in a guest room where you can keep an eye on her? And then in the morning, if it�s stopped by then, you can take her back to your house.� I began to cough finally and it weakened me so much that then I could do nothing more than give in to unconsciousness. ~)(~ A week . . . She�d been sleeping for a week. � Lavitz?� He looked up from where he was tiredly hunched over his bed and managed a half smile. � Greetings, Majesty.� Albert took that as invitation and entered the room, pulling up another chair by the bed. � How is she?� � The same, as usual.� � Lavitz, you need to rest.� The knight shook his head. � . . . I can�t.� � Because . . .?� � I have to make sure she doesn�t die.� Albert, knowing the strength of Lavitz�s love possibly more than the knight himself did, tried not to get angry. � Lavitz, I�m sure that if she was going to die, she would have already.� Lavitz shook his head. � It could happen . . .� � Lavitz, please. You need rest.� The king quickly came up with a solution to pacify the knight. � Here, I�ll watch her myself while you sleep.� � You need rest too.� � Not as much as you do. I�ve been sleeping as I should and unfortunately, I cannot fight. I need you to keep the other knights organized, Lavitz, and you can�t do that exhausted like you are.� Lavitz saw the wisdom in his king�s words. � You�ll watch her? Always?� � I won�t leave this chair,� Albert swore. Satisfied, Lavitz rose and went to the near corner, where a cot had been set up. He carefully laid down, as though he hurt all over, and fell asleep a most immediately, murmuring a grateful thanks to his king. Relieved, Albert focused on Kysia, who still looked as she had a week ago, only drier. He touched her cheek and hair, marvelling at the softness and smoothness of both. He watched her for several hours, when she finally woke and sat herself up slowly. � Majesty?� He smiled. � Welcome back.� She looked around frantically. � . . . Lavitz?� � He�s right there, sleeping.� She sighed in relief. � Good. I feared he would stay up with me forever.� � He did. I offered to watch you to make him sleep.� She smiled. � I keep owing you more and more, don�t I?� He shrugged and smiled in return. � Do you? I haven�t been tallying. I�m actually quite terrible about that. I prefer to pretend it doesn�t happen.� She laughed softly and--to his surprise--hugged him. � Basil has been blessed with a wonderfully generous King.� ~)(~ � Where are we going?� � You�ll see.� I turned and slapped his hand away from the blindfold. � And leave that thing alone.� His voice turned petulant. � But it�s almost night anyway! Why can�t I just take it off?� � Because I said so!� I finally stopped the horse when the thicket grew too tangled to continue. I tied the horse up and went to help him down, again smacking his hand away from his face. � Don�t touch it!� � Gods, Kay, it itches and I don�t like not being able to see!� � You don�t trust me?� � I do, but as a sight-oriented creature I prefer to see!� � It won�t be much longer,� I promised. I instructed him to get down on his hands and knees and follow me through the thicket. Luckily, it was a straight shot so he didn�t run into anything. Once there, I helped him stand and pulled the blindfold down to his neck so he could see. He looked around, wide-eyed. � Wow . . .� He started to walk away to explore and I had to call him down for it. � Whoa, calm down! Let me finish untying this thing!� He obeyed, but still looked around excitedly. � How did you find this place?! Why are you showing me? I would�ve kept it a secret!� � I found it through some exploration. I�m showing it to you because it is a secret and I want to share it with you.� He reached out and drew me closer; I tucked myself against his side and rested my chin on his shoulder, my arms around his ribs, my eyes closed. We stayed that for a long time, then laid down to watch the stars. He pointed. � Mother said that was my star.� He pointed at another star between Airiaq and a third star. � And that one�s yours. Aquan.� He then pointed at the third star that was on the other side of mine. � And that one is King Albert�s. Airyv.� It was nice that we were all together rather than all over. Then I sensed something dark. � . . . Lavitz? What�s wrong?� He sighed. � I have to take my Knighthood out to sneak into Sandora for an inside offensive. It�s dangerous and I fear I�ll lose some men . . .� I sighed in reply and laid my head on his chest. � War is terrible. Really, everyone has better things to do than squabble at such a large measure, right?� � True, true. But Emperor Doel lives to kill King Albert. It�s something that was unavoidable in the end. King Albert, the true heir to the throne of Serdio, was deemed by Doel as too young to be king, which would have placed him as King. But King Albert was given the throne anyway and Doel, furious, left and made the southern half of Serdio the Empire of Sandora. He gathered followers and began marching into Basil . . . What could King Albert do but fight back? He couldn�t just sit by and let it happen.� � So this is all about some greedy bastard who---� He covered my mouth with his hand and nailed me with a stern look. � You shouldn�t say that. Even about an enemy.� � But it�s true, isn�t it?� � Whether it is or not makes no difference. You shouldn�t say it.� I restructured my sentence to make him happy. � Then this whole mess is about some greedy man who wants Serdio for himself?� He removed his hand finally. � Yes.� � That�s sad that he has nothing better to do.� Lavitz stared at me, then laughed. � Yes, I suppose that�s true.� I rolled so that I was lying on him and looked him in the eye. � Lavitz, you must promise me.� He lifted an eyebrow questioningly. � Promise me you�ll return.� Smiling softly, he drew me down for a passionate kiss. � I promise.� He kissed me again and I finally gave in to my supressed emotion. We loved freely that night; two souls joined in joyous union. <--Part 2 Stage 1--> |