The hired guard eventually returned with a bowl of water, and several rags. I thanked him, before reaching over to carefully pull off Marius's tunic. He hissed in displeasure as the cloth scaped across his wounds.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynS5vBI21m
"Apologies," I murmured as I gently laid the tunic on the floor. I then reached to dip the rag into the water, wringing it out. I began to dab around the wound, cleaning up the blood. As I worked, I was reminded of the many times I'd had to do this for Father. Mother's hands were always too shaky to do it properly, so the duty was left to me. Always, father was off getting himself hurt in some way. He was a warrior by nature, and could never settle for simply sitting on his throne and ordering people about.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVzfSJmbyQ
"I am sorry about Khaeso," I said. "He deserved a warrior's death, not a knife in his back." I rinsed the blood out of the rag, before bringing it back to Marius's chest to continue cleaning the wound.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFc1WwnaR1q
"No need. He is with Iprus now." His voice was hoarse. I did not recognize the name Iprus. A southern god of some sort, clearly.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPxSG7JWqJ
"Who is Iprus?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8a2u285bF
"The goddess of war, honor, and revenge." He looked at me now. "She is the patron of most soldiers. My brother devoted himself to becoming one of her priests."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBigJFBNcfl
"You have a brother?" I figured it'd be best to change to subject from his fallen comrade. "What's he like?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2xUDuYZi9
Marius chuckled. "He's always been a hermit. Always devoting himself to training his mind, to be as smart as he could be, and by the three hells he is the smartest man I know." I again rinsed the blood out of the cloth.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqJaWz35li
"Is he younger than you?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GZLc2pwqZ
"Older. He and father were constantly butting heads, though, so I was chosen to be the successor instead. So, Gaius went east, to the Blackridge mountains to become a priest."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOWreSqCp3
"Blackridge mountains? Where are they?" The location sounded familiar. It had been a long time since I had closely studied a map of Elleria though. The wound on his chest was almost clean by this point. One more rinse, and then I could move onto the next.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TqRA4qKHR
"Just north of the Gerahkki Desert. Gods, it's been so long since I've seen him. I hear the priests of Iprus train to be the hardiest men of Elleria. I'd believe it. Last time I did see him, he looked like he could pop my head like a pimple." He weakly chuckled, turning his gaze back to the ceiling.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciTUECbqcW
"He sounds like a man I'd like to meet."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PjU3JN6mU
"Really? Well, I hope I get the chance to introduce you to him then." I sat the dirty rag aside, reaching for a clean one to begin working at the second gash along his arm. He rolled onto his side to make it easier for me to do such. His back was now to me. In the dim light of the candles, I could see various scars along his form. Some much worse than others. There was one particular purplish scar just to the right of his spine on his lower back. It struck me as very odd. I'd never seen a scar quite like it.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35HPM1ZnvP
"The purple scar on your back, what is it from?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHJjIJPj5m
"I was going toe to toe with a necromancer from the jungles. He blasted me good. Truthfully, I thought I was going to die, if Veran didn't show up to put an arrow in him." I again rinsed the cloth and wrung it out as he spoke.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGv3KyQZmk8
"A necromancer, hmm? They are a problem in the north, too. They're always trying to raise up their own armies of the dead. Many do not succeed. It is law in the north that the dead are to be burned so these necromancers never get too much fodder for their armies."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMDIQFcT1e
"I hear that some decades ago, one was so bold as to raise a dragon and turn it against the Northerlands. Is that true?" Marius glanced back, one of his dark brows raised.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6829n1Jta
"It is. My grandfather had to rally every mage, priest, and man-at-arms in the kingdom to take it down. My father said the battle took part in a great field just north of the Bloody Isthmus, and the undead dragon's roar could be heard for miles."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjpGMQD4KX
"That's terrifying," Marius stated bluntly. "If I am to be truthful with you, I barely have it in me to face a real dragon. You say it will not come to a fight, but I am not so sure. Dragons had terrorized our people for centuries."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQhDdifaZ2
I furrowed my brows. "They say they terrorized you, because you took over their ancestral homeland, and began to slaughter their kin out of fear." I finally finished cleaning his wounds, and reached for the needle and tweezers. I pulled the candle close, before grasping the end of the needle with the tweezers, and held the needle in the fire. Mother said the flames were always best for cleaning things like needles. 883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxPK6txgm5
"How could they know if they've never lived among the Alderan? Our land was given to us by the gods when man first appeared on Elleria. We belong there, just as the fish belong in the sea."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF3bVJV3on
"I find it odd then, that your people would go invading other lands." The words left my mouth without a second thought. There was a split second shortly thereafter where I'd regretted them, but then I steeled myself. I meant every word. I wiped the soot off the needle on a cloth once it had cooled down enough, and wove a threat through the loop at the end. I tested the needle's temperature by gently tapping my finger on the side. Warm, but not searing.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzt3rc3pYMo
"While we revere our gods, we also revere our emperor. Or, most of us do anyways. Many of the common folk see him as a divine figure. A messenger of the gods. Rubbish, I say." I tilted my head, somewhat confused. I couldn't imagine revering any many as a divine figure. It was such an outlandish idea.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJkqciabmm
"There is nothing like that in the North," I said, before leaning in close. I brought the tip of the needle to where the slash on his arm began. "Are you ready?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLME2ZbVDat
"Go ahead." And so I slid the needle into his flesh. With deft fingers, I sewed the wound shut. Marius barely winced at each pierce of the needle. This definitely was a common ritual for him to undergo.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhLatdnFJT
Before I knew it, I was finished. "Ah, curses," I said, realizing the one thing I forgot to ask the guard to bring as well. "I don't have anything to cut this with. Let me see if I can find something, hmm?" I was just about to carefully lay the needle down, before he spoke up.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4e7VhY4iLA
"Wait," he said, reaching with his other hand for the knife sheathed at his belt, the one with the face carved in bronze on the crossguard. He awkwardly twisted it around in his hand, and offered it to me hilt first.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNb4BiGV7Qs
"Oh. Thank you," I said, accepting the knife. Using it, I carefully sliced the thread, and tied it off, before again cutting off the excess thread. "One down, one to go." He rolled back onto his back. I wiped away the excess blood that had oozed to the surface while I was busy stitching up the other gash.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xX8kbZmUm
"Exciting," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. I couldn't help but to grin. I wiped the blood off the needle, before stringing more thread through the loop of the needle. 883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzng6rTY7j
"Are you ready?" I asked, holding the needle close to his skin. 883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZVnRWrb5W
"Go on."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqaUnFzUQf
So I did, against weaving the needle in and out of his skin. As expected, he flinched each time the needle entered his skin. While it was annoying, I also could not blame him. The cut was in an awful spot, and it was deep.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7jOxha0OG
"Tell me more of your family," I said, hoping to distract him someone from the pain as I meticulously stitched his wound shut. "What of your mother?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDErgmNkeA
He didn't immediately answer. I glanced up to see a deep frown etched on his face. "She disappeared when I was very young. There isn't a trace of where she went. My father searched the whole of Elleria for her for a decade. I think her disappearance is why he is so bitter today, truthfully."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6PWqxQzpQ
"I am sorry to hear that. No one deserves to grow up without a mother." I didn't know what I would have done if I didn't have my mother growing up. It reminded me of the gaping wound in my heart. My vision blurred, and I had to momentarily stop.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgWdgkoXPg
I bowed my head, struggling to fight back the tears. This wasn't the time to be crying. The harder I fought the tears, the more the lump in my throat tightened. 883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnNxSVlf7W
"I too, am sorry. Perhaps we should talk of other things." Marius gently swiped his finger across my cheek, wiping away a tear, almost as if it were an afterthought. "What's the most beautiful thing you've seen?" I wiped away the other tears that had fallen, weakly laughing.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z2Zaukc9d
"What?" He asked, clearly confused.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCA61ts2Nx8
"I would never expect you to ask something like that." I turned my gaze back to the half-sewn gash, and continued my meticulous work. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen would have to be the Godrays in the far north. They're look like rays of sunlight, except they are all sorts of colors, and decorate the night sky." I briefly glanced up at Marius. "What about you?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiW3Wkt1tk
He hesitated in his answer. "Snow. I'm sure it isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but it's up there. That probably sounds absurd to you, but we don't see much snow in Alderas. Once a year, maybe, if we're lucky."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcoUZ7joZ3
"That's not as absurd as you think. The snow is also pretty. I once ventured into the forest near my home after a snowfall, and got lost just wondering around, marveling at how beautiful it was. Thankfully, I was not lost for long, or else I probably would have frozen to death."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlSLEGAaAp
"Thankfully, yes." I found his reply odd, but I decided to leave the conversation at that. I just finished stitching him up. Like last time, I cut the threat, tied it, and then cut the excess from it. Thereafter, I tucked the knife back into the sheath on his belt.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZBKZfFo5s
"Is there anything I can get you before I go?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87x1R1lCK0
He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. Thank you, Zara." He paused a moment, before asking, "is it okay if I call you that?"883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXDZ8TdcyT
The use of my nickname shook me for a split second. I shrugged. "If you want. I will not argue with you about it."883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0sXKo49uB
Marius gave me a faint smile, before he rolled over, his back to me once more. I collected the supplies, and quietly exited the room.883Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyqrTTrKhP
