23. Intruders #3
Davy’s blue eyes flickered—pupils shifting with the restless energy of a scythe-human chimera. To Noec, he offered a nod, a silent gesture of newfound respect and understanding.
They heard the wooden door at the edge of the prison creak open, and, after a moment, Aria entered the corridor, talking excitedly to the large group of people that followed behind.
“She giving a tour?” Davy asked, cocking his head.
“No,” Grease replied. “After the attack this morning, Aria’s got volunteers lining up out the door. Sick people, soldiers, people who just want to fight.”
“... and out of our first eight volunteers, we only had one successful suicide!” Aria announced as she fluttered towards them.
“So the odds are mostly good! Of... uh... not dying before the medicine does its work.” She pulled out a single syringe from her crossbody strap, lined up and down with blood-filled vials.
“Luckily, our worker bees Noec and Flora have found us just enough fresh blood to get you all started. So,” she said, twirling the syringe with a venomous grin, “who’s first? ”
“There was an attack this morning?” Davy asked, tiredly rubbing his eyes. He suddenly noticed Noec’s near-mummified torso. “Oh shit, man. My bad.”
At Aria’s instruction, Noec and Flora walked Davy to a guest room where he could finally rest. For reasons unknown to everyone involved, Davy still smiled awkwardly and made finger guns at Aria as they walked by.
The journey upstairs was tense, though Davy remained entirely oblivious, wiggling his fingers in front of “snake-eyes” to watch how his pupils flickered in and out and recounting his bravery for volunteering to take the first injection.
“Maybe I could start a business for jumbo cat toys,” he rambled on. “Or mittens so you don’t scratch things as you walk around.”
“Get some rest,” Flora said, pushing him through the door. “Hopefully you’ll be funnier when you’ve got all two brain cells recharged.”
Davy huffed, but he looked back with a grin. “Told you I’d make it through, bean.”
“Try pulling something like that ever again, Davy, and I’ll make sure you don’t,” she teased, though her frustration wasn’t lost on him. He cackled, then closed the door behind him.
Flora and Noec stood in silence, facing blankly toward the door. He reached for her, but she pulled her arm away.
“I’m not angry with you, Flora,” he said through his teeth.
“Then what?”
“I’m scared,” he said, softer, taking a step closer. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, seeing you out in the open, not knowing if I was enough to protect you.”
Flora snapped suddenly, “And how do you think I feel?” Her jaw clenched so tight that she thought her teeth might chip as she glared at him.
“Watching you throw yourself in harm’s way like it’s nothing?
Just like you did back in the village. Recklessly.
Stupidly. You were about to do it all over again, except this time you were going to die for real. No magic water to save you.”
Noec took a step back. “Flora…” he whispered. “It’s my job to protect you. It always has been.”
“And who the hell is supposed to protect you?”
“I... you did,” he said quietly. “You all did. And it’s not as if I’m ungrateful. I wouldn’t have survived it if you hadn’t taken a risky, extremely lucky shot. And I couldn’t be more ashamed of that—that you had to put yourself in danger because I couldn’t handle things on my own.”
“Why should you have to handle anything on your own? If you fight for me, I’m going to fight for you. I won’t argue with you about that, unless you’re prepared to give up defending me the same way you’re asking me to.”
Noec looked at her and opened his mouth as if to speak, but only paused and swallowed. He sighed and looked away, the worry in his eyes beginning to glow with something brighter as he slowly glanced back at her.
He finally caught her hand and squeezed it gently, saying, “If love alone could protect you, there would never be a scratch on your skin.”
That made her dizzy. It was infuriating how quickly Flora was disarmed.
All the anger she had built up began to melt away as soon as she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.
She wished desperately that she could find any fault at all with the way he looked at her, but all she could see was a kind and gentle soul.
Flora pulled his hand close and kissed the bandages on his forearm. “You have to know I think the same of you,” she said, her anger fizzling out like a candle in a rainstorm.
Suddenly, the door in front of them cracked open. “Can you two do this somewhere else?” Davy groaned. “Thin walls.”
Flora laid her head on Elia’s shoulder as they both sat watching Heron, who had entirely lost himself in his element, assigning roles to groups of soldiers as if they were his own.
“He’d never admit it, but I think he misses military life some days.” Elia sighed. “The Asilian Realm wouldn’t be the kingdom it is today without Geno as the king’s sword and Heron as his strategist.”
Flora chuckled. “I’d follow that man to war.”
Elia wrapped an arm around Flora. “I happen to know that a lot of people would,” she replied. “Do you remember the time we came into town and he caught a guard drinking, away from his post?”
Flora giggled. “Still pity that man to this day.”
Noec was across the hall, speaking in hushed tones to Aonia. The bandages on his chest were starting to look worn, though his green jacket kept them together. Every so often, Flora could see a tinge of pain on his face when he moved too quickly.
“He’s not Heron,” Elia said quietly. “And he’s not his father, either.”
“Big shoes to fill,” Flora replied.
“No,” Elia said thoughtfully, though not in disagreement. “Noec is something else entirely. He has that same fire, but it doesn’t burn; it’s just there to keep you warm.”
Noec briefly glanced back at Flora as Aonia spoke to him, offering a soft smile when she met his gaze.
Aria emerged from the spiraling staircase leading down from her lab. Her face seemed pale, and her ever-present whimsical grin was nowhere to be found. She stood in the entryway, wide-eyed and paralyzed, with a light splatter of violet blood on her cheek and glasses.
Aonia and Noec exchanged a worried look as they slowly came toward her. Suddenly, Flora realized Aria’s haunted stare was fixed on her. Flora rose, Elia’s hand slipping away from her arm.
Aria looked as if she had seen a ghost as Flora approached her. “The scythe..." Aria muttered, “the one you called Perri. It had a message for you.”
“What do you mean ‘a message’?” Flora inquired hesitantly.
“He said..." Aria blinked, continuing, “... the Shadowkeeper is looking forward to meeting you tonight.”
“Tonight?” Aonia repeated, nervously tugging at the pink stone in her necklace.
After a moment of tense silence, Aria breathed deeply and turned to face the princess, her eyes now shadowed and her voice now composed. “We have to assume the worst,” Aria said coldly. “Night is coming faster than we think.”