Chapter Twenty #5
There was nothing gentle about the man up close. His smooth face, like that of a sculpture made of plaster, was colder and more austere than that of any other knight. His gleaming eyes were as sharp as daggers as his gaze bore into her.
Seeing Maxi rooted to the spot before the knight’s chilling aura, Duke Aren walked over to her with a perplexed expression.
“It has been a while, Lady Calypse. How is your stay at the monastery? I hope you find nothing lacking.”
Maxi willed herself to look away from the knight and nodded to the duke. “I have been w-well…thanks to your generous care.”
“I should have come to see you sooner…. Do forgive me for not doing so.” Looking sheepish, the duke cleared his throat and introduced the knight standing next to him.
“This is Sir Kuahel Leon of Osiriya. I’m sure you have heard of him at least once.
He is the paladin who leads the Temple Knights of Osiriya.
Sir Kuahel, this is Lady Maximilian Calypse, wife to Sir Riftan Calypse. ”
The knight’s cold eyes glinted with interest. He regarded Maxi for a moment before respectfully placing a hand on his chest and bowing. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Calypse.”
“I-It is an honor…to meet you, Sir Kuahel.”
Maxi hastily ducked into a curtsy. Her stomach churned. To think that this young man was the commander of the Temple Knights!
She clutched the letter inside her pocket. No matter how much she thought about it, it did not seem proper to ask the renowned commander of a knightly order to convey a letter on her behalf. Too afraid to ask, Maxi began to backtrack.
“F-Forgive me…for interrupting.”
“It is perfectly all right. Please, do not hesitate to ask for whatever you might need,” Duke Aren said with a broad smile.
After pausing for a long while, Maxi told herself she had nothing to lose. Before she lost her courage, she ventured, “I-If it is not too much trouble…I wished to ask you t-to…pass a letter to my husband.”
“A letter?” the duke said quizzically.
Maxi tentatively withdrew the parchment from her pocket. The letter she had written with such care had become a crumpled mess in little more than an hour. Her cheeks flushing, Maxi hastily tried to smooth out the creases.
She meekly turned to Sir Kuahel. “Could you please give this l-letter to my husband? I-It does not contain…anything important. I merely…w-wished to send him my regards….”
“You are making this request to me?” Sir Kuahel asked in a flat voice.
Unnerved by his indifferent gaze, Maxi began to babble, “O-Only if it is not too much t-trouble…. Y-You could hold on to it…and…g-give it to my husband…if you ch-chance upon him in Louivell….”
Maxi quickly found herself faltering in front of the knight’s blank expression. Her back prickled with cold sweat.
“Lady Calypse,” Duke Aren interjected with a troubled expression. “The Temple Knights will be heading east of Louivell, while the Remdragon Knights are camped in the west. They will not be crossing paths anytime soon.”
Maxi’s heart plummeted in her chest. “I-I see. I was not aware.” Her shoulders slumped as she clutched her letter, completely devastated.
Sir Kuahel had been studying her face. He abruptly said, “I’m sure I will encounter him at least once when we start our joint attack.”
Maxi’s head jerked up, her eyes wide.
The knight plucked the letter from her hands, a bland smile gracing his inscrutably calm face. “It would take some time…but I shall convey it to your husband when I see him. I have a debt I need to repay, you see.”
Maxi’s joy was fleeting. Anxiety filled her as she sensed something veiled in his words.
She looked up at him doubtfully. “Then…I shall rely on you.”
Despite her nerves, she managed to make her tone sound firm, almost as though she were instructing him.
Sir Kuahel’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. He tucked the letter inside his cloak and said softly, “I assure you, I will make sure that he gets it.”
Duke Aren clapped his hands together. “Well, then. We should get going. I think we are all set.”
At the duke’s prompt, Sir Kuahel nodded at Maxi and turned to nimbly descend the stairs.
Maxi watched in a daze as he strode between the long files of knights and disappeared from view. Rows of soldiers held banners that fluttered violently in the wind as if heralding the start of a bloody battle.
Duke Aren turned to Maxi. “I shall have to excuse myself as well.”
“Oh…I-I apologize for taking your time.” Maxi curtsied once again.
The duke gave her a reassuring smile, then made his way down the stairs after the Temple Knights. Maxi watched them make their preparations for a while before heading back inside the basilica.
Her heart pounded unpleasantly. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. All she could do now was pray.
—
Ten days later, news came that the coalition army had succeeded in reclaiming Louivell. The cheers that broke out throughout the streets did not last long when wagons carrying the bodies of the fallen began rolling into the city.
The wagons formed a long, somber queue in front of the basilica’s square. People craned their necks to peer into each one and check if their loved ones were among the corpses. Maxi joined the Livadonian noblewomen in the square to verify the dead, dreading the discovery of a familiar face.
The bodies were unspeakably mangled. Although they had been cleaned as best as possible and given prosthetics for their funeral, nothing could hide their gruesome ends.
It was rare to find a corpse with all its limbs intact, and some had black cloths draped over their faces to conceal horrible disfigurements.
Ashen, Maxi watched the clerics as they gingerly moved the bodies into coffins.
Some of the noblewomen fainted on the spot. Although Maxi also felt lightheaded, she remained upright by telling herself that she could not succumb before making sure Riftan and the others were not among the dead.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, she peered at the bodies from behind the clerics. Although she was desperate to confirm that none of the corpses belonged to the Remdragon Knights, she simply could not bring herself to look at their lifeless faces.
A wave of dizziness washed over her. She staggered to the edge of the square and crouched under a tree, ragged breaths heaving through her chest.
A worried noblewoman saw her and rushed over. “Are you all right?”
Maxi looked up at the woman with bleary eyes. It was Idsilla Calima, the girl she had shared introductions with a few days ago.
Idsilla’s dark brown eyes were full of concern. “Shall I call a cleric for you? You look unwell.”
Maxi slowly shook her head. “N-No. I-I was…only a little dizzy. How about you, Lady Idsilla? Are you all right?”
“Yes. I come from a family of knights. I’m used to such things.”
Idsilla raised her chin as she spoke, looking fearless, but her face was as pale as Maxi’s. She turned her head toward the long row of coffins as if to conceal her expression.
“Fortunately, my brother was not among them,” she said. “When I asked the soldiers who brought the bodies in, they told me that most of those trapped in Louivell Castle made it out safely.”
“I-Is that true?”
Although the word “most” was concerning, Maxi’s face lit up with hope as she thought of Ruth and the Remdragon Knights.
After anxiously darting glances at the dozens of dead bodies from afar, Maxi steeled herself and rose to her feet. She slowly walked over to the clerics sorting through the corpses.
Joy and anguish mingled in the square as the clerics confirmed the names of the fallen through their identification tags. Devastated wails pierced the air, melding with sighs of relief.
It was only after the clerics had read out the last of the names that Maxi, drenched in a cold sweat, shakily sank onto the steps. None of them had belonged to the Remdragon Knights.
Her whole body began to tremble. Though she was flooded with relief, she felt chilled to the bone. She clasped her icy hands together.
Seeing Maxi’s reaction, Idsilla rushed over to her once more. “Lady Calypse, you should return to the monastery. Here, let me help you.”
Maxi could not refuse this time. “Th-Thank you.”
Idsilla was a head taller. Leaning against her, Maxi staggered up the stairs. She suddenly felt ashamed. Idsilla was only eighteen, and it embarrassed Maxi that a girl four years her junior was so much more collected.
Trying her best to steady herself, Maxi tottered into the basilica. “I-I am all right now. I think…I can manage on my own.”
“Please, let me help you,” Idsilla insisted. “It would be better than having to carry you on my back if you were to collapse.”
Maxi frowned at her arch tone. “Y-You will not see me swoon.”
The girl carefully studied Maxi for a moment before slowly nodding. “I can see that. To be honest, I was surprised. I had thought you would be the first to faint.”
Maxi’s face flushed. “A-Are you…mocking me?”
She glared at the girl, and Idsilla let out a sigh.
“I did not mean it as an insult. I apologize if I offended you. Alyssa always says that I am too frank.”
“I think that sh-she is right,” Maxi said after a sour pause.
Idsilla’s lips curled into a faint smile. “You look so delicate on the surface, but that isn’t really the case, is it?”
Maxi scowled. “I-I will ask you to stop teasing me now. It is…upsetting.”
“I mean it as a compliment,” Idsilla said hastily.
“Alyssa has returned to her room, saying she can’t bear to look at all the dead bodies in a sober state of mind.
” Her eyes suddenly grew dark. “I do not mean to fault her. Alyssa is too tenderhearted, and she loves Elba too much. She was probably beyond terrified that she might find him among the dead.”
“E-Elba?” Maxi asked, curious. She thought that she might be able to collect herself better if she focused on Idsilla’s story rather than the pallid faces of the dead soldiers.