by Paul Yoder
The man was clearly on the receiving end of a traumatic amount of abuse, thick-threaded sutures all along his bare body, only a thin and bloodily speckled robe covering his torso to the middle of his thighs.
Cavok’s unrepressed joy at seeing her shook her from her thoughts of Nomad.
“Your vision, is it back?” she asked, looking hopefully into his eyes.
Trying to brush the subject aside, not seeming interested in talking much about himself, he replied, “Mostly. They had some eye doctor take a look at me and her treatment has been helping.”
Reza smiled at the news, attempting to scoot over to offer him a seat on her bedside.
Seeing her making room, Cavok waved to dismiss the offer. “Don’t worry about it. I’d probably split a seam sitting down like that. I’ll stand.”
“You look like you need this bed more than I do, Cavok,” Nomad said from behind, offering his bed to the awkwardly standing man.
“Nonsense,” Cavok grumbled, not pleased with the two’s focus on his condition.
“I came out of that fight in much better condition than you two fair flowers.”
His comment, though getting a chuckle out of both him and Nomad, visibly soured Reza’s mood, she now giving him a half-mocking scowl.
Attempting to move past his teasing comment, Reza asked Cavok a question, trying to change the topic.
“So Cavok, where are we?”
“We’re in Sheaf,” Cavok said, shifting his weight while trying not to wince from the inconvenience of standing.
“You’re in a private infirmary ward meant for higher-ranking officers and delegates. It seems Leith was left in charge of the capital while Metus was away to lead the war effort. As soon as she was alerted that we had returned, she admitted us here. It’s relatively empty, but I suspect that’s about to change as soon as Metus and the troops return later today.”
Reza stopped to consider the news, asking, “He’s returning today? Did they already confront the arisen army? How long have Nomad and I been out?”
Motioning for Reza to scoot over, Cavok mumbled, “Think I will take that seat on second thought. I can see this is going to take a while.”
Gingerly sitting beside Reza, the bed dipping noticeably under his weight, Cavok began to lay out what had happened while Reza and Nomad were unconscious.
“So, you remember when we were in the tower and you told me to go help Fin out of the rubble while you tended to Nomad?”
“Yeah,” Reza replied, nodding slowly.
“I came back after dragging Fin out of stone and wood and you were slumped over unconscious on Nomad, the both of you barely breathing; so, I laid you out beside Fin and Jadu who was also unconscious. Me and Zaren puzzled over what to do with the lot of you. Everyone was in pretty bad shape and in no condition to move without help and mounts. I must admit, it was looking pretty grim.
“Well, I decided to give it some thought and went to the balcony—that’s where I stumbled upon Bede….”
Cavok looked down at his hands, as if searching for what to say, or not to say, about the memory.
“We carried her away from that awful place. She rests here in Sheaf now. I’ll take you to her resting spot sometime when you’re up for it.”
After the somber moment, clearing his throat, Cavok pressed on, not wanting to linger on the difficult subject for too long.
“I became aware of some commotion below in the city streets. I could make out outlines of things, but I couldn’t see anything clearly down below—could only hear what sounded like wolves ripping and biting. I called Zaren over to look for me and he said that Arie with the dolinger pack was below, clearing the streets of the remaining arisen.
“Sure enough, it was her. An hour later, she came up the tower and told us that she had patrolled the outer city, noticing a lack of defenses and saw the explosion on the tower top. She decided we needed help, so she rushed in and found the city to be massively undermanned, easily ripping through what small force was left behind to occupy the empty city. After which, she made her way to the tower and found us there.
“We got everyone mounted as best we could and headed for, what we thought was going to be, a war-torn Warwick, knowing that with you and Nomad as bad off as you two were, some of us might not have survived another backcountry trip directly to Sheaf.
“We made it to Warwick by the end of the day with Fin and Jadu waking up along the way. Those two weren’t too bad off. Jadu was probably the worst out of everyone but you guys. His burns were pretty bad—still are—but he’s got a chipper tune about him. He’s shrugged it off well enough.”
Reza shifted in her bed, asking, “had the arisen army destroyed Warwick? Was Metus too late in getting the word to them?”
Cavok looked forward and answered Reza’s question.
“So when we got to Warwick, we found it busy. There was a panic among the villagers, but the town was unspoiled. We gathered from the locals that Metus and his army had routed the attacking arisen force, the battle taking place just to the south of Warwick.
“They were still pursuing, but the battle had happened earlier that morning and victory was claimed sometime just after noon.
“So with that, we purchased a coach and packed everyone up, including you two sleepy ones, and headed back to the Sheaf, Arie insisting on getting the best physicians here to be the ones to nurse Nomad and Reza since she correctly guessed that both Warwick and Viccarwood’s infirmaries were soon to be flooded with soldiers that had been wounded in battle.
“We rode through the next day and made it to the Sheaf that morning where Arie reported to Leith and they got us admitted here. That was yesterday; so, to answer your question, you and Nomad have been unconscious two days now.”
Looking out the window through the flowing curtains fluttering past the vase and flower to the white, puffy clouds lazily strolling across the bright-blue backdrop of sky, Reza let the story sink in. She was genuinely amazed that they had all made it out of their suicide mission alive and that Metus seemed to have been successful in defeating the threat to the Plainstate of the arisen army and its terrible master.
They all turned to the door as they heard Fin’s voice sounding from the halls, entering the room alongside a woman dressed in white which Reza guessed to be a nurse. Jadu and Zaren entered behind too, the small room instantly becoming a bit too cozy for the nurse’s liking.
Weaving past Fin, helping Cavok to his feet, getting a grunt of suppressed pain from him, she discreetly lowered Reza’s sheets to take a peek at Reza’s side. Covering her up again, she asked her a few questions about how she felt as Nomad, Fin, Cavok, Jadu, and Zaren began chatting, greetings from Zaren and Jadu to Reza outtalking the frustrated nurse.
The nurse was just checking the bandage over Reza’s skull when two more individuals showed up at the door. Arie squeezed her way into the room to take a seat at the foot of Nomad’s bed with Leith staying at the door, not even bothering on trying to add more congestion to the crowded room.
Leith asked from the hallway, “Reza. Nomad. How are you two feeling?”
The nurse threw up her hands, giving up on the checkup, taking a seat next to the window in the guest’s chair.
Reza smiled and called across the chattering room, “We’re doing well. Just a few broken ribs and a cracked skull is all for me. We’ll be up and moving in no time.”
Nomad, simply smiled, nodding to Leith’s question, receiving a returning nod from Leith.
“Very good,” Leith said, most of the room quieting as she continued. “We’ve received messages that Sultan Metus is expected to return today in a few hours as some of you may have heard. There is to be a small welcoming ceremony in the courtyard open to citizens of Sheaf upon his arrival to celebrate the victory, and to honor those who gave their lives for our people. I would hope, if you feel up to it, that everyone present might attend. The sultan would be very kind to the idea of having you all th
ere, I feel. He is so fond of you.”
The last statement, Leith had said as if directed mostly to Reza, making eye contact before bowing out of the doorway.
Calling over her shoulder on the way out, she added, “Uniforms will be sent to each of you. You can’t be seen before the people of the Plainstate in naught but a thin sheet of cloth.”
Just at the thought of getting dressed, Cavok mumbled, “Never been that fond of ceremonies.”
“Come on, big guy,” Fin chipped in, about to pat the man on the back, halting, not seeing a spot that wasn’t a bruise or laced with stitches, adding, “You can manage to throw something over that used pincushion of a body of yours. Would be disrespectful of us not to be there to greet Metus home and congratulate him on the victory. We might have gotten him the info, but he did the heavy lifting. His troops likely saved thousands from slaughter.”
Reza, clearing her voice, added, “Besides that, it’s a ceremony to honor the dead in this battle. I know we all will be mourning Bede’s sacrifice and passing in our own ways, but this would be nice to do together. I think she would appreciate the sentiment in her, and everyone else’s, honor. They gave their lives for a cause—not for nothing.”
The somber comment left the packed room quiet, none daring to break the silence. After a few moments, the nurse came back over to Reza’s side with white tablets of some kind, piquing Jadu’s interest slightly.
Jadu made his way over to the nurse, tugging on her skirt, asking in a whisper of a voice, “What kind of tablets are those? If they’re pain pills, I’ve got some really potent ones I could go get for Reza. Made them myself. Pure stuff, really effective.”
Jadu’s jabbering broke the silence, the nurse arguing with the little praven while Reza intervened in the nurses behalf, trying to get Jadu to drop the issue, assuring him that the nurse’s treatment was adequate. Cavok then jumped in, asking Jadu if he could sneak him a few of his home-remedy drugs, out of legitimate need—Fin also putting in an order of the alchemist’s drugs, not so much out of legitimate need. Zaren remained brooding in the corner while Nomad and Arie began chatting about details of Metus’ short, but successful campaign against the arisen.
The little room was quickly filled with liveliness and conversation once again that floated out through the thin curtains of the window into the quiet streets a story below.
46
Plaudits and Egress
Getting dressed had taken most of them longer than they thought it would have. Cavok and Reza limped out of their rooms with everyone else already waiting for them.
They headed off through the infirmary corridors and down a path through a rock garden that led to the main palace court. When they got there, the courtyard was packed, with more locals still flooding in from the wide main gate with every passing minute.
Choosing to stay on the fringe of the crowd, Cavok and Reza not wanting anything to do with the scores of accidental bumps amidst the congestion, the group took a seat twenty feet off to the side of the crowd. The long bench at the end of the trail allowed for a few in the group to take a rest while they watched the military begin to break a line down the middle of the crowd of hundreds of gathered civilians cheering and waving to the oncoming officers atop dolinger and horseback alike. No doubt the dolingers were helping to hasten the path through the crowd the officers were attempting to make to the palace steps.
Jadu, pointing out Leith who stood up in the shade on the palace steps, prattled on to the rest of the group, begged them to move closer to the action for a better look at the proceedings. His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, as everyone else was quite pleased with their somewhat secluded spot on the sidelines.
Nomad was the first to notice a slender figure approaching them from the crowd.
Arie hurried up to them, waving an inviting hand, urgently calling for them to get to the palace steps. Leith was demanding their presence there.
With Jadu dashing off ahead of her into the crowd, and Nomad and Fin joining her without objection, Reza, Zaren, and Cavok reluctantly looked at the others and begrudgingly followed.
Arie ordered a path through the crowd for the small group with only a few listening to her demands; until, that is, they glimpsed Cavok, who looked like as battle hardened a veteran as any of them had ever seen.
As they limped their way to the steps, Reza and Cavok doing everything they could to not show the immense pain each was in from the broken bones, contusions, and deep, stitched up wounds they suffered from, Cavok, looming over the rest of the crowd, could see as they neared the steps that Metus and his elite guards were making their way up beside Leith.
The group broke from the crowd, Arie leading them to the side of Leith who had taken Metus aside for a minute while the crowd cheered for the soldiers and sultan at the steps.
Finishing up her private conversation with Metus, Leith stepped back next to Arie, Metus stepping up on the stairs to gain a bit more ground for the crowd to see him as he began to speak.
“Citizens of Sheaf!” he began, lifting his hands to hush the hundreds of residents that had shown up for the event.
As the crowd slowly died down, Metus began speaking again.
“There has been an obscure shadow and threat that has been looming over us this past year, making borders, our towns, and our profitable trade routes uneasy by the swift fall of the city Brigganden.
“That threat, thanks to the courage, strength, swiftness, and unmatched faith in the kind gods and goddesses of the realm, has been defeated!”
Even before Metus had finished his proclamation, the cheers from the crowd all but drowned him out, the masses easily whipped up in a frenzy of excitement at the sound of the good news.
Holding up his hands once more, Metus attempted to lower the volume of the shouts of hurrah. After a minute of Metus wrangling the attention of the onlookers, he started up again.
“We are here unharmed, safe in our beloved capital because of those that went out to face that terrifying foe that we now know to be an arisen army.”
A communal gasp at the mention of the arisen echoed throughout the courtyard, and Metus let the wave of shock settle in before continuing.
“One that we defeated, thankfully before the cost of war scarred our lands. We wreaked havoc amongst their ranks thanks to our foresight and preparation, casting what was left of their ruined army out of our borders, southward into the Badlands.
“Though ultimately we come home this day undisputed victors, there were many of our people that come home wounded, or worse, those that did not come back to their families, alive. We had losses, and to them, we must be forever in their debt.”
For a moment, Metus paused, looking to Reza, holding her gaze for a short, but powerful moment. Reza’s thoughts drifted to Bede, seeing that Metus also shared her thoughts. Looking back up to the captivated crowd, Metus continued.
“When our people hurt, we all hurt. Honor those that have died so that you may live life safely in the borders of the Plainstate.
“May we mourn them this day—but may we also celebrate them this day, and celebrate life as well, for we are, and still remain, a land of safety and freedom!”
Cheers erupted as Metus turned to speak a few words to Leith, then to the head of his elite guard before beckoning Reza and the rest to follow him into the palace, the inner palace guards closing the doors as they entered.
“You look as ragged as I feel,” Metus said, looking to Cavok with a tired smile, Cavok simply grunting in response.
Metus turned to the rest of the group and softly addressed Reza and the rest, the sound of the crowd now shut out by the heavy palace doors.
“I’ll let you all get some well-needed rest, but first, I’d like to speak with you all while you’re gathered. I have something for each of you. Come, lets converse in my study.”
Reza and Cavok’s wandering gaze drifted up to the second-story office door, Cavok letting out another grunt as they
began the long walk up the stairway to walk to Metus’ office, Arie staying behind until Metus shouted out for her to join them as well.
With everyone filing into the room, Leith closed the door behind them. Metus took a seat at his desk, pulling clinking bags from his drawer which grabbed Fin’s attention instantly.
Metus handed seven, fine purple purses to Leith, who handed them out to each in attendance, including Arie who seemed taken aback by the gift.
Each drawing open the pouch, they were met with a large quantity of gold, and more impressively, an array of silvery metals. Fin, for one, recognized the metals as varying platinums, which were much more valuable than gold in most local regions.
“Gold, palladium, rhodium, platinum, silver. Total, this is well more than I had said we’d pay you for your service. Your mission was beyond a success, and I hope the bonus helps you make the best of whatever endeavors you choose to pursue next.”
“Thank you, sultan. Truly we are humbled by your gift,” Reza softly spoke, drawing up the purse strings, placing it to her side.
The group’s attention drifted to Zaren, who held his pouch forward, offering it back to Leith, who, after a moment, took it, everyone waiting for an explanation.
“I don’t need metals. I have an alchemist for a student for goodness sakes,” Zaren grumbled.
Reza gave Zaren a look as though she was about to slap the old man. Looking down as a small hand was placed on her arm, Jadu looked up concernedly at her.
“It’s not that we don’t appreciate your gift, sultan,” Jadu said, his attention now focused on Metus.
“It’s just that Zaren would like to return to his tower to begin the ritual to recall his people back to this realm. He worries about them quite a bit. But the doctors say I might need to stay here a while longer for skin treatment for my burns, and he doesn’t want to leave me here alone. He’s just frustrated about that, that’s all. He means no disrespect to you.”
Reza was flabbergasted by the unusual seriousness and tactful awareness shown by the little praven. His explanation on what conflicted emotions rode just under the crusty old enchanter’s skin was an analysis Reza didn’t know Jadu was capable of.