บท 6: Angels
The rising dawn revealed the aftermath of battle. No one made a single sound, the silence of mourning. Bodies littered the ground, and Kore sat directly in the middle of it all. Her tear streaked face spoke volumes of the turmoil that raged inside of her. She stayed there, cradling the head of one of her brothers in her lap. He was just a boy. Maybe eighteen at most. He had suffered a wound to his stomach. Even though Kore had bandaged him with parts of her own underclothes, cut straight from her body, he hadn't made it to see morning. She was exhausted, and soaked through with his blood, caked in dirt. She had wept his passing as soon as the life left his eyes; she had drifted her hands over to close them. She continued to hum soothingly, running her fingers through his hair. She had promised to take care of and protect him, had promised he would make it home to see his family, and had promised not to leave his side. She could only make good on two of them, and it ate at her.
"Kordelia..."
She immediately reached for her knife, pointing it outwards in warning.
"Kordelia, it's okay. It's me..." Wolfe crouched down a couple feet away. "Kordelia..." Madocc and Felix joined him slowly.
"Don't touch him." She sniffed, using the back of her armed hand to wipe her nose, unwilling to look at their judging stares.
"It's time to go, Kore. We can't stay here." Madocc murmured. "The orders have been given. Leave the dead to the Mother."
"No!" She yelled it, the attention of victorious survivors slowly landing on her. She didn't care. She'd stay here all day if she had to.
Alekai approached them, ordering the onlookers to gather the rest of the wounded. He slipped out of his tonfa's, passing them to Felix, who took them without question. In the back of her mind, she figured her boys knew where her feelings lay, and that had maybe warmed them to Alekai. He knelt beside Wolfe, almost in her line of sight.
"Kordelia. We need to leave, now." He stated calmly. Too calmly for Kore's liking.
"I'm not leaving him behind, Kai." She said between sniffles. "I promised he would come home. I promised." Alekai moved forward cautiously as a fresh wave of tears stained her face, and she stuck her knife out in response. "Don't make me hurt you."
He raised his palms up. "I'll carry him."
"You promise?" Another sniffle.
"Kordelia Rose, when have I ever broken a promise..?" He gently took hold of the young boy and heaved him up into his arms. Kordelia stood with the help of Felix as he wrapped an arm around her. She kept in step with Alekai, her hand clutching the arm of the young boy tightly, hesitant to release him. Madocc and Wolfe were following closely, her own personal harem of protection against the cruel injustices of their unforgiving world.
***
They had arrived back to base some time in the late afternoon. Alekai had carried that boy for miles, and not once did he falter or complain. Kore never released her hold on him, even when they arrived and he had set him down on a cot just outside the armory. She had only asked for a spare sheet to be brought to her, which she used to cover his body, until news spread through the base and the boy's parents came.
Alekai stayed near, seated across on the other side of the door, watching Kore. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her he was sorry. He watched as the boy's mother collapsed over her son's body, the agony unbearable. This was why they didn't bring home the bodies. Mourning was easier without also having to bury the dead. The boy's father embraced Kore, one hand on his wife's shoulder. He could hear their thanks from his position. A group of men came, gathering the boy and carried him out of sight. They embraced Kore with saddened smiles one last time before they followed suit. Kore remained where she stood, staring after them.
Alekai stood, coming up from behind, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon. We need to clean up."
She only nodded but turned and followed him inside the castle. She kept her eyes to the floor, not offering the slightest bit of emotion. It dug into him. Slowly, they made it outside her door, and Alekai opened it for her. She stepped in and looked at him for the first time.
"Will you stay with me?" The almost plea in her voice ensnared him, and despite his better judgement, Alekai nodded in agreement.
Stepping into her room, he wasn't surprised by the orderliness of it or the smell of lilies. That fuchsia smell followed her everywhere. Everything had a place, and nothing seemed askew. Kore had begun to undress, tossing her boots to the side, throwing her ruined clothes into a hidden hamper, and untangling her cherry hair from its messy braid. Trying to keep his eyes to himself, Alekai walked along her walls, inspecting each picture she had framed. They started with her when she had first joined the battalion, leading an almost perfect timeline to today. She had dozens of Polaroids, taken by a camera given to her by Wolfe on her eighteenth birthday. Most of the pictures were of her, Madocc, Felix, and Wolfe. They had survived their teenage years together. Some of the photos made him smile, others made him chuckle. He stopped mid-laugh.
Right in the middle, there was a lonely photo of him. Kore was only nineteen. Her smiling face peered up at the camera, her free arm wrapped around his neck. He had an annoyed expression on his face, but a smile in his eyes. He remembered that day. And he had loved her then.
The sound of the shower starting startled him from his thoughts, and Alekai sat on the edge of her bed, facing away from the cracked door of her bathroom. He still had little amounts of dirt coating his clothes, but he ignored it. Helping Kore would come first.
After a time, the water ceased, and Alekai adjusted his posture, keeping his eyes to the wall. Kordelia stepped out of her bathroom wrapped in a towel, her still wet curls trailing down her back. He could feel her advancing toward him, and he stiffened when her hand curled around the nape of his neck.
"Thank you...for staying." She whispered.
He turned to look at her, but her eyes were still downcast. He reached forward, cupping the side of her face with his palm. "I thought I told you..."
And then her lips were on his own. Every instinct in his body came alive and demanded him to claim what was his. His arms encircled her and pulled her forward, splitting the towel through the opening. Alekai yanked her body down, forcing her to straddle his lap, crushing her against him as his mouth devoured her. She enclosed her arms around his neck, burrowing her hands into his hair, pulling at the scalp which caused a growl to rumble from his chest.
Small moans escaped her whenever he released her mouth in trade for her throat, the shaft between his legs hardening at the sound, compelling her to tilt her head back. Kore groaned with satisfaction, grinding into his lap, subconsciously extending her breasts forward for attention. Alekai raked his teeth against the tender flesh, leaving love bites across her bare skin.
"Alekai..." She breathed.
The trance broke as realization hit him like a cold bucket of water. What the fuck was he doing? Instantly, he shuffled her off of him and to the side on her bed. He stood, righting his clothes, and jumped for the door.
"Alekai...?" She questioned, her voice laced with longing and confusion.
"I...We can't do this, Kordelia." He said, leaving and slamming the door behind him, without so much as a backwards glance.
***
Kordelia remained curled up in a ball in the spot where Alekai had dumped her. She had no idea what she had been thinking. In that moment, she had just wanted to be as close to him as she could. She hadn't meant for it to get that far. And he had just discarded her like it was nothing.
Her tears had long dried out and she knew her face would be a mess; crazy hair, swollen lips, littered in tiny bruises across her chest and neck. She couldn't decide whether or not she would join the others for the vigil held in honor of their fallen. But she knew her absence would be noted and questioned.
Dragging herself from the safety of her bed, Kore approached her closet and decided comfort over formality. She grabbed a thin long sleeved shirt, tight jeans, combat boots, and her black peacoat. Throwing it all on haphazardly, she straightened herself, ran her fingers through her wild curls, and left her room in the waning sun.
***
"The fuck happened to you?" Felix questioned as soon as Kore arrived next to her squad.
She stared past him. "Could you just leave it, for once, Fee?" Alekai didn't even bother to look in her general direction.
"We're just worried about you, Kore. No need to get snippy." Wolfe bumped her side, handing her a single white pillar candle.
"It's nothing, guys. I'll be fine." The last word seethed through her teeth, and she knew Alekai could hear her.
Before anyone could add another comment, the ceremony began. Everett stood at the front of the crowd on a small dais, handling his own candle.
"Tonight, we have gathered to honor and to mourn our most recent loss on battlefield. It may have been a victory against the enemy, but at the price of precious lives. The men and women that laid down their lives believed in a brighter future for us all, and fought with courage and dignity. They will forever be engraved into our hearts, and as we persevere they will always be carried in our souls. We will not let their deaths be in vain. The end will be near, and we are closing in on a final victory! We light these candles to light the pathway for our fallen to our Mother. May they rest peacefully with Her until the end of days."
The end of Everett's speech brought the lighting of the candles, one by one. Each neighbor turning to light another's candle until a soft glow permeated the field. Kordelia stared at her candle's flame and began to hum the Mother's hymn. Wolfe joined in, then Felix and Madocc.
Slowly, the whole field became abuzz with the haunted hymn, sadness washing over them.
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