บท 449: Moving Forward
"Lady Livie and her army are coming. There is no time to lose." Renat finished his tale with one last warning. He smacked his dry tongue. It wasn't often he spoke so much in one sitting, but he hesitated to leave anything out.
Alaron uncrossed his legs and climbed off the nightstand. "Quite a tale. And here we just thought you were dead. That was far more interesting."
Mairwen was too distracted to give her brother a well deserved scowl. She gently took Renat's paw. "Do not worry about Lady Livie. You saw the incoming soldiers. They will not be able to breach Oblivion."
"We should still probably try to evacuate any citizens unwilling or unable to fight," Duchess Ashleigh said as an aside to the Emperor.
"Agreed, I was already thinking Gandr might be able to lead them to safety. He is basically a one man army." Devrim looked to the halfling, who had made himself comfortable against one wall.
"Whatever you need, I will do," he told the human leader.
"There are a few more changes we should make, I think," Junayd motioned to the Emperor. "Perhaps we should discuss it outside…"
Everyone suddenly became aware that their time inside the bedchamber had ended. One by one they cleared the room until only the three royals, Renat and Eira were left.
Devrim kissed the princess on her forehead. "I can stay if you need me to."
"No, go speak to Junayd. The world does not stop turning on my account. You need to make sure everything is ready." Mairwen smiled at her father, though he could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.
Yet she was right; there was much to do. "I will stay close by if you need me," he promised. "Guardian?" He called to Alaron.
The young man shook his head. "If it is all the same to you, Your Majesty, I will be staying."
"Me too," Eira said firmly, surprising the royals with her conviction.
"I would rather have a moment alone with my husband." The princess had so much she wanted to say.
Yet the brown wolf was quick to deny her. "Don't send them away. They only want to keep you safe."
Although Mairwen was hurt, she hid it as best she could. "I know you would never hurt me."
Renat looked away. He wasn't sure that he could promise that. Not anymore.
Excusing himself, Devrim hugged his sitting daughter and patted Renat on his hairy arm. "I'll return in a while," he assured them.
"When you return, I have some suggestions for fortifying the wall," the scientist tried to leave things on a positive note.
"I look forward to hearing them." The Emperor nodded. Any help was welcome, especially from such a brilliant mind. Devrim stepped to the door and dipped his head. "Until then."
When the four were left alone, the princess sent her brother a pleading look. "Can you at least move away a little bit so I can speak to my husband privately?"
Alaron cocked his head to one side. "You know my hearing is so good that..."
"I KNOW!" the princess blurted. "Please just humor me," Mairwen added more calmly.
Eira and the Guardian both backed away and averted their gaze. It wasn't much, but it was far better than nothing.
Renat shifted in the bed uncomfortably. Mairwen could see he was scooting away from her. She placed her hand on his arm.
"Do you not like me anymore?" She asked with a furrowed brow.
"I love you!" The brown wolf whimpered. "But you should be repulsed by what I have become. When we have defeated Livie and Taran, I will do what needs to be done to make sure you are taken care of, but…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Mairwen held up her hand. "We are in this together no matter what. I will not let you abandon me just because you've grown longer teeth and a little extra hair. That isn't how marriage works."
"But if I scratch or hurt you, then you could be infected like I was. I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened!" The wolf prince balled his paw-like fists, pressing his nails into the pads of his hand.
"If that happens, we know Alaron's vial of glowing light will stop the transformation. Even if it didn't, I would still be willing to risk it for you." Mairwen leaned forward and stroked her husband's fuzzy cheek.
Her touch soothed the angry fire in Renat's belly, quenching it completely for the time being. For the first time since the transformation, the scientist actually felt like he was fully in his right mind.
"I love you," he repeated, nuzzling his cheek against her delicate hand.
"I love you too. So no more talk about me being 'taken care of' or whatever that nonsense was. Moving forward, we are in this together." The princess's eyes were filled with a mix of grief and hope. Eventually the hope overtook the grief. "And we will fix this! Alaron?"
The young man was curled up on the floor with one knee pulled up against chest. Despite his relaxed position, Mairwen knew he would be ready to leap to action at a moment's notice. With his hood laying neatly around his shoulders. Alaron gave his sister a curious expression.
"What was that? I wasn't listening…" the Guardian inspected his nails.
"None of that." The princess waved her hand at him. "Can we use your liquid light to heal Renat?"
Alaron pulled his lips to one side, contemplating for a moment. He shook his head slowly. "I can only use it on external wounds, which Renat does not have any. And he cannot drink it. That has consequences. If he were fully human, it would freeze his body in time, but since he is not...himself...right now, I think it might kill him."
There was silence in the room. Healing water was not available to them. Even if it were, the reaction of the Empress's wounds to the water was enough to make them think twice about trying it.
"If science caused this, perhaps science can fix it. We will have to continue with finding Dania. If she was abducted for her scientific work to create these monsters, then perhaps she has a way to undo it. Even if she doesn't, we need to find her. I told Eliana I would. I shouldn't have paused as long as we have. I have done them both a great wrong."
Alaron stood. "There are a dozen excuses for why we delayed, and no one would blame you for any of them. But I agree, we must move forward. Dania has waited too long as it is."
"And if His Highness's condition is reversible, there may be a time when the transformation becomes permanent." Eira didn't like the idea, but she also could not deny that it was a very real possibility.
The soldier had seen quite a bit of Dania's experiments as well as some of Renat's work. There was always a point where returning to the previous state was no longer an option. It was possible this change would fall under this same principle. If it did, there was no time to lose.
Since none of them could deny Eira's thoughts, they all felt a renewed sense of urgency.
"Are you fit to travel?" Mairwen asked Renat.
The wolf sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. "Having food and rest has helped renew my energy. I think I can manage. With you, Mairwen, I feel like I can do almost anything."
Alaron coughed. "We get it; love conquers all." The young man rolled his eyes. "We should leave as soon as we can or we will get caught up in the battle. Now, who is going to tell father?"
The two princes and Eira quickly touched their noses to declare that they would not be 'it.' The blue-eyed woman rubbed her face with her palm.
"Really? We could have told him together."
"Face it Mair, the Emperor likes you best. You are the obvious candidate." Alaron shrugged. There was no jealousy in his voice. He would like his sister better too. After all, she hadn't staged a coup to take over the human world and nearly caused the destruction of humanity.
"Fine, I will let him know, but you two better figure out how to get Renat out of Oblivion without being seen and don't forget to get supplies for our journey." Mairwen began to delegate. Having decided the course of action, she kissed her hairy husband on his cheek--an action Renat felt all the way to his toes-- and headed out the door.
What would Devrim say to her assertion that she needs to leave? She hoped he would be happy. However, the Emperor knew how formidable the wolf creatures were. It was likely he would be against the idea of her heading toward the danger.
There was little time to think. As soon as the princess rounded the corner, she bumped straight into her father's chest. "Oh!" she exclaimed, quickly relieved that it was Devrim and not some random servant. "I was just looking for you."
"I was coming for you also," Devrim said seriously. "We need to talk."
"Yes, we do," the princess agreed.
The grey-eyed man nodded briefly. "I will go first. You need to get out of Oblivion. Now."
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง