Chương 45: Sniffles

'Duty to the people, honor to the kingdom,' Yllana sat on a branch of a tree on a top of a mountain. She was thinking of her vows as a knight in the North Kingdom. She started training when she was fourteen. She told her parents that she was going on a training camp but never mentioned it was for the imperial army. And five years passed by easily. She did not see her parents for those years. She felt a stinging pain inside her chest and she clutched on her sword tightly.

"Yllana,"

Ba-dump!

The tight feeling on her chest changed into a nervous throbbing. That voice was so familiar. She raked her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath before facing the source of that voice.

Two dark-colored eyes were staring at her. Lucien was standing beside her and offering his hand.

"We need to go. It will be dark soon."

"Lucien, I haven't thanked you yet." She took Lucien's hand and stood beside him. They jumped down the tree with ease and started to venture deeper into the forest.

"For what?" he asked not noticing the reluctance on Yllana's eyes.

"For saving me most of the time. Thank you." She bowed her head a little. This is a culture that shows respect and gratitude in the north. She doesn't know if he will accept it but she still waited for his reply before lifting her head.

"No need." He scrunched up his nose and flicked her forehead. With her soft 'ow', he turned his back and whispered, "Idiot."

"We need-" Yllana was about to finish her sentence when Lucien handed a barbecued fish in front of her face, "…food. Uh-huh."

When she looked where Lucien pulled out the fish, a campfire was already set and there are two tents set around it.

"Just two tents?" she raised an eyebrow and looked at Midel who was sitting beside the fire and turning the other fishes over.

"We'll share," Lucien glanced over at Midel. Seeing the sign from Lucien, Midel just smiled at Yllana. He was rubbing the head of the little white rabbit while complaining inside his mind.

~~~~~~~

Yllana's red eyes and red hair resurfaced that night. She called Lucien beside her and showed him the book of spells that the emperor gave. She sighed, "You've been a mage far longer than me. Maybe you know how to open this?"

Lucien took the book and inspected its case. It was old and worn. The thick book was encased in a metal box with two chains in an X position. In the middle of the intersecting chains was a shallow depression with the shape of a diamond.

"Midel said he has no idea how to open it, achoo!" Yllana pulled her blue robes tighter around her shoulders. The snow got thinner as they traveled farther away from the South Kingdom but the chilliness still seeped through her clothes.

"You lied to your father. You said you were going to find the ingredients for the spell when you have not opened the book yet." Lucien's long string of words made Yllana smile.

"Well, my lying...*sniffle*...got me a good long response from you at least. Besides, I do not know how to face my grandparents. Just open *sniffle* the book. Achoo!" Lucien's forehead crumpled.

"Release some spirit force into the diamond," he gave back the book and returned to the campfire.

Yllana's shoulders started shivering and her nose was clogged. 'Did the weather drop again?' she asked herself. She sat down by a big tree and opened her palm on top of the book. After a while, a sliver of red and white light slowly crawled out of her palm and into the center of the book.

The chains clanked and vibrated. There were a few thin rays of light coming out of the case of the book but it died down after a few seconds. "Strange," she said as she tried to open it again. But she only got the same answer that made her sniffle more than once. When she felt that her eyelids were starting to get heavy, she placed the book back to her space ring.

"The damned book won't open!" she grumbled at the night sky and groaned. She was starting to feel lightheaded.

Moments later, she closed her eyes and leaned on the tree trunk. She did not know when she had fallen asleep but she was aware that someone carried her to her tent and placed the covers about her. She tried to open her eyes but it seemed that they have given up and did not heed to her command. She gave in to sleep only after she was fed by something bitter.

~~~~~~~~~~

Midel and Lucien were on the opposite ends of the tent. Midel was still grumbling about having to share with the cold man when he saw Lucien come back carrying Yllana in his arms.

"She doesn't look good," he asserted. Based on Yllana's pale complexion and shivering shoulders, he was more than sure that she is sick. "So, even the Accursed One gets sick?" he joked but Lucien did not laugh.

Midel followed them inside Yllana's tent and prepared an oil lamp by the side. He went outside and fetched some water from the bottle and poured it on a clean piece of cloth. When he returned to her tent, he saw Lucien feeding Yllana medicine. "You could have just given her a potion and she will be alright in a few hours."

"Saving for battles," the plain answer he received from Lucien silenced Midel. He knew that this man loved his words so much he was not willing to part from so much of his own. So he did not bother asking anymore. He left the tent when he gave the wet towel to Lucien. "She is a tough one, she will survive," he yawned and walked back to their own tent. He knew that when Lucien is around, Yllana will be just fine.

"Two days rest," Lucien said as he walked back to their tent too.

"She must not open the book," Midel sat on his makeshift bed facing Lucien.

Lucien's eyes grew dim. There was a small smile playing on his lips. "What do you mean?"

Midel's blue eyes flashed a dangerous glint. He could feel something different about Lucien. He was always a cold man. But at that moment, Midel felt he went up another notch in being cold. "I have seen her using a certain spell on the book and she resurrected something powerful that it devoured her in the end."

"She needs the sight spell, and it is her book. Stop worrying." Lucien already turned his back on Midel after saying his piece. Yllana wanted the book so much that an enchanted invitation sucked her in. It is more than enough proof that she really wants to open the book for her sister's sake.

"Then just teach her. Aren't you her master? She asked for you to teach her, can't you just teach her that spell?" Midel reasoned out.

"I do not know the spell. Sleep. Goodnight." Lucien did not bother to answer anymore even when Midel kept on calling out his name.

~~~~~~~~

Yllana felt something cold and wet on her forehead when she woke up. When she reached for it, she felt her hands were heavier and her throat was dry. She coughed once. There she realized she have a cold. "I'm sick,"

"We know," Midel opened the curtain of her tent and gave her a bottle with green liquid on it. "Medicine, drink it now or else you will get worse."

"I can still walk so we can continue to the next village...Ow!"

Before Yllana could get her feet on the ground, she felt a stinging pain in the middle of her forehead. Before she knew it, a pair of black boots was facing her bed. The man's cold and aloof presence made him look even more handsome. Yllana averted her gaze as she scratched the spot Lucien hit.

"Idiot, we will continue after two days. If you will not get well after two days, we will send you back to your father." Lucien was holding a bowl of hot soup one of his hands. When he handed it over to Yllana, her stomach made a grumbling sound.

"I'm sorry. I did not know that I was sick before we left the city. I just felt lightheaded. And then this..." Yllana made an awkward smile to them. She was trying to convince her self that she was not prepared for a small illness at the time.

"Call us if you need anything. There is water outside your tent." Midel said as he went outside and grabbed a knife on the side of the tent. "Oy, Lucien. Since we will be here for two days, we might as well feed her something nutritious so she heals faster." He handed the knife to Lucien while smiling apologetically. "I am never good at knives. So I will just try to find fruits and vegetables for her soup." They divided the workload between them. Lucien was the hunter and Midel was the gatherer.

After eating the soup Lucien gave her, Yllana went back to sleep. Indeed, she had not been feeling well. But what can she do? She felt she could finish earlier in her mission if she was alright. Now she feels like her body was thrown into the snow borders.

She was half-asleep when a shadow passed the trees went inside her tent.

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