章節 10: Return

Nailah considered giving the order to give chase, but after seeing how exhausted her men were from dealing with multiple enemies, she decided against it. Her group went back to the cart to find some of the others on the ground, extremely tired and suffering from fairly deep wounds and scars. Hovering over them, Rafiel was using his skill to ease the pain.

Rafiel saw Nailah approaching and when she was right in front of him, he saw on her face that there were many things that she wanted to ask like, but there was no time. Things like what happened and where did that blast of wind come from needed to be postponed until later, thus he spoke up before she could.

Rafiel: "We need to get them to a cleric or priest right away, the herbs and vulneraries we have are not enough to stop the bleeding."

Looking at their wounds, Nailah nodded and turned towards the men from the first group that she had brought with her.

Nailah: "Give the wounded basic first aid, that'll have to be enough until we reach the capital. Also, empty the cart to give them someplace to lie down."

Laguz Wolf: "But what of the bandits?"

The bandits attacking them had already fled once they also saw their first group running away. Their defeat would be certain once the Laguz some distance away came back to reinforce the ones guarding the Rafiel and Ryan.

Nailah: "Leave them, they are broken and we don't have enough men to spare to handle them. They might pose a problem in the future, but we do not have much of a choice right now. Now get to work."

Laguz Wolves: """Yes, my queen."""

Soon after they replied some of the men started to bandage some of their comrade's wounds while a few others just unloaded all the supplies from the cart. Ryan felt that it was a shame and wasteful that his families farm supplies were being tossed like that, but he understood the situation.

When everyone injured was patched up as much as they could, Rafiel soon came back with a few horses. These horses were the ones that the bandit Cavaliers and Mages were riding that fled when Ryan caused the gust. Rafiel flew to get them in order to lessen the burden on the Laguz warriors. Herons were always closer to nature than the other races.

Once everything was set up, Nailah had the group immediately set off. All those who were able, including Nailah herself, transformed into their beast forms, keeping the pace alongside the cart.

The rest of the journey was quiet. All anyone could hear were the sounds of the cartwheels continuously spinning and the footsteps of the Laguz and horses running through the plains.

Even when the group finally saw the kingdom of Hatari in the distance, no one was smiling or saying anything. All of their thoughts were occupied about in getting there as fast as possible, hoping that their wounded comrades could live fighting another day.

A little while later and they nearly made it to the castle gates. The guards were startled seeing a large group approaching without slowing down and some of them started to transform into their beast mode while others drew out their weapons.

One of the guards went to go get the gate captain and informed him of what was going on.

Gate Guard: "Sir, there is a group of around 6 men and a cart coming towards the gates at a fast speed."

After hearing that, the captain grabbed his lance and started walking out.

When the group got a little closer, some of the soldiers were able to recognize Nailah, but the captain was not one of those men. Without knowing the identity of who was coming, he marched out to confront them.

When they were finally close enough for them to hear him, his subordinates were unable to stop him from yelling out.

Gate Captain: "Halt! Undo your transformation and state your name and purpose for being here!"

Nailah was a bit annoyed after hearing say that and seeing him puff out his chest. What kind of soldier does not even remember what his own queen looks like?

So she followed his order and reverted back to her Beorc form while she walked up to him. As she was coming closer and closer to him, he was wondering why he was feeling a slight chill throughout his body. It took a while before he saw that the person coming closer to him looked familiar.

It was till she slapped his face did the shock finally helped him remembered who she was.

Nailah: "Although I was recently crowned, am I so forgetful enough for you not to remember your own queen?"

He was awestruck for a split second before he kneeled down.

Gate Captain: "Forgive me, my queen!"

The other guards quickly followed suit.

Gate Guards: """Forgive us, my queen!"""

Nailah: "All of you get the hell up. We got wounded that need immediate medical attention!"

Gate Guards: ""As you command, my queen!""

Nailah: "Also, there was a battle near the west end of the plains, have a platoon set out to salvage anything they could. Remind them that bandits we fought might be lurking around there. If it's possible to find their camp, tell them to clear it if they can."

Gate Guards: ""As you command, my queen!""

While the wounded were taken to the army's infirmary, another platoon set out soon after to carry out Nailah's order. They were able to annihilate the bandit encampment and salvage anything from supplies that were tossed. This was actually a fairly important thing to do as the cart was half-comprised of fruits and vegetables non-native to Hatari.

Rafiel took Ryan and they both were given a place to stay. Although Rafiel was in a much better state than the one Nailah found him in, he still was a bit ill and exhausted, even more so after the recent battle.

Ryan was the same as he was still a baby and had a weak constitution. Although he was able to do so easily, he should not have used offensive magic as the backlash could have harmful aftereffects to his potential growth.

Although Nailah wanted to stay with her men and see to their treatment, she had a duty and went to report her journey to her parents and to let them know that she was okay. She had been away over a week longer than when she was supposed to return and they were beginning to be worried. She also had to tell them about the land across the desert and how there is a society living there on the other side.

At the castle, she called for a meeting and gathered all influential personnel.

Nailah: "I know that I have been away for quite a bit of time and let me apologize before I say anything more. This is unbecoming for a queen of a kingdom."

Nailah bowed her head and this caused quite a stir as it was weird for a leader to apologize to his/her subordinates.

Nailah: "Next, I need to inform all of you of the fact that there lies another civilization beyond the desert."

This comment brought a clamor to the hall of people. Expeditions were sent out to the desert every once in a while to see if there was an end to it, but none have been successful in finding anything that suggests any signs of life being lived.

Nailah: "Quiet down!"

The hall fell into silence immediately.

Nailah: "We will discuss what to do after I say everything I have found so try to maintain silence before the end."

Everyone nodded in response and agreement.

Nailah: "Continuing on, I have brought back a native from that land, a Laguz. He is unable to be here due to being extremely exhausted, but apparently, he belongs to a tribe of Laguz called Herons and although he does not know much due to their clan's self-isolation, he is able to tell us basic things like how many kingdoms are there and who are the other natives. We shall meet again and hear the words from him personally when he recovers. From henceforth, this Laguz will be under the protection of the Hatari royal family."

Seeing that she was finished talking, the crowd started asking her questions. One minister asked if their kingdom had also been discovered by the people on the other side, A general asked how strong their military might was, and a noble asked how they governed their country.

Nailah: "I do not know the details of how the other side operates, so I cannot answer most of your questions. Save them for later when the Laguz recovers. That is all."

Nailah dismissed the meeting and started loosening up once they were all gone. She was really uncomfortable speaking like that. Although she was the queen, she was still pretty young so she was still a bit immature.

She went back to her room, changed back to her civilian clothes from her formal ones, and lied face-down on her bed.

Nailah: "Finally I can relax. I hate meetings."

???: "Attending and holding meetings is a part of being the ruler of a kingdom."

Nailah sat up and look towards the direction of the voice who responded.

Nailah: "Father! Mother! What are you doing here?"

Nailah's Father: "What? We can't see our daughter when we want to?"

They walked up to her.

Nailah's parents were worried about her since it was long overdue for her to come home, but seeing her tired and only with a couple of scratches eased their hearts. Even if she was an adult and that she was already worthy of being the leader of the kingdom, she would always be a child in their hearts.