Chapter 45:

Failure

The gunpowder was carefully wrapped back into the package and placed back into the inner pocket of Eva’s travel jacket. Her expression lightened after seeing the package intact, as the sunlight began to peek through the thatch room, signaling some time had passed since they had arrived at the abandoned windmill. 

“Why did you need us to transport some powder? How would this destroy the Yursear kingdom?” Meredith asked, eyeing the pocket that held the powder suspiciously. Everyone else also seemed confused by the appearance of the gunpowder, as they looked between themselves.

“I told you, Meredith. This will help us overthrow the Yursear kingdom.” Eva said with a content smile, padding her pocket, “I would tell you more, but since you and your nephew” Eva’s face froze as her eyes shifted over to the corner where an unconscious Silas was hunched over, “could not safely deliver it, I’ve decided I won’t tell you.”

Meredith’s face immediately turned down into a sharp frown, “Eva, don’t be childish. You know what happened was out of our control-”

“-But how you handled it was not.” Eva said, her smile plastered onto her face. She glanced out the window, where the sun was peeking through, “Neema, Saoirse, how much daylight will we have left?” Eva asked as she dropped her jacket to the ground. Her heavy cloak fell to the floor with a resolute thump. Meredith opened his mouth to protest Eva’s sharp words, but, without a moment of hesitation, Eva began pulling her dress off her shoulders. Holland and Meredith quickly diverted their eyes as Vaan moved outside to check the luggage that had already been checked twice. Eva lifted her eyebrows curiously as she watched the men around her scatter, while Neema and Saoirse giggled to themselves, looking at the under shirt that was previously hidden under Eva’s dress was now revealed. With a roll of her eyes, Eva let the rest of her dress fall off her body in a puddle around her. As she stepped out of the dress around her feet, Eva swiftly smoothed out her dark brown riding pants, then tightened her gloves that sat comfortably on her hands. Next, she held out her hand as Neema passed her a matching riding jacket, which Eva effortlessly slipped on. After, she adjusted the traveling hat on her head, her expression unchanged. 

The two sisters walked towards the window and looked towards the sky before Neema answered with a confident chime in her voice. “Six hours. Though, it looks like there will be a storm coming later in the night tonight judging by the movements of the clouds. It’s coming from the West, so that gives us more time.” Neema smiled as Saoirse reached into her bag and grabbed her leather book in her hands, the weight dipping her arms somewhat as she held it in both her arms like a prized possession. “If we travel with the horses, we should be at the next checkpoint before the rain begins.” 

On the other side of the windmill, there were three horses resting outside, tied to a portion of the broken wooden fence where they were able to wait, grazing on the overgrown grass. On their backs were other supplies packed by Eva’s sponsors, leaving nothing important from their packs. When the group walked out of the windmill, the items from inside were placed inside their respective bags. Only the provided map was placed into Eva’s hands. As they prepared to leave the windmill, Holland carried Silas on his back after picking him up from the ground, his body still limp with exhaustion. He could only take Silas to the horse and safely place his unconscious body on the back of the horse, taking the care to position him so he would not fall from the horse. 

Once Silas had been placed down, Eva started to command the group. “Neema and Saoirse, you two lead the horses. Whoever feels the need to rest, use the horses now.” Holland was already standing next to Silas’s horse, holding the reins in his hands. He nodded towards Meredith, smiling. He would protect Silas for now.  

 “Continue forward.”

At her words, the group began to move forward, walking through the tall grass around them towards the thin wooded area nearby with the horses at their sides. According to the map provided by one of Eva’s sponsors, there was a hidden road less than a quarter mile into the forest. Though the trail would be difficult to navigate, it was not their first time using the old elven trails. Meredith was easily able to find the past trail marks left by the previous elves and led them onto the path with ease, allowing them to disappear into the cover of the foliage of the woods without being caught under the sight of any outside humans. This way, both Silas and Meredith were able to travel with their normal appearances and conserve their mana until it was necessary to use again. 

The dirt path had been overgrown in some parts, but the natural wildlife was pleasant and took away from the lingering scent of the dirty water still trailing on their shoes. Neema and Saoirse walked with the horses near the front, just by Holland as they chatted about their trip home. Vaan was silent, walking near the back with his sword on his hip as he scanned the rough terrain, his eyes never lingering long in one spot. Only Meredith and Eva were tranquilly silent, both walking with some distance between them in the middle of the group. Not a word was exchanged between the two since the windmill, but the tension still hung around them, leaving a bad taste in the air. 

Their trip continued in silence until three days had passed, when the group was passing south of the Yursinean capital city, Durbrame. Silas had finally awoken from his coma, and he was forced to rest by Meredith while the group stopped to camp for the night deep within the forests abandoned by the elves. The plants were overgrown, and the tree roots stretched beyond the paths, making it difficult for the horses to move down the overgrown path. As the sky darkened, the temperature began to drop, signaling the arrival of Winter as Holland and Vaan collected dead sticks to make a fire. 

“The fire pit is ready. Put the twigs here.” Meredith had prepared a fire pit, cutting an area of grass as he used his mana to dig into the ground, creating a safe place to light a fire without creating too much light. Using some of the stones nearby, he lined the fire and then instructed Holland and Vaan to place their abandoned sticks down. “Put the smallest sticks in first.” 

Holland laughed as he put down the sticks, “I’m sure we can make a fire, Meredith.” 

Vaan stared towards Holland and then shook his head, putting the sticks down in the arrangement suggested by Meredith. “He can’t start fires well.” For the first time during their trip, Vaan spoke up voluntarily, looking stiff as before with his humorous words. Meredith looked up at Holland and laughed as Holland smacked Vaan on the back with an aggrieved expression. All of them laughed, looking particularly joyful as they finally started the fire, Meredith using his mana to quickly ignite the wood. 

Away from the small fire, Silas sat on a broken log towards the edge of the clearing. His hands were in his lap as he looked down at his bruised and injured hands, his fingers swollen from the prince’s foot from the battle in Cailith. The pain in his body had dulled due to the healing potions from Meredith, but it was still difficult to bear the pain of the mana reconstructing his bones and muscles inside his body. To subside the pain, Silas sat in place, feeling somewhat listless as he watched the other members of Eva’s group prepare for the night. Looking down at his fingers again, Silas sighed as he attempted to clench his hand shut, but as he curled his fingers towards his palm on his one hand, he felt a tearing sense of pain assault his fingers, and he stopped, drips of cold sweat lining his brow. 

Though he had regained consciousness only hours before, he had only been given the chance to speak to Meredith, who had checked his condition, and Neema, Saoirse, and Holland. They were all relieved to see him conscious, albeit sorely injured, and moving around on his own. He was only able to get in a few words before Meredith pushed him to the side and forced him to rest on the log before he reopened any of his wounds. As much as Silas wanted to refute him, Meredith was fierce when it came to injuries, and fighting him would only result in a losing battle. 

Silas closed his eyes, lowering his head as he sat, This needs to end. There will be no ‘next time’. If this continues, someone may die. Feeling the weight of his words, Silas shook his head and then looked up to the sky. The small opening in the branches was large enough to allow some moonlight in from the clear sky, lighting up a small portion in front of Silas as he looked towards the sky, his eyes glancing over the moon and the stars with nostalgia.

As he sat, Silas heard voices in the distance, deeper in the woods. The voice sounded similar to Eva’s, and all Silas could do was turn his neck in the direction of the voices, unable to clearly hear their muffled voices. From the corner of his eye, he could see the three figures moving around, discussing something while deep in thought. 

Standing near a large, dead tree, Eva stood with her hand upright, holding what looked to be a package in her left hand. To her side were Neema and Saorise, who were listening closely to her words as they bowed their heads lightly, mentioning they would be willing to complete a mission for Eva. Saoirse lifted her hand and received the package carefully before she tucked it away in her cape for safe keeping, bowing her head again towards Eva before she looked to the side towards Neema and said “let’s go” before taking her sister by the hand and leading her deeper into the forest, towards the north. The farther they walked, the farther the sounds of the leaves rustling became, until there was only the distant sound of the crackle of the firepit.

Silas sat still on his log, watching the still figure of Eva stand still in the middle of the forest, her features hidden by the shadows of the branches overhead. Her coat draped around her figure as she stood stiffly, as if lost in thought, before she sighed to herself and turned on her heel, making her way back towards the clearing where the group had made their camp. 

Seeing she was coming, Silas felt somewhat compelled to say something to Eva, be it an apology or even a simple nod of the head. He felt responsible for the mission’s trajectory, and he wanted to redeem himself to the woman, even if only a little. 

“Eva,” Silas began, stepping forward towards Eva, towards the edge of the woods. His expression tightened as he solidified his resolve and said, “I want to speak with you for a moment.”

Under the shadow of the trees, it was difficult to see Eva’s figure other than the lower half of her body, but just by feeling the air around her, Silas could tell she was unhappy to speak with him. His nerves tightened as the silence between the two lengthened until Eva stepped forward, shortening the distance between her and Silas. Silas had very rarely been nervous of anyone, but something about Eva made Silas incredibly nervous. He shivered slightly as he watched her dark expression as she stated in a cool tone, “Anything you want to say, we’ll discuss later.” 

Her gaze fixed on his face with such heaviness that he felt his figure stiffen.Only Eva and Silas could hear her voice, but from the distance Silas could feel the other three looking over in their direction with curious stares. Eva, feeling her irritation continuing to build, turned on her heels and walked to the side, away from the main camp towards a shallower part of the woods. Meredith’s gaze followed Eva’s disappearing figure before it returned to Silas, his eyes motioning for Silas to come over to the fire and join them. With Holland and Vaan staring towards him, Silas scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he lifted his feet and slowly walked towards the fire, standing next to the log by Meredith.

“Dinner will be ready in a minute.” Meredith’s tone was light as he looked up at Silas with a shallow smile, looking tired. “Sit down.”

Hearing Meredith’s words, Silas sat down in front of the fire between Meredith and Holland on a short log. His knees rested awkwardly high as he felt the warped wood dip deeper, some of the wood seeping somewhat into the ground. Sitting like that, his knees were resting higher than his rear, and Holland could not help but laugh as Silas attempted to steady himself on the log. 

“S-sorry.” Silas said, adjusting himself to a more solid part of the long log, moving him closer towards Holland. 

Holland smiled and patted the mossy part of the log next to him with a boisterous smile, “Come sit by me, I’m definitely more fun than Meredith.” His smile brightened the area around him. Vaan, resting on one knee as he watched the fire, shook his head with his stone-like expression, the warmth of before still resting around him as his face was lit up with the orange tint of the fire. 

The sky had already begun to darken, and the sun was nowhere in sight. The only light in the area was the fire, creating a warm atmosphere around the men gathered around the fire. Holland grabbed a large stick and held it out in his hands, as if weighing it, before he lifted his knee and broke the stick in half with an audible crack.

Silas looked at the broken twig and blinked twice, thinking, I don’t think I could do that. As much confidence as Silas had in his physique, he did not think he was strong enough to break such a large stick with his bare hands alone. Looking at Holland’s arms, Silas could see the definition and muscles bit with intense training. 

“The soup is done.” Meredith’s words broke Silas out of his thoughts, and in only a moment a bowl of piping hot soup was placed in front of him with a wooden spoon inside. From the smell of the soup, it was vegetable. Though the broth was light, the sliced vegetables inside were hearty

“Thank you, Meredith.” Silas said with a slight bow of his head, taking the bowl with both of his hands. 

The pot on the fire cooked the fragrant soup until it was boiling, and Meredith quickly spooned out servings to everyone until all the men around the fire were quiet, digging into the soup with their wooden spoons. No words were exchanged until Holland reached out his bowl and asked for seconds, his eyes shining brightly. Even Vaan asked for another bowl, thanking Meredith for making their meal. 

Silas and Meredith slowly finished their meal as the four men sat until the darkening sky, the stars twinkling above their heads.

… 

“Don’t tell me… that I failed?” The prince’s voice was weak, sounding fragile as the grasp of a newborn child. His blue eyes were wet, and his mouth hung slightly below, making him appear almost dumb as he sat in the bed with his hands in his lap. This was a Clarence that Alywin had seen only once before, when they first met each other in the library. The prince sitting in the bed today greatly resembled that young boy that Alywin had met nearly ten years ago. “That elf almost killed me again.” 

“Clarence.” Alywin said, grabbing Clarence’s pale, bandaged left hand in his own as he looked at the prince, “It’s over. You found him, and now he’s gone.” Alywin squeezed Clarence’s hand, but Clarence’s eyes moved down to his legs, covered by a blanket, “Let’s go back to the castle now, and forget this ever happened.”

Beau’s sharp eyes stayed locked on the two young men, watching them as Alywin attempted to reassure a battered, bandaged Clarence, who remained stone faced. Beau leaned against the cool stone wall and crossed his arms as he furrowed his eyebrows. He glanced down momentarily at Alywin’s slim hand, firmly holding Clarence’s. He had heard rumors about them and their close relationship, but since Beau made it a habit to stay out of the capital and its politics, he had never seen them together like this. Though he did not particularly care about the standing of their relationship, he was worried someone would recognize Clarence as royalty. 

There was a light knock at the door, and the doctor’s voice rang out lightly as he spoke to the knight by the door.  As Clarence and Alywin continued to talk, Beau uncrossed his arms and strode towards the door, masking his irritation for the young, foolish prince with his placid expression as he tightly grasped the door knob and opened the door, quickly walking out to greet the anxious doctor. The knights in the room soundlessly followed, shutting the door behind them as they left the room.

The knights were sent to guard the outside of the room as Beau turned to the doctor and asked, “Will the young master recover?” His voice was stern, sounding strained as his deep eyes burned into the doctor, anxiously awaiting a response. 

The old doctor used his handkerchief to wipe a line of sweat from his brow as he responded in a tight voice, “Due to the severity of his injuries, it will take at least three months for his body to fully heal. The bruises and cuts on his skin should heal completely within a few weeks.” He stopped as Beau’s expression darkened then he added, “If you place this cream on his wounds and dress them, they should heal faster with bed rest.” Just as the doctor finished his words, Beau lifted his hand, leaving it hanging heavily in the air.

The doctor, feeling the weight of Beau’s stare, reached into his medicine satchel and grabbed out a large glass bottle of medicinal cream and two smaller bottles of pills with labels. These bottles were delicately placed in the captain’s hands before the doctor withdrew his clammy, wrinkled hand as if he would be burned if it lingered there any longer. 

“Thank you, doctor.” Captain Laurent bowed his head lightly before he reached into the small sachet on his hip and grabbed out a handful of gold coins. After placing it into the old doctor’s hands, the captain sent the doctor away with a wave of his hand, sending a knight to see the doctor off downstairs. Only Beau turned in the other direction and began to walk down the empty hall, his face dropping in annoyance as he walked. 

As his figure disappeared around the narrow corner of the inn, he shook his head, sighing in frustration at the recent turn of events.

I apologize for the delay! Thanks all for your patience! I had to take my mom to a doctor's appointment, which ended up taking up all my time today ;; Huge thanks to Hunny for reworking this. If I ever get the chance there are some small edits I'd like to make to this, but for now I have a nasty headache, so she's staying..... RIP

Hunny and I will be on vacation for a week, so we may be taking a break next week depending on whether or not we have time to work! I apologize in advance! Currently, Hunny and I feel that YMtK is hitting a little too close to home due to our lives being absolute shit at the moment (LOL). Our life is a lifetime movie at the moment. The pure shenanigans I have witnessed this past month is insane. This vacation is a godsend...... ^^; Bless.

But, good news is that the next chapter will end this arc!! Which means we will be moving more into what you all (and Hunny and I) have been waiting for! Ah, I'm so excited!! That being said, things will be heating up. I don't think any of you all will be able to guess what will be happening ♥ Of course, there's no harm in trying!

Welp, thanks all for reading!! I'll keep discord update/ my twitter for more news ;;