Light from the campfires flickered across the tents creating ghostly images. The sounds of men laughing and telling stories only served to make Caspar’s heart beat faster. He held the girl in his arms, but between her large wings and filmy dress Caspar was having a hard time carrying her, much less staying hidden meanwhile. He grunted softly, shifting his grip before edging along the shadow of one tent. He rested for a moment. This would be the hardest part. A group of men sat around a campfire in clear view of the way Caspar would have to travel. He breathed slowly before picking her up again. He walked as close to the tent as he dared. He silently prayed that the men wouldn’t turn around. When he was midway past them, his grip slipped and he only managed to grab her right before she hit the ground. A sigh of relief slipped from his mouth before he could stop it. His heart raced, waiting for someone to turn around and see him. The men kept on laughing and talking. He slowly shifted one foot forward, then the next. Once he was past that clearing and in a more secure section in between two large tents, he slowly placed the girl down onto the ground. She wasn’t heavy but his arms still ached from the odd position he had been carrying her in. I’m so close. He had only another twenty to thirty feet to go but this space was completely in the open. There would be nowhere for him to hide.
Caspar reached his tent without being spotted. Breathing in a huge sigh of relief, he carefully laid the girl stomach-down on his cot. The silver blood from her side had seeped into his shirt. I’ll have to change later.
He made sure his tent flaps were securely closed before lit his lantern. He looked down at the girl. By Cantorian standards she seemed to be around fourteen or fifteen but Aureli seemed to age on their own time. They also lived much longer than any other race on Aethera, lasting thousands of years. Her face and hand were dirty and had small cuts in them. Caspar folded her wings onto her back and turned a little to the side to inspect her side. Carefully slicing open the side of the dress just enough to see the wound, he inspected where the offending laceration was. It was deeper than he had thought at first. It looked like a spear wound. Why would a young girl have been speared in the side like this? But he shook his head: there was no time for questions if he wanted to keep this girl alive. He opened his trunk from which he pulled out a roll of bandages. He also grabbed his pitcher of water that stood by his washbasin.
With shaking hands he cleaned out her wound as best as he could. He ended up having to slit open her dress all the way around so he could wrap the bandage around her waist. Oddly he didn’t feel embarrassed but instead strangely determined to save this young girl.
The girl’s skin was feverish and Caspar reasoned that an infection was likely growing. Shouldn’t I just let the medics take care of this? I mean I barely know what I’m doing. He had only learned a little of battlefield medicine. It was not very important for the Prince to learn medicine when there were already trained medics on the field. But she is an Aureli. They probably wouldn’t even take care of her and just let her die, or worse kill her on the spot. But why am I even helping her? She is the enemy! Helping her is basically treason! She isn’t even my responsibility. He knew he should have handed her over to the guard first thing. Why did he even decide to treat her? But she was barely breathing; she wouldn’t last another night without the proper care and he knew the guards would never give that to her.
“A king must do what is necessary, not what is easy.” Caspar’s mother’s voice whispered into his mind, “A being’s life is worth the effort it takes to keep them alive.” Sighing deeply, evidently frustrated by his decision he always knew he would make, Caspar stood up, taking his blanket and carefully covering her. ’I’ll have to get an antiseptic in the medic tent tomorrow.
He changed his shirt to a clean one and sat back down on his stool. He rested his face in his hands, and before he knew it, he was asleep.
Golden sunlight streamed through the tent landing on Caspar’s face. He jerked awake.
“Gah!” He cried as he fell off his chair. Why did I fall asleep on my stool? Wait… He picked himself off the floor, dusting his clothes off. He looked towards his bed where the girl lay. So it wasn’t a dream after all. He sidled over to the bed. Sometime during the night, the girl had kicked the blanket off of her and it now lay on the floor. Her skin was pale and her hair was drenched in sweat. He placed his hand on her forehead. She definitely has a fever. The girl moaned and shifted her position. He caught sight of her bandage. It was soaked through with blood. I should have made it tighter.
Caspar grabbed a clean bit of cloth and wet it, gently dabbing her forehead before rinsing it again. He placed the cloth back on her forehead. A bell rang once. The wake up bell! Caspar grabbed his jerkin and roughly slid it on, hastily buttoning up the sides. Grabbing his pouch of shards, he exited his tent making sure to carefully close up the flaps. He would be quick. He dashed towards the medic center, weaving in between tents. He entered into the medic tent. It smelled of healing herbs. Moving past the rows of infirmary cots, he entered another adjoined tent where all the supplies were kept.
A lady stood there carefully marking down the herbs and pultices still in stock. She turned around.
“Lyrion! May I help you?”
“I need something antiseptic, for keeping an infection at bay.” Caspar explained.
“Would the kind for cuts work or do you need something with more industrial strength?”
“Something for wound healing.” He said.
She nodded thoughtfully, “We have Whisper Willow which is pain-numbing and has antiseptic properties. We also have Bloodfern which stops bleeding and also has antiseptic properties. Or maybe Veilfern, it is the best for healing wounds quickly and preventing infections.”
Caspar thought for a minute. “Will the Bloodfern and Veilfern work together?”
She thought for a minute before answering, “Usually the Bloodfern is in a paste form and so is the Veilfern. If you applied both they probably wouldn’t be as effective. Or you could use the powdered form of Bloodfern taken internally and use the Veilfern paste topically. This way you can get all the benefits of both. The only thing is, Bloodfern is very bitter, but on the battlefield it would be very useful to carry a canteen of Bloodfern infused liquid.”
Caspar didn’t get most of what she said but he smiled and replied, “If you think it’ll work I’m sure it will. So, could I get a few packets of Bloodfern and maybe a canister or two of the Veilfern?”
She nodded before walking away into the supply room. She returned with four packets of Bloodfern powder and two containers of Veilfern balm.
“Lyrion, I’m afraid these are very expensive.” She looked a little nervous bringing up the price as if she thought he would get angry and just take the stuff without paying, or maybe imprison her while he was at it.
Caspar just shrugged, pulling out a pouch of shards. “How much?”
“Each packet of Bloodfern is five Echoes, so in total that would equal two Cants. And each container of Veilfern is a Cant and five Echoes. If you get two of those, it would be three Cants.”
“So…five Cants in all?” Caspar reached into his pouch counting out five white shards. They were flecked with veins of gold, silver, and sapphire blue, the colors of royalty.
The lady looked at the shards with an almost hungry look in her eyes. Caspar guessed she had never seen someone so casually pull out so much money before. Caspar glanced at her and then added another shard. It was a Vesper with deep azure coloring and pearly white veins. He locked eyes with her. It’s for you. Take it. I know you need it, his eyes said.
She looked at him with a mixture of incredulity, gratitude, and general amazement. She reached her hand forward carefully, slipping the shard into her dress. She said nothing but her gratitude was plain.
The lady pulled out a thin metal rod and a small hook. She hooked each gemstone and with careful precision she tapped each one. Their notes rang, clear and bright. She nodded with satisfaction. His shards had a true sound. She handed Caspar a pouch into which he inserted his precious healing implements. As he did so the lady instructed him on the amounts and dosage of the Bloodfern.
Caspar thanked the lady before quickly making his way back to his tent. The bell rang again, this time chiming twice. The first meal bell. I still have time. His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t eaten dinner the night before and he had barely slept. Suddenly, the exhaustion hit him. His knees buckled but he managed to stay standing by sheer luck. His stomach rumbled again this time bringing some lightheadedness as well.
“Ba dum. Ba dum. La la la.” A little voice hummed. Ryn! The little guy was lugging a large sack of what looked like grain, his face set in a determined grin.
“Ryn!” Caspar gasped.
The boy jumped in surprise, “Lyrion!” He rushed over.
“I saw your match yesterday! It was SO COOL! I really want to learn sword stuff but my father says I can’t. ‘You my son will be a cook!’ he says. I don’t want to cook. I want to be a soldier!” Ryn puffed out his little chest and unsheathed a pretend sword. He whirled his make believe sword left and right.
“Woah, nice! You just got to be a little more careful there buddy. If you had a real sword you might have chopped off my arm with that little left-facing slice.” Caspar grinned but his face quickly turned to a grimace as his stomach rumbled again.
Ryn tilted his head to one side.
“You are hungry.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Maybe just a little. But I have to get something done before practice so I can’t stop and eat at the dining tent. Would it be possible for you to bring some food to my tent?”
Ryn thought for a moment. “I could. I have to deliver this to the kitchen first. It might take me some time but I will try to get it to you as fast as I can!”
Caspar nodded wearily, “Thank you.”
Ryn beamed. He grabbed his large sack of grain and began dragging it with renewed energy.
Caspar slowly made his way to his tent. At the front of his tent lay a platter of food. Ryn got here already? How slow was I walking? Caspar picked the tray up and entered his tent.
He ate savoring the food. It was a mix of smoked meat, root vegetables and herbs that had been fried together. It was bursting with flavor and Caspar enjoyed every bite.
After eating he turned his attention back to the girl. She was still unconscious. He checked her temperature. It wasn’t any better, in fact it might have gotten hotter.
Caspar grimly removed the supplies from his pouch. According the lady he had to mix ⅕ of the packet with one canteen of water. She would have to drink this mixture at least three times a day till the bleeding started to cease.
Caspar grabbed a full water canteen and carefully poured in what he estimated would be about ⅕ of the packet. Now for the hard part, Caspar had to rearrange the girl in a way that she could drink some of the liquid. She was lying on her stomach but he propped her up so her wings pressed up against the walls of the tent. He grimaced as he noticed that she was sitting on her wings, which must have been very uncomfortable and even painful.
Caspar eased her mouth open and tipped a small stream into her mouth. Please don’t choke, he pleaded silently. She seemed fine so Caspar gave her a few more sips before positioning her back on the bed lying stomach down.
Caspar opened up his canister of Veilfern balm. It smelled very pungent in a clean herbal way. Carefully unwrapping her bandages, he examined the wound. It was still bleeding quite a bit. He was pretty sure there was already an infection. It was very unlikely that it didn’t have one considering how deep the laceration was and how dirty it had been. He took a deep breath before slathering the thick Veilfern balm all over the wound. He quickly bandaged her side again, this time making it even tighter to hopefully end most of the bleeding.
The bell rang three times, the clear sound resounding through the camp. Training! Caspar jumped quickly, covering the girl with his blanket. He grabbed a cape and his sword and dashed towards the training grounds.
By the time he arrived most of the men had already gathered. He led them through the training. They were practicing the seven sequences again. The men listened well and everything was going smoothly. Caspar should have felt good but his mind kept turning to the girl in his tent. Would she survive? What would happen if she doesn’t? What if she does…I can’t hide her in my tent forever. What am I doing? Hiding an enemy? Healing an enemy? What if someone finds her? I’m a traitor to my own country. They’d kill me… Caspar shook his head, willing himself to end this self-pity. But if I don’t help her, who will? She was going to die. I wouldn’t be able to live with the fact that I could have helped her and didn’t. Caspar nodded to himself. Doing the right thing isn’t always what you are “supposed” to do but what needs to be done.
Caspar cleared his head. The men were still practicing the sequences. He did something that surprised them all. He threw off his cape and jerkin and entered their ranks. He then proceeded to practice the sequences by himself. His mind was centered and he felt alive. His sword flashed and whirled around him. He became one with the weapon. The Rhythm pounded in his chest as he moved. Everything was forgotten, to the blade. He started to get faster and the sequences merged, becoming a neverending continual movement. Sweat trickled down his back but he kept on going.
A bell rang. He stopped. Midday break already? He looked into the sky surprised to find all the suns high in their pass. Had he really been practicing for that long? He motioned for the men to stop practicing.
“You all did well today. Take the rest of the day off.”
The men looked surprised but didn’t argue. They started to pick up their belongings, murmuring to themselves what they would use this extra time for. Apparently they weren’t let off of training like this often.
Caspar moved to a water barrel that was right outside the training grounds. He dumped a ladle of water over his head and then drank some. The liquid slid down his throat, refreshing and cool. He wiped his wet face and grabbed his sword, jerkin, and cape. Walking over to his tent, he felt tired but oddly refreshed. As he entered, he realized that the blanket which covered the girl had been moved. His heartbeat quickened. Somebody has found her! He calmed himself down. No, the girl had simply kicked her blankets around a little. He breathed in. If someone had found her the alarm bells would be ringing. He breathed out.
After washing his hands, he moved back over to the cot. Pulling back the blanket, he checked her temperature. It had gone down significantly. He sighed in relief. He also noticed that the girl had shifted her position so she was lying on one side instead of completely faced down. She is starting to come around. The bandages around her waist were messed up, probably from her moving. He sighed and pulled out the Veilfern balm and a roll of bandages.
As he started to reach for her midsection, the girl moved. She shot up and hands whipping pushed his arms away. Caspar fell backwards off his stool, unintentionally crying, “Gah!”
“What do you think you are doing?” The girl shouted.
Caspar’s heart felt like it had jumped into his throat. He could hear his heart beating. He jumped up quickly, closing his hand around the girl’s mouth.
“Be quiet,” he whisper-hissed.
“What! Why?” The girl’s voice was thankfully muffled.
“They will hear you.” Caspar fully expected there to be loud shouts and running anytime now.
“Let go of me!” The girl struggled and finally managed to pull Caspar’s hand off her face. “Why do I need to be quiet?” She said defiantly. Although she did lower her voice.
“This is a soldiers camp! There aren’t supposed to be girls here except for medics and you are not a medic.”
The girl’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. “But aren’t you Veyan? Why would you care if they caught me? You have me captured anyways.”
“Captured? I didn’t capture you. I saved you. I found you dying right outside of the training grounds. If the guards find you they will kill you and probably me too.”
“You mean…” Her voice trailed off.
“I’ve committed treason.” Caspar nodded, grimly.
“Who are you?” She cocked her head to one side.
Caspar sighed, “Is it important?”
She looked at him quizzically, “Yes.” She replied.
He sighed again, “My name is Caspar Soleene.”
“Soleene. But that’s…” She looked startled, “You’re the prince?”
Caspar nodded, looking away.
“But why would you help me? I’m the enemy!” She spluttered.
“You would be executed for helping me, prince or not,” she reasoned. Suddenly the implications of her words hit her.
“You should have handed me over,” she muttered.
Caspar wanted to answer that he couldn’t have, but he didn’t. She was right. He should have handed her over, and yet he didn’t. He had betrayed his own kingdom and its laws. But…he couldn’t have let her die.
“Maybe.” He said at last.
“You know if my people found you, they would kill you for helping your enemy even if that enemy was their own kind,” the girl commented.
A short, dry laugh escaped from Caspar’s lips. “Yeah? Tell them to get in line. If people found out, all of Cantoria would kill me before the Aurelians could even get here.”
She studied him. “But you’re their prince.”
Caspar shrugged, “Doesn’t mean that they trust me or even like me.”
The girl looked stunned. Realization dawned on her.
“They dislike you because you are royalty. You are set apart in a bad way. You don’t want to be here, do you?”
Caspar tensed. How did she figure it out so quickly? He wanted to say that that was false, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t easy being the prince but it was just what he had to do. He was born into the role and he would carry his service through. It was his job, his duty to his kingdom, wasn’t it? But here was this young Aurelian girl, who took one look at him and told him that he hated his duty, his kingdom, and his life of royalty. Caspar looked up and met her gaze.
“I don’t.” He confessed and then added, “You should lie down again. You are still weak. I’m actually surprised at how long you have been able to stay up.”
The girl’s face hardened.
“I don’t need your help.” She snapped, but she swayed, tipping to one side. Caspar caught her right before she could fall off the cot.
He raised one eyebrow at her. She glared at him but reluctantly let him position her back onto the cot. He held forward the bandages and Veilfern balm.
“I’m guessing you want to do this yourself.” Caspar handed the implement to her before leaving the tent.