Sergei woke earlier than usual, recalling the night before and the sobbing he thought he heard coming from Eldrick’s room. Thinking it may just be the fact that Sebastian wasn’t there, or maybe something else. He wracked his brain on where the tomes he was looking for could have gone. Victor was no fool and likely had removed the tomes when he fled or hid them to retrieve at a later date by someone else.
Rising out of the chair, he dressed in a simple robe for the day. Summoning the strength to travel across the room was difficult as his joints were swollen and red. He was going to have to spend the day in his chair. As he returned to the main room, he summoned a page to have breakfast delivered. Before he sat down, he reminded himself that he needed to check on his apprentice.
Grabbing his walking staff, he used it as a crutch to cross the room. Knocking on Eldrick's door he waited to hear if the lad was awake. Hearing a rustling, he slowly opened the door.
“How are you feeling this morning? I thought I heard you sobbing last night and figured I would check on you. Sometimes a good night’s sleep is all it takes to see things right.”
“Is there something wrong with me? Am I, am I a freak? I feel there is something I should know yet I cannot put my finger on it. I, I, well I keep thinking I should be wearing gowns, not trews.” The blood rushing to his face caused a dark reddening to occur. Casting his eyes downwards so he didn’t have to see his master’s reaction, he swallowed the lump which had risen in his throat at the mention of gowns. “I am sorry sir; I should be getting ready for the day and not lamenting odd thoughts.” Gathering his clothes from the floor he began getting dressed. “I will be out in a moment. You should go sit down before your knees give out on you.”
“How do you know I am having troubles with my knees?”
“You are leaning on your staff as if it were the only thing keeping you up. You did train me to be observant, did you not?”
A rich chuckle escaped Sergei’s throat. As he turned, he called back, “I really should be more careful what I teach you. Breakfast will be here shortly.” With those words, he hobbled back out of the room to his chair and sat down gingerly. His knees giving a loud crack as he did so.
* * *
Eldrick, easing out of the bed caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. Cursing under his breath he finished dressing. Reaching onto the bed he grabbed a blanket and threw it over the mirror so he wouldn’t have to see his reflection.
Eldrick arrived in the main room at the same time there was a rapping on the suite door. Hastening to the door he opened it. Awaiting patiently was a group of pages with trays to be brought in. As they brought the trays in Eldrick could swear he caught the scent of persimmons. He was not sure how he knew the scent since he couldn’t recall ever having them. He considered it to possibly be a throwback to a previous lifetime. He was one of those who believed in the possibility of reincarnation. He waited impatiently for the pages to set the trays down before descending upon them. Gathering up one set for Sergei, whom he served first, before voraciously indulging in his own portion. There was oatmeal with sweet beet sugar and milk, eggs, bacon, toast, and an orange fruit which had a silky texture and had a hint of cinnamon in its flavour.
“I have never really liked these,” Sergei muttered. “Here, you can have mine. I know a growing boy like yourself needs food. I won’t eat it so you might as well or it will just go to waste.” Passing the tray with the fruit over to Eldrick, who took it with a grin on his face.
Eldrick gave a nod of his head in acknowledgement of Sergie’s words, his mouth too full to speak. He took his knife and sliced the piece of fruit into the oatmeal. Making sure to cut the pieces small enough to fit on the spoon so he would not make a mess trying to eat it. He had already devoured his piece of fruit and regretted not having put some into the oatmeal. Now he could have both. Finishing off the hot cereal he picked up a piece of toast and placed some of the eggs and bacon atop it, which he then covered with the other piece of toast. Biting into the conglomeration the rich flavour of eggs and cheese mixed with the salty greasy goodness of the bacon and the crisp earthy taste of the toast which started in the back and slowly filling the whole mouth with its unique texture. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of contentment. A look of pleasure crossing his face as his mouth turned up at the corners.
Sergei watching his young protégé, grinned at the sight of Eldrick enjoying his food. Thoughts of apprentices of the past clawed their way to the front of his mind. His eyes started to well up with tears remembering all those how had failed in their journeyman quests. Vowing to himself, this time it would different. Eldrick was the finest student he had the fortune of teaching.
“Ahh, my young pupil, there is nothing wrong with you and no, you are most definitely not a freak. It is quite normal to question oneself at your age. I am sure there are many questions you keep asking yourself. Such as are you truly worthy of the accolades I give you." Sergei raised his hand to forestall any arguments. "Of course, there is also your connection with Sebastian which may be causing you to question your very being. Let me enlighten you about dragon emotional connections. They are the one race that has a unique bonding. Once a member of their race finds the person who they are to be with there is nothing that can prevent the bonding of the souls. The odd thing is that members of the other races also feel the bond even though they normally would not. I do believe it has something to do with dragon physiology and their connection to the magic of their race. I am no expert in this and I am sure Sebastian would understand this better than I. But for now, we have lessons to complete and I need to think about where I might find those tomes we were discussing last night.”
With those words, Eldrick nodded and rose to get the tomes he was studying from his room. Juggling the books, since he hadn’t considered their sizes while collecting them had him looking like a clown trying not to drop any as he passed through the doorway. He dumped the books onto the sofa. Rounding the furniture, he reorganized the tomes into a semblance of order according to size. Oddly enough he hadn’t considered which of the tomes he would need or had previously read. This would have made the task so much simpler. He took a mental note to do so in the future.
Settling himself into learning trance position, he arranged the books around his position. Allowing his senses to both descend internally and expand, he began his studies. Even in trance, he found he still struggled with the lifeless text. The historical facts were easier to digest than the political prose, with all the “if thens and so forths.” Most of it made no sense to him as he had no experience in dealing with it. He knew there would be a time when this particular information could be essential to his very survival. Most of the nations were established during the unending war and their militaristic structure was laid out in devastatingly dull, direct detail.
What caused him the most difficulty in studying the books in front of him, was the fact that all he wanted to do was spend time with Sebastian. Thoughts of Sebastian being laid up in the infirmary, with injuries acquired in both protecting and feeding himself and Sergei caused his heart to ache. The tears starting to well up in the corners of his eyes threatening to reduce his vision to nothing more than a blur.
He closed the book with a bang, as he dropped it on the floor, Eldrick rose and tore out of the room. Sergei looked up in shock at the sudden noise to see his apprentice running from the room and slamming the door on his way out.
Wending his way through the castle halls, tears in his eyes Eldrick had no clue where he was nor where he was going. All he was trying to do was avoid running into anyone or anything while fleeing himself and his cursed emotions. Barreling through the halls of the castle, as fast as your legs would carry you, was not the wisest thing to do while blinded by tears.
He crashed through a door only to slam into one of the castle ladies. Abashedly he disentangled himself from the lady. Raising to his feet he offered his hand to her.
“I am so sorry, here let me help you up.” His voice catching in his throat as his breath hitched. This was one of the fine ladies of the court, not just an ordinary lady but one of about his own age, marriageable and dressed to impress. Though the look on her face said there was no one here she wished to impress. Reaching up she took his arm and allowed herself to be lifted back to her feet. Once back on her feet he dropped her arm and bowed to her as was the polite thing to do when facing a lady.
“Oh my, aren’t you the gallant,” she giggled. “You are the young druid apprentice are you not?” Reaching into her sleeve she produced a delicate handkerchief, which she offered to Eldrick. “It looks like you have more need of this currently than I do.” Before he could so much as open his mouth to reply, she continued to ramble on. “Oh, now where are my manners. My name is Beth. I am not from around here in fact my mother decided to drag me here from Gaullium, husband-hunting is how she put it, I do believe.” It seemed like she was ready to spout just about anything to keep from having to head into the court.
While she babbled on, Eldrick accepted the handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes and nose. When she raised her gaze to meet Eldrick’s eyes she let out a soft giggle.
“You know I think you are more ladylike than some of the ladies in the court.” With these words, Eldrick’s face contorted in discomfort. “Oh, I spoke without thinking again, Mother is going to be angry at me for causing an incident with a druid.” A crease formed in her perfect brow at the thought.
“My dear lady, there is no incident caused, except by my carelessness. I fear your gown has been ruined and that you shall need to change before making an appearance at court.” The desire which lit his eyes as he mentioned the gown was hard to miss. “Please allow me the honour of escorting you back to your rooms so that you can make yourself presentable.”
Her eyes widened at the mention of being escorted by a druid. With a curtsy, she held out her arm for him to escort her.
Straightening up he tried to hold his head proud as he escorted Beth back to her rooms. Within five minutes they were chuckling and discussing fashion like two girls discussing which outfit would catch the eye of the beau they were trying to catch. They talked about cut and patterns, well that is Beth talked while Eldrick listened enthralled.
“I have a feeling you are not interested in girls, are you? In fact, I would say you already have someone you have feelings for.” Her head cocked to the side as if she were listening to voices from somewhere else. That was when Eldrick noticed the tips of her ears protruding through her hair. The slight points hinting at Fae blood.
Eldrick swallowed convulsively, the Fae had a reputation of knowing things you didn’t want to be known. He knew he couldn’t falter in the task he set himself. This young lady could become an ally if he ever needed one. Now he just needed to learn exactly what her station was. Knowing this would allow him to approach the situation with the correct tone and aplomb. This gave him the resolve he needed to get back to the cultural histories he was dreading. But he needed to help her be presented at court before he could. He desperately wanted to go check on Sebastian. It has been two days since he left for the infirmary and there’s been no word on his condition. Dreading the unknown caused his stomach to tie itself into knots, which began to get tighter as he thought about it. Vowing he would go check up on Sebastian as soon as this duty was fulfilled eased his discomfort.
“..... need help as the maids are off at the moment,” Eldrick, his ears burning as he realized Beth was trying to tell him something and he had missed some of it because of his musings.
“I am sorry, Lady Beth, I am afraid I missed some of what you were saying.” His hands slowly wringing themselves.
“I said I was going to need help changing gowns as the maids are off. I hope that is okay. I mean I can try to find someone else to help.” Her cheeks blooming in a rosy red as she came to the understanding that she had just asked a single, male into her chambers to help her undress.
“My Lady, I would be honoured and your virtue is quite safe with me. As an apprentice druid, it is forbidden for me to take a lady to bed. That is until I have achieved either permission during my Journeyman trials for cultural reasons or I attain the rank of master.” He grimaced to hear himself say those words for he knew them to be true and yet he had, in a way, already broken that vow. Thinking carefully on the very wording of the vow he understood he had in no way broken it since he had not bedded a lady of any sort.
As they entered her rooms, Eldrick was struck by the clutter of skirts, gowns and dresses strewn across the furniture. Gowns in every colour clashing with skirts of differing patterns. Kirtles laying atop shifts. Beth dragged Eldrick into the room and closed the door. Once closed she indicated she needed help by turning around and pointing to laces. With trembling hands, he tugged on the laces, releasing them from the bow and causing slack in the bodice. Beth, sliding her arms from the sleeves let the gown glide down her form to pool on the floor in a puddle of colour.
Turning to the furniture she attempted to choose a gown to replace the one which had been soiled in the courtyard earlier. Glancing at Eldrick through the corner of her eye she noticed the look of undisguised desire directed not at her but at the clothes draping the assortment of furnishings. The sensation of not being the center of attention by a man while scantily dressed made her think. Of course, there had never been any men to see her in such a state of undress previously so not having a man focusing on her felt very odd.
After picking up and examining several gowns, she decided on one that she thought would be sufficient to her mother’s needs for catching the eye of a potential suitor. With a scoff and a scowl, she proceeded to step into it. That was when she realized it was a corseted monstrosity.
“Eldrick, this needs to be as tight as you can get it and then a little tighter. Please help me get this right or Mother will have my head. See anything that catches your attention? I noticed you have more desire for the gowns than my personage.” She sucked her breath in while Eldrick pulled the strings taut. “You know I didn’t expect there to be truth in your words earlier and I didn’t care, a match with a druid is the best a girl could hope for, or that of a king.” Grunting as the air was forcefully expelled from her lungs with the cinching of the corset. Trying to catch where his gaze lingered Beth made note of the few items which seemed to keep dragging Eldrick’s attention back to them.
“There I think that should just about do it. If I may escort you where you were headed before I so rudely knocked you down and ruined your last outfit.” With a bow, he offered his arm. Taking it, she nodded and reached to open the door only to discover Eldrick had already opened it as he offered his arm.
“Why thank you, good sir, if you would be so kind as to escort me to the ballroom. That is where I am expected to be,” with a giggle and a waggle of her hips, she started walking. Once again, the conversation shifted to fabrics and clothing. That is until they approached anyone in the halls then they would fall into companionable silence, until they were alone again, where they would burst into laughter. Eldrick asking about the comfort of the different cuts and fabrics, with Beth describing the textures and weight of the gowns.
Arriving at the double doors of the Ballroom, Eldrick bowed himself out of Beth’s company, turning he headed towards the courtyard and the pathway to the house of healing. Well, those were his intentions until he ascertained he was completely lost. He had little choice but to ask for guidance from the first person he met in castle livery.
Receiving directions, he hurried on to the house of healing so he could check on his lover. The scene was complete turmoil when he opened the door. Healers were running everywhere with no seeming sense of order. Eldrick, understanding the orchestrated chaos of the house of healing from his time working there a couple of days prior, threaded his way between the rushing healers to sit on the bench along the wall and let his senses reach out.
The cacophony of energies was deafening to his senses. There were fading energies all through the building, mixed with the sense of new energies emerging. Off to one side of the building, there was a familiar yet odd energy in fluctuation. That one was in the quarantine section. An area of the hall that was off-limits to those not necessary for the care of the patients there.
Figuring there was nothing he could do here other than get in the way, he simply inquired as to Sebastian’s wellbeing.
"We are not sure at the moment. We have three women in labour and don't have time for this right now. Look as soon as we can, we will send a runner with an update for you."
Eldrick nodding turned to leave.
