Tyler Kimball - Lessgently
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Chapter 131 - Change.
🕑 Added 2024-04-20 15:00:12 +0000 UTCRegina lowered herself from the wagon gracefully, then gently patted down her uniform as she turned to face the group of militiamen. Following after her, Jeremy hopped out and stood at attention behind her. The men at the gate noticed his uniform and started to relax nearly instantaneously.
Regina swept her calm gaze over the group, then spoke to the group at large. “Under orders of General Fatalina Castana, the sixth general of Thexis, we are escorting a VIP through the kingdom. You will not bar our entry.”
A man shuffled through the ranks of militiamen, pushing toward the front. He was more uniformly dressed, and his attire was clean and unwrinkled. Lee watched as the line of militiamen straightened up in his presence, seemingly wanting to do this man proud, but he didn’t spare them a glance. The man’s eyes were locked onto Regina and occasionally flickered over toward Em. Lee felt a little invisible, as even though he stood before Em, he was overlooked.
“We weren’t notified of a defender being replaced. It is the protocol to notify all towns, villages, and cities throughout your route ahead of time so that they can prepare the citizens about their passing.” The man said.
He wasn’t rude or adversarial but simply stating the facts. Facts that Regina didn’t care about.
“That is indeed the protocol, but it seems you’ve been jumping to conclusions. We are not relocating or replacing any defenders. We will be staying in Asper for a day; then, we will be on our way. Move aside.” Regina stated.
The man didn’t move.
“For the safety of Asper—” The man flicked his eyes toward Em. “---You will not be granted entry until more information has been provided.”
Lee knew Regina was a calm and collected individual. He also knew that she wasn’t above torturing people for information. So, when she was denied entry, Lee was waiting for the shoe to drop.
And drop it did.
“Mr. Kelper, you are not a person of importance and will not be informed about the plans or orders of those above you. I was not making a request. Move aside and grant us entry, or you will be guilty of treason and removed.”
Removed. Lee savored the word as he thought about the many forms that the word could be used in. Removed from his position? Removed from their path? Removed from the world? The threat was clear.
The man, Mr. Kelper, if Regina was correct, faltered under the threat but stayed true to his duty. “May I at least see a written order, a sigil, or any confirmation about your orders?”
At this time, Jeremy strode next to Regina’s side. “I am Jeremy Blight, son of Jeremiah Blight, Lord of Felispar…” Jeremy gestured toward Lee and continued speaking. “That is Mr. Barnes, a healer and VIP to the kingdom. Behind him, who you’ve noticed, is Emthraxiatus… or Em for short, his companion. You have my word as a noble of the kingdom and as a member of the military that we are on an important mission, and Asper is just a stopping point along our long journey. We simply wish to restock our supplies and rest. You will not be required to submit any personelle or items, we will purchase what is required. We will leave in the morning before noon and be on our way.”
Mr. Kelper tapped his finger on his thigh in thought but eventually stepped aside and started to bark orders for them to pass.
Lee patted one of Em’s legs and flashed her a reassuring smile. “That wasn’t so bad…” He started, but Em cut him off.
She kicked out her leg, knocking Lee’s hand away, and sighed. “The bad part has yet to come.”
Slowly, their wagon rolled forward and entered through the gateway leading into Asper. Out in front of them, several militia members lead the way. They waved down nearby citizens and gestured toward the sides of the streets or into buildings. Most of them looked confused at the orders they were randomly being given, but once their eyes gravitated toward Em, all resistance flooded out of them. Almost eagerly, they dove into nearby shops or turned around and speed-walked in the complete opposite direction.
Em’s usually jovial, excited, or grinning face was nowhere to be seen. In its place, an uninterested, blank facade took its place. Lee didn’t have to be a genius to know she wasn’t okay with being viewed as a monster or a threat to everyone they encountered. A few shrieks and panicked individuals ran away in terror at the sight of her form, but they were thankfully few and far between, but it still made him slightly angry.
While he knew that it was normal to flee from a monster, and he was well aware of what Em looked like, it still was unfair. Em had spent… years and years defending people just like these from the threats they were oblivious to. She had doubtlessly saved hundreds, maybe even thousands, of lives with her efforts, and this is what she is rewarded with? It wasn’t right.
After a few more minutes of being the town's main attraction, they finally arrived at what looked to be an Inn. It was a large three-floor wooden building with open, towering double doors at the front. A group of angry people were being led outside as they arrived by the militia. They were haphazardly carrying their belongings and furious at their sudden departure, but as soon as they saw Lee’s group, forced, fearful smiles appeared like nothing was amiss.
They were being led inside as Lee noticed Em scuttling off toward the side of the building, leading their wagon and horses down a well-worn cobbled path.
“Em, where are you going?” Lee asked, causing everyone else to pause and turn around.
Em slammed her legs into the cobbled stone, an emotional tick he hadn’t seen in a few weeks. “Taking care of the wagon… go on ahead.”
He knew that wasn’t all that she was doing. He could feel a deep-seated wrongness forming, almost like an alert from his wisdom, but much more natural. Lee looked from Em to the wagon, to Regina, then back to Em, and decided that maybe she wanted some alone time. “I’ll come to check on you in a bit. We can go shopping for supplies together.”
Em shrugged in reply and continued leading their two horses down the cobbled path, leaving Lee standing awkwardly out front. Regina sauntered over to him, locked her arm with his, and then led him into the Inn. She whispered from his side as they strode forward. “Give her some time. This isn’t her first time in this town. She traveled through here to get to Breye many years ago.”
Lee nodded glumly, still feeling bad for his friend as Jeremy approached with some rough-iron keys. “Rooms are set. Thankfully, we don’t have much to drop off because of Lee’s much too convenient ability. We have a few hours to resupply and scour through the town. What do we want to do?”
Everyone turned their heads to Lee, who just stood there awkwardly at the attention. “What? Why am I choosing? I’ll probably just go around finding people to heal. I don’t even know what you guys need for supplies—Oh! Try to find another weak Emberstone to start fires. Mine is almost out of juice.”
Jeremy nodded in confirmation, but Lee saw Annalise behind him mouthing ‘juice’ to herself in confusion. He decided now wasn’t the time to acclimate her to his weird word choices and gave Jeremy his last few silver pieces to help with purchasing supplies.
While in Lopus, Lee had… maybe used all his money to further his enchanting endeavors. Daggers, arrows, bags, swords, and a host of other materials of decent quality were needed, and he ruined almost all of them. In his mind, he was paying for experience, and it would pay itself off in the future. Until then, he was nearly broke.
Jeremy looked down at the few silver pieces Lee handed him and looked pensive. In the end, he pocketed the coins and gave him a slight smile. “This’ll help a lot. Thanks.”
Jeremy left the Inn with Kendri and the rest of Home’s Hommage to collect their supplies for the next few days of travel, and Regina shadowed him as he wandered about the lobby. He looked over his shoulder and eventually asked the question that had been nagging him since they arrived. “Do you actually have orders to escort me? Like punishing people who impede our travels? Or was that all posturing?”
“I have orders.” Regina gestured to a nearby set of chairs set up in the Inn’s lobby. So, Lee followed her lead and sat down. Regina smoothed her skirt and thought deeply before speaking candidly. “Lee… I know you’ve been told about how important you are already. I’m sure you’re aware that being able to teach others your magic is worth its weight in gold, judging by your price of teaching members of the military when we reach Felispar.”
Regina stared into Lee’s brilliantly blue, glowing eyes and spoke with all seriousness. “You do not comprehend the ends to which people will go through to get your services.”
Lee was about to retort and say he understood, but Regina continued on. “If you wanted it, Fatalina would massacre this entire town for you to teach ten people healing. No, I am not exaggerating or trying to fill your head with ego. You are more important alive than anyone in this city or the next, or the next, or the next… Lee, you’re more important than everyone in this kingdom. If you wanted the king dead in return for your services, Fatalina would make it happen.”
“So don’t sit there and say. ‘Yes, I understand.’ Because you don’t. In the short time I’ve gotten to know you, I have come to understand a little about you. The reason you wish to be treated like a normal person is because you were a normal person. Now, you’re not. You need to understand that for your own sake and for those that you care about. Giving out a few silvers to help us with our goods is all well and good, but you don’t need to do those kinds of things anymore. You might want to, and that is fine. You just need to understand that nobody will expect you to.”
“Not but a week ago, you were poisoned. Someone out there wants you dead. This will not stop. As long as you live, there will be people out there either afraid of what you bring, or greedy enough to take what you offer and force you into giving it up. Fatalina is greedy. There is no doubt in my mind she weighed the benefits of forcing you into helping or trying to win you over. You cannot be naive in your position of power. You must grow up.”
Lee sat there, staring at the floor as his mind reeled from the info dump thrust upon him. Deep down, he knew that all she said was true. He knew… he just didn’t want to accept it. While he was glad he wasn’t dead and struggling from his cancer anymore, he wasn’t prepared or suited for the responsibility of his position. He’d been shrugging it off for a long time, and time was ticking until it all blew up in his face.
These past few months have changed him, as it would for almost anybody. It was easy to hear about something, but it was different to experience it. Hearing that monsters attack someone is frightening; being attacked by monsters is terrifying. Being told you are important and actually being important are two different things.
Many changes would need to happen, but they won't happen all at once. One thing was for certain, he wouldn’t stop healing people. He wouldn’t stop teaching people how to heal, either. He just needed to… prepare for the inevitable consequences of his actions.
Comments
James Faulkner
Just my own little headcanon, if the eclipse magic thing I mentioned were to happen (it’d probably need to be a master level element, not expert), Lee causing an actual eclipse before destroying an army or something of similar scope would be cold asf
Wintermelody
Thanks for the Chapter
James Faulkner
Also Tftc!
James Faulkner
Time for a training montage! Also seems like a good motivation for Lee to create some more destructive types of magic/spells? I wanna see what happens when void magic is combined with other types. If he gets fire magic I wanna see if void + fire = eclipse or somethjng
