The Otterstail

𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢

"Nova!" I'm shaken awake by one of my right-hand fighters. She and I have been best friends ever since I lost Millie as a friend. We're roommates, we live in the house my father bought when I was a child. She helps me pay the bills. Yes, I pay bills like any normal citizen.

"What?!" I groan in pain, slowly adjusting to my new position.

"Are you ok?" She looks concerned at me. I bite my lip and nod, processing my surroundings.

"Yeah. What's going on Liv?"

"MeeMaw sent someone. Said the boy you sent to her needs you?" She looks at me questionably.

"Alright." I work myself out of bed and grab a cloak off of the hooks on my wall by my door. I normally wear loose riding pants and white float shirts since it's practical and it makes more sense than those silly dresses most royalty wears.

"Where are you going?" She asks me, confused.

"To go see him." I say in a 'duh' tone.

"You forgot socks. And if you're trying to hide who you are, that ring is NOT the way to do so." She points out. She was awake last night when I got home, and I told her everything. I glance down at my mother's ring and nod, pulling it off, before switching it out for the socks off the top of my night table. It hurts to bend over, but I manage to get them on with fairly little trouble. Grabbing a small bundle out of the top drawer and slipping it into my pocket, I'm ready to go.

"Thank you." She grins at me

"You owe me a sweet roll." I roll my eyes at her and head for the door again. "Oh, and Nova?" I stop and turn.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe next time you shouldn't lie to one of your childhood best friends about who you are." She reprimands me. Yeah, yeah. I know. But I also don't want to deal with the arrogance that he has so willingly put into his character.

I grin and leave the room, wincing as I turn my upper body. I'm used to pain but this is a new feeling.

"MeeMaw?" I knock on her door after a short walk down to her cottage.

"Come in child. How are you?" She opens the door and right away lets me in. I see no sign of Ocean, but the door to Carter's room is still closed.

"In pain." I quietly tell her. She nods.

"No surprise there." She nods, before motioning for me to go into the other room. "Oscar left this morning, said there was work he needed to get done at home, he'll be back in a few days to bring Connar home." I nod, kind of distracted. She rubs salve on my ribs again and rebandages them, and then I take a deep breath and decide to risk it.

"Can I see him?" I ask her.

"He's sleeping, and if he does wake up, he'll be groggy and won't be able to talk much." She tells me. I nod before she leads me out and to the other door. I prepare myself.

She knocks, but there is no response. She opens the door, and I can see Carter sound asleep, his hair tousled into his face.

"Do you want some time with him?" She asks. She knows me too well. I nod. She nods, and heads out, closing the door behind her.

"Carter?" I whisper. If he's awake, he probably won't remember me being here. No response though, so I walk over to him. I brush the hair out of his face, being gentle with the cut on his cheek. He groans and moves before his eyes slowly peel open.

"Nova?" He groans, and I can tell he has no clue who I am or if I'm Nova, but he wants me to be.

"I'm here Carter." I gently shift my hand so it's off his head and on his shoulder. 

"Nova!" He's trying to wake up, but with the medicine MeeMaw gave him, he's pretty drugged up. She knows him and knew that if she didn't give him medicine to make him drowsy he would push his body way too hard way too fast. 

"Hey shhh. It's ok." I try and get him to not freak out. He reaches a hand up and lays it over mine, and I'm very glad I took the ring off. There's a chance he won't remember any of this, and without the ring, there's a good chance he won't believe it's me.

"I'm so sorry Nova I was such a jerk." His voice is rough and scratchy, and I can tell he shouldn't be talking but if I even think about telling him to be quiet he won't listen.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, confused.

"I treated you so badly... I I I promised I'd always have your back and I failed you and I'm really sorry." He gets out, stumbling over his words, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Carter..." I don't know how to handle this new information.

"I would do anything to take back how I treated you and I'm sorry and I know you probably still hate me but I couldn't lie about it anymore to myself, you're the only person I trust to rule a kingdom as strong as Otterstail." His voice is dropping in and out, and I know although his mind is awake, his body is fading fast on him again. His eyes fall shut, as hard as he tries to keep them open.

"Shhh. I forgive you. We'll talk later Carter. Here." I grab the bundle out of my pocket and pull it out. As a child, he learned how to whittle and whittled me a version of my childhood horse, Kitchi. I lost him when I was 10, but I've had the little carving ever since. "I'm going to want this back Carter, ok?" I slip it into his hand, and he runs it through his fingers before his eyes half open again.

"Kitchi?"
"Yeah. I'm going to want it back." He nods, and his eyes close.

He maintains a tight grip on the little figurine before his body goes limp again, and I know he's sleeping. I gently lift his other hand off of mine and tuck it under his blanket. Knowing we're ok makes me very very happy. I leave him then, letting him rest.