Eli

Chapter 8

Garret

She had a terrible fever. All her body was burning, and the worst thing was that she hadn't woken up yet.

"There has to be something we can do...It's been three days since she fell asleep..." Garret said to a doctor.

"The only thing we can do now... is to wait, sir," a doctor looked sadly at girl's face covered with wet packs. "I am sorry, sir. I've tried all I know," then he bowed his head and started leaving. Garret stared at the girl, feeling guilty that he couldn't do more...

"I am so sorry..." he whispered dolefully and let his head fell slowly, "...so sorry..."

Someone went into the room and placed a hand on Garret's shoulder.

"It's not over yet, sir. She may wake up, tomorrow. Maybe she just needs to rest," Stephan tried to comfort him, but Garret just shook his head. He took a time to respond.

"She is really, really sick, Stephan...She has the same illness my mother had..." Garret said drearily.

"A pneumonia?" Nickolas asked, dismayed by the information. Garret just nodded; his stare became dim.

"When I think about all those innocent people...It makes my blood boil in my veins..." prince looked away and then back at the girl. "Why didn't we set out sooner, right after we received the dreadful message?"

"As I recall...I assumed that the reason was..." he cleared his throat and looked at prince who was now looking at him, waiting for his answer. "The reason was... her highness' decease, sir." Garret clenched his jaw and Stephan bowed his head. Silence settled between them.

"Well, then... We can only say our prayers for the girl to get better..." prince took a deep breath in. "Has anybody recognised her face yet?"

"No, sir. People say that she had to be from a different village," Stephan answered. Garret glanced at the girl and the sight torn him apart.

"She's so fragile...I can't even imagine what cruelties she had to suffer...And now, instead of being with her family at home, she's there surrounded by strangers in an unknown city..." Garret's look glazed.

"There is nothing you could do more, sir," Stephan said.

"Is it? Is there really nothing I could do more, Stephan?" Garret said a bit too much uneasily, ironically. "There is a whole list of things I could do for her...But it will never be enough compared to my debt to her, to all those people – to my people. I failed; I am a disappointment to my own kingdom..."

Stephan looked at him, not saying a word.

"What sort of a king am I when I don't even help my people in trouble?" Garret asked and then looked away.

"With a good heart, sir. You can't take all these burdens upon yourself, sir. Your mother just died and–,"

"But a good king had to put his grief aside, Stephan. How can I have a good heart when I grief while my people are suffering and being slaughtered like animals?" he fixed his stare on the elderly knight, feeling rage bursting in his veins.

"Sir, these men that rode with us to the cave didn't ride with us because they despised you, but because they recognised a true and brave king standing before them. King, that sympathized with their loss, king, who would do anything for a strange girl to get a cure she needed. Maybe you weren't there when your people needed you, but you stayed there and listened to their cries, tried to ease their pain and promised a revenge for their departed children, brothers, sisters, families...That is a quality that even your father, our king, doesn't have. Your mother would be proud of you, Garret," Stephan said and looked proudly into Garret's eyes. "As am I." Garret examined his face, looking for a sign of doubt, but there was none.