The Ballad of Matthias Helvar (Helnik)

Part One: Verse

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy." — Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

A warm fire crackled in the heart of the cabin. It ate hungrily at the wood beneath it and in return grew twice as bright. It looked like the world was on fire underneath that yellow glow it emitted on the walls. Matthias waited for it to swallow him up whole; to rise up his arms and neck like he was simply another dry piece of timber in its grasp. Then he could finally be at peace once more, no longer worried about the witch in his room or the pounding in his head.

He might as well be set alight. According to Nina, his body had reached a temperature she called "worryingly hot." It left him sweaty and sore while simultaneously churning every organ inside his body like some sick kind of stew. He half-wondered if this was all the witch's doing. Had she made him sick? Was she purposefully boiling his blood, basking in his slow and painful death?

Maybe he would have believed that three weeks ago — maybe she would have even considered it back then. But they had gone through hell to get where they were now, and that had done something to him. He couldn't help but admit that he had grown soft towards her. She had kept him alive after the shipwreck, and she was keeping him alive now. It was a debt he could never pay back.

Matthias laid in bed and watched Nina from across the room. She stood at the kitchen table, a handful of bowls and herbs surrounding her. He followed her white fingers as they picked at plant stems and spices with a graceful air he had never seen from her before.

"Not gonna lie, I'm absolutely shit at medicine," Nina said. "Give me a gunshot wound and I can heal it pretty well, but a cold?"

She shook her head and sighed. Nina grabbed the wooden bowl she had been working with and sat at the foot of Matthias's bed. He scooted away instantly, trying even now to keep his distance. There really wasn't any use for modesty now after... well...

Matthias cleared his throat and tried not to think about it. Instead he focused on how horrible he was feeling. At least that he could mellow in without feeling guilty. This was her fault, after all.

"Real mature of you, Helvar," Nina grumbled. "It's almost like you don't want to get better."

"What would you even know about common medicines, anyway?" Mattias spat. "I thought drüsje don't get sick."

"We don't," said Nina. "But we're not selfish either; we know how to take care of other people, too. You just so happened to get stuck with a Heartrender who slept through her medicines class every morning. Now drink this."

Matthias glanced at the bowl. It was the same color of purple that dyed her fingers, sickly and suspicious.

But on the other hand, it didn't smell too bad, either. It actually smelled rather sweet, like the blackberries that grew just outside the Ice Court's walls.

"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're worried about," Nina added. She stuck her finger in and pulled out a small dollop of the stuff. "I'll try it with you."

Matthias took the bowl from Nina and slowly raised it close to his lips. Its aroma was even stronger from here, and he could smell something sinister underneath its heavy sweetness. Matthias looked back at Nina suspiciously.

"On the count of three?" Nina offered. "One..."

"Two..." Matthias counted.

Nina gave him a comically frightened grin. "Three!"

Matthias dipped the bowl forward. The moment the mush touched his tongue, he wanted to gag. And from the sounds coming from Nina, she did too. But he swallowed it down, as much as it revolted him to do so.