Sonnet: The Broken Cities of Steam, Brass, and Aether

Chapter Sixteen

She dragged the boy from the bushes, heaving from the effort it took to free him from the brambles. He was a lot heavier than he looked, far more so than she had anticipated.

He was missing his right arm, which meant he couldn't shoot a bow anymore. Damn, that might as well be a death sentence for somebody like Rodkin.

She could hear his shallow, raspy breathing; each breath he took seemed like a fight for his continued existence.

"Is... is he dead?" The prince asked while peering over her shoulder, clearly using her as a shield in case anything went awry.

"You are kind of a royal ass, aren't you sir prince?" Grilimir remarked, in a manner that suggested he didn't realize he had just insulted the prince.

"I am a what?!?" Selyne shouted back at Grilimir, causing him to stand at attention and glance between the prince and Blair nervously.

"No. Not quite a royal ass, that is what I had thought before myself Gril, but I think he is more like a royal twat." Blair glared at Selyne, daring him to say something to either of them. She was still disgusted by his cowardice, it hadn't even stopped considering he was hiding behind her!

She turned away from both of them when she decided the situation was over, turning her attention once again to Rodkin; he was in an extremely bad need of critical care, but there was no way they would be able to carry him all the way back to the keep.

Sure he might not have weighed very much, but the keep was still kilometers away; and they needed to get moving before the winter cold began to set into the wildlands. But she couldn't just leave him here...

She began looking around for various things she would require, barking out orders to the other two while she collected her thoughts.

She knelt down beside the motionless boy and pulled out a long, strongly made handkerchief that was crafted from a strong silk. She scanned the surrounding grounds for a large stick, it was relatively simple finding one given the state the campsite was currently in.

After picking a suitable one for her purposes, she began to wrap the kerchief around the nub of Rodkin's missing arm; sliding the stick between the wrapping, she began to cinch it down tightly.

Before long, the bright, red blood that was profusing from his severed arm slowed to a drip before finally faltering. How the hells is this kid still alive?

"Hey twat, give me your bed roll! Now, we don't have much time. Unless you would rather stay here until we all freeze to death." She huffed out at Selyne.

"But I... uhh, yeah okay. Here you go." He held out the rolled up foam pad they used as bedrolls to her, once again receiving a sharp look of anger.

"You dope, I need it unrolled. Put it right next to Rodkin, we are gonna gently roll him onto his side then slide the mat underneath him." She calmly ordered Selyne before looking over to Grilimir, who was still currently standing at attention.

"Grilimir! Front and center!" She was sure he would cooperate, he just needed an order; it didn't seem like he really thought things out for himself much yet, probably because he is such a daddy's boy.

"Yes sir!" Blair chuckled at his constant use of sir, giving clear indication that he believed the two of them to be his superiors. It wasn't true of course, but people always gave the two of them preferential treatment because of their parents.

Blair rolled her eyes at the thought. As if anything your parents did was reason to claim merit yourself, it certainly didn't stop Selyne from throwing his prince title around. Maybe that was why she disliked him so much.