The Knights of Aragon

Chapter 44

Quikas is not your enemy here, Valencia. Someone is using all sorts of means to destroy you. Let me show you who your real enemy is...

"Val?" A soft hand grazes my forehead, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. My head swims disoriented and groggy. Merlin's voice echoes in my skull as I pull away from the dream. "Hey," my voice croaks in an unflattering manner. I blink away the rest of the sleepiness. "What's wrong? What happened?" Vera smiles at me, wiping a few sweat soaked fringes away. "Nothing's happened," she chuckles, "I wondered if you were hungry. You've been asleep for a while." I glance out the glass double doors that led to the balcony. The sky has darkened with grey clouds. "How long have I been asleep?" I can't imagine I've been asleep for long. I just wanted to rest my eyes after such a migraine. Absentmindedly, I inspect my nose. Dried blood coats the skin around my upper lip.

It stopped a while back, it seemed. "Over an hour, I think," Vera answers me, "It's very easy to lose track of time here." That's why I changed the time loop. "Are you going to join us?" Vera holds her arm out for me to take. "I'm not sure I'll be much company," I laugh nervously, "I still have a dull ache and I've become quiet irritable today." Vera tsks at my reluctance, shaking her head in mock displeasure. "I didn't take you to be someone who gives up so easily." I think back to my first encounter with Arathmus and Merlin. The way they both mocked me for the same thing. "It's apparently the most known trait of mine," I mumble, almost incoherently. I wonder what I did in the past to become infamous for my impatience. I gather that I'll find out soon enough. "Come on, let's eat something. You need all the strength you can get." She nudges her elbow ay my side. I silently agree and grab her arm. Immediately, the spell on my hands plants itself on her forearm.

I've almost forgotten. "There's a draft in here, don't you think?" As we walk out of the room, I try to keep my face impassive and shrug. She's the second one to feel the transference occur. Gawain and now Vera. Out of all of them, I would've thought Goosey would have felt it rather than Gawain. It makes me think about what Goosey said about her parents. I wonder...

"What were your parents like, Vera?" She gives me an odd look, raising her eyebrows questioningly. "What brought this on?" Quick, Val, a truthful excuse! I clear my throat. "Goosey talked about her parents this morning and I don't think I've heard any of you mention them specifically." That'll work. She sighs, "There isn't much to say about my parents. It feels like I barely knew them myself." We turn to the staircase, in step with each other. "Did they die before the disappearance?" She shakes her head no, her short hair swaying in the process. "They were alive, then. My parents were there but they weren't for me. My parents were made leaders of our clan. It took a lot of their attention. Gawain's mother took care of me the most." It explains why her and Gawain are so close; they grew up together. I didn't have that, exactly. I mean, the closest I've had to parents were Jayda and Yore, but I did have parents then. They are lost to me now. I can't help but feel bad about that.

"But they were present, right?" I tilt my head over to get a better look at her shadowed face. "It wasn't enough, Val," she says a matter of factly, "Being present and truly being there is not the same thing. My parents never understood that." Vera has a point. Is a mother truly a mother if she doesn't care or do what is best for her children? Is a father still a father if he wasn't a part of his children's lives? Are their children still their children if they were raised by others? I continue contemplating these questions silently while we walk into sitting room.

"Finally!" Goosey rips me away from Vera the minute we enter. "We've been debating this forever! We need you to settle this once and for all." Her eyebrows furrow in determination as she glares at everyone in the room. It makes me laugh. "What, exactly, am I settling?" My eye wander around the room. Rhydian and Bo are seated on opposite sides of each other. Beau is leaning against the wall to my right, and Gawain is, surprisingly, relaxed on a lounge chair.