VI:
The court (junior) sorceress worked her best magic on Beckett's injuries but once she finished Beckett still had to sleep a few more nights for the injuries to fully heal. The Sorceress worked the last of her magic on Beckett, Shani went to his side as the Sorceress left the room. Altan who leaned on the doorway suddenly met eyes with her as she was leaving. She stopped and turned to face him.
"You," She said, sounding like she'd seen him before. Altan's eyes widened and he pulled her out of the room as fast as possible, Shani nor Beckett took notice.
"How in all the hells did you get here!?" He demanded of her.
"I could ask you the same thing!" She replied "And why do you still have this damned thing? It better be for the looks" She grabbed Altan's silver gloved left arm. Altan only looked at her silently, not answering.
"You idiot! You do realize if you don't get rid of it you'll die in two years? And that's if you're lucky!" She grabbed Altan by his collar and shook him around as she loudly whispered to him.
"I will not give this curse to another to save my own life, only one person in this world is deserving of that and I am likely to never see her again and heavens be praised if I don't" He replied
"Heavens be praised that you die?" The Sorceress stated.
"I live by my own code and when I am given a time limit to live then it's just another reason to help as many people as I can before I die. I understand you're a healer Flora and your code says to save lives as well, but my life is in my hands, not yours and I will do what I want with it and I choose to make sure that the people of this world, innocent and wicked, may live another day so that the wicked can become good eventually and that the innocent may do more good as well" Altan replied.
Flora looked down, placing a hand over her forehead. "Call me a fool if you must," Altan told her "But my choice is my choice, fate does not choose how I die, I do". Altan pushed Flora the Sorceress to the side and walked into Beckett's chambers where he now slept. Flora had known Altan's story, she was one of the few who did. She was tired of good men dying so she stomped away to her chambers and wept.
Altan sat down across from Shani and they both watched the recovering Beckett sleep.
"He's 19 you know," Shani told Altan.
"Gods..." Altan sighed "Fjorde's gonna burn soon I can just tell".
"You don't have to pretend I didn't hear the conversation with that Flora girl," Shani said accusingly.
"I figured," Altan replied. The two sat there in silence for a while before Altan interrupted it with "Listen I just wanna say I'm so-". Shani interrupted him by raising a hand "I understand why you treated me like that, it's related to that curse isn't it?".
Altan nodded. "Can I guess what that has to do with it?" Shani asked.
"Shoot"
"You trusted someone very dearly, loved them like family I presume. Then somehow they betrayed you in some way relating to that curse causing you to develop a brash personality to keep people away while still helping them the best you can".
Altan's eyes widened with surprise and he nodded. "You said to not jump to conclusions, but you hardly know anything about yet still hit it right in the spot, Impressive"
The two chuckled a bit. After another small moment of silence, Shani asked "But you've warmed up to us two haven't you?". Altan stared off into space for a few seconds and finally said "Yeah, you could say that" He stayed silent for a bit, his mouth still open as if he were about to say something. After a while he finally did "Beckett saved me from execution, and you saved me and him from your brother, So thank you for that".
Shani smiled and then told Altan "My mother told me something once; no matter how many times someone can betray your trust it does not mean you should stop trusting altogether, no matter how many horrid people there are in this world there's still good people-"
"And they're the ones you can trust to fight for you while they trust you to fight for them as well" Altan interrupted. Shani looked at him with a surprised look "You've heard that quote as well?" she asked.
"Yeah, it was in a book my old friend used to read a lot," Altan replied. Shani started to assume something about this 'old friend' Altan spoke of and decided to change the subject, understanding he might not want to talk about them.
"So you owe me right? For saving you," She asked him
"Yeah I guess so"
"So can I see the curse on your arm?-"
"No." Altan immediately responded "You don't understand how... Gods, it's just horrible..." Altan went on, "Even with this seal on... it aches and aches... it feels like I can feel the bones and skin and everything just rotting and fading..."
"Oh shit," Shani said, standing up "Sorry I didn't mean to provoke anything. Altan suddenly stood up, his hand on his head "It's fine I just... I need something to drink" and with that Altan quickly scurried off.
Shani sat back down in her chair and placed her knuckle on her chin as she pondered. She had sniffed something out that disproved Flora the Sorceress's estimation of how much time Altan had left. He only had five months.
