A Lone Man's Path: Powerful Enough to Fall

Chapter 9: Back to Reality

Some dreams are weird: in a world where anything can be considered a sign or an indicator, dreams are observed carefully. But the dream Leika had was infuriating.

She dreamed of white-hairs! She woke up with a start.

'Infuriating, not possible, not that idiot.', she muttered.

'Mam, be careful, your temperature, it's rising sky high, you should rest.', someone familiar said. The voice came from her left.

'Don't worry, it's not a fever.', she gritted her teeth.

'Huh?', the same voice said.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around to find herself in her bed. It was warm and reminiscent. She hugged her blanket.

'Welcome back, Leika mam.', a maid stood up from her chair and bowed.

'Thank you, Anne.', she smiled, 'Did you take care of me? How many days was I out?'

'It's only been a day.', she said looking towards the ceiling.

'Well, I was never seriously injured.', she sighed with exasperation.

'Yes, the doctors you trained, worked very hard and said you should rest for a few days. I have been here for the entire time.', she smiled.

Anne was an excellent maid, she played with Leika, fought with her and was always there as a mother-figure. She had a sand-coloured complex face paired with brown hair and brown eyes.

'Thank you very much.', she said and stretched her hands.

'I am humbled.'

'So, where is that idiot white-hairs?', she asked rather red after the dream.

'Oh, him.', was Leika imagining things or did Anne just blush? Just what did that guy do to her maid?

'What?', she asked with power in her voice.

'I am very sorry.', she apologized, 'He had been here for almost the same time as me, he just left an hour ago when summoned by His Majesty. He carried you here in a hurry. And stayed here with me, we chatted about what happened and he told me everything from the start. He was quite.... charming.'

It was not Anne's fault, Leika told herself. But wait, he was not the type of guy who would sit and tend to someone else, he was quite prideful, those who don't care about anything but their own business and profit.

'I see.', she sighed again, 'Why did father summon him?'

'That, I can't say, but it may have been important.', she said.

'Hmm.'

'But I should say, mam has quite an exquisite taste.'

'What? No, nothing of the sort.', she started gripping her pillow tightly.

'I meant the sword. Your temperature rose again, mam.', she smiled slyly.

'Huh?', she fell for an obvious trap. She looked behind her and there it was, the Dragon Bone sword, but this time it was in a scabbard. Its scabbard was also beautiful, white, with a frost glaze and golden near the hilt.

'Didn't white-hairs take it back? It is his after all.', she asked.

'I asked the same but he said, "it's more interesting this way."', she imitated him with a low pitch and they both laughed. But what a white-hair's way of thinking. She will ask him later about this.

She tried to leave her bed but Anne stopped her, 'Mam, please don't leave, that wound is bad, if you do anything rash it might re-open.'

'I know, but I have a treasure trove of questions, and I'm itching to ask them.', Anne was very frightened, 'By the way Anne, what happened here after I left?'

'After you left, the war broke out. Our army was able to hold off theirs for a few days but then we lost, our King was taken hostage and they invaded the capital. Many citizens were evacuated, we helped with that, but when the fall of the King was declared, we gave up the resistance and co-operated.

'They told us to stay locked in the room until the King and others were executed, we were forced to stay inside the castle and one day later, someone opened the door, he had you in his arms. I rushed forth and he briefed us about what happened. If only we were a little better... '

Even if the war was ultimately won by Humans, they were once again reminded of how powerless they were. Even if she hated to admit it, he had provided the opportunity needed.

'Don't let it bother you. Fight, train and grow.', that was all she could say, 'Anyway, how were you knowing my temperature all this time without the measurement device?'

'There mam.', she pointed to the table, which was there beside her bed. The table always housed fresh flowers. But now the flowers were kept aside and, in the middle, floated a spell.

'The guy with white hairs cast that to measure your temperature without constantly moving you to use the device. It has been tremendously helpful, I was thinking of offering him a job as a servant in the castle, if you permit.'

Although a very salivating offer, and not that it won't suit him, she was sure he had other plans.

'I would have to deny that on his behalf.' She said and got out of bed with Anne's help. She was amazed, her arm wasn't as sore as she had anticipated it would be. And her fatigue was almost gone.

'Be careful, miss. I will arrange for some food and clothing right away.', she said.

'Just the clothes would be good. I will change back, and then I wish to take a tour.', Leika said and went to her backroom to change.

She changed into a flowing white dress, designed with white flowers at the end. She picked up the sword and strapped it to her waist, she intended to return it. Keeping things for free wasn't something she liked to do.

She could walk almost perfectly; the bandaged arm was the only thing ailing her. if she could remove the bandage, but that would upset Anne, so she kept it as it was.

Fine then, where should they be? It was almost night so not the court. So maybe the meeting room. And with that, she started heading towards him.