𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒

𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Xaden, as Isolde was sneaking out of Basgiath

Rays of the moon trickled in through the sliver of space left between the curtains. A groan crawled out of Xaden's mouth as he twisted over onto his back, allowing his face to point upwards towards the ceiling. His eyes slowly peeled open and the pale blue of the mage lights above him filled his vision allowing him to make sense of his surroundings.

A frail man held himself calmly beside him and his withered smile entered Xaden's vision as he blinked in order to focus on the images in front of him. His bright teeth practically blinded him but not enough that he did not recognise the wooden cane that the man put most of his weight on. "How are you feeling Cadet Riorson?" The words fell out of his mouth in a calm manner, and it took all of Xaden's energy to not grunt back in response.

"Sore." The man beside him chuckled before sitting on the chair beside the bed. "I'd be surprised if you weren't Cadet Aritia did quite a number on you." Shit Lyra. He had almost completely forgotten about how he had ended up in the situation in the first place, but as the man mentioned her name it seemed to begin flooding back.

His hands stretched out to pull himself upright on the bed but a hand on his shoulder pushed him back down onto the bed gently. "Don't rip your stitches. You'll be useless if you're dead." Another voice added but this time the voice was annoyingly familiar. "But then at least I wouldn't have to hear or see you." Garrick lifted his hand to his chest and feigned hurt.

"Wow, you got me right here." He pointed to his heart and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Well, I suppose that I will leave you two alone." The older man put all of his weight onto the cane and hauled himself up with ease as if he had done it a thousand times before.

"Thanks Nolon." Garrick gave the man a tight lipped nod before focusing on his injured friend. Once the man had limped far enough away he lowered his voice and spoke to Xaden. "That was insane, what happened on the mat." He placed himself on the side of Xaden's bed. All he could do in return was nod.

"Has she come to see me?" He spoke quietly, doing his best to act disinterested but Garrick knew him better than that. "No, sorry. To be honest I haven't seen her since the class." This caught Xaden's attention. It was odd that she behaved towards him with such aggression, but it was announced that they were able to use weapons, and it was his fault if he was caught off guard, not hers. Furthermore, the fact that she had not visited was even more suspicious.

Lyra liked to make everybody think that she did not care. Not about herself, her friends, nothing. But Xaden knew it was not true. He saw it when she offered to help Tomas with his sparring, when others would mock those with the rebellion relic and somehow they ended up in the infirmary with a mysterious illness.