Ethereal

Morals and Decisions

Oliver stared at the guard in disbelief. "What did you say?"

"We caught one of the humans, ser. He is in the basement."

"Alright. Thank you." he said as the guard left the room. Oliver looked over at Astrid. "So, do you want to go with me to see the human? Or do you prefer to stay here?"

She looked at him. 'Should I go? I mean, half of me is curious, but half of me doesn't want to see the face of someone who harmed Oliver. I've made up my mind. I'm not going.' She shook my head violently.

"Okay, well I am going down after we finish bandaging me." he said.

"I completely forgot about that!" she said as she jumped across the bed and went back to her position behind him. She finished removing all the bandages on his body.

"Hey, Astrid?" he said as he watched her get up to grab more bandages and cleaner.

"Yeah? What do you need?" she said as she flopped back down behind him.

"Can I ask you something?" he said as he gasped from the alcohol being pressed on his wounds.

"Of course."

"What.. what do you feel about me? I mean, how do you feel about me?" he said, his face red.

Astrid blushed while smiling and was quiet for a little bit. "You don't have time for such questions. I'm done, and that means you need to go meet that guard." she answered coolly as if slyly avoiding the question. He looked at her and smiled. 'I know she won't say it, but I know she loves me very dearly.'

"Alright. Well, just stay here then, okay? I'll be right back." he said as he leaned over and kissed her. He left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

"Oliver.. I really hope you heal up okay.. I would never forgive myself if you didn't heal.." Astrid sat on the bed for a few moments and looked at the bloody bandages next to her. 'Gods, what if he doesn't heal?' She grabbed the bandages and gripped them tight. 'The blood.. it's still fresh on the cloth..' She took the bandages and tossed them in the waste bin.

She looked to the walls of the room and noticed things she hadn't seen before. 'I must not have noticed this because I was in such a rush to get Oliver fixed up..' She noticed a small slew  of gorgeous paintings and elaborate designs in the walls. The pictures were hand painted and one looked to be of a previous royal family. Astrid examined it and saw a young woman who looked exactly like her. "Woah.."

She got closer to the painting and gently touched the dried paints and dyes. "This is unreal.." she said as the door behind her slowly opened. Astrid was too busy observing the painting to notice that Oliver had walked into the room behind her. He slowly walked up to her back and wrapped his hands around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder, causing her to jump.

"G-geez, Oliver! Warn me next time. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you."

"It's fine. I forgive you." she said as she turned to face him. She looked at his face and saw that he had a look of concern. "Oliver? How was he? I mean, the human."

He furrowed his brow. "He's.. fine. He refused to tell me anything though. I couldn't even get him to say his name.." he said while letting go of her and walking to the bed and then sitting.

"He won't talk? At all?" she said as she joined him on the bed.

"Nope. I have no information on him whatsoever. He won't talk to me or the guards." he said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Oliver, would it be okay if.. if I talked to him? I mean, maybe he will talk to me."

He was quiet for a few moments before he finally formed words."I.. suppose that would be fine. Please make sure you have a guard with you though. I don't want anything to happen to you." He looked at Astrid, his eyes full of concern. She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Of course. If that is what you wish, I'll oblige."

"Thank you." he said as he leaned in and placed his forehead against hers. They stayed like this until they heard footsteps going up the stairs. 'I don't remember anyone else besides the guards being home, and they never come upstairs.' he thought to himself. "I'll be back.." he said as he stood up and walked out of the door.

"Alright. Where are you going?" she called out after him. He was too far down the hall to hear her at this point.

She stood up and walked out after him to find that he was already gone. Astrid looked around her and realized he was gone and she had no idea where he was. She ventured down the hallway farthest from her and heard a familiar voice.

"No! I will not allow us to be blatantly attacked and do nothing about it! I could have been killed!" shouted Oliver, his voice wavering from the rage he was trying to hold back. Astrid approached the door and gently put her ear to it.

"It's a good thing I came home early, or who knows what rash decisions you might have made.. Son, I understand that you were hurt and they made an attempt to kill you, but you know you can't wage war on them. Maybe this was a misunderstanding. You can't just assume-"

"Dad! Are you serious right now? I know what happened! I was attacked! It was not accidental. Nestor wanted to kill me. He-"

"Nestor?" the voice who Astrid finally recognized as Oliver's father said. "A young elf named Nestor used to serve us as a hired help.. He left us years ago.."

"Yeah, I know. It's him. He cut his ears and is currently passing as a human."

"Cut his ears?!" Oliver's father almost shouted in disbelief. "That's.. Sacrilege."

"I am fully aware.. Anyway, the guards managed to take a human hunter that was with Nestor and capture him alive. He will not speak to me.. I suggest-"

"I suggest you leave the boy be." interrupted his father. "Our feelings now may cause us to act in ways we will regret in the morning. Let someone of a gentler tone talk to him. Has Astrid seen him?" Astrid heard her name and began backing away from the door. She quickly went down the stairs and ended up in front of the door that she had drug Oliver through the day before. Astrid saw a guard she recognized standing at the door.

"Oh! Hey!" she called out to the guard who jumped at her voice. "I was hoping I would see you again."

"Me? Really? Why?" the guard asked.

"I wanted to thank you.. You know, for helping Oliver."

"It was no problem. I should be thanking you right now though, Astrid. You saved Oliver. Our healer was gone and not expected to come back for a while. You took him and treated him. You saved his life, Astrid. I, I mean, we, can never thank you enough." the guard said as they bowed humbly. Astrid blushed at the kind gesture. She curtsied in response.

"Well, I must be off. I want to go see the person we keep downstairs. Oliver said that they wouldn't talk to him, so I am going to go try and see if he will talk to me. His father said he might need someone of a 'gentler tone'." she said as she waved goodbye and walked towards the stairs.

"B-but.. Oliver said not to let anyone down there! Especially without a guard!" the guard yelled over to her.

"I have special permission. Besides, his father even wanted me to try to talk to him." she replied, walking off and not looking back.

'This is it.' she thought as she grabbed the handrail and walked down the steps. When she got to the bottom, a white door suddenly came into view. 'What if he hurts me? Maybe I should have taken the guard.. What if Oliver finds out I went alone..?' Her mind raced with doubts and worries. 'It's too late. I have to do this. I need to know why he attacked Oliver.' she said as she grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open.

'I cannot afford to cower now.' she thought, and with that thought in her head, she stepped forward into the dimly lit room.