Ethereal

A Sight in the Fields

Oliver stirred from his bed and walked over to his window. "I messed up so bad.." he said, rubbing his eyes. He placed his hand on the windowsill and leaned against the wall. He looked over to the spare blankets he had sitting out for Astrid on the end of his bed. He sighed and turned his gaze back toward the window. He looked at the clouds flying above him. "Maybe I can make it up to her. I mean, I know she's mad at me, but there has to be something I can do."

He looked down at the field before him. The wind blew and the grass swayed with every move the wind made. Oliver closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the cool glass pane in front of him. The wind was calm and pleasant, blowing the grass and flowers in a beautiful display. Oliver opened his eyes again and began to back away from the window. "I guess I can maybe take her out somewhere. Or maybe I can make something for her.." he said, brainstorming ideas. He paced around his room, thinking of the many possibilities and ways he could fix his relationship with Astrid.

"What.. what if she's so mad, she doesn't want to marry me anymore..?" he said, stopping back at the window. A lump formed in his throat from the thought, but he quickly swallowed it back down. "N-nah.." He swatted the air in front of him. "She's as bipolar as they come." he said, looking out the window once more. "Besides, she's too kind to stay mad at me." He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the windowsill. He began surveying the flowers outside when he saw what appeared to be a long blue flag. "What the-" he started, quickly leaning in closer before hitting the glass with his nose. "Oww..." he groaned, holding his nose with one hand and opening the window with the other. He looked outside again to the area where he had seen the flash of blue.

"Is that.." he said, leaning in to try to get a better look. "Martin?!" He stared out to the fields, seeing Martin's light blue scarf on his uniform flutter because of the wind. "Man, I mean, I know I haven't gotten to thank him for helping me out back when I got shot, but I didn't think he would just quit on me." he said with a small chuckle. He closed the windows once more and then went to the back corner of his room. "Man, when is he going to get rid of that scarf anyway? He's had it for years.. It's not even scarf length! It's basically a blanket." he thought aloud. "Eh, oh well. Whatever makes him happy I guess."

Oliver went over to his closet and put on a loose pair of brown pants and an airy blue shirt. "This'll do for now." Oliver said as he began putting on his boots. "One good thing about Martin, is that he never cared much about dressing up. At least we can relate." he said, standing up and swinging his arms in front of him, a smile on his face. 'He doesn't seem to be doing anything, so I'll go see him.' he thought. The young man ran down the steps and opened the front door to his manor.

Oliver ran down the few steps he had leading to the door of his manor and jumped down the last step into the grass. He laughed quietly to himself. He had never truly grown out of his childishness, and he knew it. He put his hands in his pockets and started heading over to the man laying in the grass.

Oliver got within a few feet of Martin before he saw something reddish on his armor. The strands of red blew in the wind with every gust, making a beautiful display.  Oliver walked closer, curious as to what the crimson strands blowing in the wind is.

"Astrid..?" he slowly mouthed as he approached Martin and Astrid. Astrid was still fast asleep on Martin's chest, while Martin himself was still dozing off. Martin stirred slightly from his slumber because of Astrid's hair hitting his face. Oliver looked at Martin, eyes full of betrayal. "So, that's how it is, huh?" he said, his voice low as he crouched down and touched Astrid's face. Martin suddenly swung his arm back as hard as he could, the metal on his armor making connection with Oliver's cheek. "Gah! What the heck, Martin?!" he screamed, holding his now bloodied cheek. Martin's eyes shot open and he looked at Oliver. 'Oh no.. I know I was supposed to protect Astrid, but I hit Oliver!' Martin thought. "You know this will take longer than usual to heal!" Oliver said, still holding his face.

"O-oh my gods, I am so sorry. Oliver, I am so sorry." he said, trying to gently move Astrid off of his chest. She gripped him tightly, not letting go of him. Martin's face went completely red and he didn't know what to do. 'This doesn't look good at all..' he thought.

"Oh really? Sorry for what?" he said, spitting up a little blood. "For hitting me or for stealing the woman I am suppose to be marrying?" he asked, his voice full of malice and venom.

"Oliver, it's not like that. I-"

"Oh, here we go. I would love to hear this explanation." he said laughing, crossing his arms, blood still coursing down his cheek. "Go ahead. Let me hear it."

"She was out here yelling and screaming and I came to check on her.. After a while, I sat down and we started talking and-"

"Without your helmet?" Oliver interrupted. "You never take that off. I should know, I tried to get you to take it off before." Martin looked at him only for a second before averting his eyes. "That's what I thought. You know what, forget it." he said, his voice's volume increasing with each passing second. Astrid started to shift again from the loudness in Oliver's voice, gripping Martin's scarf tightly.

"Oliver. You have known me years. Why would I betray you? I have no reason to wish anything bad to you, and even less of a reason to personally do anything to hurt or betray you." Martin said, reaching over and grabbing his helmet. "I honestly thought you had more faith in me."

"Oh, trust me Martin. I have a lot of faith in you, but when I come outside and see that you have my wife-to-be sleeping in your arms, it's kind of a red flag in the friendship."

"Oliver, you should know it's not like how you're thinking." Martin said, slowly moving Astrid off of him and into the soft patch of flowers next to him. She flinched slightly, but eventually settled into the softness of the flowers. Martin looked at her, noticing she was shivering. He unclasped his scarf from his armor and put it over her. Astrid felt the warmth of the fabric against her skin and gripped it, pulling it close to her face.

"Are you going to tell me that you feel nothing for her after a gesture like that?" Oliver asked, glaring at the young guardsman.

"That's exactly what I'll tell you." Martin said, returning his stare and pushing himself off of the ground, standing again. "Oliver, I will only say this once. I am your friend, but if you want to be mad at me for something, find an accusation that actually sounds like something I would do." Martin put his helmet back on and latched the sides back. "I am going back to my post. You can stay with Astrid. I know you don't me with her." he said, turning on his heels and walking away.