Harry & The Foxtail

o6 | effectio

o6
e f f e c t i o

realisation

VALENTINE ABRUPTLY TURNS his head at the sound of his name being shouted repeatedly by Lovely. He saw the fair Nysa standing alone, and a few paces from her feet was Lovely— on the ground. Valentine instantly turned his stallion around and galloped to them. His stallion stopped next to Nysa and Valentine looked down at his cousin. Even in the dark of night, he could see in the light in Lovely's eyes as she stared at him pleadingly. Then she trailed her gaze below her, and Valentine followed her eyes to the golden yellow of her cloak and a boy's sleeping face, dark hair harshly contrasting the smooth velvet. Valentine frowned at the sight of the boy in her lap.

"Lovely, what is the meaning of this?" He asked her and she merely took a deep breath in.

"He was lying in the water and I pulled him out," she said motioning to the dark river with her hand, Valentine only raises his head and shakes it.

"Is he dead?" He asks and Lovely shakes her head. "You sure?" He asks in a sigh.

"He's alive, I checked," she says quickly attempting to dismiss the idea she should give up if he's already dead because she knew he would suggest that as a reason to leave him behind.

"Okay, he's alive—he'll get up in the morning. Let's go Lovely. Get up from the ground," he tells her and she shakes her head, her hair shaking with her.

"Help me get his body onto Nysa, Val. Please," she pleads and Valentine is rendered speechless for a few moments. He shook his head in amazement, why would she stop and help this poor sick soul when her own safety has not yet been secured?

"Lovely, what do you plan to do with this boy? Why do you wish to take him with us?" He asks her, his voice steady and loud.

"Someone needs to take care of him, if we leave him here in the cold dark of the night, he'll die for sure, Val." She replies, with urgency. She could tell Valentine would this decline to aid her, so she said something that would motivate him to help her. "If he dies here after I have seen his face, with a crucifix around his neck, how can I forgive myself? How can I keep my face at the church or with the God above? I could never forgive myself, Val."

Valentine felt conflicted as to what to say, he himself believed the Gods were nothing, that they only severed as a way for people to blame their troubles on. You can never rely on prayer, he thought. He'd seen too much death for there to be a God to believe in... how can an all powerful being allow countless bloodshed to continue? To allow children to make sacrifices so steep, a lion would struggle to return from? But his dear cousin, Lady Lovely, she did believe in the Gods wholeheartedly and to crush her belief would be cruel of him to do so. "And what will you do with him when he wakes? If he recognises you as Lady of Foxtail house, I may have to kill him to keep our location safe."

"Valentine! You will not kill him!" She shouted up at him, angrily.

"Yes, I will, if he poses a danger," Valentine says sternly.

"He can help us, with the horses, collecting firewood, anything. You can train him to fight if he does not know how to already... there is no need to kill him if he never leaves us," she says looking down at him in her lap.

"There is no way of knowing if he will stay with us. I do not have time to keep a prisoner while keeping you safe cousin," he replies.

Lovely now realised, that even if Valentine aided her and took the boy with them, that when the boy wakes... despite everything she's done, he might be killed anyway if he recognises them and wishes to leave. She shook her head and cast that thought aside, right now he just needs to wake up, she thinks.