Memories (ForthBeam fanfic)

Chapter 11 - Hellos, Goodbyes and Butterflies

Phana's POV

"Hello, Phana. Welcome home." I was awoken to the sound of his soft whispering voice. The wagon has stopped. Bags had been lifted off and carried inside the mansion. I was the only one left inside the carriage.

My body ached in many places. The travel east was long and bumpy. It wasn't comfortable, to say the least. Add to it, the burden of my current state. I was beyond sick.
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18 months had passed since I took off with the magistrate for the capitol. His duties demanded his presence in the war council, and I went along with him.

There were many important looking people around. Governors and Magistrates from different regions and cities around the empire gathered at the call of the emperor.

There was a war to the west. The army was struggling against foreign invasion. The nobles were in panic.

I was tasked to assist the Magistrate in everything he needs for as long as the war continues. It meant I would be his shadow for a while, ready at his beck and call.

There was no tension between us. Even before the war, the magistrate had been warm to me. He's one of the few people who do not care of my social status. He speaks to me almost as an equal. He gave me respect I never expected.

He offered me shelter and job. He made sure i was nursed back to health.

I know he knows of my growing closeness with his only son --I dare not use the word relationship-- and he seemed not the least bit disturbed by it.

"All I want is for my son to be happy. He's my only son, I can't bear to see him lonely. And if you are the reason behind his smiles, I have no reason to hurt you and hurt my son." He says to me, the one time we had the chance to talk on the way to the capitol.

I could only nod, smile and give thanks to him for that. I couldn't be more grateful. I don't have any more excuse not to go back after the war.

We did not stay long in the capitol, as the magistrate was tasked to lead part of an army west in support of the battalions already stationed there.

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Everything went smoothly. The war is almost won. No foreign invaders could get past the walls of defenses on guard the border.

Until one night.

Deep in my sleep, I heard the rustle of footsteps approaching the magistrate's tent. Horses started whining in their pens. Dogs barking in their leash. Flutter of the pigeons' wings. Something's amiss. I could feel it.

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In their last attempt to sabotage our cause, the enemy has sent a team of mercenaries to assassinate various officers and nobles on our side. One of whom was my master, Wayo's father.

I was lucky to have apprehended a pair of them who sneaked into our tent sent to kill the magistrate. I was able to save him, but my luck run out.

The struggle left me wounded, a slice from a sword to my back, longer than the older scars of the whiplash.

I felt glorious to have saved the father of my beloved, but as adrenaline waned down I realise what had happened. I understood the gravity of the situation.

I was going to die.

Shocked but numbed to the pain, I cried. We were miles away from the city, miles away from my Tee. I prayed, If I was going to die, let it be in his arms. I wanted to see him.

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I wanted to see my Tee before I die, but I regreted it the moment I saw him cry. He too, knew that I wasn't going to last long. Death was inevitable.