Page 34 of Journey to the Elderoak
“Making the rounds. Visiting the injured and being a steady presence as we assess the casualties. There will be some of our soldiers who are still alive but won’t make it. They need comfort.”
“And I need to be the one to comfort them?”
“Yes. It means a lot when royalty and leaders provide that. You can grieve, but you can’t fall apart in front of everyone. Hold it together now and fall apart later. Casimir would be out here doing the same thing if he wasn’t injured. And knowing him, he’ll probably be up and about sooner than he should be to do exactly this.”
She swallowed. “Alright.”
Raine led her back to the wounded, starting with those who were under the care of the healers; the ones who would survive. She reminded herself of how her mother used to be a steady presence in the face of stress and channeled that serenity, shoving down her trepidation as she visited with the patients. Once Raine saw she was in the throes of it, he left her to do the same at the other end of the ship.
The ship was full of pained moans and whimpers, murmurs of healers and the uninjured helping the best they could. Ava knelt beside a soldier whose leg was being stitched, when the woman next to her asked for water. She retrieved it, helping her sit up to drink, before returning to comfort the soldier in pain.
She spent hours tending to the wounded and providing reassuring words, sitting with them as a distraction while their injuries were treated. Several asked to hear the story of how she called the ocean drakes resulting in their victory, and she obliged, describing how it felt to ride on such a fierce creature.
So much blood and gore. So much pain and suffering. It nearly overwhelmed her, but she shoved the horrors of war andher fear of what was to come away. Locked it in her box and focused on being present.
How much could that box hold before it became too heavy a burden? Before it burst and overtook her?
The sun was high in the sky by the time she reached an area of the deck where about a dozen soldiers lay. Pax was standing watch and when he saw her approach, his face fell.
“What?” she said.
He leaned in, whispering in her ear, “These are the injured who won’t make it. The healers aren’t here helping because there’s nothing they can do.”
A lump formed in her throat as she scanned the small group, when her eyes caught on a familiar face. Zeph.
No.
A blanket covered her torso, hiding the fatal injuries. Ava forced herself not to collapse in shock as she approached her guard and knelt, brushing a strand of blue hair out of Zeph’s face with a trembling hand. She opened her eyes and gave Ava the faintest smile, her breaths coming in slow, short bursts.
“Princess,” she rasped.
“Shhh,” Ava said as she took her hand.
She glanced at Pax who knelt on Zeph’s other side, trying to hide the devastation on his face. He was about to lose his partner, his friend who he’d been stationed with for decades.
“I don’t think she has much longer,” he whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek.
“Princess…” Zeph said. “Don’t forget…what…I taught you…”
Ava squeezed her hand. “I won’t.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Her heart broke as she stayed seated on the ground, fighting against the tears threatening to spill down her face.
Zeph took a shuddering breath. “Will you stay…until the end?”
“We will,” Ava said, her voice taught.
She held Zeph’s hand while Pax stroked her face, humming a mournful fae song. Ava picked up the tune and hummed along, their voices intertwined in a forlorn melody. It wasn’t long before Zeph took her last breath, right as the song ended. As if she’d been waiting to hear it before fading away.
Once she was gone, Pax recited their prayer, his deep voice cracking. “May the Earth Mother hold you and keep you. May you never know pain and sorrow. And may you bask in the sunlight of the afterlife for eternity.”
Ava allowed her tears to fall but remained calm, remembering Raine’s words.Hold it together now and fall apart later.And she couldn’t lose it now, because Pax was falling apart across from her. The giant orc warrior let out a sob as he kissed Zeph’s head and closed her eyes. His shoulders shook with silent tears as he bowed his head and didn’t leave.
“I’ll miss you, dear friend,” he whispered through his tears.
