Near Dead Bodies
Dead bodies are not strangers to me, near dead bodies were. I only knew two or three in my entire life. The first near dead body I held was my best friend, a prince named Conrart Weller. He is half-Human like I am – and was condemned for it as well. I was used to condemnation, but my best friend had to deal with honour. Being a common civilian at the time honour was not a huge price for me… but if one was a prince and, in Stoffel's words, a half-breed, it was an entirely different matter altogether.
Most of the men were slaughtered in Luttenberg. I was lucky to find Conrart in one piece. Carrying his near dead body was the hardest thing I had to do physically and emotionally. The only thing that kept me going was my focus on keeping him alive and the fact that he had a mother and two brothers waiting for him to come home.
His little brother was the second near dead body I carried. I swear I was near vomiting when we all thought he was dead. Conrart and I practically felt no pulse or heard his heartbeat. Carrying him to the awaiting carriage back to Covenant Castle was just as hard as bringing Conrart back from Luttenberg years before. One could argue it was a relief to learn that Wolfram was not dead.
Then there was Botchan. Like a good king, he nearly sacrificed his life for Shin Makoku. While it was normal for us to find him asleep after releasing the Maoh, his near death state was unbelievably scary.
It was good to see him awake despite the fact that his Maryoku was gone. Hey you don't need Maryoku to be a good king.
All in all, it was a good life. Three of the most important people in my life were saved. Death is inevitable, my mother proved that to me. But I would like to hold on to them for as long as I can. I would like to see Conrart finally find peace in his heart… to see Wolfram become the second greatest swordsman in Shin Makoku… and to see Yuri bring peace to the world…
Just as long as I breathe Mother… that's all I ask.
