The Eco Benders
Chapter 4: Loraella
By: SilveredRose and CrystallicPrincess
I'm afraid that this part is quite short compared to some. Also, I would like to apologize for the lack of update, it's just that we haven't been able to write about this much, and plus, I'm afraid that we won't be able to publish anytime soon, because we are starting a new semester, and we are probably going to be quite busy during the rest of the year. If you are lucky, we are going to work on publishing once per month.
WARNING: Those who haven't gotten it yet: I have changed the part 2 completely (so part 3 is now what used to be part 2), so you better re-read it if you want to understand what happened.
"Sig, what a very nice party you have organized in honour of your niece," complimented a big round man coming from an outside Clan, as he drank another cup of special drink. "...and what a fine lady she has become as well," he pointed out, chuckling a little. "Though it is such a waste... that she is... what she is..."
The long red haired man did not continue, preferring to drink the rest of the cup of drink, and yet, Sig knew all too well what he meant, what he was going to say...
...Jak's progeny...
...an Eco Bender, whatever name you would give such a powerful 'Human' weapon...
The angered Leader of Spargus City suddenly was about to take a grasp of the man's wrist, with the firm intention of tightening his hold until the man's bones broke into pieces, but the man had evaded the subtle attack. The veteran looked down, surprised that such a drunken man could even escape his attack. Had he grown so rusty that he wasn't even able to defend his innocent and cute niece the evil likes of this guy?
"Oups, I'm sorry, but it seems that your friend, the ambassador of the Sanford Clan here tripped on my foot, Sire," excused Keveak Arborshate when Sig realized that his 'drunken prey' was lying on the ground, already punished for his previous offence. "Don't worry, Julius, I won't take that as an outrage to my Clan," he quickly added, not even bothering to help the confused man up.
Indeed, if the Arborshate Clan had sent someone else than Keveak to do the job of the ambassador, this last one would probably send a declaration of war to the Sanford Clan, and it would be hell on the Wastelands if there was another war between the Clans.
However, curiously, it was theoretically impossible that a man as focused as the ambassador (even when he was drunk) fall, even under these circumstances.
Instantly, Sig understood what had happened. So Keveak, who had been faithfully sitting on a table and been entertaining women attention, had heard their conversation and had been faster than him in reacting to punish this man from saying such things behind Loraella's back... Did this boy really care about his niece that much? They had only met for half a day, and yet, the heir of the Arborshate Clan seemed to have taken a liking to her already...
"It will be all right, Keveak. Marianus Julius was drunk anyways," muttered the King, as he sat down on the throne once again.
The diplomat straightened up before any fine lady would see him in a disgraceful position (what could he say to the Prince of the Arborshate Clan, even though he knew that he wasn't the one that was at fault. The Arborshate Clan was way more powerful than the Sanford Clan, and it outnumbered them by many as well. It was surely too risky to talk too much in front of so much public figures.), and went back into a conversation with other ambassadors.
"Why don't you ask Loraella for a dance?" demanded the King of Spargus City, waving his sceptre at the young woman, who was leaning her back against the wall.
She was all alone. Loraella had previously rejected all the dance propositions that had been directed to her (the proposals coming from the guys that her Uncle had forced to dance with her), and was drinking alcohol at a concerning rate. She was wearing her usual clothes, without all of her weaponry and armour (for this was a dignitary meeting after all. They had been advised to let their warfare outfits and objects at the entrance of the palace). And yet, it felt as if she was shining in the dark where she had settled herself. If the female Freedom Fighter could just drop the glass of the wine she had been constantly drinking since she arrived and dance a bit, perhaps Sig would feel a bit more reassured...
"If you'll excuse my expression when I say that 'you asked for it, Sire', I will go invite my little Princess to the dance floor," Keveak smirked as he made a slight bow in front of Spargus' King and turned around to walk towards the lonely Loraella.
Her face was all flushed when she lifted up her head. Her facial expression changed from surprised to confused, to evil looking. For a split-second, her lack of oral response surprised Keveak. Had she...?
"You don't remember that delightful deal you made with me?" she asked, smirking.
The young Prince of the Arborshate Clan sighed.
...False Alarm... Of course, it would be impossible for her to...
...Just...
...something that was...
...impossible...
"I haven't forgotten, Princess," he answered, pulling her up with the hand that he had previously grabbed. "But your uncle would like to see your skills..."
Loraella's skin flushed again (probably due to the fact that he had pulled her a bit too close to his body). "If he wants to see them, he'll have to wait till I get challenged at the arena again. And that's most likely not to happen, since everyone's terrified of Eco Benders..." she mumbled her response.
"Eco Benders?" repeated the young man, feigning surprise. "What are those?" he forced himself to ask.
"Impossible for you not to have noticed," the Freedom Fighter exclaimed, looking down, as if she was ashamed at that moment of being an Eco Bender, something that was impossible for her to be.
She had always been proud of being what she was at birth. For her, it had always been a gift, whereas, for others, it might appear as a burden, a curse...
"Do I look terrified to you?" he asked, more seriously, not waiting for her to explain what he already knew. "Come on, dance with me," he invited her, blowing his words in her ear.
The young man could feel her shiver under his touch. Without her Freedom Fighter mask, behind her serious face, she was so... easily breakable... She was too drunk to refuse, and so, he dragged her on the dance floor, and held her as close to him as possible, stealing glances around to see if anyone was going to try and take her company from him... but she had been right. Even though she was respected and admired, most of the inhabitants of both Haven and Spargus Cities most feared her for her Powers... and the same went for Carella... but both sisters had always been protecting each other and had been protected by their father, Jak...
...Until recently, when he had to go away for an unknown reason...
...and this led to the sisters separating from each other to investigate on their father's departure.
"So... you really are not afraid?" she asked, sheepishly, looking at him with wide-opened, flabbergasted eyes.
What was up with her? Was this the deadly effect of alcohol on her? Did she have multiple personalities or something? This was a softer side of Loraella, the one she had been before...
"I, KEVEAK OF THE ARBORSHATE CLAN, ADMIT MY DEFEAT IN FRONT OF LORAELLA, OF SPARGUS CITY," he declared loudly, kneeling down after their first dance, and kissing the back of her hand. "I am no match for you," he admitted, raising his head and smirking at her.
Sig's face when he heard this announce was the most interesting. He was grinning as if he knew that something like this would happen, and he seemed incredibly proud that Keveak had mentioned that Loraella was from Spargus City, and not from Haven City, where she was originally born in. The usually unnerved veteran really adored his nieces.
Keveak sighed interiorly. Truly, this idolization to his nieces would lose him one day...
The guests' reactions were divided. Most of the girls were envying the Eco Bender's sudden popularity (or the fact that Keveak was paying attention to her more than he had ever been to them). The elders were either wearing an expression that showed that they found this scene sweet (Keveak smiled, knowing that Loraella would find this kind of facial expression disgusting), either they were admiring him for his honesty and clapping at this scene. When the melody started again, everyone seemed to have forgotten about them, and went back to whatever they were doing.
His partner (though she wore this annoyed and bored expression on her face) had no force to even slap him when everyone was looking at her with even more admiration than they had before.
"You are not a bad dancer. Why did you reject all the guys that proposed to you?" he pointed out.
"You saw that?" she asked, as if she were disgusted to remember all the faces that had been asking her to dance.
So even with the alcohol and all, she was still herself...! For a moment, the young man had thought that she had a bad tolerance to the drink, which was indeed quite unsuitable for her.
Loraella shrugged. "You have no pride," was all that she could comment, as they gradually stopped whirling around the dance floor. The young woman just had to change the subject, of course... Nevertheless, Loraella wore a very subtle satisfied and proud face before turning around towards her seat.
However, before she could even reach it, the female Freedom Fighter lost balance... "Loraella, watch out," the young Arborshate Clan member whispered, catching her in the blink of an eye.
No one seemed to have noticed that he was holding her bridal style, and that, instead of hitting him, Loraella had fallen asleep in his arms! The young man sat down, making an annoyed face. She was so drunk that she had fallen asleep after only one dance...! Or was it something else? She did seem very exhausted when she had finally agreed to let him escort her to this floor. Should he wake her up? Would she hit him if she knew that he was holding her so close like this?
"You should bring her to her bedroom, Keveak, and be careful, if she catches a cold in her condition, you might be sorry," warned Sig, chuckling.
"Does she ever, Sire?" he asked, insolently smirking at his superior.
Sig chose not to denote of that detail, remaining mysterious in his answer. "You would be surprised..."
The Leader was standing right next to him now, eyeing every one young man that was a potential threat to his precious cherry of a niece. Did he trust Keveak so much as to give him such a task? What kind of bad thing could happen to him if she fell sick? When he deposited her frail body on the bunk that she had been using these past days, the young lady did not wake up. She was sound asleep...
...somehow, he could not look away from her rosy face.
He could hear her regular breathing.
...what if...
"Staring at a girl while she's asleep is not something a gentleman would do, you know? It suggests that the young man is not thinking about something... very... healthy," said a voice behind him, making him straighten up, all surprised.
At that moment only, he realized that his nose was only few inches away from hers and that he had gotten too close! Did he have 'unhealthy' thoughts just now?
Pff...
Never...
Not him...
Not if it were Loraella...
"S-Sire, I didn't know you were..."
Sig silently put a hand over Loraella's forehead, evaluating the girl's body temperature with his own. "She has a fever," he diagnosed. "And drunk at that," he quickly added, when seeing her wide sleepy smile. "Barricade the doors on your way out," he commanded, before heading for the door himself.
"Why?"
"She'll be out there, unconscious, for about three days. She won't be eating in that time. Her mother told me she was probably going to have a fever right after her arrival at Spargus. Simple, take it as a secondary effect to homesickness, or arriving to a new place with a new climate to accommodate to, it must be very hard for the girl, I guess," added the leader. "She tries as hard as possible not to let it show, too. Or perhaps you could say she's in total denial as well. What a strong kid," he commented, rather proudly. "She takes after her Uncle, no doubt."
"Why barricade the door, Sire?" he repeated.
The Spargus Leader grinned, mysteriously. "If you stay there, you'll see for yourself. But just don't tell Loraella later that I didn't warn you," he added, and with that, the King of Spargus City left them alone, apparently trusting the young man's behaviour more than he would trust the other young men's.
In a way, Sig was right; the Prince of Arborshate could not (would never allow himself to, at least) sink as low as to fall or even think of unhealthy thoughts about a girl such as the female Freedom Fighter... But what was going to happen now, was it so dangerous that even the Leader feared for them? Keveak looked at Loraella's angelic sleeping face, and the room felt warmer.
No doubt, there was going to be a sandstorm outside, in the Wastelands, or the room wouldn't be as heated as this. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, trying to decide whether he should stay here, and barricade himself in this room, with the Eco Bender, or if he should leave her alone, and barricade the bedroom.
One question, nevertheless, remained stuck in his head.
...Had she changed that much...?
When he opened his eyes, Keveak, heir of the Arborshate Clan, had already decided.
CLIFFHANGER!!! What happened to Loraella exactly? Is it really 'homesickness', as Sig says, or is it something else? Did she catch some kind of weird disease from the Hunt they made not so long ago? What is Keveak going to do?
Please people, don't think anything too naughty behind this last line, mwhahaha, I am so evil to end it with a cliffhanger. Reminder: Please comment and tell us what you think about it (what's going to happen and stuff like that, you know!).
We both hope you enjoyed it, and hope to see you next chapter! ^^