Precious
See disclaimer in 01
"It's so goddamn hot," Milanor moaned, resting his head on his knees. "This sucks."
Yggdra said nothing, but even though they were finally in the shade, she was inclined to agree. She wished mournfully that she had a different outfit to change into, or that there were at least some part of her heavy dress she could remove without affording an impression of impropriety. As it was, all she could do was try to pull her hair up off the back of her neck so it wouldn't stick.
"Perhaps it would be best to start out for the city of Ranquet in the evening, and travel through the night," Mistel suggested faintly. "I don't know if our men can stand another few days of this, Princess. At the very least, Roswell can't."
Yggdra nodded. "Yes—that does seem as though it would be wise," she managed. Her voice sounded distant and tinny in the heavy, choking humidity.
A clammy hand rested weakly on hers; Yggdra turned to glance down at the cot she sat beside, meeting Roswell's fevered gaze.
"I'm sorry," he got out between labored breaths. "I'm—just slowing everyone down again…"
"You've got that right," Rosary said sourly from the other side of the room as she shrugged out of her long white coat and threw it on the floor next to her chair.
"Rosary," everyone else hissed in tones that ranged from indignant to appalled to annoyed.
"I'm just saying," she retorted defensively.
Yggdra turned her back on the witch and lifted Roswell's hand to brush a light kiss over his knuckles. The gesture came to her without thought; she remembered her mother doing the same with her during her childhood sicknesses. "Don't listen to her," she soothed. "We all need a rest, so it's not a bother. We should have started traveling at night in the first place, and saved you all this trouble. Just be still and get your rest, now."
The heat had been taking its toll on her army ever since they'd first ventured into the vast deserts of Nyllard, but the fight with Dort's bandits out under the baking sun had just proved to be too much. As they had advanced down the road to the town of Sornetta, Roswell—who was unquestionably suffering the worst from the heat—had collapsed. Flone had rushed to examine him, and had informed Yggdra and the others that Roswell was suffering from heatstroke. Alarmed, the army had taken the last few miles to Sornetta at a sprint, which had unfortunately utterly exhausted all of them.
Still, they'd made it, and now Yggdra and most of her commanders sat or lay around the room as Flone tended to Roswell. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was starting to set, but it still felt far too hot to do anything else.
With a little groan, Yggdra leaned back in her chair and watched Flone remove her glowing hands from Roswell's, dip a cloth in the bucket of water at the foot of his cot, and lay it out over his forehead. His eyelids fluttered, but other than that he didn't react. His color was starting to come down, though, and that was a great relief. Yggdra had been through Nyllard a few times before when her parents had done ceremonies in the religious districts of Lombardia, and she knew what this kind of heat could do to people.
Poor Roswell, she thought sadly, squeezing his hand once before letting it rest on the side of the cot. He tries so hard, and yet all these things seem to keep happening only to him… I'm sure that if we continue to press on like this, the others will begin to suffer, as well.
Furtively, Yggdra snuck a glance towards the other end of the room, where Milanor's friend Kylier lay stretched out on her back along the rug, lazily fanning herself with a loose sheet of parchment. When Ms. Kylier decided to come with us, I knew this might be my only chance to make a good impression, and start over from what happened at the Capital… what must she think of me? Only the worst kinds of commanders allow these things to happen to their men…
It was a new experience for Yggdra, being disliked so intensely by anyone she wanted to have a good relationship with. She wanted to mend their fences, but had no idea where to start and was beginning to have the feeling that they were beyond repair.
But—for Milanor's sake, she didn't want this awful awkwardness to continue. It had to be hard for him, being torn between two friends and their conflict like this.
If only there was some way to get past all this awful tension—but a way to do that, like almost everything else lately, seemed to keep slipping right through Yggdra's fingers.
And now Roswell was like this, and she'd been told by the townspeople that she could expect many more encounters with bandits on her way to Lombardia. Why did this have to happen now? Even as she'd mustered those forces she could spare, Yggdra had always thought that it would be her coronation that would be difficult, and only for her—not the journey towards it.
I… don't want these people to bleed for me any more than they already have, Yggdra thought miserably, watching as Roswell's chest rose and fell rapidly beneath the thin white kimono the locals had given him to wear. But I don't know what I'm supposed to do to stop all of this… it's like trying to hold a breaking dam together with just my own two hands…
"Hi, everyone!" a cheerful voice trumpeted all too energetically from the doorway.
"Ho boy," Yggdra heard Milanor grumble, and she looked up to see Pamela striking a silly-looking pose in the doorway.
"How can you be so peppy in this heat?" Rosary demanded, glowering at Pamela.
In response, the woodland witch poked her tongue out. "'Cause I'm not a stick-in-the-mud old granny, that's why! Come on, everybody! Why are you looking so gloomy? It's not all just 'cause it's hot, is it?"
"Well, it… is a little overwhelming," Yggdra said tiredly, barely able to expend any effort to keep the peace.
Flone raised her eyebrows mildly. "If you're going to be in here, you'll have to be quiet, Pamela," she said in a low and patient tone. "If he can't stay relaxed, Roswell won't be able to travel by nightfall."
The young witch shrugged, then beamed. "Aaaaanyway, if the heat's such a big problem, then Pamela's got the answer for it!"
Kylier raised herself up on her elbows and gave Pamela a slightly jaundiced stare. "Yeah, and what's that supposed to be?"
"This!" Pamela waved her hands, and a wooden bucket floated into the room from behind her, emptying its contents over Kylier's head.
From the griffon rider's shriek, the water had been very cold indeed, and there was nothing short of bloody murder in her eyes as she leaped up and screeched, "I'm gonna kill you for this, you stupid Pamela!"
Pamela fled, giggling madly; swearing vibrantly, Kylier gave chase.
With a little groan—could things possibly get any worse today?—Yggdra heaved herself up, gathered her stifling skirts, and managed to trot after them.
God, how had it managed to get even hotter out here even as the sun formed a scarlet hemisphere on the horizon? Panting and wondering if she would pitch face-first into the sands the way Roswell had if she stayed out here much longer, Yggdra picked up her pace as she drew closer to Pamela and Kylier. The two girls were wildly circling the town fountain, Pamela still laughing and Kylier still spitting obscenities.
"Please, you two…!" Yggdra called as she drew closer. "You're only going to wear yourselves out more if you keep…"
"I'm gonna kill you, you stupid—!" Kylier yelled as Pamela zipped past Yggdra. Moaning, Yggdra reached out and grabbed hold of Kylier's upper arm, restraining her.
"This is no place for…" she began, but Kylier ignored her, tugging viciously for freedom.
"Lemme go, I'm gonna disembowel that stupid…!"
"Please stop," Yggdra begged. "You'll only make it worse and then pass out yourself; Milanor is having a hard enough time of this without having to worry about…!"
Kylier's cheeks darkened, and she whirled on Yggdra, her pale eyes snapping. "Oh, and what would you know about what Milanor—?"
"You guys are no fun," piped Pamela, her voice almost right in Yggdra's ear. Yggdra and Kylier both jumped back, and Pamela reached out to give them a little shove that landed them both in the fountain with a riotous splash.
Yggdra spluttered and thrashed and jerked her head above water, shaking with the strain. Her clothes had been heavy enough when they were dry, and now that they were soaked through, they were at least ten or twenty extra pounds along her back and chest.
Kylier was already up and fuming. "Stupid! What was that about?! Are you just freakin' insane, or is there some particular reason you keep—?!"
Pamela, bent nearly double giggling, didn't reply.
Yggdra coughed and struggled vainly for the lip of the fountain, only hauling herself over to it before the overworked muscles in her arms gave out, leaving her to sprawl helplessly over it with another long-suffering moan.
"Cripes." Strong hands seized Yggdra's shoulders and hauled her to her feet, taking roughly half the water in the fountain with her. "Are you okay? I dunno what that stupid kid was thinking…"
"I-I-I-I…" Yggdra coughed again, wobbled, and nearly pitched over from the weight of her sodden clothes.
Kylier's grip tightened, and her brow came down in annoyance. "For that matter, what are you thinking, wearing a dress like this in the desert? If you don't change out of it soon, you're gonna die. C'mon, get outta the fountain before you fall down again and drown this time."
Too weak to do much more than totter and nod, Yggdra let Kylier pull her onto the sparse grass and sand, taking breaths so deep she felt lightheaded. And as the griffon rider brushed and wrung at their clothes with businesslike hands, she saw Pamela give her a thumbs-up and wink.
Yggdra blinked, then felt a sudden wave of gratitude wash over her. She'd spent so much time puzzling over how to solve things herself, and she hadn't even considered asking her comrades for help—yet here one of them had readily handed her an answer.
"Thank you," she said, addressing Kylier but meaning Pamela as well.
"No charge. And you." Kylier turned furious eyes on Pamela, who was still standing there grinning. "I would really—really—like to deal with you right now, but… I'm… going to go get a change of clothes before I get a cold or something stupid. And I need to make sure the heat's not a problem for Al. Come anywhere the stables and I will kill you." With that, she turned on a huff and stomped off, leaving a trail of drips and patches of water along the parched earth.
Yggdra stood still, dripping and wobbling and watching, until Kylier was out of hearing range, then turned to Pamela and nodded. "Thank you…"
"No biggie, Princess!" Pamela replied enthusiastically. "This stuff's like the heat—just don't let it get to you!" She paused, then giggled again. "Though, you should probably change into something lighter, really. You can borrow some of Pamela's clothes if you haven't got any!"
At this, Yggdra couldn't help but giggle a little herself. "I-I don't think they'd fit me, but thank you anyway…"
"Then just take that big heavy top dress-thing off, and we can go shopping!" Pamela exclaimed, flinging her arms wide with glee. "We've got time. Come on, let's go!"
For a moment, Yggdra wanted to protest the absurdity of the idea. They were preparing for battle, travel, and all-out war; this was no time to spend money on superfluous things like clothes.
Still, she looked at Pamela's brightly shining expression and decided better of it. She owed the girl for finding out how to end the day with Kylier on a cooperative note, and her formal attire was far too hot to be practical in a place like this.
"…Alright," she said at length. "I'll just… find something a little lighter to wear and we can go pick one or two things out."
"Yaaay!" Pamela actually jumped up and down and punched the air. "This is gonna be fun!"
Yggdra couldn't help but smile. Everyone, it seemed, was doing what they could for her… in their own way.
:owari:
