Chapter 10: When everything couldn't get even worse
The next day arrived and Nythenia thudded down the stairs, looking like she hadn't had any sleep last night. Reiylah and Seldryn were having breakfast at the kitchen table. Reiylah gave Nythenia a smile, who seemed to be shuffling tiredly towards the two. "Want some bread with bacon?" She offered Nythenia as she went to sit at the table and rubbed her eyes. Without waiting for response Reiylah prepared another plate with breakfast and slid it over to Nythenia, "Here you go." She said with a smile. Nythenia stared at the food, her chest felt like it was burning with an uncomfortable depression. She didn't have any appetite, but began to eat the food anyway.
Valith shuffled his way along the canals again, the sun's first light shining on the water, causing a reflection. A slight frown stuck to his face. His heart felt heavy, filled with guilt. He thought of ways how she would react when he will tell her. She would never want to talk to me ever again… He thought, going for the worst outcome possible. Slowly he thudded his way around the corner, looking at Nythenia's house. He couldn't tell if it was occupied by the looks of it. He continued to thud onwards to Reiylah's house to check up on Nythenia.
"Is Valith coming?" Nythenia asked to Reiylah, after she finished her breakfast. Reiylah nodded, cleaning the plates "Yes, he is. Not sure when, but today." She said. Silence returned as all that could be heard was the water stream from the tap splashing into the sink. Suddenly, knocking could be heard at the door.. "Speaking of the devil." Reiylah smiled. "I'll go open the door." Seldryn said, as he was pulling himself up off his chair making his way to the door. "Nyth, before you go, you might need this." Reiylah handed over a key to Nythenia. "Thanks, Reiylah." She thanked her and stood up. "Hey Valith." Seldryn said after he opened the door, seeing a rather uncomfortable Valith at the opening. Seldryn patted his shoulder as a welcome to come in.
"I think I'll sell the house…" Nythenia said thoughtfully as she looked at Reiylah. Reiylah gave her an understandable nod. The other two entered the kitchen as Valith glanced at Nythenia with a worried stare. "Take good care of her, Valith." Reiylah said with a serious tone to her voice. Valith gave a secure nod towards Reiylah "Don't worry." He said.
Reiylah guided the two to the door, and waved them goodbye. They set off to Nythenia's house. She felt nervous about it. "I have a shift this evening…" Nythenia said to Valith, trying to make a conversation. "I can keep you company if you like?" Valith offered. Nythenia agreed with a nod. "Say, about this.. baby." Valith said uncomfortably, gazing down to Nythenia. Nythenia returned the gaze and stopped walking. "Are you sure it's.. positive?" He pressed out between his lips with effort and discomfort. "Yes.. There's no way around it." Nythenia said cheerlessly. The conversation died along the way and silence returned once again. Once the house was in sight, Nythenia peered at it searchingly. She fiddled in her bag, pulling out the key ot the house. As she places the key within the keyhole, she was suddenly reminded of the night back from Darkmoon faire, causing her breathing to shake a little bit. "Are you okay?" Valith noticed she froze in fear, cupping her shoulders with his hands. Nythenia snapped out of it, "Y-yes." She opened the door, and peered around. No one seemed to be around, but she noticed the mess.
The two slowly entered the house. Valith inspected the place, also noticing the mess. "I'll go grab my clothes.." She said, heading upstairs. The door is shut. Nythenia takes a deep breath before opening the door. As the door slowly opened with a creek, she noticed no one was there, but the bed was a complete mess. Reluctantly she entered the room, trying to focus on nothing but the closet. Yet, she couldn't ignore the lingerie that was spread over the bed. Nythenia put up a disgusted face with a mix of anxiousness. As fast as she could, she'd grab all the clothes that belonged to her. She recalled that she had a hidden stash of coins within the house, somewhere under the floorboards. Meanwhile Valith was done inspecting the living room and headed up to check on Nythenia. He noticed the disgusting sight of the bed as much as she did, before he looked upon Nythenia who was trying to pull up a floorboard. "Can I help?" He offered as he kneeled down next to her. Nythenia accepted his help, and they both pulled up the floorboard.
"What? This can't be!" She exclaimed in disbelief as she saw the bag of coins was completely gone. "There was a bag of money.. I swear!" She looked twice to make sure. Valith had no idea how to respond. As she confirmed the bag was gone, she got up with her clothes in her arms. She seemed confused and angry, as she walked out of the room. "Do you think Delandr took it?" He asked, following Nythenia. Nythenia shrugged and said that she never told him of it. "Maybe he found out.." He said, trying to find a reason. Nythenia didn't reply and simply walked out of the house, leaving it behind like the mess it was.
The two agreed to bring her clothes over to Reiylah's place, as there's no other place to go. They slowly made their way back and Valith thought it would be a good time now to tell her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped walking. "Nythenia, I need to tell you something.." He hesitated for a moment, but forced himself to deliver the dire news. Nythenia looked up at him, "What is it?" "Look, I'm sorry. I knew Delandr was cheating." Before he could finish telling her, she interrupted his sentence with a confused expression on her face "W-What? You -knew- about the two?" She said in attempt to pull out answers. "Well, the girl he's with, was my wife. Until I found out she was cheating on me." He said, feeling like she should know about it. "But, Nythenia, that's not the only woman." "Please tell me you're joking…" Nythenia interrupted once more. Valith shook his head and said: "That evening when I came to the pub for your boss, Delandr was.. upstairs," He paused for a moment "With another girl." Nythenia looked to the ground as she recalled her memories of that eve. "I payed her to see if he would fall for her, and he did." Valith realised it was the most foolish idea he ever had. "You what?!" She exclaimed, the tone of her voice seemed angry. "I'm sorry. I tried to make him loyal so he would stop, but I just couldn't get him to stop." He apologized, he never felt this sorry before. What was he thinking? "I just wanted Alysa back.." He said from under his breath. Nythenia sighed and gazed into his eyes, which seemed to be filled with regret and guilt. Nythenia was confused, but knows Valith isn't to blame for this. "Let's not think about it.." Nythenia said, letting his confession sink.
Nythenia got out the key to open Reiylah's door, Valith following behind her. The door opened with a creek as they entered the house. As they entered the living room, they quickly came to the conclusion they stumbled in at the wrong time as they saw a couple barely clothed sitting on the couch as they didn't expect someone to stumble in at this time. Nythenia's gaze stuck between the two who pulled up a blanket, not sure how to react. "I'll uhm.. be in the kitchen." Nythenia said, as the atmosphere was so awkward. Valith also chose to keep quite and move to the kitchen. They tried to act like nothing happened, and sat quietly at the kitchen table. Reiylah entered the kitchen, fully clothed. "Uhm, sorry." She tried to apologize "I wasn't expecting you to come back so soon." She excused herself. Nythenia shook her head "All is forgotten." She said, finding it hard to find eye contact at the moment. "Maybe it's better for you to stay with Valith?" Reiylah said, as she thought that would be a cool idea and plonked onto a seat next to Nythenia. "And you two could have some time alone" Reiylah whispered into her ear and winked. Nythenia frowned at her weird comment and shook her head before looking at Valith. "It's not a bad idea." Seldryn said as he shuffled into the room, also fully clothed again. They tried to push away the awkward atmosphere with a conversation. "Well, I guess, it's not too bad of an idea.." Nythenia mumbled. Valith pressed a little smile on his face, he noticed he's growing a little fond of her. But the best part is they won't stumble in on weird moments anymore, they hoped.
Reiylah offered them tea and cookies, the awkward moment was long forgotten and Nythenia forgot for a little while why she was sad and smiled a little bit. After the clock struck half past six, Nythenia got up to make her way to work. "I have to go now, got a shift soon." Nythenia said as she swung her bag over her shoulder. Valith stood up as she did, "I'll be keeping her company." He said. "That's a good gentleman" Reiylah said with a smirky smile. Surprisingly, her comment gave Valith more color to his face.
As the two left the house, it was noticeably quiet. Valith gazed at Nythenia, "Are you mad at me?" He asked. Nythenia sighed quietly and shook her head. Valith sighed in relief, feeling a bit more at ease. "I've thought about it. It's not your fault, Valith." She said, facing forward, "Delandr has fooled me for years, I just wish I realised it. But I was blind of love, ignoring all the obvious hints." She felt so foolish for being so blind. "It's okay, he's no longer fooling you." Valith tried to make her feel better.
As they entered the pub, it was already crowded with customers. But that's just normal at this time of day. Nythenia put on the apron and readied her notes. "Hey Nythenia! How are you? You was absent yesterday. I was quite worried." Fip said as he approached her from the kitchen. Nythenia looked at Fip, showing a pale face filled with sadness and confusion. "Oh, you look terrible. Are you sure you can take this shift?" Fip was rather concerned. Nythenia nodded "I'm fine." She clearly wasn't up to talking about it. Valith sat at the counter, looking around the crowded place. Gimlin was sitting at a table with his friends, like every night. Luckily, Delandr wasn't to be seen. Nythenia sighed and leaned on the counter. "Want a drink?" She offered Valith. He nodded with a smile "Yes please. An ale would do." He said. Nythenia turned her back to the crowd to grab a big mug to fill with ale. Valith inspected the crowd once more to make sure Delandr wasn't around. Just as his eyes shifted to the door, the one he didn't want to come in actually entered through the door. Are you kidding me? Valith thought to himself. His eyes were locked onto Delandr, and observed him from the counter. He walked up to Gimlin and told him something. He couldn't hear what was said through the noise of the crowd, but saw Gimlin nodded his head and continued to chat cheerfully with his friends around the table. Delandr sprinted up the stairs as he looked at the counter, seeing a lifeless Nythenia pouring in a drink. "Hold on a minute, I'll be right back." Valith said, with a burning urge to find out why he was acting so suspicious. Nythenia nodded as she placed a filled mug of ale on the counter and readied her notes to take orders from new customers she saw coming in.
Cautiously Valith walked up the stairs, looking for the damned elf. He looked around every corner and couldn't find him, even the guestrooms seemed unoccupied. But where ever he looked he couldn't find him. Valith was sure he's up to no good. After minutes passed and Valith still couldn't find him, he decided to go back downstairs. He didn't want to make Nythenia worried. He thudded down the stairs and slid back onto his spot. Nythenia was busy walking around the place, handing in orders in kitchen. "Nyth, you're not fooling anyone." Fip said whilst reading the orders. Nythenia looked at him and sighed a little. "Delandr cheated on me." Nythenia decided to break the news to Fip. He stared at Nythenia in disbelief for a moment, "Hell no!" he said, which to Nythenia nodded. "It's true. He did." She said, trying to hide her sadness as much as she could. Fip patted her shoulder with a pitiful face. "I'm here for you, Nyth." Fip said, with nothing else he could think of to tell her. Nythenia pressed a forced smile on her face, leaving the kitchen. "Lass! C'mere!" Gimlin exclaimed as he saw Nythenia walking out of the kitchen. "What shall it be?" Nythenia said as she stood at his table. "An ale would be nice, lass. Oh, and, I was told there's a lot of disturbing noises coming from upstairs. Can ye sort that?" Gimlin said. He wasn't aware the two broke up, so he just went with it. Nythenia nodded as she walked upstairs to sort the disturbance. As she stood in front of the doors, she quickly came to the conclusion all rooms were empty and there was no loud sounds coming from here. As she closed the last door, she felt a sharp pain of something impaling her stomach. Her eyes widened as a reaction to the pain. She began to shake as her eyes shifted down, seeing a dagger pierced and stuck in her stomach. Her eyes then shifted up into the face of Delandr, who had a big smirk on his face. "W.. What?" Her voice shivered. Her vision started to get blurry and all she could hear was the blood streaming through her body. She fell to the ground, unable to move. Nythenia looked up at Delandr, who just calmly watched her lay on the floor. Slowly Delandr turned into a blurry shade to her vision. As she was losing too much blood, she felt herself losing her consciousness. The blurry shade walked away, as that was the last thing she saw. The blood began to soak into the floorboards she was lying on.
Valith took a sip of the content of the ale that Nythenia had served a while ago. He noticed Nythenia wasn't anywhere to be found. He wasn't fond of waiting patiently. But he decided to wait a little while. He looked at the crowd once more, seeing Gimlin happily telling the old jokes around the table. This is taking too long. Way too long. Valith thought, as he stood up he saw Delandr walking down the stairs towards Gimlin with a big dirty smirk stuck to his face. He frowned at the sight of him, feeling something was terribly off. Delandr spoke to Gimlin once more, it looked like he was thanking him. Gimlin, without thinking, just went with it and chugged down the last contents of his ale. Delandr left the pub, he looked so suspicious, Valith didn't trust it at all. He walked up the stairs, looking upon an unconscious Nythenia lying in a puddle of blood. Her face was paler than never before. His eyes widened and a wave of shivers shocked through Valith's body, he couldn't believe his eyes for a second. "NYTHENIA!" He yelled as loud as he could, dropping down to his knees next to her. He check for a pulse, it seemed barely there. The whole pub went quiet after his voice echoed through the pub. Gimlin frowned and walked up the stairs, "Will ye shut it n- Oh bloody 'ell!" He said as he saw Nythenia within Valith's arms. He also noticed the blood gushing out of her stomach. "Can you heal?" Valith said, as he was worried sick. "Aye, but not here." Gimlin opened a door to one of the guestrooms. Valith gently placed her onto the bed. "We need to remove her clothes, lad." He said, pointing at her top soaked with blood. Valith stared at the wound in discomfort, he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to remove her top like that and hesitated. "What ye waitin' fer? Wrip it open!" Gimlin exclaimed, in an impatient tone. He's right, we can't lose time Valith thought, as he took firm grip of her top with both hands, and wripped it apart, so it could be removed. "Good, let me do the work from here." Gimlin said as he hopped on the bed.
Quickly, he placed both his hands upon the wound and applied pressure, closing his eyes. Within moments, a bright light shined down upon him and Nythenia. He harnassed the power, channelling it through his hands, into the wound. Within moments, the wound seemed to be healed. "That's all I can do." Gimlin said, hopping off the bed. Valith looks at Nythenia with a worried expression on his face. "Will she survive?" He asked Gimlin. Gimlin pondered and mumbled a little, "She's in a critical, vulnerable state, I can't tell if she will survive, though. She's lost a lot of blood. If she won't wake up soon, she could be in a coma." He said, with a serious tone to his voice "Who did this to her?" Gimlin then asked him. Valith sighed, "I bet on my life it was Delandr." He said, with an angry tone in his voice. "What, Delandr?!" Gimlin exclaimed in disbelief "But they're a couple!". Valith looked down at the dwarf "Not anymore. She found out he was cheating on him, right after she," Valith fell quiet, starting to connect the dots. "After she what?" Gimlin asked. "She is expecting a baby! He could've harmed it!" Valith said rather nervous, making himself worried sick. "We can't be sure of it now, we need someone to check on it." Gimlin said, feeling bad for Nythenia. "You need to find a druid for her. I'll stay here and make sure she won't pass away." Valith said, as he moved a chair to the side of the bed. Gimlin nodded "I'll be right back!" and he went downstairs. The whole crowd falls silent as they all gaze at the dwarf. "What ye all lookin' at? Continue yer chattin'!" Gimlin said as he swiftly exited the pub. Denerie, mate, we need you! Gimlin said, as he climbed onto his ram that he had stabled outside the pub. With considerable speed the ram sprinted off.
Gimlin hastely knocked on Den's door as loud as he could "DEN! WE NEED YE!" Gimlin yelled. There was no response. "DEN GET YER ARSE OUT!" Gimlin yelled once more. The door swung open and a big human figure stood at the door, "What's all this fuss about?" he said, not pleased with being disturbed at this time of the night. "Den! It's Nythenia!" He exclaimed. Denerie pondered "I don't know a Nythenia… Good night." He was about to close the door, yet Gimlin stopped him "It's about a baby." He said "We need ye." Gimlin sounded nearly like he was begging. Denerie sighed and decided to come along.
Valith was sitting on the chair next to the bed, gazing upon Nythenia. He would keep an eye out for her breathing pattern, making sure it's at a steady pace. He sighed stressfully as he rests his head on his hand palm. His eyes would then shift to her hand, lying beside her body. He'd stare at it for a while, before laying his own hand on top of it, taking a gentle hold of it. He'd whisper something from under his breath, something like "Please don't die.".
Moments later, the door swung open with the same dwarf and a tall unamused man standing behind him. Denerie gazed at the elf lying on the bed, he'd recognise her in a glimpse. He came closer to the elf and layed his hand on her stomach, in attempt to detect any life forms. After a moment, he frowned and leaned in, once more trying to detect life. Denerie stood upright once more, after being unable to detect any form of life within. The two look up at him curiously waiting for the answer. "It didn't survive." Gimlin frowned, he seemed to be a bit disappointed. Valith had a puzzled look on his face, he was sad and happy at the same time it didn't make it. Of course he won't tell anyone he's happy. "If I'm not needed anymore, I'll be heading home then." Denerie said, breaking the silence. "I'll give ye a ride." Gimlin said. "I'll take her to my place so she can rest. I don't think this is a good place for her to stay." Valith said, scooping her up in his arms. They all agreed on the plans, Gimlin also informed Fip of the incident, he wasn't going to forget what a jerk Delandr was, and Gimlin didn't realise. He felt bad for also keeping the cheating secret. He has been a bad friend to Nythenia.
Valith kicked the door open and brought her upstairs into the bedroom. He gently put her down onto the bed and placed the covers over her to keep her warm. She was out like a light. Valith shoved a chair next to the bed, like at the inn. He plonked down into the cosy chair and rested his eyes upon Nythenia. He grabbed her hand once more, he felt like it would help her. As it had been a rough day, Valith couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and dozed off to sleep.