Ridley could clearly see a second face, just for a flash of a second. The image was lingering in her mind annoyingly, but after it had blurred out, it only continued to get worse the harder she thought about it.
"Lady Ridley?"
The maid was staring down at her, patting her forehead with a rag. "You've still got a bit of a fever. Are you sure you're all right to be up?"
"I'm fine," she insisted. More maids were in the room, preparing a new set of armor. Ridley looked at it for a long moment. It was the armor of a knight captain—why was it being prepared for her? "Who's armor is that?"
"It's yours, my lady," the maid replied. She reached for a paper resting on the table, and held it out to Ridley. Ridley took it and looked at it, wiping the weariness from her eyes. It read in neat script,
Lady Ridley Silverlake,
Due to several violations of the Royal Radiata Knights Charter, the Rose Cochon brigade shall be disbanded. You are hereby promoted to Captain of the newly-formed Argent Faucon brigade, which shall be compromised of existing knights. By order of Salute Larks, Commander-in-Chief.
Ridley's eyes widened. She thought on her brigade—there it was again. A blur, standing beside Ganz. It was a silhouette, almost…so close to being visible. Ridley focused so hard on it, she thought her head might spin off. She couldn't make it out.
"My lady, you seem ill," the maid said worriedly. "Perhaps you should lie back down."
"No, I'm fine!" Ridley exclaimed. "Where is my father?"
"He is in his chambers, I believe." The maid held up her hands to stop Ridley when she stood and tried to head for the infirmary's door. "Wait, Lady Ridley! If you are well enough, then you should change into your captain's armor. You are no longer a trainee."
Ridley looked down at herself. She was still wearing the trainee's armor.
"We will help you right away," the maid said, and the others walked over with the armor. Ridley watched them for a moment, and then sighed. She removed her gauntlets and boots, then pulled off her thick tunic. She continued to remove all the pieces of the trainee armor, while the maids approached with the new pieces as soon as she was exposed. Piece by piece, she began to put on her new armor, starting with the tights—then the dress. The maids quietly helped her with the armor; the gauntlets and breastplate. While they worked to secure everything, Ridley's mind was wandering, trying hopelessly once again to focus on the missing face in her memories.
And where was Ganz now? She hoped he was still in the castle.
The maid buttoned her collar and cape, and everything was finished. Ridley have an absent-minded nod to the maids, who bowed.
"My lady, are you sure you're well enough to be up?" the maid insisted just as Ridley was about to go toward the door. "You sustained a horrible head injury. The elf man healed you, but I'm not sure if you should be up and about just yet."
"I'm fine," Ridley persisted. She finally went past the maid headed for the door. She opened and went out; the hall was empty. With a fuzzy mind, she started around the perimeter of the castle to find the staircases with the intention of going down to the basement to see if the other Rose Cochon members were still lingering.
She found the staircase and started down to the first floor, still trying to recall who was missing in her mind. It looked a bit clearer for a second, but then it was gone before she could register it. She placed her armored hand on her chest, feeling something stirring inside her. It was a strong, warm feeling, but it didn't stick around for her to figure out what it was. It faded in and out, and when the blurry memory cleared for a second, it ignited. But as soon as the clarity was gone, so, too, was the feeling.
She passed several heavy guardsmen on her trip to the single staircase leading to the basement. One of them sounded like he was snoring, but Ridley didn't care enough to stop and wake him up or check and see if he really was asleep on his job. She couldn't fathom how boring—and hot—it must be to stand in a single place indefinitely, unmoving and watching everyone go by with extreme disinterest. She didn't really blame him for falling asleep.
She finally found the staircase, and made her way down into the darker, damper level of the castle. Ridley rather hated anything below the first floor. She'd never had a real reason to go down, but had occasionally wandered there when she was younger. The first floor of the basement wasn't too bad, but she had once gone all the way down to the dungeons in a fit of curiosity. She, as a little girl, had been terrified by one of the men locked in a cell, and had ran back to her father screaming and crying. Jasne had the dungeon watchman fired and banished from the castle in a rage.
Thinking of Jasne, her father, suddenly ignited a fresh anger in her—borderline hatred. She knew the disbanding of the Rose Cochon was his doing. Of course, she knew he'd deny it and try to pass it off onto Lord Larks, but she wasn't going to be fooled.
She went to the trainee room, throwing the door open. Leonard was sitting on a stool, hunched over some papers he didn't look too interested in.
"Jack!" Ridley exclaimed on impulse, looking around the room but seeing no one other than Leonard, who looked up at her with a look of confusion. "Leonard, where's Jack?"
"Lady Ridley!" he said smiling. "You're back on your feet!"
"I asked you where Jack was!" she cried.
But Leonard just looked confused again. "Who's Jack? I don't know any Jack…"
Ridley stared for a moment. "What?"
"There's no one named Jack here…"
"What…what are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? What are you talking about?" Leonard demanded. "Lady Ridley, I don't think you should be out of bed. Let me walk you back to the infirmary."
"No, there was a Jack here!" Ridley practically yelled at Leonard, who stood, looking concerned.
"There's no Jack in the castle," Leonard said. "I don't know any Jack in the entire city. Except maybe the Vancoor Chief…I heard someone say a while back that was his first name."
"Vancoor Chief?" Ridley asked. "His name is Jack. Where is he?"
"Uh…not here," Leonard said, glancing around at the messy trainee's room. "Why would you think he's here?"
"I…I don't know." She rubbed her head. "But what happened to him? Do you know? He was there when the orcs attacked."
"Uh…I don't know for sure. Rumor is he was kidnapped by the elves or something."
"What?!" she cried.
Leonard looked panicked and held up his arms. "Whoa, whoa! It's just a rumor! I don't know exactly what happened. You'd have to ask Ganz, or Lord Cross maybe. They're the only others who were there. But Ganz left the castle last night after the brigade was disbanded. Please, Lady Ridley, let me walk you back to the infirmary."
Ridley groaned and left the room, slamming the door behind her before Leonard could follow. To make sure he didn't catch her if he was following, she broke into a run back for the hallway door, to return back upstairs. She was headed straight up to the fourth floor to see her scum of a father next—maybe if she got lucky, Cross would be wandering around, also.
She stormed past all of the patrolling guards and a few children who looked at her in shock, but she went quickly to her father's door on the fourth floor without stopping. Without knocking, she opened it and went inside. Jasne was over to the side, fussing with things on one of his shelves.
"Father!" she said, grabbing his attention.
He turned quickly. "Ridley? What's wrong? What are you so upset?"
She was speaking on impulse again. "Why did you have the brigade disbanded? Why did you have those two fired!?"
Jasne stared in confusion for a moment, before lowering his head. "What are you talking about? The knights are Lord Lark's responsibility. And I don't know of any second person being fired. The only one who should have been fired was Sir Ganz."
Ridley was flustered for a moment. She'd did it again—put Jack into the picture by impulse. Why did she do that? "Who are you trying to please? Your daughter, or yourself?" she demanded.
"But, my sweet, now you're captain of your own brigade, with the very best knights under your command."
She slammed her fist into the wall angrily. "I never asked for that! It's not what I wanted!"
She was suddenly struck by a nauseous dizzy spell. She leaned over, holding her head. Jasne rushed over in a panic. "Ridley! What's wrong, Ridley?"
She backed away. "Nothing, I'm fine. I'm just…feeling a little dizzy," she said, turning away from her father and going to the door. Without waiting for him to say anything or try to follow her and insist she return to the infirmary, she left the room, going back into the hall and closing the door. She tried going down the hallway, but stumbled to the side into the wall and nearly fell. "Jack…?"
She heard someone rushing down the hallway behind her. "Lady Ridley! Are you all right?"
Ridley looked over her shoulder; it was Natalie, Captain of the Violet Chevre, who was running toward her. She held Ridley's arms, helping her stand up straight.
"Lady Ridley, it's only been three days since your injury…you shouldn't be out of bed!" she urged, pulling her along and trying to lead her down the hallway—probably back to the infirmary. "Please, let me help you back to the infirmary."
"No, I'm fine," Ridley said, trying to resist her. But she was still dizzy, and nearly fell again. Natalie was barely able to catch her.
"You're clearly not fine," Natalie snapped. "You shouldn't be up!"
"Fine! But please…take me to my room, not the infirmary." Natalie nodded to her, and they started down the hallway toward the doors. "Natalie, can I ask you something?"
"Yes, Lady Ridley?"
"Was…Ganz the only other knight in my brigade?"
Natalie looked at her worriedly. "Yes. Why?"
"Are you sure there wasn't another?"
"Yes. It was just you and Ganz."
"But…there was someone else. I can almost see him…but his face is blurry. I can't remember him."
Natalie sighed. "Lady Ridley, you're still suffering the effects of your wound. Maybe the orc's strike to your head has messed up your memory."
"What about…Jack? When was Jack ever here?"
"Who's Jack? There's no one named Jack in the castle…or in all of Radiata, I don't think. It's not that big of a city."
"No, there was a Jack!" she cried, shoving Natalie away. She stumbled back against the wall, and Natalie reached out but she swatted her hands away. "He was here! More than once!"
"Who is Jack?"
"The Vancoor Chief," Ridley said. "Jack Dragonheart."
"Oh?" Natalie scratched her head. "I didn't know his name was Jack. I've only ever heard him called Dragonheart. But…he's not here. He's only been here once in a long time, and that was a few days ago."
"No…he's been here before! He was…wasn't he? He lived here."
"No, Lady Ridley. He lives at Theater Vancoor. Why would he have lived here?"
"But he did," she insisted. She thought about the blurry blank space in her memories, and tried to imagine him standing there. It felt right.
And then the silhouette became clear for a long second. She was finally able to see their face; it was indeed a boy, but he looked young, around the same age as her. He had brown hair and eyes, and was wearing the trainee armor. Focused on his face, the warm, fluttery feeling came back to her chest, and she blushed. It was such a beautiful feeling.
It was gone.
Ridley just stood there for a moment dumbfounded, holding her head. That couldn't be Dragonheart. Dragonheart wasn't that young. He was decades old. He'd been around forever.
But imagining him in that place…felt so right.
"If it wasn't Dragonheart, then…" Ridley mumbled. "Who was it?"
"No one!" Natalie cried. "There was no one else! The Rose Cochon was just you and Captain Ganz!"
Ridley felt tears brim over her eyes. She covered her face as she started sobbing.
"Lady Ridley, I'm sorry," Natalie said, walking over to take her arm. "I shouldn't have raised my voice at you. You're not well. Please, you need to rest. Let's keep going."
"Where is Ganz?" Ridley asked.
"He left the castle last night. I'm not sure where he's gone. I can ask around for you, if it would make you feel better."
"Yes, please. I want to talk to him."
Natalie and Ridley went to the staircase and began to head downstairs. They walked together—with Ridley leaning heavily on Natalie—all the way to Ridley's room on the second floor just outside the small tower, where Natalie helped her over to her bed. She sat down, wiping her eyes. She kept thinking about the face she'd finally seen clearly. The young man with brown hair with a cheeky grin, standing next to her. She was terrified she'd forget it.
"Please, lie down. I'll get the doctor," Natalie said, pushing Ridley gently down onto her bed. "Are you uncomfortable in your armor? I can help you take it off."
"No, it's fine," Ridley replied, shaking her head. "I'm fine. Thank you, Natalie."
"Of course. Don't get back out of bed this time, you need to rest. You still haven't recovered. I'll ask around to see if anyone knows where Ganz has gone. Are you sure you're fine here by yourself?"
"Yes, I'm fine!" she insisted, rubbing her forehead.
"Okay, I'll be back soon with the doctor."
Ridley watched Natalie leave the room. It became very silent; she couldn't even hear anything outside the room. No walking, no marching, no kids playing. The only sounds she heard were her own breathing, and a few sobs she choked out as she wiped her eyes again.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Ridley reached over and snatched her stuffed Cheshire cat from the edge of her bed and held it close, just trying to relax. She tried to keep the unknown boy's face in her mind for as long as she could, but just as she feared, it started to fade. It was getting harder to focus on it. In a panic, she jumped up from bed and skipped over to her drawers, pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil. She went back to her bed, sitting on the edge next to her stuffed cat. Carefully but quickly, she started to sketch out the face that was beginning to disappear from her vision.
She was thankful to have had schooling in the arts squeezed in between her lessons in fencing and etiquette. She wasn't the best at sketching, but she was good enough. She drew the details of the boy's face as closely as she could. She looked hard at it, erased and fixed some parts, but she managed to finish it before the memory vanished completely. She dropped the pencil onto her blankets, and lay back down, staring at the drawing. It was one of the best she'd done.
And looking at the face made the warm feeling come back. She felt like she could stare at it forever. She knew this boy. She'd never seen him, but she knew him.
She just didn't know how she knew him.
It was a long while before there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Ridley called. The door opened quietly, and the doctor came in with Natalie following. Ridley's eyes widened when she saw that behind Natalie, Cross was there, as well.
"Cross!" Ridley exclaimed. Cross smiled at her—but it made Ridley's stomach turn. She hated him.
The doctor went to stand beside the bed. "Hello, Lady Ridley. Lady Natalie says that you're having some trouble remembering things, and you were also dizzy. Are you feeling faint?"
"No," she replied, shaking her head. "I was a little dizzy upstairs, but it's gone now."
"And your memory?" He tried to look at her paper, but she held it against her chest so he couldn't see it.
"I…I guess it's a little weird," she admitted. "I remember there being two people in my brigade and not just Captain Ganz. But I can't remember the second one. All I remember is that his name was Jack."
"There was no Jack in your brigade."
"Yes, I know," she snapped, growing irritated.
The doctor sighed. "Well, I think what's best is for you to rest. I'll fetch you some medicine to help you rest. I'll be right back." He bowed his head once to her, again to Natalie and Cross, and then left the room. Ridley looked to Natalie.
"I've brought Lord Cross," she informed her. "He saw what happened to Dragonheart. And I learned from some other knights that apparently, Ganz went to Theater Vancoor after leaving the castle last night. I don't know if he was accepted to their guild, but that's a good place to start. Well, I have to leave. I hope you get better, Lady Ridley."
Natalie bowed and left the room, leaving Ridley alone with Cross, who went to stand beside her bed. "I am glad you're awake, Ridley."
Ridley tried not to frown. "So am I, I suppose."
"Natalie said you wished to ask me about something."
"Yes…at Wind Valley, after I was hit…Dragonheart of Theater Vancoor was there, right? I'm not imagining that?"
"No, he was indeed there. But he was unconscious as well when I arrived."
"He was?" she asked. "What happened to him? Was he hit, too?"
Cross shrugged. "I don't know. I arrived after the orcs were slain."
"Leonard said that there was a rumor around the castle that Dragonheart was kidnapped by elves. Is that true?"
"Indeed," Cross confirmed. "I tried to bring him back with us, but the elf scum insisted he be allowed to take him. He picked up the man and flew off before I could stop him. However, we received word today that he's apparently back at Vancoor. He must have returned sometime within the last few days."
Ridley felt relief wash over her. She honestly doubted Cross' views—she'd met Lord Nogueira herself, and he was kind and gentle. He'd never kidnap Dragonheart. She assumed Cross was just twisting the truth because of his disgustful hatred of anything that wasn't human. "Good…that's good. Thank you, Cross. That's all I wanted to ask you."
He nodded to her, smiling again. He noticed the paper she was clutching to her chest. "What is that you're holding?"
"This?" she asked. "It's…it's just a drawing I did."
"May I see it?"
"No!" she exclaimed. "It's, uh, it's not finished."
Cross chuckled and nodded. "Very well. I await your full recovery." He smiled one last time, and then turned and left the room, leaving Ridley alone once again. She held the drawing back up, looking at the face she'd drawn happily once again.
After a few long moments, Ridley jumped out of bed. She folded the drawing very carefully and wedged it under her belt snugly, and only stopped fussing with it when she was positive it wouldn't fall out. She went to her door and opened it quietly, peeking out into the hallway to make sure there was no one near. Seeing it was clear, she slid out and went to the staircase right beside her door, quickly making her way down. She hoped neither Natalie nor the Doctor had spread the word that she was supposed to be resting.
She went through the halls toward the castle's south gate. She passed a few heavy guardsmen and some knights, none of which tried to stop her. That meant no word had been passed along that she shouldn't be out of bed. They looked at her with surprise and happiness, probably by the fact that she was awake and about. But no one grabbed her or tried to stop her, so she just smiled at them and kept walking.
She reached the castle's south gate and went quickly across it, headed for the open doors where the sunlight was streaming through. She passed through the door, glancing at the heavy guardsmen on either side.
"Lady Ridley?" one asked. She nearly jumped. Don't try to stop her!
"Yes?" she asked, turning to face him.
"You're awake! I'm glad. Where are you going?"
"I'm just going for a little walk. I need some fresh air."
"All right. Have a wonderful walk!"
Ridley smiled genuinely. Nearly all of the heavy guardsmen she'd ever met were kind, considerate, and goofy. And all so sweet.
She went down the hill onto the street, into the Yellow Town. She was headed straight for Theater Vancoor. She passed a few people, who tossed strange looks at her, but she just nodded to them and walked right past them. She was thankful that Vancoor wasn't too far from the castle. She made her away along the path, headed around to the front of the warrior guild. She went up the steps to the door, pulling it open and stepping inside.
Inside, she immediately drew everyone's eye. It was about midday. The lobby was full of people, following their daily routines. As usual, Gareth and Aldo were mumbling to each other through their bucket helmets about what they'd eat for lunch. Alicia was at the desk, talking to an uninterested Thanos about a new mission for her squad. The ever-timid Rolec was skimming around the bulletin board like he always did. Carlos was at the table, slamming his fists on the tabletop, grumbling angrily about a missing contact lens, and how the seat was lopsided.
They all looked at her, and the room fell quiet. She felt a bit uneasy under their stares. Normally, she would have been fine, and not intimidated in the slightest. But it was no lie she wasn't feeling her best. There was still a bit of dizziness lingering, and she had a bit of a headache. She was feeling overall not so good. But she didn't really care.
Everyone's stares were hard. They all honed in on her armor and immediately knew who she was. She was only captained as of the day before, but the warriors in the Vancoor lobby didn't know that. All they knew was that she was a knight captain. But why was she there?
Ridley took a breath, and walked over to Thanos' desk. Alicia took a step to the side to make room for her. Ridley looked down at a cranky-looking Thanos who was glaring up at her.
"Hello," she greeted.
"Can I help you?" he asked, frowning at her.
"I'm looking for someone. Did Ganz Rothschild come here last night?"
"Yeah, he did. He passed the guild's test and joined last night. He's upstairs with his new squad."
"I need to speak to him."
Thanos turned in his seat to glance up at the clock behind the desk. "They should be finished right about now." He stood from his desk and went to the staircase, looking up. "Hey, Ganz! You there?"
Ridley heard a faint reply.
"Someone's here to see you!" Thanos called before turning and returning to the desk. He stared up at Ridley again. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Ridley Silverlake. I was in Ganz's brigade. Um…Has your Chief come back?"
Thanos raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's back. What's it to you?"
"He was hurt defending me from blood orcs. Is he okay?"
"What?" Alicia demanded.
"Well, saying he's okay is a bit far-fetched," Thanos replied. Alicia was looking at her form the side, studying her face with great interest. "He hasn't been himself."
"Is he hurt?"
"Nope, don't think so. He's just acting weird."
"Could I talk to him, too?"
"Normally yes, but actually no," Thanos replied. Ridley waited in awkward silence for him to explain why. "He's sleeping. Like a damn rock! No one's been able to wake him up all day. A few people have tried, but he won't budge. You'll have to come back some other time. He had a real rough time yesterday. I guess he's just sleeping it off."
They looked when Ganz—now free of his knight armor and donning a new set—waddled down the steps. He started toward the desk, and his face lit up when he saw Ridley standing there waiting. "Lady Ridley!" He ran the rest of the way. "What are you doing here? I am so glad to see you. And up on your feet!"
"How else would I get here?" she asked smiling. "You've joined Vancoor?"
"Yes! Although it's quite different from the Royal Knights. I fear I shall take quite a while to get used to it. But I am happy to see you are recovering! You are not in any pain, are you?"
"No."
"I see from your armor that you've been promoted to captain!"
"Yes, of the Argent Faucon. Although it's not what I wanted," she said sadly. "I'm sorry you were fired, captain. It's my fault."
"No, no! It's not your fault. Besides, it's quite all right. I've found a new place here, and everyone who was hurt is healing. Everything is turning out well."
"You mean Dragonheart, also, right?"
"Yes! I spoke with him last night. He seemed quite exhausted, but any injuries he suffered have been healed by the elves, and he is sleeping quite soundly upstairs"—Ganz chuckled—"even heavier than I! I think he will make a full recovery. And you look to be recovering just fine, as well. Everything is great."
Ridley smiled at him. "Hey, captain…" She reached under her belt to pull out her snugly-tucked drawing. She carefully unfolded it, and held it out to him. "Have you ever seen this boy?"
Ganz took it and looked at it, staring hard for a moment. "Why…yes! Last night."
Ridley's heart skipped a few beats. "Really?! Where?"
Ganz held the drawing up for Thanos to see. "Is this not the young man who accompanied me last night?"
"Yep, that's him, all right," Thanos confirmed.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know," Ganz replied, returning her drawing. She folded it back up and returned it to her belt. "He never gave his name. He seemed rather ill, though. I am still quite worried. I hope he made it home all right."
"Does he live in the city?"
"I've never seen him around," Thanos replied. "Last night was the first time I've ever seen the kid."
Ridley sighed, disheartened. Ganz asked, "How did you come across that drawing, Lady Ridley? How do you know who he is?"
"I don't know who he is. I was hoping you did," she said. "Ever since I woke up, I've been having trouble remembering our brigade. Whenever I think of the Rose Cochon, I don't just see you and me; there's a third person there next to me, but I can't see who it is. I can't see their face. But then just for a moment, I saw it. I drew it as fast as I could because I started to forget it. This is who I saw."
Ganz scratched his head. "Uh…I don't know what to tell you, Lady Ridley. There was no second trainee in our brigade. I saw this boy last night, but never before that, and never in the castle…are you sure you should be out of bed? You seem to be recovering nicely, but maybe you haven't recovered enough for this yet."
Ridley let out an irritated sigh. "I'm fine!"
"Well, the orc did strike you right on your head. It was a full blow. You must be having memory issues because of that. I'm sure it will get better." He tapped her arm reassuringly, smiling brightly at her. "I'm not sure how you've come to see the lad's face without meeting him, but he's real. I will watch out for him!"
"I think his name is Jack," Ridley said. Thanos perked up.
"That's the Chief's first name."
Ridley looked at him. "I know, he's told me. It can't possibly be the same person, could it?"
"Fat chance," Thanos spat. "The Chief's old. Too old to be that kid. I'll give it to you, there were some similarities I noticed when I met the kid. But there's no way."
Ridley knew he was right. Dragonheart had been around longer than anyone could remember. She could only imagine him being a shriveled old man beneath his fancy armor. That would at least explain why he was so short for a grown man. She sighed again, defeated. "You're right," she agreed.
"When did the Chief tell you his name? You've never come here before," Alicia said.
"He's been to the castle."
"When?"
Thanos interjected, "He did go there a few days ago, when he was summoned by the Lord Chamberlain."
"That's when he told me." Ridley frowned at the second half of the whole memory. "He was nice, but then out of nowhere, he was rude."
Thanos let out a hearty laugh, and there was some chuckling from the table in the corner of the room. Ridley looked around at everyone in confusion. Thanos, after recovering from his laugh, said, "Yeah! He can get that way sometimes! He has mood swings like a damn woman, I'm telling you. But he's our Chief and no one can replace him. You'll have to let it go because he ain't gonna apologize!"
He laughed again. Ridley couldn't help but smile.
Her good mood dissipated when suddenly she was struck with another dizzy spell. She nearly fell over, grabbing onto the desk. Alicia grabbed her from behind, and Ganz's face went all out of whack with panic. Thanos stared wide-eyed. Ridley held her head, talking a moment to recover.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I got dizzy."
Alicia was still holding her to make sure she didn't fall. Ganz, face plastered with worry, said, "Lady Ridley, you should return to the castle. You need to rest! You're not well, yet."
"Yes, I know."
"I'll walk you back," Alicia said. "I want to talk to you about something. Thanos, don't think our conversation is over. I'm getting that job, and if you give it to the Hecton Squad, you're gonna get it. No offense, Ganz." She smiled sweetly at him.
"None taken, my lady," he replied. "I wish you a fast recovery, Lady Ridley! Please, do come and visit again when you are well. There are things I wish to talk about! But they can wait. And I'm sure Chief Dragonheart would like to see you, as well."
Ridley nodded to him. Alicia led her to the front door, and they went outside, turning left onto the road leading to the castle. Alicia held one of her arms, catching her when she nearly fell again. "Are you all right?" she asked. "You don't seem well. You said you were hit on the head by a blood orc? You shouldn't be out of bed this soon…"
"I know, but I needed to talk to Ganz," Ridley explained. "When I asked the other knights about the boy in my picture, they all said he wasn't real and made it out like I was crazy…"
"Well, now you know he's real," Alicia said, smiling. "My name is Alicia, by the way. I've heard about you, Lady Ridley!"
"You can just call me Ridley."
"Well, I wanted to ask you. You said that our Chief was hurt defending you from blood orcs, right?"
"Well, that's what I heard. I was knocked unconscious, so I didn't see what happened to him. But he did save me. We just didn't know there was a second orc in the woods."
"He's been acting strangely ever since he came back the day after the attack," Alicia said. "Yesterday, he stood in his room staring at the castle in a daze. He wouldn't talk to anyone or even acknowledge we were there! It was quite scary. We were all so worried about him. But our Deputy Chief Gerald and Ganz went upstairs last night, and they said he was awake. Sounding very weak and tired, but awake! And I guess sometime last night, he went out like a light. He's been sleeping all day."
"Well, that's good," Ridley breathed. "I'm glad he's okay."
"We are, too. Do you know the Chief well?" Alicia prodded.
Ridley shook her head. "No. I only met him for the first time a few days ago."
"Oh! It seems like you've known each other a long time. You know, the morning of the orc attack, he ran out of Vancoor in a panic. I figured when we found out that he was in the attack and had been hurt, that was where he was running to that morning. When your captain brought his axe back to the guild, our Deputy nearly attacked him. It was an awful misunderstanding!" She frowned at the memory. "I suppose he really was running to stop the orc attack."
"But how could he have known about it?" Ridley demanded. She had recovered enough from her dizzy spell to walk on her own, and pulled her arm gently from Alicia's to walk beside her. "We had no idea there were orcs in Nowem, so I don't see how he could've. It doesn't make sense."
"It really doesn't," Alicia sighed. "But our Chief never ceases to amaze us. He really is something special."
"Well, I'd hope he would be, for the amount of insane rumors there are about him."
"Yes, there are quite a few, aren't there?"
"You should hear the ladies talk in the castle," Ridley said with a shiver. "They're all in love with him. But all I see when I try to imagine his face is a wrinkly little old man."
Alicia burst out laughing. "A tiny little old man?"
"Well, he's old, isn't he?" Ridley asked. "He's been around for as long as anyone can remember. He must be so old."
"Yes, I guess that's true. I don't think I could ever see him as a frail old man. But you can see part of his face, and he's not wrinkly. And he's quite strong, if you've ever seen him in battle."
"Yes, I watched him kill a blood orc. I've seen it."
They went up the hill to face the castle's south gate. Nina, one of the knights transferred to the new Argent Faucon brigade, was there, frantically talking to one of the heavy guardsmen with a panicked voice. She looked when she noticed the two women approaching, and gasped sharply at recognizing Ridley.
"Captain!" she exclaimed, running over and taking Ridley's arm. "Captain, we've all been so worried! Everyone is looking for you!"
"I wasn't even gone that long," Ridley snapped.
"When the doctor returned to your room to find you gone, everyone panicked! Lord Jasne is on the verge of tears!"
"Yes, I'm sure he is. Let go of me," she demanded, pulling her arm from Nina's grip.
"Please, Captain, you shouldn't be out of bed! You're not well! Please, come with me."
Ridley turned to face Alicia, and offered her a smile. "Thank you for walking with me, Alicia. Please tell Chief Dragonheart that I'm very grateful for him saving my life."
"Of course, Lady Ridley. It was wonderful to meet you. I hope you'll come visit our guild again. Have a nice day!"
"Nina, let go of me!" Ridley said. Nina was trying to grab onto her arm again to lead her into the castle. "I can walk on my own!" She shook her off again as she started into the gate, where she could see her father pacing in the distance, as usual. She took a deep breath and went to face him.
(Back at Vancoor)
Dennis was going up the staircase carefully with an armful of flowers. He was about to turn the corner when Gerald nearly walked into him, headed the opposite direction. He stared at the flowers in Dennis' arm, and chuckled.
"More flowers for Alicia?" he asked. "Some new ones in there, I see."
"No," Dennis replied sheepishly. "These are for the Chief."
Gerald raised an eyebrow. "What does he need flowers for?"
"He seemed to be having a lot of trouble yesterday. The flowers are so he'll get better faster."
"If you say so," Gerald said with a shrug.
"They always make Alicia happy," he said. "They'll help him, too."
Gerald just chuckled, patted Dennis' shoulder, and then went past him. Dennis carried the flowers up the final flight of stairs, headed over to Jack's door. He knocked with his free hand, and then opened the door without waiting for a response. Surely enough, the Chief was still asleep on his desk, his head resting on his folded arms. Dennis carried his flowers over and set them up on the edge of the desk, on the side Jack's head was facing—so when he woke up, that would be what he saw. Dennis tended to them, humming quietly to himself. He fussed with some petals, rearranged some stems, until he was satisfied with it. He turned to look at the Chief curiously, staring down at him. He almost looked dead, were it not for the tiny movement in his shoulders as he breathed.
Dennis leaned over the opposite side of the desk, listening closely. He was definitely breathing. He reached out hesitantly, and shook one of Jack's shoulders. He didn't wake up, so Dennis shook just a bit harder. But Jack was sleeping like a rock, and didn't even stir. Dennis sighed, glancing back to his flowers before turning and headed back for the door. He looked back over his shoulder at Jack one final time, before opening the door and quietly leaving the room.
