A/N: If everything goes as planned (when does it ever) I will probably finish this within chapter 53 or 54 + a small epilogue. The end will probably seem a bit rushed but I don't want to drag it out any longer than I already did. This is drama after all and not slice of life , Anyway, we are on the finish line and there will be a few presents on the way, yay. And remember kids, don't go horse riding in the dark, buuh.
We spent a considerable time with the villagers who did their best to be as hospitable as possible. They were glad for every diversion they got; especially during the winter months and such a big group like we were who had been through pretty much already was an event for the whole village. I was not exactly used to being the center of attention and I didn't like it that much but where I was reserved and maybe a little curt, Mathias was open and outgoing and he made more than up for my lack of excitement.
Francis also seemed the attention he, and especially his hair, got and was animatedly talking to a group of three people about what appeared to be recipes for grilled chicken. Right now they were arguing about the use of cinnamon and I silently decided to check every form of chicken Francis served, who knew in the end he put cinnamon in it.
Emil seemed rather bored but that was nothing new and didn't say a thing about how he felt inside. He was immersed in a conversation of his own and as far as I could tell he was content. Arthur had up until then listened to Francis and his three cooking experts but as the cinnamon was brought upo he eagerly joined the conversation, much to Francis' and the other's horror though. Okay, now I understood why Francis didn't allow him in the kitchen, compared to what he was suggesting cinnamon chicken sounded outright delicious.
The day proceeded like this and we were not only fed until we almost burst but also showered with gifts like clothes and other stuff we could need in our journey. As the old man who apparently was the leader said, it was not only as thank you for the stories we shared and the entertainment we provided but more importantly as a showing of gratitude for the warning we had brought. Nothing had happened, but if it had they would have been ready for it, thanks to us. And after the generous meal two of the villagers wheeled out a barrel of fine apple wine and we drank to our newfound friendship.
It was almost too much, the overbearing gratitude, the amount of gifts coming from a group of people who couldn't really have enough for themselves yet they still were ready to share and all the heartfelt caring that we received even though we were only strangers. I was not used to so much acceptance, my family had been shunned for the better part of my life and I had to struggle from early on to gain at least some form of respect.
Mathias was the first who had accepted me with open arms, who had not only welcomed be but also my brother without a doubt in his heart and soon his friends followed. And now these strangers had let us so easily in their heart, as had James and his family. The world was not yet lost when there were still people like that, who saw past appearances and just took others as they were. It was truly heartwarming.
It was early evening when we finally bid farewell, it took a while until everyone had said goodbye to everyone, and then some form of hug war broke out and we weren't allowed to leave until we hadn't had at least hugged everyone twice. I was relieved when I was finally lifted up on Ariadne's back but also a little sad. It was likely that I would never see these people again and somehow I knew I would miss them, even the quartet that had bugged me earlier. They turned out to be very amiable people who just liked to play pranks on people, without actually ever hurting someone of course.
And so we departed once again, packed with many gifts and wishes and the warm feeling in our hearts of being loved and accepted. The sun had already set and the moon only cast so much light but James reassured us that he and the horses knew the way by heart, as long as we were careful nothing should happen.
In hindsight that had been a pretty stupid idea.
Never trust your judgment under the influence of alcohol.
It had been a bad idea not so much because of the alcohol however, the horses were surefooted enough even without their riders full attention, but rather because of the darkness and the weather conditions. It happened about halfway between the village and the inn. Mathias' horse slipped on a patch of ice and stumbled, trying to regain its balance and that was enough for Mathias to lose grip of the reins and fall down. Ariadne shied and I almost followed Mathias to the ground as I tried to calm my horse.
The moment my horse was calm again I slid down from her, almost slipping on the ground in the process too but I caught myself on the saddle and rushed forward to where Mathias laid on the floor. His horse had stopped and was seemingly distressed about the sudden appearance of a human on the ground in front of him.
Mathias' face was pulled into a grimace as he rolled on his side to assess the damage. "Are you alright?" I hurriedly asked as I helped him into an upright position. Arthur was right next to me while James and Francis made sure that our horses didn't wander off. "I don't know." Mathias groaned as he tried to stand but his left leg refused to carry him. "My leg hurts." "Careful," Emil ordered. "It might be broken. It was too dark to see anything but as I carefully felt around the leg I noticed a swelling around the ankle. In any case the leg was hurt and before we knew for sure what was wrong he better not put any weight on it.
Mathias hand clutched in my shirt and he smiled up at me in a weak attempt to soothe my worried expression. "Sorry babe." I pulled him in a tight embrace as I replied: "Don't be sorry you idiot." I was relieved that Mathias was alright aside from a hurt leg, a fall like this could have easily broken his neck. Mathias chuckled weakly and tried again to get up, but Arthur would have none of it. "What kind of lover am I to get hurt like that?" Emil unceremoniously whacked him on the head and rolled his eyes. "You just fell from a horse and probably broke something; there are other things you should be worried about." I was about to reprimand my brother but I stopped myself as I saw the sheepish look on Mathias' face. Emil had a point that couldn't be denied.
I sighed and pushed Mathias down on the ground. "Things like this happen." However unfortunate they were and there was no use in fretting. Still it was rather unfortunate that this happened. "We need to stabilize your leg in any case." Arthur decided and helped me with getting Mathias to lay still. "The ground is cold." The unfortunate complained but there was nothing we could do about it. "I don't think this will work, we don't see enough." Francis commented, he and James had tied the horses to some trees and were now kneeling next to Mathias.
"It might not be broken so maybe it is better when we carry him back to the village? The healer can take a look at him." James had pushed up Mathias' pants and was looking at the leg but aside from the obvious swelling and a reddish color there was nothing much else he could make out in the dark. "But how do we get him there? We can't just seat him on his horse, can we?" Francis wondered and scratched the stubble on his chin in thought.
Some kind of stretcher would be nice, but I guess we will have to do without." Arthur shook his head and frowned. "Don't talk as if I'm not here." Mathias complained and tried to sit up again but my weight on his shoulders kept him down. I leaned down to kiss and comfort him, I knew how it felt to be the injured or sick fifth wheel and I had always hated it to feel so useless. I didn't want to imagine what Berwald must have felt. But I wouldn't allow Mathias to take any risks I would personally make sure that he got home in one piece. It was the least I could do.
"Why don't we just strap him to his saddle?" Emil proposed, causing Francis to clap his hands together in excitement. "That's it, Emil you are magnifique." Francis pulled Emil up with him and went over to where the horses were bound. "Come Emil let us prepare your idea." Emil seemed a bit startled but he helped Francis to prepare the setup.
"When we go back to the village we should at least send someone to the inn to tell the others that we are alright." I pointed out, watching intently as James examined the injury. "We had a few broken bones in my times and I'm fairly sure this one is only sprained." He finally concluded with a pat on Mathias thigh. "You will be fine kid." He rose to his feet and brushed the dirt from his pants. "I think we will be fine when we just return to the inn, I can treat a sprained ankle."
Mathias was already grinning again, albeit his complexion was a bit pale. "I'll be on my feet in no time again." I halfheartedly attempted to roll my eyes but I couldn't help the relieved smile on my face. "Sure, you'll be fine." I said and pecked a kiss on Mathias' forehead.
It would be impossible to heave Mathias on his own horse so we decided to seat him on Faro instead. Still it took our combined efforts and much of sweating and swearing until we got him on the back of the thankfully more than patient horse. We then used a set of spare reins James always carried with him when he was out on horse to tie Mathias to the saddle. It was unlikely that he would fall from his horse, especially since Faro had a very steady trot and was generally very calm. But Mathias couldn't put his left leg in the stirrups, it was simply too dangerous and we agreed that it was better to play it safe. We couldn't put Mathias' foot back in his boots the swelling was too thick already and so we wrapped James' shirt that he generously offered around it to keep it warm.
After a bit of debating we also decided that it would be best if we all went on foot from now on, the moon was bright and high in the sky but it was still rather dark and we didn't want to risk another broken limb. James led Faro and his on horse while the rest of us followed behind with their horses, Emil now leading Mathias' horse, paying more attention than ever to the treacherous ground.
The shock of Mathias' fall had sobered me up, although I didn't drink that much to begin with. The others felt similar, the alcohol induced talking of before had made place for more serious conversations. It was a beautiful night despite the accident, the stars were blinking in the sky like million eyes that looked down on us and in the midst of it hung the moon, an almost round shape as it continuously waxed to its full majesty.
Emil walked next to me; the starlight reflecting in his pales eyes as he idly listened to Arthur's and Francis' conversation behind us. Before they had messed around, throwing jabs at each other and filling the cool air with merry laughter but now they had toned down and were discussing their plans for the next days and how Mathias' injury would affect our journey home. I smiled to myself at the fondness of how they spoke of Mathias, we were friends and there was no doubt that we would all go home together despite the obstacles that popped up in our way.
We were more and more becoming like a family.
Mathias soon grew bored up alone on his horse and tried to coax me to ride with him. I refused but I agreed to walk beside his horse, leaving the reins of Ariadne to Emil who used the opportunity to fall back and walk beside Francis and Arthur who were all too glad to include him in his conversation.
It took us longer like this to finally reach the inn and by the time we arrived, half of the night had already passed. The lights at the inn were dark with the exception of one window through which the soft glow of candle light was cast out into the night. And as soon as we passed into the circle of light the door flung open and Tino rushed out closely followed by Hannah, worry evident on their faces.
"Where have you been? I was so worried." Tino's wide eyes grew even wider as he noticed the straps that bound Mathias to his saddle and the makeshift bandage around his foot. "What happened?" Hannah asked as she spotted the setup a second after Tino. "He fell." James commented and continued on his way to the stables. The horses were tired and deserved some rest. "Get his bed ready and prepare some linen bandages." He ordered before he disappeared inside the stable. Hannah simply nodded and turned around to enter the house; there would be time for questions later. I took pity on Tino's confused expression though and quickly explained what happened to him.
Emil had taken up the task of bringing the other horses into the stable and helping James with grooming them, while Arthur and Francis untied the reins that kept Mathias in place. The aforementioned was rather disgruntled by his current uselessness but he tried his best to be of as much help as possible. Berwald had come to see what the ruckus was all about but every offer of help from him was turned down. He sighed and for a moment both Berwald and Mathias seemed equally disappointed.
Once on the ground Mathias slung his arms around Arthur and Francis' shoulders and let them help him inside the house. James came out of the stables and followed them inside. I wanted to follow too and be by Mathias' side when he was treated but I figured that Emil could definitely use some help with the horses, besides Faro was still standing outside, seemingly asleep on the spot. "Let's go tend to the horses." I suggested to Tino as I took up the reins. "Berwald look after Mathias for me okay?" I called and pulled the unwilling horse in the direction of the stables. Apparently Faro deemed the prospect on sleeping outside with bridle and saddle still on more desirable than having to sleep in his box in close proximity of his sister that sure was going to eat his oat again.
But with help from Tino we managed to coax the horse into the stable and his box. Emil had already distributed the horses into their respective boxes and was in the middle of unsaddling the first. The stable boys were all asleep already and so it was left to us to take care of the horses. Tino left to tend to another horse while I took care of Faro. We worked in silence, rubbing the horses dry after we freed them and then leaving each of them a generous amount of oat and water. Exhaustion was slowly settling in and I found myself yawning every now and then. The calm and warm atmosphere of the stable did the rest to lull my mind into a state of half sleep.
Tino closed the last door with a rather loud bang and startled me as I had been on the verge of falling asleep right where I stood. Suddenly I could understand why Faro had been so unwilling, I was almost too tired to move and I wondered if I could get Tino and Emil to carry me.
The cold night air outside was like a shock and woke me up temporarily. We closed the stable doors after making sure that everything was in order. After saying good night to the others I hurried upstairs to see after Mathias, only to find him asleep on the bed, the sheets astray and the covers half on the floor as he presumably had kicked them off. His foot was wrapped in a tight bandage and seemed okay for now. I reminded myself to properly thank James tomorrow, for taking care of Mathias, and Hannah too for doing my work so that I could go out on this trip.
I carefully closed the door and quickly undressed before I slipped under the covers that I had gathered from the floor. Mathias hummed and moved around in his sleep until he found the new source of warmth that had invaded the bed and slung his arms around me. I rested my head on Mathias shoulder after I had kissed him on the forehead. "Good night you big idiot." I whispered with a fond smile.
"I'm no idiot." Mathias mumbled, eyes still closed as he edged closer. Okay so he was not asleep but whatever. "Love you babe." I almost didn't catch the last one because it was almost inaudibly spoken into my hair but I pieced it together with a bit of thinking. "I love you too." I only got a soft hum as answer and then the room was silent once more. I fell asleep only moments after Mathias, safely tugged in his arms, a soft smile in my lips.
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