Chapter 49: Just like Shizuo
Quickly raising to his feet Karazam wiped some ashes from the brink of his chainmail. He was dressed the lightest of all knights.
No armor was decorating his body except for the simple chainmail that seemed to serve protection in case of danger.
Izaya couldn't help but smile at the awkward restlessness that drove the young man. Maybe it was the freckles, maybe the innocent expression, but somehow he reminded Izaya of Mika. A less confident and boisterous version of her, that is.
"Are you alright? Should I get Shizuo?" Worry stood proudly in Karazam's eyes at the sight of his sick queen and Izaya couldn't help but feel the corners of his lips rise in mild amusement. "To get fresh air? I doubt he will be able to assist."
The knight didn't seem to agree. A complaint sat at the tip of his tongue but he was wise enough to keep it to himself.
Because Izaya was the queen?
Was he afraid Izaya was going to let him get beheaded for simply speaking of his worries?
Izaya wasn't quite sure.
But for now there were more important matters to be addressed. His balance remained as sturdy as it had upon getting up. His fatigue, not so much.
Seeing how the horses had been bound to a few trees nearby and a fallen one rested right in front of the fireplace he let his body rest upon the trunk.
Moving had indeed not been the best idea. But between the enclosed space of the carriage and the soothing air of freedom outside he would rather choose the latter, even if it meant mild discomfort.
"Spend me a bit of company, will you?" Izaya asked, while adjusting his makeshift coat made of his blanket.
It was a little pathetic. Really.
Izaya was mostly aware of what kind of impression he was giving. Sitting here, weak, probably still paler than any of the knights with barely any breath to back the words he spoke he had to display quite the show.
He couldn't blame Karazam for his worry, nor the nervous glances he cast.
"... yes, of course my lady," he answered with the slightest hint of hesitation.
He was probably afraid of what Shizuo was going to do once he returned and saw his wife out of the carriage.
Not like Izaya was going to let him blame Karazam, but the young knight didn't know him well enough to figure he was going to cover for that situation.
Taking a deep soothing breath Izaya relished in the sensation it brought. The small flame nearby added a certain spice to the fresh air.
It had been raining from what Izaya could tell.
The purest droplets hung from the surrounding trees' leaves and the ground was moist and fresh to the touch.
The tree trunk he had sat down upon was moist as well. But right now Izaya couldn't really care less whether he stained the fabric or not.
Eyes traveled over to Karazam as his eager hands fiddled with a set of herbs. Bringing them down from their hung up position above the flames he carefully set them down before reaching for his water bottle.
Hissed complaints followed from the dying flames as soon as the water extinguished all life left inside the fireplace.
"What are you doing?"
Startled to be addressed so soon again Karazam froze midway in his action of picking up the herbs. Insecure eyes met Izaya's before quickly diverting towards his plants again.
"Shinra gave them to me, but we are running out of supplies. I saw some on the roadside and thought it would be a good idea to prepare them in advance, my queen." Looking at the herbs in questions Izaya suddenly recognized them as the ones Shinra handled down in his basement.
Only faintly a memory of the medic rambling about how Izaya was going to join the knights resurfaced from Izaya's mind and he finally connected the words to his current situation.
Shinra had been the one with the idea to send him off, hadn't he?
"So you were the one who made them?" Picking up one of the freshly dried bundles he twisted the crisp flowers in his could recognize lavender, one of Shinra's most favorite herbs it seemed. The rest, not so much.
"Don't worry, I received strict orders from Shinra and executed them as told," Karazam quickly spoke up, making Izaya blink.
Apparently he had put Karazam quite on the spot without intending to. Nervosity and fear was clearly visible in his eyes.
Was he that afraid to mess up in front of his queen?
Almost made Izaya feel guilty for asking.
"I didn't doubt your accuracy, I was merely surprised," Izaya assured and made an effort to show his best smile.
He had no intention to scare off Shizuo's knights. Most had been polite and respectful of course, but fear was something he didn't want to evoke in another person.
His father had been relying on that emotion too long and too well for Izaya to approve of it.
Opening his lips, only to close them again Karazam hesitated to speak. His hands grasped the surface of his pants as he knelt next to the extinguished flames.
"... that's the least I can do. My skills with the sword are sadly quite lacking," he answered truthfully, with his head hanging low and Izaya felt as though he was facing a mirror.
None that reflected his status of the fake queen, but one that reflected his old self.
His status as the son of the duke. With expectations to fulfill yet never attain due to his health and sheer lack of ability.
Izaya had never been the type to feel pity over his own fate. If anything he had been mad at his lack of power, but he knew his own strengths well enough to know he was worth more than the lacking skill of handling a sword.
Looking at Karazam, missing the brute strength of his fellow knights he could feel a similarity.
"Are you kidding? You are doing important work."
More surprised than anything, Karazam's face lifted off the ground and faced Izaya in a moment of stupor. Taking up another bundle of dried herbs Izaya appreciated their scent before pointing at the plants. "I wouldn't trust Craigh or Shizuo to prepare these accurately, now would you?" Perfectly dried to prevent them from molding or growing anything unwished for, Shinra probably couldn't have done it better. "They would probably just toss the roots and leaves into the fire and wonder whether to pull them out once they catch flames or not."
A quick snort escaped Karazam's lips at the very accurate and arguably bold statement of his queen, and he froze. "Ah-" the smile fell as quick as it had appeared and he quickly bowed his head. What in the world did he think to laugh? "I Apologize-" he started, realizing that his reaction had been nothing but an insult to Shizuo, the queen's husband and his gaze lifted.
But his queen was not mad.
She was smiling.
Gently.
Like a mother watching her children gathering blossoms for a wreath of flowers.
A breeze combed through the landscape, moving her black hair across her nose and she quickly pushed the strands behind her ear as she spoke with the sweetest voice.
"So you can laugh after all."
Gorgeous.
And gentle.
For a second Karazam was quite baffled by the sight in front of him and his mind felt ashamed for even assuming she was going to mean any harm with her words.
She was like a rare jewel of the sea. Glittering in the sunset drowning behind the treetops. Bright and incredibly pure.
The fact that she was sick suddenly felt much heavier and hard than it had so far. He had seen Shizuo's pain of being helpless in the face of her illness. And somehow right now Karazam felt he understood that emotion more than he liked.
"... if I dare ask, how are you feeling today?" he whispered and for a second the queen's expression faltered.
It was only then that he figured that she had probably heard that question all her life, and Karazam decided to never ask again after receiving an answer now.
"Better," she sighed, "Much better."
"That's a relief." A gentle smile was shown by Karazam and somehow Izaya felt awfully comfortable around the incompetent knight.
"Shinra taught you?" He quickly brought along a distraction from the most uncomfortable topic and Karazam's gaze shifted towards the pile of dried herbs.
"It's a bit odd from what I learned at home, but as long as it works I don't care about blasphemy," the young knight shrugged and Izaya blinked.
Right.
Handling herbs like these, trying to create something like medicine at all wasn't exactly a common action to take. Most parts of the land were highly religious and would rather turn to prayers than to odd experiments.
Some might even judge them for being infidels.
Recalling a few bits of conversations here and there Izaya found himself lost in thoughts.
Shizuo didn't seem too fond of the church overall. Same for his knights it seemed.
He couldn't really put a finger on the reason why, but Izaya had a feeling this reluctance to turn to god for help stemmed from the death of Shizuo's mother.
She died.
Of the same illness he was suffering from.
If she had been anything like Izaya, then she had been suffering for a long, long time before it finally ended.
It didn't take a lot for Izaya to imagine Shizuo, at a young age, praying day in and out for her to get better, only to have her die after all.
The event had passed a long time, but somehow suddenly Izaya remembered how badly Shizuo had reacted to him mentioning beliefs and useless prayers upon one of their first meetings.
It was hard.
To believe in something with your whole heart only to be madly disappointed. It made Izaya feel almost guilty for reviving the memory by existing around the king.
Having proceeded with his work Karazam was bundling up the last few pieces of lavender and the like when Izaya sighed.
The fresh air had been nice, but right now he felt like returning to his carriage. Just for a little.
Pushing himself up from the trunk Izaya spoke, "Alright, then tell me once you are done and I-" Izaya didn't really know what had been on his mind. The words formed, and his lips moved, but the second he stood up straight all thoughts suddenly vanished from his mind as he felt a wave of vertigo crash into his body.
Like a ship, having overlooked its course aiming right for a rock spiking forth from the water, Izaya found the ship crashing and his body swaying in a moment of dizziness and fatigue.
A short gasp and Izaya's quick reaction was all that saved him from the face of blatantly falling over face first as he held onto a tree's branch, not too far from himself.
"My lady-" Karazam called, with a yelp finishing the end of his sentence along with a huffed sound and clattering noise.
The dark waves tug and tore at Izaya's body, but gladly they had turned up as quickly as they dispersed. Having had a brimming loud high pitched sound fill his ears Izaya now regained his hearing quicker than expected.
The sound of crickets awakening and horses breathing and moving around in slow steps filled the falling night and the peaceful silence returned.
He was fine.
Hand shaking softly against the rough material of the tree's branch, Izaya gathered his confidence and let go. He stood. Everything was fine. The wave had passed.
Soft sounds of groans filled the air a second later and Izaya turned.
The young knight had risen from his position in order to help- but ceremoniously failed as he had apparently stumbled over his own feet and instead landed face first in the grime that was ashes mixed with water.
His face lifted and his lips grimaced as he wiped some pieces of wet coal off his lips, and somehow Izaya couldn't help but snort.
"You talk about supporting me when you can't even walk straight?"
Embarrassment of unimaginable kind heated Karazam's face as he lowered his gaze into the wet ashes.
He really was good for nothing- nevermind fighting, nevermind being of assistance, he couldn't even get up to support his queen-
A hand appearing in his field of vision broke that string of thoughts as he lifted his head.
"My lady-" Izaya was crouching in front of him. Sweet and kind, with an expression that spoke of no gloating, no mischief or arrogance she offered her palm.
"Come on, get up, laying on your back like a dead bug doesn't suit you."
Surprised and speechless in the finest ways Karazam did as told and grasped her palm. Her hand felt soft, fragile and a bit cold and for some reason it made Karazam feel the need to become stronger. To become more reliable, to be able to protect his queen.
It was an emotion he had last felt when the king chose him to become part of his knights.
Ah.
So that's why.
A soft smile washed away the embarrassment and misplaced fear he had held towards his queen and warmth replaced the cold.
Kururi was like Shizuo.
Like their commander.
Just in a different way.
to be continued~
AHHH the sugaaarrrr, the sweetnessss- imma die one of these days writing these chapters lmao
Didn't think I would ever enjoy writing fluff this much xDDDDD But I guess once in a while I can take a break from torturous plots mwahaha
Next chapter one of my favourite arcs will start xD You can look forwards to lots of laughter, fluff, love and maybe even... flirting?! C: C: C: C: xDD