A Debt I Didn't Ask For

I woke up in a room with a white ceiling. The air was clean and smelled of faint medicinal herbs. I felt the soft texture of a mattress beneath my back.

 

Ahh I lived.

 

 I stayed still for a moment just staring at the ceiling. It was the second time now.

 

Sebastian was sitting next to me. He looked older than he had a week ago. His eyes were bloodshot and his suit was slightly wrinkled.

 

I turned my head slowly. The movement was stiff but the sharp agony I expected was absent. Sebastian noticed I was conscious and he nearly knocked his chair over as he stood up.

 

"Master Julius," he breathed. His voice was thick with emotion. "Thank the gods. I cannot describe the state of mind Lucas and I have been in since the incident on the mountain. We thought the worst had happened. I have lived my life to serve your family and the thought of failing your father by losing you was a burden I could not bear."

 

He went on for a few minutes about the worry and the fear of the search party. I listened to his rambling because it was a grounding sound. It reminded me that I was truly back in the world of the living.

 

"How long was I out?" I asked. My voice was hoarse and dry.

 

"Five days," Sebastian replied. He poured a glass of water and handed it to me with a steady hand.

 

I took a sip and looked around the room. The architecture was different from the Grand Duchy or the imperial style I remembered. The walls were decorated with intricate geometric patterns and the windows were large and arched.

 

"This doesn't seem like the Everfrost mountains," I said. "Where are we?"

 

"My apologies I didn't tell you sooner," he said. "We are at Sapientia."

 

Sapientia. The fog in my mind cleared instantly. I finally remembered the voice and the expression Elara had before I passed out. I remembered the golden light and the warmth that had fought back the cold of the necromancer’s curse.

 

"Wait Elara," I said. I tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness hit me. "Where is Elara?"

 

Sebastian’s expression changed. The relief in his eyes was replaced by something more somber and cautious.

 

"Her Highness Elara hasn’t woken up yet," he said. He saw my grip tighten on the sheets and quickly added more. "But don’t worry Master Julius. All her injuries have healed. The healers here are the best in the world. She is just unconscious and she will surely wake up soon just like you did."

 

"She will," I whispered.

 

I leaned back against the pillows. She was alive.

 

"Brief me about what happened while I was passed out," I commanded.

 

Sebastian stood straight and regained his professional composure.

 

He told me that after the knights found me and Elara unconscious in the mountains, we were rushed to the nearest town for medical aid. Thankfully we were almost at the edge of the Everfrost mountain range when the incident occurred. After that, as we weren't far from Sapientia, decision was made to bring us here for the best possible care.

 

He also told me how the knights at the front were not affected much by the avalanche as they reacted quick due to Lucas’s sharp instincts. It was those knights who had circled back and found us.

 

Sebastian was among them. Although Sebastian was now a butler, he was still a former knight. He had volunteered to guard the front from the unnaturally high monster attacks we had faced before the snow fell.

 

I was thankful he did so. If he hadn't stayed at the front he would have been crushed like all the other servants in the servant’s carriage.

 

"Did they find any culprit?" I asked. My eyes narrowed. "Any sign of the woman in the robes?"

 

Sebastian looked confused. He shook his head slowly.

 

"No one was found other than you and Her Highness," he said. "The area was a mess of ice and debris. There were no bodies and no tracks. The case was dismissed by the Imperial Knights as a natural disaster. An unfortunate tragedy caused by the unstable peaks."

 

I knew better. Someone had taken care of all the evidence. The bodies of the vultures and the undead would have turned to dust but the necromancer’s body should have remained. If it was gone it meant the Nameless Order had cleaned up their mess before the rescue party arrived.

 

The door barged open before I could ask more. A young knight with golden blonde hair and several streaks of red hair entered the room.

 

Lucas stormed into the room with his armour clanking. He stopped at the foot of my bed and dropped to his knees so hard the floorboards groaned.

 

"I am extremely sorry my lord," he shouted. "I failed as your guard knight. I allowed you to be separated from the unit and nearly allowed your death. I should be punished with execution for this crime."

 

"Stop being melodramatic Lucas," I said. I rubbed my temples. "It wasn't your fault. No one could have predicted the mountain falling down."

 

He looked up at me with the look of a puppy on his face. He was searching for any sign of hidden anger. I had almost forgotten how Lucas was. He was a brilliant swordsman but his loyalty often bordered on the absurd.

 

We chatted for a bit while he explained how he had personally dug through the snow until his fingernails bled.

 

Eventually the restlessness in my chest became too much. I tried walking. The pain sensation I had felt before passing out was gone. My body felt light.

 

"Take me to where Elara is," I said.

 

Lucas nodded. He and Sebastian helped me into a fresh robe and supported me as I stood. We exited my room and passed through the wide sunlit hallway.

 

I looked outside the windows as we walked. I could see many scholars and mages passing in a hurry. They were carrying stacks of papers and glowing artifacts.

 

Sapientia was a place where wisdom was shared and developed. It was the land of wisdom. Scholars, mages, alchemists, healers, nobles, commoners, all gathered here from every corner of the continent.

 

Whether it was magic or medicinal studies, spirits or curses, you could find the knowledge of any subject here. As long as you proved you were worthy of that knowledge, you would gain it.

 

It was a place full of educational institutions, libraries and research labs. The city worked on the concept of meritocracy.

 

It was a land under the empire’s command on paper but was ruled by no one. It was the place where an archmage lived after all and even the empire could not challenge an archmage without suffering heavy losses.

 

We reached the room where Elara was being treated.

 

It was at the end of a quiet wing and the door was heavily guarded by the royal guards. They crossed their spears as we approached but when they recognized my face, they stepped aside and let me in.

 

I entered the room.

 

It was filled with the soft glow of magical lanterns. Elara was lying unconscious on a bed in the center. She looked small beneath the heavy blankets. Her blonde hair was spread across the pillow like silk. Her maid was beside her. She was also still alive for some reason.

 

I asked the maid if Elara had shown any signs of regaining consciousness. She shook her head sadly.

 

I stood there for a long time and looked at her.

 

"Lucas. Stay outside," I said. I looked at the maid. "You too. Give us some space."

 

They bowed and left the room. The door clicked shut. I was alone with the woman I couldn’t even stand to breathe the same air as just a few weeks prior.

 

I sat beside her on the edge of the bed. I reached out and placed my hand on her cheek. She was still warm. She was still alive.

 

I am sure I was cursed by the necromancer before losing my consciousness. I had felt my heart stop. I had felt the end. And she had somehow saved me.

 

Her expressions and her cries when my vision was fading were too genuine to be a mask. The voice at the end had been full of a desperation that no assassin could fake.

 

But why?

 

Why is she trying to save me if her ultimate goal is to end me? If she wanted me dead, she could have let the curse take me. She could have left me in the snow.

 

"Blessing of the Stars”

 

Those were the last words I heard. I am sure it was some kind of a spell. It was the spell that had saved me.

 

What did that spell do? Is that spell the reason why she is lying unconscious there instead of me?

 

I had many questions but no answers. I looked at her peaceful face.

 

The only thing I could do now was wait for her to wake up.