Chapter 13- A picture of you and me, and royalty

Approaching the entrance of the capital building, we find ourselves making it to the outside. The sky is a musky grey color due to all of the smoke coming from the building. Shortly after our departure, the roof collapses causing the rest of it to crumble. Had Erebus forced me out a minute or two more, we wouldn’t have made it out alive.

Worried citizens begin to surround the building as it collapses. Among the crowd, whispering and questions of confusion can be heard. Guards from the royal palace arrive shortly and block off the perimeter of the area from everyone else. In this moment my heart and mind feel conflicted.

Erebus: “Devilynn?”

Glancing over at Erebus, I begin to realize how exhausted I am. My body feels overwhelmingly heavy, and my hands are shaking profusely.

Erebus: “Devilynn, you don’t look so good. Grab onto me; let’s take you to the infirmary.”

Quickly wrapping my arm around him, Erebus begins to walk the both of us to the infirmary camper nearby. While we are walking, I feel ashamed to be acting so pathetic. My heart is bursting with guilt at leaving Crowriff in the hands of the enemy and at the thought of my wife being Queen Shinkyo.

The stress builds in my stomach and before I know it, I am letting all of my worries loose in the middle of a street.

***
After a long derivative sleep, I find myself awaking to the sound of birds outside my camper bed. Last night, Erebus carried me to the infirmary hall where they told me to get sleep.

I suppose that after everything that happened, I let all of my stress and anxiety get the best of me. Erebus is sitting beside me with a sketch book in one of his hands and a pencil in the other. I quietly try to take a peek, but am quickly spotted by him.

Erebus: “Ah, you’re finally awake.”

Devilynn: “Erebus, how long have you been here?”

Erebus holds the back part of the pencil up to his mouth and ponders in his thoughts for a moment.

Erebus: “Hmm... if I had to say all night?”

Devilynn: “You should have gotten sleep! You didn’t have to be here that long! In fact, you didn’t have to be here at all.”

Erebus: “I wanted to make sure you survived after your bellyache.”

Astonished by his jokes, I look at him with a bewildered gaze. Putting his sketchbook over his mouth, it is easy to see he is silently laughing underneath it. Switching the conversation to a more likeable one, I try to take another peek at his artwork.

Devilynn: “What were you drawing?”

Erebus turns it over to reveal a sketch of my sleeping face.

Erebus: “You.”

With a look of disgust, I can’t begin to think of why he was sketching me while I was sleeping. It’s the type of things you hear in romance novels, not a fantasy one. No offence Erebus, but I'm just not into men. 

Devilynn: “Why in the world would you want to draw me?”

Erebus smiles down at the sketchbook and continued to darken the outlines of his sketch.

Erebus: “If anything were to happen to you, I want to remember what you look like. You know, memory isn’t as good as people say it is…I can hardly remember what I ate last night.”

Amazed at his response, I find myself feeling a little rude at the way I responded to him. What he said is true. Despite thinking of Eri every day, I find myself forgetting the little things. Her voice, her smile, the dimples of her face. If I had a picture or a drawing of her in this world, I would always hold it close to my heart.

As I continue watching him draw, I begin to realize how good he is at everything. He’s a good fighter, a good spokesman, and now a good artist. He’s even got a decent face and a decent personality. I find myself wishing I could be like him more and more. Feeling frustrated, I swing my body over to face away from him.

Erebus: “Are you feeling any better?”

I nod my head in response as I ponder in my thoughts about him. Not noticing that I am looking away from him, Erebus flips a page and begins to sketch something new.

Devilynn: “Hey Erebus, after this war what do you want to do?”

Erebus: “That’s an easy question. I want to go see my lady again.”

Devilynn: “What’s she like?”

I’ve always wondered what kind of women would win over Erebus’ heart. Aside from hearing that he shares the same passion of ass as I do, I don’t know much more.

Erebus: “She’s a lot like you in many ways. Much smarter though.”

Discarding his smug remark, I continue to question him.

Devilynn: “How is she like me?”

Erebus: “She is someone who truly wants to make the world a better place and knows how to. She puts herself in front of others and always puts on a brave face. She also can be stupidly stubborn like you.”

A calming smile crosses Erebus lips as he talks about the mysterious woman; it’s the look of a man in love. I wonder if I ever looked like that when I talked about Eri.

Devilynn: “You must real love her.”

Erebus: “Yeah…she just doesn’t know it yet.”

Devilynn: “Huh?”

Turning my body back over to Erebus, I give off most confuse face I have ever made in both lifetimes. Erebus has never been shy with his feelings; how does this woman not know this.

Erebus: “She’s in love with another man.”

Clenching my fist, I feel secondary heartbreak for Erebus.

Devilynn: “I’m sorry. That must be tough.”

Erebus puts down the sketchbook, opens his pocket watch, and lets out a short chuckle.

Erebus: “I’m use to it…Ah! Look at the time. We need to report to the King immediately.”

Standing from his chair, Erebus makes his way to the camper entrance.

Erebus: “Hurry up and get ready, I’ll be waiting outside.”

Standing upwards, I stretch my body in every which way before putting on my suit of armor. All of the anxiety from losing Crowriff and seeing the queen is still in my mind, but the physical stress on my body has completely washed away.

Taking a step out of the camper, I begin making my way to the King.

***

The Royal Palace.

I’ll never get use to it. Everything is coated in some expensive stone or linen.

Sitting at his throne, the King of Frostala is holding a marble coated cane in his right hand. Twirling the handle back and forth, it is clear he has been waiting for our arrival.

Bending down on our knees, Erebus and I both speak up to him.

Erebus and Devilynn: “Greetings your majesty.”

King Harness: “Please lift your heads up gentlemen.”

As we lift our heads, we are greeted with an unpleasant facial expression. It is clear that he is unhappy with the results of yesterday's event.

King Harness: “I am fortunate that the two of you happened to be in Bomi during yesterdays’ incident. I will reward you accordingly when the war is over.”

Erebus: “Thank you, your majesty.”

Devilynn: “It is our duty your majesty.”

Giving off a perky smile, the King sits further upwards on his navy-blue colored throne.

King Harness: “I heard you were sent to interrogate the prisoner at our confinement camp as well. Did you get any information out of him before he escaped?”

Escaped?

Quickly looking over at Erebus, I can’t fathom how Aron, or rather anyone, would be able to escape such a hellish and desolated place.

Erebus: “We did not, your majesty. Aside from his patriotic nature, he revealed nothing in the short time of our interrogation.”

Glancing over at me, the king looks for affirmation. Unable to add anything to Erebus’ statement, I nod my head in agreement.

King Harness: “I see…what a shame.”

King Harness lets out a quick sigh and then darts his eyes towards mine.

King Harness: “That is all I have to ask. Both of you will depart back to your stations immediately…oh, and if I may add one last thing, should you see any of your men fighting alongside the Kingdom of Robal, remember they are no longer our men, they belong to those pesky rats of Robal.”

With anger in his eyes, the King’s face begins to flourish red.

King Harness: “Now go and perform your duties. Is that clear?”

Erebus and Devilynn: “Yes, sir. Your majesty, sir.”

With a brief goodbye, Erebus and I head out of the Royal Palace and begin packing our things for the travel back.

Unexcitingly, I get lost in my thoughts about the future of the war. The battles we will face, the enemies we need to defeat, Fern, doing tactical planning, and-

Oh no Fern.

Knowing Fern, she will be furious the moment we return without information. Even though we made the right choice in prioritizing the kingdom and it's people, I have no doubt in my mind that she will be upset at the decision we made.

Frustratingly itching my head, the stress and anxiety meets its way back to my stomach once again.

This is going to be a long ride home.