Edge

Priscilla slowly blinked herself awake as faint chirping of birds came from outside her window. The gentle sunlight bathed the room with a gentle light that made her feel strangely at home.

“Ugh…”

She groaned. Her throat was parched and she could feel a bit heavy around her stomach.

Looking down she noticed the bandages covering her wounds had been replaced and Rionara was nowhere to be found.

“Where did she…”

“Oh, good morning, m’lady Priscilla.”

An unfamiliar voice came from her left. As she turned her head she noticed an oni woman standing with her pouch in her hand.

“Huh? Who are you…?”

“Ah, I think you might not remember me from yesterday.” She placed the knight’s pouch back on the nightstand before turning to her and bowing. “My name is Tomoe. I’m m’lord Ren’s assistant.”

“Oh… the healer from yesterday.”

“Indeed. I came here early to check on you, but since you were sleeping soundly, I didn’t want to wake you up.” She then sat down on the stool beside her bed. “How are you faring? Any pain? Discomfort?”

Priscilla shook her head slowly.

“No, I’m just feeling a bit thirsty.”

Tomoe nodded as she stood up.

“I’ll fetch some water for you.”

As the assistant was about to go out of the doorway a knock came from the other side.

“Pris? It’s me, Rio. Can I come in?”

Tomoe hesitated near the doorway as she looked over her shoulder at the knight—who answered with a nod. The oni unlocked the door and opened it. Behind it was Rionara carrying a basket on her right hand and a longsword wrapped in its belt on the left.

“Ah, Miss Tomoe, I didn’t know you were here.”

“M’lady Jeanne?” She bowed slightly, although she had a raised eyebrow. “Good morning.”

“I uh… good morning. Can I see Pris?”

“You certainly can, but I still advise against bringing in anything from the outside into the room. It may make her recovery take longer.”

“Ah!” Instinctively, Rionara stepped backwards. “S-should I wait outside?”

Tomoe nodded before stepping outside of the room and closing the door behind her.

“I’ll ask m’lord to do the cleaning procedure for you to enter without worrying, just wait here for a moment, m’lady.”

“O-okay.”

Priscilla could hear their voices from behind the door. It made her smile quietly on her bed as she leaned her head back.

‘Divine intervention or no, I’m glad to have these people by my side…’ She glanced at her right hand and then closed her eyes. ‘If not for them, I might have actually died.’

Deep in her memory she started to recall the words of her Queen.

“Priscilla. I want you to investigate your father’s disappearance in the city east of Akrapocalis.”

“Arivaul, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, he said he would return in three week’s time but it has been more than a month without any word from him. I fear something might have happened.”

“Your wish is my command, Your Majesty.”

The knight could almost hear her Queen’s chuckle in her mind.

“I admire your loyalty, Priscilla. But a true knight mustn’t follow orders blindly. Remember your oath for it’ll serve to guide you on the rightful path.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

‘To protect those that cannot protect themselves…’

She opened her eyes to the sunlit room and her chest tightened with resolve. Her body still felt sluggish and her arms were heavy, but her spirit was burning with determination to recover.

Some shuffling could be heard behind the door before it opened. Ren, Tomoe and Rionara came into the room.

The high elf held a small plate with cut pears, Tomoe a glass of water and Ren carried his notebook with his sharpened pencil.

“Good morning, Miss Priscilla.” He spoke before taking his seat on the wooden stool beside her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Good morning. I’m feeling sluggish, but better than yesterday.”

“Any fever? Pain?”

She shook her head before grabbing the glass of water from Tomoe.

“Not at all.”

He started scribbling on the notebook while nodding slightly. Priscilla took a sip of the water and turned to Rionara, who was holding the plate with a faint smile on her face.

“Pris, I’ve brought a fruit for you.”

“Fruit?” The knight asked with a puzzled yet happy expression on her face. “Did you buy it in the city?”

“Yeah.” She grabbed one slice and offered it to her. “Here.”

“Oh, huh… thank you, Ri-” Her voice cracked as she corrected herself. “Jeanne.”

The succulent fruit was crushed between the knight’s teeth and a sweet sour juice trickled on the side of her mouth. She felt revitalized, fruit wasn’t uncommon in the Arcadian capital, but aside from the mandated military meals, it was a luxury snack one could only find from merchants coming to the city.

“Wow…” Priscilla muttered as she licked the side of her lips. “This is really good.”

“It’s good for your health too.” Ren added as he finished writing in his notebook. “Miss Priscilla, while you are out of the danger, I suggest plenty of rest for the foreseeable future until your wounds close up.”

The knight wasn’t exactly thrilled by his tone as she asked.

“How long would that take…?”

“A few weeks at best to months at worst.”

“Months?!” She flinched and instantly regretted it as she flinched from pain. “Argh. With all due respect Sir, I cannot stay tied to a bed like this.”

“I understand your frustration. However, unless you want to become bedridden again for longer, I can’t in good conscience let you walk around town with open wounds.”

“Ugh…” Priscilla averted her gaze. She hesitated for a bit until she turned to him again. “Say, if I had one of those potions, would that solve this problem?”

“Potions? You mean those red vials? Those are fake products some alchemists sell for easy coins.”

“No, no… I mean an actual healing potion.” She weakly pointed to her pouch on the nightstand. “I have one in that pouch.”

Ren’s face went from skepticism to curiosity as he put the notebook aside.

“Tomoe.” He spoke softly. “Close the door and make sure nobody will be able to hear us.”

“Aye m’lord.”

The oni assistant stood up and peered her head out the doorway before closing it. She pressed her back against it and remained there.

“Miss Priscilla.” Ren spoke with a mix of caution and seriousness. “Where did you find that potion?”

The sudden shift in his demeanor left Priscilla on edge.

‘Does he…?’ Her mind was thinking of the reason but the more she thought the less any answer made sense. ‘Does he work for another kingdom…?’

“Um…” Rionara’s voice broke the silence as both the knight and physician looked at her. “Does it matter where she found it?”

To Ren, it was clear that Rionara didn’t know about the significance of that potion. Nobody would. The physician took a deep breath and turned back to the knight.

“What is Queen Leona to you?”

Priscilla tensioned her hand under the sheets as she narrowed her eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

“I want to know where your allegiance lies.” His left hand moved just beyond his coat as if he was reaching for something on his belt. “If what you said is true, you are either a royal knight or a thief.”

‘This man…!’

Priscilla was about to unleash a spell at point blank range, when Rionara let out an outburst that shocked everyone in the room.

“Pris is no thief!” She shouted with conviction. Her fingers turned white against the borders of the wooden plate she held. “She’s a knight that protects good people!”

“Rio!” Priscilla looked at her with widened eyes which made the high elf’s heart shrink. “What are you-!”

“Ah!”

Rionara instantly regretted her words as she lowered her head in shame.

“Ha…” Ren let out a relieved sigh as he moved his left hand back in front of his chest. “So you truly are a royal knight.” The knight looked at him expecting animosity, but instead he seemed at peace. “I thought a thief got their hands on it.”

“Thief?” Priscilla was puzzled at first, but then it hit her. “Wait, so you do know about the potion.”

“My former master made those. It was a gift for the Queen.” He leaned back—relaxing his shoulders. “The mere thought of someone else having stolen it would’ve made me—no, us angry.”

Tomoe hid the dagger she was holding behind her waist belt before returning her hands to the front of her body as if she was a maid waiting for her master’s next orders. Priscilla slowly turned back to Ren with clear surprise in her expression.

“Have you met the Queen before?”

“Ah… well…” He sat back and smiled quietly. “Yeah. We met about ten years ago, when she was still a princess.”

“Oh, I didn’t know…”

He then glanced at Tomoe, who approached the bed and bowed slightly. The physician cleared his throat and motioned to his assistant.

“Let me reintroduce ourselves. This is Tomoe Yasumoto, my bodyguard and assistant.” She bowed politely with both her hands on her thighs. “My name is Ren Yasumoto. Aspiring physician and traveler. We were both heading to Arcadia before your high elf friend came desperately to the guild to find someone to help you.”

Rionara’s shoulders shrunk while she averted her gaze. It was the first time Priscilla raised her voice at her which was enough to make her tremble inside.

“I… see…” Priscilla looked at the high elf and sighed quietly. “I’m sorry, Rio. I… I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

“It’s okay… I panicked and ended up blurting out without thinking.”

“Miss Priscilla was right to have stopped you there.” Ren said, which at first made Rionara’s shoulders shrink even more, but despite his words, he was still smiling. “But, thanks to you, we didn’t needlessly spill blood. So, thank you. Miss Rio or should I call you Miss Jeanne?”

“Ah-!”

“You can call her Jeanne.” Priscilla intervened with a serious tone. “She… she was put into a difficult situation—I’d rather avoid having to explain it.”

Ren nodded once and leaned back—relaxing his shoulders.

“I understand, but as an apology-” His eyes trailed to the high elf. “Could I do a simple checkup on her to see if there is anything wrong?”

The knight glanced at Rionara, who noticed her gaze and shyly looked at Ren and answered with a discreet nod.

The physician smiled softly before standing up.

“High elves aren’t common in these parts of the kingdom.” He grabbed the wooden stool and put it in front of Rionara. “Here, take a seat. This won’t take long.”

The young woman did as instructed and sat down.

“You make it sound like you’ve treated a high elf before.”

Priscilla said quietly to which he responded.

“Yeah, my master taught me a thing or two about them.” He gently held Rionara’s chin before tilting her face towards the open window while closely inspecting her pupils. “How they are more sensitive to magic and their wounds heal slower than us humans.”

Priscilla widened her eyes as she uttered.

“Truly?”

“Yes.” He said curtly while moving away from Rionara’s face as he started to take her pulse. “Hmm… a bit fast paced. High elf anatomy is quite interesting in that regard, despite healing slower naturally—recovery magic is often more potent in them than us. But I have to say-” He walked behind Rionara and placed his right ear against her upper back. “-Miss Jeanne, you are remarkably healthy.”

He stood up and nodded a few times as he motioned to Tomoe to give him his notebook—which upon receiving it, he started to jot down his observations.

“Ah um…” Rionara instinctively drew her own arms closer to her body as she stuttered a bit. “T-thank you, Sir Ren.”

“Just Ren is fine, Miss Jeanne.” He glanced up from his notebook at her and proceeded to ask. “Have you had any headaches or discomfort lately?”

“N-no, not really.”

“Okay, that’s good. Any visions or strange dreams?”

Once she heard the word ‘visions’ her breath caught up against her throat. The mere thought was enough to remind her of the dream with Eleanor’s mother. It left her uneasy.

“I…” She hesitated. Something felt deeply wrong with that dream and yet she couldn’t bring herself to say it. “I only had nightmares before, but not after meeting Pris.”

“I see…” He turned back to his notes and finished writing them. “How long have you been in Arivaul?”

“About a year or so.”

“Okay.” He finished jotting down the information and looked at her with a calm yet serious expression. “Miss Jeanne, listen closely to what I’m about to tell you. High elves do not usually fare well in places that have high concentrations of mana. Due to your sensitivity—it can cause adverse effects like dizziness, hallucinations-” He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed her tilt her head in confusion. “What didn’t you understand?”

Rionara curled her lips as a heat of shame began to come from the bottom of her neck and cover her entire face with a discomforting warmth.

“The… the big words.” She nervously averted her gaze to the plate she still held. “I don’t know what ‘ad-verse’ or ‘hal-luci-nations’ are.”

Ren blinked a few times before letting out a self-deprecating sigh.

“Forgive me. I tend to go too much ‘by the book’.” He cleared his throat before gently explaining it to her. “It means bad things happening to your body or seeing things that aren’t actually there.”

‘Things that aren’t actually there…’

Her thought instantly went back to the field of flowers from her dream. She didn’t know that woman or the person she addressed and yet it felt strangely familiar. As if, she had always known them.

“I… haven’t had them, no.”

“I see. That’s good. It means that the dungeon hasn’t caused any complications.”

That made Priscilla chime in with a worried tone, making everyone in the room turn at her.

“What do you mean by ‘the dungeon hasn’t caused’ anything?”

“I’m sure you’ve felt it.” He closed the notebook and put it in the pocket inside his jacket. “The dungeon is always radiating mana to its surroundings.”

‘So that feeling wasn’t just my imagination.’ Priscilla clenched her teeth. ‘There is something wrong with that place…’

“Yeah.” The knight uttered hesitantly. “I did. But does that mean she’ll suffer from mana overload?”

Rionara questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Mana overload?”

“It’s similar to a tightening feeling in the middle of your chest, m’lady Jeanne.” Tomoe discreetly explained to her as the other two were talking to each other. “Though, it should usually pass it by itself with enough time.”

“Ah…”

“Unlikely.” Ren answered Priscilla while glancing at Rionara. “The dungeon does have large amounts of ambient mana inside of it, but unless she sleeps right outside its entrance, it shouldn’t be a problem since she hasn’t been experiencing any of the oversensitivity of being relatively close to it.”

“I… see…”

“That being said, do make sure to avoid going near it, Miss Jeanne.”

“Mhm.” Rionara nodded timidly. “I will, thank you, Ren.”

“You are welcome.”

“About the potion.” Priscilla spoke with a hurried tone. “Do you think we could use it to fix these wounds?”

The physician tilted his head slightly while gently shaking it as if saying it wasn’t impossible, but at the same time, not a great idea.

“Well… you could, but it’s a waste of a perfectly good potion, Miss Priscilla.” He walked over to the nightstand where her pouch was before pointing to it. “May I?”

She nodded in response.

“Go ahead.”

He picked it up and opened—however, as he inspected the interior, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Miss Priscilla, are you positive you had it in here?”

A terrible chill brewed in the pit of her stomach as she heard those words.

“Yes… why, is it not there?” He carefully showed the opened pouch and inside there were only a few pieces of cloth for makeshift bandages, but the potion itself was nowhere to be found. “Wha… I’ve… I’ve had it there the entire time…!”

The knight instinctively looked at the oni assistant—but as she was about to inquire about it—Tomoe simply shook her head.

“I’ve checked your belongings before, but there were no signs of that potion being anywhere.”

“She would’ve told me otherwise.” Ren spoke as he placed the pouch back on the nightstand. “If someone stole it, we must find the culprit. That potion must not become known to the public.”

“Darn it…” Priscilla cursed quietly as she could feel a sharp discomfort from her stomach. The mere thought of losing something the Queen gave to her was enough to make her fume with rage. “Ren, Tomoe, please, find whoever took it. I-”

“You don’t need to say it.” The physician headed to the door with his assistant in tow. “I will make sure to find whoever did this.”

Priscilla nodded weakly as the two left the room with hurried steps.

The birds chirping outside, the footsteps of people below on the streets, the faint sunlight coming from the window, it all suddenly felt lonely. The knight was given a mission and yet not only was she failing to accomplish so by being bound to a bed, but she also lost an item of untold importance given to her.

‘I’m a failure…’ Priscilla clenched her teeth and hands. ‘How… how did I let this happen…?’

“Um…” Rionara softly raised her voice as she placed the wooden plate with the cut fruit still on it. The sliced pears were already a bit browned. “Pris. About what I blurted out just now-”

The knight looked at her with dull, unfocused eyes as she uttered.

“I’m sorry, Rio. But… I’d like to be alone for a while.”

“Ah… okay…” She stopped for a brief moment as her mind was still catching up to what she had just heard. “I’ll… I’ll go.”

With slow steps, the high elf went past the doorway. As she turned around to close it, she noticed Priscilla wasn’t even looking at her.

She carefully closed the door and picked up the sheathed longsword she had left against the wall. Her pale knuckles whitened as her grip gradually tightened around the scabbard.

A bitter taste formed in her mouth as she made her way downstairs with heavy steps. There, she noticed Ren talking to Karla and Tomoe right behind him with her usual serious expression. Neither the innkeeper nor physician noticed Rionara but the assistant glanced at her from the corner of her eye. After a moment of pause, she decided to walk up to her.

“M’lady Jeanne.” Tomoe approached the moment her foot hit the wooden floor of the hall. “Could I talk to you privately?”

“Huh…?”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

There was a bit of hesitation on Rionara’s part but she eventually nodded.

“Okay.”

Both women headed to a discreet corner of the main hall where no other customers could hear them.

“M’lady, would you mind if I were to call you just as Jeanne?”

“No, feel free to use—my name.”

“Very well. Jeanne, I understand that you are Miss Priscilla’s friend, but have you at any point seen that potion yourself?”

Rionara shook her head.

“I never touched any of her possessions before.”

“I see. Have you seen anyone do it?”

She shook her head again.

“No. Pris was always very careful with her surroundings.”

‘After that first time I stole from her.’

That quiet dark thought plagued her mind but she quickly dismissed it as Tomoe was staring intently at her. The assistant moved her hand, making the high elf flinch, but as opposed to her expectations—Tomoe simply scratched the side of her face.

“I see. Well then, my apologies for taking your time.” She bowed slightly. “I shall take my leave.”

“Ah… alright.”

Upon being left alone, Rionara was once again at a loss.

‘Pris…’ Her chest felt tight. ‘I’m sorry… because of me, you…’

She closed her eyes and swallowed dry. She had an urge to cry, but no tears came out. Eventually, she opened her eyes and noticed the people in the hall continued on as though she weren’t there. Chatter, the clatter of cutlery, the smell of food filling the air, it all felt meaningless.

Rionara’s grip on the scabbard eventually softened as she slowly made her way to the doorway leading outside.