5I'm updating this fanfic to correct a few typos (probably not all of them). I made the ending longer by a couple of sentences as well. There are also some minor vocabulary changes that I hope improve the flow of the writing. Nothing significant in the plot has been altered, so if you've already read this story, don't feel obligated to read the "new" version… unless you haven't left a review yet. In that case you should re-read and review.
(Original intro)
I haven't written any fanfics in a long time, but this one was floating around in my head and I had to let it out.
As Dart looked around the campfire he saw the mournful faces of his companions. Their grieving expressions told of the recent loss of their friend. Fresh tears trickled from Shana's eyes. Dart wondered if he should reach for her hand which lay next to his. He felt a warmth, which had nothing to do with sadness, spread across his face and he looked away quickly.
The faces of the others revealed little. Rose was always enigmatic and Haschel had his back turned to the campfire.
Dart looked toward the ground and sighed.
"What?" he looked quizzically at Shana.
"I asked what you were thinking about."
"Sorry," Dart mumbled "I just..." He turned his gaze to the stars. "I was wondering if I should go after him."
Shana wiped her eyes as she looked around the campsite.
"Maybe you should." She whispered with a tremor in her voice.
Dart slowly walked away from the heat and light of the fire. He was not certain that he really wanted to confront the king. His Majesty had rarely uttered a word since the death of the First Knight. Dart had felt that he and Lavitz had grown close during their short but meaningful relationship, but he wondered if the king would find his presence intrusive.
He paused and listened. Quick, gasping breaths drew him deeper into the wood. Dart made out a pale form kneeling in the darkness. The king's hair appeared to be platinum in the light of the moon. Dart's eyes narrowed as he was reminded of the murderer who had slaughtered his friend only hours earlier.
The king did not look to be in mortal danger. Now that his curiosity had been satisfied, Dart considered turning around. He did not want to share his grief with a stranger and he imagined the king would not want to speak to the man who had stolen his friend. However, Dart knew that he could not allow a member of his group to face his demons alone.
He cleared his throat and approached the small clearing where King Albert knelt by a brook.
"Your Highness..." Dart knew that he lacked the proper words to converse with a king.
King Albert interrupted his verbal stumbling. "I'm sorry."
His statement surprised Dart. Had the king just apologized to him? Dart was tempted to look around himself to be sure that the noble had not spoken to someone else. Instead, he waited for the king to continue.
"Lavitz was your friend as well." King Albert winced and gasped before he attempted to speak again.
"You are hurt?" Dart drew closer and peered at the other man.
"The soldiers of Hellena Prison are not often kind to their captives." The king sighed.
Dart understood why he had sought solitude to treat his injuries. Revealing weakness to a group of strangers was foreign to any warrior.
A small glass jar quietly slipped from King Albert's hand and rolled partially across the distance between the two men. As the king tried to relocate the object, Dart saw that it was a healing potion.
Dart picked up the medicine and stepped forward. "Do you need me to help you?"
"A few of the wounds are hard for me to reach." The king admitted while motioning toward his back. "I would be very thankful if you assisted me."
Dart drew closer. He pushed away the king's waterfall of hair so that he could see where to apply the balm. Dart was mesmerized by the exposed skin of the king's back. The moonlight revealed that Albert's pale flesh was spotted with bruises and welts, a testament of his treatment during captivity. One large, darkly colored contusion covered the right side of his lower back. The worst wound testified of the great loss Albert had suffered. A thick red line marred the flesh from which the Wingly Lloyd had taken a strange white object.
Dart removed his glove and allowed his hand to hover just above an unmarred area of Albert's back. He found himself taking a deep breath before he lightly pressed his skin against the other's. Unsure what to do, his fingertips trailed a path of their own volition. Albert took in a quick gasp of air when Dart touched a particularly painful bruise. Dart found himself trailing over that spot again, this time with the soothing balm. As he looked at the angry wound, he wished that there was more that he could do. Dart carefully placed one of his hands in the cold water of the stream and then brought his now cold flesh back to the large cut on Albert's back. A huge tremor shook through the king's body, but Dart confidently kept the cool contact between them.
When Dart finished his ministrations, King Albert thanked him and carefully replaced his clothing. Dart returned to camp to find the rest of the group sleeping, save Rose who stood away to take first watch. Shortly after Dart eased himself onto his thin blanket, he heard Albert gingerly settle down a few yards away. Dart suspected the king would not sleep well the first night after the death of his friend.
The next morning, as Dart neared the end of his shift, he looked at his sleeping companions and whispered a prayer for each of them. Afterwards, he walked to the spot where the king had spent the night. Albert slept fitfully, the light slumber of the tormented. His hand clenched a corner of the green cape that he lay upon. Between the king's fingers, Dart glimpsed an embroidered silver insignia of Basil's military. The cape had belonged to Lavitz. Dart watched him for a moment longer before returning to a second surveillance shift. The king would need as much rest as he could get before the team traveled back to Seles.
Let me know what you think!
