“Thank…you,” mumbled Stern as his body went limp. His closed eyelashes quivered, his breathing haggard.
I embraced him. “Wolfe! What do we… What do we do now?” I asked desperately. Stern’s gonna die if we don’t do anything! I didn’t have healing magic. The salamander’s flames were magical in nature and resulted in particularly nasty burns, and Stern’s affinity for metal made him weak to fire in the first place. “No… No! It’s all my fault. I should’ve taken the hit with my affinity for ice.”
“Get a grip, man!” Wolfe yelled so loudly that I felt a shiver run down my spine.
I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying. No, no, no. I don’t wanna live in a world without Stern! I don’t wanna.
Wolfe’s hands sandwiched my cheeks, gazing into my eyes. My face felt numb. “It’s okay. There’s still time.”
Tears started pouring from my eyes. Wolfe’s voice was low, deep, and unwavering. Wolfe is always right, always. When has he been wrong? Never. I’ve always looked up to Wolfe, trusted him like a brother. If he says it’s okay, then it has to be.
“There is?”
“Yes, there is. Now listen closely.” I blinked, letting him know I was. “You’re not injured, that means you can save him. Got it? You’re going to save him.”
“Got it!”
“Our headquarters are closest. We’ll take him there.”
“I’ll put him on my horse.”
“What about his horse?”
“Yuki’s smart, he’ll follow.”
“Yuki? Is that His Highness Sternchen?!” Unease spread through the cavalry ranks.
Wolfe raised his hand. “Message the aid station. Tell them a fire salamander injured His Highness and that he’s metal aligned! We have to save him at all costs!” A messenger sped off. “Keep His Highness cool while you follow me.”
“Roger.” I climbed atop Rain, my beloved black horse, situating Stern in the saddle so he faced me. I wrapped my arms around him, cooling the wound on his back.
Guiding me along the gentlest route available, Wolfe led the way to the Cavalry Brigade’s garrison. There the medical staff had already set up a magically warded tent for Stern, a female healer on standby. The Cavalry Brigade’s newly formed, all-girl squadron guarded the aid station. The idea was to make the physicians, who were mostly women, feel more comfortable.
I glimpsed Stern’s back as I lowered him into the bed and saw that it was blistering and red. “Oh dear…”
Burns stretched across his symmetrical, porcelain-white body from his neck all the way to his waist. Look what I’ve done to a knight’s proud back.
“Please continue cooling the affected area,” the doctor calmly ordered. She cast an anti-fire spell and healing magic, applied burn ointment, and swathed him in bandages. He still hadn’t woken up. I crouched beside him, hugging my legs, waiting for him to open his eyes
“I sent a message out to your squadron,” Wolfe announced as he reentered the tent.
“Thanks.” I couldn’t really think straight.
“A few injured, but everyone made it out alive. Looks like Felzen’s mist did the trick.”
Everyone made it out alive. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Wolfe patted my head. “You used up too much energy. Go get some rest.” His hands were large and calloused, the kind that gripped swords, raised horses, trained dogs.
They’re so warm.
“I’ll rest here.”
“You won’t get any here.”
“How else will I know if he’s still breathing?”
Wolfe heaved a heavy sigh. “If this is about guilt, then drop it already. Think of your pride.”
“We’re here because I’m weak.”
“You’re not weak.”
“I am, and it makes others worry, makes them feel the need to protect me. I want to protect them, not be protected.” I was sad, sad about being a burden. I didn’t want to be one. I didn’t want to be left behind. Knowing that I might never catch up made me feel wretched and lonely.
Wolfe sat down beside me. He pulled a walnut cookie out of his chest pocket and handed it to me. It had a four-leaf-clover-shaped hole in the middle. “Eat.”
“Thanks.”
A nostalgic taste filled my mouth, that of Wolfe’s mother’s homemade cookies. Sweet with a slightly salty aftertaste. The walnuts inside had definitely come from Eisberk’s forest. I used to eat her cookies all the time when I was little.
“Do you worry for him because he’s weak? Do you feel the need to protect him because he’s weak?” Wolfe asked.
“Sorry?”
“Do you worry for His Highness because he’s weak? Are you in the rearguard because you think the knights are weak?”
“No. Of course not!”
“See? And Mother still worries for me—me, the Eisberk Cavalry Brigade’s fearless commander.” Wolfe took a bite out of his cookie. “It’s not because I’m weak, now is it?”
“No. She’s worried because she cares for you.”
“I’m worried for you too, and so are the others. So please, get some rest.”
“I’m scared. I’m worried for him, yes, but even more worried for myself. I know I’m being a nuisance; I know I should be resting, and even so I still wish to stay by his side. I’m nothing but a selfish coward.”
I buried my head in my knees. How pathetic. Stern’s in horrible pain, and I’m being so selfish. What can I do? Nothing. Am I being a bother by not resting? Yes. I’m here for me and no one else.
A fist lightly struck my head from above. A faint yet familiar sugary voice graced my ears: “You’re my selfish coward.”
“Stern!” I scrambled to my knees, peering into the bed. His face was red, and he was…smiling. My heart leaped, tears spilling from my eyes. “Stern.”
“That’s me.”
“You’re alive.”
“As you can see.” Stern grinned awkwardly, opening his arms.
I buried my face against his chest. His heart’s beating. He’s alive. Stern patted me on the back.
“Guess I’ll be taking my leave then,” said Wolfe, his exit accompanied by the sound of the tent flap closing.
“I could feel your magic the entire time. Thank you, Bern,” reverberated Stern’s voice from inside his chest.
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“Bern.” I lifted my head at the firmness in his tone. He regarded me regally. “I did what I did because I knew we couldn’t fight the salamander without you. I reckoned that we’d get out in one piece so long as you avoided coming to harm. I used you to my own ends, Bern. And wouldn’t you know, we killed the salamander and lived to tell the tale. You have nothing to be sorry for,” he declared.
Stern’s right, but he’s not telling the whole story. He says he protected me for my ice magic, but he knows I’m someone worth keeping around even without it. He’s just trying to make me feel better. Stern’s amazing: smart, composed, and considerate.
“You’re amazing, Stern.”
A satisfied smirk appeared on his face. “Took you long enough to notice.”
“Oh, I noticed, I noticed way back.”
“Did you now?”
“Thank you, for everything,” I said, though I felt words hardly conveyed just how grateful I was. He had slain the salamander, defended Eisberk, saved my life, and soothed my troubled heart. I pushed down another “I’m sorry”. The last thing Stern wanted was an apology. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You’re welcome,” he said with a shy smile.