Misha glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to the spectacle below. “Of course. There’s so much to see, so many books to read. There are some things that leave me kind of bewildered at times, but everyone is so nice. I’m always wondering what I should do the next day.”
“I see...”
The sun had fully set, and while the flames below were beautiful, they were too far away to illuminate the pair where they were sitting. The moon and starlight were too weak for either of them to make out the other’s expression clearly. Even so, Kite stared into Misha’s face with the intensity of a man searching for some deep truth. Misha refused to return the expression, so after a long moment of silence, Kite finally laughed.
“I’m glad you’re having fun. I guess you’re friendly enough that you can manage even in a place with few friends. Besides, seems like you’ve made plenty here.”
And then he reached out and gently stroked her hair. The uncharacteristic gentleness finally got Misha’s attention, and now she turned to look at him.
“You know, Misha... I’ve never lost one of my parents, but I have lost close friends in battle. So I know a little bit of how you feel.” Again, the gentleness in his smile seemed so unlike him, but Misha found herself unable to pull her eyes away. Kite continued stroking her hair, correcting the mess the night breeze had made of it.
“Where on earth were you playing this time?”
Suddenly Misha thought she heard her mother’s gentle voice. After spending a whole day running around the forest, she would come home with a large basket full of plants. Leyas would always laugh, cleaning up Misha’s messy hair as she listened to her stories of the day. Those were their usual, normal days while living in the forest, but they had been so precious to her.
“Suddenly you can never see them again. You can’t talk together, you can’t laugh together. You know that in your head, but it’s so hard to really make sense of it, right? Because just the day before, you were laughing together. You were making plans for what to do tomorrow,” Kite continued, his voice soft as his gaze turned distant.
His first deployment had been hell. Running with everything he had, desperately trying to kill others for no reason other than that he didn’t want to die... It was an inevitable experience for anyone who wished to be a knight. He had thought he was ready for it. He’d told himself he’d regret nothing, because he had his loved ones to protect.
But sometimes, the memories would come back unbidden: the dead faces of friends he’d promised to go out and eat with after the battle, and the faces of his enemies, lying drenched in crimson beneath his blade. They both had the same expression.
Anguish. Terror. Regret. And a little—just a little—relief.
“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, when it’s really quiet. All sorts of thoughts go through my head. ‘If only I had done this... If only I had done that, then maybe they’d still be laughing at my side.’ Or, ‘Why did we ever start that war in the first place?’”
Misha listened silently as Kite continued. She couldn’t quite see in the moonlight, but she believed his expression was as gentle as his hand on her hair.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m talking about. This isn’t like me at all, is it?” Kite’s distant gaze suddenly returned to Misha, and she could tell he started to smile. “But... No matter what happens, we’re still alive, so we have to keep living. I’ve always thought people need to be able to smile. So I think you’re doing great.” Then his smile twisted as his face turned forward. “This festival is supposed to ask for a good harvest, but those lanterns are also supposed to illuminate the future, so apparently some people make wishes when they offer their lanterns.”
“Yeah, they told me,” Misha replied, turning to follow Kite’s gaze toward the lake. Though it was hard to see from this distance, she could barely make out countless figures of people gathered around the altar. She supposed Anna and the boys were there somewhere too.
For a while, they stayed quiet.
Kite broke the silence, back to his usual way of talking, making Misha feel like she had just snapped out of a dream. “I also made sure to wish that you’d be happy so that you have nothing to worry about.”
She then realized what he had said, and burst out laughing. “What do you mean ‘also’? You wished for more than one thing? What else?”
“Oh, all sorts of things. But don’t worry, I offered one lantern for each, so they’ll definitely all come true.”
“Wow, that’s awfully greedy of you!” Misha giggled, drawing a laugh from Kite as well.
The two spent a good long while watching the fire under the moon and stars.
The next morning, Misha stood at the city gate to see off Kite and the other men from Bluheitz, the sun not yet having pulled away from the horizon. The special gate she had arrived through was wide open, but the gate for ordinary traffic was still shut tight at this hour, so there were few people around. They had been out late saying goodbye the night before, so Kite told her she didn’t have to come see them off, but Misha had no idea when she’d ever get to see him again, so she made sure to be there anyway.
“Tell my father to make sure he doesn’t overdo it, okay?”
“Understood. I’ll make sure he gets the medicine too, so don’t worry about him,” Kite replied, fastening his cloak to his metal breastplate and slipping his sword into his belt.
While they were traveling well-maintained roads, there was no guarantee they’d be safe from bandits, so these were all necessary precautions. Though Misha was used to the sight from her own journey to Redford, seeing the men all wearing swords still had her a bit uneasy.
“You be careful too. I’ll be praying for your safe journey.”
“Nothing happened on the way here, so I don’t think you need to worry. Though I’m sure you will anyway, so I’ll ask them to send a mail bird once we make it home,” Kite replied nonchalantly, at last turning Misha’s frown into a smile.
“Okay. I’m worried about your wife too, so make sure to tell me how she’s doing,” Misha called out to one of the men behind him, who replied with a smart bow.
“Thank you for your concern.”
Misha had handed over all the medicine for her the night before. His reply was a bit stiff, owing to the fact that while his wife was indeed pregnant, she was also in perfectly good health, to the point everyone around her lamented the fact she refused to ever sit still. But Misha didn’t need to know all that. There was no telling what would happen across her long pregnancy, so he was still just as thankful for Misha’s gift. The fact it was based on a lie still made him feel a bit awkward, though.
“Okay then, we’re off. Give Captain Shydein my regards.”
As he had declared he would, the captain had found work and a place to live within the city, and so he would be staying there alone. Shydein had been their carriage driver on the journey to Redford, but with so much of their luggage off-loaded, the knights would have no problem guiding the carriage back to Bluheitz themselves.
“Miranda isn’t back yet, but I’ll do my best to help them connect!” Misha declared, balling a hand into a fist.
Kite laughed, patting her on the shoulder. “You don’t overdo it either. Even if she refuses, it’s not the end of the world. The captain is being greedy enough as it is in just asking if the People of the Forest are capable of making a working prosthetic.”
Prosthetic arms and legs already existed for those who had lost limbs in battle or in accidents. Most of them were simply wooden poles secured in place with cords. The more elaborate examples had large joints built into them, like knees and elbows, but they required operation from the outside to move, like a marionette.
“An artificial limb you can move with your mind, huh? I hope it’s possible.” Misha had treated a number of soldiers besides Shydein who had lost limbs in the war.
“I’m just glad I’m still alive,” they always said with a smile. Their lives would still continue, though work and daily life would become many times more difficult for them. How wonderful would it be for them if they had properly working prosthetics instead of the cheap replacements they had now?
Misha’s face turned wistful as she imagined it, drawing a wry smile out of Kite.
She’s thinking of medicine or something again, isn’t she?
He had spent enough time with her to recognize those moments. And once she was lost in thought, it was a long time before she’d come back. Normally he’d patiently wait for her to finish what she was thinking through, but unfortunately this time he didn’t have the time for it, and he could already feel the impatient looks from his comrades.
“Okay, we’re leaving now,” he said, plopping a hand down on top of her head to snap her back to reality.
Misha came back to herself to see Kite looking down at her with that wry smile. “Oh no! I’m sorry! I got lost in thought again!”
Kite smiled, telling her it was okay, then turned to go. The other members of his unit were already mounted and waiting for him.
“See you later,” he said, climbing onto his own horse and waving.
“Yeah! Thanks for everything! Let’s see each other again someday!” Misha shouted as the men started down the road.
Just before they disappeared from view, Kite spun in his saddle to look back and wave. Misha could just barely tell that he was smiling. She stretched as tall as she could and waved back, but Kite was already facing forward and didn’t turn around again.
“See you again...”
So no one could tell what expression she wore as she whispered one last goodbye.