NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Counterattack
Namagi was quietly staring at her sister while the latter was sitting at her desk, her head hung low with her hair mostly covering her eyes as she held a quill in her hand, almost forcefully scribbling something down on various papers.
The dark and ominous aura that was surrounding Amaragi was almost visible, like a black and purple cloud that was looming above her as the silence continued to stretch on. At least, apart from the constant scribbling…
"Are you sure you don't want to take a break…?" whilst her voice was as calm as ever, even Namagi hesitated slightly with her words. Her sister stopped for a mere moment, the quill in her hand stopping amidst all the scribbling as if it had been momentarily frozen. And the dark cloud around her seemed to intensify.
"No, I am perfectly fine and do not require a break." the scribbling continued, and Namagi almost blankly regarded her sister's head, which had not even moved an inch so far.
"... but it looked like it helped you quite a lot yesterday, especially since you had Maren with you." almost in an instant, Amaragi's head shot upward and her eyes glared at her sister with a single message.
How dare you mention those times while I am still stuck here…!
"... I could go fetch him for you…" Namagi's eyes casually strove around the room as she suggested this, if only to avoid her sister's fatal and judgemental glare. After all, if he could help her relax, they didn't necessarily have to go somewhere. His presence might be enough to dissipate the ever growing aura of negativity around her sister, which was slowly beginning to suffocate her.
And suddenly, Amaragi's previous demeanor seemed to melt together.
"A-ah…! No, t-that's… ah… not necessary, really!" in a desperate attempt to try and dismiss her younger sister, Amaragi faced the sea of parchments on her desk again, meekly continuing on to scribble away with her quill.
Namagi blankly stared at her for several long moments before she simply turned around and left all of a sudden, not uttering another word. Thus, Amaragi almost tentatively glanced up from the parchments again, only to heave a long and exhausted sigh before her head weakly fell upon her desk, her arms almost sprawling all over it.
For all of a sudden, she felt a spike of loneliness in her chest…
"So that was why you wanted me to come here…?" Namagi merely nodded her head at Maren's inquiry, the latter regarding the door towards Amaragi's office in front of them with a slight tilt of his head.
Without further hesitation, Namagi opened the door and the both of them stepped inside.
"Sister, I brought you someone-" she cut herself off when she looked at the form ahead that was Amaragi, the previous cloud of gloominess having turned into a literal storm instead. It didn't even look like she was still seriously working on all these parchments as her face spoke only of exhaustion, defeat and utter frustration.
Namagi glanced at Maren with worry, silently motioning with her hand for him to do something.
"... Amaragi…?" her form seemed to jerk together ever so slightly, and Namagi could have sworn she heard her gasp. Thus, her sister slowly lifted her head to see that Maren was regarding her with concern, standing there with his hands slightly crossed beneath his back in hesitation.
Namagi stared for a moment before she suppressed a small smirk. Good, that was good. Her sister had not thrown a chair at her this time, it was the right decision to get him. She would remember that.
"You didn't need to come here for my sake, really…" Amaragi heaved another long sigh as she slumped together slightly in her chair.
"Truly? Then I guess I'll take my leave again." Namagi's eyes widened in utter shock before she noted the playfulness in his tone, albeit the reaction on Amaragi's side was near enough instant.
"No! Stay!" she had stood up from her chair, leaning ahead slightly with her hand almost reaching out for him.
Namagi stared at the whole scene for a mere moment before she silently left the room, feeling as though her work was done. And thus, the door slowly closed behind her again, leaving only the two of them.
Amaragi's eyes shifted to the ground once she witnessed Maren's surprised stare, and so she slumped down upon her chair again with another small sigh.
"Please just… stay. I'm growing tired of all this for today…" she carelessly dropped the quill upon the table, covering her eyes with both of her arms as she leaned back. Thus, Maren dropped any of the playfulness, which was instead replaced with genuine worry. It was the first time he actually had a chance to glance upon the mountain of parchments on her desk.
If only he had known that the previous image in his head had been so close to the truth…
He slowly stepped around her desk, and she perked up slightly when he took her hand into his own. With a questioning glance, she allowed him to lead her away from her desk and she followed him as he settled down near a large window, looking at the descending sun in the distance.
As she regarded the warm colors, she wondered just how long she had been sitting here in this room…
… albeit all of these thoughts gradually seemed to fade away the longer she stared into the distance, and slowly but surely, her head came to rest against Maren's own, her eyelids too heavy to keep her awake any longer.
When Maren looked down upon her sleeping face, he smiled lightly in content, seeing just another proof of how desperately she had needed that.
And so, he didn't disturb her sleep in the slightest, simply remaining there for as long as she needed while the sun gradually continued its descent, painting the room in a soothing, warm light.
"... sleep well…"
When next Amaragi awoke from her slumber, she slowly blinked her eyes open before she yawned, stretching her arms once. A blanket fell down from around her shoulders while doing so, and it was then that she realized that someone must have placed it there. That someone not being present anymore as she glanced at her side, seeing the empty space beside her.
Despite the solemn feeling dwelling within her, she couldn't deny that she felt a little bit better than before… still, after a small moment, she slowly got up from the ground before she looked outside again, witnessing that the sun was only barely visible anymore. At least she hadn't been that long out.
And with that, she dismissed the cursed mountain of parchments upon her desk without a second thought before she left her office and walked down the hallways of the palace. Which resulted in a chance encounter with her sister yet again, the latter having just rounded a corner until she spotted Amaragi with a pleased glint in her eyes.
"You look a lot better now." she couldn't refrain from spelling out her observation aloud before she waved a hand in greeting. Amaragi chose to ignore the obvious self-satisfaction upon her sister's expression before she grew a little bit more serious.
"Have you seen Maren anywhere? He was not there anymore when I woke up."
"He actually managed to get you to take a nap for a bit…? In less than an hour?" it was a wonder how Namagi's humor and playfulness shone through even despite her monotone tone, but she ceased it when she witnessed the obvious glare her sister was trying to kill her with.
"... I have, not too long ago, actually. I only briefly exchanged words with him, but he mentioned that he simply wanted to strive around the marketplace for a bit. Albeit he hasn't returned yet…"
"How long ago was it exactly…?"
"A few hours I'd reckon." Namagi witnessed the way her sister's form was beginning to stiffen ever so slightly.
"I'll have a look around for a bit myself." her words were abrupt and sudden, thus, Namagi could only look after her as she strode past and down the next corridor.
She really was worrying…
The liveliness at the marketplace was beginning to cease once the last rays of sunlight shone upon it, thus, it made it a lot easier for Amaragi to navigate around as her eyes scanned the entire place. A lot more patrols were now roaming the streets, and whenever she passed a few guards, their forms immediately straightened at her approach before she simply passed by without another glance.
Still, it did little to ease her mind as she looked around, all until her eyes fell upon one, single object. Not far away near a side alley, a fine blade was simply lying on the ground, and it was a wonder that nobody had simply picked it up yet. However, when she laid eyes upon it and fetched it from the ground, its owner nowhere to be seen, her expression immediately hardened.
And she looked further ahead to see that a small, almost not noticeable trail of blood was leading further into the alley.
An insufferable amount of pain was surging through Maren's head the moment he awoke, his teeth gritting together when he realized that his blade was not upon his belt. His back was leaning against a cold stone wall, and a single glance around revealed to him that he was situated in some kind of keep. Albeit it was far from in best shape, looking almost abandoned and decrepit.
If it weren't for the blue banners hanging down from the ceiling.
"Looks like you're finally awake." his eyes shifted to the source of the voice, realizing that he was not alone within the grand hall. In front of him, three other figures were present, albeit two of them only now shifted their attention towards him once they realized that he had woken up.
But all of them wore almost the same attire, the same leather armor that he himself was clad in. And upon their left shoulder, a small and blue cloth with a lion symbol was hanging down their back.
"You remember this place, don't you?" Maren didn't utter a word in return as he glanced at the masked figure that was speaking to him. Indeed, he did… and it was almost ironic for him to know where exactly he was after having been kidnapped.
"... I thought you would have seen reason and left already…" the masked figure narrowed his eyes dangerously close.
"Reason…? You have no idea how much I would like to slice your throat open…!" his right hand tightened into a fist, but in the end, he did not lose his temper.
"We had our eyes almost everywhere within the capital, even after those bastards killed Borin… until they increased their security measures afterwards." the eyes beneath the mask relaxed ever so slightly, but within them, a challenging look was meeting Maren.
"I have seen you with him before it happened, heck, they could have gotten me too had I decided to join them. Do you think we haven't been keeping track of you after you had been brought into the palace…? In this entire time, you have been doing nothing against them! You even helped them in their endeavors…!" suddenly, Maren's vision blackened slightly the moment a fist hit him right across the face.
Once again, a small amount of blood trickled down his face as he kneeled on the ground. And still, he did not fight back yet.
"... the dead people of Amaranth sent their regards… that was for them." for the briefest of moments, the figure spoke almost apologetically, his fist loosening ever so slightly.
"... then why do you still keep me alive?" this time, an eye beneath the mask seemed to twitch in agitation.
"Because I want to know the truth… tell me, what did they offer you to backstab us? How much gold did they try to shove into your face for that? Albeit it perplexes me, if it went like those dogs wanted it, they could have just tortured you to death for information… so tell me, what was it…? Don't you get it that we had tried our utmost to figure something out on how to get you back out of there? Did you think that we would have just left you behind…!?" his voice was filled with anger, frustration even…
… but most of all, it was actually… sadness.
"... I never stabbed you in the back… or did I…?" with these words, Maren looked his former comrade dead in the eye, and the latter's entire form seemed to stiffen for a long moment. The keep was intact, no Imperial troops had broken through their doorstep as of now, and if he truly had told them anything… they would all most likely not be alive anymore.
Thus, in the end, the figure clenched their right hand once more, but he remained in place.
"That is… why I desperately hoped that you had left… and never came back. I didn't leave you for any gold of the world, I would have never… it was solely because I realized something…" the figure didn't utter a single word as Maren spoke, his eyes almost shivering as he waited for him to continue.
"... namely that everything I had believed was wrong. And that retaliation will never lead to peace."
His comrade's eyes widened, nothing but disbelief reflecting in his gaze until it was all but drowned in anger. And before he knew it, the last light faded from Maren's vision with another strike of his fist, coldly rendering him unconscious.
His breathing was heavy, and even the other two soldiers were staring at him with hesitation as his fist shivered. But before another word could be said, they all suddenly shifted their head when the sounds of clashing metal became evident outside, growing louder and more prominent with each moment that passed.
A Norian soldier barged through the main entrance into the hall, blood staining almost his entire armor before he almost succumbed the moment he tried to kneel.
"Status report, what is going on outside?" the wounded soldier barely managed to speak as he held a hand to his chest.
"... the Imperial army…! I-I… I don't know how many, they're slaughtering everybody…!" before he could say another word, a pained gurgle suddenly sounded from his throat when a throwing axe pierced into his back, and he fell forward without another ounce of movement.
A metallic screeching suddenly sounded through the hallway outside, steadily coming closer until the shade of a figure began to emerge from the shadows. The other two soldiers immediately drew their weapons as they tried to identify their enemy.
Just as the figure became clearer to see, they saw that their blade was scratching along the ground as its wearer almost carelessly held it at their side. However, they gasped in horror once they witnessed all of the blood that was trickling down from the cold metal, countless more stains of the crimson liquid covering the figure's entire attire once it fully stepped into the light.
And frankly, their crimson and bloodthirsty gaze was the last thing they ever witnessed before their agonized screams echoed all throughout the keep.
Never to be heard.
AN:
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