In Thy Face I See the Map of Honor, Truth, and Loyalty

"I guess," he decided to say, "my purpose has changed somewhat. How could it not?"

Before Galen could say anymore, explain any further, confess all he wanted, the imposing leader of this group of men came in. Hemele he thought he heard was his name. He didn't have time to pretend to still be unconscious. I guess it didn't matter now.

"Oh, good. You're awake," Hemele said. "That'll make it easier. I guess we'll get you water too, then." Hemele gave a silent order with a nod to this other man, and his man left the room.

Hemele sat at Althea's side. "My men are ready. Here are your things." He laid down her pack and her bow beside where she sat on the table. "It's a long ride. You should get some water here while we have it cold from the well. We won't stop until we're safe near the castle."

Galen wasn't sure what the plan was, but he implicitly trusted that Althea would make sure that Galen was kept within the plans for moving forward if she hadn't already. He saw the ladle of water offered to her and was very much looked forward to one being brought to him. He felt parched from his lengthy time unconscious from the Mist.

Galen watched as Althea took the water he offered to her while she kept her eyes on Hemele. He saw how she was watching the man, and took note of her suspicion. He'd be wary as well; he trusted her instincts and judgment.

Then in an instant, she saw him move into her with his arms circling around her. Galen was stunned for less than a moment as he saw Althea's eyes close and her body collapse into the guard's arms. Galen jumped up only to realize that his muscles protested the sudden motions with stiffness and aching. He steadied himself on the table for only a moment, though it seemed like an agonizing eternity, and pushed past the awkward motions of his body and quickly darted to Althea's side.

Galen was prepared to fight Hemele's resistance and whatever authority he would try to assert in the situation, but to his surprise, the man's hesitation to allow Galen to take over holding this woman was only slight. He released Althea from his arms and into Galen's admiring the concern. Hemele couldn't quite ascertain before what their relationship was, and her part in it remained a mystery to Hemele, but he had no doubt that his man was in love with this woman. It was as clear to him as glass and still waters. Hemele then felt such sympathy for this man, for his orders were his orders.

While Galen held Althea in his arms and tried to find an explanation for her sudden state, he kept half an eye on Hemele out of the corner of his eye. When the guard backed away to give them some space, Galen's face dropped down slightly towards the ladle of water. Something about it smelled not quite right. Something different came to his nose when he bent his face down, a very faint trace of sweetness.

Then it suddenly came to him that this was the smell of the Somnum flower. Apothecaries carried it as a sleeping serum in whatever extreme cases needed subduing, though it was incredibly difficult to make and was not something widely known. His extensive time in the wild with his creatures of the woods, hills, and mountains had given him quite the knowledge of the natural world. Their wisdom had become his over time. This particular serum, though, he knew without his time spent in nature. He knew of this because his mother…

He shook off the memory, and when his mind put the pieces together, he was filled with so many negative emotions that he clenched his fists. He laid Althea back down gently and tenderly and stroked the top of her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her. "You are going to have a Hell of a time when you wake up."

He looked behind him and noticed Hemele had stepped outside, probably gathering things up and speaking to his men. So then, when he turned back around to face his angel, he bent down and kissed her head. As badly as he wanted to kiss her lips, he would never do so without her consent. But with the uncertainty of what was to come next, he took the chance to impart even the smallest endearment. Though, it would seem, it was more for him than for her. The sensation of his lips against her skin was enough to break his heart.

Before he could begin to gather his thoughts to try and formulate some kind of strategy, Hemele came in with another ladle of water for Galen. Galen took it without showing suspicion; he didn't want this man to know just how clever he had the capacity to be or how much he held the guard in distrust. Before allowing the water to pass his lips, he inhaled deeply. But in this there was no smell or trace of drug or even poison. Not any that he had known of anyway. He drank and savored the relief it gave to him.

But even with this gift, this charity, he didn't trust Hemele. How could he trust someone who would so willingly drug someone already so harmless and incapacitated?

The two men spent a very long time in silence each sizing up the other. They were both too engrossed in their evaluations to notice the awkward amount of time pass. It wasn't until the other guard, the one Hemele had talked to before, came in the room and cleared his throat to make himself known. The two men simply looked at him not in embarrassment or surprise, but actually with a slight trace at the annoyance of being interrupted. Both of them couldn't quite figure the other one out. No simple label was coming to either of them about the man they were facing.

The other guard didn't seem to care that they were annoyed or that he had interrupted anything. He simply continued to address his captain, "We're ready. How do you want to move her?"

"Thank you, Jian. I'll carry her on my horse. She doesn't weigh much, and we aren't that far."

The man Jian looked slightly concerned, but the just shrugged it off and replied, "Just be careful. You know there will be Hell to pay otherwise."

At that Hemele looked straight at Galen to register a reaction from this mystery element. Hemele merely responded to Jian with, "I know," while still looking at Galen. But Galen managed to keep his face completely blank and unreadable. The patience of Leporems were exemplary, and they could sit as still as a windless night without showing a trace on the outside any feelings on the inside. As hard as the captain of the guard would try, he wouldn't get anything out of Galen that he didn't want him to know.

Hemele seemed to struggle with what was best to say next. He couldn't decide how much of a difficulty this man was going to be or how to prevent that if at all possible. He finally decided to just go with what came to mind first. He turned to Galen as he began to gather Althea's things. "My men and I thank you very much for guiding her this far from wherever she had been taken."

Hemele's choice of words intrigued Galen, but he kept staring at him in feigned innocent ignorance to encourage him to continue. He'd contemplate that later.

"As you may know, those in the castle have been looking for a Healer for some time. As a matter of fact, we've been looking for her specifically. She may be the only hope left. The only hope left to all of us," he said as his eyes went somewhere a little distant then, but only for a moment. "So we do thank you, but we'll be taking her the rest of the way."

Galen stood up then, his body slightly stronger, and squared his shoulders against this man. "Of course. I understand. I will go with you."

Hemele sighed as he had hoped he could avoid this. "Listen, it's really not necessary. You've done your part, and we're grateful for it, but you are free now to go back to your home and your family."

Galen stood unmoving as a mountain. He may not have much ground to stand on, and he was completely outnumbered, but he wasn't going to budge on following. "Listen, you seem like a man of honor. I could read it all over you. I respect that, I really do. And I now that you must have your orders, and those orders certainly don't include me. But I made a promise to her, and her and I have been through a lot. If you don't mind, I would like to make sure for myself that she gets to where she is going. Not because I don't trust you or your men and the duty and honor you bear, but because I would like to satisfy my own."

As Galen finished, Hemele looked at the man impressed. He knew that he was not an approachable man. He was told numerous times that he made people intimidated and uncomfortable just by standing in a room. Jian had even said he had the airs of an asshole once. So a man standing strong in opposition to him, even respectful as it was, had to count for something. He walked over to Galen and put his hand on Galen's shoulder. He expected the man to flinch, and he didn't; again, impressive. "Listen, out of respect for the lady who was concerned about you too, I will allow you to come as far as Courtside. You're right, I do have my orders. But I did promise her that I would take you as far as the hospital that has been built in the town that's run by the closest things to Healers that we have left. Let them check you out; I'm sure you have both been through a lot and could benefit from a medical looking after. Then I'll…come back after a while and make sure you're taken care of."

The last uncertain pause from Hemele spoke volumes to Galen. He suspected exactly how we would be taken care of. But he knew it was the best offer he would be getting and decided to go along with it at least at the start. He'd find some way to reach the other side of all of this with Althea.

After everything was packed and the group of men including Galen on a spare horse began to move out. They came very soon to Base Village and began the climb of the hill towards the castle. Galen knew then that he was running out of time to make a plan. He didn't trust Hemele, but the more he thought about what he could read in the man the more he realized that a simple label of villain just didn't quite fit. But he couldn't be certain.

Ever step onward became one less step to act, to decide, or to plan. He knew that he was running out of time. His head began to hurt. He was still suffering from residual effects of the Mist, but more than that, he kept thinking of all he didn't know. How much could he trust Hemele or any of his men? Could he trust the people of Courtside? They were nobility, and nobility and his kind often did not mix well. What was going to happen to Althea? How was he going to keep her safe? What was Durai going to do to her after she had run away from him?

Every small thing that was unknown at that point became like particles of dust in the wind. At first they seemed few and harmless, hardly noticeable. But then each new thing that couldn't be held in certainty joined in the space. The particles kept growing and compounding until they suddenly became like a dust storm. Clarity of sight was stolen away as the tempest violently blew and swirled its worst.

The very air felt hot and dense. It was like trying to breathe through thick cloth while inside of a fire. Soon the heat permeated into his lungs and caused his blood to race and painfully prick with every fear he had ever felt. The darkness creeping into his heart now had teeth and claws. He felt the world become larger and bigger like a dragon emerging from a cave revealing his immense stature while his body kept being crushed smaller and smaller beneath its weight. Expectations began to stack upon his struggling body until the rocks became boulders and the boulders became peaks. And it didn't stop. Each defeat crushed harder than the last until the mountain on top of him became ever mightier and more unscalable. Hope had long blown away from the same wind that brought this pain. He even felt that prayer screamed to heaven would fall dead to the merciless storm.

His mind focused more and more on what he wanted to do, what he needed to do, and watched them twist and contort turning into the things that he just couldn't do or shouldn't do. All of his power and control shrank and sizzled into nonexistence like a drop of water on a heated summer rock under an unforgiving sun. No matter what he tried to do to make his desires fit into the pattern of what would be best, he could not make it match or make it work.

Before he realized it, the company of men stopped in front of a long building in Courtside; he hadn't even noticed that they entered the town. This building was knew and heavily defended and strong. This had to be the hospital that Hemele spoke of.

He had run out of time.