Chapter 8: Caelholdt

Cael stood stunned as Petyr reached down to help up the lady who had unceremoniously fallen to the ground at his feet, literally. He was pretty sure that she had broken a bone when she fell too. He had heard the crack her wrist made when she tried to catch herself.

An overwhelming urge of protectiveness and worry overcame him as he watched the frail looking girl shakily rise to her feet. It was such a bizarre and unfamiliar feeling, that he barely even registered the knight, who was obviously her companion, greeting him.

“I, Knight Alan Stewart, greet the Crown Prince.” Said the knight.

Cael hardly spared a glance at the knight, only nodding in acknowledgment, before turning his attention back to the lady before him. She still had yet to speak, and she appeared to be in a lot of pain. The frail looking girl took a cautious step away from Petyr and toward her knight, as she curtsied before the prince.

“You don’t have to d-” Cael moved to stop her, but as he did she stepped further away from him and continued her greeting. Her voice was quiet and shaking as she spoke. Was it fear or pain that made her sound like that? He couldn’t tell, but he stared in wonder as she fought through it.

“I, the First Princess of Artemisia, Auristela de Callisto greet the Crown Prince, and Future Sun of the Empire.” A moment of silence passed between them as Cael and Petyr shared a shocked yet concerned look. Petyr nodded a head in her direction with urgency.

‘Oh, right!’ Cael cursed himself for his delayed response.

“Y-Yes. Yes, please don’t stand on ceremony.” Cael rushed out as he waved her up and gestured for her knight to assist her.

When the princess lifted her head, Cael was taken aback once again to find a young woman who looked almost identical to him with the same ebony black hair that cascaded down to her waist in gentle waves, and bright, crystal like, azure eyes that were a sure sign of her imperial lineage. Her face was thin and pale and she looked sickly, but that still did not take away from the alluring, ethereal beauty that she held. The same alluring beauty that was held by those of their bloodline.

This was most definitely his younger sister. It had been years since Cael had last seen her, and he could count on one hand the number of interactions that he’d had with her. He had once hoped to change that, to become closer, but she had always seemed so fearful whenever they interacted. So, after a while he gave up.

The sound of someone clearing their throat, brought him out of his stupor and he realized that it had come from one of the envoys he had been entertaining, Duke Leofred of Helianthus. He had forgotten that they were even here with him. The prince cleared his own throat of the awkwardness, then clapped his hands together.

“Right!” Cael turned to the duke. “I apologize for the interruption, Duke. Would you mind giving us a moment? I must attend to my sister.”

“Of course! Do see that the princess is taken care of.” Duke Leofred nodded his understanding and he turned away to converse with his knight and his aide. Cael tried not to pay much attention to the reverence in their gazes as they eyed the princess with great interest. He turned to Petyr.

“Please summon a healer for the princess. Do not disclose this incident yet, and bring them quietly. Those injuries look pretty bad.” Petyr immediately nodded and took off without a word. Then, Cael turned his attention back toward his obviously frightened sister who was attempting to protest getting treatment, and her knight.

“It’s okay! I don’t nee-” Cael cut her off her protests as he walked over and lifted her into his arms. The princess yelped in surprise as her knight attempted to step in to help.

“Your Highness, I can take her,” the knight stated. Cael shook his head in dismissal as he walked his sister over to a nearby bench. He sat her down gently.

“Your Highness, I will be fine. All of this isn’t necessary. I can just get treated later.” Auri protested. “I need to get back.”

“I insist. Please.” He sighed as he reached for her hand. She reflexively pulled out of his reach at lightning speed. His brow furrowed and he tried not to feel hurt at her obvious distrust of him. He knew couldn’t expect much considering how meanly his mother treated her, and it didn’t help that they really didn’t have much of a relationship to begin with.

“If you are worried about my Mother, I promise not to let her know about it. You need a healer and I doubt you can heal yourself, right?” Cael pleaded with a gentle smile.

“Please, let us help you.”

After a moment, Auristela finally nodded in agreement, and he had to hold back another smile. He found himself thankful that Petyr wasn’t around to witness it. If he had seen the prince with such a soft expression, he’d never let him live it down. Cael had always been known as the “Iron Prince,” because of his cold attitude toward most people, and there was rarely anyone who saw that side of him. That side was only reserved for a select few.

Cael took a seat beside his timid little sister and reached for her hand once more. This time she reluctantly let him. He began to prod her wrist to see the extent of her injury. The prince could tell that it was definitely broken, and although she hissed in pain, she didn’t pull away this time. He was grateful she even allowed this much.

Soon enough, Petyr returned, but there was no healer in sight.

“What happened?” Cael asked. Petyr cast a worried glance at the princess before speaking.

“There was an incident in the capital, In the lower district. All of the palace healers have been called out to handle the situation.” He spoke urgently.

“What happened that was so bad, we couldn’t find a single healer for the princess?” Cael questioned while he did his best to suppress his anger. Someone would pay for this later. There was supposed to always be at least one healer in the palace at all times. Petyr swallowed hard as he leaned in to whisper in Cael’s ear, not wanting to alarm the already injured princess or the envoys.

“It’s the plague, Your Highness. It has reached the capital.”

Cael gasped in horror and his grip on Auri’s wrist tightened unconsciously, causing the princess to yelp in pain. Cael immediately released his hold when he realized his mistake.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I-” He cried. The princess simply smiled through gritted teeth and shook her head.

“It’s fine. I can just have one of the temple priests heal it later.” She responded through a grimace. Cael sighed.

“No no, It’s alright. If it isn’t done now, you’ll be suffering through the entire ceremony later and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.” He stated matter-of-factly, and it was clear she understood what he meant. The ceremony was also a matter of state and should anything go wrong, it would reflect negatively on the entire empire.

“I will heal it myself. Healing magic isn’t my strong suit, but we’ve no other choice. I would prefer it if someone more experienced did this, to make sure it doesn’t heal incorrectly, but even if you wait for a priest it won't be until after the ceremony. You’d still have to carry the hearth into the heart of the temple before then, right?”

Auristela nodded silently in response.

“Exactly, and how do you expect to do so with your wrist like this? The hearth isn’t exactly light load.” Cael shook his head.

Neither of them said anything else as he called upon his magic, but before he could begin the healing, Duke Leofred, suddenly stepped forward, with his knight following closely behind.

“Your highnesses,” He gave a light bow in greeting to the princess. Auri nodded back in acknowledgement as Cael sighed in irritation.

“Yes, Duke Leofred?”

“I couldn’t help but overhear that there are no healers available for the princess, and it just so happens that my knight, Izzy here, has experience with healing and setting broken bones.” Said the duke. Cael raised a brow.

“Is that so?” The duke nodded and gestured for his knight to step forward. Petyr and Alan met eyes and nodded at each other. It seemed as if they had an unspoken agreement as both moved to stand behind their charges. The knight, Izzy, bowed before the two royals in greeting, but Cael noticed that the man’s eyes never left the princess.

The knight had an unusual appearance with eyes that looked almost like well polished, red rubies, golden blonde hair that framed his strong face, and a strong build with scars on his hands that told he had seen a lot of battle. It wasn’t a look that was commonly found within the Artemesia’s borders, or anywhere else that Cael knew of, and it unsettled him. What unsettled the prince the most, however, was the fact that this knight’s appearance was also somehow familiar, though he couldn’t recall why.

“I, Knight Izana of Helianthus greet the Crown Prince and First Princess of Artemesia.” Cael narrowed his eyes at the knight, before nodding in acknowledgment. Auristela only blushed and looked away in response to the knight’s intense gaze.

“You have experience with healing?” Izzy nodded in agreement.

“I do, Your Highness. Mostly on the battlefield, but experience nonetheless.” Cael pondered for a moment, then sighed. The most important thing was helping the princess, regardless of his own biases.

“Very well, I will accept your assistance, but only to ensure the bones are set properly. I will do the actual healing.” Said the prince.

“Of course, Your Highness. It’s an honor to help.”

Cael only grunted in response as the foreign knight stepped forward again and knelt before the princess with a kind smile. Knight Izana held out a hand to her.

“If I may?”

Auristela cast a quick glance at her brother, who nodded in encouragement before gently placing her injured hand in Izzy’s. Auri winced, but closed her eyes as Cael began to cast his healing magic. As the prince worked to heal her, Izzy gently adjusted her wrist and her fingers when necessary. Cael grew a little worried when he saw that she was clenching her teeth to hide how much it hurt. Reaching into the ether, he pulled as much mana as he could and poured it into healing his frightful little sister. After a moment, she sighed in relief and Cael released his magic.

Wielding so much light magic at once had tired him out, and he felt as if his head were about to burst. It had been a really long time since he had used his magic for healing, as it wasn’t very strong. However, when Auri opened her eyes, shining with relief, he felt as if the oncoming migraine was suddenly trivial. Petyr passed the prince a worried look. He had seen the after effects of Cael using light magic before and he knew that there was going to be hell to pay for it later, but the prince only shook his head in response with a small smile.

Cael watched as a slow smile began to form on Auri’s face too as her gaze met that of the knight Izzy’s. The knight was still gently prodding and rotating it gently while giving her a strange look, and it made Cael’s headache start back tenfold.

That damned knight should learn his place. Cael cleared his throat as he glared at the knight. Knight Izzy seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in and immediately released Auri’s hand and returned to his master’s side. The princess blushed and Cael shot Petyr with another look that clearly said ‘keep an eye on that bastard.’ Petyr nodded with a silent smirk as he turned his gaze back to the princess.

“How does it feel now, Your Highness?” Asked Alan who had leaned forward out of curiosity. The princess’s smile grew wider as she rotated her wrist with vigor.

“It feels great! Thank you!” She turned to Cael with a grin and in her excitement gave him a hug, surprising him and everyone else it seemed. It was well known that the siblings were not very close, but Cael found that he did not hate it. Not knowing how to react to the unexpected affection, he raised a hand to reciprocate, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. He cleared his throat again, and Auri, almost as if she had just realized what she had done, ended the hug almost as quickly as it began.

“I-I’m uh, I- sorry!” She squealed as she looked down at her palms with reddened cheeks. She leaned her head forward, allowing her hair and veil to once again obscure everyone’s vision of her. Cael glanced at Petyr who looked like he was holding back a laugh and struggled to hold back a chuckle of his own. Even the princess’s knight Alan, looked shocked at her actions while the knight Izzy and Duke Leofred, looked at her with adoring eyes. The last two bothered Cael more than he cared to admit.

“It’s alright.” Cael cleared his throat once more. “I didn’t mind. I’m glad you are feeling better.”

Auri nodded as she stood up. Cael and Izzy, who for some reason was still kneeling at her feet, both stood with her, as Alan came to stand at her side. The princess turned to Cael nervously and he could see that she had gotten scared again. Had he done something to cause her fear? He tilted his head in confusion and waited for her to speak.

“Will you, umm- Will you tell Queen Mother that I was here?” She asked timidly. “I don’t want her to worry unnecessarily. I’m already healed after all!”

Cael knew what she was worried about and answered without hesitation.

“I will not.” He said with a confident smile.

“This stays between us.”

“Thank you,” she nodded. Auri then turned to the envoys who had been accompanying the prince, and curtsied.

“I am sorry for the disturbance I have caused you all. Also, thank you for your assistance.”

The duke and his knight nodded to Auristela as Alan assisted her up so she didn’t trip over her skirts again.

“There was no trouble at all. It was our pleasure to assist, Princess.”

“Be safe on your way back!” Cael added with a nod. Auri simply smiled and nodded in return as she took her leave. However, just before she could make the exit, Count Romaine appeared.