Connor~
"It is certain that Keith knows what we are here to talk about. And why wouldn't he know? It was on order from someone none of us dared to question."
I looked at Zordus as I stood behind him. He was sitting on the black sofa, with three drinks served in front of him on the translucent table. It wasn't glass, but something else—something unnatural. On the table were three glasses: one with black coffee, one with black tea, and one with normal water.
Keith sat in front… on the extravagant chair perhaps? I couldn't tell, everything in this place was an otherworldly luxury. They both sat in front of each other, looking at the drinks. Zordus stretched out his hand towards the glass of water, his expression serious.
He slowly, as if teasing everyone around him to see if he'd actually drink it— brought to his lips and took a few sips. Crossing his legs he sat the glass down carefully.
"Was he actually trying not to drop it?" I thought, trying to suppress a laugh. I lifted my hand and covered my mouth as I coughed mockingly before holding it behind my back again.
He seemed to glare at me from the corner of his eye but turned his attention back to Keith.
Keith sat on the chair, his hands resting on the armrest of the chair. One leg draped over the other — a knowing smirk on his face.
"How was the water Zordus? Perhaps better than coffee or tea?" Keith was the first to break the silence, his voice low, calm and full of amusement.
Zordus almost choked on the saliva he had in his mouth and coughed, barely making any sound.
"He isn't embarrassed, is he?" I laughed a little in my heart. The sight was too rare for me to see.
"Ah, yes, of course. It was excellent. I know that every water doesn't taste the same. It was delicious actually! Haha." Zordus…it seemed as if he wasn't even trying to come up with an excuse on why he picked the water.
"Well anyhow, that's not what we are here to talk about, Keith. So stop changing the subject. Maeve will kill me if she finds out I got here this late, so better start talking."
I looked at the man sitting in front of Zordus, long gray hair combed perfectly, a bun tied around the back of his head with a few strands falling in front of his forehead, wearing an elegant black and white attire with a dark cloak trailing down close to his ankles from behind the chair.
Keith heaved a sigh and leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on his thighs as he joined his fingers together, his hands just a bit down from his face with a little gap.
There was a beat of silence, the moonlight painting the soft white room with its blue light through the white curtains, casting shadows on Keith.
Keith lowered his hands, a serious expression taking over his face. "Zordus, you do get that what Maeve wants here isn't something that even we can do that easily, right?"
My gaze flickered towards Zordus from Keith. Zordus lifted a hand, holding up two fingers."First, if we don't do it and give her updates by tomorrow, we're dead."
He lowered one finger.
"Second, it's not something we can't overlook either. Considering that the vessel was chosen randomly, it is highly dangerous for it to be roaming around freely just like that. We either destroy the vessel, or take the vessel to Maeve."
Zordus lowered his hand, his expression as dead serious as a lone tree in the middle of a desert.
"It is indeed important to take care of this anomaly, but is it really important for us to kill the vessel?" I thought, my gaze now set on Keith, curious about his reply.
"She just wants to kill the vessel because she fears it might get in her way in the future. There's nothing we can do if its essence is already more engrossed than 75% either way." Keith said matter-of-factly.
"If that was the case…all of us would've sensed its presence the moment it took over that much…"
Zordus paused for a moment, contemplating something.
"No, we wouldn't have been able to sense it if what lady Maeve said is true." I interrupted, both their focus on me now.
"Ah, what did she say? I forgot..?" Zordus murmured, as if trying to remember something."
"She said that if the vessel is someone who is always being tested by life, then the vessel can suppress the presence even without knowing what's happening to them." Keith once again said matter-of-factly, his gaze flickered towards me before falling at Zordus again.
"So basically someone who has been through a lot and is still going through a lot?" Zordus asked calmly.
"Yes, that's true." Keith answered.
"But lady Maeve did tell us that the vessel is in Cifer country, so how come she knows that?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Well, there are two possibilities here. One, that it's purely based on instinct…" Keith began explaining, standing up as he walked towards the window, the moonlight cascading on his face.
"And the other?" I raised an eyebrow. Zordus also looked curious, his sole focus on Keith.
"The second is that…she might have looked into the future."
"Future, huh? But I heard that she wasn't able to use that ability anymore?" I asked.
"Yeah, she can't use that ability anymore, so how are you so sure about it?" Zordus crossed his arms as he leaned back on the sofa.
Keith smirked, looking back at both of us as he leaned against the closed window. "She can…hah, guess she never told anyone else."
We both looked at him, confused.
"Well, that doesn't matter. She gave this order to you two, not me. I'm a busy man, Zordus. It's a miracle I even spared time to talk with you, but I know you can find the vessel anyway."
I gazed at Keith, my expression was calm and so was Zordus's. Zordus then stood up, shoving his hands in his pocket.
"Ah, it sucks…Well I understand that you have other things to take care of…guess we'll do it ourselves, huh, Connor?"
"Of course." I nodded.
"Well, thank you for sparing this much time then, Keith…." Zordus heaved a sigh, as if not pleased with the outcome of coming here.
Keith shook his head, a small smile on his face, his arms folded in front of his chest, leaned back against the wall beside the window.
"Well, good luck on your mission then…just try not to make any scene in my kingdom…I don't want to hear complaints from my people that another King was causing a ruckus in the kingdom."
"Geez, I get it, I get it. Let's go Connor." Zordus turned around with a hint of annoyance on his face and Keith was looking a bit smug.
I bowed slightly towards Keith, my cloak sliding to one side.
Keith's expression softened as he nodded in response.
I smiled and then turned around to follow Zordus who was already close to the door. I fell into a step behind him, as we both left the room, Zordus's pace was slow.
"I swear, he tries to get on my nerves on purpose."
Zordus scoffed as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
"Well that's because you make it easy for other people to get on your nerves."
"Why am I even bothering to talk to you…"
I couldn't help but crack a smile at his response. We walked through the hallway, the walls layered with gold and soft white colour as the dawn broke in, bathing the hallway with a gentle orange light, a flicker of warmth on my face.
We both walked out of the castle, the morning light almost making it look heavenly as I glanced back one last time before falling a step behind Zordus.
"So, do you have any plan on how we find the vessel?" I asked, curious on what Zordus had been thinking this whole time.
"Well we can't just roam around like some fools, now can we? And we both haven't had food since yesterday morning…may we eat something before continuing, Connor?" he asked without looking back at me, a hint of pleading in his tone.
"Fine by me." I nodded in response.
There were not many people out in the streets since it was still dawn, yet I could see a few people opening their shops. An old couple opening a bakery shop, the smell of the bakery immediately filled our nostrils.
I glanced at Zordus, his head already turned toward the bakery. When he looked back at me, I knew what he wanted.
"What are you looking at me for?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said, a hint of a smile on his face.
Without telling me another thing he walked towards the bakery, I followed behind.
As we reached the shop, the old couple's eyes lit up as the old man immediately got up from the counter.
His hands held together, a bright smile on his face, as the old woman set pastries and cakes, including some cookies.The cakes sat neatly inside a glass-fronted cabinet, their sweetness on display for every passerby.
"Good morrow, lads! Step right in, step right in!" The old man said enthusiastically as he looked at both of us.
I could faintly hear the old lady giggling, it seemed like they weren't aware of who we were.
"Good morning to you as well, good sir." Zordus nodded in response, so did I.
"Might spare us some pastries?" Zordus asked.
"Of course. Right away! How many would you like? And what flavour, young lad?"
"Two for me, any good flavour you might have would work." I replied with a smile.
"Four for me! The normal ones would work." Zordus also replied with a wide and impatient smile.
Of course, Zordus would always eat a little more than necessary: I thought.
The old man then moved with urgency yet his movements precise as he packed two brown coloured bags and sat them on the counter in front of us.
"There you go." the old man spoke.
Zordus looked at the bags before pulling out six gold coins from his pocket and setting them on the counter. The old man's eyes widened as he looked speechless, awestruck.
I looked at Zordus as he picked both bags and handed me mine, already pulling out one pastry for himself and turned around.
I couldn't help but be amused by the whole situation as I turned to follow him, right then I heard a quivering voice.
"Y…young…young lad! This…this is too much. Only five copper coins would've been enough.
"Well kind elder, your pastries are delicious…so take them." Zordus looked at the old man and then glanced at me, a smirk on his face as he took a bite of his pastry.
With that, we left the bakery.
We walked down the wide, clean street, houses and shops all around. Slowly, more people appeared outside, seemingly recognizing us.
"Isn't that His Highness, Zordus? King of Astria!" A woman's voice reached my ears.
Another voice: "Even Sir Connor! What are they doing here?"
"Who knows, probably here to do politics again." Another voice echoed through the crowd.
We both didn't pay any attention to the chatter and continued to walk at our own pace.
Zordus seemed to be immersed in his third pastry, enjoying it even in all this attention, as I simply held the bag behind me.
A carriage was passing by our side, Zordus was a little too close and wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings at that time. A sharp nail curled out of the carriage at the corner, as it scratched Zordus's right arm, yet he didn't even flinch.
My gaze flickered towards his arm as blood seemed to soak just above his forearm in the pierced cloth.
My expression remained serious as I didn't say anything. Zordus looked at his arm with a mouthful of pastry, but there were loud gasps from the crowd.
"M…my lord! Your arm. W..we need to take his highness to a doctor!" A young man stepped out, his expression a bit startled.
"Oh, this? Ah, guess I do need to patch this wound, huh?" I glanced at Zordus as he said nonchalantly.
"There isn't a doctor here but there is a herbalist shop right back in the alley." A young boy spoke, raising his hand as if asked a question.
"Hm, I see. Will you guide us there then?" I looked at the young boy.
"Of course my lord, please follow me." The boy replied calmly and bowed, turning around and walking towards a small alleyway.
"Well, you have to get it patched anyway." I looked up at Zordus, as he pulled out the last pastry.
"Mhm, guess I should." He said calmly. The boy looked back, waiting for us.
We then followed the boy for a good minute, until he stopped in front of a small herbalist shop.
"This one, my lords."
My gaze flickered at the boy who stood calmly in front of us. "I appreciate you bringing us here kid."
"Yeah, thank you." Zordus said with a poker face.
The kid seemed to smile. I pulled the bag and handed it over to him. "Here, take this."
He took the bag without any hesitation and looked inside, his eyes lighting up. "Thank you very much, my lord!"
I gazed at the boys leaving form before looking back at Zordus.
"You didn't have to give him your pastries, though…" Zordus spoke.
"Let's just go inside before something else happens to you, your highness." I teased, my hands folded behind my back.
He scoffed, without replying he opened the door, a bell rang and a woman's voice echoed.
"COMING!"
We walked inside, the door closing behind us. The smell of different herbs was a stark contrast from the world outside. There were two chairs scattered around the side of the counter.
Zordus on the other hand, looked around with a daze, acting as if his arm was not soaked with blood. As his gaze fell on the chairs he walked towards them and sat down.
I walked towards him and stood aside him, casting a subtle glance around and noticing no one had come yet, "You can sit down, you know?" Zordus said, crossing his arms while glancing at me with a calm expression.
"Of course." I then pulled the chair beside him and sat down.
"Oh my…I'm so,so sorry, I made you guys wait."
I and Zordus both glanced back, and a woman who looked no older than Zordus approached us.
She walked towards the counter and stood in front of us, hands clasped together in front with a soft smile as she greeted us, her eyes immediately falling down at the blood soaked arm of Zordus. "Good morning sirs, how may I be any help to you two?"
It seemed like the woman did not know about us either, with a subtle smile I nodded in response and spoke, "Good morning, Miss. My brother got scratched by a nail on the arm when a carriage was passing by us, and it seems like the blood just keeps flowing."
The woman glanced at Zordus who was sitting as if nothing had happened to him while looking around the shop. The woman then nodded and spoke.
"I see. I would need sir…"
"Zordus—" I glanced back at Zordus as he told her his name, a hint of disbelief on my face, my eyes widened, not from shock but from amusement since he was not the one to ever tell anyone about himself just like that.
"Ah, Sir Zordus…I would need you to fold your sleeve up to where the wound is, I need to take a look at it…and can you tell me if the nail was rusty or not?" She asked with a calm voice.
"The carriage looked pretty old, so it was definitely rusty." I replied.
The woman nodded and moved around the counter, rummaging through various cabinets. "Let's see… Ah, yarrow would work perfectly fine. It will stop the bleeding as well…where did I put it?"
She looked around for a bit, but it was to no avail. She then sighed and barked out a name. "Gray! Bring me both dried and water infused yarrow from the kitchen."