Dance of the Damned

Blurred Vision

Elise did not have the time to grab an extra layer as she helped to get horses for everyone, finally getting one for herself already soaked.

Everyone stared at her as she trembled like a leaf while holding the reins of the horse.

"Lead the way." She shouted as the rain began to seep into her dress.

"I would advise you to get a cloak, Elise," Philip said, looking at her with concern as she dragged the horse to them. "The Lord and Lady are not out yet."

She is the only one without a cloak as the others, even the guests have one already on them to protect them from the rain though only one guard is following them.

"I will not waste a second looking for it," Elise said, glaring at Philip as the waters ran down her red face. "I need to get to him first. Whether you will allow me to or not."

The Lady and Lord came out with entirely different attire, proper protection from the rain and comfort.

"Shall we get going?" The Lord asked, climbing onto his horse with the Lady behind him, covered from head to toe with water-proof cloth.

Suddenly Elise felt something warm envelop her, also, the raindrops stopped touching her face when the cloak was placed over her.

Walking past her is the man from inside the room, with just a white shirt and pants on as the guards offered their cloak for her to use instead but he took it for himself instead.

"Your majesty." She gasped, trying to take the cloak off as she could feel the glaring stares of the Lord and Lady.

"I admire your dedication." The man said, getting on his horse. "But the young master still needs you to be healthy. Right?"

"I ... thank you." She said, getting on her horse, followed by everyone else.

"It is my pleasure." He said pleasantly then turned to Philip. "Shall we go?"

"Yes." the man said, taking off immediately, followed by the others.

"Young master. Please. Please be alright." Elise mumbled to herself, speeding the horse up to be near Philip and the other man.

"He will be fine!" Philip shouted once he saw Elise just beside him, she was very close to overtaking him too.

"Is it the one I think it is?!" She asked, matching his speed.

"Yes! You know that one!" Philip shouted back. "It was the closest one!"

"Ok!" She shouted, turning to the man and making eye contact with him. "Your majesty! I am going ahead!"

"Go on!" He shouted with a laugh, seeming to be enjoying himself. As they passed more and more blossomed flowers.

Not waiting another second, Elise slapped the reins of the horse as it took off faster than anyone else in the group.

Wait for me, young master. I am coming.

_____________________

Seated on a chair outside the room they just took Micah in, Briar nervously listened to the ticking of the clock as people passed him back and forth.

Trying not to have his mind begin to wander to unsavoury places, he opted to look around him instead.

Upon entering the place, he had not realised just how small this place really is. There is the entranceway that they came in through, then there is this hallway that leads to a small space where he is waiting at.

After that, there are three doors, one where they took Micah in and the other where some nurses and doctors were walking in and out of.

As the doors opened, he noticed some people laying on some beds while the nurses checked on them, walking back and forth with smiles on their faces.

The place looked like it was ready to collapse with the cracks all along the walls and broken pieces of the wall falling off when someone rushed by.

The third door seemed like an office of sorts with several tables lined on either side of the room and covered with all kinds of papers and other things he could not recognise.

After looking at all the rooms, he stared at the walls, a single grandfather clock hung on the wall along with a calendar from three years ago.

Strange. He thought, leaning back against the chair as some nurses passed him, offering a comforting smile that he mirrored though he did not feel it.

Unwittingly his mind began to wander to the minutes before he ran to the marketplace, everything was a blur as he struggled to even remember what happened the instant he realised that Micah was nowhere to be found.

But the one thing that stuck with him is the servant that told him about what he saw. He bumped into him as he turned the corner, making him spill a box of parsnips all over the ground.

Apologising, he helped to pick them up and put them into the box again when the man said, “The Lady is quite cruel, don’t you think so?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, not paying attention as he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible and begin searching for Micah again. “Do you know you will be punished if she hears you?”

“Well, it is not my place to say but I saw her send the young master off to the marketplace alone, stating that they needed parsnips when she already sent me to get them.” He pointed to the box in front of him.

“H-how do you know this?” He asked, still sceptical. She would never send him to the marketplace alone, right? It is too dangerous for him.

“I arrived at the estate the instant the young master left on the new carriage the Lady bought. I struck up a conversation with the driver who seemed a little too eager to get to the marketplace that he told me the Lady sent them to buy parsnips.” He shrugged. “I do hope he is fine, I saw some other people with the driver I do not recognise.”

Briar didn’t wait for anything else anymore as he took off, found his father and the two tried to get a horse but they did not have the time to mount any of them so they ran to the streets and met the servant from earlier again.

“Oh? Hello again,” he asked, as he sat on his horse-drawn cart. “I have to go to the marketplace again. It seems we are out of potatoes.”

“Can you take us?” Briar asked, a ringing beginning in his ears. “We need to get to the marketplace.”

“Sure. Hop on.” He pointed to the wagon and they jumped on as he took off immediately.

Briar sighed, coming back to the present. If he was not there … we would have been very late. I … I should thank him when I see him again.

But … this doesn’t mean Micah will live. This doesn’t mean I was on time but he was of great help. Whether Micah lives or not … I will …

Tears streamed down the boy’s face as he held his face in between his hands, trying to stop the tears from flowing but they would not stop.

The ticking of the clock and light laughter from the room with patients well enough to be able to c***k a joke overwhelmed Briar as his head bent to his lap, arms over his ears to block the sound up.

Everything felt like it was mocking him and he wanted to leave, he wanted to run as far away as possible but he couldn’t. Micah’s voice and expression as well as his promise replayed themselves over and over again in his mind, keeping him rooted in place.

Even if this place were to collapse, I will stay right here.

_____________________

A few minutes earlier, Micah released Briar’s hand as the doctors took him into the room, closing the door behind them.

They laid him on a bed in the middle of the room and were checking his wounds, cutting the blood-dried clothes from his body as they begin to stitch his wounds closed after disinfecting the wounds.

“He lost a lot of blood,” Someone at the left of him said, “What is your blood type, child?”

“AB posit-. Ouch.” He said brightly the paused then a thread ran through his skin, breaking it instead of closing it up.

“He has very, very thin skin. It’s like trying to stitch soft butter.” The person said, pressing a cloth against the wound as the thread fell out of the torn made in the hole from the stitching.

“We don’t have any AB blood bags.” Someone burst into the room while Micah leaned back on the bed, sighing with a smile on his face. “I just send someone to see if they can get it from the hospital.”

“He does not have too long before he bleeds to death.” The doctor said, voice full of panic. “This is only a small clinic, so we have very limited supply.”

“We can’t stitch up his wounds too. The threads are too sharp.” Someone else said as they plastered cotton and bandages over the wounds instead.

“It is alright. Everything is ok.” Micah said brightly, looking at all of them as his skin slowly turned even duller than it already was. “Just give it a few seconds.”

Suddenly the doors opened to reveal a figure walking into the room.