18 Goodbye (3)

Support my main contracted novel and winner of Writing Prompts #26 - The Legendary Mage!

Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!

https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!

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Sam struggled to get up, but was struck by a dizzy spell and collapsed back. Her left shoulder... Rather than pain, it was better to say that it was numb... She didn't dare to open her bandages to find out her condition after being chewed on by that *thing*.

The nurse and Principal Snow were startled when she tried to get up and fell back into the bed. The nurse bustled over to her side, and felt her forehead temperature, then adjusted the weak girl's pillow and neck to make sure she rested well.

Seeing her heavy eyelids trembling as she fought to stay conscious, Principal Snow urged her to rest - while wiping the water from his face with a white lacey handkerchief. "Reeve is fine. You'll be surprised how effective healing herbs and magic can be when the rich have their sights on--" he trailed off when he noticed she had fallen asleep.

The short man stood up, the top of his head barely reaching the top of nurse's shoulder. He sighed, sad to see the young man's future destroyed from misfortune. Even if those at the top didn't consider him a talent, he still wanted to guide her to find his own path and make a name for himself.

He left to see Reeve, thinking to himself how creepy it was to see Samuel cried over a boy he had just met a few hours earlier..

He climbed the 20 or so steps to the next floor and opened the door to the room at the far end of the eastern corridor. Entering, he was startled to see that the young Baron was already there with his guard captain and his advisor, a beautiful middle aged woman with a strong jawline. Her height would be intimidating, if not for her serene and wise countenance.

The 3 visitors wore contrasting attire - the Baron in his fine black military-officer outfit with horribly tacky gold and silver lining, the woman in light-grey mage robes and guard captain in a simple brown shirt-pants combo.

"Principal Snow!" The young noble smiled warmly, and greeted him by placing his right hand on his left breast, nodding slightly as a sign of respect to an elder. Otherwise, with the difference of status, he would not even need to show any greetings; he only needed to wait to receive the gesture from the older man.

"Please, just call me Reynaldis, or Rey," Principal Snow responded, while returning the greeting but with a bow. He then walked to stand by Reeve's bedside, where the boy was fully healed from the gaping hole in his chest - a miracle brought about by the power of money and rare treasures...

Baron Novius gestured to his advisor, who stepped forward and introduced herself as Caitlyn, his overall counsel and advisor. They exchanged a few lines of pleasantries and he invited her to visit the academy library whenever she had the chance.

Rey then nodded at his son, Roland who had introduced the Baron to Pari to recruit young talents, before turning to the "star" of the occasion.

"How are you feeling...?" Rey asked Reeve.

"Principal... i feel frail as a child... But otherwise ok. Is Lily well...? How about Samuel?" Reeve smiled weakly, then looked concerned but also slightly conflicted, his cheeks slightly flushed - probably due to his pale complexion.

Rey smiled in understanding, assuring him that Lily was well and would be visiting soon. "We didn't let anyone except your father and the physicians into the 2nd or 3rd floor until today, since Father Tristan mentioned you should be stirring soon. Of course, she cried everyday while begging to see you, but the Father was very firm about not letting anyone in..."

"And Samuel...?" Reeve asked, his consternation showing.

At this, Rey paused, clearly hesitant to say anything that might burden his conscience - and his recovery of strength. The boy was distraught, and urged Rey to speak.

"He... Well, he's alive and woke up even earlier than you, but..."

"Principal...?"

"Young Reeve, you needn't worry." Sensing the opportunity to win the loyalty of the boy talent he greatly valued, Baron Novius interjected.

"The young man shall be well compensated, and provided the best care this town can offer. We have already contributed from our personal reserves--" he turned to look at the Principal and Caitlyn who both nodded. "--which is likely the reason he survived until now."

"...Will he still be able to fight? And recover his same condition...?"

The Baron shook his head, explaining, "He should be thankful to even be alive." He approached to pat Reeve on the shoulder to comfort him. "You already did your best to protect him; he owes his life to you. And he's just a level 1, he wasn't very far from a normal person anyway, not even close to a talent like you--"

Reeve was sharp, and had been trained by his father to understand the spoken and unspoken cues, as well as converse smoothly with people of peerage. However, he was also weak, unwell and already worried for his benefactor and, hopefully, rival. Hence he lost his cool, and he raised his voice. Most of all, he had always been an upright, forthright boy. A 15 year old boy who was filled with admiration for his rival-turned-saviour.

"You, you... You think I protected him...?" Reeve was livid as he continued. "Samuel... Samuel stood before me to protect me, risked his life and defeated that creature all by himself... And you say it doesn't matter?" His eyes had turned red and moist, to his own surprise. "Even if you have not a rat's ass of an idea about him, about his, his amazing strength... Is the only thing important to you, collecting a team of your so called "talents"...?" By now he was nearly shouting.

Caught in an awkward situation, Caitlyn and Ronald, the guard captain, were stunned, while Baron Novius' face turned white, then pink, then red, then blue as he exerted his utmost self-restraint. He almost felt like even the once in 100 years talent was not worth it.

Realising that things had gone too far in the wrong direction, the Principal stepped forward to mediate. "Now, now Reeve, that's no way to speak to the Baron who saved Samuel's life." Reeve, realising also that he had stepped far out of line, hesitated, then nodded apologetically. But he still could not bear to bring himself to look at the young noble, his countenance still marked with resentment.

Rey continued, "The Baron contributed more than half the medicines for Samuel' s treatment, not to mention the Heartsblood Root used to fill up the hole in your chest and missing parts of spine..."

Hearing the name of the precious herb nearly at the level of a mythical treasure, Reeve breathed deeply, then let loose a long breath, struggling to rein in his anger. "...My apologies. I did not know, and spoke out of ignorance. Please forgive your servant for his impetuousness." Reeve spoke with a flat, numb voice. He then closed his eyes and lay back, fatigued from the short outburst.

"Ahem, mayhaps the boy is just tired and not yet ready to talk. You know, emotions can run high when having a near-death experience..." Coughing to relieve the tension, Caitlyn offered a way out for the two young men. "The young man should rest and regain his strength quickly. We look forward to receiving you at Turin once you're ready." Rey felt her accent has slightly odd, unlike those from the Uro or Roman areas.

Taking Reeve's non-commital grunt as assent, she smiled at Principal Reynaldis and the Baron. "Why don't we withdraw to the Baron's dwelling and have a cup of tea before dinner...? And leave the valiant young hero to recuperate in peace." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

The group bid Reeve farewell, leaving him to rest as they embarked to the Golden Crown inn. It was the best lodging place in town, but obviously not up to the standards of comfort the Baron was used to, being the son of a Marquis - the 2nd highest non-royal rank in the Uro and Roman empires.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Lily and Reeve's father came to visit, along with some of the lightly hurt children who were not able to join the trip to NDLDG's tomb, and those whose duties of work prevented them from taking leave - Stella and Mabel, among others.

After visiting Reeve, most of the children dispersed as it was nearing dinner time. Mayor Gabriel was weary from the long list of documents he had to sift through - the case at the academy had increased his workload by a good 2 hours daily, just reading the reports of complaints and possibke leads.

But before he could speak up to return home, Lily jumped up and down in impatience, dragging her father to the 2nd floor and asked the nurse where her brother's saviour was. She then ran over to the door of the room the nurse indicated, then stopped abruptly right in front of it. She then slowly opened the door and entered, afraid to disturb his sleep.

Mayor Gabriel was startled at her hurry, following after her to Samuel's room.

When he walked through the doorway, he stopped. He was thankful to the boy, but that was all. He didn't believe Reeve's claims that the grandson of the beggar Lucius could be his saviour; it was probably Reeve trying to be humble and help his classmate secure better treatment from the Baron and himself...

It was too bad that Samuel would from henceforth be worse than a regular boy, what with his crippled left arm...

He walked over to where Lily sat, her head laid on her two clasped hands which were on the bed, beside Samuel. As usual, she was praying to her imaginary god, who she claimed loved everyone. He shook his head as a doting father would - his encounters with the gods left him with the impression of dealing with mercenaries - or maybe even robbers.

He felt a tinge of sadness seeing her cry over the boy - she was too kind hearted, and still at the age where everything her brother said was her entire truth.

He allowed her to stay for 2 minutes more, before urging her to leave. She shook her head, and only relented when he promised to bring her again tomorrow.

As Mayor Gabriel walked back, his daughter in tow, holding hands with him, he still thanked Uropa, Zeus, Hermes and the pantheon of gods for the heaven-sent serendipity - regardless of his injuries, Reeve's shocking talent of defeating a nightmare stalker 5 levels above him was enough to even make a Marquis take note of him!

And as they reached their home and the girl ran to hug her mother, crying in her bosom over her hurt brother and crippled friend, a certain girl lay unconscious.

If one looked closer, they could see the golden glow of motes of light floating from all around and landing on her. If they looked even closer, they would see and even hear the flesh, muscle, nerves and even bone regrowing - visible to the naked eye.