Chapter 03: What I Need to Do

With Markus on beside her, they rushed to where her father was staying at the top of the castle. Because of his sickness that made him weak and his already old age, he rarely left his chambers.

Ashbourne Castle was built by her great-grandfather. He was a merchant who was quite smart in his days to gather up as much gold as he could get in his entire lifetime. It was common for a merchant to continue living their remaining lives as a merchant but my great-grandfather defied the normal cycle as he used all of his money to build the castle.

Eventually, Ashbourne Castle became the salvation of several refugees and the villagers who were victims of wars that were happening during the War of Two Kings, and soon became learned people after her great-grandfather helped and teach all of them. Some of them now lived inside the castle and earned a few silver coins that was already enough to feed a family of five for a year.

When Eliana reached the top floor of the castle where he resides in, and saw her father's wooden door, her feet couldn't help but quicken. Eliana opened the door as soon as she stood before the chamber and opened it.

Inside the room that was wide enough for two small townhouses to be built inside it, there was only a wide bed, cabinets filled with clothes, cupboards, side tables, chairs, and oil lamps which were all put into good use by my father. There was also a slightly bigger table situated near the window and wall. She remembered that it was the same table he used when he took care of the state matters.

Eliana glanced at the bed and saw her father lying down the bed with his eyes closed. Seeing him breathing rhythmically and timely, Eliana sighed in relief. If something happened to her father now, she didn't know what she would do.

"How is he, Mateo?" Eliana asked the healer who was seated beside the bed.

Mateo, the healer sighed, as he responded to her question, "Your father was aggravated by what happened in the main hall and affected his health." He said, already assuming that Markus already told her most of the events that took place in the hall. "Thankfully, there aren't many complications found in his body," he added.

Eliana found myself relaxing a little bit, but the healer continued. "However, I am not too sure why he is still asleep."

Stunned and confused, Eliana looked at the healer with eyebrows curled upward. "What... what do you mean by that?"

"Your father should have woken up already before you arrived since I diagnosed that his body is completely fine. It's just that he hasn't opened his eyes. I tried a couple of methods to wake him up since it is harmful for him to not wake up as soon as I healed him. But no matter the method was… nothing happened." The healer stood up and added on. "I honestly don't know when he will wake up."

"Does that mean…" As if a thunder struck her back raw, Eliana felt my knees giving away and she held the bedpost for support.

"Are you saying, he'll keep on sleeping and won't ever wake up?"

Eliana was repeating what the healer told her, but she still couldn't force herself to accept this. Her father was completely alright just this morning and he even waved his hand at her when she left. But now… here he was sleeping peacefully like a child, leaving his daughter and his people to fend for themselves against the clouds of war.

Mateo nodded.

"Isn't there anything you could do?" her voice cracked when she asked him.

Mateo didn't take offense at her words and sighed. "Milady, I did everything I could do for your father. Only the gods know when he will wake up."

'Or maybe he won't.' Mateo left these words unspoken as he didn't want the young lady to be heartbroken in times like this. But Eliana still caught it in his eyes.

"Milady, I shall leave now and go back to the infirmary." Mateo bid his farewell and headed for the door after Eliana nodded at him.

Eliana didn't have the energy to follow the healer and just sat on the edge of the bed. She wondered why, of all the time her father could become like this, a war was about to break in Ashbourne Castle in ten days.

Choking a sob, Eliana held her father's hand and kissed it. She wished her father could wake up and scold her for going against his wishes, for stealing a bread on the table and giving it to a cat hiding under the table, for hiding in the library and read novels a passing merchant sold to her maid. But her father kept his eyes closed with his complexion pale.

"What are we going to do? The Duke gave us ten days and my father is not in his perfect condition to do anything about it." Eliana brought her knees up and put her chin on top of them.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she imagined the worse outcome of the war.

From across the room, Eliana saw her father's best friend and right-hand man peeled himself from the wall and walked towards the bed. He had been in the chamber this whole time but remained silent as if giving her the chance to mourn.

"Little girl, come with me." Fabios said as he held out his hand to her

Looking up at him, Eliana blinked her tears away. "Uncle Whitebeard." she called out her favorite nickname she gave to her father's best friend, Fabios.

Fabios gave her a warm smile and patted her head just like how he would've done when Eliana first stumbled down the ground and scraped her knees when she tried following him.

Everyone was shocked when they saw her running towards him with a big smile on her lips in the past. Eliana recalled how people tried to dissuade her to go after him since many feared Fabios, not only because he looked scary, but because of the respect and fear they felt towards her father's right-hand.

The old man had a white long beard hanging from his round chin and large green eyes. His bushy eyebrows were so thick that children from the villages and town would hide away upon seeing him a few meters away.

"Little girl, walk with me into the corridors. I want to show you something." He told her and stepped back.

Not doubting him even for a second, Eliana took his hand and went out of the room, leaving Markus inside.

In the gray hallways of the castle, they walked side to side. Whenever a servant or a maid passed us by, the maids would bow to them and lower their voices before rushing off. The hallway was slightly wide and only one side of it was occupied by rooms while the other side was the walls filled with windows as tall as a person.

Upon passing by the first window, Fabios stopped and stood before it. Eliana followed in tune and looked outside the window.

"Do you know what is outside the castle?" He suddenly asked, making her look at him.

Eliana nodded her head and mindlessly supplied. "Villages, towns, farms. There are also wide valleys and forest and rivers spanned by bridges that my great-grandfather built in the past."

"And what is the most important thing within those you have listed." He asked her again.

Understanding flashed in her eyes as she unhesitatingly answered. "The people in it."

Fabios looked at her like a proud father, "That is right. Everything inside Ashbourne Castle is important, but nothing is more important than your people, Eliana."

A lengthy silence split us up before Eliana heard him speak again, "You're still young. But you must understand what you need to do."

Eliana nodded. "I honestly don't know what to do if I ever fought against the Duke…" she raised my head to look at him, and said with no fear, "But I swear I will keep my people safe and protected from my enemies until Death claims my soul."