Chapter Five

Edgar responds with a snort.

"Cut it with the background. I don't want to be associated with that man. Gives me a headache whenever I hear his voice and now his name."

Ludwig sits down beside me and joins me in gawking at Edgar's well-built frame and outstanding features.

"You're a Keiju, yeah?" Ludwig eventually asks, and the young man rolls his eyes.

"Took you long enough to notice."

"What bloodline?"

"Rosenrough."

"Oh? You aren't using a bow and arrow like the rest of your bloodline?"

"That's racist."

"I'm not being racist, I'm just being curious."

"Wh-what's a Kei...ju?" I manage to ask between the two young men bickering with one another.

Ludwig and Edgar both look at me with bewildered expressions. I am in no way offended though; I am used to the look since the early days as a child playing with the other royal heirs. The way they looked at me when I questioned the existence or the meaning of some of the most basic concepts, objects, and ideas has never left my head.

In the darkness, the glow of my staff illuminates the crimson fluid dripping from Ludwig's chin, originating from his cheek, where a small cut was made. I also notice his entire left hand is bloody, clasped over the lower right side of his abdomen.

Nonetheless, the spy smiles as if nothing is wrong and answers my question.

"Keiju are magical beings who mainly dwell in the Cineian Forest in this kingdom. There are a total of five bloodlines and they are usually distinguished by their pointed ears, though one bloodline does have slightly rounded ears that are more similar to your ears and mine. Each of the Keiju bloodlines also has a natural talent for a weapon.

"The bloodline Edgar claims he's a part of, Rosenrough, excels in using bows and arrows. But, based on his experience with a spear, he might be part of the Kuu bloodline. Honestly, I don't care, and was just wondering because it's my nature to be curious, not racist," Ludwig narrows his eyes and frowns in Edgar's direction as he emphasizes certain words in his explanation.

"Since you explained to this boy who I am, I believe I'm obligated to know who you both are," Edgar's red eyes switch between me and Ludwig, who returns to smiling.

"I'm Ludwig Casimir, a spy from Chidora, and this is Theo Veles, Crown Prince of Luimesha. I just recently recused him from being assassinated by someone he seemed to know very well, and who is now lying dead on his bedroom's floor. Did you know he was abducted as a child by spies from Aegia sixteen years ago?" Ludwig can only make motions with his right hand as his left hand remains pressed over the wound on his abdomen.

"You're the prince no one talks about? I've only heard your name once or twice since I've been here, and even those who uttered your name weren't exactly sure about your origins or if you were even alive," Edgar studies me with his eyes, and I can not bring myself to meet this gaze.

I have never met such an intimidating person before, much less one of Aegia's spearmen. Were all of the spearmen so scary? Did they wear black armor and wield spears that could cut through anything with little effort?

"Typical," I mutter, relieved to at least say an entire word, though my throat burns afterward.

Not to mention, my stomach was aching for food. Has it really been twenty-four hours since Ludwig's visit with Hinora, or whatever it was called? It was certainly tasty and did remind me of chocolate.

I immediately thought back to the chocolate cake. It was in celebration of my seventeenth birthday, which, if it was already past midnight, was today. Thankfully, I didn't eat it, so I wasn't knocked out like Miss Kali said I would be had I taken a bite. If I did happen to eat it though, would Ludwig have risked his life to save me? Was he getting paid so much to save me as to put his life on the line to bring me back to my parents, if that was even his plan?

I steal a glance over at the spy, who lifts his hand from his wound, and gives it a curious look, then shivers and covers his wound again. Before I can bring attention to it, Edgar speaks first.

"You okay?"

Ludwig looks up at him and just smiles while nodding his head. He then attempts to stand up but squeezes his eyes shut and lowers himself onto the ground again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just need to sit here a while longer, and I'll be able to continue to Luimesha," Ludwig lets out a labored breath after his statements, and I can't help but grab my staff from where it lays to my right, and stare at the glowing crystal as if it would answer all my questions.

"Good," Edgar dismissively replies, and I gently reach over and grab Ludwig's left wrist.

The spy meets my eyes, with an expression on the line between concern and pain.

"I want to...look at it. Maybe I can...help relieve the pain..." My throat burns with every few words I say, but I want to get my message across to Ludwig and try to help him.

It is the beginning of what I will owe him at the end of the journey he has promised to take me on.

"Theo..." Ludwig tries to find a reason to protest, but cannot find the words to refuse my request.

He lifts his hand from the wound, and I move my staff close to it so I can see what the injury is exactly. But, before I can get a good look at it, a soft stream of light surrounds the wound from the crystal, and the bloodied and torn skin is clean and together as if nothing ever happened.

In awe, I pull my staff back towards me and turn it around in my trembling hands. Did I just use magic? Was Aziel a Dracecean? But then how was I able to wield it? I thought I had heard the term "Amite" after my name almost on a daily basis, though I had no idea what it meant.

I remembered, from what Miss Kali taught me, that Draceceans were people who could wield magic, either using it for their physical skills or ability to make use of it through wielding weapons, like the staff I had now. But I was never told what an Amite was. Maybe Ludwig or Edgar would know?

"Woah! Theo, my little doctor! It looks like I never even got stabbed with that poison knife of that chocolate cake insulter!" Ludwig exclaims, and I am unable to hold back an expression of shock, to which Edgar copies, though to an obviously less intense effect.

"Poison? A-are you sure...you're alright?" I bring my staff up to my chest and feel my whole body grow comfortably warm.

I hadn't realized I was shivering until the warmth came over me. This staff, what powers did it actually have? Not only the power to heal wounds but also to change the temperature around me so I could stay comfortable despite the surrounding temperature. Surely that was all it could do, right?

"Pfft! With healing power of that caliber, I'm completely energized and ready to go!" Ludwig jumps up and shoots me another smile and a thumbs-up with his right hand.

I look over to Edgar, who quizzically stares at Ludwig before sighing, shaking his head, and beginning to walk away from us.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ludwig calls out, bounding over me in a single leap, sending me back onto the ground.

"Back to my sleeping quarters. The racket from the castle woke me up," Edgar replies without turning to face the spy or me.

"Don't you want to accompany us to Luimesha? Don't lie; I saw that spark of curiosity in your eyes once I mentioned that kingdom," Ludwig, undeterred by the young man's tone, approaches him with a bright smile.

But Edgar, now facing Ludwig, just scowls and takes a few steps back.

"You must have been hallucinating. I have no interest in other kingdoms."

"Huh? Hallucinating? What makes you so confident in your false claim? And how can you not be the least bit interested in other kingdoms?"

But Edgar just stays silent and turns away from the spy, facing the castle.

"Come on, Edgar, travel with me and little Theo!" Ludwig gestures to me, and I force myself to meet Edgar's gaze.

"Pl-please..." I manage a weak plea.

Silence meets my word.

Ludwig locks eyes with me. He gives me a single nod and a shining smile as if he is assuring me my plea will not be in vain.

"Oh, if you insist, Edgar. You can go back to your warm quarters while I and the Crown Prince of Luimesha set off, through the cold, unprotected, against a million dangers that I or he will be unable to fend off. If only there was someone to protect us. Someone strong and capable of saving lives, who would love to see the dragons of Luimesha!" Ludwig waves his hands about in wild motions, and I, for the first time, can not help but laugh, though it turns into a fit of coughing only moments later.

Edgar slowly turns to face Ludwig, his eyes narrowed, but not in a sign of hostility. He sighs, briefly closes his eyes, and summons his black spear by putting his right hand out, palm open.

"Fine. I'll join you. But only because I expect Luimesha to make me a new set of armor from the scales of dragons once we arrive there. The armor my father has given me is pathetically weak, and the armor that accompanies my spear is too plain for my taste," Edgar remarks, but Ludwig just smiles and laughs.

" Hehehe! Whatever you say, Edgar!"

And, for the first time, the smile on my face is genuine, expressing true happiness that I thought I could never experience.

Though it is short-lived, as the question I wished to ask earlier pops into my head.

"L-Ludwig..?" I stare at the spy in another attempt to catch his attention if my voice itself won't.

But his head swivels to stare at me, his body following.

"Yes, little Theo?" Ludwig awaits my question, whilst Edgar examines his spear from where he now sits several feet from me.

"I-I think I'm an...Amite. What's that?"

Ludwig's smile instantly fades. Edgar looks up, his eyes wide.

"Ex-excuse me? Are you sure you aren't sleepy, Theo?" Ludwig's words are edged with concern, a sharp contrast from the cheerful air they usually carry.

"I...may not be able...to talk well, but...I can hear...perfectly fine..." I retort, breaking out in another fit of coughing after my statement.

Edgar and Ludwig exchange glances. Edgar gestures to the spy with a wave of his left hand, his right hand wrapped over the handle of his spear.

Ludwig meets my gaze, though his expression clearly displays his uncertainty.

"Amites are beings, usually humans, who can't use magic. They can't make use of Surgai, or even Mirene, like Verinen are able to use. There is a very small chance that some Amites are still alive besides you, but when it was discovered you were an Amite at birth, you should have- or rather, you should be..." Ludwig's voice trails off and he quickly averts his blue eyes from my green.

"What? What...should I be?" I ask, all of my attention on the spy.

"Maybe it's better if you don't-" Edgar begins.

"No! Tell me!" I try my best to raise my voice while my throat burns and aches, begging me to stop talking so much.

I'm a prince. The truth, no matter how horrible it may be, should not be kept from me. I would hear much worse upon the throne once I arrived back in Luimesha and rose to rule my rightful kingdom, anyway. Whatever Ludwig had to say could not be shocking. Not as shocking as discovering Miss Kali was going to kill me if that could be considered the most shocking thing I have faced thus far.

Ludwig forces himself to meet my eyes once again. He takes a deep breath before answering my demand.

"You should be dead, Theo."