The Final Lesson, page 22
part #1 of The Final Lesson Series
She rested a hand on her hip. “I thought that was you. It’s been a while.” Lancett gulped; she didn’t look too pleased with him, even if her tone was quite the contrary.
“Whoa-ho! That Lance’s girl?” The farmer furthest left piped up without bothering to whisper, brushing some of his wheat-colored hair out of his face.
“Nuts! He was just talkin’ about her!”
Leilana cocked her head to the left, mostly oblivious to the context, her hair caressing her shoulder. “I think we need to talk.”
Lancett flinched, her tone still icing his heart. Every word that she spoke chilled him to the core. “O-Oh, yes, of course. Um,” He stepped out of the patches of dirt, fumbling over the tools lining the area. “everyone, a moment, if I may.”
“Don’t go too crazy,” One of the men told him, waving a hand in dismissal.
Leilana took a glance at the bag that Lunious had given her and scoffed. As hungry as she felt, she knew that it wasn’t wise to accept food from someone that she didn’t have complete trust in. She left the bag near the fields. Maybe the other villagers could favor it more?
“Follow me,” Lancett told her, starting down the beaten path in the opposite direction.
Leilana stared at his back and watched him dust off his clothes, fix his hair, generally try to make himself more appealing to her eyes. She wasn’t sure what he was going for, but he supposed that every little gesture would improve his chances. He seemed the type to try and quell a situation before it became too unbearable, but she was uncertain of what came if he failed. There was one thing that she already knew though; he wanted to talk about why he left and how he ended up in this place fixing up a garden. He wanted to touch base.
“Where are you taking me anyway?”
“I made a friend here,” he began, placing his hands in his pockets. “She showed me a place where she goes to speak in private with her younger sister. I can explain everything if you will allow me.” Leilana decided it better to remain silent until that time came. It was easier to gather her thoughts rather than let them bubble to the surface like Amiria’s.
The two came to a stop just outside of town, where several trees and vines lined their sight. Lancett approached some vines hanging low and brushed them aside with his hand, knocking them to the ground and revealing a field of flowers beyond the base of the area. No light shone to the outside—no one would be able to see them, the exchanged words lost to the wind. To Leilana, it was as if they had stepped into another world, shielded from Linarus.
“Here we are,” Lancett told her, gesturing her towards the field.
Leilana should have been elated; she was back with Lancett again after having searched for him, but she couldn’t help thinking of Solus and Rem. They had spent time together, merely a week, and she was already well connected to their plight. She was practically their prisoner, too willful to free herself from their unbuckled chains.
“I know there’s a lot to explain,” Lancett spoke up. “But I want to know your thoughts.”
Leilana sighed and took a seat in the grass, folding her legs, setting the Lasette on her lap. “I’ll be frank—I’m not happy. We were supposed to stick together. Weren’t we?” Lancett’s mouth went dry. “You went off on your own to look for Amiria. You didn’t come back to see if I was alive.”
“I believed in you,” Lancett cut in. “I know you, and I know that you would never back down and allow life to be stripped from you. And you weren’t alone, which I am thankful for.”
“Solus and Rem are decent,” Leilana stated. “I would be dead if not for them.” Her eyes were filled with sincerity. Her heart had already stemmed from a new light, all without him at her side. Lancett withheld a frown. He couldn’t allow himself to be jealous of people that he didn’t even know.
“I know that what I did was reckless, and you’re right to be upset at me. But I want to try and explain why I took off like that.”
She flipped open the Lasette and skimmed through the pages. “You’d better make it good.” Lancett wanted to retort that she could have at least pretended to acknowledge him, but decided it was better to avoid a worse outcome.
“I mean, um… you already know that I left to search for Amiria.” She silently nodded. “I felt like I had a duty to Kindall to bring her back.” Leilana had to admit, she was intrigued. A duty to a lost friend; it seemed like something that he would do, being as noble as he let on.
“Kindall risked his life to save us all from the blaze,” he continued, “but he was so infatuated with Amiria that he chose to let her go, knowing that it could potentially cost him. And she feels as though his death is completely on her-”
“That’s because it was,” Leilana cut in. “You need to stop sugarcoating things. Amiria broke down, and she took it out on us. She may have good intentions, but her execution is not that of a person with a gentle spirit. I’ve seen more of her than you have since we stepped out of the academy, Lancett. Whatever rested in her always existed—it just needed a reason to surface.”
“Then, you’ve found her?”
“I did, for a time. She left before anyone could convince her of any wrongdoings.”
“I think that you’re wrong about her. She was probably overwhelmed. Master Kosmin said so himself; Amiria is set to walk down a path of disaster and sudden change, and it’s unknown whether she’ll experience it.”
Leilana shook her head. “Even so, she should have taken his words in stride rather than following them directly. He said that if we take the right actions, we can transcend his predictions and that no form of agony is set in stone.” She looked up at him. “You know, for someone so adamant about making amends, you sure didn’t do a good job of convincing.”
“It’s not my fault that you always try to bite someone’s head off when you aren’t satisfied with an explanation,” he countered. “You always try to push people away.”
“I don’t try to,” she responded. “I just speak my mind. If you can’t accept that, then perhaps this conversation should cease while we’re ahead.”
“You sound just like Ennis,” he said sharply, pointing a finger at her. Leilana felt her body stiffen. “Always so prudent and careful of what you say, yet you act so cold. I don’t understand you, and yet I…” He grew silent, inhaling slowly before sighing. “I care so much for you, Leilana. But there’s a lot that we both need to understand about others around us. That’s what this pilgrimage is for. And if anyone can become a Warlord someday, it’s you.”
She wasn’t sure how to take his choice of words. “What are you saying?”
“Being out here has taught me about struggling. The people in Linarus are working class, so most of their citizens are herbalists. They grow their own food. They are the only country that has the capability to heal the fatally wounded. The war in Linmus has slowed their progression—they can’t venture far outside of the region without shadowed beasts attacking them.”
That explained why Sien seemed distraught about her need to collect herbs, and the urgency about reclaiming new ones from the garden. “What a coincidence we were able to find this place then. We can help them.”
“It’s not really your place to worry…”
“It’s not yours either. But here you are, an acting force.” Lancett laughed at her words. She was right. He wasn’t from Linarus, and yet he was taking up the art of survival for their sakes. Meeting Sien allowed him the opportunity to try new things, which led him to farm.
“All right, I guess you’ve got me there. Maybe you can help.” He took both of her hands in his own, grinning. “Leilana… I think that once this war has ended, I want to stay here. And, if possible, I’d like you to stay with me.” A faint aura engulfed Lancett’s body, but he hadn’t seemed to pay it any mind.
Breech the path to overcoming hardships.
Bond yourself and shape a new form of friendship.
Her eyes went buck-wild, and he quickly broke away, dusting off his hands. “Y-You don’t have to answer that, I-I was just voicing my thoughts, pay it no mind.”
So, he was a totem carrier as well. That much was evident. That was three people she could mark off that she had encountered so far. Rem, Solus, and now Lancett. It didn’t add up so far that she had only encountered men as a part of her journey. But so far, the connections she had with each of them differed in many aspects. And Solus’s was the only one that remained a mystery. Fate had plans in store, and perhaps remaining in Linarus would uproot them.
“Anyways, um, I’ll take you to look for your friends, if they’re in this town,” Lancett stated. “Sien should be waiting for me.”
“You know Sien?” Leilana exclaimed.
Lancett raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you know who Sien is too?”
“We met yesterday after my friend decided to stir up a bit of mayhem.”
“I did hear about a fight in the tavern.” Lancett’s nose was scrunching up as he spoke, “I didn’t take you the type to associate with troublemakers.”
“It’s a long story. But it’s something for later. I need to gather some verbena and then return to the tavern. I’ve been out long enough as is.”
Lancett grinned. “Right, of course. I’ll show you the ropes.”
Leilana and Lancett returned to Midstream after gathering the necessary herbs, where they found Luna and Sien relaxing in a booth, chatting up Rem and Solus.
“Hey, Sien, I’m back for the afternoon,” Lancett called.
“Ah, good morning, Lancett,” Sien beamed. Solus and Rem stole a glance at one another before acknowledging the new face in the room in addition to their friend standing at his side. Rem gave a half-hearted shrug, the name ever familiar, and yet, the tension looming about his friend’s aura was steadily growing. Solus returned to his breakfast, pushing his eggs about. “I was wondering where you’d scampered off to when you didn’t clean the tables. Luna covered for you though, the good kid she is.”
“Sorry about that, I decided to try doing some field work after I was commissioned to take out some of the monsters outside of town.”
“Monsters?” Rem repeated. “We didn’t pass by any monsters.”
“You came from the west,” Sien began. “Lancett cleared out that region with some of the men in our task force yesterday morning. Most of them are coming from the north now. Why they chose our town, I assume it’s because of the herbal scents that attract them. But we need them to make a living, so we have to keep fending them off.”
“I wanted to help out somehow,” Leilana told Rem and Solus. “I think it’s only right.”
Solus chuckled at the proclamation, ruffling her hair. Lancett cleared his throat to mask a scoff. “It never hurts to lend a hand to those in need, and it may bring us closer to the information that we desire. We’ll get a head start while we wait for Rem to finish recovering and start up in the morning.”
“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Rem proclaimed. “We wouldn’t want to linger around for too long and end up having more issues befall the land.”
“Are you sure that you’re up to it?” Sien asked. “Your fever just broke this morning. You wouldn’t want to relapse.”
“I’ll be all right. Besides, I’ll have Solus and Leilana with me. There will be no trouble if they’re at my side. We’ll leave at sundown.”
Lancett listened attentively before addressing the two young men at the table, grinning. “By the way, I’m Lancett Lune. You must be Rem and Solus. Leilana was telling me about you on the way here. I wanted to thank you for keeping her safe.”
Solus picked up the coffee container, filling his mug halfway with the steaming liquid, adding in a portion of milk. After stirring the concoction, he dropped in a cube of sugar, unpeeled the orange on his plate and squeezed out some drops from a slice. Once he’d taken a few satisfied sips of his coffee, he feigned a smile, his budding exhaustion continuing to play a round of catch-up. Rem snagged Solus’s coffee cup right from his hands, carefully taking a drink for himself, smacking his lips once at the citric aftertaste before offering up a so-so gesture in response.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lancett. Leilana speaks highly of you,” Solus responded. “We’re glad that you’ve reunited.”
Leilana’s eyes darted between the two; they were both smiling, but neither of them seemed genuinely happy with each other’s presence. Rem forced himself out of the situation by getting up from his spot to retrieve a mug for himself, pouring a fresh cup of coffee while sitting in another booth, dousing it with sugar and milk.
“If you’re going to fight, you may as well get it over with instead of acting like teenage girls,” Luna said simply, flipping through a brochure from Kingsley that was left the previous night. Lancett snapped out of his stupor.
“I’m going to get some vegetables to steam,” he mumbled before taking off.
Sien sighed, shaking her head, mumbling to herself, “I don’t get how guys can be so closed off sometimes.”
With the tension weighing off his shoulders, Solus finished his meal. After cleaning up the tavern, Sien and Luna assisted a third shift of rowdy customers that were in and out of the door within a couple of hours. Rem continued to stare at his eggs and nurse his lukewarm cup of coffee. Solus and Leilana took to updating themselves on more information involving Linmus off in another part of the café area while Luna was fixing more food to fill the tavern. It wasn’t going to be long before people would pour in again for their daily conversations over some booze. Leilana adjusted the dial a few times before a clear signal traveled throughout the tavern.
“-a statement from a guard that was inside of Linmus’s grounds at the time of the attack.”
The female reporter’s voice was soon overshadowed by the brisk tone of a man. “It was horrifying. I can still recall the fire spreading throughout the kingdom. I got a glimpse of Queen Rira inside of the throne room. She was trying to dispel them with her magic, but right before she could succeed, she was grabbed by the back of her head and thrown into a wall. I think her neck snapped. I’m not sure what befell the king. I was assigned by him to flee with as many survivors as I could-”
Solus lowered his head, wondering how many people had managed to escape the castle grounds. Leilana watched his expression soften before turning down the radio. “I know it’s probably a touchy subject, but what did you do to escape?”
Solus shrugged, folding his hands, resting his elbows on the table. “I was outside of the castle grounds with Rem when the chaos started.”
“That’s a relief, at least.”
“For us, but not for others,” Solus continued. “A close friend of ours was hiding us away in his pastry shop because he knew that Rem was their target. He was killed trying to keep us from being discovered. The assailants were a group called the Order of Helix. There isn’t much that we know about them, or why they want Rem. But they are tailing us—Mitholus was a member as well. But unlike when he faced the Dirionus in Kalonia, Rem doesn’t have an ounce of fear. That is just something he was taught to prepare for. He isn’t scared of death, and that’s something most people can only wish for. It’s something that I wish for.”
Silence passed between them for the next few seconds, Solus’s expression shifting from stalwart and contemplative to almost serene. Leilana felt reminiscent of Lancett, recalling his words. He wanted her to remain with him after their pilgrimage came to a fruitful conclusion, likely to live together. Maybe it was a passing thought for him after uncovering the cracks in his reaction. She cleared her throat, turning the dial to increase the volume again. She didn’t want to pry too far into Solus’s thoughts and make him uncomfortable. He didn’t seem to mind her trying to return to the topic at hand.
“-were given word recently that the assailant in Linmus is confirmed to be a Warlord, but we are unclear about his identity. He seems to have acquired followers that were against the royal family, which is how he could carry out his mission.” Leilana almost sunk at the words that followed, “We don’t know yet his true intentions.”
The woman’s voice held no ounce of hope. She wasn’t sure of the circumstances herself, and she was the one being spoon-fed the information on a constant basis. The more that people seemed to learn, the further that the light of Adrylis was beginning to slip away. Their figures of peace and momentum were no more, slaughtered at the hands of an opposer. The last remaining figurehead was a teenage boy forced to run away from the only home that he had known to ensure his own safety, wallowing in what security he had left for himself. And no one high enough on a splitting chain knew that he was still alive and well, trying to find a way around the walls binding his home to misery.
“In other news, ‘Remiel Vesarus, Traitor to the Throne?’ What fate has befallen the spirited away prince? Many have assumed him deceased, but there is some speculation that he has been spotted in cities such as Kalonia-”
“Turn it off,” Rem called over the warbling radio signals. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.” Solus and Leilana glanced over at him. They hadn’t considered that he was listening, but Solus wasn’t surprised; he wanted to know about Linmus more than anyone.
“He was rumored to have been traveling along the eastern border into the Teir region, but his current whereabouts are unknown-”
Rem slammed his fork on the table. “Turn it off, I said.” Leilana didn’t hesitate to flip the dial to another station, transmitting static in return, which made all three of them cringe. She fiddled with the dials a bit more before shutting off the radio completely.
“I don’t get it,” Sien began, taking Rem’s half empty plate from him once he had pushed it out of his sight. “Why not try to request an audience with the person in charge of the arson?”
“It’s not that simple,” Rem protested. “Even if I wanted to waltz in and demand some explanation, I’d be executed on the spot. Those people killed my parents, my friends, and destroyed everything, all because they opposed my parents. I can’t move forward alone.”
