Chapter 88: Marcus secret?

But then Footsteps pounded down the hall. The door open, and the guard rushed in, panting, with a glass in one hand and a big clay jug in the other.

"W-water, ma’am! Fresh from the well!"

Esabella snatched both out of his hands without a word. She pointed at the door.

"Out now."

She set the jug on the small table. She filled the glass with careful hands, and a little of it spilled on her wrist. She stood up, half leaned over the bed, and lifted the glass toward his mouth.

"Here. I’ll..."

"I can drink it myself " Dante took it out of her hand carefully .

"But..."

He drank the whole glass. The water was cold,but he finished it in a few swallows. He held out the glass, and she filled it again, and he drank that one too.

[Sovereign’s Mending Thread: Cooldown complete.]

He closed his eyes and activated it. Gold light flowed out of his palm. It wrapped around his wrapped right hand, his stomach, all over his body.

Esabella watched with shoked eyes. She had seen it before, but only from far away.

It took thirty seconds. When it was done, he flexed his fingers. They moved. His stomach no longer felt like it was full of broken glass.

[Body integrity: 62%.]

[Mending Thread complete. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

"I feel Better then before," he said

"That’s amazing," Esabella whisper in happy voice.

"You’ve been awake ten days esabella you should also Rest now."

He pushed the blanket back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The floor was cold under his feet. His head swam for a second, and she was already up, both hands on his arm.

"No, no, no. You can’t get up. You need to lie down."

"I am fine and i need to talk to Gideon."

"Then I’ll call him. Just tell me what you need. Food, Water, anything just tell me"

"Esabella."

"Yes my king?"

"You need to Just rest now"

She went still. For about two seconds, she looked at him. Then she dropped her hands, turned around, and started walking toward the door.

"Where are you going now?" Dante asked.

"To rest." She said it very quietly, without turning. "Like you said."

"Where?"

"I don’t know. Somewhere. The hall, maybe."

He stared at her back. Her shoulders were stiff. Her steps were small and careful. She obeyed because he had told her to, not because she wanted to, and she was already trying not to show it.

"Haaa! Not the hall," he sighed. "Rest Here."

She stopped.

"On the bed. I’m going to sit in the chair. I still have questions for you."

She turned slowly. "On–On... your bed?"

"There’s only one bed that isn’t Yenna’s."

Her mouth opened. Closed. Her whole face went red, from the collar of her bandage to the roots of her hair. She pressed both hands against her lips, and her eyes squeezed shut, and a small sound came out of her throat that might have been a squeal.

"I... if you insist," she said into her hands.

"I do."

"Then I–I’ll rest on your bed.where you sleept right?!"

"Esabella, you–."

"I’m going. I’m going!"

Dante opened the door and told the guard to find Gideon.

"Tell him I’m awake."

The guard nodded and ran. Dante closed the door, and turned slowly but he suddenly stopped.

Esabella was sitting on the edge of the bed, with the glass in both hands. She had the pillow tucked behind her. Her cheeks were still red, and she was trying very hard to look natural.

He walked to the chair and sat down. He looked at her hands.

"Why are you holding an empty glass?"

She jumped. "I–I thought it had water," she said quickly. "I was thirsty. I thought I’d have some. But there’s nothing in it. How strange."

"Did you even pour any?!"

"I–I think –"

Dante looked at her for a few seconds. She suddenly looked at the ceiling. Her ear twitched, even though she had no cat ears.

He sighed.

"You could have told me if you were thirsty."

He reached for the jug and filled the glass in her hands. The water rose slowly, clear and cold. When it reached the brim, he put the jug down.

"There, drink it"

She stared at the glass. She stared at it like it was a crown. Then at him. Then at the glass again.

Her breath hitched. Her whole body went stiff. A single tear ran down her cheek, and she didn’t wipe it.

"You poured it for me, With your own hands!!," she said in a tiny voice.

"...."

"Oh, i see," she said, and she began to talk very fast. "Oh, Dante. You’re so kind. You’re always saying you aren’t, but you’re so kind, and I know you hide it, and I don’t mind, I’ll never tell anyone, I’ll keep it as my secret, and when we get out of this, I’ll build a statue for you, and i will–..."

"Stop. And just Drink the water, i want to ask something after that." Dante said.

She stopped. She looked at the glass and She "gulped".

"Are you not drinking it?" he said.

"I am." She nodded. Her hands trembled so much that the water shook. She lifted the glass to her lips and drank slowly, tiny swallows, one at a time, with her eyes closed. When it was empty, she lowered it and held it against her chest like something alive.

"More?" Dante asked.

"No." She shook her head quickly. "No. This is enough."

He reached for the glass to put it on the table but She pulled it back.

"No–I–I’ll keep it."

"Esabella, just give it..."

"No." Her voice was soft and very firm. She hugged it tighter. "I’m going to keep it. You can have another one."

He looked at her. She looked back, with watery eyes, her chin lifted.

He sighed and let it go. Then They talked for a while. He asked how many guards were in the house. She said four, and they all jumped when she walked by. He asked if the Radiant Dawn knew.

"Not yet," she said. "The whole guild fell apart the day Marcus died. The top people ran. Most of them went up, to the upper floors. The rest are fighting each other for what’s left."

"And the posters?"

"Gone. Somebody burned them."

"Who?"

"I don’t know." She hesitated. "Maybe me."

He looked at her. She shrugged.and a soft sound came from across the room .

They both turned.

Yenna had pushed herself up on her elbows. Her black ears stood straight. Her eyes were open and wide, locked on Dante’s face, and tears were already running down her cheeks.

"Da–Dante?" she whispered.

"Yenna."

"You’re awake." She covered her mouth with both hands, and her shoulders shook. "I thought... I thought you were never going to... I kept asking, and she kept saying you were just sleeping, and I didn’t know, I didn’t know if..."

"Calm down Yenna, I’m here." He stood up, crossed the room, and sat on the edge of her bed. She grabbed his sleeve with both hands and pressed her forehead against his arm and cried.

He didn’t say anything. He put his left hand on the back of her head, and kept it there.

"I’m sorry," she said into his sleeve. "I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t help. I fainted, and you were bleeding, and I..."

"No you did help, You cut the thread. I wouldn’t have won without that."

"But..."

"Yenna." He said it quietly. "You did it. Stop apologizing."

She stopped. She lifted her head. Her face was red and wet, and her ears trembled.

"Your legs," he said.

"They-They’re okay."

"Don’t lie to me."

She bit her lip. She looked down at the blanket.

"They don’t move," she said. "The healer said it’s too deep. But it doesn’t hurt. I only... I want to wal–"

"I’ll find a way." He said. He didn’t say it with comfort or kindness. He just said it like he will do it no matter what.

She stared at him. Then she nodded, slowly, and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"Okay," she whispered.

Across the room, Esabella watched them over the rim of her glass, and said nothing.but her fingers tightened around the cup.

After some time... The door opened without a knock. An old man stepped in, His coat was dusty, and his beard was a little longer than Dante remembered. He had a fresh scar over one eye.

"Well," Gideon said. "Finally."

"Gideon." Dante spoke.

"Ten days, kid. I was starting to think you’d decided to retire." He walked across the room with a faint limp and looked Dante up and down. "How do you feel?"

"I feel Better then before."

"Hmm, good " then he glanced at the second bed. "And you, little one?"

"I’m fine, Master Gideon," Yenna said, with a wobbly smile.

"Don’t worry, we will definitely find a way to heal you." He turned his head toward the first bed. "And you, demon Queen? Are you..."

He stopped. Esabella was no longer sitting up. At some point while they talked to Yenna, she had slid down and lain on her side on the bed, and she had pulled the blanket over herself. She had the pillow against her chest, held with both arms. Her face was buried in it. The glass sat beside her on the sheet, wrapped in a fold of the blanket.

Her eyes were closed. Her nose was pressed into the cloth. She took a long, deep breath.

"It smells like him," she whispered into the pillow.

The room went quiet. Gideon closed his eyes. He pressed two fingers against the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh.

"Ten days," he said, to nobody. "Ten days of that woman burning half the floor, and now look at her acting like this."

"What? what she did –" Dante said.

"It’s not important." Gideon waved a hand. "She tore the lower districts apart looking for a healer. She’s... made a big mess. A lot of people are afraid of her now. She was crazier than the Basin in a wet season. And now she’s acting like a child with a toy."

"What mess?" Dante turned his head toward Esabella, who had not moved. "Esabella?"

"I didn’t do anything–," she said into the pillow. Her voice was muffled. "Much."

"What did you do esab–"

"Better you don’t ask," Gideon said. "Believe me."

Dante looked at him. Gideon looked back, and the old man’s face changed.

The tiredness went out of it. The humor went out of it, all at once.

"That’s not what I came to say. While you were sleeping," Gideon said, "I went back to the old Heavenly Sword hall on Floor 50. The place they threw me out of. I told you there was a door."

"You found it?."

"I found it, kid." He drew a small crystal out of his coat. It was black, the size ofa plum, and a thin red line ran through the middle. "I found this, and I played it. I’ll tell you what’s on it, and then you can tell me how long you want to keep sitting in this house. It’s a secret about marcus"

Dante said nothing. Yenna’s ears flattened. Esabella lowered the pillow an inch and looked over the top of it, with her golden eyes.