Lady Of Lake And Arrow |A Swan Lake Retelling|: Book One

Chapter 19

Brishop Briggs - Dark Side

The Glass Thief was by then far from the crowd. He went deep into the dark corners of the city, where the shelterless people lay. They cheered at the sight of him, some weeping when he handed out the didantes. To them, he was a king; a savior; a god.

Little did he know, he was being followed.

And who was that, daresay?

Why, it was a child. A little girl who dreamed too much and wandered too far.

- The Glass Thief -

–––

In a flash, Terhen zipped out through the courtyard, towards the direction of the infirmary. Dakota gave her an apologetic look before following after him.

Jessa hesitated, then shook her head for being foolish. A person had just drowned. A water user. What kind of sick irony was that?

She started towards the infirmary, ignoring the protests of her lungs.

When she reached the place, a crowd had formed outside. Terhen was already in one of the infirmary room. Muffled moans only the suffering could make sounded from inside.

A chill started to cling to Jessa. And it was not because of the cold.

Could it be?

It can't. She refused to believe it. But hadn't she thought herself just now of how an irony it was that the water user drowned?

The chill was still there, a thin layer of the inexplicable that yelled at her from the back of her mind.

People pushed in on her as Jessa wove through the crowd, small and invisible to their eyes. Ahead, a few Tartareans she'd seen training a lot each day were sobbing on each others' shoulders, or were simply standing there with white faces.

Healers rushed around the infirmary, hoarding bottles and packets and jars that contained medicine. They were all human, a badge pinned to their chests similar to the one Terhen wore weeks ago bearing the sigil of Andalia. (Author's Edit Notes: maybe add a description? Need ideas for sigil).

She reached the front of the crowd, facing a door leading to a room with the supposed water user inside it. The door was left ajar, and Jessa saw a boy no older than her lying on a cot, covered in white sheets. Crimson dotted those sheets, horrific blooms that wouldn't stop growing each second.

The water user had drowned. Drowned. There was no way he could be bleeding only because of that.

She saw Raya and Ryland at the end of the cot, and with a closer look, Terhen at the head of the cot, standing over the dying boy. They all had the same expression of helplessness–and despair.

The boy moaned again, and Jessa glanced back at him. She couldn't see his face, only his arms. Blood seeped out from multiple cuts on the body–cuts too precise to be made by anything other than a blade.

I have to tell Terhen, Jessa thought, starting towards the room. I have to–

"Okay, show's over. Out!" A vaguely familiar voice yelled. It was Valery, the Healer who'd occasionally run out to the courtyard to help injured novices, and who'd helped clean her up weeks ago.

Valery shooed the people out the infirmary, and the crowd dispersed. Only a few people stayed behind, including Jessa.

"Will–will he be alright?" One girl asked between sobs, a handkerchief clutched in her hand.