Chapter Text
"Aaric? Is it working?" Ridoc asks me as he watches Dyre work applying ointment to my hands.
By the time we got back to Ridoc’s room from the archives, every blister covering my hand had popped causing waves of throbbing pain up my arms with every beat of my pulse. I can still feel the burn of electric energy from reaching through the wards to retrieve the journals that were hidden in my father’s vault. Thankfully, Bodhi and Violet were right. The pain is already ebbing thanks to Dyre’s quick action.
He finishes carefully applying multiple treatments before wrapping them firmly. "They already appear to have started healing. Until then that last ointment should take the edge off. How do they feel?" he inquires.
"Much better.” I look back up at the olive skinned healer. “Thank you, Dyre."
"Anything for Violet." Dyre leans back against Ridoc's armoire. The second-year rooms are definitely larger than the first-year room that I just moved into after threshing. The bed is roughly double the size of mine, and the default weapons rack is substantially bigger in anticipation of a larger collection.
I have to admit, I’m surprised by how clean Ridoc’s room is. With his crude and often childish sense of humor, I expected a proportionally chaotic space. The room is almost entirely practical. The only sign of any personality is a carved, wooden figurine on his nightstand that I assume is in the likeness of his dragon.
I smile at the healer and nod in agreement. He's not the only one that would do anything for Violet. Hell, everyone in this room would kill for her, and she's more than earned it.
All throughout our childhood, she was the only one who ever treated me as more than as prince, but as another human being. She listened to my complaints about the cruelty of my brothers and the indifference of my father. She laughed with me after I fell into the water when we’d sneak off to the river to swim, instead of pampering me like Dain. She cried with me when Alic died after both our parents tried to pretend that nothing happened. She has been the only true friend that I've ever had. While I might have finally given into tonight's scheme at the reminder of screwing over my father, deep down, I was really doing it for her.
Ridoc loudly takes his first full breath since we made it back to his room and looks up at Rhiannon. "Do you think you can get Cadet Life Debt out of the quadrant safely tonight, or do you think it's safer for him to stay here?"
"I think it's safer for all of us to keep a low profile," Rhiannon answers as she heads for the door. "Aaric, do you think you're ready to head back to your room?"
"You're ready," I hear Molvic’s voice over our bond, and I relay the same to Rhiannon before standing and following her to the door. I make it a step, maybe two, when I feel a full body rush from standing too quickly after healing. A wave of… something hits my body, and stops me in my tracks. I grip onto the wall as a second wave washes over me. Then the waves become a full, ceaseless onslaught that nearly takes out my knees, and I stagger into the dresser. Rhiannon and Ridoc rush to my sides and grab my arms, guiding me back to sit on the edge of the bed.
Ridoc’s eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them. “Shit, are you okay?” He looks me over with a level of concern that I’ve never seen him use for another first-year, and my temper rises. Three months of finally getting to be my own man, not just a prince, all up in smoke. He only cares because of who I am.
This is bullshit!
“Don’t treat me differently than any other rider,” I grit out through the continuing assault on all my senses. I feel as though I’ve been overfilled, and I can hardly think through the bombardment in my head.
Ridoc leans back, his expression changing from concern to confusion before ending on comprehension. “No, man, it’s not like that.” He glances at Rhiannon, a small smile curving the corner of his mouth. “It’s because you’re one of us now.”
He looks over to Dyre. “Was there something in that ointment that could cause dizziness?”
“This isn’t dizziness,” I answer before Dyre can reply. “It’s pressure. I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams.” It hasn’t stopped, but it is starting to feel slightly more tolerable.
There’s a pause of silence before Rhiannon cracks a huge smile, and Ridoc snorts, sitting back on his heels.
“What?” My eyes bounce between them.
“Guess you really are one of us now.” Ridoc sarcastically answers as he stands, pulling me up with him. My head still tried to spin, but at least the room doesn’t.
Rhiannon’s eyes twinkle as she steps backwards towards the doorway. “Go to Carr tomorrow, and tell him you started channeling.”
“Wait, really?” I look down at my bandaged hands like they’ll start wielding of their own accord. Molvic decided to start channeling now of all times? When I’m wounded?
“Is that what you meant when you said I was ready?”
Molvic remains frustratingly quiet.
“Yup.” Rhiannon gestures for me to follow her into the hall. “Now let’s get you to bed. It’s the easiest way to take the edge off the initial rush.”
With one final, bewildered nod to Ridoc and Dyre, I follow Rhiannon out into the hallway before shutting the door behind me. I shake my head slightly to clear the waterlogged feeling in my ears.
"Now that Ridoc’s not with us…” Rhiannon stops as she gently grabs my arm and gives me her piercing squad leader stare. “Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I reply as we start down the hall towards the stairwell that leads to the first-year floor and smile wide. Pride swells in my chest. I feel light despite the heaviness of the day. "Just another day in the riders quadrant."
"Ha! Don't I know it?" She stops as she approaches her door and twists her hand with lesser magic to undo her lock.
Eager to fall into my bed, I breathe deep with contentment as I continue past her towards the stairwell at the end of the hallway. The loss of the evening’s adrenaline is making me lightheaded, and I have to consciously pick up my feet to avoid stumbling again. Heavy exhaustion replaces the pain in my sagging arms, regardless of the power still surging through me. I’m pretty sure if I were to lean against a wall, I would be able to fall asleep before Rhiannon’s door could shut behind her.
"Hey, Aaric?" Rhiannon calls softly when I’m two rooms away.
"Yes?"
"Thank you," she smiles.
I nod and return the sentiment with the first genuine smile that I've felt across my face since crossing the parapet. This is why I came here. I'm finally starting to achieve my purpose. I need to protect the kingdom, and now I see a future in which a real peace is possible. And making that future happen despite my father’s best efforts? Even better.