Lavender & Lilies

Hypocrites

Dimitri's eyelashes fluttered. The dead weight of his body kept him from moving, so he gave a small grunt.

"Gnnhh," he tried to groan from deep in his throat. A sting on his neck made him twitch, and at last he was conscious.

"Your Highness?" came a voice from his left.

He replied with barely a nod. "Nfhmn."

There was a tingle on his forehead a moment later; he released it was someone's hand.

"I'm... glad you're awake, I suppose," the voice, which he now recognized to be Webbs, said quietly. "Do you feel any pain at the moment?"

Dimitri tried very hard to lift his hand to touch the wound he felt on his neck. After a few tries he gave up and mumbled an affirmative.

"I see. Unfortunately the healing spells can only do so much for your more... intense wounds." He heard Webbs release a sigh. "But you're awake, and that's good, and that means you're recovering."

The prince managed to murmur out a "yes."

A tense silence followed. Dimitri knew what Webbs wanted to speak with him about, but with the aching and stinging and heaviness he felt he couldn't get away from it. He was now able to half-open his eyes and move his mouth, but his body was dormant.

Webbs swallowed, speaking carefully. "Ah, Lilliana, she helped with healing you."

"Mm." The noise was neither appreciative nor cold.

"Yes. She... wanted me to tell you that she wishes you the best."

Dimitri's eyebrows twitched. "You make it sound like she's gone," he muttered.

"To be frank she doesn't wish to disturb you so she's been running everything else while you take the time to recuperate."

"You mean she doesn't want me to see her. She feels guilty."

Webbs hesitated. "Perhaps you should ask her when you're back to being healthy."

It took all of Dimitri's recovered body strength for him to snort with derision.

Webbs seized on the brief pause afterward to be straightforward. "Why did you do what you did?"

"It's none of your concern." Dimitri rolled onto his side to face away from him.

"It is, and it's made me even more concerned for you."

"I don't owe you an explanation, nor would you understand it anyway."

"All that means is you won't admit your actions don't make sense,"

He gritted his teeth. "Don't lecture me, Webbs. What I mean is, you don't have the experience to understand."

"I don't need to, Your Highness," Webbs said sternly. "There's no one out there who'll share the exact same experiences as you, you know. Even if someone doesn't have a first-hand understanding of the events that made you who you are, they can still sympathize, and they can still give advice. We want to hear you out, Highness."

With great exertion, Dimitri pulled himself out of bed and stood. He went light-headed and his vision swam, but he held his ground. He walked briskly out the doorway, pushing aside soldiers and ignoring Webbs' indignant calls behind him.

Lilliana froze when she noticed the prince stalking down the hallway towards the kitchen door to the outside.

A few of the children around her paused to stare at him while he sat down heavily on the grass. Lilliana bit her lip and ushered them back to the game they were playing.