[Legacy of a Martyr #2] Liberation from the Masquerades (A Key Keepers novel)

Episode 84

Aunt Sarah and I were in my room watching over Ali right now. It'd been a couple days since Marshall and I went into Taradita with him. We realized when we got there that he wasn't feeling well.

We had to bring him home to be sure we wouldn't be trapped. Either way, it was clear he was in no shape to be scouting.

He had only stirred a handful of times since we brought him home. His parents, Recah, and I used those moments to get light meals into him.

I sighed. Ali was shivering again. His temperature was normal for him when Aunt Sarah fed him a little while ago. Unfortunately, it had to drop again.

"Even though I know this happened because he helped our brother when he was sick, it's not easy to watch."

"It really isn't." Aunt Sarah brushed her fingers against Ali's cheek. "My boy will pull through, though. When he wakes up, he'll be stronger. He always is."

I nodded. "He's probably one of the strongest people I've ever met."

"He's definitely strong. He's my North Star, too."

I bit my lip. "How much of a toll do you think this situation with his childhood friend is taking on him?"

"He's definitely worried about her..."

"We'd been so preoccupied with how crazy things had been lately. We didn't realize he wasn't feeling well until we were in Taradita."

Aunt Sarah put an arm around me. "We'll just have to keep him close after he wakes up. He'll be weak anyway."

That was true... Noelle mentioned how rough his first Christmas on Engrada was.

She laughed. "He's never been very good at knowing when to take it easy."

Boy did I know that. I still remembered how he was when he got hurt. He did what he could, but sometimes, he just went too far.

"No, he hasn't..."

Aunt Sarah gave me a smile. I had a feeling she was about to embarrass her son. "When Lany was in school, there were days I had to keep him home because he was just so overwhelmed by everything."

"I'm not surprised, because I've known him for so long, but I am..."

"Kayleigh gave me a brilliant boy, but even he has his limits."

I nodded. "That's no surprise. I'm pretty sure he used to visit us more when he had rough times."

Aunt Sarah raised her eyebrows. "What were his visits like?" She looked up. "Those visits couldn't have been easy. Leon made it sound like things were rough after Elia died."

I bit my tongue. I didn't know much about how things were like. Ai and Recah were pretty well off, so I couldn't ask them.

"I couldn't tell you what it was like. I was trapped in this place I call limbo with Phoenix after the coup..."

She turned to me. "You guys haven't said much about that. What was that like?"

Oh, no! My cheeks burned. I really shouldn't have mentioned that!

"Well, uh..." I ran my fingers through my hair. I could use a shower, but I didn't really want to leave Ali. "We wound up in there because a woman spared us because of her children. We didn't age in there. When Ali freed us, Phoenix and I were still four and seven."

Her eyes got big. "Leon mentioned that, but he didn't go into specifics."

"Frankly." I sighed. "I'm shocked Leon mentioned that to you at all."

Aunt Sarah laughed. "Me, too. He liked to 'big brother' me when we were growing up."

"If I'm being honest, we probably would have come here some time last year if Phoenix and I hadn't been catching up on our aging."

"Really?"

I clenched my fists. "It wasn't safe for us to leave Takiran with the Council in power. It also would have been nice to get Phoenix more help with school."

"To get him help with school?" She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Maybe I should have said that differently...

"I can't remember if we've ever told you this or not, but my baby brother has never been a strong reader."

"Atsu-kun mentioned he helped him with a book after he got out of the shower yesterday, but I don't think either of you have."

I nodded. "He doesn't like to mention it. We tried everything to teach him, but we've put it on the back burner. He has loved stories since he was very young, and we don't want the frustration at not being able to read to rob him of that."

"That wouldn't be ideal... He listens to a lot of audio books then?"

"Yeah..."

She rubbed my back. "You could have told us. I'm sure we could have found an audio book for him."

It wasn't good thing, but it was hard for us to talk about, too. We wanted nothing more than to help him but couldn't. Noelle helped us, too, but we hadn't had any luck...

"Well, if he ever wants to, we could help with that." She winked. "We have tricks up our sleeves that the Engrads don't."

Why hadn't Ali and I asked them about this before? It seemed ridiculous looking back on it.

She squeezed my hand. "Why don't you take a shower, Tia? Lany will be fine. I'm sure Recah would like to spend some time with him, too."

Recah probably did. She hadn't been with him since last night.

"I'll shower..." I got up. "My hair is feeling gross."

She smiled. "Take your time. Even a future ruler needs to take time for herself once in a while."

That was easier said than done...

"I could give you a candle or something if you like?" she asked.

"You don't have to." My cheeks got hot. "I just need a shower at this point."

Aunt Sarah patted my back. "Don't worry, Tia. Your uncle usually has to force me to shower when Lany gets like this."

At least, I wasn't the only one...

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!