Chapter 3
Jade’s period of lucidity came and went with a frightening speed. One moment Kit was exchanging quiet promises of a future they wished to live and the next Jade was fighting off sleep and kept calling for Kit as her eyes closed just to make sure that Kit was still there.
Then Jade stopped eating. She would refuse whatever Elora tried to feed her, batting away whatever spoon or bowl made it close to her lips. She would grunt out that she wasn’t hungry and Elora would plead for her to just have a small sip of broth.
Kit had seen a few people get deathly ill before. When she was marched to the healers after some random misadventure with Jade where she got even the slightest scratch, Kit could sometimes hear others that were being treated. Rough coughs, wheezing breaths, wails of pained agony. Kit had once heard someone weeping in mourning over a family member.
She hadn’t really understood it at the time. She would often be guided away from the noises as soon as possible, the healers insistent that they could patch up whatever was wrong in Kit’s room despite how inappropriate it was.
Kit could throw around her weight every now and again and wheedle the royal healers to tend to Jade if they would both come back roughed up from one of their adventures or training sessions. However, when they returned to Tir Asleen, Kit would let nothing but the best look after Jade. Royal healers or not, Jade would be fixed no matter what.
“I can’t get her to eat,” Elora whispered to Willow. Her voice was hushed but Kit was able to overhear the noise. “It took us so long to journey out here. She won’t survive the rest of the trip back if she doesn’t eat.”
“I know,” Willow replied back. He had never been too good about keeping his voice down.
“Oh Willow, isn’t there something we can do to steady her? A spell?” Elora begged him.
Willow let out a deep sigh. “Healing magic is a fickle thing. I have only attempted it once myself and it didn’t work. It’s dangerous and if it backfires then it could seriously harm her.”
Kit focused down on Jade and she wished that she knew what to do.
Boorman came to kick her out that evening. “Go sit with the others. You’re starting to wear a hole in the floor with all your pacing.”
“I can’t leave her alone,” Kit retorted. She remembered what happened the last time she had done so.
“I’ll sit with her,” Boorman showed Kit that he had brought his own bowl of food. “Don’t you worry. Now get.”
Kit reluctantly went to join the others. Elora passed her a bowl of food and Kit cradled it in her hands to soak up the warmth. The food smelled good but the thought of eating it made her stomach roil in protest.
“You should eat, Kit,” Airk nudged her shoulder. “It’s good.” To prove a point, he loudly slurped the broth of the soup.
“I can’t…” Kit mumbled, staring down at the food. “I feel sick…” she admitted after a few moments.
“I know that Jade is bad off,” Airk told her, setting down his own bowl to look at his sister. “But not eating isn’t going to help anybody.”
Kit let out a sigh. She knew that. But Jade wasn’t eating and Kit was out of her mind with worry. “I don’t understand what happened. She was doing just fine! She was sitting up and talking!”
“Her body is fighting off an infection,” Willow spoke up, drawing Kit’s attention toward him. “It’s using up her strength. Just sitting and talking is tiring.”
Kit stared back down at her bowl. To her horror, she blinked and felt the telltale sign of tears welling up, ready to slide down her cheeks in hot, angry drops.
Her brother braced the back of her neck with his hand. “We’ll get through this, Kit.” He sounded so sure of it.
Kit counted to three before she brought the bowl to her lips and finished it as fast as she could. Her stomach protested but Kit swallowed hard and fought off the urge to regurgitate Elora’s cooking into the sea.
She just wanted Jade to be okay.
They reach land much quicker than Jade expected. The only problem that posed was that they didn’t have a good way to transport Jade long distances. Kenneth was an aquatic creature and the silt sleigh wasn’t built for rocky terrain.
“We could make a stretcher,” Boorman suggested as they tried to think of a way to safely transport Jade that wouldn’t tire anyone out too quickly.
“It will still be so many days to trek back to Tir Asleen,” Elora was the one to point out. “She needs healing now.”
Kit thought of truth plums and confessing her love to Jade and the promises that they had uttered. “What if we don’t go back to Tir Asleen yet?”
Heads turned toward her. Kit faltered slightly but continued. “I know someplace closer.”
“Where?” Willow inquired.
“The Bone Reavers,” Kit reminded them.
Airk blanched. “What? Are you out of your mind?”
Kit was then reminded that they didn’t catch Airk up on that part of the trip. Hastily, Kit summarized to him that Jade was actually the sister of the current leader of the Bone Reavers and that she would not only be welcomed back but given the utmost care.
“To the Bone Reavers,” Willow agreed.
That left the question of which direction they needed to go.
“We’ll go until we see a landmark?” Boorman suggested. They had no better options so they got to work on constructing a stretcher. Using a blanket and a few sturdy sticks, they cobbled together a makeshift stretcher that was then reinforced by a little bit of magic from Elora and Willow.
Kit wanted to be upset with them for not even trying to heal Jade but she saw just how exhausted they got from the small bit of magic. Boorman transferred Jade onto the stretcher and everyone grabbed a handle.
Boorman and Elora each took a side at the front while Kit and Airk took the back, Willow leading them on.
Their bags and the weight of Jade on top of their exhaustion from the battle were taking a heavy toll on them. They had to stop more often for breaks and Kit tried not to cry out in frustration each time one of them needed a break.
Kit refused to ask for a break first, even if she savored the pause to soothe her sore muscles. Jade needed help and Kit was determined to get it as fast as she could.
When it was time to change out the bandages on Jade’s side, Kit caught a glimpse of the wound. She nearly gagged at the nasty sight. She had never seen a wound look so bad. The skin around the stab wound was starting to turn a sickly black. Willow called it necrosis, his face grim as he and Elora cleaned the wound.
Jade’s skin was unusually grey, even her freckles seemed faded against her usually vibrant tanned skin. Jade was sick, almost too sick to save.
Kit didn’t know how to come to terms with that. She had heard her mother tell Jade to look after her and Jade had kept her promise. Kit never thought that it would come to this. Jade didn’t deserve to go out from a stab wound. Jade still hadn’t gotten to be a knight.
Kit still hadn’t told Jade that she wanted to be more than friends, to finally cross that line and establish a label. Kit wanted Jade to be her girlfriend. Kit wanted more. She needed more. She couldn’t have finally realized her feelings for her best friend only for it to be too late. It wasn’t fair.
Jade was there practically her whole life. They grew up together. Wherever one went, the other wasn’t far behind. They were, as her mother said, attached at the hip.
Jade was her other half and she didn’t know what she was going to do without her.
So Kit spent the nights with Jade’s head in her lap and she played with the frizzy red hair that she loved and told Jade about fond times when they were young and foolish.
It seemed like a miracle when Jade finally ate something. Their small victory was short-lived when Jade retched only hours later and any food that they had managed to get into her was promptly left in the grass.
Just when Kit thought she would have to watch her best friend fade, Elora cried out in delight as she found a landmark that she recognized.
By the time they made it to the Bone Reavers, Jade was practically unresponsive. The Bone Reavers nearly attacked them before Lori recognized them.
“Jade’s hurt,” Kit had to tell him, wondering if they would be turned away. “She needs help. A healer. Please.”
Scorpia had appeared quickly at the news. Kit saw the color drain out of her face when she saw Jade and she let Boorman carry her into camp.
Kit couldn’t stay with Jade, getting lost in the commotion. Boorman disappeared with Jade and Scorpia, Bone Reavers filing in and out of Scorpia’s tent. Kit had nothing left to do but pace, even if her muscles ached and screamed for relief.
Boorman was soon kicked out of the tent. He let out a heavy sigh as he heaved himself onto the spot next to Elora. “She’ll be okay. She’s in good hands,” he tried to reassure Kit.
Soon, Scorpia too was kicked out. Leader or not, the healer's needed space to work.
“Tell me what happened,” Scorpia demanded of them, her arms folded. Kit stepped forward and she slowly recounted what she knew.
Scorpia stared down at her, her eyes hard, and for a moment Kit thought that Scorpia might kill her. But then the woman sagged and reached up to cover her face and Kit was reminded that the woman in front of her cared about Jade too.
Scorpia paced with Kit for a while but eventually took a spot next to Boorman. Kit continued to pace. Ten paces forward, turn, ten paces back. Her muscles were begging her for a break, each step burning, but Kit persevered.
The longer the healers were quiet in the tent, the more that Kit’s worry grew.
“No news is good news,” Willow reminded them. Kit wondered if Jade had passed and the healers were simply too frightened of Scorpia to come and tell her. Then she had to rid her mind of that thought because just imagining Jade going was too distressing.
Airk eventually grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit, yanking her into his lap and pinning her down when she tried to squirm. “You’re going to work yourself into exhaustion.” He said into her ear. “You need to take a break and rest so that you have enough energy for Jade.”
Kit sunk back into her brother’s arms and watched the tent.
It was quiet for a long time but eventually, a healer emerged and Kit tried not to look at the blood on their clothes.
“She should be alright,” the healer addressed Scorpia. “We had to remove some dead tissue and stitch her up. She’s in no condition to be traveling and she’s very lucky to have made it here in time.”
“Can I see her?” Kit blurted and both Scorpia and the healer turned to look at her. “Please?”
Scorpia looked like she was going to deny her but then paused and exhaled sharply through her nose. “Fine.”
Kit disappeared quickly. Jade was laying on a table that she knew once held maps, cleared away to a makeshift bed. There was blood staining the wood beneath Jade. The fresh bandages on Jade’s side had a few drops of blood already soaking through.
Kit let out a deep sigh and stood at the table before leaning forward and pressing her forehead against Jade’s, relieved that she was alright.
Kit hadn’t even heard Scorpia enter until a hand landed on her shoulder and she spun around, ready to disarm and attack the intruder, ready to protect Jade. Scorpia caught her hand before a blow even landed, looking slightly amused at the reaction before she sobered.
“So…” Scorpia started, moving toward Jade’s head and peering down at her sister before stroking her hair out of her face. “You are the girl my sister almost died for.”
Kit wondered what Scorpia was aiming at. “Yes.” She then tacked on, “I didn’t ask her to. That’s just how she is.”
Scorpia let out a small hum and the hut was silent for a few moments. “Perhaps that is just how she is…” Scorpia mused quietly to herself. Kit was reminded that Scorpia didn’t know Jade, not really. Scorpia and Jade had latched onto each other at the thought of biological family but they didn’t know each other.
“It is…” Kit paused for a moment. “She broke her arm for me once.”
Scorpia glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, her hand still stroking Jade’s hair.
Kit isn’t sure if she just wanted to fill the awkward silence or if she was trying to make up for something but she started recounting the story to Scorpia.
One story turned to two and suddenly Kit was telling Scorpia everything that she knew about Jade and how she grew up. Scorpia listened quietly and only interrupted once to tell Kit to sit in the chair nearby before she collapsed from exhaustion.
Kit rambled on and on to Scorpia about her adventures with Jade and how Jade wanted to become a knight, something that Scorpia wrinkled her nose at. Kit then told Scorpia about their training and how good Jade was. Kit was on such a rant that it just slipped out of her mouth when she said that she loved Jade.
Kit realized her mistake right away, clamping her mouth shut before anything else stupid left her lips. Scorpia raised an eyebrow, her hand pausing on Jade’s head as she took stock of Kit.
“Sorry, I don’t know why I said that,” Kit tried to hastily correct her mistake, fear churning in her gut that Scorpia may react harshly. “Anyway--” she tried to continue the story when Scorpia interrupted her.
“No, no. Do go on. Tell me more,” Scorpia leaned forward, and Kit leaned back in her chair as much as she could without tipping over.
“Uh…” Kit hesitated. On one hand, she wanted to tell Scorpia everything. She wanted to scream from the rooftops how she was hopelessly in love with Jade Claymore.
On the other hand, if Scorpia did not like the concept of Jade loving another woman, Kit may have royally fucked things up.
Scorpia raised an impatient eyebrow which prompted Kit to finally speak.
“You can’t get mad at her,” Kit thought that if she framed it so that she was the one in love and Jade didn’t know then Scorpia would only be mad with her.
Scorpia frowned, her brow furrowing slightly. “Mad?” She echoed.
“Yeah. I love her. I do,” Kit fumbled for the right words, her eyes glancing at Jade. “More than anything.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Scorpia almost seemed amused, finally leaning back from Jade to fold her arms, lingering over Kit.
“Um…” Kit knew Jade inside and out. She could read her body language and knew what to say most of the time. Scorpia, despite being Jade’s sister, was unreadable to Kit. She didn’t know how she should answer. “Nothing?”
“Nothing?” Scorpia scoffed and Kit’s heart thudded in her chest. “If you are going to play around with my sister’s feelings--”
“Kit?”