Jon's Decision
It had been one month since the incident in the forest. Martin was sure that by now Jon had decided if he wanted Martin in the library or not. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to bring the ripped out pages to Jon’s attention, because he didn’t want to accuse him of anything. Without even trying to, Martin could ruin his reputation by accident and that was something he didn’t want to do. Martin ultimately decided on leaving the book in his room. For now, Jon wouldn’t know about the missing pages. He grabbed his crutches and left his room. He continued down the hallway, slowly because of the crutches. One of his crutches caught on something and he buckled. He dropped his crutches mid fall and stuck his arms out so that he wouldn’t break anything else when he fell. The crutches hit the ground with a loud clatter and then he hit the floor. A few sets of footsteps could be heard behind him, but he didn’t hear the pair in front of him until he saw her as she knelt down next to him and put her hands under his arms and lifted him up.
“You alright?” She asked.
She had blonde hair that she wore in a wolf cut, with deep green eyes, except one was white due to a scar over her eye leaving it without color.She wore a green vest, which was identical to the one Basira wore, but hers had an extra patch on the chest with her name.
It was Captain Daisy Tonner, head of the royal guard.
“Yeah, I think my crutch caught on something.” Martin exhaled.
“Be careful.” She said. She set him up against the wall and then reached down to grab his crutches. The sets of footsteps he heard first turned out to be maids and they came over to the 2.
“Are you alright, your highness?” One asked.
“I’m fine, thank you.” Martin said.
“Do you need anything?” The other one asked.
“No, I’ll be good, thank you.” Martin said. The two maids bowed and left Martin and Daisy. Daisy handed him his crutches.
“Try not to fall again.” She said.
“I won’t.” Martin said.
“How far are you going? I can walk with you.” Daisy said.
“Just to the library, I can make it there on my own, thank you though, Daisy.” Martin said.
“Alright.” Daisy said. Martin continued down the hallway and stopped at the library doors. He opened the door and saw Jon sitting at his desk, like yesterday.
“Good Morning, Jon.” Martin said. Jon lifted his head up and met Martin’s gaze.
“It’s afternoon, Your Highness.” He said.
“My bad.” Martin chuckled. Jon didn’t return it and Martin felt alone in his self deprecating laugh.
“Did you need something?” Jon asked.
“About a month ago, you said you’d think about letting me help you in here.” Martin said.
“I did, didn’t I?” Jon sighed.
“So?” Martin asked. There were a couple beats of uncomfortable silence.
“I have a few requirements before I make my final decision.” Jon said. He stood up from his desk and walked over towards Martin.
“Alright.” Martin said.
“No servants. If it’s you helping me, It’s going to be only you. I don’t want too many people here, as I work better in silence.” Jon said.
“Of course.” Martin said.
“I don’t want to see your crutches just lying around anywhere. Keep them on you, in a specific place, or not in here at all.” Jon said.
“Of course. I’ve had them for about a month, so I won’t need them much longer. Anything else?” Martin asked.
“I can’t think of anything at the moment.” Jon said.
“Alright, what’s your final verdict then?” Martin asked. Jon paused for a second.
“
You can help me out here.” Jon said. Martin smiled.
“Thank you!” He chimed. Jon gave him a weird look, one of amusement that said ‘you got excited over that? Damn, ok…’
“Alright. I was working on writing out a few things, but I’ll show you how I’ve got some of the things in here laid out.” Jon said. Martin followed Jon towards the bookshelves.
“I’m currently working on these shelves.” Jon said.
“What’s on them?” Martin asked.
“Magical Non-fiction. Books about actual places and who believed in what weird magical thing.” Jon said.
“Are those books over there supposed to go on this shelf?” Martin asked, pointing to the pile next to the bookshelf.
“Yes, I could use your help sorting through these.” Jon said.
“Alright.” Martin said, sitting on the floor next to the stack of books. Jon took the first one and took out a piece of paper and a pen.
“Just write down the title and the author’s name.” Jon said.
“Alright.” Martin said. He took the book that was under the one that Jon had picked up. ‘Fae survival guide’. He wrote the name down along with the author. This continued on for a while. Just complete silence. At least with Gertrude, there was always something to talk about. She never let it be completely silent when he sat in there with her.
He missed that.
Maybe though….
Just maybe….
“Jon?” Martin asked.
“Yes?” Jon said, not looking up from the paper.
“Do you know how to fight?”