Blood and Gold: Chapter 6

[jiminee]

This is a shorter chapter, and sorry it's slightly late!
Chapter list

"Vechs?"
Aurey knocks tentatively on the bedroom door. She'd ordered Zisteau and Nebris to stay in the main room to give Vechs time to thaw out of his shock. Aurey had also believed Blame to be dead. They all had. They'd left him in Feretan to be executed. Aurey rubs her arms in the cold and calls softly,
"Vechs?"
Wanted posters are not issued for prisoners that have been executed, even if they are a part of a group. Aurey has searched for every possible loophole, but has found none. Vechs, after some persuasion, had explained that Bdubs spoke of a man with a skull mask on the poster. Blame's look. His favourite disguise. Nobody else wore a skull mask, at least nobody who was in Naziv. Aurey doesn’t even know where he got his. He said they were very rare.

“Vechs!”
Aurey knows he’s in shock, but they need to talk. She needs to calm him before he does something stupid. Finally, he replies in a small voice.
“Come in.”
She opens the door. Vechs is sitting on his hammock, looking numb. He’s taken off his goggles. She goes and sits down beside him.
“It could be nothing,” she begins. “They could have made the posters before we escaped, before… while they had our faces as reference.”
“That makes no blyxing sense, and you know it,” Vechs says. “They wouldn’t have made a wanted poster for prisoners that were going to be executed.”
Aurey sighs. “Maybe there was a mistake somewhere. Maybe Bdubs was lying. Have you considered that?”
“Blame is alive!” Vechs says, so suddenly loud that Aurey jumps. “Stop trying to convince me he’s not! He escaped somehow, and I need to find him.”
“Vechs, no,” Aurey says. Despite herself, she feels a lump grow in her throat. Her eyes are wet. She blinks. Vechs turns to look at her.
“Do you care about him at all?” he asks softly. “Don’t you want him to be alive?”
“I do want him to be alive,” Aurey says. “I do, so badly. But just wanting him to be alive isn’t going to change the fact that he’s not.”
“If he’s on the poster, it means the police are looking for him,” Vechs says firmly. “And if the police are looking for him, it means he escaped and is still alive. That’s it. I don’t care what you or Zisteau have to say, if it’s just to convince me I’m wrong. Because I’m not.”
“Why didn’t you realise then?” Aurey asks. “You say he told you about the poster before you, uh, kissed him. If he said Blame was on it, why didn’t you make the connection then?”
“I was a bit distracted,” Vechs says. He sighs. “Zisteau is right. I lose all my intelligence whenever somebody tries to seduce me. I’m so stupid.”

Aurey puts a hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t call you stupid. You’re just… your priorities don’t always match up with Zisteau’s.”
“I don’t care about his priorities,” Vechs says. Aurey can practically see the tunnel vision he’s getting. “My priority is to find Blame. To apologise. Whatever it takes.”
“You think he’ll forgive you?” Aurey asks.
“Yeah. Well. I just want to try,” Vechs says. “I have to try.”
There’s a note in his voice, something strained, something longing. Aurey puts a hand to her mouth.
“You’re not going to try to get back together with him, are you?” she says. Maybe Vechs is stupid.
“Aurey, that’s not what I meant,” he says. “Well. Maybe. I - ”
“If you’re still in love with him,” Aurey says, “I swear I’ll...”
 “You’ll what?”
“Uh. I’ll do something. You won’t like it.”
“Right.” Vechs puts his hand on his face and looks down. “Aurey, I’m really sorry about what happened with Bdubs. I know I shouldn’t have.”
She stands up to leave, brushing her hand against his shoulder as she does. “Tell Zisteau that, Vechs,” she says. “I forgive you. I don’t know if he will.”
Vechs nods, his eyes flickering between his fingers.
“It’ll be okay,” Aurey says, leaving and shutting the door softly. Vechs stares at her through his fingers and hopes they hide the tears well enough that she didn’t see him crying.

“Vechs is okay,” Aurey says to Nebris. “I think he’s getting over his shock.”
She turns to Zisteau. “Please forgive him, you have to. He’s distraught.”
“You got more angry at him more than I did,” Zisteau points out.
“And I forgave him. I shouldn’t have yelled at him, I know.”
Zisteau sighs and sits down. “He’s a handful. Why do we keep him in the group?”
Aurey hits him. “Because we need him? Because he was the first person you recruited. Because he can remember things and is good with maps and he is sly and good at tricking people and good at distracting people and because you cared about him once!”
Zisteau rubs his arm. “I still care about him,” he says gruffly. “But he’s also stupid and takes risks and is clumsy and gets distracted by attractive people and falls in love too easily and focuses on his personal agendas more than the team. We need better people.”
Aurey looks down at the table. “Is this team about skill only then?” she asks. “Don’t you care about your relationship with Vechs? Why did you recruit him originally?”

Nebris looks between Zisteau and Aurey in silence.
“He intrigued me,” Zisteau said quietly. “And.” He stops. “I’m going to go speak to him.”
Zisteau stands up and pushes his stool back, walking to the door. As soon as he’s in the next room, Nebris stares at Aurey.
“How did you do that?”
“I just reminded him that he cares about Vechs, and not just because of his skill,” Aurey says. “No matter what happens, he’ll always have a soft spot for him.”
Nebris lowers his voice. “Who’s Blame?”
Aurey looks up. “He was… he was our last fourth member, before you. We lost him in Feretan.” She pauses. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. Vechs doesn’t like it, because he thinks you’ll get scared. He wants you to know, he’s not like this anymore.”
“Not like what?”
“We lost Blame – and by lost, I mean, he was executed, but I don’t even know if that’s true anymore – but we lost him because of something Vechs did. He never forgave himself.”
“What did he do?”
Aurey shakes her head vigorously. “I can’t tell you. That’s Vechs’ story to tell. Don’t ask him about it, though.”
“Is that what he has nightmares about?”
“What?”
“You know he has them. Sometimes in the morning he’s shaking and sweating. He talks in his sleep, too, and he sounds scared.”
Aurey gives the slightest of nods. Nebris mutters something to himself that Aurey doesn’t catch.
“Hm?”
“Oh, nothing.”

Vechs emerges at dinner, which Nebris has prepared. He looks pale but is smiling weakly, and takes his usual place at the table while Aurey deals the cards. Zisteau attempts to make plans while they eat.
“So I think the palace will be harder than we expected,” he says. Everyone turns to stare at him.
“No, really?” Vechs asks. “I think it will be easy. Easy as cracking an egg.”
“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?” Zisteau asks. Vechs giggles. Aurey smiles. At least he’s coming back to his usual self.
“When are we going to do it?” Nebris asks.
“Let’s say… two weeks from today,” Zisteau says. “That’ll give us time to learn the place’s secrets.”
“You think?” Aureylian asks doubtfully.
“Yes,” Zisteau says firmly. “We’ll all go out tomorrow, and split up to scout the palace’s outer walls.”
“All of us?” Vechs asks.
“Yes,” Zisteau says. “I know it’s risky, but we really need to get a move on.”
Vechs sighs. “Okay.”
“You two fine with that?” Zisteau asks.
Aurey and Nebris nod.

“Good. We’ll leave early this morning, actually. Before dawn.”
Vechs knows he needs sleep, but he won’t object. Despite his talk with Zisteau, he’s ready to do anything that will keep him in the man’s favour. He’ll wake up whenever it’s convenient for Zisteau.

He’s holding onto Blame. He’s holding on so tight that his arms are numb, but that’s okay. He’s safe. Vechs looks at the mask, that intriguing and terrifying skull mask that Blame has never taken off. Vechs holds Blame closer. Blame is saying something, but Vechs can’t hear well. Everything is fuzzy, but then, above the sound of rushing water he hears cracking. Vechs realises he’s underwater, struggling to breathe. When he opens his mouth, salt water rushes in. He coughs. Blame is fading like a mirage. This doesn’t make sense. They aren’t in the desert. Vechs holds onto Blame as he flickers away, and Vechs opens his eyes, expecting salt water in them. Instead, all he sees is piles of golden sand for infinity, piled up in heaps like a dragon’s hoard. The water has drained away. Blame is gone, and nothing is left except for a skull-shaped mask. Vechs has no more tears to cry; there is no water in this desert. He reaches down to pick up the mask and -

“Vechs!”
The hissed whisper is accompanied by someone vigorously shaking his shoulders. Vechs sits up, his heart pounding. A glint is reflected in the eyes above him.
“Zisteau?” he says shakily.
“We’re leaving soon,” Zisteau says. “Get ready.”
Vechs nods in the matchlight. He hears the sounds of Aureylian and Nebris shuffling around, getting ready. Zisteau takes his hand off Vechs’ shoulder.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly.
Vechs nods, surprised that Zisteau noticed. “Nightmare,” he says quietly.
“The usual?”
Vechs hesitates before shaking his head. “A new one,” he says. “it was quite weird.”

He gets out of his hammock and the chill air bites his skin. He shivers, and begins getting dressed. He pulls his goggles firmly over his eyes and feels safer. The green vision it provides him helps him see Nebris and Aureylian in the dark, who are packing their bags with supplies. Aureylian moves close to Nebris, slipping something small into his hand wordlessly. Vechs knows what it is, and frowns with apprehension as Nebris slips the glinting blade into his bag.

Comments

[ruddiestbubbles]

I absolutely love this story and can't wait for more!!!

[jiminee]

Thank you! Your comments keep me going ^^

[ruddiestbubbles]

<3