“You’ll be staying for the whole tournament, then?” she confirmed. He nodded. “Well, in that case, I’ll see you again, I’m sure.”
“Hopefully not too much. Because it’d either mean you’re wounded or sneaking out of the village when you’re not supposed to—neither of which I’d like to see.” The slight upturn of his lips told Eira Fritz already suspected such things would happen regardless of his warnings.
He was right, of course.
“I’ll try to keep safe.” She gave her own slight smile in reply.
Fritz opened the curtain to her partitioned area as another champion rounded the archway. A pair of familiar eyes met hers, as they had in the arena, earlier at the morning, and at the ball the night before…
Olivin.
11
“Hello, competitor, I can attend to you in the middle section,” Fritz said with formal ease.
“I’m not here for myself. I’m here to see how Yonlin is doing.”
“Yonlin?” Fritz repeated, obviously confused.
Eira stepped in to help her uncle. “One of Olivin’s teammates.” She hadn’t heard anyone else come in, so she took a somewhat confident guess. “He came here before me. There was already another cleric helping.”
“Ah. Let me check the notes, then.” Fritz went over to the corner of the room, where a long desk was situated. He scanned the drawers and drew a key ring with two keys from the pockets of his robes; using one, he unlocked the drawer all the way at the far right. Each of the other drawers had a name, save for the last one. “Here we are… Yes, it looks like Yonlin was banged up rather badly.” Fritz murmured to himself as he scanned the notes. “According to the records, he was in a good deal of pain so the last cleric gave him a draught of deep sleep.”
“May I see him?” Olivin asked.
Fritz pulled back the curtain on the far-left partition, revealing Yonlin. He was shirtless and bandaged up to his chin.But his sleeping face was a calm contrast to how the muscles in Olivin’s neck and cheek bulged, as if he was clenching his jaw. As ifhewas the one in pain.
“I’d recommend letting him sleep,” Fritz said slightly. “The longer he sleeps, the better he’ll be when he wakes. Based on the notes she left here for the rest of us, I suspect he’ll be fully recovered in time for the individual competition in a few days.”
Olivin didn’t move or speak.
“Olivin.”
At Eira’s voice, he whipped around to face her.
She tried to offer an encouraging smile. They didn’t know each other well. But they didn’t need to for her to offer him some assurance. “Fritznangle is an exceptional sorcerer from my home.” Fritz arched his eyebrows, at her not specifying “uncle” in addition to using his full name, no doubt. But Eira ignored the look he was giving her and continued, “I’m sure he’ll see that Yonlin is back in fighting shape in no time.”
“I’ll leave him in your care, then.” Olivin sounded somewhat hesitant.
“Expect to see him tomorrow morning, or afternoon, back in the village,” Fritz said optimistically.
Olivin’s gaze shifted as Fritz spoke. His eyes met Eira’s and dropped down to the bandages stacked atop her bloodstained tunic. “Forgive me for not asking sooner. Are you all right?”
“I’m not your teammate; I wouldn’t expect you to worry about me first.” She grinned slightly. “I’m fine. It wasn’t too bad.”
“Glad to hear it. Would you like to walk back to the village with me? We should be getting back before the attendants wonder.”
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” she agreed reluctantly. They were headed back to the same place and there was only one wayto get there. It’d be awkward if she’d said no. Besides, she should return soon. Her friends were no doubt worried about her.
“If that wound didn’t hurt too badly, I’d be offended if my company did.” Olivin smiled at her.
“Be good, Eira,” Fritz cautioned.
“I’ll look after myself.” She resisted rolling her eyes at her uncle.
“And thank you, Fritznangle, for looking after Yonlin,” Olivin said as he led Eira out into the dimly lit hall. Eira looked over her shoulder at the sudden and overwhelming sensation that someone was watching her. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Olivin asked, bringing her attention forward once more.
“I’m fine. How did the game end up?”
