Keller came back with Priest Alistair as the tavern emptied. Elsie had spent that entire time doing what she could to help make Ulrick comfortable. As useless as it felt, she cleaned out the wound to his shoulder, applied ointment to his burns, stitched up his deep cuts, dressed every wound. The only thing she didn’t do was amputate his arms; she couldn’t bring herself to do that to a man who didn’t have much longer to live.
“Thank you,” Ulrick said as she worked on bandaging him up.
“I wish there were more that I could do,” Elise said. “If you’d gotten here sooner, I could’ve saved your life. Maybe even your arms.”
He closed his eyes and smiled. Slightly. A death grin: she’d seen it a few times. When the body finally gave up on itself, some people felt a strange sense of euphoria.
“I’ll pull through,” he said. “I always do. The Godswater…”
Ulrick fell silent. He didn’t have to explain, though: everyone had heard the story of the wellspring of life that the Gods drew their power from, the waters that a great hero drank to gain the upper hand on the Blight. Legend had it that the Watchmen all drank from that same wellspring to that very day.
He’s delirious, Elise thought to herself. The stories were just that: stories. The Blight didn’t exist. And if that didn’t exist, then the Godswater didn’t, either.
She looked around. She hoped Alistair wasn’t too far off.
He wasn’t, thank the Gods: a thoroughly soaked Alistair and Keller arrived a few minutes later, just as Torben was packing up to go home.
The two of them came back behind the bar, trailing rainwater behind them.
Elise smiled when she saw Alistair. The old priest had been there at every step of her life. At every step of the lives of most people in the village: he was the oldest person there, had been for awhile. It seemed that the Gods were intent on preserving one of their most dedicated servants.
“Thank you for coming, Alistair,” Elise said.
“It’s good to see you,” Alistair said. “I just wish it could be under better circumstances.” He looked down at Ulrick. “How are you feeling, son?”
“Not great, sir.”
Alistair knelt down next to him and began to rifle through his bag. “What’s your name?”
“Ulrick.”
“Tell me, Ulrick: are you a man of the Gods?”
Ulrick nodded without hesitation.
“Good, good. When was your last blessing of contrition?”
“It was… two weeks ago.”
Alistair nodded. “Can you think of anything from the past few weeks that you need absolution for?”
Ulrick nodded. His eyes filled with pain, but Elise got the feeling that it had nothing to do with his injuries. “I can,” he said softly.
Alistair nodded and pulled out a small jar. Consecrated oil, blessed for the purpose of forgiving people for their offenses against the Gods. “Alright: let’s do that now.” He looked back up at Elise and Keller. “Can you two please step out?”
They nodded and stepped back out into the tavern.
“How’s he doing?” Pa asked the second he saw them.
“Not great,” Elise said. “Alistair’s doing his last rites right now.”
“Gods,” Pa said quietly. “Dead at such a young age. Do you have any idea what happened to him?”
Elise shook her head, folding her arms across her chest. “Not No: he didn’t say anything about it.”
She felt the small weight in her apron pocket, where she’d put what she found in his shoulder. She had an inkling of an idea of what had happened to Ulrick, but she planned on keeping it to himself, for now: there was no reason to cause a panic.
“I… guess my folks went home?” Keller asked.
“They did,” Pa said. “You want me to walk you back?”
Keller shook his head. “I’ll be alright: not like it’s that far.”
Pa nodded. “Alright. Make sure you spend some time by the fireplace, get a change of clothes; wouldn’t want you catching your death.”
“Thank you for your help, tonight,” Elise added. “Really. I’m sure Ulrick appreciates it, too. Even if… it doesn’t end up mattering in the end.”
Keller smiled sadly. “For what it’s worth, I think it does matter: at least he’s going to be comfortable at the end.”
Elise knew that he was right; she just wished that the sentiment could be enough to dispel the felling that there was something she could’ve done to save his life.
They bade Keller goodbye, and the boy walked outside to brave the ferocious storm.
Elise sighed and leaned against the bar.
“Now, don’t go blaming yourself for that Watchman’s condition,” Pa said. “You can’t save everyone. Even if you try your best. And even if you have a talent as miraculous as yours.”
Elise tried to smile. The Gods knew that it didn’t come easily, however. She knew that he was just trying to comfort her, remind her that even the ones she couldn’t help in the end were better off because of her, but all it did was remind her that, no matter what she did, no matter how hard she worked at her craft, she would always be powerless to the whims of the Gods.
She hated that feeling. Hated it more than she’d hated anything in her life.
Alistair appeared in the doorway leading into the back, his bag in his hands. “It’s done.”
Elise’s heart sank. “He’s… gone, then?”
“Not quite, but I have no doubt in my mind that he isn’t far off,” Alistair said. “He’ll be able to stand before the Gods with a content heart.”
“Thank you for coming, Alistair,” Pa said. “I’m sure he greatly appreciates it.”
Alistair nodded, then looked to Elise. “You did a good job, Elise; if you’d gotten to him sooner, I have no doubt that you would’ve saved his life.”
“Thank you.” Why does everyone seem to think hearing that is going to make me feel any better about the situation?
They bid Alistair a good night and he left.
Pa sighed. “Alright: let’s get to bed.”
“I’m going to stay up with him.”
“Elise, there’s not much-”
“I know I can’t do anything to save him,” Elise said. “I just… he shouldn’t die alone.”
Pa gave her a sad smile. “I know, I know. You’ve got to promise me that you’ll rest up in the morning, though.”
“I will, Pa.”
He gave her a peck on the forehead, said his goodnights, and went to bed.
Elise took a seat next to Ulrick’s bed.
“You don’t have to stay up with me,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know,” Elise said with a smile. “I want to, though.”
Ulrick sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m not dying, Elise. I’m just sleeping. I haven’t slept too good in a while…”
He fell silent. His chest was barely moving. Not long, now.
Elise covered her mouth with one hand to keep herself from sobbing. She didn’t care what anyone said: she should’ve been able to do more for him.
Hearing that there was nothing she could do to save somebody didn’t make watching their life slip away any easier.
***
Elise didn’t remember falling asleep: all she remembered was realizing that she was slumped over, her neck stiff from sitting in that position for too long.
The bed was empty. As if Ulrick had never been there.
Elise sighed. He’d died, and it seemed that Pa had taken the body to Alistair when he woke up that morning.
She stood up, rubbing her eyes. She hoped that his soul would find some semblance of peace-
She froze mid stretch.
Ulrick was standing in the doorway, an arm wrapped around his stomach, muttering curses under his breath.
Elise stood there, blinking, positive that what she was seeing was some sort of trick of the light. It wasn’t possible; he should be dead. Both of his arms had necrotized up to the shoulder. Most people were dead before they got to that point.
And yet, there he was. Standing, walking, talking. As if he’d just gotten into a scuffle the night before.
In fact… was it just her, or did some of his bruises look lighter? Maybe it was just the fact that it was ja little lighter in the room than it was during the night, but her gut told her that wasn’t quite right: bruises didn’t go from a deep purple to a lighter green that quickly.
“I… how…” Elise couldn’t find the right words.
Ulrick looked over his shoulder at her.
She approached him, reaching out, gently touching his arm. She half expected to find her hand going through him, find out that he was a ghost. It didn’t: he really was standing there, after all.
He smiled slightly. It seemed that he knew exactly what she’d had in mind.
“I told you,” he said. “I’m not dying.”
Elise wanted to celebrate. Ask a million questions. All she could seem to do, however, was stare.
“You really ought to sit down,” she finally said. “You did nearly die last night.”
He winced. “I know, I know. I’m sorry: I make for a horrible patient.”
Really, he was one of the best patients she’d had: most people seemed to enjoy ignoring opinions she had, despite being desperate for those same opinions in the first place.
“Do you remember anything that happened, last night?” Elise asked.
“My Gods,” someone from behind her said before Ulrick could answer.
She turned around. Pa was standing in the doorway to his room, staring at Ulrick as if he’d just witnessed his mother climb out of her grave.
“Good morning, sir,” Ulrick said.
“Son, do you have any idea how close you came to dying, last night?” Pa asked.
“I do,” Ulrick said. “They always said I was too stubborn to die.”
“Well, come and sit down with us,” Pa said. “We can eat and you can tell us exactly how you ended up here.”
Ulrick looked like he wanted to run right out of there and never look back. Instead, he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“I think you ought to lay back down,” Elise said. “We’ll bring the food do you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ulrick slowly hobbled to the mattress while Elise and Pa went into the bar area to cook up some breakfast.
“It looks like you managed it,” Pa said. “You should be proud.”
“That’s just the thing, Pa,” Elise said as she got the tea leaves ready to boil. “I hardly did anything: I did just enough to make him comfortable. I wasn’t even sure I did that right. He shouldn’t have been able to survive last night. He shouldn’t have been able to survive getting to our tavern.”
Pa shrugged as he got the bread out. “I suppose the Gods have more plans for him.”
Elise wasn’t convinced. There was something else going on. And she was certain that Ulrick knew, even if he wasn’t talking.
Once the tea was ready, they gathered up a few cups and went back to where Ulrick was.
“Bread’s a touch stale; I hope you don’t mind,” Pa said.
“Of course not, sir,” Ulrick said as they sat down.
“And that’s enough of that ‘sir’ business,” Pa said. “There’s no need for that.”
“Yes, sir.” Ulrick began to blush. “S-sorry: force of habit.”
“Of course: you are a soldier, aren’t you?” Pa broke the bread into three pieces as Elise poured the tea. He handed a piece of bread to Ulrick. “Now, eat up: you’ll need your strength if you’re going to heal up.”
Ulrick took a bite of bread. Elise handed out the cups of tea. They began to eat.
“You’ll be happy to know that we’ll have something better to eat, tonight,” Pa said. “The market’s today, so most everything from the last one’s gone stale, now.”
“This is fine, thank you,” Ulrick said. “I… haven’t eaten well as of late.”
“Ah, yes: nothing quite like army rations, eh?” Pa asked. “I remember it well: nothing but hard tack and ale. Half rotted meat when we were lucky.”
Ulrick only seemed to be half listening. Elise got the feeling that there was more to his lack of food than rations.
Maybe it has to do with the way he heals so quickly, Elise thought to herself.
“Now, what exactly happened to you, last night?” Pa asked. “Do you remember any of it?”
Ulrick got a sad look on his face. “I-I remember some of it. Most of the past day, though… a complete blank.”
“Do you remember what did that to your shoulder?”
He did: Elise could see it in his eyes. Even as they sat there, she could see that he was reliving it over and over. Like the garrison men who’d done shifts at the front, saw things she couldn’t even imagine.
“I remember being on patrol,” Ulrick said. “I was camped for the night. There was an animal. A boar, I think. It attacked me. I don’t remember much between that and when I got here.”
“Those boars can be real bastards,” Pa said. “You’re lucky he got you in the shoulder instead of goring you.”
Ulrick was lying. The thing she found in his shoulder was a testament to that. It suddenly felt as if it weighed a ton as it sat in her apron pocket. Should she pull it out right then and there? Demand an explanation?
She decided not to: she’d have some time alone with Ulrick when Pa went to the market; she’d ask then.
“Well, son, you’re a real lucky fellow,” Pa said. “We all thought you were going to die last night.” He patted Elise on the back. “Elise, here, thought there wasn’t a thing she could do to help her; glad she got proven wrong.”
“I am, too,” Ulrick said. It was the first thing about last night he didn’t seem intent on hiding something about.
Pa finished off his tea and stood up. “I’m going to head off to the market. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
They said their goodbyes and Pa left, leaving Elise alone with Ulrick.
Finally! How long had she been waiting to ask about this?
“So, you were attacked by a boar?” Elise asked.
Ulrick nodded.
Elise pulled the object she’d found in his shoulder out from her apron pocket. A piece of metal, now smashed, but she still knew full well what it was: a bullet. “I didn’t think boars knew how to shoot.”
Ulrick stared at the bullet. He looked like he might be sick.
“What really happened to you?” Elise asked. “From where I’m sitting, it looks like someone tried really hard to kill you. At the very least, somebody wanted to make you suffer.”
He looked down at his knees, unable to look her in the eye.
“I made mistakes,” he said quietly. “I made mistakes, and I paid for them.”
That chilled her to the bone. A million and one possibilities of what that meant went through her mind, each one worse than the last.
“Are they going to come after you?” Elise asked. “Are they going to show up on our doorstep and punish us for knowing you?”
“No,” Ulrick said. “They’re not coming back for me: they think I’m dead.”
He didn’t sound confident. Gods, he didn’t sound confident. She didn’t like that, at all.
“Who did this to you?” She asked. “What did you do to deserve this?”
Ulrick didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not talk about it.”
Elise sighed, then stood up, gathering up the dishes. “You ought to get some sleep: the more rest you get, the better you’ll heal.”
Ulrick nodded, then laid back down. “You don’t have to worry about it, Elise: I’ll be out of here tomorrow, and you won’t have to worry about it.”
Elise doubted that: he’d be there a long time, seeing as he could barely stand on his own.
Long enough that whoever did that to Ulrick could very well track him down and bring hell to Thaos.
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