The Frost
The frost came late and like an undesired guest who outstayed their welcome. It was creeping down the hills from the north-west, prickly and silently crawling into the vineyards. Some plants didn’t care and some did well with a bit of frostbite. But the delicate wine plants, with their first blossoms and fresh leaves, wouldn’t survive it, crumbling and shrivelling and dying fast.
And Gimma depended on the grapes and a good harvest. The wine fed a lot of mouths and with so many Fledglings to be taken care of, the vineyards were to be saved at all costs.
Low fires burned all night, illuminating the southern hills in the dark. They protected the blossoms but also turned Gimma into a shining beacon. For scavengers and worse.
While the peasants kept the fires in the barrels burning, patrolling the hill all night, the Mages and grim Enforcers kept an eye on the hills and the things hiding in the darkness that enclosed the monastery every night.
The tension was tangible. Everybody waited for something to happen while praying that nothing would happen. Enforcers bumped into concealed Mages, Mages hissed at Enforcers and peasants grumbled, stumbling around with endless fatigue.
These days, the hind part of the monastery was oddly silent during the sunlit hours. The usual clacking and clashing of weapons and occasional yelling and admiring hollers were replaced by hushed voices and silent walks.
Half the Mages slept through the day, dragging their tired selves out of bed in the afternoon just to stay up all night again.
The Pages were mostly busy taking care of muddied or torn coats, too much water seeping through worn-out boot stitches and adjusting embroidery to keep the Mages warm and cloaked in darkness at night.
Most Pages were holding up just fine. Without imminent danger, all they had to do was maintenance, which never depleted the Page‘s spark.
“Did Embry fight last night?” Benji looked quizzically at the grumpy Page folding fabric drowning in a chaotic explosion of minuscule embroidery. It was beautiful, neat work and Kuo should be proud of it. But the Page looked tired - even more tired than the Mages coming down the hills in the morning and Benji couldn’t understand how that was possible.
Kuo shook his head. “No. He didn‘t. He‘s fine. I am just not sleeping very well these days.“
Nightmares haunted him.
And there was nobody to chase them away.
He sighed.
Benji flopped down on the table next to him. “I hope the night shifts are over soon. If you have trouble sleeping you could come to my room? I don‘t mind sharing.” The blonde Page smiled cheekily. “Unless you snore.”
Kuo wondered when they had become so close, surprised by how pleased he was. “Thanks Benji. I just don’t do well with company when I have nightmares. I tend to flail.” His hand smoothed the fabric, Embry’s cloak, and reached for the felted gloves. He’d have to replace them soon. Embry tended to pick at the edges till the whole thing just gave up and fell apart.
Benji hummed. “Still. The offer stands. Let’s hope the frost doesn’t stay another week.” He rubbed his arms. “I’m tired of cold feet at night.”
The Page looked pointedly at Kuo‘s naked feet.
They were indeed a bit cold and cramped more often but hells, anything was better than shoes. Kuo couldn’t do shoes. Not yet.
The fifth night in a row had Embry yawning and cracking his jaw. The tea didn’t help and staring into the darkness just strained his eyes.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. “Huh?”
Aik snickered. “Getting careless? They saw a Ĉashundo down the northern road. It could be a scout for a pack. We have to check the barriers and make sure the spells work.” He clapped him on the shoulder and tugged on Embry’s cloak. “Come on, brave little soldier. Time to shine.”
Embry sighed, got up and rubbed his eyes. “I wish the frost was over. I am so tired.”
Aik huffed out a laugh. “Am I the only one feeling excited about the prospect of night shifts? I mean, we haven’t had a good fight in months.” His step was light as they descended the hill, passing men and women stoking the fire barrels and restocking wood.
Embry groaned. “Yes, Aik. You’re the only one who wants to get his throat ripped out. I want to be in my bed. Sleeping.”
Aik spared a second glance at the other Mage’s face. The bags under his eyes had gotten worse. He did look tired, even though he slept longer than Aik. “Not sleeping so well during the day?”
Embry mumbled into his high collar, “Obviously.”
Aik hummed, tapping a spell cornerstone with his staff and was pleased to see it reacting with a low crackling noise and some blue waves rippling along the spell barrier. “They shouldn’t be able to pass it.” He turned around to see Embry standing absolutely still, staring off into the darkness. “What’s wrong?”
The younger Mage turned around, his pupils dilated and an odd shade of murky silver, reflecting the moonlight. “I don’t think the Ĉashundo are our biggest problem.”
He blinked and took off.
And that’s when Aik heard the first agonising cry of a peasant.
The cloak was torn. Long stripes of felt missing, others just barely hanging on by the embroidery threads. Kuo had felt the Mage tapping into his spark that night, using the shield over and over again.
The Page had fallen out of bed, gasping at the sudden intrusion and tug, his neck tingling and the spark cracking along his fingers, aggressively snapping and snarling at the unseen intruders.
They had lost two peasants and one got away minus a leg ripped off by a Ĉashundo, but the healers had done their best to make sure he’d survive.
Kuo sighed.
The embroidery was supposed to do better.
“You did your best, Kuo.” Aro’s warm but stern voice behind him was soothing but he shook his head.
“It was supposed to be more effective.”
He knew he’d given his best. Embry was unharmed. As well as the peasants he’d kept behind him with the Page’s shield as a barrier between him and the… thing the frost and darkness had unleashed.
Aro rubbed the remains of the red thread between his fingers. “Given that Embry didn’t lose any limbs and kept all peasants safe, I’d say it was quite effective. Benji picked up quite a lot from you. You did a good job.”
The Headmaster took his head in both hands — warm and dry and a bit rough but Kuo felt himself relax a bit with the comforting touch. Aro’s gaze was assessing him nonetheless though. “You don’t feel drained, right?”
Kuo blinked and shook his head slightly, still cradled in Aro’s big hands. “No. I don’t. It didn’t cost a lot. I’m just tired.”
Aro knit his eyebrows together and let his hands slide to Kuo’s shoulders. “Should we reschedule your tasks so you can work at night and sleep during the day as well? Embry’s not looking so good either. You might find more comfort like that?”
The Page tensed. “The frost won’t last forever.”
“That might be true, but will it last longer than you two without proper sleep?” Aro grabbed the torn cloak and nodded towards the new ones. “Please check Benji’s work as well when you’re done with Embry’s.”
“Yes, Aro.”
Another two days had Kuo nearly admitting defeat. He cried at night. He could feel the dried and unpleasant streams on his face and his puffy eyes started to give him the look of an unhappy carp. His nightmares grew more vivid, the past clawing and ripping at the parts of his soul he had considered healed.
He cracked, slowly but steadily and started to make mistakes. Stabbing himself with the needle countless times, surprised to find a spell embroidery gone completely wrong, and even Benji pointing out mistakes he hadn’t even made as a beginner. It stressed him.
Seeing the Mages coming back and seeing Embry in no better state made him grind his teeth. He was supposed to be careful, not to become a walking, flailing hazard for himself and those around him. The other Pages eyed him with worry. Except maybe Berinn. Who had the gall to gloat. Whatever. Fuck Berinn.
Kuo sighed. He wanted hands to drag him closer and keep the nightmares at bay. He had dreaded it when it started, the combined dreams and the awkwardness he felt because it made him feel raw and too fragile. Again. But, nevertheless, it had helped. And with the Mage now gone to deal with the monsters outside of the monastery, Embry left him alone to deal with the monsters in his head.
Kuo’s neck tingled.
He heard the doors to the main sewing room open and Aro entering. The Headmaster cleared his throat and strolled into the middle of the room, getting everybody’s attention. “The foreman informed me that the frost seems to be over. Just one more night to see if we can get away without the fire barrels.”
The Page nearly sobbed in relief. He could do one more night. Just one.
“Gee, thank gods. I am so tired of being woken by Kuo‘s screams all night long”, Embry‘s former Page spat out from behind Kuo, earning himself a collective gasp.
Aro frowned, his gaze turning cold. “Kuo‘s nightmares are unfortunate but given that you spend half the nights in the Enforcer’ quarters anyway, I doubt this affects you as much as it affects him or the rest, so a bit of compassion might be advisable.”
Somebody snorted and Benji wheezed at the table next to Kuo. He turned his head to look at Berinn, who stormed out of the room with a red face and angry stare, neither apologising to Kuo or the Headmaster. Aro was strict and, usually, the Pages knew to never cross him. Berinn would regret his outburst later. One way or another.
“If I didn‘t know your ugly mug so well, I‘d think you‘d be one of the undead we encountered that one time near the caves.”
Aik laughed and clapped Embry‘s shoulder. The younger Mage nearly toppled over, stumbling across every little bump in the path up to the main gate.
“Whoa, Em. Give me your staff and the other shit and go to the Pages.”
Aik snatched the staff and the rest without any resistance and shoved him towards one of the other Mages. “Yo, Miko. Take Embry to the sewing rooms and drop him at Kuo‘s table. He‘s useless for the clean up.”
Embry’s eyes started to lose their focus again but he still managed to complain “I don‘t need to go to the Pages.”
Miko raised his eyebrows but held on tight, laughing. “Yeah, you kinda do. Come on.”
When Embry regained his consciousness, he still felt the endless tiredness in his bones but it had lost the mind numbing desperation he had felt in the last couple of days. The daylight was nearly gone, dipping everything in warm hues of orange and yellow. He was in a quiet little room full of linen and piles of fabric leftovers. They would be used for fixing torn clothes or adjusting dresses when the Fledglings had a growth spurt.
Right now it was a warm nest for him and the slim, warm body lying in front of him, snoring softly and still deeply asleep.
Embry couldn’t remember how they’d got there, only that Mikolaj had dragged him in a different direction to Aik when they had passed the main gate. And he really didn’t care. The sated state of a good nap would make up for everything. Embry bathed in the drowsy mix of warm, safe, here and the faint smell of a day‘s sweat and herbs Kuo tended to chew. The scents had been missing in his dreams, as well as the warmth his body radiated, and he wondered if he‘d have that in his future dreams now that he knew those things. Would his body be able to dig out the memories?
Embry considered moving but another wave of fatigue swept over him, so he closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and let his body go back to sleep.
Arms wrapped around him. A sleepy voice whispered “I missed this,” and he was dragged deeper into a dream.