BK1 Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The tents were brought down, and fires were kicked out promptly. The speed at which the professional summoners worked overshadowed all of the trainees. I tugged my backpack, getting used to my shoulder again, watching in admiration. The soldiers showed their experience and were deft as the night set-up was stuffed into bags or hauled onto carts. Foot guards sharpened their weapons with whetstones and picked out rocks from the soles of their boots.

Eduard's clone walked with me, silently leading me through the brigade. I flickered my eyes towards the water clone and bit my lip.

"So", I began "Do you…. Um, how does this work."

"How does what work?" Fake Eduard raised an eyebrow.

"You are, um, a clone? Do you have Eduard's thoughts?"

"I split my conscious mind when creating a clone. When the clone has ceased, everything it learns or has done returns to my main body." The clone spoke as though he was Eduard; it was unsettling.

"So Eduard will remember our conversation when you… cease?"

"My clone's memories become my memories."

"You know it's weird that you talk like you are Eduard."

"I am Eduard" The clone scrunched his eyebrows, confused by my statement.

Okay then, so the clone didn't know he was a clone. I rubbed my arm suddenly, feeling strange being next to this thing. If it wasn't for the lack of a box above his head, I might have been torn on whether he was the real Eduard and the clone had instead stayed behind.

"Alright, well, Eduard, may I suggest that when you create a clone, you give it the semblance of knowing it is a clone?" I said pointedly. If this conversation returned to Eduard's mind, hopefully, he would take my suggestion on board.

"I do not see how that matters", Fake Eduard said. "My clones are useful to allow me to be in several places simultaneously. If they knew they were clones, they would not perform as I would"

"Right…" That wasn't my point, though. I was more concerned about how creepy this was for anyone interacting with fake Eduard. Did he say several? Does that mean there were more Eduards around the brigade? I shuddered at the thought.

"Why do you need so many clones?"

Eduard glanced at me, his lips tightening into a line. "It is useful."

"Useful how?"

Eduard frowned at me but seemed to be considering something. "I am in the administration profession. My role is to assist with the infrastructure of the Army. Being in several places is a skill highly valued for that role."

"I see," I said, and he didn't respond. So we walked silently, passing a couple of water summoners refilling water skins. A line of footguards had queued and were chatting while waiting for their refills.

"Lynette", fake Eduard slowed his pace and came to stand still; he pressed his lips and unfolded his hands from behind his back. "I-" he paused, seeing my hesitation in his expression. "Walk faster; we will be setting off soon" he quickly turned and continued to stride forward.

I stayed where I was, unsure what had just happened. What did Eduard want to say to me? Why did he withhold it?

Eduard stopped walking ahead and turned around to face me again. He raised his eyebrow expectantly. "Lynette?"

I shook out of my surprise and quickened my pace to catch up with him. I frowned. Was it just me, or was his clone less uptight?

"I informed Callan and your group of your return this morning. They should be expecting you, so we can't delay."

"Oh, do you know if Lady Thornfax is back with her group?"

"I did not ask" Eduard's strides slowed a little as he saw me lag behind. "I expect she has recovered if she requested her sisters when you arrived." He pinched his lip, narrowing his eyes. I flinched and looked away. But, of course, even his clone would still be unhappy that I had requested Nate over my family.

"That's good; I was worried about her", I sighed, stepping into a sloppy piece of mud. It squelched on my boot, and I had to pull my leg to get it unstuck again.

"I did not think you would be."

"Why would I not be worried?"

"I am well aware you and Lady Thornfax do not get along", fake Eduard stated.

"Ah," I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "She's not as terrible as I thought."

"Does that mean you will finally stop your pointless squabbling?" Eduard asked as we reached the middle of the brigade. I could see in the distance a lack of brightly coloured cloaks. Instead, the people gathering together wore weathered outfits as they scrambled to pack away their things.

"I only argued with her because…." I wanted to say because she had shown me such disdain. Because I had not been able to accept that she had made a mistake because I had pursued my jealousy. We were both unforgiving of each other equally.

"It does not matter", Eduard sighed. "The fact that you finally realise you were uncouth is enough."

"Of course", I sighed, rolling my eyes. Uncouth? My manners were appropriate for someone who had been insulted, but Eduard never listened when I explained why I acted in such ways. There was no point in arguing this with him. I had done so many times in the past.

We slowed our pace as we came closer to the Trainees. Eduard stopped as Lieutenant Cragborn spotted us. The Lieutenant's red eyes and long hair stood out against the Trainees. He motioned to Eduard with a hand gesture and began to make his way over to us.

"Lynette", Eduard spoke lowly as we waited for the Lieutenant to meet us. "I am glad you came back."

I stilled as he spoke words I had never imagined I would hear from him. Fake Eduard smirked at me as I stared at him incredulously.

"Survive to the capital", his words gargled as his solid form began to shimmer. The colour drained and returned to a watery blue before sloshing into the ground.

***

Lieutenant Cragborn's eyes felt like he was sharpening a blade as he jutted his chin. I stood with him where Eduard's clone as once been, still a little shell-shocked by what he had said. The real Eduard would never have said such a thing. Perhaps his clones were not as alike as Eduard as he suggested. My face heated; now, the real Eduard would know of our conversation since his clone ceased.

"Lady Heversham, were you injured in the head, or are you ignoring me?" Lieutenant Cragborn scowled, tapping his foot.

"Uh, sorry, Lieutenant." I meekly smiled. "I am listening."

"Good. I want you to return to your group, but you are to stay within sight of me at all times," he said, irritated. "I don't know what you did with a Kreshna, but it has been made very clear to me you are not to perish."

"Oh, sorry" I could sense that this was a burden the Lieutenant did want the responsibility of.

"Indeed", his brows knitted. "If a demonic beast attacks. You are to stay within five steps of me. If you are separated, you need to find me. Understood?"

"Understood", I saluted.

"Good. Now go find your team." He jutted his head in their direction. I didn't wait for any more orders and picked up my feet in the direction he sent me.

As I arrived at the group of Trainees, many didn't pay me much notice at first, but the nobles I recognised stopped what they were doing, their eyes widening at my return. The whispering that followed ricocheted as more and more of the trainees were prodded by their friends pointing at me. I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat from the attention. Then, dipping my head as though it would hide me, I rushed passed them.

"Lynette!" a squeal jumped onto me as arms enveloped my body. My hugger shifted me from side to side in their embrace.

"Teresa", I smiled as she pulled back, beaming.

"I can't believe you are alive! Your older brother sent his clone thing and told us this morning; I thought he was telling us some sort of sick joke. But no! It's real! You are alive and here! Oh my gosh, I've never been so relieved. You have to tell me everything that happened; I want details; your brother said you were hurt? Are you okay now? I saw Lady Thornfax earlier, but she wouldn't tell me a thing; she even told me to get lost. Can you believe that? So rude" Teresa's words overpowered my mind as I tried to configure everything she was saying.

"I'm fine", I patted her with a chuckle. Her blonde hair swished tied into a high ponytail, and she creased her blue eyes with a smile.

"Lord Weadall and Lord Duane used their abilities to heal me."

"So you were hurt that bad?" Teresa pouted and began to check me over, brushing down my arms and feeling my forehead like a mother hen.

"I'm fine now", I grinned, taking her hand away from my head. "A lot happened."

"You have to tell me!" Teresa linked her arm to mine and led me towards the rest of our group.

I began to talk about the cave and the Agiluf as we took our short walk. I didn't have a chance to get into the rest as we reached our group.

Harold stood waiting. His back straightened, looking at nothing in particular. His hair was no longer as neat as it had been; some of the tight cornrows had loosened. His beard had grown a little longer, and he had a giant tear in his cloak, splitting it from the bottom up to his waist.

Garret was beside him. His arms crossed as he chatted to Harold. Garret's brown cloak was dirty, and his clothes were caked in dried mud. His red hair was out of place, and a thick red line now stretched across his cheek.

I took another look at Teresa and noticed she had a rip in the hem of her shirt, and one of her boots was hastily tied on with some string wrapped around her ankle, a tear running up the seam.

"Lady Heversham", Harold nodded in greeting. "I am glad to see you are well."

"Yes, it was excellent news that you survived, Lady Heversham. I was distraught by your loss" Garret made a face of sorrow to show concern. I did not care for it.

"I'm sure" I rolled my eyes towards Garret.

"Did something happen whilst I was gone? Why do you have a scar on your cheek Lord Asher?" Surely a medic Summoner could have healed it? They hadn't left a trace of a wound when they healed me.

"You could say that", Teresa sighed. "After the Baildon, we were pretty shaken up; you weren't the only person who died that day", she grimaced.

"Oh," I said, pinching my fingers. "Who?" I asked quietly.

"A Summoner and a noble Trainee", Harold answered, tightening his grip on one of his sai blades.

"A lot of the commoner Trainees, too," Teresa added.

"I'm sorry", I whispered, wrapping my arm around Teresa's shoulders to try and comfort her. I could only hope no one she knew from Ingalham had been amongst those that died.

"Lord Trigot perished", Garret fumbled with his sabre. I remember Lord Trigot was the trainee who had questioned Lieutenant Cragborn about his evaluation methods when we were selecting our groups.

"I see; I did not know him," I said, tightening my arm around Teresa. I could have been among those; I was amongst those who died for others. However, they would not be coming back like I did.

"My scar is because the medics did not have enough Aether left to fully heal me", Garret grounded his teeth. "My injury was not as important as others," he said with disdain.

"It wasn't", Teresa said, eyeing Garret with hostility. "After the Baildon, a pack of rat demonic beasts came out of the Prairie expanse. They were a pain to deal with, it got overwhelming, but the Summoners took care of them in no time."

"They were ruthless ugly things. They dared to scratch my face," Garret glared at Teresa.

"Well, they tore my boot apart; I got over it. So should you," Teresa spat.

"My face is more important than a commoner's boots."

"Your face looks better with the makeover", Teresa smirked. Garret seethed, opening his mouth to argue, but Harold interrupted.

"They tore my cloak" Harold frowned, looking at it longingly.

"Mine got ruined too" I showed Harold the tattered remains of my cloak. He looked at me with such sympathy.

"I am very sorry, Lady Heversham", Harold sadly sighed.

I had to cover my mouth to hide my small smile at his despondence. He seemed very upset about his ruined clothing. But I could also tell from the twitch of his mouth that he just didn't want to hear Garret and Teresa argue.

A horn blasted into the air, and we paused our conversation. I caught Lieutenant Cragborn pointing at me with his finger, then down at the ground in front of him. I got the message, and we all moved over to the front of the Trainees as we readied for the march.