As the Dove Takes Flight

ลำดับตอนที่ #2 : Chapter II: Into the Fray (30%)

16:00 PM, 12^th of August, 1370.

Dormitory Lot, Royal Academy of Lindenvale.

“This is impossible. I’m not going to finish this in one day.” The girl with blonde hair, exhausted, laid down on the floor amidst papers and random stuff scattered around the room. Anna sighed as she watched her friend rolling around on the floor.

“Don’t you slack off. This is your own doing.” She said. “Now get up. We don’t have much time. My aunt will be here in a few hours. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

She put her friend’s clothes into a wooden crate before closing the lid while Claire reluctantly picked herself up from the ground. The two spent almost two more hours cleaning up the room and getting their belongings down from the dorm. As she hauled out her last chest, Anna looked up to the dormitory lot one more time. She bowed her head a little bit, grateful for the four years she’d spent here. The building’s front door swung open as a small girl walked out carrying a large wooden box, struggling not to trip and fall over.

“I’ll help.” Anna grinned, walked up to help her friend with the box.

“Phew… Thanks. That’s the last one.” Claire said, panting heavily.

“Good thing that’s done.”  Replied Anna as she placed the box down on the pile. Suddenly, she noticed a man walking up to them. 

“Good evening, Professor Henry.” She greeted the newcomer. Henry Beechfellow was a man in his 50s with ashen hair and eyes of the same color. He was the speech giver during the graduation ceremony and one among the most renowned medical professor of the Royal Academy. Anna and Claire have attended his classes before. Anna adored him as a role model, a man who committed his life for the sake of others, but neither of them knew the professor personally.

“Good evening, you two.” Replied Henry. He seems strangely tired.

“Is there anything wrong, professor?” Claire asked with a worrying voice. Henry sighed.

“I’ll get to the point.” He said with a serious tone. The man pulled two envelopes out of his bag and handed them to the young women. Anna noticed the red shellac seal with the sigil of the Royal Army. Just as she was about to ask him about it, he interrupted her.

“The headmaster asked this to be delivered to all medical students graduated this year.” He stated. “Don’t read it yet; but based on your reaction, I think you already know the context.” His glance turned to the girl with brown hair.

Anna gulped. She knew all too well the meaning of this letter. Claire, however, still couldn’t figure out what this is all about and kept staring curiously at the seal.

“Is this…”

“Don’t ask. Also don’t give your answer now.” The professor stopped her. “Just know that there are people in need of your skills, but take your time. This will be a big change in your life, so choose well.” 

He picked up his bag. Anna noticed an opened letter of the same kind inside it.

“Did you… get the offer too?” She asked nervously.

Henry nodded. “I and Amy already accepted the offer. Whether you do the same or not, the choice is yours.”

The professor parted with the two, leaving Anna in shock and Claire in confusion.

“What’s it with this letter?” Claire asked.

“Do you not know that sigil?” Anna immediately replied. “It’s from the Royal Army.”

“This? From the army?” The girl with blonde hair still couldn’t figure it out. “What is it they want with us?”

Anna sighed, shook her head to her friend’s naivety. “You won’t be leaving for Amaryllia till this Wednesday, right?” Claire nodded in reply.

“Tonight, you read the letter. Tomorrow, one hour past noon, meet me at Benjamin’s.” The young woman stated, frowning.

The small figure, sensed her friend’s unusually serious tone, nodded rapidly. “See you there. God be with you, Anna.”

‘Twas the dead of the night. Gretka had gone to sleep, but the girl with chestnut brown hair was still wide awake. A pair of amber eyes swept through the letter, reading it over and over, as if to ensure she read it all correctly. Anna sat still, gripping the piece of paper in her hand tightly. The content of the letter sent shiver down her spine, all to way to the tip of her fingers.

‘Of course. It all make senses.’

The Plague of La Valentina that ravaged La Valentine of Strixvelm, now its vile touch had extended northward to the south frontier of Aevengaard. The Royal Army was suffering casualties from the plague, due to the shortage of remedies and medical practitioners. The breath of the devil that kept the Strixvelm from successfully invading Aevengaard, was now taking its tolls on the Aevengaardian; but despite being in dire need of practicians, the emperor refused to forcibly enlist his people.

Just the imagination of war alone could scare her to death, let alone walking into the hundred-year war that consumed the lives of hundreds of thousands. Despite all that, Henry’s word was still echoing in her head.

‘Just know that there are people in need of your skills…’

‘…people in need of your skills…’

‘…people in need of you…’

‘…people in need…’

‘…’

“Father…” Anna whispered to herself. She noticed a bottle of ink on her table. Its deep indigo pigments danced, glittering under the candle light. A quill pen sat still besides it, completely dried of ink. The letter to Matthew, she hadn’t been able to write down a single word.

The feud within herself felt like it was going to tear her apart. To purposefully walk straight in behind the frontline wasn’t something a young woman would do with a sane mind, yet something inside told her it was the right path. The girl sat in silence, letting the torrent of time flows along with the wild tide of thoughts inside her head.

‘…for not another soul in her reach would have to suffer the pain the plague brings; and that of losing their loved ones.’

Lingered in her ears was her oath, sworn to herself over the grave of her beloved mother underneath the lone willow. The girl clenched her grip. In that moment, she felt like she could hear the cry of the Aevengaardians suffering from both the war and the plague; strangely enough, she felt like it somewhat resembled Helen’s voice. The first drop of tear in four years rolled by her cheeks and dropped down her chin. With a slightly less shaking hand, Anna picked up the quill pen and opened the ink bottle. The scent of perfumed ink filled the room as she wrote a letter to her dear father.

‘I’ve walked this far. If that is where fate would take me on the path… then so be it.’ The young woman thought to herself as she finished the last letter. Lustrous amber eyes gazed outside the window, up upon the stars.

‘O’ the lord…’ She prayed. ‘May I see you again, father.’