The Atonement of a Writer

24. Astray II

aka Clovis's Human Observation Diary

He was sitting there, as usual, when the screaming started.

Looking up, it wasn't long until the one who always brought him news ran up to him. "The--fire--"

"Perfect." He smirked. "Now would be the perfect time to let me out."

He walked his first steps of freedom, shivers of anticipation climbing up his spine. He couldn't wait to see what they were up to this time.

~*~

Julien was a strange, strange person.

Clovis had always been told his intuition was spot on, especially on the field. Whenever he was in action, his mind cleared, and things became apparent--tiny details he wouldn't have noticed normally.

Therefore, Clovis noticed things about Julien he was sure nobody else was aware of.

Judging from the scars, Julien's hands were the hands of a bowman, but he carried a sword on his hips. The sword didn't look well-worn, so it was either new or he rarely used it--Clovis would put his money on the latter. It was peculiar. If one looked past his mask and gazed into those eyes of his, they would know those were not the eyes of a normal person. The way he spoke and acted, he was in his twenties at best, but those eyes--they were old. They spoke of secrets age had given him. Not to mention, he seemed more wary of them than they were of him, which was saying something. His clothes were not of the latest--of any--trend. Clovis would wager a guess that they were handmade, especially since his pants looked suspiciously like animal skin. He had no idea where Arielle could meet a person like him. A glance at Killian told Clovis that he had no clue who Julien was either, making the situation even more...curious.

Covered face, unmatched weapon, clothes that suggested he was removed from civilization. In other words, this Julien character was shady from head to toe.

Though he might be a bit biased, Clovis admitted to himself. It might have to do with how comfortable Arielle seemed to be around him. There was something different in the way Arielle treated Julien than him and Killian, but Clovis couldn't quite put his finger on it. Just watching them interact made him feel bad for Killian.

When Clovis had first met Arielle, his first thought was, of course, on her beauty. But then he saw how interesting she was, and could see why Killian always spoke of her fondly. He could always tell whenever Killian was thinking about her--every feature on his face softened to a degree that terrified Clovis. Killian, his brother in all but blood, whom he had known for almost all his life, was in love, and he probably didn't even know it.

So Clovis helped push things along, and had fun while doing it. Who would've known Killian could get jealous so easily? Things had been going really well--Clovis even got him to follow him and Arielle on their pseudo date--until that Julien person came and ruined everything.

Well, not everything, he amended quickly. Killian was still jealous. But Clovis didn't know if Julien and Arielle were just friends or not, not like he knew for sure he and Arielle were just friends. Their relationship was too muddled, and neither Killian nor Clovis trusted Julien at all.

"Your Highness, you've been staring at me for some time now." A voice jerked him from his thoughts. Speak of the devil. Clovis watched as Julien wiped away the sweat on the visible parts of his face, probably from helping them set up camp, not to mention their proximity to the heat emitting from the fissure. Mild concern for the parts covered by the mask crossed fleetingly in Clovis's mind. It must be sweltering in there.

Clovis shook those thoughts from his head and fought the blush coming to his cheeks. His father had always reprimanded him for daydreaming in his lessons. He couldn't believe he just spent the last couple minutes evaluating the relationship status of his friends instead of focusing on the matter at hand--namely, the beast they were sent to get rid of.

Clovis's gaze met Julien's, who was looking at him expectantly. Then, he thought--why not--and observed as Julien pulled out his water bottle.

He asked, "Are you and Arielle just friends?"

Julien immediately choked and coughed violently at his sudden question. Clovis pushed down the twinge of pleasure from seeing him lose his composure. They garnered a few looks, but he ignored them as he patted Julien on the back.

Soon enough, Julien managed to choke out, "Where did that come from? Of course we're just friends."

"Oh." Looking closely at Julien, he didn't seem to be lying--he didn't even look that embarrassed, just surprised. Though Clovis was glad for Killian, he was also slightly disappointed he wouldn't be able to watch the drama.

Just as Julien was about to question him further, they were interrupted by the arrival of Killian and Arielle. Killian's cheeks were slightly tinged with pink, while Arielle looked as blase as ever. Though Clovis had told Killian to go bring Arielle in order to give them some alone time together, it seemed like he hadn't made good use of the time. Who would've known Killian would be the one to come back blushing?

Clovis silently despaired, though his pleasant smile did not betray his inner thoughts.

Arielle's attention was instantly on the choking Julien. She didn't seem very concerned as she asked airily, "Who jabbed you this time?"

Julien scowled at her before muttering something only Arielle could hear. Clovis only caught something about chicks. He frowned in confusion. Why was he talking about chicks?

Later, when they were having dinner--the army chef had cooked up stew--Clovis was watching Arielle and Julien again. They were sitting apart from the rest of them, and Clovis could feel Killian, who was beside him, looking at them too, though judging by the intensity he felt in the air, it was more like subtle glaring than simply looking.

The pair, though, was oblivious. Clovis watched as Arielle took a sip from her bowl. Then, she turned to Julien to say something, setting down her bowl, face turned so only half of her body was lit by the fire. Clovis's eyes narrowed when she picked up her bowl again. He was pretty sure he was the only one who sensed it--he reached out with his powers--yes, there it was. Her bowl, previously full, was empty. Hadn't she only taken a sip?

Arielle and Julien moved away from the log. Clovis nudged Killian, who didn't keep his eyes off them. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

Clovis looked at him incredulously. From the way his eyes never strayed from her, Clovis really thought he'd have noticed already. "She just pretended to drink from her bowl and threw the contents away."

Killian frowned. "Perhaps Your Highness is being sensitive--"

He tugged his arm. "Let's go check, then."

They quietly made their way to where Arielle and Julien were sitting before, careful not to catch anyone's attention--or at least, not as much attention. Once they were close enough, Clovis reached out with his senses. "She dumped it on the ground, right over there," he murmured.

Aside from the natural moisture in the soil, there was a high concentration of a different kind of liquid at that one spot. Unfortunately, that was the extent of what his powers told him. Elementalists just weren't made for something this particular.

Killian nodded at his words, concentrated for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't sense anything particularly harmful there. But there is something else...I just don't know what."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Clovis muttered, glancing around. "We'll know soon enough. For now, we should keep an eye on them."

But it wasn't enough.

The next day, Arielle and Julien both disappeared.