"Things that look bad today will look better tomorrow."
"Lovely day," the Commander of the Seyruun Royal Guards, one Samlin Vymes by name, said to his Captain as they inspected the ranks on guard duty in the courtyard of the palace.
"Indeed it is," Captain Caret said. "My grandmother says there'll be frost tonight, though. Her trick knee is acting up."
"Caret, if we had bad weather every time someone's granny said her trick..." He trailed off not because he'd reconsidered the value of using trick knees as a weather forecasting device, but because something was descending into the courtyard - Straight down. Two somethings, in fact. Two people, to be more specific. He turned and ran, Caret right on his heels, towards the sudden arrivals. They turned out to be a red-haired girl and a man with long blonde hair dressed in armor. The girl was supporting the man who was unconscious. As they touched down on the flagstones, he slipped out of her grasp and sprawled on the ground. Blood soaked his tunic.
"Hey! You can't - " Caret started.
"You shut up!" the slim red-haired girl wearing a black cloak shouted at him. Pointing at Vymes (wearing a glove soaked in blood he noticed), she fixed him with a stare that sent shivers up and down his spine. "You go get Amelia and Zelgadis and tell them to come here NOW. You," she transferred the Finger to Caret, "go get the Shrine Priest!"
"Now, just a moment," Caret started to sputter. Vymes held up a hand.
"Do what she says, Caret. I know these two: They're friends of the Princess' and the man's hurt." When Caret hesitated, he turned and snapped at him, "That's an order!" Caret saluted briskly and hared off to fetch the Shrine Priest. Vymes took one look at the amount of blood on the blonde man's tunic and went to fetch the Princess and her Consort.
He rushed through the halls and took the stairs to the audience room where the Princess was holding a diplomatic meeting with an ambassador from a neighboring kingdom. He brushed aside the mousy secretary that tried to prevent him from disturbing the meeting and threw open the doors. "Your Highness!" he shouted, closing the distance between the door and his liege in a few long strides. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
Princess Amelia fixed him with an icy glare, as did the Chimera who sat on her right. "What is the meaning of this, Commander Vymes?" the man demanded.
"Yes. I'd like to know that, too. This is highly improper," a smooth voice said from beside Vymes. The Commander barely took note of the tall, thin man dressed in black, however.
"Highness, forgive me, but you're needed in the courtyard. You and Master Greywers, too."
"And just what's so important that it requires my immediate attention?" she asked coolly.
Vymes looked up into her eyes. "It's the sorceress, Lina Inverse. She's screaming for you and the Shrine Priest - "
"Lina can just wait until we're through here," the Chimera said. "And what does she want Dios for?"
Vymes shook his head. "She might be able to wait, but her companion, the swordsman Gabriev, can't. He's been wounded." He paused and remembered the horrifying amount of blood that covered the blonde man's tunic. "Badly, I think."
Immediately, both the Princess and the Chimera were on their feet, knocking their chairs backwards. "What?" they both demanded at once. Amelia turned to the great windows behind her; they looked down on the courtyard. She threw one open and saw Lina crouched over Gourry's tall form, his yellow hair spilling over the flagstones. "Ceiphied, what's happened?" she whispered in horror. Clutching her skirts, Amelia stepped onto the casement of the window and cast a Levitation spell. Vymes watched Graywers do the same, then turned and quickly left the room - leaving the tall man in black all alone.
"Well, I say..." he muttered, and continued sitting there, hands folded neatly on the table. "This is highly unusual."
"Amelia!" Lina screamed. She cradled Gourry's head on her lap, brushing back the stubborn hair that refused to stay put. He was deathly pale and his breathing shallow. He had his hands twisted in her cloak as if he felt the pain even unconscious. "Hang on, Gourry," she whispered. "Don't you dare d - " She broke off. She was not going to say that; she was not going to say that...
"Lina-san!" The sorceress looked up at the sound of Amelia's voice. The Princess was flying down towards her with Zelgadis close behind. Landing lightly, Amelia knelt by Gourry's side. "What happened?" she asked, her voice strained with the horror of seeing the tall swordsman like this.
"We were attacked!" Lina said then shook her head. "I can tell you later! Right now you've got to save him, Amelia! You've got to save him!" The hysteria in her voice was reaching a dangerous point.
Amelia looked at Lina then up at Zelgadis, who had come up behind Lina. He took Lina's hand and gently pulled her up and away from Gourry so that Amelia could work. Lina struggled briefly before growing quiescent in his grasp.
The Princess put her hands over Gourry's wound and closed her eyes. Zel and Lina could hear her murmuring the words to a spell under her breath; power gathered in her hands and spread out into the swordsman. The girl's brow creased in concentration as she forced the power to repair the damage the swordblade had done and restore order to his system again.
Zelgadis looked up as he heard running footsteps. Dios, the Shrine Priest, was running across the courtyard as fast as he could. He was huffing; he must have run from the Shrine. Seeing the Princess kneeling next to the injured Gourry caused him to skid to a halt. Immediately and without question, he dropped down on Gourry's other side, placed his hands over him and added his power to hers.
The next several minutes were tense as Dios and Amelia worked to heal the wound. Vymes hurried up, motioning for the guards to clear back. Quickly, he gathered up a group of five of them. "I want you to take horses and find the area where this happened. Get ready to ride; I'll find out where it happened. I want to know who did this."
Zelgadis overheard him and nodded. "Good thinking. Lina," he said, turning the sorceress away from the frozen tableau of Gourry, Amelia and Dios. "These weren't bandits, were they?"
She turned and looked at him with a blank expression. "What?" she asked dully.
"These men that attacked you, they weren't bandits, were they? No bandit could have done this."
Finally understanding what he was asking, she shook her head. "No, they were mercs. Seven of them. They attacked us on the road to the south - about three hours walking."
"Which road?" Vymes asked. "The one from Anteres or Mycena?"
"Mycena," she said, turning back to the healers and Gourry.
Vymes made a quick motion to Caret and the Captain and the guards turned and headed towards the stables to carry out their orders.
Lina jumped when Gourry groaned. Amelia slumped back onto her heels and as Lina hurried to kneel next to her, Zelgadis went to Amelia and helped her stand. She leaned against him and closed her eyes.
Dios looked from the wounded man to Lina. "He should be all right now, but he'll be weak for a while. The wound was messy and he's lost a lot of blood. He should rest." He looked up at Amelia who nodded.
Nodding absently, Lina leaned over Gourry. "Gourry," she called quietly.
He opened his eyes and stared upwards. Dios moved aside to let Amelia and Zel crouch by their friend's side. Gourry looked at them; his brow furrowed in confusion. "Amelia? Zel? Where'd you come from? You come to meet us?" He gasped and held his breath against some residual pain.
"We're in Seyruun, Gourry. You were hurt," Lina said as she answered for them. "I flew us to Seyruun. Amelia and Dios healed you." She took his hand and held it while he tried to process that information.
Gourry tightened his hold on her hand and reached out with his other one. Zel took it and helped the taller man sit up. The blonde swayed a bit and said to no one in particular, "I feel sick." He leaned forward, resting his head on his drawn up knees. "Hurts..."
"You've lost a lot of blood," Amelia said. "You'll feel that way for a few days. It will also take a day or two for the pain to subside. I've sent someone to ready rooms for the two of you," she said to Lina. Zel tapped her shoulder and she moved out of the way so he would take Gourry's arm. Slinging it over his shoulder, he helped the swordsman stand. The taller man took a step, stumbled and slid to his knees. Zel lifted him again, and this time Zel managed to get Gourry on his feet and walking towards the palace. Or rather, the Chimera walked; Gourry managed to stagger with Zel's help.
Amelia was about to follow but found Lina standing there, staring after Zel and Gourry, a strange look on her face. Vymes and Dios were there also, waiting to see what the sorceress would do. With a nod in Vymes' direction, Amelia dismissed him. He gave her a salute and hurried off to help organize the investigative team.
Dios, on the other hand, put his hand on Lina's shoulder. She started out of whatever thoughts she'd been lost in and looked up at the tall, kindly looking man. She remembered him from the Kanzel/Mazdena business, just as he remembered how valiantly she'd fought to save the Crown Prince and Princess and her friends, including the tall swordsman. "He's strong. He'll recover quickly and be good as new in no time at all."
Looking from him to Amelia, she whispered, "But he nearly died."
"But he didn't," Amelia said, taking her arm and leading her towards the palace. "Come on," she said. "You look like you need to sit down."
Numbly, Lina nodded and let Amelia lead her away.
Zel sat Gourry on the bed. Gourry's head lolled forward and while he was able to sit up, he wasn't able to do much more. He mumbled something incoherent and reached for his boots, but his hands missed and he slumped forward.
"Oh, no, you don't," Zelgadis said as he caught the swordsman and sat him back up. Sighing, he knelt and tugged on the other man's boots. "I guess I'm going to have to do this for you."
Gourry mumbled something and started fumbling with the straps to his armor. To his credit, he managed to get a couple undone (due mainly to the fact that he could unbuckle and buckle his armor in his sleep) before Zel pushed his hands away and did the rest for him.
Zel was finishing up just as Amelia led Lina into the room. Before either of them could say anything, Lina rushed to Gourry's side and hugged him, much to the mutual surprise of Amelia and Zelgadis. Gourry tried to put his arms around her but they simply slid off. Then, just when they thought they couldn't get any more surprised, Lina tilted the blonde man's head back and kissed him. This time his arms managed to encircle her and stay there.
"Lina-san?" Amelia asked, wondering if perhaps Gourry's near brush with death had finally catalyzed the feelings between the two of them.
Lina cradled Gourry's head against her chest and looked over her shoulder at Amelia and Zelgadis. "Amelia, Zel, can I have some time alone with Gourry?" she asked.
They nodded and left the room. Lina turned back to her husband and let the tears flow as she held him tightly.
That brought Gourry out of his stupor. "Lina?" he asked in a whisper, pulling away and looking up at her face. "Why are you crying?" He touched her cheeks and brushed away the tears.
"Because I almost became a widow today," she said, still clinging to him.
He shook his head. "No," he said. "Just a scratch. Too tough to die..."
"Don't joke, Gourry!" she scolded. "You nearly died."
"All right," he said with a nod. "But I didn't, so quit blubbering, or I'm going to..." He tried to think of something sufficient to threaten her with. He couldn't, so instead he took a deep breath. "You're not supposed to be crying. You're supposed to pound me for scaring you; that's what my Lina would do."
She had to laugh in spite of herself. Wiping away her tears, she gave him a shy smile. "Maybe when you're feeling better. Then I can pound you."
"That's better," he said, taking the opportunity to pat her behind. He leaned his head against her chest and closed his eyes. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."
"Then you should get some rest. Here, let's get these bloody clothes off of you." She plucked at his shirt and managed to get it over his head with a minimum of help from him. She poured some water into the basin and grabbed up a washcloth and cleaned him up as best she could, but most of it would have to wait until he could bathe. After, she got him into bed and comfortable. He was asleep almost before she finished pulling the covers around him. She kissed him on the forehead and then left him alone.
Outside, she found Zelgadis waiting with his usual impatience, drinking coffee to cover it. He looked up expectantly as she entered the room. "Amelia had to go placate the Patrician of Morank for running out on him in the middle of our discussion."
Lina nodded dumbly and sat down. Immediately, she stood up again. "Where's my stuff?" She was covered in blood and wanted to cleaned up and change clothes.
Zel pointed to a door next to the one she'd just come from. "In there," he said.
"Be back in a sec," she said.
Taking a deep breath and praying his patience would hold out, Zel leaned forward and poured himself another cup of coffee.