Chapter Text
The first cold winds of winter blow across the ramparts cutting straight to Amicia’s bones and causing the former noble lady to shiver and hug herself. How many times has Amicia stood here on top of the ruined castle walls staring out into the distance in some vain hope that she could spot her brother returning Amicia couldn’t tell you. All the young French woman can tell you is that she has spent every moment of free time she has staring at the outside world hoping to spot Hugo somewhere out there.
Everyone is worried about Amicia and are taking turns joining her as she stares out into the world trying to talk to her but with little success except for when Melie is the one talking to her. Amicia doesn’t know what it is about the thief, but she finds herself being able to open herself up more to Melie then any of the others, and despite her misery, the former noble can still find herself smiling when she is with Melie.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” The thief herself Melie says as she steps up beside her friend and leans against the rampart. “He may be sick, but he is a strong kid, and Lucas’s elixir may have even cured him.”
“I shouldn’t have let him go,” Amicia replies predictable and clenches her fists.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Melie tells her gentle taking one of Amicia’s hands into her own and softly rubbing it until she relaxes her fingers.
Ever since Hugo ran away, Amicia usually gives predictable responses that everyone has become used to dealing with. The formal noble would either become anger at herself, quiet and distant or Amicia would cry although that only happens at night, and Melie is the only person who has seen Amicia with tears in her eyes.
“You did what you did to protect him,” Melie continues. “You knew he would run off if you told him the truth. You only lied for his own good and not to hurt him. I am sure he will understand and forgive you when the two of you reunite.”
“I hope so,” Amicia replies, doing her best to smile but failing to do so. “I have been horrible to him before, and we made up, but this time, I have a feeling in my gut that he is really mad with me this time.”
“He will forgive you,” Melie assures her. “I told you this before remember, “Brothers, sometimes you want to kill them, but you can’t stop loving them.” I know he still loves you, and he may be furious, but he will forgive you.”
“I hope you’re right,” Amicia sighs.
“Haven’t you realized by now?” Melie asks while opening up her arms wide and wearing a smug grin on her face. “I am always right.”
“How could I have forgotten?” Amicia responds as for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she smiles for real. “You are Melie the Wise, after all.”
Both girls giggle at the latest title Melie has been gifted. When Amicia first gave Melie the title of Melie the Stealthy she was only doing it to calm her nerves as the two of them battled against the swarms of rats occupying the castle and never thought it would develop into a running joke between the two of them. Melie the Brave, Melie the Fury and Melie the Pickpocket Queen. Those titles always felt right at the moment they were gifted and both Melie and Amicia have found those silly little titles to be a great way to deal with the stress of their daily struggle against the rat plague.
“Hey! Amicia! Melie!” The voice of their young alchemist friend fills the castle grounds as the boy steps out illuminated by the soft glow of his torch. “Dinners, ready!”
“We’ll be there in a minute!” Melie yells back before facing Amicia again. “Let’s go get our poison, Arthur’s cooking tonight so just be aware that we may not see the…”
Just as she says that a goes to take a step towards the staircase that will take the two girls down into the courtyard Melie stumbles. Amicia reaches out and catches her friend stopping the thief from falling with a concerned look in her eyes. This isn’t the first time she has had to catch her friend, it has become painfully clear that Melie has been having trouble with her balance lately and tripping up several times a day for the past three days.
“Damn ice,” Melie says, laughing off her latest stumble like all the others. “We really need to do something about that ice before someone breaks their neck.”
“We’ll ask Lucas and Rodric to look into it,” Amicia tells her. “I’m sure Lucas can make something that stops ice from forming or Rodric could build us something.”
With that, the two girls head towards what passes for living courts in this ruined castle to get something to eat. Melie leads them with Amicia following just behind stopping only to look over her shoulder to make sure she hasn’t forgotten anything. Amicia sees that she hasn’t left a thing and she was about to start walking after the thief but as she turns Amicia’s eyes find the spot where Melie said there was ice only to see nothing there. Amicia shrugs her shoulders at that discovery and catches up to her friend, thinking little of the fact there is no ice. Amicia simply tells herself that Melie tripped over herself and made up that bit about there being ice because she was embarrassed.
The central tower may be slowly disintegrating with several holes in the walls, but when the large fireplace is lit, the room can still be warm even on a chilly winters night. Old banners and broken furniture lay scattered throughout the room with plants growing throughout the building but despite all that everyone in the castle has come to see this ruin as their home. Every but Arthur that is. Arthur is continually telling his sister they should leave this castle and although Melie always refuses a fear still consumes Amicia’s heart as she tries to picture a life where Melie does abandon her and runs off in the middle of the night with Arthur just like Amicia’s own brother Hugo has already done.
Amicia isn’t sure when Melie became a vital part of her life that she couldn’t imagine losing but now whenever the smallest thought of Melie leaving enters her mind Amicia finds her eyes watering and her heart aching. At first, Amicia thought these symptoms were the result of some sort of illness and asked Lucas about them, but the young alchemist just smiled and said there was nothing wrong with her and those feelings were natural to have when you’ve become close to someone. Amicia took his words to heart, she was close to Melie, she would joke and hang out with her more than anyone else at the castle whenever she wasn’t looking after Hugo. She was close to Melie, she was a good friend, and that’s why she felt the way she felt.
“Help yourselves,” Arthur says as he spots the two girls.
“Thank you for cooking Arthur,” Amicia tells him not hesitating to serve herself what she thinks is soup from the cauldron hanging over the fire.
Melie, on the other hand, is a different story. Melie stares at the food on offer examining it from a distance as if she expects the food to be alive and a threat to her.
“Come on, Melie! You need to eat,” Arthur says as he steps towards the cauldron and fills a bowl for his sister. “You need to eat.”
Arthur holds out the bowl, but Melie just stares at that too for a few seconds before reluctantly taking it.
“It’s not going to be like last time you cooked, right?” Melie asks.
“I promise,” Arthur replies before he starts eating. “You won’t have to spend a night in the stocks again.”
“You better be right,” Melie says, sitting down on the floor. “A few hours in the stocks with an upset stomach is something I never want to go through again.”
With that, the group eats in silence with the only sound coming from the wind and the scraping of spoons. It’s not uncommon for the group to eat in silence ever since Hugo left. When they ate before it was always Amicia’s brother that would start the conversation by asking about something he saw that day. Now that Hugo is gone the group struggles to start any conversations when they all eat together. As usual, when someone does talk, it is usually about business and nothing more. Rodric reports he is finished working on repairing several doors so they can now be opened, Lucas tells everyone that he is still working on his new elixir and Arthur, as usual, is trying to convince Melie to leave.
By the time the meal comes to an end, everyone seems relieved to be able to do their own thing. Everyone here at Château d'Ombrage has their personal reasons for being here, ranging from the safety of the castle to the chance of revenge against the Inquisition. The castle's occupants may all be friends with each other, but there is still this distance between them that leads to a lot of awkward silence between them. Everyone eats in silence and washes their own dishes in silence, well apart from Melie and Arthur who leave everyone else to wash up for them. It’s strange how quiet things are without Hugo. He could always get the group talking with his naivety and curious nature.
A few minutes pass before Amicia finishes eating and almost as soon as she is done a bowl is placed on top of her own. The young girl looks to see Melie smiling at her before she walks off. One of the things that surprised Amicia about the twin thieves was the fact that they could eat their fill in a matter of seconds. Melie told her it was because they needed to eat fast when living on the run but Amicia still wonders how such a feat could be possible.
Amicia just shakes her head on goes to wash up. This is another thing that has become common around the castle, Melie giving Amicia who plates and bowls to wash. The former noble just shakes her head and gets about cleaning. At first, Amicia only did this because Melie said she owned her for what happened at the English camp, but soon Amica found herself not caring about that and doing the dishes for the thief anyway.
“Melie?”
Amicia quickly snaps her neck, turning to face the direction she heard Lucas’s concerned voice coming from. What she sees is Lucas putting his hands on Melie’s shoulder as the thief leans against the cold stone wall coughing. Amicia puts down the bowls and moves over to her friend along with Arthur.
“Melie, you should get some sleep,” Arthur tells her. “With a cough that bad, you need to stay warm and rest before you make it worse.”
“I’m fine,” Melie tries to assure everyone, but as she stumbles again no one believes her. “I’m serious. I am fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
With that, Melie leaves the room.
“I’ll go talk some sense into her,” Arthur says as he goes after his sister.
“I’ll wash up,” Amicia says. “Lucas, can you go see if we have any medicine for her?”
“Sure,” The young Alchemist quickly runs off.
Amicia starts to collect everyone’s bowls and moves to wash them up when a large body steps up next to hers. Looking beside her, the former noble sees the giant blacksmith stood beside her looking even more massive than he does typically now that he’s so close to her. Rodric simply smiles at her before taking dishes.
“I’ll help you,” Rodric says not giving Amicia chance to respond before he starts washing up with her.
“Thank you,” Amicia smiles back.
“Lucas! Lucas!” Both Rodric and Amicia turn to the door as Arthur crashes through it carrying something in his arms. “Lucas!” It took Amicia a moment to realize that it is Melie Arthur has in his arms with her breaths rapid and sweat starting to form on her forehead. “Where’s Lucas?!”
“He should be back soon,” Amicia tells him, rushing over to the twins. “I sent him to get something for her cough, but he should be back soon. Let’s just put her in her bed for now.”
Arthur nods his head and carries his sister over to her makeshift bed.
“I don’t know what happened,” Arthur says, tucking his sister in. “She was fine one moment then the next she collapsed.”
“Melie will be fine,” Amicia tells him.
“Melie will be fine,” Amicia softly tells herself.