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Another week, another trip to the stables.
Today Cyril was tending to the horses and wyverns at Garreg Mach. It was a job shared between him and the students of each house, but Cyril always did his part in the early mornings. It was when students were least likely to appear, which made his job easier.
He began with the horses: replenishing their hay and disposing of any rotten ones.
Next, he wiped their manes until they were clean as can be.
Lastly, he headed towards the docks to grab some buckets of water.
The walks were nice when no one was around. The market and pond were quiet, giving everything a peaceful feeling. Cyril liked watching the fish swim while filling the buckets. He sometimes wondered if he could try fishing, like he’d seen many students do. It looked relaxing…
No, I have to work. For Lady Rhea, to prove I’m worth keeping, worth having a place here.
Returning to his chores, he carried the heavy buckets back to the stables. Unfortunately for him, Cyril’s quiet morning was cut short today.
“Cyril! Hey, what a coincidence, finding you here this early.”
Sigh, why him? There was no mistaking it, standing at the stables was the leader of the Golden Deer House: Claude von Riegan. He had a childish smile and playful wave to match his eccentric behavior. It wasn’t the first time he’d run into him. Unfortunately.
Cyril paid no heed, walking past the Riegan to place the buckets of water near the horses.
“Ouch, not even going to get a hello in response,” he chuckled.
Cyril stretched his arms, worn out from the morning labor. “Hello Claude. As you can see, I’m quite busy this morning.”
“When are you not?”
Cyril’s responding glare made its point, and the noble’s grin ceased. “Fine fine, don’t worry. I was assigned to care for the stables this week, so I’m only here for that. I’ll stay out of your way if you’d prefer.”
Cyril nodded, and with that, finished caring for the horses. It didn’t take long.
Next came the wyverns. Claude was already replenishing their food and checking their overall condition. He’d prefer to keep his space, but Cyril knew he had to get his work done. Just do it. He marched to assist him.
To his surprise the Golden Deer student was quiet and helpful. It was different from their first meeting. During that instance, Claude stopped him near Lady Rhea’s sanctuary to ask about her and his homeland, saying all sorts of gibberish about them having something in common and him being on the other side, whatever that meant. Claude was difficult to understand, but even for a noble he was on another level. Just thinking about it drained the young worker, so he cleared his head to focus on his work. The less time he had to spend with Claude, the better.
While inspecting the wyverns, he noticed one had…what was hopefully mud on its wings. Cyril went to grab a rag and some water to get cleaning while Claude took care of the others. After he finished wiping down the wyvern, he looked for another towel.
“Are you looking to dry it?”
“Mhmm.”
Claude winked. “I have an idea.”
He motioned for Cyril to step back, which he did. Claude unlocked the door to the stable and let the wyvern out. Petting it gently, he leaned in close as if he were whispering to it.
Cyril decided to sit, using this break to rest while he could. After getting comfortable, he saw Claude had jumped onto the wyvern, and was now up in the air, soaring around the monastery. He flew at a speed the boy normally did not see. Dashing towards the cathedral while turning on its side, Cyril couldn’t help but notice the sharp and swinging movements. He hadn’t seen someone fly in such an erratic fashion in a long time.
Not since Almyra…
It wasn’t long before Claude returned. He jumped off the wyvern and gave it a gentle nuzzle, which led to the creature licking his face. Cyril decided to close his eyes and take a deep breath, recovering whatever energy he had for the next part of his routine.
To his displeasure, he could hear Claude taking a seat next to him. “Much more fun way to dry them, wouldn’t you agree?”
He opened his eyes and looked at the sky. “Mhmm. And it saves us having to use a rag or two.”
Claude followed his gaze. “I hear wyverns are popular in Almyra. Did you ride any while there?”
A loud sigh was his response. Here we go again.
Claude chuckled and waved his arms. “Sorry sorry. I don’t mean to bring up Almyra again. I’m only curious.”
Cyril faced the ground. “And you’d rather bother me about it then read books or ask anyone else?”
“You’d be surprised how little information this place has on the outside world.”
Cyril stood up, turning left to leave while avoiding eye contact. “Well keep looking then. I’ve got work I need to do, so I have to go now that the stables are done.”
Claude frowned. “You really have no loyalty to Almyra, do you?”
Is that all I am to him? “No. I don’t see why I should be loyal to people who start meaningless wars that force me to risk my life for a cause I have no interest in.”
He began walking away, but could hear Claude following.
“So you’re loyal to Fodlan then? The Church?”
Why are these people so arrogant? “No. I’m loyal to Lady Rhea because she’s given me a home and place to stay. I don’t care about anyone else in Fodlan. Rhea isn’t starting any wars, and she’s taking care of people with nowhere to go, like me. That’s it.”
Claude ran in front of Cyril and halted their walk. “Curious. But what if Rhea was indirectly causing people like you to suffer? What if she only takes you in because she feels guilty of what she has done? Or worse, hopes to use the vulnerable of Fodlan for her own gain?”
That’s it. Cyril gave the noble an agitated look. “Claude, you are interrupting my work and I need to get to it. Stop.”
He pouted. “I just want to talk!”
Cyril’s animosity was growing. “Maybe people like me would be more willing to talk to people like you if you were willing to see us as more then some pawns in your game.”
Claude frowned. “That’s not-“
Stop talking. “No Claude, it is! I don’t know why you insist on following me around. You want to know about Almyra? Guess what, I didn’t live there long! I can hardly remember what it was like there. I remember more of my time in Fodlan, yet because I’m from Almyra you insist that is all I am. You’re just like the other nobles, just like everyone else in Fodlan. You can’t see me as a person and I can’t stand it. I can’t stand talking with you, it’s exhausting. So move out of the way.”
“Ah….just like the others….”
Claude’s words trailed off as he stepped back and fell, looking down, as if his heart had been pierced in two. He glanced up to see Cyril starring him down, an intense anger fueled by a life of torment filling his eyes.
He couldn’t bear the sight and returned his look to the ground. “Cyril…I’m sorry…I…I guess we’re no better then the nobles of Almyra are we?”
“You and them love using people like me for your schemes. And that’s why I’m not getting involved in any of it. So leave me alone.”
Cyril walked passed the downtrodden noble. Turning left, he headed to the tea grounds, surrounded by hedges and polished furniture. He started wiping down the chairs and tables, his anger slowly subsiding.
Another outburst, great! How many bruises are coming my way now? Stupid stupid Cyril, what are you doing? At this rate Lady Rhea is going to kick you out in no time…how can you be so pathetic…
“Cyril.”
That voice. He turned around to see Claude. He was standing before him, but this time that smile wasn’t there. No, this time he looked broken, desperate to salvage whatever he could.
“Cyril, I truly am sorry. I will leave you alone if you’d like. But…”
“Yeah?” he crossed his arms, ready for another troubling take.
“But thank you. For being honest with me. Honest about your feelings. I…” he chuckled. “I thought I had come so far, coming here, learning about this place and its people, I thought I had become so smart, so strong, so different…”
He paused before letting out a sigh. “But you have reminded me that I still have a long way to go, and I still have a lot of growth ahead of me. So, in case this is our last meeting, I wanted to say, thank you.”
The Almyran could see the sincerity in his eyes, relaxing his pose.
“I hope that one day I can be worthy of your praise. Until then…would you mind if, on the rare occasion, I swung by to get your input on how I am doing? Or, on how the people here are treating you? I won’t say anything if you’d like. I would only listen.”
Cyril looked Claude over carefully. He really did not want to say yes. He wanted to return to his hiding spot, to run away from everything, as it was all he could ever do.
Yet…this was the first time someone responded to his outbursts with such…vulnerability. Would it help to have someone to just talk to? What would I even say?
“Why would you be interested in hearing what I have to say?”
The Golden Deer leader smiled. “Because what you said is something I’ve never heard before, and I see wisdom in that. You have a perspective unique to Fodlan, and I want to hear it, to learn about it, and to help it if I can.”
Cyril sighed.
“It can be on your terms, at your time, your place. I can just watch you work at the end of the day each week and hear of anything you’d like to report.”
Cyril paused, closing his eyes to think about it. If my tantrum had this effect…would he listen to me?...if I wanted to stop at any time, he would listen?...
Cyril opened his eyes to meet Claude’s pleading expression. “…Fine, we can try it and see how it goes.”
Claude beamed. “Thank the goddess! Then…how about I join you for meals in the dining hall at the end of each week?”
“I normally eat dinner quite late.”
“Perfect!”
“And no bothering me until then.”
“As you wish.”
With that, Claude smiled, bowed, and turned to walk off. Cyril took the cue to resume cleaning. Somehow the anger inside him had left, and instead was replaced with a curiosity.
Still have much to learn…for a noble to say that to me of all people…
These Golden Deer students are so weird…
Cyril starred at his own reflection in one of the now spotless tables.
But…I guess I’m pretty weird too…or how did Claude put it…unique…