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She'd argued with him again.
Camilla nursed a bruised eye with her palm, smiling as she passed. Of what he could see of the bruise it was pretty nasty; the colour a tarnish upon her usually clear skin. Yet, Camilla continued to smile. Maybe she thought that if she smiled she could convince him it wasn't there.
She always did hate to worry her siblings. Ironic, considering how Camilla worried the most out of them all.
Xander couldn't read the falseness in her smile even after all their years spent together as siblings but he knew anyway. He reached out a hand to stop her, lightly holding her shoulder. She stopped at the touch but refused to look at him.
The prince wondered what to say. Asking what had happened seemed pointless – he already knew that answer.
"Do you need anything?" Xander asked instead. His eyes wandered to the bruising on the side of her nose. The colour almost suited her, complimenting her lilac hair.
Camilla continued to smile and closed her eyes. Her hand lingered on her injury. "Why, of course not, brother dear. Please, don't worry about little old me."
Xander missed the days when they were younger; when that question would spill the truth from her lips. Camilla had finally learned how (as he had before her) to cover up any pain experienced. He wondered if Leo and Elise, too, would learn that someday. Maybe they already had.
Xander nodded, awaiting the true answer but she relinquished none. With a sigh the prince released her shoulder and Camilla continued on but not before Xander spotted the silvery trail running down her cheek.
He asked a servant to send a box of medical supplies to her door along with some bonbons for her comfort. Xander hoped that Camilla could forgive his inability to take the pain away.
~~X~~
Xander stood before Garon and he could feel his chest burning. The words slowly moved from his lips with strain.
Garon smiled at his discomfort but feigned ignorance.
~~X~~
Xander saw Leo later, spilled across maps and tomes in the library. His sibling's eyes were narrowed in focus as he wrote on a piece of blank parchment what appeared to be scrambled letters. Upon closer inspection, Xander noted how the words are not in a language he can comprehend. Xander isn't surprised. Trust Leo to pick up a language that he wasn't tutored in.
"It is old Hoshidian," Leo explained in way of greeting, his eyes never leaving the page. Leo's tone had grown colder as he'd aged but his voice still held the pitch of childhood. "I felt it prudent to learn some of the language given recent conflicts with Hoshido. Although it isn't commonly spoken anymore, knowing some phrases may prove useful."
"I admire your planning," Xander commented. "I am happy that you are at my side."
Leo smiled slightly. "I hope that I can be of use."
Watching Leo engrossed in his work reminded him of when Leo was but a baby, wrapped in cloth. Back when his father had been kind yet unfaithful. Even when Leo was just a newborn and he was little more than a toddler, Xander had wanted to protect Leo from the concubines and hardships of the court. When Leo was old enough to understand language, Xander would often read to him stories of valiant heroes who saved their nations. Leo's mother however, a maid from Macarath, had disapproved of their meetings and Xander was eventually prevented from reading his brother fairy tales.
By the time Leo had chosen magic as his discipline at the tender age of six, Leo had stopped reading fairy tales altogether.
"Are you alright, Xander?" Leo asked, finally looking away from his work. "You seem troubled."
Realising that he had been silent as he reflected, Xander offered a smile. "Do you remember the tale of the Legendary Hero?"
Leo's lips instantly twist upward at the words. "Of course I do. You would read it often when I was young. That name is nostalgic." But then, like a cloud had fallen over them, Leo's smile began to drift and Xander feels his own fall with it. "I miss those days," Leo commented sombrely. "I doubt those stories would hold the same joy for us now."
Xander nodded, his lips drawn into a stiff line. "Indeed."
~~X~~
Xander knew he was getting better. Only mild anxiety spread through him now when he talked; the words flowing like water, without a stutter.
The glare his father directed at him now, though, brought the fear back in a crushing wave. Xander objected anyway despite knowing the repercussions and his own fear. He would rather be the one to take the hit than allow one of his siblings to take it in his place.
Garon brought forth his axe, turning it so his hand rested just below the blade and swung. The wood cracked against the side of his head and Xander couldn't stop himself from falling,
Leo swallowed and looked away as Garon raised his weapon again. Xander pushed himself back up from the ground to receive further punishment. Camilla didn't even try to stop her tears.
~~X~~
Elise cried despite not feeling any pain.
She cried and laughed as he imitated their father's advisor with a squeaking voice and scowl. He raised a picture book (Elise was not yet old enough to read more informative books) and waved it around before he proclaimed, "I am not a unicorn! The horn on my head is for style!"
"Unicorn! Unicorn!" Elise cheered, clutching her stomach as she laughed. His impression of Iago was rather terrible but it got a smile out of his sister.
Xander worsened his scowl, waving around the 'tome' angrily. "Unicorn! How preposterous! How could the king's advisor be a unicorn? Idiocy!"
Elise continued to giggle. "No, you're a bird! A bird!"
"A bird!?" Xander thundered as he placed his hands on his hips. "The feathers around my neck come from the most expensive chickens in all the land! I sold everything I own to those chickens, so they might give me their feathers. I am no bird!"
Elise's tears streamed down her face and she didn't bother trying and stop them. She fell onto her back, gasping as she tried to contain her glee. Xander smiled at her, properly smiled, for the first time in weeks and hoped.
Hoped for Elise.
~~X~~
Camilla ran her hands across the wound, wincing as he did. She wasn't good when it came to injuries but nobody wanted to call a healer. Leo sat upon his chair, reading from a book.
"You are supposed to clean the wound first, Camilla," Leo said as she moved to reach for a bandage.
"Oh…" Camilla frowned. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. "I'm sorry, but to see one of my dear siblings hurt…"
"I am alright, Camilla," Xander soothed. "It is only a cut. It will heal."
"Can I treat it? Can I?" Elise asked cheerfully, bouncing on her heels. "I swear I'll be gentle!"
Camilla looked from her younger sibling to Xander who nodded his assent. Elise's grin spread and she ran over to examine his head. "Wow, the cut is pretty impressive," she observed with pursed lips.
Leo smirked but it didn't meet his eyes. "Well, Xander got hit over the head with the haft of father's battle axe several times. I would be more surprised if it was unimpressive."
Elise huffed and poked at the wound gently. Resting a palm over the bloody area, a glow began to surround her hand. Leo and Camilla's eyed widened as the wound cleaned itself before their eyes.
Xander, however, wasn't surprised. He had always known Elise was going to be a healer.
A smile flitted to his lips as his sister tended to him; as Leo smirked and Camilla laughed, embracing the moment while he could.