And we have another chapter! This one is happier I promise….mostly 😅
please enjoy!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: RECOVERY
Artham forced his eyelids open. He had no clue where he was. The last he remembered was Nibbick’s voice grating in his ears.
He also felt sick to his stomach, which kept him from moving. The room he was in was dimly lit. His eyes soon felt heavy, and he started to close them again, but he heard the door creak open and forced his eyes open again.
So welcome was the sight that met his eyes.
“Wendolyn,” he murmured, a sudden peace filling his soul.
Wendy looked at him shocked, and then she smiled tearfully and rushed to his side.
“Oh my dear boy, thank the Maker! Oh my dear little boy!”
And then she burst into tears, and kneeled her head on the bed Artham was lying on. She stayed in that position for a few moments, but then she gathered herself and took Artham’s hand in hers.
“Oh my dear boy. You scared us all so much. Guildmaster Stub found Nibbick and his friend beating you to a pulp, and he scared them off! He’s considering expelling them for such behavior. Oh my dear, if we hadn’t found you, you might have died!”
“How bad is it?” Artham weakly asked.
Wendolyn shook her head and pressed Artham’s hand to her lips.
“Well, my love, it could be worse. You lost a lot of blood, so you might be feeling a bit weak and sick. You have a lot of bruises, and you had a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg, and….well, something might be wrong with your ear there. The doctor thinks it might be damaged beyond repair.”
Artham sighed. “That would explain why Nibbick sounded like he was underwater.”
“He’s a big boy, Artham. Why would he do this to you? All of these times?”
“He thinks….I don’t what he thinks. He’s jealous of me. I know that for sure. He has been ever since I got here.”
“That’s no excuse for his behavior. I hope he does get expelled.”
“I don’t. I’ll be leaving soon, and then his life will be back to normal, and so will mine.”
“What do you mean you’ll be leavin’ soon?”
“Well, I guess….the Keeper…he left it up to my discretion. My real name is not Artham Greensmith.”
Wendolyn looked at him curiously.
“My aunt told us to take up the name after my parent’s died. You see, I’m not from Skree, or Dang, or anywhere like that. I’m from Anniera.”
Wendolyn’s eyes grew wide. “What?”
“You can’t tell anyone this. It’ll all be reveled in time anyway. My parents and grandfather were killed a long time ago, almost three years. My Aunt Illia moved us to Skree.”
“Why?”
“Because Esben….he’s the king. I’m his Throne Warden.”
Wendolyn froze. Her grip on Artham’s hand loosened, and soon she let go of it completely.
“She moved us there, because,” Artham continued, staring at his hand, “she thought we would be safer. She fell in love with my Uncle Danniby and married him. Then when she got sick and died, Danniby moved us here. And then when he died, we moved n with the Keeper, and have been there ever since. Except for when we’ve been with you.”
“Oh Artham…oh my boy…I mean, my prince, I suppose…I should be treating you and your siblings with respect.”
“No please don’t.”
Wendolyn looked at him curiously.
“I mean, I don’t want you to treat me differently because—“
Artham burst into tears, and Wendolyn began to panic. If he cried like this, he might get worse. She quickly sat beside him and did her best to calm him.
“Hush now, love. Hush now. What was it you were trying to say?”
“You’re the only thing I have like a mother now, and I couldn’t stand to lose you too.”
“Oh, my love.” Wendolyn kissed him tenderly, and then she got up and told him to rest.
She went downstairs to get some supper for him, and she bumped into the Keeper.
“Oh, hello Horus. I wanted to talk to you.”
“I wanted to speak to you too, Miss Helmer. May I go first?”
“Of course.”
“Would you be opposed to keeping the Greensmith children for the next two months? They would go home after that.”
Wendolyn looked up with a slight gasp. “Oh, Horus, that’s what I was going to ask you! Oh yes! yes, send them over immediately!”
“Artham, what book series should I read you now?” Emerald asked, closing the final book in The Emerald* series.
“What have we read?” Artham asked, turning his head towards his sister. Wendolyn didn’t want him reading to strain his eyes since she kept the upstairs room dim, because otherwise it would get too hot.
“Well, we read The Emerald series, The Chronicles of the Ring* trilogy, and the series of A Wardrobe’s Tale*.”
“Would you mind reading There and Back Again*?”
“No, it’s one of my favorite books!”
She scrambled up and raced to the bookshelf to get the book.
then she sat back down. “Ready, Artham?”
“Yes.”
Though Artham was not overly fond of being stuck in bed all day, he did not mind the care from Emerald and Wendolyn, or really the attention, and he liked Esben coming up and talking to him about everything happening at school, and all around town. Though eventually, school was over for the Greensmith children, and Artham started to recover.
The main extent of his injuries would be that his left ear had lost most of its hearing ability, and now he would walk with a limp. Artham accepted it quietly, even if it did frustrate him.
I will never let anyone do that to me again, Artham thought.
Podo would come up and talk to him too.
But most treasured was of course when Wendolyn came up and treated him as her own son. But perhaps, most dreaded, was when Nia would come up.
Artham avoided her eyes completely. She would give him food, and in a very quiet voice would ask him how he felt.
Their interactions were civil, but no where near friendly. Esben and Emerald were somewhat nice to her, but they were still loyal to their brother.
One day, Artham was resting in his chair, tired of being in his bed all the time. Wendolyn came up with a bright smile.
“Bright morning* to you, my love.”
“Bright morning.”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine. A little bored. I suppose a guy can only write so much poetry and read so many books.”
Wendolyn laughed. “Yes, I suppose so. I do have a request to make of you.”
“What is it?”
“Nia would like to come up and talk to you about what happened.”
Artham grew quiet.
“Me and Podo have known all about the situation, but we wanted Nia to figure out how to handle it. And I believe she has. Would you let her speak to you?”
Artham sighed slightly. “Yes, ma’am. That’s fine.”
“Thank you love.”
When Wendolyn left, Artham fell to reading his copy of the Book, or as we know it, the Bible.
“Oh Maker, what am I gonna do?”
Okay, so I have a few asterisks to explain! :D. The Emerald series represents Green Ember, The Chronicles of the Ring represents the Lord of the Rings, A Wardrobe’s Tale represents Narnia, and There and Back Again represents the Hobbit :D. And yes, I did use the bright morning reference from Kimera in the season two animatic. And also, yay! Artham’s better! And there’s more Wendolyn fluff! And he gets to stay with the Helmers!!! :DDD. Also, if you read all of these notes, here’s some cookies! :DDD 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Wait - isn't their grandmother still alive and queen? So Esben isn't king yet.
I'm eager to see what Nia has to say for herself!