Dull sensation was what came to Daegal at first. Everything felt fuzzy, a buzz coursing through his body. His mind started to come into focus again, and so did the memories of last night. The fighting, the blood, the revelations. It all came crashing down on top of him, and that finally forced him back into the waking world.
He opened his eyes, cringing a little at the light level in the room. A vaguely familiar roof greeted him, and he cast his wider field of view around the room. Daegal was in the apothecary's room, lying in a too small bed with his feet hanging off the end right next to the child he was watching just the other day. On his other side was another familiar face, Fiora, who was sleeping propped up against the wall. She must have shown up while he was unconscious. He couldn’t help but wonder just how long he had been out for.
The moment he tried to sit up from the bed, he was reminded about what put him in it in the first place. Pain shot through his body as multiple different wounds protested his action. A growl escaped him as he flopped back down, breathing heavily. He finally turned his attention to himself now and discovered that beneath the bedsheets he was covered in bandages nearly head to toe. Most of them were clean, but a few had some small about of blood still being soaked up from where the deeper injuries were. Just as he was about to check each individual part of himself, he heard stirring from Fiora. Evidently, his growl disturbed her sleep.
She blinked the bleariness out of her eyes for a moment, but then her gaze landed on Daegal and saw that he was now awake.
“Daegal! You’re awake! Are you alright? Did that other person like you do this? What happened last night? Why didn’t you just come back when it got dangerous!? Why-”
“Fiora, please, I can’t answer so many questions all at once.” Especially since his head was still swimming with pain and exhaustion.
“Sorry,” she said with a downward tilt of her head. “Are you okay?”
Daegal sighed. “Not really.” For more reasons than just physical.
Fiora hummed, understanding his tone, at least a little. “I guess the answers you found weren’t what you hoped for.”
Daegal refused to meet her gaze, simply staring up at the ceiling with a dark cloud covering his features. Fiora could practically see the internal struggle happening inside him, and she reached out to place a hang gently on his shoulder.
“I’m just happy that you’re alive. Everything else we can deal with in time, but dying is permanent. I don’t want to lose a friend.”
Daegal could feel his throat tighten with emotion. Everything he learned last night was enough to give him pause, and looking at Fiora as she did her best to reassure him, he couldn’t help but wonder if her conviction was truly as strong as she made it seem. He wanted to believe that it wouldn’t matter, but he had to ask her.
“Would you still say that if... if you knew what I really am?”
She looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean by that?”
That feeling of tightness began to spread into his chest, his heartrate starting to elevate. “What if everything everyone has said about me was true? What if I was a monster, a demon? Would you still think of me as a friend if the only reason I’m here and not out there hurting people was an accident? My existence is a mistake. I was meant to be something else, and if things had turned out the way they were supposed to, I could very well have killed you, and everyone else that you know.”
The silence in the room after he finished speaking was deafening. When Daegal worked up the courage to look at Fiora, he could not read her expression at all. Her face was unmoving, expression not showing a hint of emotion whatsoever. She did take a moment to consider everything he said, and in the end simply tossed it all away.
“I think it hardly matters what you were meant to be.” Her statement carried with it such surety that it surprised Daegal. “Worrying about what-ifs and what might have been in a quick way to go insane. You can’t change what has already come to pass. Who you are now matters more than what you might have been, and I think that you are a wonderful person, Daegal. It doesn’t matter where you came from, that will always be the truth.”
He didn’t realize just how much he needed to hear that from her. Tears built up in his eyes as he sniffled a little. With a shuddering breath, he managed to rein in his emotions enough to speak without having his voice break.
“I’m sorry, Fiora.”
She looked confused. “For what?”
“I didn’t believe in you enough. I thought that maybe you would reject me, that you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.” He let out a sad chuckle that hurt his chest. “I’m a pretty bad friend.”
“You’re not a bad friend, Daegal. You’ve just had a... well, calling it a rough night would be an understatement, but I understand that you have some doubts about yourself after that. There’s nobody alive who doesn’t doubt themselves at one point or another. It’s natural, but you only have to realize that those feelings are temporary, brought on by poor circumstances or tragic events. Keep your chin up and I promise I will help you get past that doubt.”
He turned his head enough to look at her directly, offering a small smile. “You already have.”
She returned his smile as both of them allowed the pleasant moment to persist. It couldn’t last forever, though, and it wasn’t either of them that broke it. Instead, it was interrupted when the door to the room opened, and in walked Emil alongside Mathew. The two of them quickly noticed that Daegal was awake. Emil was the first to speak.
“Oh, it’s good to see you awake again, Daegal. Fiora was beside herself with worry when they dragged you in.”
“Dad!” Fiora complained, embarrassment showing on her face.
Daegal smiled with amusement before looking more apologetic. “I’m sorry for making you all worry.”
Emil opened his mouth to reply, but Mathew cut him off before he could get a word out. “Speak for those two, not me. Quite frankly, you’ve proven to be a consistent aggravation for myself and many others in this castle ever since you arrived. Treating your injuries was like wandering around on a black night in search of a lost coin. I had no idea what medicine would work on you, and it was a minor miracle that I was able to staunch so many bleeding wounds. Your scales make it impossible to stitch you closed, so we had to trust that your body would be able to do the work for us. Even so, I wouldn’t recommend any sudden movements in your condition. I still must perform an evaluation of your condition now that you’re awake and able to respond.”
“What does that entail?” Daegal asked nervously.
“Checking your response to pain, mostly.”
“How... pleasant.”
“Healing is rarely a pleasant ordeal. Now stay still and let me work.”
Mathew came to the bedside and began to poke and prod at Daegal, starting with his hands. He applied pressure to his joints, not much compared to what Daegal could handle, but in his current state, he could feel every prod. His hands were certainly bruised, but it didn’t appear like he had broken bones there. When Mathew moved up onto his arm, however, that prompted a reaction.
A firm press upon his forearm sent a wave a pain shooting up his arm. It was so intense and sudden that he let out a growl as an instinctive reaction. Emil and Fiora flinched back a little, but Mathew was unimpressed.
“Don’t you snarl at me. I’m not the one who did the fool thing and got into a fight despite being told not to.”
“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“Save your apologies. You’ll be doing plenty of that once his majesty knows that you are awake.”
That reminded Daegal that he had to confront Reynard later. The king had specifically told him not to pursue Greed, but he had done so anyway. Daegal didn’t really consider humans to be a significant physical threat, but in his current condition, it was very possible that he could be killed by one. It was concerning and now lingered in his mind as he endured the rest of the examination.
The result of Mathew’s examination revealed that both his arms had bone fractures and few of his ribs were broken. Mathew managed to improvise a pair of arm splints for his size. They were fragile, at least compared to his strength, so he had to be careful not to break out of them. It was rather restrictive, but he took Mathew’s words to heart and reminded himself that healing wasn’t comfortable. At least he could still move, somewhat.
News of his waking was sent to the guards in the hallway, and Daegal felt like they were messengers of doom. Nothing happened for nearly fifteen minutes, and he hoped that perhaps Reynard was busy right now. His luck wasn’t that good, unfortunately.
While it may have been longer than expected, Reynard did show up with a handful of his regular guards. Daegal could tell at a glance that the king was not happy, and it wasn’t just the annoyed frown on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and it seemed like his whole demeanor was more weary than usual. Reynard simply glared at Daegal, who was lying mostly helpless in the bed. When he spoke, it was with a question that Daegal did not expect.
Stolen story; please report.
“Are you by chance attempting to kill me via sleep deprivation?”
Daegal blinked, confused by the bluntness of the question. “Uhm... n-no?”
“Well, that is odd, because it seems like that would be the only reason you would defy my very simple request of you. If it wasn’t to maliciously deprive me of rest, of which I have had scant little of since you arrived, then what would possess you to leave the castle grounds in pursuit of that murderous creature that so clearly did not consider you kin!” His voice rose as he talked, approaching near yelling at the end. He wasn’t finished, though.
“You could have easily jeopardized the entire plan to introduce you to my kingdom. What might have happened if a guard saw you and attacked? If somebody was injured, any hope of establishing a good first impression would have been severely damaged! I am no fool, and I know that you have taken many risks to get to where you are now. Why, at the precipice of being rewarded for said risks, would you potentially throw it all away on such a foolhardy endeavor as that?”
With it all laid out in front of him like that, Daegal found it hard to come up with an excuse. Arguing with Reynard didn’t feel particularly wise, and lying would have been even less so. Instead, Daegal decided to just give his honest answer.
“I just wanted to know who I am.”
Reynard did not react openly to his admission. The man’s face was an impassive stone of contemplation. For several long seconds, Reynard only stared; the tension in the room growing with every moment passed. When the man finally deigned to speak, it wasn’t with the same level of animus as before.
“And did you get your answer?”
Daegal looked at the king with a mild amount of surprise. The question felt genuine, and Daegal considered it. His gaze wandered away from Reynard and onto Fiora. It was no exaggeration that she was the most important person in his life right now, and without her he would be lost. He may have been born to be a monster, but that didn’t mean he had to be.
“Yes, I did.”
Reynard hummed with a small nod of his head. “Well, I expect to have a deep conversation with you about that subject. However, that must wait until later in the day because we have a prior arrangement. Come on then, up with you. We have a kingdom to address.”
Daegal looked around, confused. “W-Wait, right now?”
“Yes, right now. I told you that I had scheduled the address for today, and I’m not about to turn back on that. We have a stage prepared just outside the castle limits and the people will gather there at noon.”
“But I-”
“Consider it punishment for your actions,” Reynard interrupted before Daegal could finish his protest. “Perhaps a little discomfort will help the lesson stick properly. Maybe next time you will consider all the consequences of being so reckless?”
Daegal did expect consequences, just not this. Uhg, this is going to be a pain.
There was no arguing with the king, though, and it seemed Reynard wasn’t about to wait for him. With a deep sigh and a little help from Fiora and Emil, he was able to roll out of the bed in such a way that it caused minimal discomfort. At the very least he was grateful that he had no broken bones in his legs. It wasn’t so bad once he was on his feet again, but not being able to move his arms in the full motion made balance during the process of standing an issue.
Fiora was concerned, naturally, as she saw him wincing and letting out low growls as he fought his way to his feet. “Daegal, are you sure you’re okay to do this?”
“I have to,” he answered, slightly out of breath. “I’ll be fine. So long as I don’t have to run anywhere, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Well, I hope that the people out in the city won’t react in a way that will make you have to run.”
“Yeah...” Daegal didn’t even know how he would react when faced with so many people. He would like to believe that he was getting better at interacting with humans, but this would be beyond anything he had been exposed to before.
Steeling his nerves, he moved toward the door with his small entourage behind him. It was just outside where he was met with a soldier under orders to lead Daegal to the dresser, and Daegal agreed to as much. The excentric man he met the other day was glad to see him, though mostly because he wanted to see what his design looked like on Daegal.
The dresser removed a large piece of dark blue fabric from a box. When it was unfurled, the object turned out to be a shoulder cape, sized to fit Daegal. As the dresser helped Daegal put it on, it covered most of his left side, stopping just about his elbow. Where it rested on his shoulder, there was a patch of heraldry sown into the fabric. It depicted a shield with decorative edges and a crown on the front of it. Around the edges of the shield there was a loop of what looked like a belt that had writing, which Daegal could not read, on it. On either side of this center pieces a white horse was reared up on its hind legs. The primary colors in this heraldry were white, red, blue, and a small dash of golden yellow.
Daegal had seen this heraldry quite a lot around the castle, mostly on the banners and the knight’s attire. He could assume that this was a way of showing his connection with the king, making it slightly less likely that people would assume him to be some feral creature. Frankly, Daegal would take any advantage he could get.
Now that he was adorned with his new cape, there was no delaying the reveal. Daegal was led outside to the courtyard, and there he was met with a whole procession of soldiers, the entirety of the king’s personal guard. Reynard himself was present, of course, and was dressed in all his finery including a large red dyed fur cape and a necklace of interconnected gold squares that were inlaid with various images. That seemed excessive to Daegal, but he just assumed there was some strange human reason for all the accessories.
“Ahh, there you are, Daegal,” Reynard greeted him. “I see the cape fits you well. I’m glad it was completed on such short notice. As for your introduction, I think you will be relieved to hear that very little is required of you. Simply standing at my side and appearing as civil as possible will suffice. So, keep that posture straight.” He ended on a slightly humorous note, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Reynard turned to Emil and Fiora next. “As for you two, you are welcome to come down and witness the speech. However, you will remain behind the procession of soldiers and not be allowed near the stage for the duration. Is that clear?”
The father-daughter duo bowed their heads. “Of course, my liege,” Emil answered for both of them.
“Then I see no reason to delay. Noon approaches and it would reflect poorly upon my name to be late. Let us be off.”
Reynard turned with a slight flourish to his movement, drawing everyone’s attention as the soldiers moved into formation around their king. Daegal took a few quick steps to catch up to Reynard, remaining just behind him as he walked, while Fiora and Emil took up the rear of the formation, following behind the soldiers as they were instructed.
Out of the gates and down the cobbled path they marched. Going out into the city in broad daylight felt strange for Daegal, especially surrounded by all these soldiers. The moment the descended down to the street level, Daegal was able to catch his first glimpse of the people of this city.
There were so many of them. Daegal felt his nerves tighten alongside his body, especially once they took notice of him as well. Eyes widened, people gasped, and some even cowered away as murmured conversations slowly built into a dull roar. The only likely reason why a panic didn’t start was because of Daegal’s current position in the middle of a all the soldiers and right next to their king.
An elevated wooden platform was waiting for them in front of the crowd, and it was quickly surrounded by the soldiers who made sure that the people kept a proper distance. Reynard ascended a small staircase and Daegal followed behind him. Unfortunately for Daegal, the wooden steps were a bit on the thin side for someone his size, so when he reached the third step and put all his weight on one foot, the board broke with a resounding snap.
Daegal went tumbling forward as the step broke, landing on his hands and knees upon the platform, pain lancing through his body as he landed, but also embarrassment. Everybody froze and stared at him as the street went silent in an instant. Nobody expected that, and Daegal was screaming in his head while wishing he could just disappear from the world right then and there. Slowly, he rose back to his feet, his only saving grace being that he was incapable of blushing the way humans do, else he would be bright red right about now.
Reynard took center stage with Daegal standing just behind and to the left of him. From there, the king addressed the still stunned silent crowd.
“My people, I'm sure you have a great many questions, most of which likely pertain to the being you see standing up here with me. Allow me to introduce you to our strange guest. This,” he made a sweeping gesture with his hand, “is Daegal, and worry not, he does not carry any ill intent as was verified by myself and the good bishop Arthur. Despite what appearances may suggest, there is no evil to be found in him. Quite honestly, the opposite is a much more likely truth.”
Reynard let the statement stand for a breath while he took a step toward the edge of the stage. “In the short time that Daegal has been present within the walls of our fair city, he has made himself instrumental in the discovery and arrest of the culprit responsible for the string of disappearances.”
This statement garnered a reaction from the crowd as they spoke amongst themselves in low voices. Reynard called their attention back to him after giving them a few seconds to discuss.
“Indeed, a most surprising outcome, but one that is nonetheless worthy of appreciation. To those families out there who have been missing their loved ones, know that they may yet be returned to you, and if not, know that they have been avenged.” Daegal could see a few faces in the crowd that changed with that proclamation; some looking hopeful, others bleak and knowing, their family having disappeared too long ago to hold out on that slim chance.
“While justice has been done in this instance, there are signs of darker things afoot. I must be honest with you; the days ahead may hold many challenges, but we have seen hard times before, and we will overcome them just the same. In times such as these, it is the best practice to keep as many friends and allies at your side as you can, even if they may appear odd. I will not ask you to immediately trust Daegal, for trust is something earned and has different values between individuals. For now, I ask that you simply allow him to live alongside you and give him the opportunity to earn your trust. Stay strong and be reassured that those who live under my banner will be protected from the dark that seeks to claw its way into our midst. Through strength of will and God’s mercy, we will prevail.”
That marked the end of Reynard’s speech, and it was met with a renewed level of discussion and a bit of applause here and there. There were many gazes that still looked unsure about Daegal, but some seemed to trust their king’s judgment and looked at him with open curiosity or consideration. So much attention was really starting to wear down on Daegal who was already feeling unsteady on his feet from the exposure.
Reynard moved to descend from the stage, taking an extra-large step to avoid the plank that Daegal had broken. Daegal followed, and this time opted to simply take a short hop down to the ground instead of risking more of the steps. The formation moved once more, and Daegal spoke in an apologetic voice to the king.
“I’m s-sorry about the stair breaking. I didn’t... uhm, expect that.”
Reynard glanced at Daegal with a small smile. “Don’t be. I think it helped you, in a way.”
Daegal blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“The people were able to see you stumble and make a mistake. Before that, you were simply some untouchable creature, but that small mistake allowed them to empathize with you, it... well, it humanized you in at least some of their eyes.”
Thinking about it, he may have had a point. Daegal wasn’t sure how much he liked having his mistake be a point of reference for his character, but if it helped, he would bear that embarrassment stoically. Things were changing faster than he could keep up with. Every day was something different, and he couldn’t help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.
