Chapter 47
Chapter 47
“Medicine?” The timid physician’s eyes widened. Arietta, her hair swept aside to reveal a wound, glanced away.
“Yes.”
“What sort…?”
“I haven’t been sleeping well. The pain keeps me awake.” Her voice, soft and sweet, belied the emptiness in her eyes.
“I’d like a prescription for sleeping pills.”
“I can give you an injection. Just a moment…”
“No.” Arietta let her hair fall back into place.
“I don’t like needles. They leave marks. Pills, please.”
She turned back to the physician with a graceful, almost defiant air. The physician’s expression was troubled. Prescribing pills to someone as unpredictable as Arietta was out of the question. She was likely to hoard them and cause trouble. If she needed medication, it was safest to administer it via injection, ensuring he witnessed the d**g entering her system. He hesitated.
“No?” Arietta’s voice turned cold. A chill ran down the physician’s spine.
“It’s…not that I can grant or refuse your request, my lady. It’s simply not possible.”
“Disappointing.” Arietta’s expression hardened. “I was being considerate of your…situation.”
In truth, his ‘situation’ wouldn’t exist if Arietta hadn’t acted out in the first place. However, the physician was in no position to argue. Arietta’s impulsive actions had already occurred, and according to Isaac’s rules, he was held responsible.
“Fine. If you’re willing to take ‘responsibility’.” Arietta’s words were an ultimatum. She sat facing him directly. “Get your communicator.”
It was a command to contact Isaac, who was currently away, welcoming the Sky City Survey Corps. Arietta continued to back the physician into a corner. He stared back, aghast. With Gamon absent, there was no one to intervene or offer support. Finally, the physician surrendered.
“You must take them under my supervision.” He agreed to prescribe the sleeping pills, but insisted on watching her swallow them. This was his final, unyielding condition.
Arietta didn’t push him further. Under his watchful eye, she obediently placed the pills in her mouth and swallowed them with water. “I think I’ll sleep now.”
Arietta slipped beneath the covers. She heard the physician’s hesitant footsteps as he left. Moments later, long, pale fingers slipped between her lips. The slightly dissolved pill, retrieved from beneath her tongue, was quickly deposited into a small jewelry box she retrieved from the bedside table. It was a gift from Isaac, received years ago from the Sky City Survey Corps, now unused in favor of newer trinkets.
* * *
Black rain fell from an ash-grey sky. A sleek airship descended onto the long-dead earth, buffeted by fierce winds as it landed. Once the turbulence subsided, royal emissaries emerged, the royal crest, embroidered in gold thread, gleaming on their chests.
General Soluten stamped his boot on the ground, his fleshy nose wrinkling in disgust.
“No matter how many times I do this, the stench of Downstream is revolting.”
While the others didn’t express their distaste as openly, their grim expressions revealed their shared aversion to Downstream’s air. Several yards away, the golden-eyed beast, Isaac Tygra, waited until the airship’s doors closed before moving.
Despite the muddy ground and his heavy boots, his footsteps were silent. The lack of any apparent effort to conceal his presence made it all the more unnerving. In stark contrast, the twelve men following him trudged noisily. They moved through the desolate streets, lined with ruins that were once grand mansions, now home to vagrants and stray dogs, their procession resembling a triumphal march toward the royal emissaries.
Their deliberately loud footsteps drew attention. The hothouse flowers of Sky City, witnessing their approach, were visibly intimidated by the pack’s predatory gazes and aggressive grins. The raw, untamed energy of those who had clawed their way to survival in this harsh land radiated from them.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.