With the boy safe, Iria was able to concentrate on summoning a spell of her own. "Aquelliria!" She shouted. The creature screamed. The water that hit it melted parts of it back into a maroon-colored goop. It glared at her, but thankfully, it was enough to make it step cautiously away from her.
"That seems to have done the job," Marquelle commented.
"It's a corrupted fire creature," she replied, still not taking her eyes off of it. "I had my suspicions when I saw bits of it in the tunnels last night."
The creature lunged again. This time, it was Marquelle that made the water spell. With another ear-splitting cry, the creature retreated, slithering back into the hole in the kitchen wall.
"It's getting away. We need to go after it." Iria tried to stand but the poison made her dizzy that she lost her balance.
Marquelle caught her just in time. "It won't be able to go anywhere. We'll catch it soon. For now, I need to neutralize the poison in you."
The poison seemed to spread even faster. Iria nodded weakly.
Marquelle made to touch her shoulder, but stopped. "I'll need to partially undress you."
Iria smirked. "If I wasn't in pain, I would have found you quite naughty."
"I think you still do even if you are in pain." Even without looking at him, she could tell he was smiling. Which was reassuring because it truly was beginning to hurt a lot more. He handed her his outer robe, which she took to cover her front. Then, gently from behind, he unlaced her dress. And Iria, despite her quips, couldn't help but blush at the feel of his fingers against her back. He pulled down her sleeve to her elbow to assess the wound. "It's spread from your shoulder and down your arm and back."
"That bad, huh?"
"Could have been worse. I'll start neutralizing it. You might feel some discomfort." He chanted a spell then gently stroked her back and shoulder, tracing the black veins from its tips to its source. There was discomfort, alright. But not because of the prickly sensation of the neutralization spell. No, the discomfort was more from the fact that this man was touching her bare skin, and it was making her self-conscious. People would think she was more exposed to the worlds, being a gatekeeper for more than a decade. But truth be told, she was still a traditional princess from the Kirlazen worlds, and had not had any romantic contact with a man. And now, she felt a tingling sensation at each spot his finger touched her.
She sneaked in a glance at him over her shoulder. And she was just in time to see him swallow uncomfortably. To her surprise, the normally stoic mage had a very… affected expression as he continued to trace her back. And she knew his slightly heavier breathing wasn't because of the spell or poison, either. They caught each other's gazes briefly. And they caught each other looking at each other… affected.
Iria quickly turned away. It was the spell, she convinced herself. Or the circumstance. That was all. She didn't say anything, couldn't find a witty remark to cover up her suddenly hammering heart. What did one even say in such situations? Thankfully, he didn't say anything for the duration of the treatment, either.
"It's done," he said rather suddenly.
"O-oh." The pain was indeed gone. She hadn't noticed.
He cleared his throat. "The spell will work its way through the night. You'll feel pain tonight but it'll all be gone in the morning. All you need to do now is sleep." After a breath, he extended a hand and looked at her, his stoic expression back on his face. Thankfully.
"I'll do that," she said as she took the hand he offered and hoisted herself up. "Thank you."
And it was awkward silence again until she entered her room.
*****
"Gatekeeper!" Peter quickly stood from the sofa as Iria closed the door behind her. He had been on pins-and-needles the entire time he waited. She looked a little flushed, but other than that, she looked alive and well.
With a relieved smile in his direction, Iria went straight to the bed and collapsed there. "I'm fine. Marquelle patched me up good as new. But his spell is starting to hurt so I want to sleep on the bed tonight."
Peter felt his cheeks flush. Did he seem like a scared little boy to her? "I-I wasn't expecting you to sleep on the couch with me. I can very well sleep by myself."
"That's not what I meant." Iria lifted the blanket. "I meant just sleep here with me from the start so I don't need to keep moving to the couch in the early mornings."
Peter didn't move immediately. He was torn between his fear of the creature and his reluctance at relying on anyone. "I-Is the monster gone?"
"Not yet," she replied sleepily. "It got away. But I don't think it'll try anything anymore tonight. It did get hurt pretty badly."
Peter still didn't move. Truth be told, he really didn't want to sleep by himself with the creature still on the loose.
"Come on," she urged as she kept holding the blanket up, her eyes already closing. "My arm is getting tired."
Awkwardly, Peter climbed the bed and went under the blanket she offered, his back towards her. "Good boy," she mumbled as she wrapped an arm around him over the blanket.
"I'm only doing this because it's safer to stick together," he declared defensively.
"Mm-hmm."
Despite his protests, having her close made him feel assured. She had kept him safe. Not just because she was a gatekeeper. And not just because she needed to take him to the council. It felt like she wanted him to be safe, just by virtue of that. No other reason. Like a mother would, he imagined. He shook his head to clear it of these nonsensical thoughts. It must have been because he was already getting sleepy. "Gatekeeper?"
But she was already snoring softly.
Laying back down, Peter allowed himself to accept the safety her arms provided. Sleep followed closely after. He didn't have nightmares that night.
*****
Iria felt wonderful the next morning. Not only was the pain gone, she felt invigorated. Marquelle must have added something more to the neutralization spell. And despite waking up to find Peter lying diagonal on the bed with a leg splayed on top of her, she felt no discomfort. Well, maybe finding Peter that way contributed to her good mood. It made her feel that he had begun trusting her and letting his guard down in front of her. Also, Marquelle was back to normal.
"I tried looking for it again last night," he said over breakfast. "But it has hidden itself away quite well."
Peter bit from the whole pancake he had speared with his fork. "Is it really that strong?"
"No." Marquelle drank his coffee. It seemed he preferred it over the flower teas she was fond of. He supplied her with a generous variety of the teas, though. "It just caught us off-guard last night. But now that we know what nature of being it is, it's much easier to defeat it."
Peter's expression fell slightly. He put down his fork as he looked down. "I… I wasn't able to do anything last night. I guess I'm just that weak, huh."
Marquelle quietly studied him before replying. "Not at all. You just haven't learned the right spells yet. Be patient. You'll get where you want to be. In the meantime, I put up spells to alert me once the creature shows itself again. There's nothing to worry about."
The child looked assured. He picked up his fork and proceeded with eating his breakfast.
"A coin for your thoughts, Iria?" When she looked, Marquelle was studying her.
"Ah, it's nothing. Maybe it's just me, but I thought the creature had a weird resemblance to the Red King."
"Now that you mention it…"
"Who's the Red King?" Peter asked, looking up from devouring more pancakes.
"He's an opponent Marquelle fought," Iria explained as she picked up the table napkin Peter should have been using. "Marquelle used to be a mage who served a kingdom." With the napkin, she wiped away the maple syrup around Peter's mouth.
Since his hands were occupied with pancakes, Peter tried to escape the rigorous wiping by moving his head away. "Mages serve kingdoms in your worlds? We have very few magic users in mine, and they really just do what they want."
"They do in mine," Marquelle replied. "It's quite common to see mages in the military where I come from. I managed to drive away the Red King in my last fight. Last I heard, he died in another battle. But I had already retired when that happened."
"Have you met the Red King?" Peter directed this question to Iria.
"No, I wasn't born yet when he lived. But he was one of those rulers who used the magic of other worlds without authorization to try to win his wars. So his image and information are recorded in the Libra Council files. There are quite a number of these kings, actually."
Peter looked at Marquelle. "You must be quite old."
To which, Marquelle only glared back.
The bangle around Iria's wrist suddenly started lighting up. "Relax," she quickly said when she saw a panicked expression on Peter. "It's just a reminder. When you travel to different worlds with different time zones and time flows, you need things like these to remind you of events happening back home." She tapped her bangle to read the reminder. Iria couldn't help but frown.
"Trouble?" Marquelle asked.
"No, no." She tapped the bangle again and it stopped lighting up. "It's just a reminder of my younger brother's coronation."
"You don't look too pleased. I had the impression you and your brother were on good terms."
"We are. And I actually look forward to seeing him crowned. It's just that my aunts will be parading wedding candidates to me again. They never fail to do it on every formal occasion."
"I don't mean to be rude but, you do seem like you're above the usual marrying age for princesses in your world."
Peter glared at the mage. "Are you calling her a spinster?!"
Marquelle just stared at Peter for a time before replying. "There is no concept of spinster in my world. People marry whenever they want. But if it's Kirlazen, I know many kingdoms there use marriage, or more specifically heirs produced from those marriages, as a way to ally territories. As such, these marriages often take place when the woman is at an age when she is most likely to conceive. Which is around sixteen to eighteen in that area."
"It's rude to say that someone is too old to get married!"
"I didn't say that. I don't even think that."
Peter was about to retort when he suddenly thought of something. "Oh, yeah. You can't think that. You're way older."
Marquelle glared at him before turning to Iria. "Are you opposed to marriage?"
"No, actually. It's just that the prospect of having my wings clipped, so to speak, doesn't hold much appeal to me. I'm twenty-seven now. I've worked as a gatekeeper since I was sixteen. And if I get married, I may be expected to stop. And I don't want to stop."
"Even after what happened to your twin?"
"Even then."
"I can't blame you." Marquelle took a sip of his coffee. "Your world is a bit restrictive towards women."
Peter nodded. "It's a bit like that where I come from, too. The old ladies don't stop meddling until their younger relatives are married or at least have a prospect. It doesn't concern me, though, so I just watch them bicker."
"That's it!" Iria turned to Marquelle and Peter with a glint in her eyes. "Marquelle, can you come as my date? It would be inappropriate for my aunts to introduce me to anyone if I came with someone. Peter can come, too. We can pretend he's your son."
Marquelle nodded with a slight smile. "I would be honored."
Peter, though, was hesitant. "I've never been to something as fancy as a King's coronation before."
"At the end of the day, it's just a party," Iria assured him.
"Also," Marquelle added. "It may be good for everyone to be out for a bit after last night's ordeal. And I can fumigate the castle while we're away to draw the creature out."