9 - Heaven's Blessing

 

    The next morning at the very same time, Luitold and Bernhart walked through the castle grounds as they returned to the same building as the day before. Luitold hadn’t slept quite as well as the night prior. When he returned to his quarters, Rudolf had given him a small cup of wine to ease his stomach, which also helped get the taste of blood and raw pig out of his mouth. Even then, resting was difficult with so much on his mind.

Luitold still felt compelled to continue. More than anything, now, he wanted an explanation. What were these jars he had been instructed to use, and why did they look the same as the ones in Rheinmark? What had he seen in the darkness? What did they have planned for him?

They walked in silence through the grass. This day’s weather was not as nice as the last, with grey clouds blocking the sunlight overhead, and the wind was much stronger than before. 

“Are you doing alright?” Bernhart asked Luitold quietly.

“I’m fine,” Luitold said, not looking at him.

“You know, I’m just as disturbed by this as you are,” Bernhart said, “I trust Lord Dietrich, but even so, I have reason to worry.”

“Does Lord Rudolf know any more than us?” Luitold asked.

“I don’t know. We can ask him.”

Before long, they had arrived at the stone brick building where the pit laid behind. Rudolf leaned against one of its walls, seeming to be pondering something as he usually did. His head perked up as they came near.

“Good morning, you two,” he shouted through the wind as they approached him from afar, “Have either of you seen Dietrich today?”

“Lord Dietrich was called to visit the Count of Vandemar last night,” Bernhart replied, “He may be gone for ten or eleven days. Did he not tell you, my Lord?”

Rudolf seemed quite shocked at this news.

“Why, no, he did not, actually,” the baron said with an amused smile, “Wow, Bernhart, he must really like you quite a lot to tell you and not me.”

“My Lord, I do not doubt he values you most highly!” Bernhart quickly stammered, his body tensing up.

Rudolf laughed.

“I’m not bothered,” he said lightly, “This will be easier without him, anyway.”

As the three of them made their way around to the pit, Rudolf looked at Luitold with pursed lips and sympathetic eyes. 

“We’ve been instructed to continue your training to the same extent as yesterday,” he said to the boy, putting his hand on his shoulder, “Is that alright?”

“Yes, my Lord,” Luitold said with determination, “I want to learn more about what I saw.”

Rudolf seemed surprised by Luitold’s resolve.

“Very well, then,” he said, his face loosening up, “I’ll have you go back in the pit as soon as you’re ready.”

Bernhart and Rudolf together grabbed the wooden ladder from the ground and set it up against one of the pit’s walls. Since the previous day, someone had cleaned up the pig body and the shattered glass that laid in the bottom. Luitold wondered how many people knew about these meetings. Being so far from the hustle and bustle of the main keep, no one else could have possibly witnessed what happened then aside from the three men that stood before him. In all likelihood, it was probably Bernhart that cleaned it.

Once Luitold had descended down the ladder, Rudolf gave him his instructions.

“The Count seemed most interested in seeing if you could find a way to control the beast,” he told him, “When you shatter the next jar, I want you to think about your body and mind together. You said you could feel through the beast but couldn’t tell it what to do. That tells me you’re still in there whenever that side comes out.”

“I will try my best, my Lord,” Luitold said to him from below, nodding his head in affirmation. 

Luitold began to head toward the shelf of jars when Rudolf continued talking.

“Oh, and by the way,” he said, “From now on, do not look up to me as a lord.”

Luitold turned around, confused by his statement.

“I am your brother, Luitold,” the baron continued before turning to Bernhart, “The same goes for you, Bernhart.”

“Huh? My Lord—” Bernhart stuttered.

“I said you are my brothers now,” Rudolf interjected, holding a finger to Bernhart’s mouth as to hush him, “The three of us will be stuck here together for quite some time. I imagine things will go more smoothly if we treat each other as equals.”

Luitold quickly turned to grab a jar from the shelf and closely examined it in his hand. Just what was inside these things? He now noticed the white crystals within resembled the material of the giant tree that he saw, the same tree the strange ghosts had been connected to.

“Rudolf, if we are…equals…” he said hesitantly as he turned back to face him, “then tell me—what is this magic really?”

Rudolf turned away from Bernhart and looked back down to Luitold. His face appeared to be conflicted in some way.

“You see, Luitold, magic is everywhere,” he said as he kneeled down at the edge of the pit, “The legend says King Willem was visited by God and was given the power of magic to bless his kingdom, and that is why we call him His Divine Majesty. What we have learned, if the legend is to be believed at all, is that the King was only given a material that allows us to see the magic that was always there. This material has gone by many names. The King calls it Heaven’s Blessing. What you see in the jar you hold is that very material.”

“There is brimstone in it too, is there not?” Luitold asked, “I can see it, and I think I’ve smelled it too.”

“Yes, over the past few years, Dietrich has been studying Heaven’s Blessing here at the stone building right beside us,” Rudolf said, “What he and his alchemist have found is that the magic shown to us by Heaven’s Blessing varies depending on the substances around it. When combined with brimstone, it produces what we call dark magic.”

Luitold and Bernhart both looked at Rudolf in silence as the chill morning wind blew against them, accompanying their thoughts with its aggressive howl.

“Have you ever wondered why Holzstadt is cursed?” the baron continued, “In order to let everyone in Avaria see magic no matter where they are, the King has every lord burn the material through the fires and chimneys of their towns, letting it be carried through the wind whenever a new shipment is brought. Many of the lords don’t even know what it is they’re burning. Since Holzstadt is sat atop a large deposit of brimstone, the fumes of Heaven’s Blessing that travel through our air show us a magic that kills our people. The brimstone is why Dietrich keeps me closer than his other vassals. He’s obsessed with dark magic.”

“So everything I see in the darkness, everything with me turning into a monster, that’s all part of dark magic?” Luitold asked.

“That’s the part we don’t understand yet,” Rudolf said, “Normally when we’re shown dark magic, we see things that try to kill us. When you see dark magic, you become the killer. There’s something different about your situation. That’s why we’re forced to put you through this training.”

“I see,” Luitold said, “I would like to learn more about this magic too, then.”

“Then go ahead,” Rudolf said, rising from his kneeling position, “Just… be careful.”

Luitold looked up at Rudolf with determined eyes as he firmly gripped the jar in his hands. There was a certain power he was beginning to feel the high of, a certain agency he had never felt before back home. Maybe that was why he didn’t mind returning to the strange horrors of Heaven’s Blessing. It was something only he could do. Finally he was worth something.

“Sure,” the boy replied with a smile.

Luitold raised the jar above his head and throttled it down at the ground. The glass shattered and the vapor within grew, just as it had twice before. Quickly it took its form as a thick cloud of black smoke and surrounded Luitold entirely. Once more, he was in the darkness.

This time, the crystal tree could be seen immediately. Just as grand as before, its branches reached endlessly as hollow ghostly faces emerged from its white rocky bark. From the branch nearest to him, the chorus of whispering voices spoke to him again.

“B-back sssso sssssoooon..?” they said to him.

“We can talk later,” Luitold said dismissively as he turned away from the tree and faced the infinite blackness that laid beyond. As he concentrated, he began to faintly hear the echoes of Rudolf’s voice.

“Luitold!” he called out, “Can you hear me?”

Slowly, a rift in the darkness opened just as it did before, exposing the version of the world that the beast saw, with all of the same uncanny characteristics that Luitold remembered. The sky dripped with red viscous blood, the ground was cast in shadow, and in place of Rudolf and Bernhart were the dark and beastly versions of themselves. Before long, Luitold’s other senses linked with that of the beast’s as well, again feeling the cold drops of blood rain on his sludgy thick skin. Now that he entered this world with a calm mind, he noticed certain details he hadn’t before. The beast in place of Rudolf was slightly shorter and thinner than the one in place of Bernhart. He found it interesting that the creatures existed with these distinctions from one another just as humans did. Luitold’s fear of them almost seemed to decrease a little knowing this.

“I can’t pretend I understand how this works, but I want you to think, Luitold,” Rudolf said from the edge of the pit, “Try to control your body!”

Luitold watched as the beast absentmindedly looked up at Rudolf. Yesterday, it had only moved when there was something in sight that it could kill. Where it stood in the pit, no such thing existed. He wondered if it was even possible to get this body to move on his own. He tried focusing on his specific body parts, seeing if concentrating on his right arm would get it to at least twitch. To his disappointment, nothing of that sort happened.

After what felt like a few minutes of awkward silence, Rudolf whispered something to Bernhart, his arms crossed in impatience. Shortly after, Bernhart bent over to pick something up from the ground and swiftly launched a small stone at Luitold’s head. The beast instinctively recoiled and grabbed its head in pain as it let out a deep howl, but at the same time, Luitold did as well. He could feel the vibration of his own voice as the beast cried, and the disorienting pain hit him just as hard as it may have in his normal body, with his eyes watering and ears ringing at the impact.

As he and the beast curled down towards their waist with their head in their arms, Luitold groaned again. This time, it was certain. The noise was all him.

“Aagh,” he moaned weakly, his voice low and gurgling, “Rrrhat the hell?”

As he rose back to his upright posture, he realized he had found full control of his body. 

“Did he just speak?” Bernhart said to Rudolf in amazement.

“I don’t know,” Rudolf replied as he leaned in towards the pit closely, “Did you, Luitold?”

“Rrrrah,” Luitold growled, still adjusting to his new vocal chords, “Erreugh, yreeeehh.”

“Give him a moment,” Rudolf said.

Luitold looked up to the baron with his chin down and let out a wet cough to clear his throat.

“It’s me, Rudolf,” he said perfectly in his new dark cadence, “I can hear you.”

“Luitold!” Rudolf exclaimed as his eyes widened, “I can’t believe it.”

“Can you move your body?” Bernhart asked.

Luitold looked down at his arms and repeatedly contracted his fingers into his fists, reassuring to himself that this was actually him in control.

“Yes,” he said.

“Well then,” Rudolf said, turning to Bernhart, “Shall we get another pig?”

“Of course, my Lord,” Bernhart said subserviently before noticing the disapproving expression on Rudolf’s face, “I mean—of course… Rudolf.” 

“You’re not very good at this brotherhood thing,” Rudolf said as Bernhart headed around the pit to grab a pig. 

Before long, Bernhart returned with another fat pig in his arms. Just as he did the day before, he kneeled at the edge of the pit and gently rolled it out of his arms, letting it fall inside. This time, he was far more considerate, stretching his arms down a few feet to make the fall less painful for the pig, probably since he had more faith in Luitold not snapping and killing him on the spot.

“We’d like to test your strength, Luitold, and this is the safest way to do so,” Rudolf said.

Luitold looked down at the pig as he awkwardly stood in place. The pig immediately squirmed over to the wall behind it in fear, repeatedly oinking as it did so. He thought back to what happened yesterday when the beast went wild and ripped the last pig to shreds. This time, there was no such primal instinct within him, and Luitold’s usual hesitant demeanor was all that was left in his monstrous body.

“You can kill the pig,” Rudolf insisted as Luitold stood in silence.

Luitold turned his neck back to face the baron with an uneasy look on his face.

“I… don’t want to,” he said weakly.

“There’s no urge for violence in your mind?” Rudolf asked.

“Um, no,” Luitold replied, his lack of confidence contrasting his intimidating voice, “I keep thinking about my vomit from yesterday. I don’t really want to see anything gross like that. It’s just a pig, so I feel kind of bad, too.”

“I see,” the baron said, “We’ll think of something else, then. Just sit there until the magic wears off.”

Luitold did just as he was told, lowering himself to the dirt beneath him and crossing his slimy legs as he sat down. He took this time to again look up at the red sky. Of everything he had seen since his training began, this strange world had been the most confusing of it all. It seemed there were two distinct worlds that Luitold had been taken to by the Heaven’s Blessing. First there was the dark world with the crystal tree, which he had been shown almost two weeks prior in Rheinmark. That world was the more foreign of the two, bearing no real resemblance to anything he had seen outside of it, other than the fragments of Heaven’s Blessing itself, which seemed very similar to the tree’s white bark. The nature of the talking ghosts was still a mystery, and it was something he couldn’t really turn to his peers for commentary on, considering it would be hard for them to imagine what they even looked like and how they spoke. 

Then there was the blood world, the one that the beast saw. There was something so surreal about it. How did it exist in a way so similar to the normal world, but so different at the same time? Rudolf theorized it was just due to the differences in the beast’s eyes, but Luitold knew that couldn’t be true. The differences were more than visual. He could feel the sky’s blood dripping down on his skin, something that certainly didn’t exist in the normal world. Additionally, there was the question of why other humans looked like beasts as well in the blood world. Nothing else about them was different. Their voices and demeanor had no change from what could be expected from them, it was only their appearance that was altered. 

It seemed the tree world served as some kind of bridge between the other two, as he had never entered the mind of the beast before first being consulted by the tree’s ghosts. Ultimately, Luitold had so many questions and such little capability of receiving any answers from those around him.

After some time to think to himself, Luitold noticed the skin of his forearms was beginning to emit hot steam. Before long, the rest of his body did the same, and the steam thickened in the air until it became the signature black cloud he had become so familiar with. The cloud swallowed him whole, and when it again dispersed, he had returned to his normal reality. He felt refreshed as he took in the natural beauty of the cloudy sky and felt comfort in rubbing the skin of his arms, which had now reverted to the soft skin of a human.

“Are you alright?” Rudolf asked from above.

Unlike the last two times he emerged from the darkness, Luitold felt no exhaustion or disorientation.

“Yes,” Luitold replied as he got up from the dirt.

“I say we take a break then,” Rudolf replied, “This trial has been a great learning experience for all of us, I think.”

Rudolf and Bernhart moved to the wooden ladder in the grass in unison and lowered it down into the pit.

“What are you going to do with the pig?” Luitold asked as he approached the ladder.

The fat pig still remained lying in the corner of the pit, shivering from the memory of the beast that had stood before it only a moment prior.

“I’ll have Bernhart go down and fetch it once you’re up,” Rudolf said, “From now on, we’ll have to think of another way to train your combat ability in your beast form.”

Once Luitold finished scaling the ladder and returned to ground level, Bernhart made his way to the bottom and gently grabbed the pig, holding it in one arm at his hip.

“I’ll need you two to hold the ladder steady, please,” Bernhart requested kindly.

Rudolf squatted down beside the top of the ladder and held the right rail firmly against the edge of the pit with his hand. Luitold quickly came to his side and did the same for the left rail. Bernhart cautiously made his way up the ladder, having only one hand available to steady himself. Once he reached the top, he handed the pig to Rudolf, who carried it around the edge of the pit and brought it to a pen attached to the side of the stone building beside them. Luitold had never noticed this pen before, never getting to see much in the area around the pit until now. Inside the pen was a collection of what looked to be just under ten pigs.

“What’s a pig pen doing all the way out here?” Luitold asked as Rudolf walked back.

“Dietrich’s court alchemist Quintus likes to use them for his experiments on Heaven’s Blessing,” Rudolf told him, “Nearly everything done over by this part of the castle is for the purpose of researching it. It’s been quite the focus of Dietrich’s.”

“I see,” Luitold replied, “So is everything I’m doing an experiment, too?”

“Yes,” Rudolf said, “It’s just as much research as it is training for you as a weapon.”

Luitold continued staring at the pigs, fattened and plump for slaughter and abuse. Maybe he wasn’t so different from them, with all the luxuries he had been given at this castle. Was he just being fed and fattened in his own way?

“I imagine you two are hungry,” Rudolf said, “Let’s get breakfast before we return.”

The three walked back to the main keep where the banquet hall lied. At the center of the room was a grand long table, the same one Luitold had been fed at the night he arrived. At the far end of the table was a party of Dietrich’s knights, all eating together. As they reached the table, Bernhart decidedly pulled out a chair as far from them as possible, signalling Rudolf and Luitold to sit near him. 

“You don’t wish to sit near your fellow knights?” Rudolf asked quietly as he sat down.

“They don’t treat me as their own, anyhow,” Bernhart replied, “They don’t like that a peasant man-at-arms like me dwells in the same castle that they do. And I don’t find that they follow the code of chivalry to the extent that is expected from us.”

“I see,” Rudolf said, “Over here it is, then.”

Just then, an adult woman in a blue dress and white apron walked by their seating arrangement.

“Good morning, Rudolf, my Lord, what could I get for you to eat today?” she asked.

“Oh, I’ll have whatever you’re making, thank you,” the baron replied with a smile and nod.

“Of course, my Lord,” she said as she headed away into the kitchen.

Beyond the cobblestone walls of the banquet hall were two kitchens, one on each side. Through the walls, the bubbling of cauldrons and crackling of fires echoed around, filling the air with the anticipation of whatever meal was to come. Luitold slouched down in his chair, rubbing his growling stomach as he waited.

Before the meal was even served, though, excitement had already begun to brew at the table, as one of the knights from the other end rose from his seat and approached Bernhart. Unarmored, he dressed in a quilted grey tunic over white linen. His shoulders were broad, with his body appearing even stronger and more developed than Bernhart’s. On his head was a mess of short, dirty blonde hair, matted and dirtied from training. He also appeared to be slightly older than Bernhart, with his chiseled face sporting a full beard that stretched from ear to ear.

“Bernhart,” he said as he came near.

“Yes, Canagan,” Bernhart replied, rising from his chair to face him.

“Sir Canagan,” the man insisted.

“No matter. What is it you need to tell me?” Bernhart said dismissively, his expression dull and unamused as he and Canagan stood face to face.

Canagan appeared to be angered by Bernhart’s attitude, and flared his nostrils before he continued to speak.

“We have received word from some messengers travelling from the capital,” he said, “Her Highness Lady Agnes will be arriving here within the hour. Lord Dietrich entrusted me with a plan for if this occurred in his leave. You and I will be trading shifts as her personal guard until the Count returns. You in the night, and I in the morning.”

“Lady Agnes?” Bernhart stammered as his eyes widened, “You mean the princess herself?”

“Yes, I do not know her business here, but she will be coming nonetheless,” Canagan said, “Your duties start this afternoon.”

“I see,” Bernhart said, “Well, you can believe the princess will be safe with me.”

Bernhart returned to his seat, and Canagan began to turn back to his side of the table.

“I can’t believe the Count would entrust the princess to a lowling like you,” Canagan said as he walked away, “I don’t understand why he lets you play pretend in our ranks. It’s the one thing I’ll never agree with him on.”

“I serve the Count with my best efforts, and in return he gives me his trust,” Bernhart replied from across the room, “It’s quite simple, I say.”

Just then, the woman from earlier returned with three plates of food, each topped with bread, cheese, and ham.

“I’ll have your drinks ready in just a second,” she said to the three.

“Thank you,” Rudolf replied.

With Bernhart turning his attention to his meal, Canagan and the rest of the knights returned to their own business, chatting amongst themselves as they did before he arrived. As he had come to expect from Isenburg Castle, Luitold found his meal incredibly delicious and filling, and felt it helped take his mind off the greater concerns at hand that had piled up in the last few weeks.

Once Luitold, Rudolf, and Bernhart had finished their meals, they left their plates at the table and headed off to leave the main keep once again. Just as they reached the back entrance, however, a guard called to them from behind.

“Everyone, Lady Agnes has arrived!” he said, “We must report to the front gate!”

“Hm, so soon?” Rudolf commented quietly.

“Are we really going to see the princess of Avaria?” Luitold asked as they began walking.

“It seems so,” Rudolf replied, “And it seems Bernhart will be getting to know her very well.”

“Even as her guard, it is not my place to have any kind of friendship with her,” Bernhart interjected.

“You say that, but I hear she is quite personable,” Rudolf said, “Although I suppose that is to be expected of royalty.”

Before long, the three had reached a view of the castle’s front gates. They stood in the doorway, unseen by everyone else. Before them was a massive congregation of both men and women kneeling before a white horse-drawn carriage as it made its way down the path, surrounded by a dozen knights on horseback. Each man’s armor was plated white and yellow just as the carriage was, and even the horses were exclusively white-haired. Everyone remained in complete silence, though the princess herself didn’t seem to mind a bit of commotion, as she slid open the curtains of her carriage to wave to them.

“Good morning, everyone!” she said cheerfully. 

The crowd remained silent, believing it would be improper to break their formality in the presence of a royal. Two of Dietrich’s knights exchanged glances awkwardly as they kneeled, seeming to be caught between wishing to politely reply and their duty to maintain order. Luitold caught a glance at the princess before her curtains fell closed again. She had beautiful long wavy brown hair, with a glowing and hygienic face to match. She was clothed in an intricate yellow dress with white frills as accents, and her hands were covered with thin white gloves that stretched past her forearms. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and not by a small margin, either.

“Wow,” the boy whispered, “So this is what royalty looks like?”

As he turned to the men beside him, he saw they were just as enamored as he was, to the point where they ignored his comment entirely. Bernhart in particular was staring like he had never seen a woman before, his eyes as wide as ever and his face seemingly paralyzed. 

“I believe they’ll be taking her to the Guest Pavillion,” Rudolf whispered a few moments later, “You may not have seen it yet, Luitold. It’s an incredible building, reserved for only the most treasured guests.”

The baron then turned to Bernhart.

“I believe you’ll be going there tonight, Bernhart,” he said.