Chapter Text
Today
Kurt looked at the cards in his hand. If he played the five, Alvara might have been forced to follow suit. If she had the right hand. Nivaldo and Dario had folded in the last two rounds, but were still sitting with them and watching their game.
The day was quiet, the sun was shining and in the background he could hear the occasional laugh and scraps of conversation from Constantin and Amal, who were standing not far from them at the bow of the ship. Green Blood had disappeared somewhere with a book. Now and then Emile needed a little time for himself. He had already been like this as a child, and after all that the soldier had experienced at court, he could understand the ambassador's impulse.
Suddenly, a call echoed across the deck from far above. Kurt had not been listening, but he raised his eyes.
"White squall! Reef the sails! Passengers below deck!" barked the captain a moment later, and almost instantly several rapid whistles tore the calm apart.
The soldier rose and although he was not slow, the Nauts were faster. Together with their other comrades who were on deck, they sprinted to the rope ladders leading up to the sails. Constantin and Amal approached the soldier.
"Is something the matter?", the young woman inquired.
"Apparently we're supposed to go below deck," said the guard.
"Let us go and ask", the future governor suggested, and set off for the quarterdeck. Kurt did not like the whole thing, but when he let his eyes wander, the sea seemed calm. So he followed the nobleman.
"Is there trouble, brave captain?" Constantin called up to the man next to the wheel.
"Below deck. Immediately!", he commanded his passenger, and at that moment Kurt realized that something was very wrong.
The calm ocean suddenly turned into a roaring sea and the deck seemed to tip sideways beneath them. Waves crashed on the planks and the soldier was just about to grab Constantin by the shoulder when the noble risked to slip. Wind whistled in their ears, rain rushed down on them as if it wanted to throw them onto the planks. It seemed to the mercenary as if there was snow too, but he did not take the time to watch the spectacle. Kurt pulled the young nobleman with him. Another shudder went through the boat and the roar of the waves drowned out all other sounds. Just as the door came within reach, the boat was thrown to the side. Kurt leapt forward, dragging Constantin with him, and got hold of the latch of the door. Just a moment later, the ship changed course again and they slid in the opposite direction. The door swung open - and Kurt somehow managed to push Constantin through.
"Amalia!", he shouted.
"I'll get her - stay here!"
Kurt had to scream to drown out the roar of the sea and the howling of the storm. Then the ship continued to sway - and the guard quickly pulled back his hand, thus preventing it from being crushed by the slamming door. The mercenary pressed himself against the wall in his back and let his gaze wander across the deck. The crates on which he and the Nauts had been sitting shortly before were gone. Just like Amal. The deck was empty. His eyes wandered to the masts. Maybe she had clung on it.
When the ship bucked again, he used the momentum and let himself slide forward so that he could hold on to the first mast. But there was nobody here. Another lean angle and Kurt slipped and shortly after that crashed into the railing. His hands clung to it while he searched the masts. Empty. The soldier pulled himself up and almost got thrown off his feet again when the ship broke out to the side again. His gaze still flitted across the deck, but it remained as empty as the first time. Finally he turned around and looked out to sea. The waves threw the ship around furiously, rain and snow hampered his vision.
"Amal!" he cried, but the word was torn from his lips. The storm raged so loud that he could not hear himself.
Then, all of a sudden, it was over. The waves calmed down and the rain stopped. He continued to stare at the water, but Amal remained missing.
Kurt pulled himself together and turned to the quarterdeck, where the ambassador was talking to the captain.
"Green Blood!" he shouted, which immediately got him the undivided attention of both men.
"Amal was washed overboard," he continued, feeling an uncomfortable tug in the stomach area.
"What? How?" it escaped Emile.
"Were you just in the same storm as me?" the guardsman growled, but realized even as he replied that the ambassador was not to blame. Kurt had been the bodyguard of the three for over twelve years. Never had he had to tell any of them that he didn't know where one of the others was.
The captain took out his whistle and a moment later the whistles rang out across the deck, mingled with hurriedly approaching footsteps.
"Emile, Kurt... where is Malia?" Constantin wanted to know and his gaze wandered from one to the other and then across the deck, as if his cousin was hiding there somewhere.
"No longer on board" replied Green Blood, lowering his head.
"No! It cannot be!" cried his cousin, and he stepped toward him, half-pushing past Kurt.
The soldier took a few steps back and turned back to the railing. Even if he didn't believe that he, of all people, would find Amal, keeping an eye out for her was still better than just waiting. Though not much better.
It seemed like hours to him, though it was only minutes, before the relieving call of "Person, starboard ahead!" rang out. The Nauts launched the dinghy and the captain needed some convincing to keep Constantin and Emile from accompanying him. Probably the argument was that neither of them had any experience at all with rowing, which would make it difficult for them to move and would make the rescue of their cousin take even longer.
Still, the two reminded Kurt a lot of the two boys he had started training over a dozen years ago as they stood excitedly at the railing watching what was happening at sea. Although the soldier also felt relief when the boat approached them again and he could make out Amal's figure on the back bench.
When she finally came aboard, Constantin helped her over the rail and instantly pulled her into his arms, followed by Emile, who unceremoniously embraced them both. Kurt liked to claim that he was a cold-hearted mercenary - but seeing the three of them reunited gave him some relief. And he knew it wasn't just that it wouldn't have been a badge of honor for his bodyguarding skills if they hadn't found Amal again. The three of them had always been together. No one, no intrigue and nothing else had been able to tear them apart and the soldier was a little grateful that at least today he had not had to watch them lose each other. Even if this event showed him once again how fleeting some things could be that one took for granted.
Finally, Amal released herself from both of them to change her clothes. She had come aboard in the captain's coat, without boots and dripping wet.
The Nauts resumed their work while Emile and Constantin continued to talk. Kurt turned away, arms folded, and looked out to sea.
Although he knew the three greenhorns were fine and safe for the time being, there remained an uncomfortable tugging in his chest, as if at the end of a bad cold. He knew he shouldn't get sentimental - if only because his loyalty should lie first and foremost with the Guard and only then with his employer. But he had never been so close to losing one of the three and been so powerless at the same time. He knew he couldn't protect all of them all the time. If only because Constantin would stay much more in New Sérène as governor on Teer Fradee, while Amal and Emile would explore the island and strengthen relations with the other nations. Which led him to the need to urgently look for a bodyguard for the eldest greenhorn and another for Amal upon arrival. He himself would accompany Emile - Green Blood was an excellent diplomat, but still the most reserved of the three in battle. That's why Kurt wanted to keep an eye on him, and he was sure his two cousins felt the same way.
The mercenary was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard Green Blood's and Constantin's voices get a little louder. He turned to see that the young noblewoman had stepped onto the deck again. Once again, her eldest cousin embraced her and his cousin returned the gesture, while Emile placed a hand on her shoulder.
The voices of the two cousins became louder again and snatched Kurt from his memories. When he turned around, he saw that the young noblewoman had entered the deck again. Again Constantin embraced her and his cousin returned the gesture while Emile put a hand on her shoulder.
In fact, the pressure in the soldier's chest decreased as he watched this scene. Even though the oppressive feeling did not disappear completely. Sentimentality could shift loyalties. Something he could not afford.
Still, he interrupted his brooding when he noticed how his former student had broken away from her cousins with a smile and was now approaching him. She did not let him out of her sight for a moment, and with every step towards the guard, her face became more serious. For a moment, the question flashed through his mind whether she had just been fooling her cousins, or it was him she was fooling. For if the latter was the case, she was better at it than he had assumed.
"I know this was not my best performance. I'm sorry...", he began, but he broke off when she didn't stop. Instead, she dropped gently against him as she slid her arms under his and finally leaned her head against his shoulder.
For a moment he was too surprised to do anything. None of the three had ever hugged him.
She slowly took a breath and then expelled it again unused. Only then did the soldier get the idea to return the hug. He felt her wet hair on his cheek as he leaned his head slightly against hers and put his arms around her. It was nothing he did often. When he tried to remember the last time he had held someone, he could not recall a particular event. It had probably been years ago, back then with Fayette, and probably that was why he was so clumsy about it. He expected a cheeky comment from Amal at any moment, but she remained silent and kept holding him. It did not last long, but it was enough to drive the rest of the oppressive feeling out of his chest.
"Thank you," she finally muttered before she broke away from him.
He let her go as well, but examined her: "What for?"
Amal took a step back and looked down before she replied, "For bringing Constantin to safety. When I was washed away from the ship, I was afraid that you two were also carried away by the wave. As soon as I broke through the surface, I went looking for you. I panicked when I did not find anyone – and not only because I was afraid I would die in the sea. I thought maybe one of you was unconscious or even both of you."
Only then did she look at the soldier.
"Then the boat came and the captain told me that you took him to safety. Thank you," she repeated.
"It's my duty to ensure your safety," he objected.
"Yes, but ... not from such things. You have not been trained for this any more than we have," she said.
Amal leaned against the railing in her back and for a moment she pressed her lips together, while she ran her stretched fingers of her right hand over the palm of her left and finally closed the hand around her fingers. Her gaze had wandered back to her two cousins, who were talking to each other.
"When my father died, I was nine years old," she said, without taking her eyes off them.
Kurt had heard about it. He hadn't been at court then. Amal's mother had died giving birth to her. Armand d'Orsay, the younger brother of Prince Pascal d'Orsay and Princess Valerie de Sardet, had died in a carriage accident.
"I do not know much about him except that afterwards I was terribly angry and sad and helpless. I do not even remember if I really loved him. Or what his face looked like," she continued, and only at the last words did her gaze scurry briefly to Kurt, almost as if she wanted to make sure that he was still standing next to her.
"But they often say that Constantin looks a lot like him," she added, looking back at her older cousin who was laughing at something Green Blood had just told him.
"I do not believe that there is any truth in the rumors that Constantin could be my half-brother," she said and finally looked back at the soldier.
"But I know that Constantin and Emile are the only family I have. Aunt Valerie has made an effort, but I have never felt any connection to her and we both know that Constantin's parents are not even capable of loving their own son. They had even less for an angry nine-year-old," she said.
"I do not know what I would do if I lost one of them. I do not know if I could live in a world where one of them is no longer with me. So: Thank you."
She nodded to him again and a smile fell on her lips, but unlike the hundreds of times he had seen her smile in many ways, it seemed depressed. Her gaze wandered past him out to sea and finally back to the ground. She seemed almost a little lost, as she stood there and said nothing more. For a moment Kurt wanted to go to her to hug her again and hold her tight. There was nothing he could say to her, nothing that could ease the fear she had felt at sea. Yet he stayed where he was. He had once been her teacher, now only her bodyguard. For both positions it was not appropriate behavior.
Eventually she pushed herself slightly off the railing, but before she turned away, she looked at him again: "And, Kurt? I am glad that nothing happened to you either."
Just when he had thought that she would have been done with surprising him today... But if he was honest with himself, they had crossed the line between bodyguard and protégé today anyway, so he could stay a moment longer in this area before they returned to everyday life.
"I can only return that," he replied and nodded slightly to her.
A smile flickered across her face and for a moment a spark of light-heartedness seemed to glimmer in her eyes again, even though it went out almost immediately. She returned the gesture before she turned around and went back to Constantin and Emile.