Meteia’s Recollections
“I leave Lord Hiro in your care,” Rey said. She looked so frail as she lay upon her bed, gazing out of the window, that she might have vanished at any moment. The sorrow on her brow was painful to look upon.
Meteia found herself lost for words. She immediately fell to thinking about how to restore her mistress’s smile. “My lady,” she stammered, “I...I do not understand. Surely you can take care of him yourself?”
She pushed the request back, unable to bring herself to reply in the affirmative or the negative. Yet Rey only smiled softly, with no hint of accusation in her eyes.
“I fear I will not be able to see how his story ends.”
Meteia could hardly bear to listen. She had never seen Rey so frail. To hear such resignation from someone so courageous, so confident—someone she herself had admired—was almost too much to take. She wanted to cover her ears, yet she could only bite her lip and listen.
“My time grows short.”
Meteia knew only too well what those words meant. She had thought herself prepared, yet they wiped every thought from her mind. All color drained from her vision, rendering the world a featureless white. Her throat clenched up as her body forgot how to breathe.
“Please do not say such things, my lady. You will recover. All will be well.”
“Meteia.”
She raised her face at the sound of her name, tears trickling down her cheeks. Rey was gazing at her, the picture of gentleness. Her smile was no less kind or affectionate than the day they had first met.
“I can entrust him to no other.”
“I could never take your place, my lady.”
As the archpriestess, Rey had been a constant companion to the newly arrived otherworlder. Their duties kept them apart nowadays, but even with Hiro campaigning on faraway battlefields, they still kept in contact by letter. Rey was his rock, and her presence gave him the strength to continue fighting.
“Without you,” Meteia continued, “I fear he will destroy himself.” When she had first learned of Rey’s impending death, she had thought her heart might split in two. It was all too easy to imagine how Hiro might react.
“He will manage. You both will. I do not doubt it for a moment.”
“How can you be so certain, my lady?”
Rey laughed softly. “Between the two of you, there is no hardship you cannot overcome.”
What expression she had worn as she spoke those words, Meteia could no longer recall. The world had changed with fearsome speed after Rey’s passing. Meteia had failed to save Hiro. She had only been able to watch in despair from afar as he unravelled. And then...
“Ngh...”
Meteia snapped awake, pressing a hand to her flank as agony lanced through her.
“A dream...”
She staggered upright, planting a hand on the tree she had been slumped against, and looked around. Darkness pressed in on all sides. She stumbled off through the midnight forest, uncertain where she was going, letting her feet lead her where they would. A rueful smile came to her lips as she recalled how she had come to this place.
“That the twelve primozlosta might not have been the last of our foes... Poor fortune indeed.”
She had fought and lost and, to her shame, fled. What was worse, as she ran, she had blundered into an unexpected enemy who had dealt her a mortal blow.
“So this is the end...”
At last, she halted and sat down once more upon the dirt. She glanced at the wound on her flank. Not only was it still bleeding, she could feel viscera pressing against her palm.
“Forgive me, my lady.” She raised her head to the night sky, but the stars were hidden by the forest canopy. “I fear I will not be able to keep my word.”
Her own body told her that it did not have long left. Cold terror crept up from the soles of her feet as she felt her strength drain away.
“Fear not, my lady,” she murmured with a small sigh. “I will join you soon.”
Whether Rey would greet her with a smile or a frown, she did not know. Still, death might not be so bad if they would be reunited on the other side. If she had just one regret, it would have to be...
“Hiro...”
She had failed to keep her promise. Failed to see his story to its end. She knew the sentiment was cheap, knew she had no right to hold it, but she could not help but wish for his happiness.
“Forgive me.”
Silence fell over the forest once more. Only the frail chirping of insects remained to disturb the darkness.
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