The Decoder - Chapter 20

Edith

Edith folded the piece of paper and pocketed it into her skirt pocket, reminding herself to properly decode it later. A groan came from the corner of the room and Edith came to her feet at once. Now was the chance to plot for their escape. She rushed to Ira’s side, ignoring Lady Ada who was suspiciously quiet the entire exchange. She eyed the lady who still wore her midnight blue cloak. She was huddled at another corner of the room, trembling from head to toe. Edith decided to leave her to her fate for her betrayal and returned her attention to Ira who was currently slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness.

“Miss Ira, please hang in there,” said Edith softly as she eyed around for something sharp to cut the ropes binding her legs. Hoping to find something in the cabinets, she approached them threw open the drawers. There was only two glasses of cups and a bowl. Not having any other chances, she took the cup and smashed them against the wooden table. It shattered, sending a few shards of glasses flying to the floorboard. Picking a shard and after testing its sharpness, she proceeded to cut the thick ropes on Ira’s legs. There was no time to waste, she needed to work fast. As she saw the ropes in a death grip with her right hand, the edges of the glass bit into the flesh of her palm. Edith winced in pain, but she continued to remind herself that they didn’t have much time if they were to escape.

“Did you…decode the…message?” asked Ira weakly as she drifted between her bouts of consciousness.

“I did not. I gave her a made-up message,” said Edith as she kept an eye on Lady Ada while she worked on the ropes.

“Clever woman. I owe you a favour.” A ghost of a smile touched her bow-shaped lips. Her face had gone white, pale as ghost.

“Please hang in there, Miss Ira,” said Edith. Dread began to build in the pit of her stomach. Ira needed medical attention immediately. She sawed harder and the last of the ropes nearly coming off. Blood dripped onto the floorboards, staining it. When the last of the ropes finally came off, Edith rose to her feet and grabbed a wooden chair. Being Uncle Vern’s assistant had taught her that every last bit of second is not to be wasted if one wishes to save one’s life.

Edith raised the chair to her head and threw in onto the floor with as much force she could mustered. She hoped the sound of the crash did not attract Sera and Nate’s attention.

“What the hell?” Ira raised her voice in shock despite her condition.

Ignoring Ira’s comment, Edith picked up a decent splintered wood, and now for bandage…She looked at her favourite skirt. She shut her eyes and bit her lower lip, hesitating for a moment. It was her favourite skirt afterall.

“It’s replaceable,” she whispered to herself. She opened her eyes again and saw Ira’s weakened condition. Edith rushed back to Ira’s side and tore her own turquoise skirt into one long strip. The shredding sound of her skirt made her winced and sighed loudly.

She proceeded to take Ira’s broken arm as gently as possible. Ira made a pained sound. One touch, Edith knew it was badly broken and it will take months to mend. She placed the splintered wood no longer than her own arm, against the broken arm and held it there while she quickly wrapped the strip of cloth that was part of her skirt, around the wood and arm, securing them in place. This should sustain until help arrives, if only help would arrive. Edith prayed for one to come, but she wouldn’t place too much hope in it when she herself was uncertain which part of Yvyle Forest they are currently in.

A bout of dizziness came crashing and Edith placed her bloodied palms on the wall next to her to steady herself, leaving a bloody handprint on the wall. This was not good. She realised she was losing too much blood. She brought both of her trembling palms up before her to inspect them. She had expected her right palm to be terribly injured, and now blood was soaking through her bandaged left palm. “Oh no, this is really not good.” She thought as another wave of dizziness hit her.

Suddenly, there were noises outside of the cabin and Edith strained her ears to hear for conversations. But there were only shouts, indiscernible shouts. The shouts soon drifted away. “No, it’s me losing my consciousness.” Edith fought back the dizziness and stayed upright on the floor. Ira had slipped into unconsciousness and Lady Ada hadn’t made a single sound at the corner of the room. She was suspiciously silent, and Edith noticed her body no longer trembled. She wanted to check on her condition, but her legs were to weak to move.

Another round of shouts and several footsteps came rushing outside of the room.

“Break the damn door!” Edith heard one of the men shouted. Men? She thought dizzily. There were several slams against the door, its hinges already coming loose. With one final shove, the door finally gave way and crashed onto the floorboards.

A familiar figure dressed in Militia’s Elites uniform came into view and, Edith’s vision was getting hazy. She struggled to stay upright but her body refused to listen to her. She slumped onto her side, next to Ira, when the deep baritone she will recognised anywhere, called out her name. How did he managed to find them? When the blurred figure approached them, she managed to whisper one last sentence before succumbing to the darkness, “save…Miss Ira.”

* * * * *

“My…Look at the both of you. You look as if you have rolled yourselves in mud,” said Sir Alcoft, annoyance tinging his voice.

“We were catching frogs, father.” Edith grinned.

Avery held up the container that held three fat frogs, equally grinning like a fool.

Mortified, Sir Alcoft stepped down the porch and took the container from Avery’s muddy hands.

“It’s cruel to trap animals. Let’s release them.”

“But, Sir…We spent so much time trying to catch them,” said Avery.

“Animals belong to the nature. Not in these confines of a glass. Now, go take a bath the both of you. There’s a treat waiting.” Sir Alcoft said sternly and stepped down the path to the small garden her late mother had built.

Edith and Avery obeyed and once they were done with their baths, they stepped into the kitchen where a waft of delicious smell of chocolate cookies awaiting them.

As they moved to help themselves, a voice halted Edith’s step.

“You’re a liar, Edith.”

Edith glanced around the kitchen for the source of the voice, but only saw Avery making his way to the kitchen counter where Sir Alcoft was busy filling a plate with the chocolate cookies. Once more, the voice came and suddenly, the entire kitchen faded, along with Avery and Sir Alcoft.

“Father? Avery?” Edith called out.

“You’re a liar, Edith,” Sera appeared before her, startling her.

“Sera?”

“You’re a liar, Edith!” Sera screamed and Edith took a step back and another and another. She covered her ears with her palms, trying to blot out Sera’s accusations when it kept coming.

“Stop it…”

“Stop it…Please…”

Edith woke with a jolt and glanced around frantically. Her breathing was labored, and she tried to calm herself down when she recognised the ward that belonged to the Militia. Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the drawn curtains, and there was no one around.

She moved to sit up slowly. Her head was heavy and dizzy. Her body felt heavy as a rock. It took her a while to adjust to the current positioning and after counting to ten, she opened her eyes. She took several deep breaths and released them, all the while recalling the memories prior. From her abduction to meeting Sera to aiding Miss Ira. It suddenly occurred to her how was Miss Ira fairing and who had saved them. Edith looked down at her palms, both were dressed in clean bandage. She sighed. Now, instead of one bandaged palm, she had two. One of which, she kept abusing it. With a mental note to herself to look after her injuries, she swung her legs to the side of the bed and located for her shoes. After donning her shoes, she stood and realised she was no longer in her favourite turquoise pleated skirt and her cream-coloured blouse. Instead, she was donned in the Health Department’s dressing gown.

Still feeling a bit light-headed, she walked slowly to the entryway of the ward. She needed a walk to clear her mind. The dream she had was unsettling and she wanted to forget them. Sera’s appearance was unexpected and there were so many questions swarming in her mind. What happened to Sera during these years? What’s her role in all of this? How did she come to know of her father’s note? However, Edith was certain she was working for Hathage Kingdom and she suspected Mr. Roan had a connection with her, too.

Edith fingered the pendant at the base of her collarbone, hoping to seek assurances from the memoir that her father had left her. The note. It was high time she decode it. Lady Ada had wanted to know the contents of it and now Sera, too. This piqued her interest and she will need to seek her father’s journal.

Edith strolled along the hallway of the familiar Health Department and stopped at Ward B when she happened to glance in the ward and saw Miss Ira sitting up on her bed not far from the entryway and Avery was sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her uninjured hand in his. He leaned his head close to hers as she whispered something in his ear which emitted a soft laughter from him.

Edith felt a sudden tightness in her chest at the intimate scene before her. They were engaged and it was normal for couples to behave that way, so why does she feel a deep sadness in her. Refusing to look any longer, she turned away and decided to take a walk at the garden.

As she neared Ward A, Caden and Merille stepped out of the ward, looking worried. But that worried expression quickly disappeared when they lay their eyes on her.

“Edith!” Caden rushed to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Where did you go? We thought you have disappeared again,” he said breathlessly.

“I’m here, Caden. I just wanted to take a short walk,” Edith patted his back, comforting him. Merille appeared next to them and threw an arm around Edith’s shoulder.

“We were very worried about you when you suddenly disappeared that night,” she said.

“Imagine our expressions when Avery came running to us after realising your disappearance.”

“I must say he was worst for the wear. He just wouldn’t stop fretting until he assembled his entire troop and sent them in search of you.”

“You should see how he went against the High Commander that night. Saying that he can no longer sit idle and will join the search for you and Miss Ira himself.”

Caden and Merille spoke so fast that Edith felt her mind was whirling around for real. They released her and pulled her down the hallway, so as to not get in the others’ way.

“How did you know all this?” Edith blinked.

“We were there of course. I joined the search while Merille remained behind. I will not allow Merille to go missing as well.” Caden said.

Despite all this, Edith found herself giggling at the couple before her. Oh, how they were made for each other.

“What’s so funny, Edith?” Caden asked with a raised brow.

“The two of you are adorable,” Edith continued giggling when suddenly another arrival joined their little group.

“I must say, is something interesting going on?” Lucien grinned, his hands in his trouser pockets.

“We were just lecturing Edith about her disappearance,” Merille joked.

“Anyhow, we are having dinner at Uncle Vern’s clinic tonight. As was customary every year during Starlight Festival. Uncle Vern did not join us this year, so we decided to have dinner together. I have informed Uncle Vern of your ‘little adventure’ and he insist he must see you for himself, Edith. I have spoken to Dr. Maia regarding your discharge and she has agreed.” Caden said and took Merille’s hand in his.

“I will be there. I miss seeing Uncle Vern,” Edith smiled. Thoughts of Avery appeared, and she almost wanted to include him in the dinner but thought the better of it. He most probably would wish to stay by Miss Ira’s side after the whole abduction incident. He did not even come to see me… A niggling thought came to the forefront, but Edith quickly brushed it away.

“You may join us, Lucien. The more the merrier. Edith’s uncle is a merry person,” Caden beamed.

“Oh no…I don’t think it’s appropriate—"

“No, no. You are welcome to join us. Uncle Vern is very friendly, and he would love to meet the people whom we have been acquainted to.” Edith quickly interjected. She needed to distract herself away from thoughts of Avery. So, the more people the merrier. And, she had no doubt that Lucien would be a jovial addition to the group.

“Well, if you insist. I will come after my duties,” Lucien smiled widely.

“We could all play a game,” Caden’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“None that will further aggravate Edith’s injuries,” Merille chipped in with concern.

“I’m totally fine,” Edith assured.

“Nonsense,” this came from Lucien himself, which caught them a little by surprise.

“Oh, you could invite Avery, too. I don’t see him anywhere, so if you happened to see him, do pass on the invitation,” said Caden.

At the mention of Avery’s name and the thought of him present at the dinner made Edith oddly squirm-ish. She wanted to keep her distance, but she wanted his company at the same time. Matters of the heart was afterall, not her forte.

“He is with Miss Ira now. I will pass on the invitation to him,” Lucien said. The image of Avery laughing softly by Miss Ira’s side brought another sense of tightness to her chest and she wished she could just hide herself away in a hole.

“I see…Well, let’s get you changed, Edith.” Caden said.

“See you later, Lucien.” Edith smiled, and she turned as Merille reached for her hand and held it gently. The warmth of her hand brought a sense of calmness to Edith, which she welcomed very much. But deep down she couldn’t help longing for Avery’s.

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