Starting Life From Zero: Far From Home

Chapter Thirty-Two

Emilia knelt in the shadow of the carriage with Peter's head resting on her legs. She had gotten used to being close to him; weeks spent in Peter's company saw them starring into each others faces.

By this point, she was sure that she would have noticed the smallest variation in Peter's face. Seeing him so pale and streaked with sweat with the muscles in his neck tensed was already too much for her. She kept swallowing, trying to avert her eyes from the others around them, to do anything but look at May.

When the thought of glancing to May crossed Emilia's mind she could just feel the tears coming on. Peter was going to shake this off. She had seen him be stabbed and keep on fighting for her and others the first day that she knew him—he would bounce back from this. He had just to.

"I don't understand. What's happening to him?" May demanded of someone, Emilia hoped that it wasn't directed at her.

A strong, heavy hand touched Emilia on the shoulder and she look back over her shoulder to see Steve standing over her, his blue eyes regarding her with what felt like sympathy.

"Let's get him up, Miss Emilia," Steve said. She heard the words, but they didn't quite make sense to her ears. "We need to get Peter into a bed so he's at least more comfortable."

Steve lifted Peter off of her, carefully cradling him to carry him back into the manor closely followed by Emilia and May.

No one was saying it yet, but she couldn't shake the thought that this was all her fault. The moment that she kissed him on the cheek his whole demeanor had changed, albeit briefly, before this happened.

Emilia didn't know all that much about curses, her only experience with them had been only a few weeks ago in Irlam Village. In that instance everything had been handled by Miss Beatrice.

Puck floated past her face and she contemplated asking him if this could be her fault. Could you deliver a curse to someone or trigger one through touch? Could someone have made her kiss into a death sentence.

When they turned to head up the stairs to the second floor of the house she could see Peter's face again; his partially parted lips and his hair clinging to his wet forehead from all of the sweat.

The inside of the house seemed to pressurize and tighten with the commotion of what ever was happening to Peter. There was a cacophony of voices, shouting, the door slamming behind them, Crusch was yelling for Ferris to hurry.

All of it threatened to crush Emilia, her legs trembled and at the top of the stairs she was forced to pause and grab hold of the handrail to rest her weight on it.

This was all her fault. She didn't know how, but someone caused her to kill Peter.

Some kind of witch's curse, Emilia thought.

"Lia? Lia? What's going on?"

Emilia nodded her head, trying to speak but while her lips were moving she could tell that there was no words actually coming out of her own mouth.

An arm wrapped around her waist, threaded between her body and forearm help support her weight. She glanced to her side to see May standing close to her.

"Emilia?" It was May's voice, distressed at what was going on for sure but there was not a hint of anger toward her. "Are you okay to walk? You're not going to pass out, are you?"

While Emilia was looking at her she noticed Roswaal pacing the hall at the top of the stairs as if he was waiting for her. How long had she been stopped?

"I'll be fine. I'm just..." Emilia let her voice trail off as she didn't want to lead anyone else to the path that her thoughts had taken her down.

"Come on, Peter's going to want you in there too," May said.