The Diablarist King

1 - A Soldier for the Legios

EDEVA

     "Enough with that racket, Eva!" I hear Eldislav calling from the shed, trying to hide his laughter. While I am aware he is quite busy and does not have time to be hassled, I tend to find myself by his door, singing a song about cheese when I know he is in there trying to work. "You girls will be the death of me."

     Despite the anger in his voice, I know Eldis appreciates the gesture. I imagine him in that little, windowless storeroom, wiping sweat from his brow as he works on skinning the deer he and Gisela killed earlier this morning. They drain the blood deep in the woods to make sure not to bring any hungry beasts near the cabin but he says he skins so hastily outside that he finishes up inside at home before Gisela brings the hide to the tanner in the afternoon. A big animal like that will take my perfectionist stepfather a while to finish. Gisela works on gathering firewood in the meantime, while I'll annoy Eldis with my singing and then prepare a list for Gisela to take to Adrimar, the nearest town.

     A frown slips on to my face. I lightly pat the door to the shed, rise to my feet, wipe the dirt off my dress and head towards the cabin. It is time to check on Josie again.

     Poor Eldislav has had his hands full with three girls for about five years now. When my mother and I ran into Eldis, she had twisted her ankle and he carried her to his cabin. We were fortunate when he found us as we had no place to go. A year later, he married my mother. A year after that, she died during pregnancy. Mother always had difficult pregnancies, and of all the children she bore, I was the only one to survive past infancy. I believe, however, that she died of a broken heart. She lost her baby before it was even born; and this loss, after so much before, was too much for her.

     I was part of the family by then, even if I am not much for the hunting life. My younger step sister Gisela is the little warrior in the family, while my older step sister Josephine was more a housekeeper. I ended up learning to cook, and the life we carved in our little cabin in the woods was harmonious.

     Last week changed that. Eldis insisted that Josie and I learn to use a bow and arrow; as he was growing older and Gisela, only sixteen, couldn't be the only one who knew how to hunt. Josie and I were decent trappers and could dress rabbits and such, but that was it. While the hunting itself went over as smoothly as one can expect during this time of year, Josie and Gisela began to fight, and Josie fell down a hill and cut her leg up quite fiercely. Eldis carried her home and we bound up her wound with some herbs for the pain, but it never healed. Now, poor Josie is in bed with fever.

     As I make my way across the garden, the sound of soft weeping grows louder with each step. I hasten my walk and fling the door open, not bothering to take off my shoes as I fumble down the hallway to the source of the sound. I pause in the doorway and stare at the scene: Josephine lies in her bed, Gisela kneeling beside it, draped over her big sister's chest as she cries. Josie's dull gray face is beaded in sweat. She couldn't have been gone longer than an hour or two.

     My vision blurs with tears, shaky steps taken in to the room to fall beside Gisela. There are no words I can say; I loved Josie as though she were my own flesh and blood, but Eldis and I made peace with her condition. We both knew God would take her soon. Gisela hadn't yet forgiven herself. I set my hand on the girl's head, gently petting her dark curls as she sobs against her sister's body.

     "Gisela," I whisper. "Please, please do not cry. She has gone to God now. She is singing with the angels."

     My little sister sniffles as she manages to sit up and look at me. Her eyes are red and puffy and her face is soaked.

     "I should not have pushed her," She pouts, grabbing one of my hands tightly. "And if the King needs her, she will be ripped from Heaven and you know it."