[Legacy of a Martyr #2] Liberation from the Masquerades (A Key Keepers novel)

Episode 41: Didn't Deserve It

I hadn't really been out of my room much since we got back. My only chance so far was to eat breakfast, but Duke probably only let me do it cuz the girls were asleep. Becca, Duke, and Lie had been hovering over me. They didn't want me doing much because of my wrist. I didn't necessarily blame them, but I wished they wouldn't worry so much.

The princess was the bigger concern. As far as I knew, she still hadn't woken up. That was more important than my wrist.

Anyway, Duke had pretty much dragged the girls out of the room. They needed air. Not that either of them wanted to admit it.

That was when I got an unexpected visitor.

When the door opened, I expected it to be one of the others, Lie based on their size, but it wasn't.

"Marshall." Ai's eyes got big. "What happened?"

"I hurt my wrist. It's not that big a deal." I smiled. "Give it a couple weeks, and I'll be fine."

She put her head down. "Sometimes, I wanna smack you, bonehead..."

"How come?"

Ai shut the door.

"You don't let yourself be weak. You have to be everyone's strong guy." She clenched her fists. "You avoid taking care of things even if you need to."

"Between Lie's needs and Izaz going out of his way to spite us at every turn, it wasn't easy to remember that I have my own needs."

She gazed into my eyes. "Was it really that hard?"

"You wanted to help us. I always knew you did. If I'm being honest, I always felt like I didn't deserve it."

"You didn't deserve it?" Her voice cracked. "Marshall. That's absurd."

I looked out the window. "You know how I have a little sister that's younger than you?"

"What's your point?"

"I took off when we lost our parents. I left it to our smothering relatives to care for her. I didn't even look back when I first left home."

She put her hands on her hips. "You didn't know how to take care of yourself at the start. Most don't."

"Still, what kind of big brother was I? How could I take off on my little sister? How could I take the help of strange kids when I chose to not help my sister?"

"You didn't want help because you couldn't give any to your sister. You realize that the two shouldn't have a relationship with each other, right? That's illogical."

I found myself laughing. "Did you know Lie when she was ten? It could be hard if not impossible to reason with her."

"Children aren't always developmentally able to understand things or think things through or critically the way older people are. That's just life." Ai turned her head. "There is no way that's why that was like that."

"That was how I thought when I was ten. My pain didn't help and the things Izaz orchestrated did no favors. It honestly felt like taking help was the most dangerous thing I could do."

She sighed. "That's a part of you I've never understood."

"Why don't you sit on the bed? I have a feeling we're gonna go at this for a bit."

She did. She tried to look away, but I saw her cry.

I put my good hand on her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I remember something that happened a while ago. Lie was still young and neither of us had met Duke yet." Her gaze was fixed on my open window. "You ended up in a hospital because you caught pneumonia or something. It was bad whatever it was." She started shaking. "I ended up staying with this lady because Lie wound up staying with her. She was the only one Lie would let near her, and she wanted to be near you because you were the one who took care of her and everything."

That sounded awful... I felt awful putting them through that...

"From what I remember, you had a cold before this. You did rest for a day or two, but it was clear you were still sick when you guys left wherever you were still staying. The sense was that you wouldn't have gotten that sick if you'd just taken care of the cold before it got bad."

"Sounds like something I'd do... Glad my sister wasn't around to know about that..."

She was looking at my wrist. "I came here with Noelle. You think she could do something for it?"

"She probably could, but I'd rather not ask her right now. She has enough to worry about caring for those siblings. Tiana looked rough after we got out of that battle."

"Speaking of those siblings." Ai spun around. Her eyes lit up. "Everyone kinda ganged up on the big brother."

I tilted my head. "Oh?"

"Yeah. To get him out of the house."

"You're here right now..." My gaze drifted away from her. "He called you sometime yesterday or this morning?"

"Yesterday. I am worried about Alain. He needs more eyes on him at a time like this." She drew a long breath. "But it worried me more that didn't know how the rest of you were. Not that I blame him, but he didn't seem to know."

I nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has a period like that first November when this is all over."

Ai shuddered. "You're probably right about that. At least he has his mom and siblings this time."

True. That was a good thing. That was not a fun time for any of us.

"Did you need anything right now? This is a time where it's okay to need things."

I flinched. My wrist started hurting again.

She raised an eyebrow. "You want some more ice? I could go get some."

I bit my tongue and nodded.

She came back a couple minutes later.

She gently laid the ice on my wrist. "Try to get some rest. That'll help you heal faster."

I nodded and shut my eyes. "Thanks, Ai..."

She whispered in my ear, "It's okay to take it easy. I'm not going anywhere."

***

Thoughts on Marshall and Ai? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!