Chapter 430: Chapter 430
Arthur's Point of View
Dwarven Deserts
She eyed me again. "Did you really tell me all this because of the poison?"
I bobbed my head back and forth. "Yes, and no." Gesturing to her, I explained. "I definitely don't like talking about any of this, but the Priestesses have been forcing my hand. Alwin is... Difficult at the best of times and is entirely faithful to the Priestesses." The source of this content is N0veII_bIn
"And I'm not?" Kheri questioned back in an offended tone.
"You are, but I think you're more likely to believe me. I'm not the best person in the world. I don't deny it."
"But I don't think you're quite the issue that the Priestesses make you out to be. You have plenty of issues, don't get me wrong, but you've done a lot for this kingdom." She then gestured to me. "After all, not many would remove such a powerful demon from Priestess Elincia and end up dying to free her from such a terrible creature."
My shoulders deflated as I sighed. "That was more along the lines of me making up for past mistakes." With that, I drank the last of the water I received, but it didn't feel like enough.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a reason I've been lenient with the Priestesses and tried to be understanding. Their position is partially my fault. Although, neither were supposed to be thrust into such positions." Then I shook my head. "It doesn't matter now, though."
"I'm surprised you told me all this. Part of me expected you to just ignore me, like you do most other people.
My eyes met Kheri's and I chuckled. "That is all I will say on this matter. You can report all this to Elincia if you want, but just know, one wrong word-"
She frowned. "And her headache could become more severe."
"I feel confident enough I could sleep that long. It definitely feels like it."
"Why would you want to?" She asked back.
"So, I don't have to deal with any of this. All of you are handling my body well enough, it'll be like time travel. Boom! Goodbye desert, hello ocean."
Kheri snorted at that. "Glad to see you're doing better. Once we get to the coast, we can get some more food as well. A few other runners went to several of the Dwarven cities for supplies. Most of them are still waiting on news from the Queen."
I shrugged. "Then they'll be fine."
"I do worry for the Queen, though. She's had no time to grieve."
"Most people aren't given such luxuries. She handled herself well enough. Once they get settled, I'm sure she'll have a moment, as will the Prince." Taking another swig of water, we came to a silence as I paused for a moment. "All of them will. We've had our fair share of run-ins with Demons, but they definitely got the worst of it."
"That's probably why they were so receptive of your idea for a summit. Although, there is a lot of hate among many of the different kingdoms and races."
"Nothing like a common enemy to unite them." Then I shrugged again. "People are still gonna be racist, though. Accept it. Embrace it. Be the bird you know you are."
She playfully kicked me. "Greigh and Ziah told me about how you refer to us, but this is the first time you called me that."
"To be fair, I do it to everyone."
Rolling her eyes, Kheri sat down. "I know."
I smirked. "Take comfort in the fact that I treat everyone equally."
"I don't."
"That sounds like a 'you' problem."