Von Krolock pressed a kiss to his son’s hair. “I’m here.”
Herbert’s smile was as warm as always, his eyes as bright – maybe brighter – but the rest of his senses told von Krolock that the situation was by no means good. The smell was the worst of them, rot and decay like a body already disintegrating. Under his fingers, Herbert’s shoulders were frailer than they had been since he had discovered fencing at fifteen. Each breath the boy took was laboured, underlaid with a stifled gasp of pain.
“What happened to you?” The question had been needling on von Krolock’s mind since he had learned of his son’s injury. Herbert could be reckless with horses or affairs of the heart, but with a blade in his hand the boy had long surpassed him. Even fencers with centuries of experience found Herbert a skilled and unpredictable opponent, and von Krolock could not believe another student had beaten him so easily.
“When you’re fighting for someone’s honour-“ Herbert paused to draw a laboured breath, then winced as he shifted his legs to free them from the confines of the tangled sheets. “You don’t really expect him to stab you in the gut when he falls into your arms after you’ve sent the other guy’s sword sailing into the air.”
The hiss came before von Krolock could clench his teeth, the monstrous and human parts of him for once in agreement about the fate of someone who had hurt what was his.
“All false – start to end.” Herbert’s laugh was cut off by a pained moan. “Should know better. Yet such a pretty face.”
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Another Herbert snippet, and backstory
Date: 2006-03-20 06:39 am (UTC)Herbert’s smile was as warm as always, his eyes as bright – maybe brighter – but the rest of his senses told von Krolock that the situation was by no means good. The smell was the worst of them, rot and decay like a body already disintegrating. Under his fingers, Herbert’s shoulders were frailer than they had been since he had discovered fencing at fifteen. Each breath the boy took was laboured, underlaid with a stifled gasp of pain.
“What happened to you?” The question had been needling on von Krolock’s mind since he had learned of his son’s injury. Herbert could be reckless with horses or affairs of the heart, but with a blade in his hand the boy had long surpassed him. Even fencers with centuries of experience found Herbert a skilled and unpredictable opponent, and von Krolock could not believe another student had beaten him so easily.
“When you’re fighting for someone’s honour-“ Herbert paused to draw a laboured breath, then winced as he shifted his legs to free them from the confines of the tangled sheets. “You don’t really expect him to stab you in the gut when he falls into your arms after you’ve sent the other guy’s sword sailing into the air.”
The hiss came before von Krolock could clench his teeth, the monstrous and human parts of him for once in agreement about the fate of someone who had hurt what was his.
“All false – start to end.” Herbert’s laugh was cut off by a pained moan. “Should know better. Yet such a pretty face.”