Guilt. Desperation. Exhaustion. Longing. It all nipped mercilessly at his heels, driving him forward with a relentlessness customary for his family name. Duty kept him upright. Defeat wasn’t an option for the Verlice son, even as a prisoner of war. He may have cracked and splintered but he didn’t break. Weakness had never been tolerated and never would be, imprisonment was no excuse. He needed to get home, not just for his own safety or to protect the army’s secrets, but for Adeline. And that was the true driving force for Kenzo. Few might know it, even fewer might consider it but it was the fervent need to see his wife that gave him the strength to drag himself from the highlands. She was the reason he had risen in the middle of the night and slipped from Merrins home, long before he was fit for travel. Merrin had put him back together as best she could, enough that he would survive the trip home, though somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew he’d need a real doctor the moment he set foot in Yorkshire. She had done enough though. His time with her was a looming shadow that wanted answers but he had neither the energy nor the strength to dwell on that.
Stumbling upon Ryker and the hired wolf she traveled with had been a blessing he hadn’t dared hope for. Augustine sent the dark coated wolf in search of him. While he was equal parts surprised and thankful, he hadn’t expected it to be Augustine of all wolves that pay for his safe return. The duo had been longtime friends, close enough that it wasn’t outlandish but surely his own father would have wanted him home more. He supposed the ‘who’ didn’t matter in the end when he was escorted home under the watchful eye of the hired wolf and the protective glare of his sister. Eventually it would be just the two of them as they approached the barracks and he could feel his paws drag more and more with each step. His body knew he was home and that he was safe and it begged in earnest for rest. A ragged breath shook his sides. An ear tilled towards Ryker as she assured him they were almost there.
Almost wasn’t close enough. Unsteady legs buckled as they approached the front gate. With a grunt, Kenzo collapsed in a heap of long legs and dirty fur. Familiar smells filled his nose, caressing his senses gently, as if to assure him this wasn’t just a dream. The ground beneath him was cold and hard but he’d take it any day over the chilly stone of the cell he had been rotting in over the last few weeks. He didn’t pay attention to the commotion Ryker started, her shouting for help before she was in his ear, demanding he stay alive. He wasn’t entirely sure if his lips tipped up in a faint but humorless smirk or if he just thought about it. She was bossy as ever.
But it wasn’t her demands he wanted barking in his ears. “Get Adeline.” Normally silky tones were rough. It was his one request, though even battered and bruised, there was still a quiet command in his voice. He had been to hell and back over the last few weeks, he’d be damned if anyone was going to stand between him and his wife. More than thought, he needed to know. His dry and cracked lips had been tightly sealed against the secret horrors he now carried so no one would truly understand the urgency in his demand. They would assume he simply wanted to see her after all this time. But he needed to know, he needed to see for himself what was truly waiting for him. It had nearly driven him mad, the not knowing. It was his own personal hell that he was still enduring despite the fact that he had left that hell hole behind.
"If the accident will."
"Kenzo Speech."
"Adeline Speech"
