Chapter 55:

Xavier held the door, ushering us all inside his office before shutting it behind us and coming over to where I was leaning back against his desk from where I had set Bane down onto it. "Do you mind?" He asked, and I just looked at him for a moment before realizing that he wanted the missive. I quickly fished it back out of my bag before handing it over to him. 

He quickly read back through the mission before shaking his head as he went over to one of his bookcases and pulled out a large rolled piece of parchment. As he set it on the desk, I moved to stand behind it with him as he unrolled the map, setting a couple of heavy books along the edges to hold it in place before looking over it for a long moment with a sigh. Lexi and Genie both came up to the other side of the desk to see what we were looking at as we all looked over the map, just as Xavier pointed out Celestia's capital city of Elysium. 

"The first problem with this mission is that coming from Elysium, our quickest route to the Hidden Grove Camp is directly through the worst part of the dead plains." He traced his finger along the bottom edge of the plains, right along the one border that they never stationed any camps at. No one could survive long enough in the dead plains to actually set up a proper camp with all of the dangers in the plains alone, but they realized that there really wasn't much of a point in it anyway. All of the creatures that did happen to make it all the way through the dead plains were far too mangled to actually be much of a threat by the time they reached any of the lands beyond them. 

"Not only do you have to worry about the dead plains and the dangers that come along with them, but anywhere along this edge, the enemy will be strong enough to pose a serious threat as well," Xavier said as he traced the path we would have to take once more to make sure Lexi and Genie saw. "It's easily a three-day flight to the camp from Elysium, and at least two of those three days we'll have to make camp in the dead plains. The last day would be in Fairy, probably in the meadows if we can make it that far. It's a bit further out of the way, but it's safer than staying in the forests of Fairy." He glanced up at Genie for just a moment, and she just nodded.

We had all heard about the forests of Fairy, and it wasn't the Fae that you had to watch out for. Hell, there weren't even any predatory animals in that forest. No, the plants there were the predators. They can and will stalk and kill just as well as any animal, honestly, most people say they do even better. Spewing toxic substances, creating illusions to draw in their prey. It was the most dangerous terrain in the realm next to the dead plains. 

"Spending any more than one extra day in the dead plains would be extremely unadvisable. If the sandworms don't sense you right away, three days is more than enough time to not only sense you, but to hunt you down and trap you in their nests. They're very sensitive to change and tend to start hunting anything that lands for more than a few hours at a time." Xavier finished and looked over all of us for a moment. 

"So essentially, the entire travel time other than going to get the prince from the castle is going to be hell." Lexi stated, and Xavier just nodded. 

"The second issue is that the Celestial castle itself is fucked in its own right. The king tends to like to collect anything from women to enemy soldiers and creatures. They then use those creatures to entertain the citizens of Elysium with a show of sorts, and we won't be walking out of there without being tested to make sure we're worthy of performing said mission." Xavier added, and I just looked up at him, absolutely stunned, but he just continued. "The third issue, I've met this asshole before, and not only is he a pompous prick, but he also has the habit of attempting to stick his dick in anything that moves." He looked pointedly at the three of us, and I couldn't help but to shudder slightly at his implication.

That was just fantastic. Not only were we going through some seriously dangerous territory, but we were also going to be constantly harassed while doing so. 

"While I haven't personally gone on this mission before, I have heard that he goes every year. Have you learned much about the camps around Fairy yet?" He asked, and we all shook our heads. "Well, they don't see a whole lot of action, so they tend to occupy their time in other ways. To spare you the details, they're all essentially brothels." And with that last nail in the coffin, I instantly wanted to throttle this prince guy.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You're telling me that our mission is to escort a scummy prince across some of the most dangerous terrain on the continent just so he can go to a fucking brothel?" I asked, watching Xavier and praying that he was just fucking with me, but I knew better. Xavier just nodded, and I instantly felt a little bad seeing the exhaustion of his whole being once more as he leaned in against the desk. "And the General exhausted our best chance of actually doing well at this mission," I whispered as I looked him over. There was no point in trying to hide it when Lexi and Genie already knew he was messed up. Xavier just nodded once more before pulling the map off his desk and placing it back on the bookshelf. 

"Well then, I guess we should all get as much rest as we can before we leave Monday," Genie said as she looked up at me before giving Xavier a rather worried look as he came back over beside me. That's when I decided to hurry this along a little so I could get him back as soon as possible. 

"When should we leave on Monday?" I asked as he leaned against the desk, hanging his head as Bane came over, standing up to put his front paws up on Xavier's shoulder, only to rub his cheek against the side of Xavier's neck. I already knew he still wasn't feeling good, but to see Bane acting like that again told me it was far worse than I had thought. 

"Right after breakfast, it's only a three-hour flight to the castle, so that would put us there probably around eleven-thirty, and from there we can camp out on the edge of Celestia that night. Ari and I will gather provisions that morning. Bane is the only one large enough to carry them that far." Xavier answered as he started absently rubbing under Bane's chin, and we all nodded to him. 

After that, Genie and Lexi left, and I turned to Xavier. "Come on, let's get you back to bed," I whispered as I ran my hand up his forearm. "I can just take Bane if you don't want to stop by the medical ward with me." 

"It's okay, I'll be fine, princess. Let's just go." He answered, but it had lost all of that teasing tone from earlier. I just looked at him for a moment, but decided not to push the subject and rather just get everything quickly to get him back as fast as possible. 

Once we made it back to his room, we both changed into bedclothes, and I took the ice. I made sure to wrap the chunk in the towel enough that it wouldn't be too cold against his skin before curling in against his good side. I lay my head in the center of his chest and watched as I carefully pressed the ice against the worst of the bruising across his side. He sucked in a breath the second it made contact, but rather than pushing me away, his arm curled around me, holding me there against him as he fell back asleep. 

The next day went very similarly. Xavier was up with me a little more throughout the day, but still slept through the majority of it. It never failed that every single time he started to get tired, he would always pull me in against him. Curling in around me as if just having me in his grasp helped him rest. I didn't mind, though. I was more than happy to lie there, either napping with him or gently tracing over every single line of his perfect body, committing every inch of him to memory.