PeaceMaker

"*Ahchoo*" Dominic sneezed loudly, Axel flinching in response.

"Your highness?" Axel turned around and gazed at Dominic in concern, "are you ok?"

"It was just a sneeze, Axel. Seriously, you worry too much," Dominic sighed.

"It's because you are someone to worry about," Axel sighed, reworking the blanket on Dominic and pulling it up to his head.

'Someone to care for?' Dominic thought to himself, repeating Axel's sentence in his head.

"Do you feel cold? Do you have a cold? How many more blankets do we need?" Axel asked as he continued to try and fix the blankets.

"Cold… Blankets," Dominic gasped, his facial muscles stretching as if he was opening his eyes, "We need thousands of blankets."

"Excuse me?" Axel muttered, "a thousand blankets? Right now?

"No... more than a thousand, we might need 800,000 blankets or more," Dominic replied, his voice trailing off in thought.

"In all due respect, your highness, don't you think 800,000 blankets are a bit too much for one person?" Axel asked, eyeing Dominic questionably.

"No Axel, I'm not greedy," Dominic sighed, releasing his tense shoulders, "you mentioned the weather getting colder right?"

"I mean yes? It's the start of November and winter is right around the corner," Axel replied hesitantly.

"Right, I may have warmth right now, but what about the rest of the camp?" Dominic cocked his head slightly, "when winter comes here, what are we going to do"

"...ah.." Axel muttered, "I didn't think that far ahead."

"Yea. We have over 500 thousand people at the camp right now who rely on each other to live, but somehow in that mix, we forgot about the approaching months. In the face of winter, we are literally bare-skinned," Dominic continued, more concern built up in him as he thought about it, "we are all dressed in things similar to summer or autumn outfits when winter is knocking on our door."

"And since we are in the middle of nowhere, if we were to be hit with a big storm and such, we would face the worst of it since there's nothing to slow it down for us. It's only grass out here, no buildings or that many trees to slow down the hit," Axel muttered, saying out his thoughts, "worse of all, we are at the top of a hill… when it starts snowing or hailing it's going to rain down on us directly…"

"Exactly. We aren't prepared at all for winter. Haven't reinforced our tents for the cold, don't have the right clothing to pull through those tough months, or even enough food ready to survive those months," Dominic muttered, his voice lowering in fear.

"What are we going to do?" Axel sighed, voicing Dominic's thoughts perfectly.

"How quickly do you think you can heal me," Dominic asked, "like to the point where I can sit up."

"Sit up?" Axel turned to Dominic, "why?"

"Because I'm pulling the meeting day with the villagers to this week or sometime next week," Dominic sighed.

"What? You can't even drink without an assistant right now, your highness. Are you sure you want them to see you in this state?" Axel scolded.

"I'm not worried because you will be healing me before the meeting day," Dominic replied confidently, "I trust you and your abilities to do that. Can you do it?"

"Um..yes your highness," Axel bowed his head is submission, "I can have you heal-"

"A week. We don't have that much time, Axel. You will have me healed in a week," Dominic interrupted, commanding Axel with such conviction that Axel didn't know how to reply. "Got it?"

Axel hesitated for a second, thoughts of doubt flooding in. 'Can I do this? What happens if I can't? What happens if I can't meet their expectations?... What if I'm the reason why he ends up unable to move in time for the meeting?'

"Ughhhh," Dominic groaned, annoyed at Axel's hesitancy, "would you like me to pinch you again? That seems to help you think quickly."

"Ah…" Axel blushed, "No… your highness."

"Then I'll ask you again. With those amazinnnngggg skills of yours, you will have me healed in a week. Got it?"

A smile formed on Axel's face, one that brightened his entire mood, and washed his doubts away. "Yes. You can trust me to heal you, your highness."

MONTHS IN THE FUTURE

"It's been a while, your highness," Memoline smiled.

"I could say the same, Mrs. Milti," Dominic chuckled, locking eyes with Memoline.

It was a tension-filled greeting and in a tension-filled room it fits perfectly. It was a big meeting, held in the house in the village, central hall.

He sat on the chair a tall chair, in front of two lines of seats facing each other on opposite sides of Dominic's head seat.

Slowly Dominic sipped out of the hot tea in his hand and then looked back at the people in the meeting, eyes observing the right side, his people, and the left, the villagers. He could see the hesitant faces on their faces, filled with exhaustion but not hostility at the person on the other side. It had taken a while but somehow both sides had learned to deal with each other.

"What have you called us here for, your highness," Memoline placed down her tea and adjusted the large coat draping her body. "I hope it isn't too cold for all of you," she exchanged glances with the allies on the opposite side.

"Of course not," Dominic grinned, lifting the mood with his bright smile, "it's been an honor to have been able to move into your village after that deadly storm a month ago."

"Right," Feline commented, "I'm surprised we didn't come up with the idea to move in with you earlier."

"Well, that's because we were both not in the position to accept that," Memoline chuckled, "thank god we did though… that could have ended very badly if we didn't agree on that at the very last moment."

"We owe it all to you Mrs.. Milti," Dominic smiled, "if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here."