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Chapter 10 - The Recovery

Paulina finished changing Damia and called Adi back in on her way out without mentioning anything about Damia's change in condition.

A pillow cushion flew across the room and smacked him in the face the moment he walked through the door.

"How could you keep this secret from me all this time. You must think me such a fool. No wait, I believe your exact word was 'naïve.'"

Adi was trying desperately to suppress his laughter, but combined with the joy of seeing Damia awake, he was failing miserably.

"I can't believe you were awake that whole time. I should have known it the minute you tried to squeeze my hand, you little sneak."

"Sneak? Sneak! You're the one that's gone on letting me believe you're a girl and you have the audacity to call me the sneak? How dare you!" Damia grabbed another pillow off the bed and threw it at him, but he saw this one coming and managed to catch it before hitting him, then threw it back at her.

"It's not my fault you never asked me why I didn't act more like a girl. But now that you know I'm really a man, be grateful that I took such care of your virtue all these years."

"Oh yes, Adi, my hero. How noble of you to take my virtue into consideration. You should have been honest with me from the beginning. You should have trusted me to keep it a secret."

Now Adi stopped and smiled; more to himself than her, as he spoke, "I did trust you. I do. I just didn't see a reason to put you in that risk. While the Queen was alive, it didn't matter. She would have protected us. But after she died, the King showed his true colors and forced you to be a maid in the castle. How could I tell you when telling you would mean you might not want me by your side anymore?"

"How could you think that of me? Male or female, you're still the same Adi that I love."

"Careful with that word milady. Now you know that I'm a man. You might get me accused of trying to exceed my position by attempting to seduce the princess and that would just lead to my execution."

Without thinking, Damia laughed. "As if anyone would believe that you of all people would try such a thing."

Those words hurt. Just because he hadn't didn't mean he's never wanted to try, but he'd inadvertently released enough secrets for one day. He would hold on to this one a bit longer.

"Well either way, that's not the point. Now that you're up, I'm sure you're starving. What do you say I go fetch you something to eat from the kitchen. I didn't know when you would be waking up so I don't have anything waiting for you. I should probably go report this to the King while I'm at it too."

"That sounds lovely. I'm famished." Damia had a huge grin on her face as she watched Adi walk out of the room.

---

Prince Elric was beside himself when his guard told him about how long Xerxes had spent in Damia's room. He forced himself to show indifference in front of the guard, but once in his room he raged.

"Is it not enough that she thinks I'm her brother or that I have to share her with that blasted fairy? Who is Xerxes, to vie for the princess' attention. I swear if he touches her so carelessly again, like he did when she tried to stop my attack, I'll kill him! He's the one behind her powers awakening. I don't know how he did it, but I'm certain of it."

Having vented out his frustrations, Elric was finally able to regain his composure and fixed himself before walking back out of his room.

He hadn't paid a visit to Damia's new chambers since the battle so he didn't know how she was fairing. He decided he had stayed away long enough that appearing now would not raise suspicion with the King.

Upon entering the room, he was surprised to see that Damia had woken up and Adi was not in the room.

"Princess, you're awake. I wasn't informed of your recovery."

"Oh, so I'm 'Princess' now? Does that mean I'm your sister again too?" Damia didn't know why these words came out of her mouth. She's never confronted anyone in such a manner before, much less the prince. "I apologize, Your Highness, I don't know what's come over me. You do not owe me any explanation."

Though Damia's reaction had caught him off guard, Elric did not show it to her.

"I suppose your reaction is to be expected as I spoke so harshly to you during the attack. You were merely trying to make me aware of my grip on your hand." He approached the bed and took up the hand he had been holding that day. "I do hope I did not cause you too much injury."

"I am honored to have your concern, but you need not worry. As you can see, my hand is intact." Feeling uncomfortable, she moved her hand to slide it out of his grasp and Elric reluctantly let her take it back.

"I'm glad to hear it."

An awkward silence permeated the air between them until Elric finally spoke again.

"How are you recovering from the transformation during the battle?" What he really wanted to know was how much of that day she could recall, but he couldn't think of a way to question her without causing her to become suspicious.

Damia mistook his question to mean that he wanted to know how much longer before she could be back in her role as a maid, now that she was awake. "My body is still weak, but the healer will be back tomorrow and I should be fully recovered by then. Both Adi and I will resume our duties after that."

"No need. I have spoken with the King and he has suggested that you and Adi should resume your proper roles of princess and companion now that your powers have fully awakened. I have also been granted permission to oversee your combat training with the grandmaster. The King still thinks that training your body will be the key to you gaining full control of your transformations. We'd like to avoid a repeated incident, if at all possible."

This was shocking news, but Damia was delighted to hear it. "Thank you, Prince Elric. I am grateful to you."

Adi returned at that moment with a bowl of soup for Damia so Elric gave her a curt smile and nodded his head as he exited her room.