Marasa laughed at that. It was the first time she laughed since she entered and saw Aarav. With that simple act, she cut through the tension in her heart. "It is very nice to meet you, Resh. Haemish, you were right. It is fascinating meeting a new member of the court. I assume you are a member of the court?"
"I suppose I am, aren't I Haemish?" Aarav asked the rotund man, who consented. "Though I am sure you will hear of the circumstances, the result is all that seems to matter. I should be thankful for it. So far, everyone I meet has the same reaction as you but seems to accept that I am a sentient monster, treating me with a surprising amount of respect. I have only met a few suspicious people so far. Honestly, it is a warmer welcome than I had expected." Aarav inclined his head in a courtly bow he had seen on television in the old world.
"Well, you will find the least ignorant of Darf in the palace and Brewyn. You haven't been to Pravwell as yet, and that would be the test for you, I think." Marasa said. "This is the nicest place in the country you could have come. Even people in the city might not be so accommodating if you look too different. After all, monsters are the enemy of the sentient. But when you are both...?"
Marasa let the question hang in the air. "Yes, I am the first most will have seen, and they will not know how to react. I understand and hence the humanoid shape!" Aarav brought it around full circle and pointed at his legs with his hands. "Food?" he repeated. He wasn't that hungry, having eaten the nutrition brick earlier and the skeleton after. He just wanted some tasty food to use the taste buds he had now.
Haemish laughed at Aarav's lack of tact and put his hands up. "Alright, alright, I will get the kitchen to bring some food to you. In the meantime, you should practice with those new limbs of yours."
Aarav nodded in agreement; it was in line with his plan, balancing with only legs and arms manifested and doing the same with the whole skeleton. He would need both when he Consolidated or required to be small enough to fly.
"Resh, I have to ask. I have never seen you need to remove waste." Haemish said in surprise. It seemed the talk about food had automatically made the man think of the conclusion to said process. Marasa didn't blush or seem embarrassed at the question as Aarav would have expected. Instead, she was interested. I guess no medic is squirmish with this stuff.
"First, you haven't given me much to eat since we do here, so there is that." Aarav directed an accusatory look at Haemish. "But no, I do not require that, and I don't produce any waste product."
"Unbelievable, how can something like that exist, no waste? None at all? Not even a little tiny amount that no one would notice?" Haemish just couldn't believe it, he kept repeating the question, and Aarav kept shaking his head.
Finally, after about a minute of back and forth, Aarav said, "Not that I know. Okay, are you happy now?" This admission seemed to satisfy Haemish, and he finally stopped his insistence.
"Good, now that we have cleared that up, time to eat!" With that, he abruptly exited the lab, leaving Marasa and Aarav in the room alone; silence lingered.
"So, what do you do in the palace?" Aarav said, trying to break the silence that had fallen.
"Oh, I am the Head Healer. I take care of the royal family personally and lead the clinic that they have here that cares for the sick."
"I can't imagine there would be many sick here with magical healing. Are there?" Aarav asked, curious what a hospital would be like in a magical world. Wouldn't everything just be healed in a snap?
"Yes, most physical injuries can be repaired instantly, of course with a regular healing spell. However, other more complex things require a little more, such as broken bones, neural damage, Mana channels, muscle tears, and many more. Sometimes it is impossible, even with the healing Spells we have, until we realign things, or they heal badly. We can correct it later, but it is excruciating for the subject and very expensive Mana-wise. So, unless it is life-threatening, I always tell people not to heal anyone unless they are confident of what they are doing." Marasa seemed in her element when talking about healing. She seemed to know a lot, but as Aarav suspected, there were no terminal illnesses or long-term issues, unlike his regen-reduction.
"So you don't have things like long-term illness or problems that you can't fix in a day, for example? It seems like you can sort out everything right away as long as you have the right spell."
"Well, that is not entirely true. You may have experienced something similar yourself, but we call conditions like those curses. These are usually handicaps that can last for a few days, weeks or even for the whole of someone's life. I have heard of only a handful of people that have been subject to curses, and those are much more difficult to lift. Conventional magic can't cure them. Sometimes it is just waiting it out. Other times, a potion, material, or quest is required to remove the effects. I have only ever heard of a permanent one, once."
"What! A permanent curse? Who was the unlucky soul? Are they still alive? It didn't kill them, did it?" Aarav panicked. What if the same happened to him? This curse had been working on him for the past two weeks, with only one day left. What if something went wrong?
Marasa seemed to choose her words carefully, but the panicking Slime couldn't focus on her tone. "No, they are not dead, but it is difficult for me to speak about it, and I don't think I am at liberty to say." Oh, so it was just another of the bloody secrets of this place to which he was not privy.
Aarav sighed, "It's fine, not to worry. I was just curious anyway. So any family?" The Slime asked. Trying to change to another less controversial topic.
"Yes, one brother. You?" Marasa returned.
"Nope, at least not that I know of here. I am a singular Slime. Only one of my kind." Aarav replied. They were both silent for a minute before.
"So what does your-" Aarav started
"What have you been-" Marasa said at the same time.
They both smiled nervously. "You go first, Marasa," Aarav said quickly before the same thing could happen again.
"Ah, thank you, so what have you been doing since you arrived at the palace?" She finished.
"Hmm, well, first I was brought to the palace by that oaf against my will and forced to swear a Soul Oath not to harm the royal family. So you could say it was a rocky start. I think I am warming to it, though. After swearing the Oath, I have been left to my own devices for the most part." Aarav decided now was not the time to sugar-coat the tense situation. Everyone in the palace likely knew about his position if relevant to them. Otherwise, it was not a secret, so he might as well be straight with Marasa.
"Oh! So sorry about that. They must have perceived you are a threat, and it means that you threaten them if that is any comfort, someone worth being wary of." Marasa hedged.
"Haha, no, that is not much of a comfort. I was not planning to threaten anyone, nor is it my goal to be threatening. However, as I said, I am warming to the place. Haemish has shown me a surprising amount of kindness for my original captor. Honestly, I think this might be a blessing in disguise. Initially, I had thought I was in danger but now not so much. I guess that Haemish is trying to make up for capturing me in the first place.
"I believe that he went with his conscience when it came to capturing me and then again now when he is trying to help me grow. Honourable man, I think, and I don't say that lightly. I mean, he was the one responsible for me being here in the first place, and I shouldn't like him. One part of me knows that, but honestly, I can't help it!" Aarav laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Also, why was he spilling his guts to this woman? It was laughable. Still, he would not give away any secrets of his capabilities. His honest feelings about Haemish would not do him any harm with this woman. He had said as much to Haemish himself. Maybe he would win some points with her. She seemed like an influential person to know in this court. Aarav could not comprehend the workings of his mind and why he said half of the things he did, but if Aarav were going to watch what he said anywhere, this would be the place to do it.
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