Craig silently looked at Maeli as she poured her heart out in sorrow. He wanted to console her, but what could he say? If A'ina didn't make it he couldn't say 'I'm sorry' or 'don't cry', that wouldn't help at all. On the other hand, he believed she would be waking up anytime soon, but he couldn't be completely certain of it, so it was just better to remain silent. As for why she had no aura, he believed it was due to all the divine energy left inside of her body. The same way it was able to conceal his aura completely.
He was also slowly growing dizzy with an ever increasing headache. The dull ache in his chest was also causing him discomfort. The growing tiredness was growing stronger as if he could pass out at any moment. 'Damn it!' He cursed inwardly. 'What is with all this fainting.' He struggled to keep himself awake. He knew it had something to do with healing A'ina but didn't know what specifically. He had also gotten a bit weary when he healed Greymont. Maybe the loss of divine energy would cause him to feel weak? He would have to have a serious conversation with Avanelle the next time they met.
With weary eyes he looked at Maeli who was still crying on top of A'ina. He grimaced from the intensity of the pain caused by the headache. His vision blurred as his consciousness felt like it was drifting into an unavoidable slumber. As his eyes slowly closed, he swore he had seen A'ina's head suddenly move as it turned to the side, facing him. He could not make out her facial expression or features due to his blurred vision but he was certain she was looking at him, and then he fainted.
Indeed, he was right. A'ina had truly woken up just now. Upon opening her eyes from her deep slumber, she wearily moved her head, catching the sight of Craig falling asleep whilst sitting. She squinted her eyes due to the gritty feeling that she felt in them. She had slumbered for so long that they felt dry and rusty. She wanted to use her hand to rub them but when she tried to move them they felt stuck. That was when she noticed there was a pressure on her chest and looking down she saw Maeli who had just moved her head in surprise.
Her eyes were wet with tears but as they fell upon A'ina's lively awoken face they widened and as if a dam had been unblocked even more tears gushed out of them. "A'ina... you..." Shock and disbelief filled her face. "You're awake!" She yelled softly, throwing herself on top of her with a hug. She was beyond overjoyed.
A'ina who's eyes was still gritty, smiled upon receiving such a warm welcome. Her hands moved and she returned the hug as she embraced Maeli's back. "You could be more gentle about it you know?" She reprimanded softly. Her body was still very weak after all.
"Oh. Hehe, sorry." Maeli giggled sheepishly as she pushed herself up into a sitting position water still dripping from her face. It was truly rare to see her behave so nicely... even I am speechless.
"Did you just call me A'ina?" A'ina asked with a teasing gaze of curiosity. She was used to being called 'milady' by maeli, so hearing her call her by name was a bit strange. She didn't think it was wrong though, just odd, and was simply pulling Maeli's leg."
Maeli shivered at the question. "Huh? Um, this... I was just... you were..." She tried to explain herself, not realising that she had no reason to. Her emotions were so all over the place she had even forgotten that there were no boundaries between the two of them. She was actually the one who insisted on using the term milady.
A'ina laughed mischievously. "You must really be on edge if that got to you." She hadn't expected such an overreaction from her.
Maeli froze and gathered herself, calming down as realisation struck her. It was true, her relationship with A'ina was more than princess and handmaiden. They were best friends from since childhood. She was also the one who chose not to use A'ina's name. On many occasions A'ina had even scolded her for calling her milady, until she eventually got used to it.
She looked at A'ina as her expression regulated. "Of course I was on edge. You just came back from the outskirts of death you know?" She frowned re-expressing concern. "I thought you were gone. People don't usually recover from dragon fever you know?"
"Dragon fever?" A'ina's eyebrow rose in surprise. Had she really been afflicted with dragon fever? The backlash turned out to be this severe? "Then... how am I alive?" Her expression turned complicated as she thought about it. Who even diagnosed her with dragon fever anyway?
That was when she ran her gaze around the room. She had fallen unconscious outside of the bamboo forest so she had no knowledge of being carried in. She hadn't met Asclepius or Andre, or even knew how long she had been there. She was at a complete blank in relation to all these things. "What made you think I had dragon fever? Was it the doctor?"
Maeli nodded.
A'ina furrowed her brows. "And you trusted in his words?" She said in disbelief.
A thoughtful expression appeared on maeli's face. "Um, well, he seemed quite capable as a doctor. He gave an antidote that instantly worked against the white scorpion venom."
A'ina felt a bit surprised to hear that. "Instantly?" She Gave Maeli a studying look. "Well you do look to be in great health. So where is this doctor? I would like him to explain to me how I was diagnosed." Then she suddenly looked to the side, at Craig. "It couldn't be him, right?" She asked, suspecting that Craig had brought them to be treated by his own self.
Maeli shook her head. "The doctor isn't here right now. I think he was taken away by some human imperial soldiers."
"Oh, then I guess that's that then. I will thank him some other time for healing me. Though I highly doubt it was any dragon fever." She said with an expression of mirth. Following that, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and placed her legs to the ground. She did feel fully recovered, which brought her great joy.
"The doctor wasn't the one who healed you." Maeli suddenly said. Her eyes landed on Craig's sleeping figure.
A'ina looked at her in confusion. Welcome to the club. "So who did then?" She asked.
"He did." Maeli said, gesturing at Craig with her head.
"Him?" A'ina remarked with an odd gaze. "So he's also a doctor?" She asked, trying to piece the puzzle together. Maeli was telling her one unbelievable thing after another. First she Did the doctor wasn't there, then Craig was her healer, which one was it?
Maeli nodded, trying too figure out how to explain everything to A'ina but it was such a long an unbelievable story that she would probably sound like a lunatic. She'd definitely sound like a lunatic. "Yes he um, saved you with some special power that he found, um... in, uh..." She wanted to explain the situation but didn't know how to. First of all she would have to mention taking a human to the forbidden territory, then him falling into the canyon and somehow surviving, then the Divine Lotus, the fairies, the transcendents... Maeli felt a headache coming as she thought about all these things. Even to her who had experienced it, it was overwhelming much less A'ina hearing the story.
A'ina gave Maeli an odd look, wondering what she was trying to say. "Are you okay Mae?" She asked in concern.
"Yeah, I..." She paused, looking at Craig. Why was he sleeping at a time like this? She got up and shook Craig's shoulder in an attempt to wake him, but no matter how hard she shook him he didn't wake up. "Come on Craig, wake up!" She yelled softly. Still he remained fast asleep.
A'ina was even more puzzled by Maeli's strange behaviour and seemingly intimate interaction with a human she wanted to kill not too long ago. She stood up and stopped Maeli with a touch on her shoulder. "Enough Maeli. What are you trying to do, break him? Didn't you just say he was the one who saved me?" She frowned, then said, "Forget it. Who saved me isn't important. What's important is that I am grateful and they will be compensated." Then she looked at the worn out, sleeping Craig and then looked at the bed. "Help me lift him onto the bed so he can rest better. He must be tired from fighting with the orcs and all the saving he's done." There was light sarcasm in her tone.
Maeli was a bit perplexed. She wanted to explain but didn't want to sound like a lunatic, and so she chose to let things be. She helped A'ina lift Craig onto the bed, placing him down gently. "Don't be rough, he was injured whilst healing you." She stated.
A'ina once again have her a strange gaze. She then looked at Craig who indeed had some dried blood on his lips. That said, Morak did knock him out with a single strike. 'What happened, did the herbs attack him?' She thought with a comical expression.
If only Maeli could hear her thoughts.
A'ina reached into her clothes and took out one of the tiaras from before and placed it atop Craig's chest. "This should be enough to cover any expenses with tons of leftover to spare." She exclaimed. Then she looked at Maeli, "Alright, we should be done here. We need to return before father notices I'm missing."
Maeli's expression suddenly turned ghastly as she covered her face. It was quite obvious that A'ina didn't realise how many days had passed. She probably assumed it had only been a day or two, maybe even less.
A'ina frowned. "Why are you behaving so strangely all of a sudden. Are you certain you're okay? Maybe that antidote had some side effects?" She was bothered by Maeli's jittery reactions.
"It's been ten days milady?" She exclaimed, ignoring A'ina's strange gaze and questioning.
Ten days?
A'ina stood speechless for a moment. Had it truly been ten days? "You aren't playing with me are you?" She asked, now being the anxious one.
Maeli shook her head. "No, I'm not. It took us ten days to find a way to heal you."
"Ten days to heal me?" She glanced disdainfully at Craig. "Some doctor he turned out to be." Her gaze even fell on the crown for a moment, hinted with regret. "Okay, we're leaving. We need to quickly get back and somehow provide my father with a believable story." She turned around and marched toward the door.
Maeli remained in place, looking at Craig with a reluctant expression. She truly wanted to do him justice but he needed to be awake for that.
"Why are you standing there, let's go." A'ina called out to her hastily. She didn't understand what kind of problem Maeli was having but she felt it had something to do with Craig. Maybe she fell in love with him during the ten days? This was what occurred to her.
Maeli gave Craig one last apologetic look. "I'm sorry." Then she followed A'ina out of the hut.
Once they exited, the two horses were the first things to come into view. Greymont however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Horses? Perfect." A'ina exclaimed, rushing toward them. She quickly mounted the black horse, who tried to resist her for a moment. All it took was a few taps and some rubbing of its face to calm it down. What a traitor.
A'ina noticed Maeli still standing, staring blankly at her. How did she get so lost and emotional? Did she really fall in love with that human? A'ina was truly perplexed. "What are you spacing out for Mae, come on!" She cried out.
Maeli who was wondering where Greymont had gone off to snapped out of her thoughts. She then sighed helplessly, accepting the reality of things. Then she rushed to, and mounted the white horse. Afterward, the two of them left the Bamboo Forest through the main entrance. Although it was maze like, they quickly made it out with Maeli's help and soon vanished into the forest.
Meanwhile, Craig and Andre were both fast asleep and Greymont was nowhere to be found.