It was two days later when Arianna finally had a chance to speak to Lucia in some privacy and be given the story of what all had happened, as opposed to the heavily censored version their mothers would tell if asked. Lucia had volunteered to help Arianna with her strengthening regime, which started with short daily walks, and with the maids a few paces behind them, it was better than nothing.
It was of course immensely annoying for Arianna, that their father hadn't given her a spot of attention for years and now that she didn't want it, she was getting plenty.
Lucia held Arianna's arm as they walked, speaking softly. "When the Emperor finally gave us permission to rise from giving our respects, you fell forwards. As promised, if you fell in a curtsy I had to try and catch you-" Arianna pinked from the tone her sister took as she said it.
"Were you a dashing hero, then?" She said with a soft huff.
Lucia grinned brightly. "Dashing hero, pile of petticoats to cushion your fall, one of those." She admitted. She was strong enough to throw Arianna around, due to Arianna's stunted growth, but it didn't mean that she could get out of a curtsy and in front of Arianna and catch her properly in the time it took Arianna to fall forwards. Lucia's legs weren't quite that much longer than Arianna's. "But I tried to catch you, and managed to sort of half absorb the fall so you weren't hurt as badly. Still, I gave myself a nose bleed, and you had a cut on your forehead from the detailing on the Emperor's shoe, which you fell on- so there was suddenly a great deal of blood. The Crown Prince made himself look positively dreadful by trying to run away so he didn't get blood on his clothes- despite already being twelve years old."
She didn't have to spell that part out any further, Arianna could understand. By the time they were twelve, most noble boys had already gone through quite a bit of swordsmanship training, even to the realm of practicing with real swords. To be so concerned about getting your clothes messy reflected poorly on the discipline of the future Emperor. Especially in a scenario where the imperial name was already being stained by their choice to test the strength of the two highest ranked unwed noble daughters despite them being only six and one of them being visibly ill.
The fact that the other of the two six year olds had been willing to be injured to protect her sister reflected even more poorly on the Crown Prince. He had been shown up by a six year old girl. That thought made Arianna smile a little.
"Then Father and the Emperor had a staring contest which broke when Mother went straight to Aunt Alessia and requested permission to summon the physicians and to then be excused from the Imperial company. Aunt Alessia, to her credit, took that moment to play the role of concerned family and picked you up herself, despite the blood, and carried you to where you could be treated. If the rumour mill shuts down about the Imperial family's actions, it will be because she took charge."
Arianna was impressed but not surprised. Up until her mental break at the Emperor's death, Empress Alessia had been the heart of noble society, and her actions were usually calculated to a flawless degree.
Lucia took a deep breath. "Then some priests healed the worst of the damage, though they claimed that trying to fully heal you was akin to trying to fill a dry well with a bucket that is leaking, then I also passed out, and woke up two days later to be told I had suffered a significant fever, and you woke up a week later."
Arianna had attempted to start to offer her thoughts on the events when her sister decided to casually slip in the most important parts as though they were after thoughts. "Pardon?" She said softly, her voice faint.
Lucia nodded softly, pausing to help Arianna turn the corner slowly. "Yes, we were quite concerned that you weren't waking up-"
Arianna clicked her tongue and shushed her sister. "Not that, I've had longer stretches of unconsciousness, even by this time, I was more concerned about the fact that you were unconscious!"
Lucia's calm countenance stiffened slightly at the revelation, though Arianna didn't give her a chance to ask any questions of it, instead stopping mid walk and placing her hand on Lucia's forehead, and turning her face this way and that to check for lingering signs of illness. Lucia squirmed, not sure how to shake off the examination while using little enough force to not hurt the more fragile Arianna, finally resolving to huff. "Stop it! I'm fine. The doctor said I showed symptoms of mana drain, as though I had used it all, and that it might be a good sign that I'll have slightly more mana of my own when it returns." Lucia said, finally managing to grab Arianna's nimble hands in her own, and return to her job as escort for the walk.
Arianna waited a moment to see if she could detect any part truths in Lucia's tone, before deciding it seemed true and breathing a sigh of relief. She gave another sigh, looking at her sister. "Oh but I'll miss your whisper of mint hair colour." Arianna said wistfully- which did garner her an elbow to the rib from her sister. Fragile or not, there was a limit to how much she'd let Arianna tease her without payback. Especially about topics that had been noticed and commented on by almost everyone who had seen the Rosales children altogether. Theo's curls were a verdant green, Arianna's, emerald, but Lucia's hair was so pale it barely qualified as green.
It wasn't well understood yet, the connection between hair colour and mana levels, since some families had lighter hair when their mana was stronger, but it was easy to see that something was different about Lucia, and not different in the same way Arianna was.
Lucia did smile after a moment. "You'd best hope that hair colour doesn't change like that, or else yours will start growing white." She said with a smirk.
Arianna, proud as the sun is bright, paled slightly. She didn't mind if she was dishevelled, or dirty, those were fixable, and while she didn't love scars, she didn't mind them when they were easily enough concealed- but against her brown skin, she cared a great deal about her golden eyes and Emerald curls. They were proof that no matter what else she may be, she was a Rosales.
Seeing Arianna pale, Lucia waved her free hand. "It won't happen. I experienced Mana drain a few times in-" She glanced at the maids behind her. "I mean, the Princess in the story we were reading, she ran out of magic a few times in her life, and her hair colour never changed. Even when she had more magic afterwards."
Arianna gave a relieved smile to her sister once she understood the message. She steadied her breath and returned to focusing on the walk, choosing to change the topic after a moment. "I'm not sure what's worse about this daily exercise. That I'm expected to do a full lap of the hall. That I'm only allowed to do one full lap of the hall. Or that father has me dressing up like some girl on her deathbed, bravely fighting for another day." She remarked, looking at the pajamas she had been forced to remain in, even when she had attempted to insist upon real clothing.
Lucia took a guess. "The fact that you know it's going to help."
Arianna only huffed in reply.