It took a week for them to get back to the capital. Trace didn't wake, nor did any of the other natural magic users.
The people who had gotten their powers from the jewels of the tree had no magic within them. Trace's parents and brother, despite their worry for the man, had to head home to their respective farms, promising they would check on his property as well.
Anaisa, in turn, promised to send them word as soon as Trace woke up… if he woke up.
She wasn't sure if watering the tree before she left did any good. Whether it would come back to life and bloom again, or finish dying and rot there, alone in the cave. The king decided to send crews to collapse the cave entrances so that no one could bother the tree again, whether it lived or not. The troops were sworn to secrecy about the matter under penalty of treason.
It seemed the best course of action, given what had arisen since it was discovered.
