27. Goodness (Patreon)

"It could have been worse." Zeeshan groaned as he muttered under his breath, his hands all over Aloe's feet. "Your ankle is twisted, which would normally mean you would not be able to walk for a while. But considering your current state of affairs…" the physician clicked his tongue, "landing in your ankle might as well be a positive outcome. It redirected all the force of the fall away from your pelvic region, which is none for the worst."

"Is that all, doctor?" Aloe ignored the pain, even when the physician put pressure on her inflamed ankle.

"If you would like to refer to this nasty wound as 'all', then yes, that would be all." He unceremoniously let the leg drop. "The skin in your neck is quite bruised, but otherwise, not a health problem. In a few days, maybe a week or two, it will have disappeared."

"I see." The scribe had tried to ignore it, but she had led her hand to her neck. She didn't feel the pain, but the heat on the flesh was oppressive as if she had been branded by a hot metal.

"Two times you survived Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, I do not know how you do it, girl." The old physician cracked his back.

"Neither do I." She added with lament.

Why was alive? The question had more than one meaning. Why hasn't Aaliyah killed me yet? Part of her wished for the release of death, tired of playing these lethal games. But curiosity was a potent motivator.

One thing was clear, if she saw that woman again, there may not be a third time.

{*}

The truth ended up revealing itself as the day passed. Her body was indeed hurt. At the moment she hadn't even felt it, but as the hours passed, more and more the weight of the sultanah's attack became apparent.

Her breathing was rugged even after a day, her neck still burned, and the bruise on her ankle only became more purple. Even blasting her regeneration stance didn't do anything. Three virtual days of healing hadn't made much difference.

"I need to get out," Aloe whispered to the empty room. "And soon."

If she didn't do so, either her body or heart would give out.

She was inclined to both.

{*}

"I have heard of the… events, but color me surprised. You are alive." Fatima expressed colorfully from the door of the scribe's chambers.

Aloe blinked slowly, her eyes still groggy. "It is past midnight, princess."

"And apparently past your time." The sultanzade waltzed through the room and sat on the bed.

The scribe frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"You are not safe here." Fatima locked her eyes with Aloe. The sultanzade's dark green eyes weren't beautiful gemstones like her mother's, but that only made it more enticing to Aloe. Such eyes had become… distasteful.

"Fatima," Aloe went straight for the woman's name with a tired tone, "tell me something I do not know. Of course, the nince-damned palace of Asina is a dangerous place. It has always been."

"Not like that." The princess responded taciturnly, refusing to elaborate on the how, a dark grimace fleeting in her visage. "What matters is that Mother is angry, and the last time Mother was angry, get lost an emir." Fatima tilted her head from side to side, oscillating in thought. "Hmm, now that I think about it, Hassan is alive. Or so I am led to believe. Maybe she has lost her edge. First Hassan, then you. She has not killed many people lately."

It would have been easy to retort back, to crack a joke, but Aloe wasn't in the mood. The scribe was partially scared at the fact that not killing people on a constant basis was seen as unusual and not the other way around.

"So you are suggesting that the sultanah will kill me because she is angry?" Aloe blinked slowly, tiredly. Another death threat, another encounter with mortality, yet she couldn't bother to care.

"No." Fatima instantly refused. "If you are alive, it is because she wanted. Mother's rage is calamitous, but her cunning is even more so. Maybe you form part of a big plan of hers. Or maybe you are just a whim. A whim that bothers her.

So you only have suppositions, then? She kept that to herself and gritted her teeth. No, she left it very clear that I am nothing to her. Nothing to anyone. Her heart faltered at the last thought, but her mind kept going, keeping the sultanzade from realizing her lapse. "Then why are you telling me about her anger if it will not put me in any danger?"

"Not you."

Ah. It wasn't an answer, yet Aloe understood.

"Of course." The scribe snickered. "This is about you."

"More than me." The princess replied with a stern gaze. "You have overstayed your welcome."

"I? I?" Aloe could no longer hold herself. Rage busted out of her. "You dare say, I overstayed my welcome when your family broke my body and trapped me in a cage?"

Fatima didn't reply. At least she had the decency to look away with a modicum of repentance.

"Your stay does no good to anyone." The sultanzade said calmly.

"In that we can agree." The commoner furrowed her brows and crossed her arms.

"I have prepared an escort for you to leave at first light, I advise you to take it." Fatima stood up from the bed and directed herself to the door.

"What about the Nurture lessons?" Aloe inquired.

"Our deal is not over." Fatima looked at her over the shoulder. "I will visit Sadina in the future, a few months from now. Have your aphrodisiac and I will offer my knowledge freely, especially without the eyes and ears prying on us."

Considering how desperate she was for it…Fatima being able to wait for months without Grace's Exaltation finally tipped the edge and made Aloe realize how serious the sultanzade was.

No one was safe.

The sultanzade disappeared in the darkness of the night. A few seconds later and not even the scribe's enhanced hearing could catch the woman's steps. Both women had been using acuity and none had acknowledged it.

{*}

The first light came fast, everything had been a blur this last day for Aloe. Farah came early to wake her up, Fatima had informed her of the scribe's departure. Even with her drowsiness, Aloe didn't have much trouble packing everything she possessed. Not only she hadn't brought much to Asina, but what she gained in the palace was of very reduced volume.

"Having to carry enough drupnars to buy a house across the desert is making me anxious," Aloe commented as the mature maid dressed her in desert garbs.

"You will be in good company." Farah smiled at her, her hands reading the neck of the scribe's robes. "If I were you, I would worry more about your wounds than your money. Not only will you have to travel with that hip fracture, but also the one in your ankle."

"I have almost forgotten about it." The young woman slightly moved her leg. "It only hurts when I move it, and even then, it is not that much."

"Then do not move it, girl!" The maid shouted anxiously, her back and arms straightening in worry. She let out an exhausted sigh. "Take care of yourself, will you?"

Aloe trusted her skills to read people, but as she looked at Farah's visage, she could only see affection. The woman truly worried about her, truly cared, making every other emotion dull by outshining them.

"I…" Aloe collapsed on Farah's shoulders and sobbed. "Thank you." A few tears escaped her control. "I truly mean it. Thanks for everything."

The maid smiled and caressed the youngster's head. "You need not to thank me anything. This palace is polarizing. I, myself, have only known happiness and a good future, but most are not like me. In a way, I served you to compensate for this unwarranted happiness of mine. To balance the scales. I could not tolerate seeing someone this young devastated and ruined by something that made me whole."

The scribe didn't respond, instead, she cried uncontrollably on the woman's shoulders. Too much had happened these months, and for lack of a maternal figure, Farah did well the job. Even if she couldn't be a substitute for what she had lost.

Aloe allowed herself the momentary weakness to let out everything she accumulated. The rage, the despair, the pain, the fear, the strength and weakness… Her arms lost strength as she raised her head from the maid's clothing.

"This is a goodbye." The petite woman said.

"I know," Farah responded with a nod.

"I will not come back to Asina."

"Better that you do not, yes." The warmth of the smile slipped into Aloe's heart. The frozen wasteland melted a bit. It didn't help that Farah was of similar age to her late mother.

"We will never see again." Aloe gritted her teeth.

"Then do not ruin this farewell with more tears, will you?" Farah wiped the tears flowing out of the scribe's eyes.

"Alright." She nodded; her throat twisted into a nod. "If you will not take the gratitude for being my support, at least accept my grace for having me assisted in my daily life when I could not have done anything for myself."

"Those thanks I can take." What a beautiful smile. Farah was not a particularly beautiful person, and age hadn't done her any favors, but the sentiment behind it made it more astonishing than any modification from the charm stance.

For in her, Aloe had found goodness in the nest of utmost degeneracy.