Tales of Merlia: The Tale of Holly Day

Part 14

Laying within green silk sheets, among emerald walls dotted with branch patterns, rested Holly. Solaria had removed her of her clothing and had scrubbed the dirt and cold from her and inspected her old wounds as Redbeard heated towels and blankets to warm her body.

Luna gathered every plush creature she had and nested it beside Holly before getting to work on another scroll. This time using watercolor.

Solaria tucked Holly in as tightly as she could and allowed Redbeard put a hot towel upon her head. Her eyes dark.

"I cannot believe her. I cannot fucking believe her, Estellaria knew. She knew this would happen. She must have known, and yet she let everyone suffer. I fucking hate her, I hate her so."

"I still don't understand how she kept this hidden from us. And why she made us all lose hope...people died because of this. I...I-I died because of this..." Redbeard breathed, his body becoming cold with the weight that he could never see his daughter or grandchildren again. He would never see his grandchildren hatch or take them on long swims under the summer sun. All because he really was a fool. If he had waited, if someone had told him that there was a chance Holly would return, he would still be living.

Solaria's eyes softened at him, "I will find a way to return you...I promise."

"You can't, the spell I used is permanent..." Redbeard whispered shakily as he fluffed the white pillows upon Holly's nest-like bed.

Solaria winced, "Oh...so it's THAT spell...?"

"Yes."

"Yeah...that one's a bit tricky to undo..." Solaria remarked as she wrapped thick bandages across Holly's chest, soaked in some floral ointment that Redbeard did not know.

"Tricky?" Redbeard scoffed, "It's impossible."

"Well, here's hoping we find a way," Solaria murmured, "After all, hope is far from dead."

This almost earned a chuckle from Redbeard, though it was laced with depression as a crack of lightning opened the sky in a flash of white from the large window to his right overlooking the garden.

Holly's chest moved up and down in tiny crackling breaths, yet the color had not returned to her face. Solaria watched her movements like a hawk, not daring to remove her eyes.

A knock resounded from the door behind them, and Solaria's eyes gave an icy stare. "Don't you dare set foot in here."

"Estellaria's voice echoed through the halls, "I need to explain, I owe you the truth."

"I don't care why you did it," Solaria snapped as she poured steaming water into a bowl from a pot on Holly's bedside table to wipe her lover's face with warmth, "I don't care if the cosmic stars aligned this plan, people ATE each other due to lack of food, people died and lost hope. There are humans and mers who will live with trauma for the rest of their lives."

"Please...I honestly didn't think she would wake. I waited every day, did every test I could, but she didn't budge. I didn't want to tell anyone because I knew that if I did-"

"I don't care!" Solaria roared, "You KNEW she was alive! Deep down you knew it and not only did you keep me and Luna in the dark, you left the mortals to fester in the cold!"

"That is a lie," Estellaria opened the door with a tiny squeak and stepped inside, "I didn't know she was alive, it was merely a theory. And it was a theory that was impossible at the very least. Her body never showed any sign of decay, and the wound remained fresh upon her."