Mutante

Chapter 29

Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs

Crossposted on elizabethfrerichs.com and fanfiction.net

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Her thoughts drifted like free floating seaweed on the ocean currents. Or at least she thought they did. Sometimes it seemed as though she were a child again, listening to her grandmother tell her stories of the ancients. Sometimes she was with Robert, meeting him for the first time again, this time noticing how kind he really was. Sometimes Thomas seemed to be talking to her. Once she thought Robert had apologized in agonized tones and she tried to tell him that she was the one to blame if anyone was.

Finally, the sense of being wrapped in a hammock with light glowing through her eyelids from somewhere to her left became clear. Slowly, Rosie opened her eyes and looked around.

She was in her grandmother's guest room. It usually looked more like a dungeon—Grandma said it kept people from wanting to stick around. The walls were carved out of stone and usually it was dark and somewhat chilly. When she'd been here before, the room had been empty save for a moldering hammock in one corner.

Now, though, the walls had intricate hangings on them and the soft glow of a lamp came from the corner to her left. Two rock perches were arranged nearby.

Rosie glanced down at the hammock she was in. It was soft and new, and the room didn't taste of decay. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Miss Rose! You're awake!" Thomas said excitedly.

Rose shifted to look in the direction of his voice. Thomas was hung on the wall to her right. "Thomas, what—what happened? Where's Robert?"

The mirror beamed at her. "A miracle—"

"Rosie!" Robert exclaimed as he peeked in the door. "I was only gone for five minutes! That's when you choose to wake up?" he said, crossing his arms. Then he smiled and swam over, taking one of her hands and squeezing it tightly. "You scared at least a year off my lifespan, y'know? Please, for my sake, never, ever go into a coma again."

"A coma?"

"A lengthy period of magical sleep was apparently one of the side effects that the Ocean was referring to," Thomas said dryly. "Your knight was reassured many times that your life signs looked perfectly healthy and it was simply a matter of replenishing your magic." He gave her a stern look. "You overtaxed yourself far beyond what you ought to have done. It's a miracle you weren't killed."

Rosie blushed. "I had to." She sat up. "Where's Grandma? Did the potion work? Is she all right?"

"She's—well, I'll let her tell you," Robert said. "She should be back any minute." He grimaced. "She forced me to come eat a quick dinner. I imagine she's just tidying up the kitchen." He gave her a sideways look. "I think you could give her a run for her money in the stubbornness department. Must run in the family."

Rosie frowned, her thoughts still sluggish with sleep. She really couldn't imagine her grandmother insisting someone eat, let alone putting up with Robert. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"A week," Thomas said promptly. "And quite a week it has been."

"Your family!" Rosie sat up abruptly, sliding ungracefully out of the hammock.

Robert rushed to steady her.

"You should have just left me here," she said, looking up into his lovely green eyes.

"Oh, I did," Robert said with a rueful smile. "Madam Essie insisted she could watch you sleep just as well as I could and magicked up a path to my house. It works in town too! The path routed me around anyone who would have caused a fuss. My mother was—less than thrilled that I insisted on returning here right away, especially since your grandmother gave me extra kelp to take home, but I couldn't stand the thought of you waking up while I was gone. Or of you—not waking up. So, I hurried right on back."