Ayda felt like she was suffocating. The family doctor was checking up on her every hour and she had to drink terrible tasting tea before going to sleep. She was expected to sleep for 10 hours every night and have a little siesta after eating. When she wasn't expected to seep, she had to lay in her bed and rest. All she could do was read but that had to be done in bed as well. She would have loved staying in bed the whole day usually, but that was without counting on being watched every second of the day.
She felt like a toddler having all the maids making sure that she stayed in bed and slept properly. If she dared stay awake, the doctor would come back to check on her and soon after Nifsara would follow. Seeing Nifsara worried annoyed Ayda. Why would she care about her? Ayda had been nothing but rude to her for days. She didn't thank her once, rolled her eyes when she walked in and seeing that nothing was working, she even threw her pillow at her in a fit of rage.
Despite all that, Nifsara still continued smiling and asking Ayda about her health. The nicer Nifsara was, the angrier Ayda got. Ayda didn't have exhaustion problems to begin with but after a few days at Nifsara's mansion, she really felt sick. She started drinking the tea because she really needed it and started sleeping more and more. The doctor thought that it was a good sign and said that Ayda was finally healing.
Thanks to Ayda "healing" the doctor allowed her to spend more than an hour alone but she still was being watched continuously. She really needed a break from all the stares and she took advantage of her moments of peace to rush to her window. She just couldn't take her room anymore and seeing the same four walls all day long was making her skin crawl.
Ayda opened the window and looked down. Her room was on the third floor and there were no trees to climb onto around her. She had no idea how high she was but she was sure that she was very high. Ayda was way too lazy to walk down the stairs therefore she decided to just jump down. She wouldn't die anyway and in a second she would finally be free. Ayda missed all her walks in nature and she didn't hesitate before jumping out the window.
She didn't know if she did scream or not. She did hear someone scream before not hearing anything anymore. After a few seconds, her limbs started popping back in place and Ayda stretched her back before standing up.
"That hurt way less than I thought."
She looked down at her ruined clothes and shrugged before rushing back to nature. There was a little gathering of trees behind her room and Ayda finally felt like she was recharging. She hadn't felt that god in days and she just sat down under a tree before closing her eyes.
Ayda wasn't a very social person to begin with and being surrounded by people all day long was too much for her. She really needed some silence and she felt her muscles relax. She didn't realize how tense she really had been before then and her eyelids started feeling heavy. She started nodding and slowly drifted to sleep.
She had no idea how long she had spent there but when she woke up there was a shadow over her. Ayda wasn't even surprised to see Nifsara at that point but it didn't mean it made her happy. Ayda didn't even hold back and rolled her eyes:
"Why you again? Do you have to show up all the time? What are you? A stalker?"
Ayda sighed. She really couldn't have a second of peace. Getting mad would have been worth it if that made Nifsara angry but she just crouched down in front of Ayda:
"You shouldn't sleep outside. It's really cold."
Ayda noticed that she wasn't cold at all and looked down. What she saw there was Nifsara's coat. That made Ayda even more angry. She took the coat off and threw it at Nifsara. The latter didn't even dodge and just looked at the coat on the ground before looking back at Ayda.
Of course Nifsara wouldn't be ticked off because Ayda threw a coat at her. Ayda had insulted Nifsara for days but she didn't frown once. It was driving Ayda mad but no matter how angry she was, she had to admit that no matter how rude she was, it wasn't working.
Ayda would have loved to just hit Nifsara but she had to think clearly. It would only be a waste of energy to hit Nifsara if that didn't anger her at all in the end. Ayda had to give up on getting mad at Nifsara and had to think of another plan. It seemed that being ungrateful didn't help. But then what could she do? Anyone would be angry if the person they helped didn't thank them. Nifsara was the only fool that still looked at Ayda with worried eyes:
"You should go back to your room and get changed.
-I'm fine here."
Nifsara sat down in front of Ayda:
"Do you like trees that much?
-Maybe.
-We should go in now but we could come back here tomorrow if you want.
-Don't talk to me as if I'm a child.
-I will. Once you stop behaving like one."
Nifsara's smirk made Ayda frown. She felt the anger take over her body but she stopped at the last second. She breathed a few times to calm down. After having slept a bit, her head was a lot clearer and she forced herself to calm down. Nifsara wouldn't hate her anyway, no matter how much she screamed at her. She even seemed amused the more Ayda was pouting.
Seeing Ayda so silent, Nifsara stood up before extending her hand towards her:
"I'll escort you back."
Ayda stood up but ignored Nifsara's hand. As she was walking back to her room, she realized that she had the wrong approach. No matter how angry Ayda was, she had to do it differently if she wanted Nifsara to hate her. Ayda felt like she had tried everything at that point and had no idea what to do next.
The next day, she decided to ask those around Nifsara what she hated. Who would know that better than the people who worked for her? Ayda could continue throwing things at Nifsara forever hoping that someday she would finally get angry or she could be smarter and win time and just try getting to know her. Ayda would have preferred a quicker and easier approach but she had to admit that she had no other choice.
Nifsara had a very busy schedule. She woke up way before Ayda because by the time Ayda was up, Nifsara had already eaten and was sparring with other knights. They were the ones she spent the most time with and Ayda knew that they were the ones she had to question. It wasn't hard finding knights in Nifsara's mansion. In fact, Ayda walked into one as soon as she left her room:
"Hello!"
The knight jumped hearing Ayda walk up to her. To them she was the sick girl who had been having breakdowns day and night. She must have looked crazy to them and the knight didn't seem very calm at the idea of being alone with the weird girl.
"What can I help you with Madame?
-Do you have time right now? I have a few questions about Nifsara."
The knight flinched hearing Ayda call the best knight of their generation by her first name. However, it seemed Nifsara already told them that it was fine because he didn't say anything. Ayda knew that the knights loved Nifsara and if she wanted them to like her and help her, she had to pretend that she did too. She immediately started playing with her fingers:
"You see... I was very sick and Nifsara was the only person who helped me. I had a very hard time with my disease and I feel terrible about how I treated her. I just am not used to people helping me and I didn't know how to react. But now I see that she just wanted to help and I want to thank her. But I have no idea what to do."
The knight's demeanor immediately changed. He ate up Ayda's lies and his entire body relaxed:
"You don't have to worry Madame! Lady Brack would never be mad at someone for behaving in some way while they were sick. Her heart is way too pure to do such things."
Ayda sighed:
"I am so relieved. Thank you so much. I just don't want her to hate me..."
Ayda must have been amazing at playing the fragile woman because the knight started panicking:
"Why would she hate you?
-I don't know... I am just terrified that after everything that happened she hates me.
-I am sure that she doesn't. Lady Brack never hated anyone."
Ayda rolled her eyes when the knight couldn't see. Of course the hero wouldn't hate anyone.
"Could you please tell me what she hates? Just to make sure that I don't do such things."
The knight quickly nodded:
"She hates clingy people. And people that can't make up their minds. She really likes when people are honest and straightforward. And she really hates slow people too."
Ayda took notes.
"Thank you!"