Lionel's Point Of View
No matter how you look at it, it is probably a trap. They spent so much energy trying to capture Lily yesterday that I cannot imagine it to be anything else. By all means, it sounds too good to be true, but if Lily wants to go then I can't hold her back... even in the pitiful state she is in after everything that happened yesterday. I don't want to deliver the message for her.
"Augustus!" I call out as I knock on the door to Lily's room. She's probably still sleeping, but when we got inside with her yesterday the commoner girl that Lily brought along rushed to her side and said she'd do everything else with a desperate look in her eyes, being as pushy as usual, but looked as though her life depended on it... I agreed because Lily had already healed the worst of her injuries, and spreading the secret any further would do more damage than good. The castration story might work for a little while longer, but it's a matter of time before it slips out by accident as someone tries to use first aid on her injuries after she comes back passed out.
If some of her own knights hadn't appeared at my side yesterday to take care of her then things could have turned out horribly. Our own knights and men-at-arms would simply have ripped her armor off to get to her injuries as fast as possible. Honestly, yesterday I almost passed out as well after her healing rain. I did overhear Claire talking about Lily having transferred mana to her when they were small... but I didn't think we would ever get in a situation where she'd do it to me too.
I listen closely and knock on the door again. The commoner is probably sleeping heavily after all... but against my expectations a high pitched scream comes from the room. It's the commoner's. My stomach sinks immediately and the worst thoughts always come first. I barge in and look directly to the bed, fearing she died in her sleep or that an assassin had snuck in... however... thankfully both of my fears were proven wrong.
The commoner pats the bed in a panic and looks around trying to find Lily... but judging by the lack of the extra set of my old clothes, she has just headed out of the room when she woke up. Other proofs is how the bed is made and the windows are locked. I look to the commoner that's running to the windows, definitely considering the kidnapping.
"You need not worry. I will go find Augustus, go get some sleep."
She looks back at me with a fierce gaze, which speaks volumes of her opinion of my words, and also an incoming demand from her.
"I will not bring you along." I turn and leave, glancing to Rover on the way out to make sure that she will not end up following us instead.
—-*—-
Back on the subject of mana transfer. A same element mana transfer is painless. The faeries complain about it loudly, but it is doable. You are protected by a faeries mainly in return for your mana, so of course they get sour about you giving your mana away. If you stop using mana and only transfer it, the fairy might actually leave you too. Thankfully, Lily doesn't need to worry about this. There are however many more problems in different mana transfers. First of all, the receiving fairy gets pissed, because they have to get rid of that mana to be able to get their own kind. Kerag, my fairy, is an especially stubborn one, so he was not happy with this but thankfully decided to comply anyway... almost without punishment... He sent a curse through the connection between Lily and I, which caused a rather high fever. On top of that, she transferred all of her mana, which left her exhausted. Her healing magic doesn't have the ability to prevent sickness, so she's probably walking around with a fever without a care for it.
Now, usually you don't have to lock up your patients. Their injuries keep them in bed... except for this idiot. Now, when she was put here yesterday she was coughing up blood in her sleep, she was sweating heavily, with a breath so shallow I could hardly tell she was breathing. On top of her shock she was running a fever from Kerag's curse... and that very same person is now wandering around camp trying to look tough... As usual, she has no care of what harm she brings to herself. I understand that she simply intends to heal herself as if her injuries doesn't really matter... but it still makes my stomach burn with frustration.
A sigh ends up slipping from me. Honestly, I am exhausted too. If not for orders then I wouldn't be rushing around for the rest of the day. My injuries aside, I am pretty much out of magic. Mana of the wrong element isn't as effective according to Kerag, so all of it is gone... I doubt that they are unaware of this, which only makes it sound even more as though it is a trap... one thing at a time, first, the runaway patient.
—-*—-
It doesn't take me long to find her. I already knew about the knight being dragged off in a coffin, so finding her here isn't surprising. If nothing else, it's pleasantly visible that she's been healing both herself and the people in the infirmary. Her ability definitely isn't as powerful as Claire's, but it's much better than one could wish for as an army commander, as it heals those it hits. Though, apparently with a few exceptions. Not many, but they're there. Mainly some of the men-at-arms. I don't know why it doesn't work on them, but even so, it can easily make the difference between victory or defeat.
Now, as for Lily herself, there's not really color in her cheeks. Her skin looks pale, even from here, and her eyes are drawn into a gaze that could kill. To those that don't know about the fever she probably just looks injured or horrified at what she had to do. At least, the commoner would think so... but we are talking about a girl that misunderstood embarrassment as anger. Still, since she looks like she's about to burst into a rage I should go easy on her and check out how she's holding up mentally since they had their first losses yesterday... while it is probably the fever, she may be close to cracking again.
Once Lily spots me coming towards her, she turns to me face me with what appears to be her usual facade of composure. There's nothing other than her pale skin that hints at her feeling unwell, and even that could easily be excused. In the end that is the kind of person she is. Like the ocean on a calm night. It may look still, but below the surface the ocean current can run wild.
"I apologize for the disturbance. I request that we be given the day to recover and regroup from the attack yesterday, Lord Lionel," she asks politely, though also cutting me off before I would have been able to make a request for them to go to the front again. Not that I intended to, but she couldn't know.
I casually begin to undo one of my gauntlets as I respond to her request.
"Dealing with punishment is but another duty of our obligations, the disturbance is not a problem. Your knights are excused from the battlefield today, you however have been personally requested to attend a negotiation with the Headal army by the Prince of Headal." The words end up coming out bitterly, but I am still convinced it is a trap. I insist on this, even though we've confirmed is presence on the battlefield and everything seems like he will really appear...
She stares at me for a few moments as she considers the request while furrowing her brows in thought. She's probably drawing the same conclusions I did. I finish undoing the gauntlet and as casually as possibly try to place it on her forehead. Too fast and she will probably toss me, too slow and she will insult me. Finding a proper balance is difficult. As I had almost expected she deflects my hand with hers effortlessly. Her expression doesn't change and she's still considering the request... at this point I am more impressed she hasn't sneered at me. Still, this means I have more leeway to push her boundaries, so of course I twirl my hand under hers and put it on her forehead to feel her temperature. As expected, she's burning up.
"What are you doing?" She brushes my hand off with an annoyed gaze.
"You are running a fever," I retort back and place my hand back on her forehead... is it really okay to bring her along in this state? She brushes my hand off again with increasing irritation as she glances to the group of people dragging off a coffin.
"It is merely physical exhaustion. Now, cease this and let's get going." She looks completely unaffected by her fever. Just stares up at me stubbornly with that girly face scrunched up into this expression she uses to display indignation... I've been terrified of Lily's anger a lot over the years. Her gaze can even make your legs go numb for a moment if she really has enough of you, but somehow, after the facade with the headband, it is easier to deal with. She's human, just like everyone else. However, wherever she grew up, she was used as a pawn dedicated to war. Her own death means nothing in her eyes other than the single regret that she can do nothing more for those near to her. She's that kind of idiot. Her pride and honor carries more importance than her life.
She is hard to deal with.
"When it is over you need to rest," I demand and put the gauntlet back on while watching her.
"There is no need," she retorts back calmly before whispering something to the knight next to her. He runs off after the stone coffin being carried away. He's probably being sent to keep an eye on the others. Now, I do have a few things over her at this point, and I choose one carefully.
"While under a fever your stamina is lower than usual. You will rest." I give her a polite smile with those words and turn to leave, childishly cutting the conversation there. She will probably glare at my back for the rest of the way, but honestly I couldn't care less. She's not the only one here that can be stubborn. I swore she cursed under he breath for a moment, but when I looked back she was simply glaring at me with this 'If you want to fight I have plenty energy to take you on' sort of look. Though, she isn't using her scary look, so I'll take it as me being off the hook for now. I remember the message that was sent along with the request and as little as I want to say it, they'll expect her to have heard it. Still, we needed to make them say it almost five times, and in the end simplified it to maintain honor of all parts included.
"They sent a message along with the request. A heart throbbing school story, they said."