Everyone around Irene tried their best to hide their expressions each ti they spoke to her but she could tell when soone was pitying her. She was growing tired of feeling weak. Even her father could barely mask his worry each ti he entered the room she was forced to stay in.
That evening, a mage soon arrived and his presence was announced before she could see him.
Stanley, they said his na was, would arrive shortly. She did her best to prop herself up higher on the pillows and not seem so useless.
It seed that showing the mage that she was alright was the key to getting back to her normal duties. It was miserable being dead weight. She vowed to practice more caution in the future.
There was a knock on Irene’s door.
"Please, co in," she called, though the last part of the sentence was punctuated by a couple of coughs—sothing that had been happening the longer she lay around.
To her surprise, the very mage who held Gunnar in so kind of magic that prevented him from moving or even breathing walked in. From what she could see of his cheeks over his beard and his nose, they were red. She could instantly sll the cold weather they were having as he removed his outer cloak and revealed the robes she had seen him wearing before.
"So, your na is Stanley," Irene remarked.
He stepped forward, pushing back his sleeves and, to her surprise, pulling a couple of books from deep in the pockets of his dangling sleeves as well.
"I suppose it is," he said. "And you’re Iro. At least, that’s what the letter the knight you were with said to ."
She had been feeling shy about her secret but it seed it still existed around the others she spent ti with.
"It is," she responded, hoping it sounded convincing.
"What happened to you, Iro?" he asked. "That the knights would have to rely on the help of a mage to figure out."
Rather than waiting for help, the girl decided to take the situation into her own hands and pulled up the tunic she wore, revealing bandages that she began to pull off herself. She then showed him the wound that seed to give no sign of healing.
Each ti her blood coagulated and started to seal the wound, it seed like what was left of the grey matter was fighting against her natural healing and making it remain raw and painful.
Stanley’s expression wasn’t pleased but he didn’t say anything about her wound whatsoever.
"I suppose I should summon the knights who are so protective of you," he explained. "Give a mont."
Irene wasn’t given a chance to respond before the man left for a few minutes and returned with Sir Gunnar and her father in tow. They both had strained expressions on their faces and seed resistant to whatever Gunnar had told them.
Arthur imdiately stepped into the room and took up the chair he had been occupying a lot since he arrived. He was beyond exhausted and had almost fallen asleep a few tis but he refused to sleep until the mage could get to the bottom of whatever was going on with his child.
Stanley then walked in and Gunnar did as well but he stuck to the wall next to the door. They all kept their eyes on her and it felt worse that they wouldn’t tell her exactly what the mage was thinking.
"What is going on?" Irene asked, insisting they answer.
She once held her tunic so it wouldn’t fall over her wound but she dropped it. Her green eyes scanned the others for a response but they all looked at Arthur, deciding he would be the one to break the news to his daughter.
"The mage has said that the best thing we can do for you right now is put you under a sleeping spell so that he can cleanse your wound of whatever the goblin put inside of it," Arthur explained as gently as he could even though he felt fearful.
Each hour that passed when Irene couldn’t keep down food and, at one point during the stay, stopped being able to drink water, she was looking more and more pale. Even her face looked thinner.
He grabbed his child’s hand.
Irene’s reddish eyebrows lowered as she contemplated that.
"But it’s alright, isn’t it?" she asked. "Magic must be pretty certain, isn’t it?"
Her voice picked up speed and Arthur knew she was nervous as well. He resisted picking her up and placing her in his lap so he could protect her from her thoughts.
The knight’s light brown eyes went to Stanley, silently telling the mage that he better speak up quickly.
"Of course it’s alright," Stanley assured her. "Mana isn’t indefinite. I will only use a small amount of mana in a sleeping spell so you should wake up feeling better in a day or so."
"Okay," Irene responded. "Then do what will make feel better. I’m so hungry."
Her expression fell and Arthur had a mont of ’screw it’ as he stood up and sat next to his daughter on her bed. He wrapped an arm around her and forced her to look at him.
"I will treat you to sothing hearty when you’re awake again," he promised. "I just need you to get better first."
She nodded in her father’s grasp and returned the hug even though her body felt weak.
"Do it, mage," Arthur said.
Stanley stepped forward next to the other side of Irene’s bed and raised one of his hands. His fingers glowed with mana and he traced a large circle that seed to slowly disappear from the air. Inside he traced more glyphs that Irene couldn’t make sense of. When he was finished with whatever he was doing, and before the magic circle could disappear, he widened his hand and pressed it forward with his palm until his palm was against Irene’s forehead.
The girl hardly had ti to feel fear because shortly after that she was completely out. Arthur could feel her go limp in his arms.
The knight clenched his jaw and held onto his daughter for a few monts more. He then tucked her into the bed and made sure she seed comfortable.
However, he had to walk away from what he was witnessing and he went to Sir Gunnar, placing a hand on the other knight’s shoulder.
"Can you keep watch?" he requested. "I can’t see her go through this."
Sir Gunnar nodded.
While he didn’t want to witness what was about to happen, he didn’t want the child’s father to have to go through that either.
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