Roesadra held Oleania against her as Embris and Amelia left. She was grateful for the two giving them some privacy.
The only thing that would make this better was if the Blue Rose was there for Roesadra to talk to. Right then she felt like she was overflowing with gratitude now that she knew Oleania was going to be okay. She knew Oleania still had to recover, but with how Embris first entered the room that morning and now was leaving it in a much different condition, she knew that her love would be able to make a recovery and not slowly die from whatever it was that had clearly been causing Embris to lose all her energy and strength.
While she had grown accustomed to living her live out of this room, with occasionally taking walks around the settlement when it wasn't her turn to stand in for the Blue Rose, the days with the spotted plague hitting this community had made it almost feel suffocating. Even after it was clear that everyone would survive the plague, no one seemed to get any better, other than the spots falling off if they'd appeared in the first place.
Which was why she had supposed Oleania had tried to hide the fact that she'd caught it from her, as she was the only one who would be able to said anything. As even when their meals were brought to them, Roesadra had been more than willing to let Oleania relax and bring her whatever had been given them while she lay on the straw mattress. Something that Roesadra wondered if it had been a mistake. As maybe they'd have been able to learn about this treatment sooner rather than now, after the room they'd made as their home felt like it was closing in on her.
Yet, that was past now. She knew that Oleania was going to be fine and that this would soon be behind them. Though, the only worry that she couldn't shake off just then was the matter of their unborn child Oleania was still carrying.
Amelia had mentioned that she couldn't say what kind of effects the topical had on the unborn child, that she just didn't have any information on the subject. Roesadra wasn't really sure she followed all of what Amelia had said about the subject, such as how it could potentially affect a child's appearance, intelligence, or even behaviors. She didn't see how that could be predicted, but she also knew that she didn't have the knowledge that Amelia did about healing others. So, she knew that she just had to take Amelia's word on the matter, since she really didn't know enough to argue against what she said.
Roesadra stroked Oleania's head gently. While she was worried about their child, as long as Oleania was healthy, Roesadra wouldn't care if they lost the child. They could always try again and while she'd be heartbroken as much as Oleania would be devastated, they'd at least be able to get through the matter together. At which point they'd be able to try again and Roesadra was confident that the Blue Rose would be someone that both of them would be able to lean on. Not to mention Saelea, but since the Blue Rose was the one who chose them, Roesadra couldn't help but feel like she was the one they should go to first for anything like that.
While Saelea was a good friend, she just didn't seem like she cared as much as the Blue Rose did. Which Roesadra wasn't sure how she'd be able to change that, or if it was even possible. Besides, no matter what happened, all the Blue Rose needed to do was tell them to do something and they'd do it, with no worries. Even if she had wanted to sleep with Oleania, Roesadra would have been willing to let her lover share the Blue Rose's bed until she was satisfied. Something that she was confident Oleania would do as well. Even though both of them knew that the Blue Rose would never ask of them.
Maybe that was part of why they would do whatever the Blue Rose asked of them, that she wouldn't disregard their feelings about the matter as well. Not like many of the others who had owned Roesadra when she had been a slave.
Even though she knew she probably shouldn't, Roesadra carefully slid under the blanket to lay directly next to Oleania, holding her close in her arms. She knew that her lover would make a full recovery and while she probably needed her rest, Roesadra just wanted to feel her body against hers, even if she was still wearing her clothing. She needed the feel of holding Oleania against her as she closed her own eyes to go to sleep. Something she had thought might be something she might never be able to do again.
_
In the end, it took five days before the daggers Jenn had ordered were finished. She wasn't sure if she'd have been able to sneak away from Saelea to collect them, which made her glad that Yaelish had pushed her into allowing her to collect them. Though, Jenn got a brief chance to examine them when Saelea left for the privy, just to make sure that the daggers matched what she wanted and felt almost giddy when she saw that they did.
Which suited her just fine, given how she wasn't sure how much longer she'd have been able to stretch out the stay in the city with how she was running out of ideas where she could take Saelea to show her around. While Saelea would probably have been willing to have been shown the river and accept that it was 'one of the sights to see', Jenn was glad that they'd be able to return from this city.
While she would be heading on to Veloutra, she planned on dropping Saelea off at the forest settlement, simply because she didn't want to leave Roesadra and Oleania to be left by themselves for however long Jenn would be at the capital. Something she suspected might be longer than she thought it would be.
Though she did worry that she'd get discovered by her friends who were visiting the mountain settlement, she wasn't too worried, since she would be able to avoid that by doing a check in before they left. After all, she couldn't be sure that doing a dream conference would drain her of her magic more than she'd like if it came to a time when they'd actually have to fight someone. Though she wasn't clear on what the reasons for fighting might actually be, given that hadn't yet happened.
However, she was at least feeling good that there was a quarantine in effect at the mountain settlement while her friends were there so she didn't need to come up with some excuse as to why she was avoiding there. Otherwise, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to avoid them like she'd like right then.
With all that in mind, when Jenn had Yaelish hold onto the daggers so she wouldn't need to worry about Saelea accidentally discovering them and asking too many questions for Jenn's tastes. In that scenario, Jenn imagined that she'd need to give Saelea her dagger earlier than she'd like and before she had a chance to give one to Roesadra and Oleania. Not to mention how with Saelea likely returning to the mountain settlement before her, Saelea would likely ruin the surprise by letting something slip, since Jenn didn't know when she'd be able to return next.
It almost made her want to risk breaking the quarantine just to give them the daggers so she wouldn't need to worry about that. Almost.
When they ate dinner, Jenn figured it would be a good time to let Saelea decide if she'd had enough sight-seeing or if she still had somewhere she'd like to look at. That way it wouldn't draw attention to that specific time period.
Jenn wasn't sure she expected keeping a secret like this, even if it was just for a surprise later on, would be so exhausting. While she knew she'd kept secrets in the past, nothing had worn at her like this one had. Which she hoped she didn't have to experience again.
"So, is there anyplace we haven't seen that you'd like to look at first?" Jenn asked Saelea as Yaelish set a bowl of soup in front of both of them. The soup seemed to be all that the inn was serving for dinner, though it seemed rather popular with how many people were filling the inn this night. Many of whom Jenn recognized living in the area around the inn.
"I'm not sure," Saelea replied thoughtfully. "I mean I'd like to see if there's a church here so I could do a confession but I'm not sure. We've already spent so much time here I don't want to go looking for a church when it could take an entire day just to locate it."
Jenn nodded, glad that there was something else that Saelea had wanted to go see, but at that moment, she had to agree that it wouldn't something they'd be able to do.
"Maybe sometime we'll have to see if we can get the church to build something in our settlement," Jenn remarked. "That way anyone can attend as they like."
"That would be nice," Saelea said wistfully. "I can only think that I was on that slave train when you saved us because She led me there."
Jenn wasn't sure how to touch that subject so she just stayed quiet. If she said anything, she worried that she'd either say something to seriously offend Saelea or she'd make her friend decide she needed to be converted or something. After all, Jenn had no clue as to anything about that religion in the first place.
Or at least nothing firsthand, she corrected herself as she suddenly had a torrent of memories pop up from that single thought. Memories she knew for a fact were from her time helping the Lost.
"Actually, while you're in the capital, you could speak to the church leaders there. It might not be the church's headquarters, but it should be the closest thing you can get to in this country," Saelea said, sounding much more enthusiastic than Jenn could recall hearing the young woman. "I mean, you should get time off if you get the contract and if you don't, well you'll be right by there, right?"
Jenn couldn't help but chuckle as Saelea spoke. It was clear that she really wanted Jenn to bring the church to the settlement. Which Jenn had a feeling would be good for the morale of everyone in her settlement, or at least everyone who was a member of that church. It probably was everyone, but she wouldn't be surprised if there was one or two people who wouldn't want anything to do with that church. Or maybe even blamed it for them being slaves in the first place.
"I'll see what I can do," Jenn promised, hoping it'd be as easy as that. After all, she wasn't sure what would be involved in the matter aside from setting aside land for the church to build something on. Which she wasn't sure where they'd want to have that land set aside, seeing as how she wasn't even sure how large these churches were or even what they- Jenn blinked. Her thought about what the churches looked like brought on another memory from her time with the Lost. A memory of what one of the churches looked like. Although, she wasn't sure where it was or how old it was at that time but she could imagine a few places where it would fit in the settlement, places that they hadn't started doing anything on, such as farming or building.
"So, will we leave in the morning?" Saelea asked, her eyes almost seeming to draw Jenn's attention.
Jenn wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was clearly attracted to Saelea, despite her best efforts, or if she was just seeing a new side of Saelea that she couldn't help but find fascinating in regards to Saelea's interest in her religious beliefs. All she could say was that Saelea's eyes seemed to hold new depths that she hadn't seen before.
"Uh, yeah. Unless you really want to spend a day searching for the church," Jenn said, forcefully pulling her gaze away from those eyes. "It's up to you. I mean, we've waited this long, so we can wait another day as well. It's not like we're pressed for time anyway. I mean, I did tell everyone at the dream conference that we'd be here for a week, so we have at least a couple of days before we need to leave."
Saelea sighed, sounding as if she felt the decision weigh heavily on her. Jenn felt tempted, again, to look into her mind, but even now, she recognized that it wouldn't be good for her to do that to the girl. Not only could she learn something that could hit her in ways she wasn't expecting, such as if Saelea was attracted to Jenn, but also ran the risk of harming the trust she'd been building with the young woman.
"No, I don't need to go just now. Maybe if we come here again I'd like to find the church in this city, but that can wait until we have more time to relax," Saelea answered determinedly, her tone firm and unwavering.
Jenn nodded, feeling more relief than she had expected to feel. She hadn't really wanted to wait another day herself, but with how she'd already determined to let Saelea decide that matter, she felt it was best to make sure that she was certain of her decision. Plus, if she really had wanted to stay, Jenn knew that she'd need to respect that answer, no matter what her own feelings on the subject were.
"Though, if I did want to find the church, what would you do?" Saelea asked Jenn, looking at her in a way that Jenn couldn't help but feel like she was now being examined closely, like an insect under a microscope.
Jenn shrugged, doing her best to ignore that sensation, despite the fact that it made her skin crawl as she did so. "I'd accompany you. I don't know much about the church, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to know more."
Jenn was honest in her response, but the glimmer that suddenly appeared in Saelea's eyes made her wonder if she'd made a mistake. A mistake that could cause her to have more trouble than she had been expecting from this conversation.
Though, while she found it a little fortunate that Saelea didn't say anything more about that to her, she couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole situation, given that she had a feeling it would likely come up in a way, and possibly form, that she didn't expect. Which she hoped was just her paranoia speaking rather than a prediction of the future. Which she supposed could just as easily be her imagination more than anything else.
_
Ralph felt overjoyed when Lily woke up after having the magic stones placed on her young body for the past half day. There wasn't any sign of fatigue with the girl and she seemed as energetic as she had before.
While he knew that Amelia wouldn't accept any thanks for the matter, in fact wasn't even present for Lily to wake up, Ralph knew that he wouldn't forget the diligence she put into treating everyone. Even despite his opinions on how she needed to do less than she had been doing. While part of it had bee in concern for his friend, he couldn't help but at least admit to himself, that it had been partly because he'd felt annoyed by how much she was doing for people that they really didn't know anything about and didn't have any connection to. Aside from Embris, that is.
Yet at that moment, all he could do was hold Lily tightly as he felt tears flow from his eyes, irrespective of the audience he knew he had behind him. As evidenced by the giggling he could hear from the children.
When he released Lily, he noticed her looking rather happy, though he couldn't be sure if that was because of the hug he'd just given her, because she was back to how she normally felt, because of reasons that he still didn't understand, or because of a combination of all those points put together.
Not that he cared. He was just happy that she was feeling better. Though, he did wonder if she'd sleep through the night like usual or if her sleeping through the day would result in her having trouble getting to sleep herself.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked, not sure why that was the first thing out of his mouth, but he didn't care. He could at least recognize that part of him needed to get out of this small building, since he'd been making sure to keep a vigil over Lily while she slept, even at the expense of his own sleep.
"Maybe you should get some rest first, yourself," Embris said, pulling Ralph towards her bed.
When Embris had gotten there, Ralph couldn't say that he knew. All he knew was that Lily seemed delighted as Embris moved Ralph away, not that it made sense to Ralph.
As he lay on Embri's straw mattress, he wondered if maybe he should have changed clothes first, since it wasn't until this moment that he even realized that he'd been wearing the same thing since Lily had come down with the spotted plague.
However, Embris was already putting a blanket over him before he even thought to try and get up. He wasn't sure what he should do right the, but he could feel his eyes growing heavy, despite his best efforts.
"Sleep. I'm sure Lily will be just as happy to go on a walk with you when you wake up," Embris said as Ralph felt himself drift off to sleep.
Though, whether Embris' lips pressing against his were just part of the dream or reality, Ralph couldn't say as he fell asleep.