"I'm here." The witch called out to the rest of the group that had followed her, and they descended the slope, being careful not to slip. As soon as they reached the two women, the witch had the wounded Queen placed on a makeshift stretcher made of wood and rags they had prepared at the shelter. "We must hurry. She needs to stay warm and receive extensive medical care as soon as possible."
"Let's go." The men present moved quickly, lifting the Queen and taking care to climb back up the slope at a less steep point.
Snow White walked rapidly behind them, followed by Scarlet, who stayed by her side. Alex, however, walked next to the stretcher, focused on treating some of the deep wounds with her magic: unfortunately, she wasn't a healing mage, but she carried plants with exceptional properties that stopped hemorrhages and protected wounds.
"What happened?" Scarlet asked, helping the Princess of Arran along the path so she wouldn't trip over branches and rocks blocking the way.
"I-I don't know... when I arrived, I found her wounded," the young woman stated, her voice trembling.
"Your neck..." Everyone had noticed the marks on Snow White's neck, but they assumed it was from a fight. Scarlet shifted her eyes to Grimilde, noticing the strange substance covering her body: "She..."
"This is not the time for questions." The Archmage's serious voice silenced the woman, who didn't open her mouth for the rest of the journey.
"Will she be alright? Alex... please, tell me she won't—"
"Nothing bad is going to happen. She is strong." The witch offered a small smile and tried to motivate Snow White to be strong and resolute in this situation, however difficult it was. She explained that she no longer sensed the chaotic fluctuations of demonic magic brought by Golujef, which could only mean one thing.
"He's no longer here..."
The princess's sigh of relief made the shoulders of some of the others relax, sharing the hope that the disaster was over. When they finally reached the shelter, Adelina and William were the first to exit the cave to run toward the rescue group, followed by Zeyana and the rest of the attendees waiting for their return.
"Are you alright?" William asked before his eyes fell on the stretcher, realizing it was indeed Grimilde. "Oh, heavens... what happened to her?"
"We must tend to her wounds, immediately." Alex had them clear some space in the cave, and they gently lowered the stretcher to the ground. She turned to the Order's soldiers, asking them to check their bags for medical supplies. Despite the chaos caused by the earthquake and the downpour, they had managed to secure what was needed for emergencies, as well as the horses, however frightened they were.
Scarlet approached Alex, handing her a bag containing various medicinal plants wrapped in leather and jars of viscous substances.
"What is that?" William asked, crouching down to the witch's level to help her with Grimilde: "I'm not a doctor, but I've read several books on treating war wounds... can I help?"
"Alright, first of all, we need to clean the wound. We need clean water, cloths, if you can find any around..." Alex immediately tried to remove the black substance from Grimilde's body and was surprised to see it slide off easily. "Probably an defensive trick..." she muttered, fascinated by that strange manifestation. She knew of the existence of various types of magic in the world, but she had never seen a witch like Grimilde.
"Would my dress do?" Adelina asked, noticing Snow White's already torn dress.
"Yes." Alex looked up and handed Adelina a knife.
Snow White, meanwhile, was wiping Grimilde's sweaty face, watching her every micro-expression, getting anxious whenever her face contorted in pain. "How do we close the wounds?"
"We can't do it properly here, we have nothing... so we'll have to use the old-fashioned way," the witch stated, taking the knife back from Adelina.
William grabbed the rags and started applying pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, Zeyana crouched next to the witch and handed her the water. Alex cleaned the wound one last time with William's help, then gripped the blade in her hand.
Snow White looked at her with confused eyes: "What are you doing?"
Alex sighed, glancing at her quickly: "You're not going to like it. I have some good news, though... our heroine has no infection in her body, fortunately... I don't know how that's possible." In her free hand, a small flame appeared, and Adelina gasped.
William understood what she was about to do and turned to the princess: "You shouldn't watch—"
"What?"
The witch passed the blade over the fire, and the princess stared at it in anguish.
"This will close the wound. Hold her down," she said firmly, looking at William and Zeyana. Adelina moved to Snow White's side, holding her by the shoulders.
Alex didn't hesitate long and pressed the hot blade against the Queen's wound. Grimilde woke up screaming in pain. Snow White watched the scene with tears in her eyes and her breath caught in her throat.
Adelina hugged her: "She'll be better now, you'll see..."
Grimilde fell back into a tormented sleep, unable to interact with her surroundings. "Snow..." she whispered, trying to raise an arm to grasp something, an anchor.
"I'm here..." The princess took her beloved's blood-stained hand and tried to give her some of her warmth.
"Snow White?" Zeyana called for her attention and gave her a look full of resolve: "As soon as she recovers a bit, you must return to your kingdom. It's too dangerous to stay in Umgard. War is coming. What they have done will not go unpunished."
The princess knew there was nothing she could say to change the Empress's mind, so she nodded, convinced that she had to put her people and the wounded Queen first.
"I will have Scarlet and some of my most skilled men escort you, so you may reach Arran safe and sound."
Snow White thanked her and squeezed Grimilde's hand: in that moment, she also became aware of the consequences of what had happened. They didn't know the extent of the earthquake, but something told her that Arran was in danger. She was extremely worried about the people waiting for her in the capital: were they in danger? She thought of her friends, of Federik... She prayed that nothing bad had happened. She prayed for her people... for her kingdom.
Derek and Iza had remained silent, worried for the Queen, but ready to help in any way and protect the group. They were tense and agitated, but they didn't let it show.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stop to rest; they had to reach a safe place as soon as possible. The Empress advised taking the Queen to an inn to receive care: ordinary people wouldn't recognize their faces anyway, once they were far from Umgard's capital. The group found new transportation; besides the Order's horses, they also managed to recover an abandoned cart, likely left behind by a fleeing merchant. They soon reached an inn a few miles from the city, fortunately untouched by the earthquake.
The inn was crowded with survivors who had gathered to seek help or ask for information about their fellow citizens. The group split up: it was risky to show up with an entourage of soldiers, so only Scarlett, the Queen's friends, Snow White, and Alex entered the inn.
Luckily, Grimilde's skin was no longer as pale as a corpse, but she was sweating: Snow White placed a hand on her forehead, feeling how hot she was. "She has a fever," she whispered to her companions, casting a worried look at everyone.
Just then, they heard the innkeeper yelling something: "We have no more rooms, we are sorry!" The man waved his hands frantically, gesturing for the people to step away from the counter and not crowd around him. "I'm sorry, use the common room to rest, but I have no rooms to rent!"
Scarlet nodded to the Archmage and stepped forward confidently. As soon as she reached the counter, she whispered something in the innkeeper's ear and pulled a pouch of coins from her pocket. The owner looked at the group and motioned for them to follow him: "This way..."
"I'll bring you pillows and blankets... and whatever she might need." The innkeeper glanced at the woman lying on the makeshift stretcher, but said nothing more. He was extremely cordial with them: money, after all, could buy almost anyone.
"Lay her on the bed." Snow White got some help moving Grimilde onto the bed, waiting for the innkeeper to bring a basin of water and some cloths.
"We can use this to bring the fever down." Scarlet showed the princess some herbs and explained that she would prepare a concoction for Grimilde to drink. Alex had studied medicinal herbs for years and had taught the Order how to best handle emergency situations: they knew where to find useful plants, recognize their healing properties, and prepare them to fully exploit their effects.
Snow White decided to trust Scarlett and turned to the rest of the group: "A-alright... thank you, everyone. Truly, I am grateful... go rest, it will be a long journey."
William was the first to approach her, noticing her distant gaze and the persistent trembling of her hands. Furthermore, it was obvious to everyone how pale she was. "Snow White, we can help you." William placed a hand on her shoulder, noting how tense she was: "You need to sleep too."
"I need to do this," she said with difficulty, looking down.
The innkeeper soon returned with the supplies, accompanied by his wife, who also handed over clean bandages, informing them that there was a doctor among the refugees and that if they needed him, she would go get him. The princess thanked her on behalf of everyone, then immediately set to work, moving to Grimilde to wipe her forehead and bathe her hot body, hoping to ease her torment, even if just a little. Her dedication moved the hearts of those present, and any doubts about their relationship were silenced by that sight.
Iza and Derek were the first to comply with the princess's requests, even though they would have liked to stay with her to help. They knew the best thing to do was give her space. They lay down on the floor, grabbing blankets and pillows, remaining silent, consumed by their thoughts and worries. They felt helpless, like failures: they hadn't been able to help Grimilde, and she had risked her life for everyone. Derek was particularly affected by the Nordic woman's appearance: she was always so perfect and composed... it was frightening to see her so fragile. Iza, instead, decided to shut off her thoughts, suppressing her emotions.
Adelina stopped William, who had wanted to insist the princess rest. She shook her head silently and led him to lie down among the blankets, to try to recover some energy for tomorrow's journey.