A Nanny Fairy Tale
Chapter 12: Sleeping Beauty…
'Are you all right, sweetie?', Fran asked Niles, noticing his pained face, even if he managed to suppress it almost all the time since he had mounted his horse.
'Yes, I am', he groaned, his eyes occupied scanning the extension of meadows they could see at the moment. 'There are more important things in my head, now. A lot more important than this fake wound'.
'I see', she answered, the tone of voice denouncing a disconcerted smile.
Niles noticed he may have sounded harsh and looked at her. 'Please, Fran, forgive me. What I meant is that my life is not in danger, and this pain is just a trick. I can stand it'. He averted his eyes and caressed the neck of the horse absently, and Fran smiled sincerely at the sight of such tenderness. His voice sounded distant, 'There is no real sacrifice involved'.
Fran knew what he meant, that physical sacrifice was not being required of him, but both were aware that the worry that tinted his soul was a kind of sacrifice.
She felt an urge to tease him to make things a bit less difficult – it seemed the kind of approach he would appreciate. 'You know, even if this no sacrifice thing is cute, you must take care. It's not all women that are crazy for that. Who knows what your witch will think when she discover you are being so strong'.
He realized her intention and decided to cooperate, turning to her. 'See what we've got here', he answered, 'You still have not forgiven me for hurting so much under your care. Being such a perfectionist and not being able to accomplish your own standards must be hard'.
She tried to act menacingly, 'You should not mock me. I'm still the one with the powerful herbs and the knowledge to accomplish at least part of what I want them for'.
'Unfortunately, I can't fear it', Niles said, and his voice was suddenly worried again. 'There is nothing you may do that will be worst than this physical pain, added to the fact that my witch can be in serious danger right now, added to these circumstances – we may be attacked at any moment'.
Fran made a surprised face at him, 'Wow… Now that you described it, it is really a crap of a situation!'
Both laughed at it, against their own good senses, and Fran was not surprised to notice the wetness in his eyes.
He cleared his throat to speak, 'Your lack of imagination surprises me', Niles gave her a bitter-sweet smile. 'I'm sure things can always get worse'.
Fran noticed her goal of lighting things was getting out of reach, and decided to act more firmly, pretending to be angry at him. 'Hey! Maybe it is you who have no ideas at all and want suggestions from me! I'm not dishing my schemes to you, Mister Clever Knight!'
Before Niles could pass through his surprise by her sudden change of tactics and ask what she exactly meant by 'dish' in this context, Maxwell's voice sounded from ahead, hurrying them to not let the horses take them to the side of the group.
Niles and Fran looked at each other, realizing they had looked for a position from where they could talk freely to each other and have a different view of the meadows. It was not some their horses were to be blamed for. It seemed they had this need to look at things from a different angle… It was a bit disconcerting and a bit comforting, at the same time.
They silently obeyed the King and, when they were close enough to gain a satisfied glance from him, Fran resumed the conversation. 'I wish I had the imagination your witch has. I mean, who thinks of a magical wound to keep a guy behind, making him delirious and crying like a baby as if there was no tomorrow? Maybe she will really give me some ideas when we meet'.
Niles nodded gratefully at her use of when and not if, and added, 'I sincerely hope you two have the opportunity for it'.
'You should trust more the women in your life'.
'I shall do it when they learn not to hide from the ones who care for them'.
Fran threw him a wary look and opened her mouth as if she would say something.
But not a word was coming out.
'Why, Miss Fine, I think you are at a lack of words', he was again scanning the meadows, 'I am not surprised'.
Silence. Niles kept looking away, because he really wanted to be alert to any change in the surroundings, and because he knew the woman by his side must be having trouble choosing how she would answer him.
Finally, she spoke, in a serious tone. 'When this is over, I'll make sure to answer all of your questions'.
The knight looked at the woman besides him with sincerity, 'I know you shall do it. Don't get me wrong. I just wanted you to know that I trust you, even if you are not totally open to me. I can respect that. You must have your reasons, and I won't pry'.
She expressed her joy with a one hand gesture of relief, 'Then I am lucky you are not so similar to me as I have thought!'
He imitated her gesture and added a fake shocked expression of his own, 'Isn't it reassuring?!'
Ncncncncncncn
CC looked at the group in front of her. She had a very clear idea of her situation, once she had seen armies organized like this before and knew what they were capable of: they were at least five hundred men and women, well trained in a series of crafts (fighting, witchery, spying, communications, healing), being guided by a dozen people that came in front of them and had a lot of influence over them.
She was just a lonely woman in a white toga, floating above them with a message that praised the enemy.
Bad, bad scenario.
And she was very tired.
It was natural, of course, because she had been practically marching for hours, now…
The amount of strength she had to use to maintain the magic wound on Niles had been increasing greatly, too – she had no idea what was happening, but in some way he was resisting, and it drained her. Magic was something of the body, of course.
It explained the tiredness.
CC rolled her eyes at her own denial.
Most of her physical condition was caused by worry, and not by real body activity. She knew herself enough to know that, when she had a goal in mind, she could go for days without stopping. She had done it before.
But now, thinking of Niles and what could be happening to him was making her terribly worried and afraid that she had made something wrong. Thus, she felt stressed and on edge of exhaustion.
What if he managed to mount his horse and was coming after her, probably feverish by his body's reaction to the pain? He didn't know he was not mortally wounded… If she knew him, he was the kind of man that would give his last breath to help the people he loved…
Yes, she knew he loved her. He had said it, and she knew he was sincere. And, even if she was not able to say it right back, deep in her heart she was sure she had never cared for anyone else like this.
What created an even worst possibility: suppose she does not succeed in this mission; she will be killed or threw in a jail and he probably would never trust her again. He would never believe she cared, and would never give her a chance to try some of this feeling he called love.
It would seem she would rather fail alone than win with him…
It was part of the truth, in fact. She wanted to accomplish this thing alone, because she had promised her people she would do it, because she wanted to prove she was capable of doing it, but specially…
… because she couldn't stand the idea of using him.
Well, that was the truth: she needed to protect him from her urge of using whatever was at her reach.
When she arrived at that forest, she was ready to do what seemed relevant to her mission: she knew she would be stalked by a legendary knight, and she would have killed him, if she thought it was necessary to weaken the King.
But the man who she met that night surprised her. He didn't intend to simply catch her – he wanted to understand her. He had threw his sword to the ground, when he could have simply tried to impose himself on her.
He made an enormous effort, all the times they met, to understand her actions and make sure they were at the same position, in this relationship.
Niles had his own ideas, his own faith, but he didn't try to change her.
She thought the same about herself: she didn't try to change him, she just wanted his support to her cause.
And then she realized that things were not going as planned.
The fact he was trying to understand her was enough to make him change by himself. He was paying attention to people he never had give a second glance before; he was opening his mind to other ways of living; he was willing to contradict his own King in the name of these new ideas and feelings she gave him the opportunity to discover.
And, to her utter despair, she realized she was changing, too: she was not just worried about her goals and convictions, anymore; she didn't think any action would be justified by her intentions – in fact, she felt horrified by the thought that she could just have killed Niles in that forest, without never knowing him…
All she really wanted now was maintain him safe and not involved in this web of treachery and lust for power.
Of course, she was more than glad he was really able to understand and support her, but she hated the idea of using his rising new perspective on life to fight for her.
However, he offered himself… Maybe he was ready to fight with her… Maybe it was her who couldn't feel safe about her own desire to dominate and have her own ways with everything… It made her a powerful witch, but could not work for their relationship…
The proof was that she was now full of doubts, and he was some place far from her, hurting badly.
This was the worst situation ever, to be thinking about these things. Every one of them seemed to make her feel more and more unsettled: she hated to be reminded of Niles' suffering, she hated to think he may be wrong, and this numerical inferiority just made things worse.
But reality could not wait, and she had business to make.
It was possible that not all of the crowd had seen her yet (even if she was a piece of white cloth floating in the wind over green meadows!), but the group of a dozen chiefs surely had, and seemed not to agree on what action to adopt: some of them were walking quickly towards her, seemingly anxious to see her better; others, two or three, let themselves behind, as if her presence was dangerous.
That was what she needed to see. It was time to do something, because the cracks in the group that should be of united leadership were obvious.
Her projected image raised a hand, and everybody stopped.
Ncncncncncnc
'God, it's a never-ending journey'. Niles groaned. The movement of the horse's galloping was not helping his side to stop hurting, but he didn't regret pleading the King they went faster – he had a bad feeling they would be late. 'How fast can that woman walk, anyway?'. He knew he was getting grumpier, but the effect of the herbs was gone by now, and he felt a pain very similar to that one from the first moment – the breathtaking one.
What if he fainted or got delirious again, his body mistakenly providing fever to cure him from a fake wound? He needed to be in his best to find that woman, but she had to put him in a situation like this… Why she had to make it so difficult?!
Well, it seems he was letting his control slip again. Time to breath deeply and try to calm down. Desperation would not solve anything.
Niles risked a glance at Fran, who had strangely not looked at him when he groaned.
The sight startled him: she was sitting straight on the horse, her head high and attentive, as if she could already see and hear what the others couldn't.
'She is not far ahead', Fran made a sign to Niles, without facing him. It was like she could feel he was looking at her, too.
'Where?', he asked, following the direction she was pointing and not seeing anything.
'Just a little more', Fran answered, calmly, and she changed slightly the direction of her horse.
Maxwell and Niles exchanged glances and did the same as her.
A few more steps of their galloping horses and she yelled, 'There she is!'
They all suddenly saw, from the privileged point of view of a bit higher terrain, the white ghost over the meadows, the back turned to them, and a multitude of people listening to it.
Ncncncncncnc
The blonde witch was just finishing her talking, and at this point she felt very confident. 'And that was what happened, people. I could accomplish part of my mission, gaining support from a very important and influent knight, but I had to come here when I discovered some other knights that desire to provoke a war, just for their own sake. I come to warn you that it is possible to negotiate with the King, once the ones who just care for themselves are revealed and put away'.
There were voices. Some leaders turned to others, and soon it was obvious that the ones who were defending the war were being looked with disgust.
Finally, some good news for her: the leaders seemed to know exactly what was happening, and that her words were rightful ones.
Then, there were yells. Warriors and horses were agitated. The traitors were creating a diversion she couldn't pinpoint.
Maybe it was time for her to interfere, but she didn't want to do it if it would seem she was denying the voice to the accused ones. In fact, all she wanted was to know the details of the horrible plan, and understand how they managed to come so far with it.
Or it was just Niles' sense of honor and equity rubbing off on her.
Well, these guys here needed to quiet down, so she could see what was really happening…
…but then, she saw the spear coming into her direction.
And shut her eyes.
Ncncncncncnc
Fran knew that Niles had seen the spear, too, and she was surprised by the way his eyes were wide in the moment it went through the disappearing white figure before them. 'What is happening? What are you feeling?'
He put a hand on his side and looked at her, terrified. 'The pain… It is gone'.
Fran understood quickly what it could mean and turned to Maxwell, 'My King, let's go there and do the schmooze. Niles needs to find his witch'.
Maxwell nodded and hurried his horse towards the people. Fran took a white flag over her head, with the symbols of the reign in it – even if it was a tense moment, she loved the feeling of empowerment the White Card of King Maxwell gave her.
It seemed to attract the attention of the agitated people, who stopped the commotion to see the approaching couple.
It didn't pass unnoticed the fact there was a group of soldiers that was following the strangers very slowly, and it was clearly done in order to not provoke any misunderstandings.
Niles was worried about Maxwell and Fran, because the act of carrying a white flag could not be respected when traitors are present; however, he soon noticed some of the leaders had their hands raised in greeting, and it was enough for him to be sure his strategy was being successful.
The soldiers were not seen as a menace, people were going to talk calmly, Fran was there with her force of will to guide Maxwell in using the White Card, and Niles turned his horse to analyze his surroundings furiously.
Considering the place where the projection was, his eyes searched the closer secure space… somewhere adequate to hide after such a hurried run through meadows and not very far that could drain her magical energy too much…
There, he saw some low bushes and two rocks and made the horse move.
It was his best shot, after all: if he was lucky enough, that witch had not chosen some distant cavern where she would be now, alone and bleeding to death…
Niles felt immensely relieved when the white cloth appeared among the leaves. He jumped from the horse to the ground and run to the white form to take her in his arms.
To his great surprise, there was no blood. Maybe the arrow had not got her…
The hope he dared to feel was becoming weaker while he was noticing the rest of the situation: she had her eyes closed and was immobile, barely breathing. If he were not close enough to feel it in his skin, he would say she was not breathing at all…
And that eerie lack of reaction - what could that mean?!
'Witch?', he called her, hoping it would help, and when it didn't, he could not take off the tinge of despair from his voice, 'Witch, please, don't you dare to leave me now! We've come this far…'
No response. The breathing was regular, but really slow, and now Niles feared the worst.
He stood up carrying her, and started running to the big group.
With a quick glance he saw things were on the right track: serious conversation was taking place, Maxwell and Fran were talking to a bunch of men and women, and there were even some people who were being guarded by warriors in strange uniforms and the soldiers that had come with Maxwell.
Well, they were taking decisions together. It was a good signal they didn't need him.
The group stopped talking and turned to Niles when he approached. 'She won't wake up… Does anyone know what is happening?'
Concerned faces and murmurs appeared. A guy who was being guarded received a dirty look from a lot of people. Niles made an effort to see his face – he had a feeling they had things to talk, later, about a spear and the value of life… well, even projected images of it.
An old woman came from the group. 'Follow me. We have a tent and some people who are prepared to take care of war casualties. They must serve her right'.
Ncncncncncncnc
Niles put the witch on a bed and soon there were a lot of people around her. He gave some steps away in order to give them space to their creepy examinations, and couldn't take his eyes from her face.
They talked quickly in a strange language, and for the first time he thought that maybe this was the real language of his witch. Maybe she had an accent that she masked with magic…
He really wanted to have the chance to hear her voice again… He didn't even need to discover the accent, after all… He just needed her opening her eyes and smiling while saying… anything…
God, he was hurting a lot more from seeing her lifeless like this than what he had felt from her magical trick!
Niles thoughts were very somber, at this point: really, things can always get worst. When you think you've known what pain was about, something may happen to convince you that Fate can toy a bit more with you.
And now he, a Catholic traditional knight, was here seeing some witches analyzing the witchy things his beloved witch was going through, and all he could think of was blaming Fate, a Pagan entity… Niles shook his head at the confusing thoughts of how well he seemed to be blending with the surroundings.
Finally, the group dispersed, and that same old woman came to him. 'Why have you sought her?'
Niles was frightened by the question. 'Should I let her there? Did I do anything wrong?'
The woman placed a reassuring hand on his arm. 'Your King was out there talking to us, but you were heading for her. Why?'
Now he understood: this woman had information about the situation, but she wanted to be sure he was the one to hear it. She wanted to know if he had chosen to be here, instead of out there, or if he was being gentle and just rescuing the blond.
The truth was needed. 'The mission my King is leading is very important… but I came all this way because of her'.
The woman gave him a once over. 'So, you are the knight who favored her?'
He puffed his chest. 'Yes, I am. I still favor her. That is why I am here'.
The woman nodded as if it was enough for her. 'She was making a projection', he nodded, indicating he knew what she was talking about, 'and being wounded during such a thing is very dangerous'.
'Is she hurt? I didn't see any blood…', his eyes were anxiously scanning the figure on the bed.
'To every situation there are at least two sides', the woman remarked. 'One part of this is that she managed to shut down before the spear could reach her. She was physically unharmed, therefore, because there was no substance in that projection when the spear reached it'.
Niles wanted to sigh in relief, but the woman had such a grave expression all over her face he was sure she was not finished, yet.
She resumed. 'The other part is that, when such a hurried magical shut down is made, there is no way of warning the person that the danger is over'.
He frowned, looked at the still form on the bed and an ice grip clutched at his heart. 'She is… out of reach?'
'A person can spend years like this, no changes at all, just the minimum of breath required to the body to maintain itself. Deaf and blind to the world around her'.
Niles gulped. 'She may never wake up again?'
'She has no way of knowing how much time has passed: the minimum of conscience she still has is dedicated to maintain the shut down to protect herself of a harming that she doesn't know is over. It was a technique developed in ancient times, where projected enemies would duel. The looser would shut down, showing lack of bravery, and soon would wake up, because it was clear there would be no more attacks – the shut down was a declaration of defeat'. The woman sighed. 'It was very intelligent and able of her to use it, but the fact she is not awake yet means she had no time to prepare herself adequately'.
While she talked Niles walked slowly to the side of the bed and knelt down, his eyes glued to the sleeping face.
The woman announced, 'I'm sorry for being the messenger of this bad news, knight, as I see you're hurting. We'll leave you alone with her for a while'.
Niles nodded without looking back.
He didn't really care if there were other people in the room – it was not because of them that he would have the feeling of being alone.
He took one of her hands in his and let the tears flow.
Ncncncncncncnc
When Fran put a hand on his shoulder, a long time after, he had spent the time crying, sobbing, calming down enough to caress the hand on his, crying a bit more, then caressing her face and sobbing…
He was calm for a while, now, sitting on the floor, his hand still clutching one of the blonde's ones, and managed to greet the brunette.
'The woman explained things to us out there', Fran said.
He just nodded.
She seated besides him. 'What do you plan on doing?'
Niles sighed, 'She can wake up at any moment. I want to be near her when it happens'. He sniffed, 'And she may never wake up. Someone must take care of her. Dust off her clothes…'
Fran smiled at his half-hearted joke. 'She must have a family, you know. Maybe she has even servants that can do it'.
'I suppose so…', he agreed, sadly, 'But…', his face showed openly the mix of sorrow and determination that dominated him, 'Oh, Fran, the truth is I can't accept this! I will do whatever is in my reach, and beyond, to bring her back!'
'I know, sweetie', she reassured him. 'Then now you understand my question – what do you plan on doing?'
'Oh', he looked at her as if she had shaken him awake. 'Well, I still don't know. I… couldn't think straight, yet'.
'You were in pain while riding a horse back and forth these meadows, you went delirious while thinking this girl was trying to kill you… If it was not enough to wear your body, your mental energy must be very low from all the anxiety'.
'Mental energy?', he frowned, 'Are we having that conversation you promised on the way here?'
'Oh, no. That was for when it is over, remember?'
They smiled at each other. Niles could not suppress some tears. 'Thank you for believing, even if it serves to your own wishes'.
'Oh, Niles!', she was tearful and, for a moment, is seemed she was going to say something difficult. But then her expression changed and she decided against it, choosing to be back to her initial intention when coming to the tent. 'What do you think of some food, water and rest, so you can become the Clever again and have some brilliant idea to save the day?'
'It seems a sensitive suggestion… Maybe I need to clear my mind…'
'Come on, you know I'm right! We'll call someone to stay with her for a while, if it makes you feel better'.
'It does, but… I don't know if I can let her…'
'Listen: Maxwell needs you by his side for some time. Just enough to calm him down and help to set things. I promise you, once you have said some words, have eaten and drank, I'll free you'.
'All right, I shall follow you'.
'There's a free meal outside, honey! What is the doubt?!', and with that, Fran fled the room.
Niles took a last glance at the witch and, before the situation overwhelmed him again, followed his friend.