Aloe carried her heart in her hand as she moved through the palace's corridors. It was lunchtime, meaning silence reigned everywhere but the dining hall. The silence was good. Not only was the sound of wind crashing against the windows and arches comfortable, but it made it easier to detect people with acuity. The less noise, the better.

She had a destination in mind, and it wasn't eating with the rest. She hadn't done since she had arrived at Sadina. If it wasn't because she had to travel with people to get back, she would still haven't eaten with people for a few months now. They said that eating with people was better, but that notion now only gathered bile in her throat.

Her arms were tired from pushing the wheels, her wheelchair hadn't exactly been thought for patients to drive themselves. She could have used strength or no stance at all – which would have still boosted her effective physical capabilities that mattered – but she felt vulnerable in the chair. So vulnerable that not donning toughness or acuity made her sick. She needed some protection, otherwise she felt something – someone – would attack her. She needed to be prepared for it.

A lapse in the flow of wind alerted her.

The scribe would have jumped in her chair if it wasn't because her body had convinced itself to move as little as possible to remove any unwanted pressure from her hips. She paid close attention to her sense of touch and hearing, then found the change of flow wasn't an attack directed at her. It came from her left, where there was a patio and…

Naila Asina practice in the opening. It wasn't an uncommon sight-seeing the young sultanzade practice, especially after or before lunch, sometimes both. Somehow, moving at such high speeds with her stomach full didn't faze her in the least.

It shouldn't have been a surprising sight, yet a single oddity made Aloe stop breathing. The princess had opted for a different outfit. Or rather lack of it, as the imperial practiced bare naked.

Bare naked was a bit of an exaggeration, as the girl had a loincloth covering her sensitive parts, but that was nowhere enough. Aloe thought her decency and chastity had beaten out of her, but seeing the young woman's chest exposed as she practiced her movements with ruthless discipline awoke those long-dead emotions. Y-you could at least use a sash or something! She didn't express her shame aloud, but she felt her cheeks slightly heat up.

Soldiers practiced their martial arts naked from time to time, Aloe knew that. It was one thing practicing swordsmanship or spearsmanship with light armor on to emulate a battle, but when it was about building one's body, soldiers and guards did it naked. Especially during hot and sunny days, which allowed their bodies to build resistance to the harsh desert marches. Aloe remembered one of the many times she had been brought to a training field when she was younger when Uncle Jafar was babysitting her. Tens of men line up hitting the air with repeated motions, their bodies glistening with sweat.

It was the same with Naila. There was no lewdness in her. Quite literally at that. The girl was so focused on her martial training that her body's growth had adapted to it. Unlike her sisters – or mother – she didn't have ample bosoms. It could also be true that she had yet to blossom, as she was only fifteen, yet Aloe doubted it. Her body had also grown wider than taller, favoring muscle mass before anything else. She was more muscular than Aaliyah yet paradoxically feebler. The answer, of course, resided in the disparity of vitality.

In the almost two months the scribe of commoners had been out, the imperial scribe had increased her vitality deposit. Not much considering Aloe's own growth during her first two months, but significantly, nonetheless.

Her eyes soon wandered elsewhere as the training sultanzade didn't give much game. The girl's discipline was too potent for Aloe to feel something as she practiced her katas. Instead, the scribe focused on the woman waiting on the patio next to Naila. It was none other than the guard who had assisted her in the bath when she arrived at the palace a week ago.

The guard didn't talk to her, but she nodded at Aloe, her gratitude visible. Surprising how a single bath can make people so amenable. Though the guard dutifully maintained her position, Aloe gestured her to come forward. Considering how she didn't doubt to come to her side, the scribe guessed she didn't have orders to stand with her back straight and was doing it out of her own volition.

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"You called, venerable scribe?" The guard directed at her respectfully.

"I indeed have." Aloe nodded, mindfully keeping her hands hidden.

She was constantly infusing vitality into dates at a slow rate in the case Naila could detect her vitality levels increase. It was mentally straining to perfectly match her vitality regeneration, but she had gained practice during this morn's audience. She could only be thankful that as the scribe of commoners she was positioned on the opposite side from the imperial and noble scribe. Rani still remained in the center of the formation, but Tamara and Nuha were closer to her. Even then, Aloe believed if someone was to notice her vitality, it was going to be Naila. She had once voiced her concerns over Aloe's vitality before.

"I have something to ask you, if that is not much problem." The scribe of commoners resumed.

"I will do my best to answer you." The guard replied solemnly with a hand on her chest.

"It is nothing serious, no need to be so… chivalrous." Aloe dedicated the woman a wry smile. Warm. Welcoming. Yet darkly calculating. Interactions – as of late – had become more of a game board than good-willed socializing. "I was just inquiring about the soldiers that escorted me to Sadina, Captain Jamal and his men. Do you know if they have already marched away?"

"I am afraid so, venerable scribe." The guard stayed upright at her side. Anyone looking at the woman would have mistaken her for Aloe's personal guard. "The imperial soldiers left Sadina only a couple of days after your arrival."

"I see. What a shame. I hoped to bid them farewell, they were good and capable men."

"Indeed." She nodded.

"Hmm, you make it sound as if you knew them."

"Well… I cannot say I knew the imperial soldiers, but in the days they stayed, I managed to exchange swords with them."

"Is that enough to know that they are good men?" Aloe snooped with interest. "Not to undermine your opinion, but I have traveled with them for a full week, yet you talk with the same confidence as I over a spar."

"I do not intend to disparage your venerable profession, but I talk with a soldier's mentality when I say that you cannot understand the value and emotion that goes over and into an exchange of swords." The woman's righteousness struck Aloe true. That was something that couldn't be faked.

It had been hard as of late to find true words. Everyone who spoke at her either veiled their words in small lies byproduct of exaggeration – if not outright subterfuge – or talked down on her with their pity. There was something endearing in hearing someone talk out their heart with utmost certainty. For she was incapable of doing so.

"You are right, I am wholly incapable of imagining that." Aloe only saw savagery in their strikes – either of sultanzade, guards, or soldiers – even if she could understand the practice and discipline behind every swing. "And how were they? Their ability, I mean."

"Superb." The guard taciturnly responded deep in thought, something had her mind locked in a trance and it wasn't hard to imagine what. "Apologies, I should elaborate. Anyone can follow katas and replicate them, it is only a matter of time before they do them correctly, but these men – especially Jamal – they were different. Even when they were warming up, there was an intent behind those katas that I had never seen before. As if they understood the purpose of each movement, the influence of every muscle with each swing."

As the guard's eyes were lost in thought, Aloe now realized how beautiful the woman was. It should have not surprised her, for even if she was a guard, they were in the palace of Sadina now. It wouldn't surprise her if any of the sultanzade sisters decided to reap her.

For in her mind, it wasn't an if, but a when.

"How about the sparring?" Aloe broke the silence, even if there wasn't much to begin with as Naila continued breaking the air with the swings of her dual blades. "You cannot drop the subject of sword exchanges being that important and then not describe it."

"Oh, I apologize, venerable scribe." The guard knelt down at the scribe's side, the metal pieces of her leather chest plate clinging with the movement. "I, Nesrine, beg your pardon."

"No need to be so formal. Stand up proud and tell the story once and for all." Nesrine, huh? Unlike servants, Aloe wasn't expected to learn the names of the guards. If she had been a noble, though, no one would have battened an eye if she just directed servants by 'you'. Something, something, both of them being commoners. Aloe didn't care, but the truth was she didn't know most of the names of the servants of the palace. She only needed Lulu.

"Of course." Nesrine stood up. "Though I am afraid words will not do justice, at least mine. Perhaps you would do well in asking our training princess." There was no derision in her tone, she was being serious.

"How is that?" Aloe raised a brow.

"She fought them, naturally."