Life in the palace was slow, slow as it could be. More than actual slowness it was dread of time, ceaseless yet unrelenting. Nothing had happened to offset her plans, Aloe was more than comfortable working as a scribe for Rani, or that was what she constantly told herself. Her body slowly healed, but the constant exercising in the shape of infusing and evolving seeds was taking a toll on her body. Not much, but enough to offset the boost that recovery granted her.
The regeneration stance currently allowed her to heal thrice as fast, yet such was the exertion she was putting herself in that the two-hundred percent increase was basically nullified, bringing her recovering rate to that of a baseline adult. That wasn't without its advantages, however. The other resources the stance regenerated, like breath and stamina, but more importantly, vitality were still there. She may not use her increased healing to the utmost degree, but the vitality slowly trickled into her seeds, whether it was truth Infusion or Evolution.
It had been a theory until now, but after endless days of mindless usage, Aloe confirmed her suspicions. Evolution was what made her vitality grow, not Infusion. She still couldn't discard the fact that infusion increased her maximum vitality to a lesser extent, but after a few days where she couldn't afford to evolve any seed due to the constant presence of sultanzade, she saw no advances to her vitality once she went to sleep as that was the only moment where she could have her vitality topped.
Having said so, sleeping was a problematic endeavor. Her deposit regenerated in a matter of hours, so if one of the princesses barged into her room at night – a thing they had yet to do nor had shown signs of doing, but she couldn't lower her guard – they could catch her red-handed. That was why she slept with acuity active. The most tender of noises was able to wake her when her vitality was topped. And if a sultanzade infiltrated her bedchamber at night – whilst that was by far not the only risk that the situation entailed – she had cumin seeds hidden in her hair to evolve them the moment she noticed something was afoot.
Infusing through hair was a complex matter, but so was disposing of an evolving seed. Her body refused to let them go once the process started, so the only alternative she had was pulling her hair to remove the braids that were infusing the seed. A botched and crude method, but it was better than losing consciousness when assaulted because she lost all her vitality in a matter of seconds.
Paranoia was paramount in her workplace landscape. Perhaps she would never put to use many of the tactics she elaborated, but she preferred that to not having a way out when the occasion arose. Even at the worst outcome, fainting by lack of vitality was better than the sultanzade realizing that she was already at Naila's level of vitality again.
Crude calculations told her, that at her current limited pace, it would take her two months to accrue enough vitality to equal four adults.
Fatima said a cultivator can only reap once or twice per day, meaning that at most, they can gain an adult's worth of vitality every month and three-quarters. That was the sole reason why the sultanzade had willed to teach her Nurture because the aphrodisiac somehow made reapings more bountiful. Somehow. I don't know if Naila is reaping every day, and at the maximum of her capabilities, but I guess not as I have matched her already.
It infuriated Aloe knowing she could do better. Evolution had proven to be way more effective at obtaining vitality than the barbaric arts of the imperials, but because she had limited herself to only the vitality she originally had when she went to Asina, it meant she couldn't perform more demanding evolutions, even if there only was a single more demanding evolution in her repertoire.
Could I get some holidays? She pondered as her pen slid across the parchment. No, most likely not. They are pressed for help, and Mother only got holidays once or twice every month. Even if I hadn't been absent for this long, there's the whole Loyata situation going on… The scribe sighed, prompting a look from her fair-skinned maid. I hate this job. Aloe hated even more the fact that resigning wasn't on the table.
She hated many things. So many things. Silence, for once. Which was ironic because if someone made any noise she would be at their throats. There were many types of silence; some she liked, others not so much. Not everyone understood that. But as she worked in the afternoon after Idris and Fayruz dropped documents needing to be checked and Lulu remained in silence without working – just standing around with her eyes closed – that was the silence she hated. But it wasn't like she could ask the maid for talk, that was unbecoming of her position.
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Fortunately, the silence was broken by a knock on the door.
As Lulu opened her eyes and stood up to assist the door with perfect manners and gracefulness, Aloe switched her stance to sense. Her acuity didn't recognize the person behind the door, so she instantly calmed down knowing that it wasn't Naila or Rani's heartbeat waiting for her. Not that they could have been, as the sultanzade wouldn't have been this polite. The palace was their house and everyone else was their guests, after all.
The maid met with the person at the door, leaving it ajar, but Aloe caught the contents of the conversation with ease thanks to her enhanced supernatural hearing. She almost groaned in disappointment. Lulu was quick to close the door and walk to her desk.
"A letter has arrived for you, Aloe." The fair-skinned beauty presented the sealed envelope to her.
The scribe's heart dropped as soon as she saw the imperial family crest on the sealing wax. Aloe grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand expecting the worst and reached for her letter opener, only to realize Lulu had it in her hand.
"Thanks." Aloe accepted the knife and Lulu responded with a warm smile.
She took a deep breath and removed the seal with movements that could only be acquired with practice and repetition, not a drop of wax remained on the face of the envelope when she finished. Aloe slowly removed the letter from its container, unfurling the folded paper, and then proceeded to read it.
Dear Aloe Ayad,
The letter began. She was too afraid to read the remittent on the envelope, if there even was one. The imperial crest had unsettled her too much and decided to just read it and find the truth at the ending signature.
I have been informed of your safe arrival to Sadina and that fills me with joy, though we are not here to talk about emotions, but business. I have allowed the temporal cease of our accord due to your health issues and lack of primary materials, but this cannot go any further. From the moment this letter reaches you, I will be readying to leave Asina and march toward Sadina.
Fret not, my arrival will not be swift as my hands are tied with responsibilities across the Loyatan border, but nonetheless, I do not believe I will take more than a couple of weeks to reach the emirate's palace.
I expect at least a dose of your merchandise for the moment I arrive.
Your tutor and partner,
Fatima Asina
Aloe sighed with relief once she finished reading the letter. She had expected this, albeit it came sooner than she would have liked. Fatima was bound to reclaim her part of the deal, and the power-hungry sultanzade was way more manageable than any other member of the imperial family, especially the one the scribe feared the most.
"Lulu?" The scribe of commoners voiced out as she let the letter rest on the desk.
"Yes, Aloe?" The maid stood before her with an upright back and clasped hands. For the woman, that was a relaxed posture.
"Would you be so dear to call for Nesrine? I would like to take a bath."
"Of course." Lulu bowed down and left the office's premises.
Once the scribe didn't hear her servant's steps, she collapsed on the desk and groaned. "Fuck…" It was an exhausted groan. "The Blossomflame is not ready yet and I can't grow a Grace's Exaltation in only two weeks. That only leaves one option."
The sheer thought made her groan again.
"I needed to go to the greenhouse at some point, but I don't like expediating the schedule this much." She lazily scratched her scalp. "I have two choices, either leave now – which sounds like a moronic and downright suicidal plan – or wait for the Blossomflame to blossom and see if it can heal my wounds."
That later option did, of course, also present other issues. She had planted the Blossomflame two weeks ago – even when taking into account the days it spent in her office before moving it to her house – and furthermore, even if she had infused the seed with accelerated growth, she wasn't sure if a month of virtual germination was enough to make the flower bloom.
"I can scrape another week more at best. If I leave in the week, it will take one full day if not more to get to the oasis in my current state, two days more to at least get a single dose of aphrodisiac done, then another day and a half or so to get back. That would net me with a solid-enough margin for my meeting with Fatima." The scribe groaned and melted on her armchair. "Tight, but doable." If I can make the journey there in the first place. She refused to acknowledge aloud the looming hypothetical.
Lulu knocked on her office's door – she recognized her by the cadence between knocks, though she could distinguish her heartbeat by now – and she invited her to come in.
"I have brought Nesrine, Aloe." The maid announced.
The scribe of commoners raised her head and looked at the women who certainly were ready for the coming bath, especially the guard.
"You really enjoy the bathing sessions, do you not?" Aloe said whilst looking at Nesrine.
"No comment." The female guard responded with an impassive tone, though the three women in the room found themselves smiling idiotically.