"Winter is coming." Mumbled Claire looking out the window.
Autumn was almost over, indeed. It was a month since he met Sora for the first time. Aiden was going there in the princess' body every day he could, but now they didn't ditch the priestess anymore. He and Sora always had a sort of code in their conversations, so it only took them a few days to make up something so they could talk with the priestess present.
Aidan was also getting better at handling Lumina's body. The healers were forcing him to make some light exercise, and Lumina's body had regained some of her curves back. Ration potions lack fat so a body fed with only these will lose weight. But nobody could endure taking on them for too long. They were not used as a diet for losing weight.
Aiden walked next to Claire and looked out into the hospital's gardens. The royal ward was placed at the back of the building facing the castle to avoid giving line of sight for any archer or spellcaster.
"Indeed, autumn is almost over. An entire year in hospital," Aiden stated the obvious. He spent almost ten months in a coma.
They were interrupted by some messenger.
"Your Highness, the King wants you to know that your fianceé has arrived. His Majesty wants you to go visit the castle and see him."
That left promptly after giving his messge.
The priestess approached Lumina.
"My, my, what beautiful love! The prince rode day and night to see his beloved. It is important for you to show a healthy face."
Aiden froze in horror and then pouted. What if he has to... with the fianceé... no way! He was going to marry some guy he never saw?
"Please go tell the palace maids to fetch my best dress." Aidan asked the priestess just to get her away so he could talk to Claire alone.
"I am honored, your highness." The priestess curtsied and left.
Aidan turned to face Claire. "I am not well, can we postpone?"
"No way! You know how important this wedding is! We need that alliance!" They have too many trade routes and getting on their bad side would cost the realm too much, is what Claire meant. But Aiden had just a feeble grasp of international trade and politics. That was more Sora's thing. The fact he still felt like he couldn't think straight was also weighing.
"I am not well. I can't even use magic!" Aiden cried. It was true, he tried some basic spells, nothing happened. He couldn't even feel mana or see magic like he could before. The light globes for example, he was able to see the spell formation and the tether linking the spell to the tiny core powering it...
Oh, frag. A tether. It must be a tether, he realized. One he can't see because he can't use magic.
And seeing magic was kinda his thing. His almost exclusive thing. Seeing mana was too rare a skill and Aidan was well aware of that.
"Claire, we need to go somewhere now. If you come with me I will go to the palace as requested." Aiden spoke in a hurry.
"Calm down, Lumina. Where do you want to go?" Claire would only call the princess Lumina when the two of them were alone and she was in a good mood. Which was a strange thing, why would Claire be in a good mood because the King summoned Lumina?
"Lord Aiden's room. Now." Aiden tugged on Claire's arm, but she did not yield.
"What do you want there? You have changed, your Highness. You are spending an unhealthy amount of time talking to the beast..."
Aiden's hand was already on Claire so the slap was immediate. "Do not ever call Lady Sora that. Ever." And then he realized what he made using Lumina's body. "Oh. Claire, I am terribly sorry! I don't know what is happening, I am very distressed by all this. I feel like I lost a piece of myself..."
Claire should see through Aiden's acting in a normal day. But these were not normal times, much less a normal day. Besides, the princess was having selective amnesia, so it was not absurd to believe in Aiden's hoax.
The hospital was grinding on everyone's nerves. Even the dirty minded priesstess was getting a little looney swimming on her fantasies of immoral relationships. Fact is, Lumina was visiting Aidan's room too much and people noticed. What reason the princess has to visit there every day?
The two of them walked in silence until they reached Aiden's room in the noble's ward.
"Princess. Lady Claire. Welcome." Sora bowed and greeted the ladies into Aiden's room.
"Lady Sora. How is my hero doing today?" Aiden asked about himself.
"I am afraid the same as always. But having your Highness' grace us with her presence surely makes him feel better."
"You jest, Lady Sora. Of course my mere presence cannot have such..." Aiden trailed off his small talk. It hit him almost like a rampaging Rhinorse.
Indeed! His mind felt less clouded just by being in this room. He could think clearer! And if his tether theory is right, if he... Claire and the priestess watched as Lumina walked to Aiden's side. She then reached out with a hand and placed a hand on his forehead. Sora's jaws almost hit the ground as the otherwise pained face Aiden was making all the time suddenly relaxed. Aiden also noticed that and removed the hand from his body. He tried to do some math in his head and after calculating the result he put the hand back on the forehead. Trying a more complex calculation, he actually found it easier to than the former.
"As I thought." Aiden mumbled.
"Princess? Is something wrong?" Claire asked.
"Yes. I tried to use a healing spell on Aiden, but nothing happened. As I thought, I cannot use magic anymore." Aidan lied. But to lose all magic powers would be a huge blow on the princess' market value.
"That should be temporary, right?" Claire's fears were visible on her face.
"Claire, how many months since the accident have passed? An entire year." Aiden stated matter-of-factly. Clearly implying that if Lumina's magic was to return, it would've already done so.
"Almost a year, my Lady." Claire let her head fall down. 'Blind optimism will only hurt the princess further', she thought.
"I think I should be glad I am alive, given the injuries I suffered." Aiden turned to Sora. "Lady Sora, I know it pains you to be separated from Lord Aidan, but I would like to have you escort me to the royal palace along with Claire." And he placed the princess' hand back on his own forehead. He needed to think, and he needed a clear mind.
Now that Aidan's tether theory was confirmed, he wanted to try and see the range of this tether and who was the originator. If Lumina had detrimental effects, then the tether's origin was Aidan's own body. When a tether is pushed to the limit, the sustaining spell will fail. One of his hopes was that the effect was a body swap one. Breaking the tether would mean putting him back in his body and the princess in hers. If he could see the tether he could analyze it and get some information.
But the fact that nobody mentioned the tether means that none of the mages and priests that treated them both saw it. Magic sight was a rare ability, but not that rare. He was sure someone in the hospital had it. Although he was hoping for a 'mere' body swap spell, his mind would not be so clouded with the distance. No, it is something different. Might even be the reason they remained alive. Aidan researched the dark arts extensively during the semester he studied at the academy. Necromancy, soul magic. His elements are most fitting for said spells. Of course, his intent was to craft defenses against said arts, but knowledge is but a tool. He felt no impulse to go and raise an undead army, but the knowledge is there. He could if he would.
Soul magic could explain how they survived the accident with their bodies basicallly ground into paste, save for some organs and most of their brains. They suffered skull fractures. Internal bleeding. Dozens of wounds grave enough to be fatal to a person. Aidan ran a few magical formulae in his mind and yes, it would be possible to use an 'undying' spell to keep a person alive despite extensive injury. It would require an absurd amount of magic...
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Shit. That was the reason his body was wearing out and could not wake up.
But it doesn't explain the body swap. Or even if it is a body swap.
"Princess?" Sora touched Aidan's shoulder, snapping him away from his musings in a very familiar way.
"Yes, I just needed a moment. Shall we go?"
"You've been there for an hour already." Pointed out Claire, so astonished she forgot they were not alone.
"Then we should make haste to the palace. Don't want to leave the King waiting."
Claire noticed that Lumina usually refers to her father as 'father'.
They left for the palace after making some arrangements. Claire, Sora and Aidan using Lumina's body. Aidan was silent, focusing on the tether and measuring the distance. As they moved further from his body, he felt the fog in his mind thicken.
They were halfway through the palace courtyard when Aiden mumbled, "Stop." Before stumbling and resting a hand on Claire's shoulders to avoid falling down. The fog had evolved to almost total numbness. He could barely feel Lumina's fingers.
"My Lady?" Claire asked, her fear clear as a sunny day.
"Back. Back." Aidan was not capable of forming sentences anymore.
"Excuse me, your Highness. As you instructed me, I shall escort you back to the hospital. It is clear that this outing has stressed the Princess' delicate recovery." Sora announced for everyone to hear, before diving beneath Lumina's armpit and putting the princess in her arms in a bridal carry.
Claire was going to make a motion to stop Sora, what would entice a reaction from the guards watching the scene. Sora made pleading eyes to Claire, and she cleared her throat.
"Guards!" Claire shouted in a commanding tone. The well trained palace guard dashed to her aid. "Escort us back to the hospital, don't let anyone in our way. The princess needs the attention of a priest immediately. Her life is at stake! Move!"
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"Would you please explain to me what is happening?" Claire almost shouted after she and Lumina were alone back in her private hospital room. It was hard to make the priestess leave, but Claire had her ways.
"I guess I should. Can I trust you, Claire?" Aidan tried to make the famous puppy eyes. His degree of success was abysmal, as Claire reacted like some demon bug bit her.
"You are not the princess..." She mumbled in shock of what her realization meant.
"Claire, what nonsense are you saying? Of course I am Lumina."
Clare drew a dagger from who-knows-where in her backside. With a swift practiced motion, the dagger was on Lumina's throat, blunt side touching. Aidan couldn't even swallow.
"Who are you? And what happened to Lumina?" She spoke between her teeth.
AIdan waved an arm to signal Claire to retreat the dagger. She did, but only so far as to not touch Lumina's skin.
"I don't know. Claire, I really don't know. I really want to find out, to make this madness end. But I am at my wits' end."
"Who are you?" She repeated.
"Aidan. I'm Aidan. I don't know why or how I ended up inside Lumina's body but I am trying to make her whole again. Please believe me, I mean the princess no harm."
'It is no use playing pretend princess', thought Aidan. Claire cares for Lumina and hurting me will only hurt her.
Claire lowered the dagger, but the fierce glare remained. Her muscles were still ready to pounce at any moment. She said only one word.
"Explain."
"The rhinorses weren't stampeding. They were sent to assassinate Lumina, I believe." Claire nodded, still glaring. "It wasn't me! I didn't set this up and I don't believe I was their target. But they stopped to crush my stone shield instead of just ramming through or walking over it. I remember that I angled the stone wall to make an arch so they would walk over it. And I am sure my stone wall was strong enough to resist the weight of rhinorses passing over it."
Aidan looked at Claire, her stance unwavering. Since she was not speaking, he continued.
"Claire, They trampled me and Lumina and broke our bodies beyond recognition. You were there. I shielded Lumina with my body. And I think that even now I am using all my magic to keep us alive. Think! My body is completely healed, and it healed faster than Lumina's. I have earth affinity, my flesh's resilience is way stronger than the princess'."
Claire relaxed her stance a little, but only enough to allow a bitter frown to form on her face. Since she remained silent, Aidan continued his drivel.
"I have nothing against the princess. She even came to congratulate me on my spell! I threw my own body to protect her. Please, believe me."
Claire opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Your Highness, the King is here to visit you. Are you decent?" The priestess' voice came from the other side of the door. She didn't wait for an answer though. "Coming!" She opened the door only enough to get through and closed it right after her.
"Please!" Aidan whispered to Claire, whose dagger had already vanished and her demeanor was back to the meek and subservient handmaiden act.
"Of course, your Highness. Let me help you back on the bed."
Claire tucked Lumina sitting with the legs under the blankets and fixed her hair as Aidan rested the princess' head on the pillows. She also adjusted the dress and Lumina's bosom while complaining about the lack of a corselet. Aidan watched quietly while Claire basically arranged a scene of a sick and recovering princess for a painter to draw.
Satisfied with the arrangement, Claire nodded to the priestess that left to call in the King. Lumina's father entered the room right after, along an old man Aidan recognized as one of the realm's ministers and a young man in the late teens that gave Aidan an immediate and almost uncontrollable desire to throw up. Aidan instinctively turned his gaze away as the young man smiled and waved at Lumina. His basic instincts were completely on 'flight' mode, a mix of terror and disgust taking over his entire being. He began to hyperventilate and looking around, he found Claire looking at him with a worried expression.
Claire leaned on the side of the bed, drawing close to Lumina's ears. "Do you know who is he?"
Aidan grabbed Claire's hand by instinct and also leaned closer to Claire. "I have no idea, but please get that man out of my room immedately. Please, Claire, take him away from me!" He whispered, small pools of water forming on the eyes. He could feel the accelerated heartbeat but couldn't think of why he was in such distress.
The King spoke, causing the brief confidence between princess and handmaid to end.
"My daughter Lumina. Please, don't force yourself!" The fatherly concern in the King's voice was genuine. "News of your injury traveled abroad, your fianceé came to see you out of pure concern for your wellbeing. Don't risk it for the sake of meeting your love."
'Love? The King dare to assume I am in love with this filthy disgusting wretched excuse for a prince?' The thought floated in Aidan's mind spontaneously. His mind swimming in fear and the muddled mind caused Aidan to not even notice anything strange on these foreign thoughts. Lumina's hands were shaking.
Claire grasped Aidan's hand in a reassuring and warm hold and nodded to the King, asking permission to speak.
"Claire, please speak your mind." The King nodded to the handmaiden.
"Your Majesty, the princess is very weakened by her ordeal out of the hospital. With her best interest in mind, I would request the esteemed visitors to wait outside while you meet with your daughter. With all due respect to the minister and prince." She glanced at the King's followers before lowering her head and winking at Aidan out of their fied of view.
Aidan didn't notice the indignated look both men gave Claire but he raised his free hand and placed it on her shoulder.
"It is as Claire said, Father. Delighted though I am to receive such esteemed visitors, I am afraid I am too weak to properly entertain them. I would like to request them to postpone their visit to a more appropriate moment." Aidan made his best to sound like Lumina. The degree of success was questionable if anyone asked Claire. Nobody did.
'Preferentially never!' Aidan's inner voice declared.
"But please stay, Father. I long for your cherished company." He hurriedly completed after an awkward pause.
"Leave us!" The King commanded in a tone that left no opening for discussion.
The priestess made a beeline for the door and the minister also complied. Fianceé prince froze, clearly intent on staying and Claire was moving away but Aidan held onto her hand pushing her closer and forcing her to sit on the chair by the bedisde. The King glared at the prince and he also turned to leave after giving Lumina a flourished bow.
"Father, please let Claire stay by my side. I am weak and she can give me assistance." The king nodded and Claire sat on a chair on the bedside after exchanging a suspicious look with Aidan. Then she froze and blended into the background like she was a piece of furniture, her presence just disappearing even though she was still in plain sight.
An awkward silence fell on the room before the King spoke again.
"How are you feeling, daughter?" The haughty and commanding tone was gone. A soft and deep voice, filled with concern came out of the man. Even his shoulders were a bit slumped.
"Alive, father. Given the injuries I suffered, it is a miracle in itself. But not without a price..." Aidan intentionally trailed off to bait the King.
"What do you mean?"
"My classmate, Aidan. He shielded me with his own body and magic, bearing the brunt of those beasts' assault. He is yet to awaken." He mentally slapped his forehead. 'Get your priorities straight, Aidan. Why would Lumina care about you?' He thought.
The king's gaze drifted along the room, obviously absorbed in thought.
"The boy's sacrifice and valor will be forever remembered. I gave orders to treat him with the best this hospital has to offer. His father is my personal friend. You can ease your worries."
"I also lost my magic. I can't summon a mote of mana to my will anymore."
The King sat on the bed and held Lumina's hand in his own. Aidan noticed how rugged and callused his hand was. Swordsman's calluses, he recognized. His own hands had a few of these. The King's hands were warm and kind nonetheless. Without even thinking, Aidan threw himself to embrace the King and froze right after when he realized what he had done.
Father embraced daughter and the girl cried. Claire was watching the otherwise heartwarming scene wondering if it was really Aidan inside Lumina's body. 'The bethrotal was a state secret. Yutis needed the trade route with that kingdom, but Lumina was not too keen in sacrificing herself to a man she despised. In fact she confessed she wanted to...
'It makes sense. That is why she was marveled at Aidan's original spell. If the realm could harvest bigger cores from simple undead monsters in the dungeon beneath the capital, it could be a source of wealth strong enough to blow that engagement to smithereens.'
Claire's musings were interrupted by the King.
"It is decided. Lumina, I am sending you to the Holy City. There the best healer priests will treat you and restore your magic."
And his tone left no room for an argument.
Aidan froze and slowly pushed him away from the King's embrace, blushing at the proximity to a strange man. Whatever took over him to make this embarassing scene, was gone. A bucket of cold water was just thrown on him.
"The Holy City? Isn't it too far?"
"I will have our best priests go with you. You will be fine. I am also calling Headmaster Astromelicus to look into your magic problem."
"Yes, father. As you wish." Lumina's head bowed. Aidan was already making plans to escape this predicament. Traveling out of town was a death sentence.
'Wait, didn't Aidan agree too fast? Something is not right', thought Claire.