Elincia's Point of View

Helmsforth Temple

Arceana chuckled softly before turning to me. “No doubt worried about General Alwin. Do not worry, Lucia. The General will make a full recovery.” She then gestured to follow her. “It was just a magical backlash.”

We entered the room, and Lucia smiled as she saw him sleeping. “Thank you for taking care of him. I was worried for a time.” Lucia informed us before going over and carefully shifting his bangs from his face. “How is the Vithari Queen?”

“She is alive and receiving care as we speak. It is a miracle she is alive at all, but we are confident she will survive.” I told her.

“We must send another airship as soon as possible with another ambassador or a messenger of sorts.” Arceana said before moving into the room and closing the door. “Vithari will need to know that Ventari is alive and well.”

“Doing so now would be foolish,” I stated before gesturing to Lucia and Alwin. “These two barely survived Arthur transporting them back here. I say we prep a crew, airship, and General Kheri to undertake this mission, but we need to speak to Arthur first.”

Arceana sighed and nodded in agreement. “Yes. We need to know if that creature was destroyed or if it is still roaming around. I will make the arrangements later.”

I nodded again before looking back to Lucia, who once again looked lost. “Are you injured, Lucia?”

“What?” The High Elf asked back.

“You are very quiet and seem lost in thought. If you are injured, we can take a look at you if you would rather…” I offered.

She sighed. “Thank you for asking, but I am not injured. It has to do with Sir Arthur?”

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My eyes darted to Arceana, who I found looking at me as well. “What about Sir Arthur?”

Lucia frowned before she gestured to herself. “He has called me by a different name two times now, and I cannot help but feel as though it means something.” She explained.

“What name has he called you?” I asked.

“Mara.” Lucia informed us, and I tilted my head at that in confusion.

“Mara?” I repeated. “I have never heard of such a name. Perhaps it was someone he once knew, but I doubt it is an insult.” Then I turned to Arceana, who was holding her head as he looked down with her eyes squeezed shut. “Sister?”

She looked up after a moment in alarm. “What?!” Arceana asked back with a shaky voice.

Giving her a cautious look, I stepped closer to her. “Are you alright?”

Nodding after a moment, she clutched her head. “Apologies. A small headache. Probably from healing so many people. It has been quite some time since I have last done so.” Taking a deep breath, Arceana looked to Lucia. “I doubt it is an insult, but it does have a familiar ring to it. Unfortunately, I cannot place where I have heard it from.”

Lucia looked down in thought. “Perhaps he has called you Mara in the past as well?” She offered.

To my surprise, Arceana barely managed to sit down in a chair before her nose started to bleed. She collapsed in the chair as both Lucia and I rushed to her side in concern. The blood wasn’t difficult to stop, but I was very concerned about what just happened. Perhaps she used more magic than she thought, or she has been pushing herself due to the incident.

“Guards!” I shouted.

A pair of guards rushed into the room to see Arceana unconscious, with blood decorating her face. Immediately, they were on alert as they moved throughout the room. Both took up defensive positions in a matter of seconds.

“My sister has just collapsed. I think it is due to her healing so many of the injured crew herself. Please fetch the doctors to examine her.” My magic moved to heal her, but there was nothing to heal, which confused me. “She seems fine, but I am concerned. I would like to have her looked at by professionals.”

They moved to fetch some doctors before a team came in and carefully lifted her onto a cot with my help. Lucia and I both watched as they looked her over before moving her. After all, none of us knew what had happened. The doctors deemed her stabilized and began to move her.

I stayed behind and looked at Lucia. “I am sure it is nothing, but I must be available. Please keep an eye on my sister along with Alwin. If she awakens, let me know immediately.” Lucia nodded slowly at that, and I sighed before placing a hand on her shoulder. “Do not worry about Arceana. She has a tendency to push herself when she really should rest.”

“Of course. I will make sure to check in on her periodically.” The other High Elf stated. “It just is difficult to do all this with so many of us here… Even Arthur is resting.”

Patting her, I smiled. “We will make sure all of them are as good as new. Arceana, Alwin, and even Arthur. All of them will be just fine.” Nudging her, she smiled at that. “And when Arthur wakes up, you can ask him yourself who, or what, Mara is. I have never heard such a name, but it would be interesting to know who he holds in such high regard that he would call out for them after a nightmare.”

Lucia softly grabbed my arm with a smile. “Maybe it is his mom?” She offered.

That made me giggle. “Arthur calling out for his mother in his sleep would surprise me, but it is certainly something I would hold over his head.” Turning to leave, I quickly added. “Just to poke fun of, of course.”

Quickly following the trail of doctors, many things were on my mind. Mara was the least of my worries. Some no-name woman didn’t need to be investigated. If she was important to Arthur, there was no doubt in my mind that we would find out about her sooner or later.