�I think so, my Lady. She�s very strong; she just wore herself out with all that use of her powers. Also, I don�t think she�s ever been on a battlefield before this and the pain of the wounded might have overwhelmed her weakened shields, judging from what I know of fire-mages, of course.� This new voice was male and seemed pinched with age, but was kindly and oddly soothing. It sounded like it was opposite what she figured was Minerva�s voice. �The best thing right now is to let her rest.�
�Should someone stay here to monitor her?�
�That might be best, but I can�t spare any of my nurses, they�re busy enough what with all the wounded to tend to.�
�I�ll stay, at least until Tirana comes back.� Came a richer, younger voice from the same side of her head that Minerva�s voice came from. Tavia could vaguely recognize it as Tansis�s. �I feel so useless, anyways, not being able to help with anything. This way I�ll at least be doing something.�
�Thank you, Tansis. Just call one of us if anything changes.� Minerva sounded relieved and Tavia was touched at her concern.
�Yes, milady.�
Soft elfin steps moved quietly out of the room until the sound of a chair scraping its way toward her side drowned them out. Tavia heard Tansis sigh and then settle himself down in a single rustling movement. The fire-mage slowly began to become more alert, as if swimming towards the surface of a pond. The light from some lantern filtered through her eyelids, alleviating the darkness. She kept her eyes shut, though and instead began to explore her surroundings with the rest of her senses.
A light and gauzy feel covered her whole body and Tavia figured that they had put her in one of their nightgowns. She also immediately realized that her wings had somehow retracted during the exertion of the night before. A sweet and slightly tangy smell hovered around her in a miasma. She recognized it as the smell that came from the flowers strewn on the floor of all the elfin buildings she had seen. So that told her that she was back in Sinistira (I�ll have to walk back down those stars-cursed stairs again, she thought dejectedly), but didn�t tell her exactly where. The mattress beneath her was not as soft as the one she had slept on in the royal house so she wasn�t in Minerva�s quarters. Tavia had already deduced that from Tansis�s presence, however so this came as no surprise. Perhaps she was in one of the inhabitant�s cottages. It was possible since many of them were probably now filled with the wounded from the battle. She fervently hoped that there weren�t near enough hurt to fill more than a handful of houses. That would be too many indeed.
Finally, Tavia�s curiosity overcame her exhaustion and she forced her eyes to open, despite the persistent vibration in the back of her head. She found herself staring up at a canopy of leaves and branches. The sun was at its height now and the fire-mage had to turn her head to avoid the blinding rays streaking through the trees. To her left was a small bedside table and a quick, dizzying look from off her bed told her that it came out of the floor like all the rest of the furniture she had seen here. On the table were what looked like a closed bottle of smelling salts, a glass of water and some crushed roots in a bowl. An open window let light stream in through the opposite wall. Beside the window was her star-studded cloak hanging on a hook.
She turned her head to the other side. There was another window carved in the wall, but the form of a lightly snoring Tansis obstructed its light. He sat in a wooden (of course) chair with his arms crossed over his stomach and his head on his chest. Tavia looked down at the legs of the chair. These, too, seemed to be made of one material with the floor, but she was sure that she had heard the chair scraping across the ground and Tansis had moved it closer to her. Curiosity overwhelmed her at once and she reached out and poked the sleeping elf in the arm with one clawed finger.
Tansis woke with a start, his hand flashing to the dagger at his side and drawing it an inch before realizing who it was. He sheathed his dagger and smiled brightly at Tavia, an effect that was marred by his split lip and the bandage around his head. �Tavia! You�re awake! This is wonderful; I�ll go tell the Lady, she�s been waiting for you to wake all morning.� He made to get up and go to the wall, no doubt to tell the tree to call for Minerva.
Tavia�s hand shot out again and she grabbed his arm. �Don�t bother her. I�m sure that there are so many things she needs to do right now that I won�t be a bother. She�ll come to check on me eventually and I�ll tell her I was too tired for any company.�
�You sneaky little fire-mage. She�ll still be livid that I didn�t call for her, but that�ll do fine as an excuse.� Tansis replied, smirking as he sat back down, �And you�re right that she does have a lot to do and I know that she is exhausted.�
�What happened afterwards? After I passed out, I mean.�
�Well, the wounded were gathered and tended as best as they could, and then we went on with the Sacred Planting. The little sapling grew into a huge green oak with only a little brown at the very top, a symbol of a good century and only a little hardship. You protected the sapling, as well as half the elfin nation when you put that fire-wall up.� The bodyguard smiled impishly at her, �You�re a hero now, you know. Everyone will want to shake your hand.�
Tavia groaned. It was bad enough when the elves all wanted to touch her to see if she was really a fire-mage, now they would want to talk to her, too. �Oh no,� she muttered, sitting up and leaning against the headboard, �I�m going to be swamped once I get better. Can I just stay sick forever?� she put on a mock hopeful look and widened her eyes to plead comically with Tansis.
Tansis just laughed and replied jokingly, �Well, I could arrange for you to obtain a mysterious injury. A blow to the head perhaps.� Tansis pretended to think on this for a minute, then shook his head regretfully, �No, it�s too much work and I�m tired. Guess you�re out of luck
Tavia joined in with Tansis�s laughter, �Alright, I�ll go out and face my horde of screaming fans.� She joked then sobered, �But first tell me the rest of what happened. How did you get everyone back here?�
�After the ceremony, the wounded were taken back to Sinistira with the help of the few who could help. The remaining elves went to bring the food for the feast back. That took quite a few trips, especially with Salak following and fretting that his food was cold and �utterly ruined�.� Tavia laughed at Tansis�s excellent impression of the harried cook, �But once it was all back here, no one really cared that it wasn�t warm.� Tansis stopped and sighed heavily, �It was a hard night.�
�I�m sorry that I passed out like a child back there. I should have helped.� Tavia apologized softly, hanging her head and letting her loose hair fall in front of her face.
The elf reached out a hand and touched her arm gently, �Don�t be so hard on yourself. If not for you, we wouldn�t be alive, remember. Orlan�s betrayal had completely blindsided us and if you hadn�t caught it when you did, there would be no Elven nation.�
�Where is Orlan, anyways?�
Tansis�s hand curled suddenly into a fist that he retracted to lay on his lap. �No on knows. He must have slunk off at some point, the coward.� His voice quivered with repressed anger, �He probably is off with the humans now, hiding among them.�
�But what if he tells them where Sinistira is?� Tavia bolted upward in bed, causing a wave of dizziness to overtake her.