“You know,” Sarah said as she placed aside her cake, “Why don’t you let Thera stay with us for a few months? She would have a playmate here, and plenty of good food and people to look out for her. And you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. You could just enjoy some nice quiet time to yourself.”

Helen smiled, weakly. “And take my last family member away from me? You’d make me unfit to work a single speck of magic, for missing her so. It’s already too empty over there without Maverick and Margie. I couldn’t bear not having Thera, too!” Thera was secretly pleased at that.

“Then, Oh!” Sarah smiled secretively as she presented her real agenda. “What do you think about this: since today, Thera came with you to our estate, how about we pay you a visit at your estate. We’ll have visits every weekend visiting each other. Oh it’ll be such grand fun! Do let us return you the favor of visiting!”

Helen blinked, then said, “Sarah, you conniving cat! Of course that’s what we’ll do!”

The two little girls suddenly heard someone clear their throat behind them. Thera had somewhat heard him coming, but pretended that she didn’t to keep low-key.

Laura jumped three feet high. It was a wonder that she didn’t squeal. They turned around.

One of the butlers was standing there, holding a silver platter with what appeared to be a white envelope peeking over the edge.

“Another one of your games, Miss Laura?” He asked, bemused.

Laura’s replied with a flushed face. “As a matter of fact, yes! It was a wonderful game! We were on a secret mission to learn the plans of the two army generals-until you had to come along and ruin it.”

I watched her, with a wide-eyed mask of shock. Busted. He can totally tell you were lying, you know.

He once more cleared his throat. “Very well, young miss. Would you like for me to bring you into the very thick of it? You can hear them much better if you were to join the meeting, I’m sure.”

Laura’s face was serious. “How do I know you’re not just going to turn us over once we enter?”

The butler raised an eyebrow. “Then, I’m afraid you’ll just have to trust me. I can give you no further proof than that.”

And with that, he knocked on the door, waited a moment, then opened it, twisting elegantly around and holding the door open so that Laura and Thera could come in after him.

“Miss Laura Murlough, and Miss Thera of Rose Manor.” He announced. “And a letter from Master Ferdinand as well.”

“Why thank you. You may leave it here.” Sarah replied. The butler placed the silver tray on the small table next to Sarah’s seat, and left, winking at the girls on his way out.

What a nice butler. Thera thought as Sarah ushered them closer. Helen noticed Thera’s hair ribbon had been clawed out of place and had her sit on her lap to reposition it while Sarah talked.

“Laura dear, why don’t you come away from around Helen’s chair? Oh well. Anyways, guess what we were talking about earlier?”

Thera and Laura looked at each other, and for once they were in perfect agreement.

““You were talking about getting me/Thera a kitten!””

They both said, even though Thera knew that wasn’t the case at all. But still, it was grand fun.

Sarah smiled. “No, not really, although, that is a good topic for another time. Perhaps when our own kitten has kittens of her own?” She shared a glance with Helen. Thera turned around to look at her.

“Maybe.” Helen said, neither confirming nor denying the possibility.

“Oh well. Anyways, we were talking about Sarah coming over next Sunday to see Thera’s place! Won’t that be fun?”

“Can I bring my kitten?” Laura asked.

“Certainly! Just because there aren’t any pets in the house doesn’t mean we don’t like animals.” Helen replied, warmly. “If your mother approves, of course.” She glanced over at Sarah, a wry smile on her lips.

“Oh can I, mother? Can I? Please?” She asked.

“Oh, all right. But be sure to keep her in her basket until you’re in a room withal the doors shut. It would not be a good thing to lose her at a friend’s house.” She warned.

“Oh hurray! I get to see your place this time! You must show me everything!”

Laura jumped as she grabbed Thera and danced her around, which was more whirling and twirling than anything else. Thera went along with it to humor her. Thera was twirled dizzy and breathless by the time Laura was done.

“When will the ceiling stop spinning?” Thera asked, placing a hand on her forehead to ease the discomforting feeling. Sarah and Helen chuckled.

“All right, Thera, it’s time we were going.” Helen laughed. “We need to start preparing for her visit on Sunday, right?” Helen then thought of all the paperwork involved and sighed a bit.

Thera nodded,“Yes, mother.”

“Well, I’ll be! How do you raise your children, Helen? So nice and polite, a perfect little angel she is.” Sarah said, half in praise. The other half was aimed so that Laura could hear it and perhaps reflect upon her behavior before guests.

Thera turned to look at her. “Not at all, Mrs. Murlough: If I were an angel, I could fly. But I can’t fly, so I’m not an angel.”

They all laughed at that, not realizing that Thera had maneuvered her escape from being set up as a standard of excellence. Angels were far more honest that Thera was, anyways.

Oh well. It was best to keep things simple, so that people don’t start asking a bunch of questions: questions that would lead to troubled expressions and worried looks.

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Over the week, everyone was in a flurry preparing for the visit. Thera got a small table and a little tea set for her play area, along with two small chairs and a swing wide enough for two, so that they were ready for when Laura came.

The cook was baking the most delicious-smelling things. Thera went out to the play-area so that she wouldn’t be pulled over to the kitchen by the smell alone.

In her play area, she could make a barrier to filter out smells, so that it wasn’t so unbearable.

Friday came soon. The visit was one day away. Yet, Thera felt unnecessarily groggy and light-headed. She thought it would just go away if she did some exercises. So she went out to the play area for a bit.

After two or three hours, though, she collapsed with a fever. Martha found her like that a few minutes later, when she came to bring Thera in to dinner. She quickly picked up the shivering, burning child and ran into the house.

Thera only remembered things being black with bits of color jumping out at odd intervals, and voices muttering and moaning in a strange, excited way, like there was a crowd behind the voices, which amplified the words that echoed in her head. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t understand what they were saying.

It was cold, unbearably cold, but her limbs felt hot, hotter than the fresh tea that the cook, Ruth, would make. And yet, it still felt cold.

In one of her more lucid moments, she remembered hearing, “How? Why did you have to go and get sick with a magic-resistant illness? I can’t bear to lose you now!”

She reached out a hand for the voice, which seemed so familiar, but soon drifted back into the dark-cloaked menagerie of dreaming that the fever had brought on, where nothing made sense anymore.

For days she slipped in and out of that dark uneasy sleep, asking for water to quench her parched throat, yet shuddering at the drink. It felt as cold as ice in her mouth, sending shivers down her spine again.

She barely ate anything those days, hardly even swallowing the soup that the people tried to help her drink.

Her throat hurt, her head hurt. Her body burned and froze. Her ears tickled with a fiendish prickle to them.

If a doctor had been called for, Thera didn’t remember his face, or anything about him, she was so taken with fever. She only knew that they tried to make her swallow a bitter herb every time she asked for something to drink.

After feeling that she did not burn or freeze quite as much afterwards, she always took the stuff, nasty though it was.

After who-knew-how-many days, Thera sat up and blinked at the room, groggy, with a throbbing headache, but sufficiently conscious.

“When’s breakfast?” She asked. “I’m hungry.”

Rebecca, who had been keeping watch, stared at Thera for a few moments. Then she jumped up and ran out into the hallway. The little miss was awake!

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Mother Helen hurried into the room to Thera’s side, taking her in with her gaze: the paled cheeks, sleep-blurred eyes, and thinned arms.

“Mama? When’s breakfast? I’m kind of hungry right now.” Thera asked.

Then Hellen collapsed on the bed, holding Thera close to her as she rocked back and forth.

“Mama?” Thera asked. Then heard Helen’s breathing heave as she began to cry.

“I was so scared that I’d lose you… but it’s over, now…Oh, Thank God! Thank God! You’re alive!” She sobbed while repeating the words over and over.

When she had cried it all out, Thera patted her hand.

“What is it, Thera?” Helen asked.

“Mama, I’m hungry. When’s breakfast?” Thera asked again. Helen laughed, relieved.

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Thera found out she had been out sick for sixty-seven days with a magic-resistant illness. Helen was still unsure how Thera had caught, much less, survived such a thing. Thera was quite unsure too.

As things had stood, the Murloughs had been sent an urgent message telling them not to come, as there was an illness in the house. But, even so, the Murloughs had been gracious enough to send over their personal doctor to see if anything could be done.

After examination, however, he could do nothing but give them something to bring down the fever. The fight itself had been left up to Thera.

Thera surmised that she may have won because of her high level of martial spirit. Since the bones were diamond, they could not be taken over or weakened by something with such a weak attack, and she had somehow outlasted the life of the illness.

However, it was not without consequence. Since Thera could not eat during her fever, her original healthy appearance had wasted away until one could see the ribs through her now pale skin.

The most drastic change was to her eyes. Originally, they were a dreamy shade of sea-green. But now, they were a distinctly golden shade that almost seemed to shine in shadowed areas. After mother consulted the doctor, she was relieved when he told her that this was a positive sign that the illness had run its course.

Thera also felt positive about her new eye color. Well, sure, it gave her a somewhat exotic look, but that wasn't the point!

Thera could see things farther away, and in much clearer detail than she had before she was caught ill.

But something that vexed Thera to no end was that, even though she ate everything she was given, she was still very hungry afterwards, Thera was only allowed to have soup and water until they were sure she could take solid foods again. She was also not allowed to get up out of bed.

Thera bore it for about two days before she went to the kitchen after cook had gone to bed. Keeping as quiet as possible, she ransacked the pantry of its breads, cheeses, various fruits, dried meats, pastries, cookies, scones, and a small crock of clotted cream.

It was a rather heavy load of food, but Thera patiently bore it as she thought of the feast she would have in her room.

Back inside her room, she commenced eating. When she was full, she looked at the tray still piled high with lots of food, puzzled. She was sure she had been hungry enough to eat everything earlier. Yet here was a huge pile still remaining.

On a whim, she focused inwards and noticed that practically every corner was near filled with the sparkling blue color she knew to be martial spirit energy. Since she had missed practice for two months, she figured she might as well make up for lost time.

She began integrating that energy into her tendons. It took scarcely five minutes to finish. She ended feeling not tired at all and….somehow hungry again?

Thera shrugged it away. If she was hungry, she would eat. And so she did. When she was finished, she had a thought, and once more focused inwards. The energy was there again, all sparkly blue, except this time, there was a definite current. It was flowing out of the stomach area.

Ah, so that’s why. Thera thought. Since I absorbed the energy I would’ve gotten from the food, I became hungry again. She eyed the still large pile of food, now certain of a way to finish it.

And so, she took three whole hours eating food, absorbing it, and then eating more food until the tray was completely empty. She left the tray, the empty crock, and a few crumbs on a side table to make it obvious that she was the culprit. And, with that, she fell asleep.

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