Limited Time to Heal

"How can it be cracked? It is floating in the sky." Mairwen thought the Mystic Spires were immune to the devastation going below. "The ground is shaking, not the air." 

"I don't think the battles of the monsters have anything to do with what has happened in the tower. I don't know why, but if I had to guess, the lack of water is the source of the crack. Unable to fulfill its purpose, I think the pool will eventually crumble. Who knows, the whole of the Mystic Spires might yet come tumbling to the ground." Hanna sighed. 

The Fate hoped it wasn't true, but her own body was showing that it could age. Why should the Spires be any different?

"One problem at a time," the princess forced herself to think. "We cannot do anything about the cracking just now. We may not be able to do anything at all until Mother arrives." 

"Do you think they have made it to the South yet?" Alaron jumped topics for a moment. 

"Unless they found someone to fly them there, my guess is they are still many weeks away. Even if they have reached the ocean, human ships can only go so fast under the power of the wind." Hanna's voice trailed off. The hopelessness in her words broke the princess's heart. 

"Well then, we will get the Fates down first. If the Mystic Spires are going to crash to the ground, it would be better that no one be in there." Mairwen looked at her brother and husband. "If you two will work on a way to defeat the Myrmecoleon, I will work with Hanna to try and think of a way to get down the Fates."

"First you will rest," Renat could see the woman's drooping eyelids. She hadn't been awake very long, but her interrupted nap seemed to be catching up with her. 

Hanna shot the scientist a look of question. He pointed to the back of Mairwen's head and shrugged. 

"You can use my tent, princess," the Fate offered. "I will try and give the men all the useful information they will need while you sleep." 

Mairwen didn't like being coddled, but somehow Hanna's soothing words persuaded her to hold her tongue. She was very tired. 

"Thank you. I will be back as soon as I can." The dark-haired woman yawned.

"I know," Hanna almost told her to take her time, but that would have been a lie. She wanted Mairwen healthy as soon as possible. 

"I will keep track of anything you need to know," Eira promised with a bow.

"I trust you will." Mairwen turned and climbed into the tent. A few moments later, her even breathing was the only sound that could be heard. 

Hanna pulled her eyes away from the tent and looked seriously at Renat. "How worried should we be?" 

"What do you mean?" the scientist looked away.

Hanna motioned for him, Alaron, and Eira to follow her a little way into the forest. "You know what I mean. Your wife is not herself." 

"Oh...that. She hit her head very hard." The lanky prince chewed the inside of his cheek. "I'm not a doctor." 

"But you spent some time with one," Alaron narrowed his gaze at his brother-in-law.

"There were not a lot of head injuries during in that time. And Phileas told me that the human mind is very much a mystery even to him." Renat would not meet their eyes.

"I sense a but..." As the princess's personal guard, Mairwen had spent the most time around Renat out of all of them. She could tell when he was trying to avoid saying what he was thinking. 

"I am worried about Mairwen," the young man blurted. "My wife tried to appear fine but she is so tired. I haven't seen her touch her bow since she saved me. It is like the princess is putting all her energy into making a coherent thought that there isn't time for anything else. She cannot ride a horse very long, and she complains of headaches and dizzy spells." 

"Today was better, though, I think," Alaron suddenly sounded unsure. 

"I want to believe that myself," Renat sighed and glanced back toward the men. "But she was awake such a short time. Maybe she just needs a few weeks of recovery. Maybe more..." 

A hush fell over the group. 

"The human mind is a mystery," the scientist repeated. "There is a chance she will be better tomorrow and my worry was for nothing. Now..." he cleared his throat. "Let us talk about that monster..." 

-------------

When Mairwen awoke, the beginning of a plan was formed. She listened to it carefully, trying to focus in on every word. Parts of their ideas were solid, but there were still key elements missing from it to make it completely work. 

The biggest issue was how the men would get close enough to enact their plan without being squashed, eaten or skewered. 

"Which is a big issue," Renat admitted. 

The princess wanted to help, but her absence from the original planning made coming up with new thoughts difficult. Eventually she left her brother and husband to their schemes and sought out Hanna.

The Fate was staring longingly over the trench at the Mystic Spires. Through the tall trees, the towers could only barely be seen. That did not stop Hanna from watching intently. 

"Anything new?" the princess asked gently, startling the Fate from her thoughts.

"Can you see the flag?" Hanna pointed through the trees toward one of the lower towers. 

Squinting, Mairwen spotted a white cloth hanging out of a window. It was barely a dot in the sky, but the color reminded her of the tunic that Hanna usually wore. 

"I see it, barely..." the princess nodded.

"Justum is using it to convey how much time he thinks they have until disaster strikes. Every time it gets shorter, so does the time we have to get things figured out down here." Sighing, Hanna wiped the wetness from her eye. "It just got shortened a moment ago. I am waiting to make sure that is all that will happen." 

Taking Mairwen's hand, the two ladies stared up at the window for some time. After the initial change, the cloth remained untouched. Slowly the tension in Hanna lessened. 

"Well, that is that," she muttered. Hanna turned to the princess with a weary smile. "I am glad to see you are awake." 

"It is nice to be awake. I don't know why I feel so weary lately." The dark-haired woman rubbed the back of her head and winced. It was covered in a hood, but the spot where she was hit still felt incredibly tender. "Or rather, I wish I were healing more quickly." 

"We all want that," Hanna let go of Mairwen's hand and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder. 

The princess pushed away water from her cheek. "I feel a bit useless just now. But I also know I cannot help it. I should just be thankful I am not dead after everything that happened."

"Then let us both be thankful. My kindred are alive. We will do our best to keep it that way." Hanna's smile became more natural. 

"Do you have any idea how to get them down?" Mairwen didn't want to start from scratch if Hanna already had a plan in mind. 

"The easiest way would be to fly them down, but we do not currently have that option," the Fate sat down and leaned against the dirt embankment. 

The trench had been dug both to shield the soldiers from the Myrmecoleon's view, but also to give the men and horses a bit of warmth from the cold. Even though the ice barrier was melting, there was still a chill in the air and snow on the ground.

Sitting beside her, the princess made herself comfortable, but not too comfortable. She was determined to be helpful and not fall asleep again. 

"Are there any creatures that can get that high without magic?" Mairwen looked at the Spires.

Their size made them look close, but she was not fooled. The massive structure was normally sitting on a mountain of mist. Without the dew, the palace hovered unattainably out of reach. 

"Maybe a few, but I don't know if any of them are in their right mind. I don't know where to find them either. I don't feel like I know anything right now," Hanna admitted. "When you left, I realized I needed you all for support with what is happening. The soldiers had a very sorry leader that just watched things unfold." 

"Doing anything but waiting while those battles were going on would have been foolish without a plan. You took the best course of action, hard as it was," Mairwen hated inaction when something was wrong. 

Even now, it was gnawing at her, and it seemed Hanna was the same way. 

"We will figure out something," Mairwen promised. "And soon." 

She peeked over the trench and peered up a the tiny dot of cloth. 

Was it her imagination, or had it gotten shorter?