No Rest for the Wicked

[Maleficent]

It was as if Nasira hardly existed, Maleficent's focused had reached a pinpoint. Crow. She didn't even look at Nasira as she brushed passed the woman to the doors and clicked them open. Her body a silhouette against the back light as the doors parted. Her golden eyes gazed through the dark at Edgar, and more importantly, Crow.

"Out."

---

Edgar hummed quietly as he thought. Crow clawed at his chest. But it didn't seem there was a physical burn there. At least not anymore so than the rest of him. The Jerrah-Bashi frowned, eyes crinkling in focus. So it was something more in his core, perhaps? Standard healings were useless in this case. No amount of bandages, medicine, or salve could ease the pain of such metaphysical damage. It was something more to do with Crow's very essence. Something that Edgar had little to no knowledge of. He had theories, and base practices he could start with, but-

The doors opened and the rebuke Edgar had for the intruder died before it began.

Maleficent.

"Out."

Ah, well then. 

Edgar stood and crossed one arm over his chest and gave the queen a bow. He wordlessly slipped passed her and stood beside Nasira. The doors closed behind her. A long moment of silence followed before Edgar turned and gave Nasira a cheery crooked toothed smile.

"Well, now I feel completely superfluous!"

---

Soft as a wind whisper she drifted to Crow's side. Long fingered hands drifted forth and smoothed along his feathers, realigning them with great care. The grand display of green fire and magic light absent in this moment. No, such extraneous display wasn't necessary in this moment. Only the work mattered. The soft trickle of power running from her to him like the smooth application of a balm to his very soul. Her magic smoothing and realigning his very essence like her hands did with his feathers.

It was a very slow and intimate process. One that Maleficent gave every inch of her focus.

Time passed unheeded by the two of them. It could have been moments. It could have been hours. It didn't matter.

Only the magic between them mattered.

Finally a heavy sigh escaped Maleficent. The first sound she made since entering the room. She was exhausted, but she was satisfied. Crow wasn't completely healed, but he was nearly so. Maleficent sat down heavily beside his head, her normally straight posture sagging just a tad. She stroked the back of her hand along his beak.

"I must conserve my strength, but this should be enough..."

[Crow]

Burning.  Bleedi͍̮͚͞n̴g̛͎͕̳͚̻̗̜.  B͇̺̹̯̬̩̰͋ͪ̇̊̇́r͚̖̫̱̯͎e̷̘̫̖̙̩̯͇͑͋̿ͥͭͥͩa̽͘k͌ͤ̈ͣͧͨ̚i̦̍ͬͧͣ̓̉ͪn̼͛̈͑g̍ͦ͟ͅ.  And then... silk.

No... no, not silk. But a softness like it. Crow felt his feathers smooth back into their rightful arrangement with meticulous grace. Then came darkness, and he embraced it. Cool and comforting, all-encompassing, and swallowing up the wretched sun that burned in his chest. The inviting shadows rolled over him in waves, until the hateful star in his core dwindled down into a feeble candle. The remaining light still burned at him, but this?

"I must conserve my strength, but this should be enough..."

This was more than enough.

Blue lights returned to the hollows of Crow's skull, the unmistakable indication of them opening again. He felt the tension bleed out of him, and his body sunk into a heap on the hospital cot. A ragged sigh of relief pulled itself from aching lungs, and wearily he looked up at the statuesque form of Maleficent watching over him.  If he had the means to express it, his face would have been nothing short of unmitigated gratitude.

"Thank you... Mistress..." He leaned gratefully into her touch, his breathing returning to some semblance of regulation for the first time that evening.

[Nasira]

"Superfluous" was just the cherry on the bastani of shame. Nasira's shoulders rose and fell as she sighed deeply. Maleficent's aloof behavior was hardly surprising, given the circumstances. Nasira knew all too well what it had been like to lose a loved one, and damned if she could remember who else had been in the infirmary that day.

Nasira sank listlessly in a chair and crossed her arms. It felt so good to sit down. She leaned forward. Several questions occurred to her at the same time. "...how is he?" she ventured to Edgar in a hushed voice. The walls and doors in the palace were practically soundproof, but she kept her voice low all the same. 

She pulled her arms closer to her chest as if to hug herself. The hall abruptly dropped in temperature by what the necromancer subconsciously assumed was the chill of evening.

[Maleficent]

Maleficent smiled. She simply smiled down at the large beast. A genuine soft smile. No calculating smirk. No dark cruelty hidden behind humor.

No, there were no words to describe how relieved she was to see the crystal blue lights of his eyes opening again.

"Of course, my pet," Maleficent whispered softly as her fingers drifted to the cranium of Crow's skull, and stroked back.

There would be time enough to ask for details of what happened. To find out how he had been so injured. Time enough to deal with things outside. But right now, Maleficent merely wanted to focus on him. On her Crow.

[Edgar]

"I'm afraid I can't really tell you much, Nasira dear. You see I know too little about Crow and his anatomy to honestly judge. If I could have a thorough examination of him maybe I could tell you more. But what I could gather was something was hurting him at his core. At his being. That damage is serious. Much worse than any flesh wound," Edgar let out a sigh and shook his head with a rueful smile at his uselessness.

Edgar turned to Nasira and looked her over, top to bottom, then top again. His gaze crawling over every inch of her. His beady red eyes, and that eerie grin... Nothing good could come from the surgeon looking at some one like that.

"You're injured as well, let's have a look at you, since I can't do anything for Crow now."

Or maybe not. Maybe he has simply been assessing her wounds.

Edgar gestured for Nasira to follow him off to the side where he had an empty cot for her to sit upon. Then he gathered about bandages and other surgeon's tools. He laid them out on a table, and then patted the cot welcomingly.

[Nasira]

Nasira closed her eyes, her composure stretched too thin for her to sustain it any longer. She hardly seemed aware of Edgar as she struggled to make sense of the vizier's prognosis, or lack thereof. His...core? In her mind's eye, the silver blade of Clopin's scythe rushed in like a streak of lightning. No, not the Rogue king's scythe - the Rogue king's monster. That terrible emission of light, that was what was attacking his center. And there could be hundreds of complications lurking in every corner that could strike at any moment...

"I see."

Nasira's body grew unnaturally still as she just felt Edgar's leer fasten on her from head to heels. She flushed under his scrutiny, not even understanding her own reaction. There was just something about him that set her teeth on edge. 

"You're injured as well. Let's have a look at you since I can't do anything for Crow now."

Nasira would rather do the campaign all over again. She was not mollified in the slightest, but what else was there to do? There really was no need for her to stand on ceremony, and in spite of her reservations, Hikaru did a number on her arm and leg. "Alright," she relented. She uncrossed her arms and rose, albeit hesitantly, from the chair to follow him.

The End