"Oh no, you have to be joking with me!" Khalan suddenly sighed, frustration etched all over her face as she walked into the greenhouse to find Saskia there.
"Is everything alright, Khalan?" Saskia asked, a bit startled by her exclamation earlier. She hoped nothing wrong had happened again; Vesper's condition was already more than enough worry to bear.
"I was too loud with that thought, I'm sorry," Khalan breathed out. "That was all supposed to stay in my head. It's just not cool that you visitors took only a few hours in this mansion to find this greenhouse, while I've been here a long time and only got to enter it yesterday with Vesper. 'Kind of makes me believe that I might be really dumb,'" she pouted.
"Oh my," Saskia chuckled. "Is that all?"
"Is that not more than enough reason to feel annoyed?" Khalan asked with a pout, joining her on the patio set. She drew a seat opposite hers and made herself comfortable.
"I mean, yes, it is, but this whole place is kind of hard to ignore. How could you not have taken notice of it sooner?" Saskia asked, trying hard to swallow her laughter. The look on Khalan's face was so funny to her, and even her reason for it was funnier.
"I have no idea, Saskia," Khalan hissed. "And you wouldn't believe this, but I only came here yesterday because I was looking for Vesper. It was dawn already, and I couldn't find her anywhere in the mansion, so I searched and searched until I found her here. She brought me here—I didn't even notice this place on my own."
The mention of Vesper's name made Saskia's laughter vanish instantly. 'How could anything be funny to her in the first place?' Her best friend was in critical condition that no one seemed to understand the cause of.
"Of course I believe you, Khalan," a tear raced down Saskia's left cheek, and she didn't even seem to notice, judging by the fact she didn't wipe it immediately but just continued speaking. "I trust Vesper's keen eyes to find a place worth her presence." She sniffed. "She was waiting for me, right?"
"Yes," Khalan nodded. "She was so frantic."
"I always tell her to think about herself more. I mean… she worries too much about me." The tears kept racing each other down both her cheeks, but it didn't stop her from saying what she had to say. It only caused Khalan's eyes to start welling up.
"She always looked after me, worried for me, and never cared about how the humans might hunt her and enslave her if they realized she's of the Spirit race and free. I made her promise me never to leave the hut before I left for work that night. I told her I would always come home, and even if I didn't, she should never try to look for me. But she still did. I wasn't even gone a full day, and she already drained herself with worry." She was now sobbing fully.
"She risked going uptown, risked getting caught just to look for me. I don't know if I should say she's just being stupid or stubborn, but… she has always been there for me, and I just want her to be alright." She kept crying.
"And she will." Khalan drew close to her and held her in an embrace, trying to comfort her. "I promise you, she will be fine."
"We were actually planning to leave Argan for the north," Saskia sniffed.
"Northern Cullen?" Khalan's expression showed discomfort. "Wouldn't she be hunted the most there? That's a death sentence for her." She looked worried already, not minding that Saskia and Vesper were yet to actually go to the north.
"Yes. Vesper knew the risks but still insisted on going because of me. I'm the one who wants to start a new life there, but she just didn't want us to be apart, so she decided to come as well. She's never put herself first—not in this life. I know she was acting out of line yesterday, but I swear to you, Khalan, that wasn't Vesper. Something is seriously wrong, but I have no idea what."
"It's alright now." Khalan began stroking her hair, wishing to calm her down. She was crying so much already. "I believe you. I might have known Vesper for a very short while, but I know her well enough to know something was very off with her yesterday. But don't worry, I believe she'll be alright soon, okay?"
Saskia nodded, drying her eyes with her palms while still resting her head on Khalan's shoulders. After a few sniffs and no more sobbing, she felt it was time to let go.
"Thank you, Khalan," she smiled cheekily.
"You're welcome. We're all friends now—comforting each other should be normal, right?" Khalan smiled too, flicking her eyelids, expecting a yes, but Saskia looked rather piqued.
She had never had any other friends all her life other than Vesper, but now Khalan was calling her a friend. No, not just her—she said they were all friends, all three of them. And as much as that sounded very exciting, she still just wanted her best friend back. She had noticed how Khalan called her 'Ves' and it sounded like Vesper loved it so much. Then that led her wondering why she hadn't thought of that nickname first. She had known Vesper for a decade now and couldn't believe someone else beat her to finding a nickname for her. Now she couldn't help but think that maybe Vesper was going to become more fond of this girl than she was of her. Hence, since her idea that they were all friends now didn't really sit well with her, in fact, she opted to differ. She and Vesper were best friends, and nothing was going to change that—not even Khalan with her pretty eye flicker.
"I have a bit of a headache, Khalan. I need to lie down," Saskia said as she stood up immediately, turning to leave.
"Oh, okay then." Khalan tried to help her up, but Saskia gently shoved her hand away. Although light, Khalan felt something was off. "Get some rest; we can save the talk for later."
"Of course." Saskia had almost reached the entrance but was suddenly obstructed by someone—a maid with her head bowed, speaking softly.
"My ladies, I was asked to inform you both that Lady Vesper has woken up."
"She's awake?" Saskia's face lit up immediately. "Out of my way!" She pushed the girl aside and ran out immediately, not minding that she might hurt her with the way she pushed her.
"Are you hurt?" Khalan helped the maid up, dusting sand off her body. "She was just too excited."
"I am fine, my lady," the maid assured, daring not to look at her face, her head still bowed.
"Okay then, bye!" Khalan waved at her and hurried toward Vesper's room as well…