The Maid and Her Princess - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Madoka drew away from Elise's embrace, realizing a sharp pain nicked her hand. She was bleeding. She must have grabbed the table at the wrong angle and sliced it. Elise wiped her tears away and as soon as she noticed Madoka's hand was bleeding she panicked.
"How did that happen?" Elise looked for something to wrap it up. "A healer's on the way. You're okay, right?"
"I'm fine," Madoka whispered. It was not even a deep scratch. Elise frowned and looked at the table. She noticed the sliver of wood protruding from her hand and deduced it must have been that. Elise reached for Madoka's hand but instinctively she pulled it away.
"Nope," Elise said, pulling Madoka's hand back to her lap. "Your hand is belongs to me now."
Madoka was not in the mood to fight her off so the two of them waited for the healer to show. Elise plucked the sliver out and the sting barely affected Madoka.
"I am hearing..." Madoka trailed off. "Dark thoughts unlike any animal I've come across. Everytime I see your brother the thoughts grow darker."
"Oh, with that strange ability of yours?" Elise asked. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I see dark mana all around this place. But you still glow, Madoka. That brother of mine and those particles must be connected somehow."
"Dark mana?" Madoka pondered.
"Like, it's creepy," Elise said looking up at the ceiling and the corners. Despite the ordeal, Madoka noticed how dirty and neglected they were. Ugh, she thought and considered cleaning this place would be in order the next chance she gets. "Normally it's just speckles of light but this Palace just contains... Anyways. We're in this together, so do as I say, okay?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Madoka nodded. Elise was about to protest but they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Excuse me, Your Highness," Squash-face's armored hand tapped the door with heavy raps. "I've brought my father, er the healer."
"Come in! Come in!"
The door fully opened as Jacob and the healer entered, bowing. Elise recognized the healer although Madoka did not. The crest on his green robe matched that of Elise's Brother's army.
"You...!" Elise said, her voice shaking with suspicion. "Whatever, heal my servant's wound!"
"Please," Madoka protested. "You don't have to do this for me."
"Father, go ahead," Squash-face persisted, letting the healer get closer. The healer chuckled.
"It's been some time since I last saw you, dear," he said, pulling out a strange wooden talisman. Madoka remembered who he was. He healed her palm. "Let me take care of this wound."
"It's just a little scratch," Madoka started again but Elise looked at her assuredly. The look in her eye told Madoka that she wanted to witness this healer's magic and take notes. "What is that?"
"Oh? This is an object blessed by the Gods," the Healer began humming. Madoka realized that he was not humming, but the talisman was.
"There are mana strands in all things. Helical strings and Substance shifts in all living beings. These verdant strands, well, they make you feel a little less lonely, wouldn't you think?" He continued, then breathed in and out. A hint of green spiral filaments seemingly delicate as spiderwebs exited his mouth as breath. And like the spider weaves its web to another surface, the strands untangle and connect to the talisman's own Substance strings. Madoka realized she could only see the strands if someone activated them.
She shuddered at the thought of Elise being able to see them all the time. Elise was observing the healer's channeling before scribbling things inside her book.
Little green connections spread their threads to Madoka's cut skin. Those words he spoke were too big for her head. She watched the Substance magic twirl for a moment and then weave her small cut together.
"You didn't have to do that for me," Madoka told him. Pain is nothing to her. Though the magic runs through her like an invisible spear resulting in a shiver.
The old healer chuckled and pocketed his odd talisman.
"Then I did it for me," he replied and wiped the blood off with a cloth.
"Thank you, sir," Madoka crossed her arms and looked away. Squash-face jumped up and bowed to him.
"Thank you, Father," he said. "For helping my friend out."
Friend? Madoka almost blurted out, but Elise shooed them out.
"Yes, yes, thank you very much," Elise scoffed. "Now go back to whatever you were doing."
The healer bowed and took his leave. Squash-face waited outside and guarded the room.
"What an annoying NPC," Elise sighed.
"N...Piece?" Madoka stumbled over the word. Elise shrugged then waved her off.
"That mage's words on Substance magic mostly falls in line with those books I read at the Estate," Elise commented. "Still doesn't make it any less weird."
"Weird?" Madoka asked. Elise pulled out the book flipped to a page. The depiction of the Six Armed Goddess was revealed to be on it.
"Supposedly, this thing is in control of all life," Elise said. "A goddess of life and fields. Cliché, right?"
"She is a kind goddess," Madoka said. Elise looked at her blankly. Madoka asked a question. "Can you see those mana strands he made?"
"I see them when he channels into that talisman," Elise noted. "But I don't see those strings anywhere. I see... more like spheres of different colored lights. And..."
"I see those dark splotches all around," She stopped and looked at the shadows. Her expression changed. "I think someone is tampering with them."
Madoka could only think of Elise's brother.
"Speaking of the Estate," Elise said. "I thought we could retreat out of here to the north, we'd have a shot to retrieve the important things. But we don't! What a shame."
"Why is it even there?" Madoka wondered aloud. Was it really for locking away people?
"The Estate?" Elise asked. Madoka nodded. "It was situated there to ward off invaders from gaining a foothold in the weakest point of this nation. However, since a big mountain range blocks most of the northern continent beyond this one, we no longer use it. Currently, the unknown lands beyond the northern mountain range is getting ravaged by some kind of Celestial being. Conveniently, that same being made those mountains. Wicked, right?"
"Huh," Madoka shrugged.
"I thought that was a cool thing to know about," Elise said. "Stops invaders from coming from the north. That means the Estate was pretty much abandoned by its Lord."
"Invaders?"
"Our three neighbors," Elise said after a pause. "The countries to our east, west and southeast are not particularly friendly with us. Remember, violence and magic rule this world. At least that's what these old, out-of-touch moronic nobles would say."
Elise sighed. Madoka's head swam. She realized she would not understand any of the politics. None of it made sense to her as a commoner. Elise could tell the confusion was on her face.
"Look at it this way," Elise said, flipping to a map in her book. Madoka simply thought she had too much time on her hands. "They want our stuff. The weak nobles here don't seem to know and only care about my brother's promise of change, but they plan to use him for their own goals. Meanwhile the other countries ransack our villages and secure labyrinth entrances. They have things in them that aren't found on the surface of this world."
"So they want our stuff?" Madoka said the question as if it was a statement. She does not have stuff. She was a slave. The concept seemed simple enough. "What about the darkness here?"
"That..." Elise paled. "I don't know anything about. Frankly, I don't want to get to the bottom of it. I still..."
She trails off.
"Do you still have those visions?"
Elise slowly nodded. Madoka was taken aback at the revelation. Just how much has she shouldered without telling her servant?
"It's... not good to keep that from me, Elise," Madoka said.
"It's not new ones," Elise said. "Just the same nightmare every once in a while. A lucid dream of a future closing in on us like... I don't really have a comparison now."
Madoka did not know if she should feel relieved or worse about that. Night was falling rapidly into a cold atmosphere. Fall did that here - Madoka has forgotten all about that.
"D-Don't you worry about it!" Elise said shyly. "My body doesn't hurt anymore after I have them."
"That just makes me worry more!" Madoka snapped. Elise shrunk. A door knocked.
"Come in," Elise said.
It was Jacob.
"Your Highness, I am here to escort you to your chambers," Squash-face said. He glanced at the map. "Whoa! That's a pretty good map!"
Elise covered it instinctively.
"It's n-none of your business!"
"I know, I know," he waved her off. But he pointed at the letters and read them. "That's Esmeralda! And that's Tabruula!"
"You can read?!" Both Elise and Madoka exclaimed. Madoka was surprised and somewhat jealous since she herself could not. Squash-face looked confused but stood proudly.
"Of course I can, Your Highness and Madoka," he said. "My Father taught me."
"Your father, huh?" Elise mused. She looked as if she resented him for a moment. She closed her book. "Very well, potato. Take me away."
Later that night alone in her room, Madoka began to hear those dark thoughts again.