“Why do you have to hurt yourself with every treatment, Doctor?” Sapphee demanded, fixing Glenn with her piercing gaze.
She was applying ointment to his wound.
“Uhh, sorry?”
“I know it was necessary, but the healer can’t be getting hurt all the time. Dr. Cthulhy would be angry, too.”
“I know.” Glenn couldn’t change the past. He could only reflect on what he’d done.
This was the second time he’d let Plum suck his blood in order to calm her. Last time, his mentor had admonished him. This time, it was his fiancée. If he ever treated Plum again, he’d have to think of a better way.
“Well, it seems to be superficial, so I’ll stop lecturing you. For today.”
“I’m sorry I always make more work for you, Sapphee.”
“Just don’t come crying to me if you die while treating someone!” Sapphee joked, but her eyes weren’t laughing.
Glenn couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d been inside a giant’s mouth. He decided he needed to be more diligent with safety in the ever-dangerous work of treating monsters.
“Incidentally, what method did you use for that ‘treatment’ over there?”
“Oh, that?”
Glenn and Sapphee were looking at a now-dry Illy. Beside her in the waiting room sat Plum, who’d finally calmed down after sucking Glenn’s blood.
“I’m sorry.” It was Plum who offered the first apology.
“I’m sorry for, you know, everything. And…thank you for saving me.”
“O-oh.”
Plum still couldn’t look at Illy, and her words were labored, but they were a start.
“Well, I’m sorry, too. I lost my temper. I guess we both did.”
“Y-yes. Does this mean we made up?”
“I guess so?”
They both cocked their heads. Neither of them knew what actually constituted making up. Nor did they know what a healthy relationship looked like.
Well, maybe that will bring the two of them together.
Glenn smiled, and Sapphee’s face mirrored his. Lulala and Memé had been worried about these two, but in the end, everything had worked out just—
“Ah, but you know I’m going to be the ambassador,” Plum said.
“Huh?” Illy looked genuinely confused at this after what she’d thought was a moment of honesty and vulnerability.
“I don’t have any intention of dropping out now,” Plum said. “The election will happen as soon as the storm passes. That’s when we’ll settle our score.”
“What did you just apologize for, then?”
“I apologized for overreacting! And I thanked you for saving me! But we still need to decide who’s going to be the ambassador to the human realm, don’t we?” Plum laid it all out matter-of-factly.
“Uh…is that so? I mean, you did apologize. So now we’re going to just decide who’s more popular?”
“That’s right!” Plum responded.
“In that case, I’m not going to lose! You’ll see how popular my wings are!”
The conversation was heading in a dangerous direction. Neither Plum nor Illy were threatening physical violence this time, but they were both clearly ready to battle it out in the ambassador election.
Both Sapphee and Tisalia had told them to fight wholesomely, but Glenn hadn’t thought they’d actually end up doing that.
“Is the issue settled now?” Glenn asked.
Sapphee answered him with silence.
Glenn was still uneasy. Each of them was so sure they’d win. When one of them was elected, what would that do to the other?
“Well, I’m not going to lose! Now that we’ve made up, Memé’s going to sell me the best accessories!”
“Ahh, Memé was so worried! You should apologize to her and Lulala!”
“You mean both of us should apologize!”
“Whatever! I’m not going to lose!”
“Me, neither!”
“Erggg!”
“Ugggh!”
The harpy and the vampire, both contrary by nature, were back in each other’s faces, talking trash. Just then, they looked at Glenn in unison.
“What about you, Doctor?!”
“Huh?” Glenn didn’t know why he was suddenly in their sights.
“Ahh, that’s right! You’re going to vote, right, Doctor? Who are you voting for?”
“Me, of course!” Illy exclaimed. “You said you like my wings!”
“But you were just helping me get the earring out of my ear!” Plum cut in. “C’mon, Doctor! Vote for me and I’ll dress however you want!”
“Why would he like someone who violently sucks his blood?!”
“You’re the violent one!”
“What did you say?!”
“What did you say?!”
Glenn held his head in his hands. Just when it seemed like they were almost getting along, he’d become the subject of their next argument.
“Both of you, stop it this instant!” A blue vein throbbed in Sapphee’s head. “If you fight in the clinic, I’ll toss you out into the storm.”
“S-sorry! We’re good friends, we promise!”
“Y-yes! This is just…our way of communicating! So…we can still stay here tonight, yeah?”
Illy’s rainbow-feathered wings joined Plum’s bat-like webbed ones for an awkward embrace. They both forced smiles.
It would probably be a while before they truly got along with one another, but the fact that they could at least fake it reminded Sapphee of her and Tisalia.
“Okay, okay.” Sapphee gave in. “You’re welcome to use the bed until morning. But no more arguing, or I will put you out!”
“Okay!” they replied in unison.
“What a handful…”
Thanks to Sapphee’s mediation, the two young women finally settled down.
“Now, then, Doctor, let’s turn in for the night.”
“Yes, let’s. I’m exhausted.”
“That’s because you’re willing to get your blood sucked as part of your patient care,” Sapphee quipped.
“I can’t deny it.”
It was already well past midnight, and the banging of the shutters was only growing stronger.
“I hope it stops raining tomorrow,” Glenn said.
All they could do was wait out the storm. Glenn went to his room, hoping he’d be able to sleep with the sound of the rain beating.
“Thank you for your help!” two voices called after him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Mmm, I’m still sleepy…”
It was the following day.
Glenn needn’t have worried about the storm. The skies above Lindworm were clear, but the heat had returned, just as unbearable. It would have been nice if there was a respite in between.
“I have deliveries,” Illy said, “so I’m going to go now.”
“Me, too,” Plum said. “I usually sleep during the day.”
They both flew off.
“Did they sleep next to each other last night?” Sapphee asked.
“I can’t tell if they’re friends or enemies.” Glenn chuckled.
Even their daily rhythms were completely different. Illy was headed to Scythia Transportation, while Plum was going back to the hotel for more sleep.
“I’ll write a letter to Lord Murdrac to notify him of Plum’s injury and the emergency treatment,” Sapphee said. “We’ll need to explain in detail.”
“Ah, yeah,” he agreed. “Please do.”
Lord Murdrac was a powerful figure in Lindworm. There was no telling what he might be thinking the morning after his daughter didn’t come home. While Sapphee was pondering this, Tisalia stopped by.
“Good morning!”
For some reason, a sleepy-looking Arahnia was tagging along behind her.
“Good morning.” Sapphee greeted her. “You’re always up so early.”
Tisalia’s morning run was legendary. She never went without her daily training regimen.
“I just saw Illy and Plum fly off.”
“They both were out in the storm, so we let them rest at the clinic.” Sapphee explained what had happened the night before.
“I’m sorry. Illy insisted on making deliveries up until the last minute.” Tisalia bowed her head, apologizing for her employee. But this was also further evidence of Illy’s diligent work ethic.
“So, what are you doing here?”
“Do I need a reason to come here now? How about to see my beloved fiancée’s face?”
“Ergggh…”
Sapphee and Tisalia glared at each other. They were more like Illy and Plum than either would care to admit.
“Hey now, don’t you two get into it!” Arahnia cut in calmly. “We had something to talk to the doc about, yeah?”
“Talk…about?”
“About the ambassador to the human realm,” Arahnia said, pulling out a document from the city council. It was a ballot, a simple one with just a space to write the name of the candidate.
“The two of them might be getting along now, but once one of them is elected, they could start up their feud again. So we had an idea, yeah?”
“An idea?” Glenn looked at them, puzzled.
“Are you talking about forging ballots?” Sapphee asked. “The council members aren’t so easily fooled.”
Most of them were wolf-type hybrid monsters. This had been done deliberately to prevent forgery. The hybrids had superior olfactory senses, and it was said they could tell the species, sex, and age of the writer just by smelling documents. There were also specially trained forgery officers who oversaw all elections.
“No, no,” Arahnia said. “Not forgery. But—”
“Could you just let the young women’s guardians consult for a moment?” Tisalia finished for her. “I don’t think that’s asking too much.”
“Huh?” Glenn didn’t understand.
“It wasn’t something I wanted, but caring for Plum has been pushed onto me. I feel responsible for her.” Arahnia cackled. For some reason, evil plans always excited her. “How about Tisalia and I fix it so the girls can get along, yeah?”
“Exactly!” Tisalia stuck out her chest proudly.
Sapphee and Glenn looked at each other, not at all understanding what these two guardians had in mind.