62 Morning sun

"Emily, can you come with us to our room for a minute?" I asked as the maid was escorting us to what would be our rooms. I found it interesting that Leafia was more curious about why I asked her to our room than Emily was. But Emily knew what happened earlier, so she probably had a guess at what I wanted. The smile on her face was a bit of a give away.

Once we were safely in our room, I said, "Would I be able to borrow some clothes from one of you two?" As soon as I asked this Emily started laughing and collapsed on the bed.

"Oh, have been holding it in for so long. I have never seen you so green, I thought I was going to die!" Emily managed to get out before her laughter escalated again.

"Um, what's going on?" Leafia asked, tipping her head to the side. It looks like she did not manage to figure out the cause of this whole fiasco.

"I would like to know the whole story too," Emily said with a bright and in no way incriminating smile.

"Um, well, do you remember how I nearly collapsed when we entered the capital?" Both of the girls nodded in response to my question. "I think I have told you before, but maintaining my 'clothing' takes a small amount of power. I collapsed because I ran out of power. So…"

I once again had the desire to see if I could fit an apple into Leafia's mouth. A red one would have matched well with the shade her skin was turning. I knew a green one would have looked good with my skin right now, but let's pretend that did not happen. I really think this low power level was messing with me somehow.

Seeing our reactions, Emily again fell into a fit of laughter. All I could do was smile wryly at the two of them. I waited a moment for some semblance of calm to come back into the room, then said, "Making and sustaining clothes takes some energy. I was hoping to borrow some so that way I can save that energy for what is needed more." I bowed to the two of them, but it seems that this might not have been the best choice since it caused both of them to turn a little red.

"I have a spare dress with me," Leafia said. "You can borrow that for now. We should consider buying you a dress in the next day or two." She was right, if we did not finish this up quickly I should get my own clothes. Leafia's build was more similar to mine than Emily's, so her dress should fit better. Emily was a little shorter which would make the dress too short. Not that I would mind that, but who was to say that the dress would hang right? I think 'hang' was the right term. I never paid much attention to clothing or even appearances. I was never really able to make myself care. And the whole point of wearing clothes was to keep myself covered--why would a dryad want to think about that? As I learned today, that apparently also meant my feet. I still did not have any shoes, so the longer dress was the better choice.

Seeing that we had the clothing situation worked out, Emily said goodnight and quickly headed out of the room, still chuckling. I wondered how much she was going to tell Gray. Oh, well, it didn't really matter to me. After the door was shut behind Emily, I joyfully took off the cloak. I really did not like wearing it, and now that I was calmer, I was finally able to think about things rationally. Dryads don't need clothes, except for convenience working with mortals. There really was no reason to be embarrassed. Especially with just Leafia here.

However, Leafia did not seem quite as accepting of my lack of clothing as I was, though. She looked at me in shock for a moment, then quickly turned away and said, "Let me get you the dress I had as a spare."

We retired to bed after I was securely in the dress. Leafia helped me with the tie since I was having some difficulty figuring out how to get it to stay where I wanted it. The bed this time was much larger and the two of us could easily lay on the bed without touching each other, so I was sure that I would not disturb Leafia's sleep tonight.

As I listened to Leafia's quiet snores, I let my mind go over all that happened that day. From the moment we entered the gate, things had been a little fuzzy. The one thing that was clear in my mind is that I was not acting normally. I should really be more careful about that. But it really did work out alright. Because of all my mistakes this day, we now had a roof over our head. And better yet, as far as I was concerned, the grounds of this mansion had more spiritual energy than most of the capital and I was able to stop the loss of my power overnight. I might have even been able to gain a little back, but those gains would have been small and only because I was not using any energy for moving and things like that.

I made sure that I did not get up too early the next morning, but I was feeling restless. I had been making an effort not to move at all. That should not be hard for a plant, but I think I was really starting to be affected by spending time with these mortals. I stayed at the pond for 500 years just fine and yet I could not lay still in a bed for just a few hours… I could feel the energy available in the gardens but it was just out of reach. I knew if I was human I would drooling right now. It was really sad that I was so desperate for 'food' that I was drooling over such a small about of sustenance.

I snuck out of the room, barely remembering to take my cloak with me. Could I just give it back to Istan so he could start worshiping it already? I shut the door quietly, leaving Leafia softly snoring by herself. I had only gone a few feet when I ran into a maid.

"How may I help you?" the maid asked upon seeing me.

"I would like to go for a stroll this morning." I said, "Would it be alright if I walk around the gardens?"

"Certainly. The winter garden is near the southwest corner of the house. Do you need me to show you the way?"

"Just help me find the door. I should be able to find the garden just fine." I probably could have found the door. The house was not that big. But I did not want to get lost and end up somewhere I shouldn't be. I did not pay that much attention to where I was going last night. I was playing my part as a sick person, after all. I was just so dedicated to my acting. Maybe I could get a part in that play I was reading about last night. But why would I want to be the princess just sitting in the castle? That did not sound like any fun at all.

The maid quietly led me to the front door and saw me outside. "Breakfast is usually in an hour. Once you are done walking, feel free to rest in the parlor."

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I thanked the maid and headed to the garden. As expected for being the winter garden, most of the plants were evergreens of some sort. There were some plants that bloomed late that still had a few flowers on them. The other plants where things like hydrangeas that looked good in winter. The sun was just starting to rise as I walked through the garden. It seemed that the gardener of this estate liked nature more than the rigid design that was present in the other estates I had seen. That was a welcome relief to me. This little garden was every bit as delectable as I was hoping it would be. (Why am I using food words, am I really starving?)

After exploring, I found myself in a little spot shielded by trees from the windows of all the surrounding estates, but still with a view of the morning sun. This spot was too tempting and I could not resist the urge. I quickly took off my cloak and dress and let the light bathe my body. Even the pale early morning sun seemed to wake up my skin. As I felt my skin starting to flush a little greener, I could feel the rays of light bringing me the much-needed sustenance. Combined with the already comparative abundance of spiritual energy from the garden, I was starting to feel my strength returning to me.

I realized after a moment that this was slightly foolish of me and quickly checked my senses to 'see' if anyone was around. I really did not want to give Lillian any more surprises. It was clear that I was still not acting like myself. Maybe I should give mortals some slack the next time I see them inebriated. There had been several moments I thought she might turn us away for keeping secrets from her, and this was the biggest of them all. To my great satisfaction, it turned out that no one was near by.

Seeing that I was safe for the moment, I let my body turn as green as it wanted. I could feel the energy spreading through my body once again. It was exquisite and refreshing. I felt like I had been covered in mud since I entered the city and finally got the chance to wash it off.