Cured

Rose was sick; she had a high fever and kept vomiting. But to her, it was nothing new. She had been plagued with an unknown disease since a young age. It had become normal for her to suddenly have a high fever, and then, after a couple of days, it was like she never had a fever. Sure, it was annoying, but she was used to it.

"Rose, dear, are you feeling better?" Clara entered the room.

"Well, I'd like to say I am, but I don't seem to be getting any better," Rose replied, giving a weak smile. "How is Zoraya doing?" she asked Clara eagerly.

"She really doesn't know what to do, so she's gone to ask her parents, which is a last resort for her, at least," Clara said. "I still don't understand why you guys are acting like this. All I hear from both you and Zoraya is questions about each other, and I'm sick of it. So next time you want to know how Zoraya's doing, you go talk to her yourself."

Rose thought about what Clara said. "I would if I could, maybe when I'm feeling better."

Just then, she broke out into a coughing fit. Clara rushed forward, extremely concerned. "Rose, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rose said. "And to continue, I would if I could, maybe when I'm feeling better."

Clara nodded, knowing Rose was currently bedridden. "Well, I hope you get better soon."

Clara had barely finished speaking when Rose burst out coughing again, this time coughing up blood.

"Rose, I'm calling Zoraya," Clara said.

Rose sighed; they had had this conversation before. "What did I tell you? I don't want Zoraya to be overly concerned."

Clara reached forward and placed her hand on Rose's forehead. "Yeah, but you're coughing up blood, and your fever just keeps going up. So I don't have a choice. Now you should... ~sleep~." When Clara said "sleep," she cast a spell, and Rose fell asleep.

Zoraya's POV

Zoraya was eating dinner with her parents when her mom finally broke the silence and asked her, "What do you want?"

Zoraya was surprised because normally they exchanged pleasantries before Zoraya actually said what she wanted to. "I don't know what you're talking about," Zoraya decided to play dumb.

"Yes, you do," her mom replied, "because you only visit when you want advice, and I figure I should just cut to the chase. It's 11 p.m., and I want to sleep."

Zoraya played with the food on her plate for a bit before finally speaking. "As you know, I got married recently, and we got into a fight..." Zoraya explained what happened, and her mom sat back.

"Zoraya, I know you want me to tell you there's some other way, and you weren't in the wrong, but as your parent, I can't lie. You made a mistake, and you should apologize. And if you don't want to, then let your relationship go to shit."

Zoraya had come to her mom to see if there was a way she didn't have to apologize and couldn't accept the fact that even her mom sided with Rose. Zoraya was about to start arguing with her mom when a messenger burst into the room, spotted Zoraya, and ran towards her.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Zoraya's voice was cold because she was angry and didn't want anyone interrupting her conversation.

The messenger looked nervous but moved forward and whispered into Zoraya's ear, "I'm sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty, but Lady Rosalind has started coughing up blood, and her fever won't stop rising."

The blood drained from Zoraya's face as she stood up and immediately teleported back to the castle.

"Miss, you have to calm down. Lady Rosalind needs a calm environment," a maid tried to calm her down.

But Zoraya insisted on seeing Rose. "MOVE, OR I'M GOING TO FIRE YOU!"

Zoraya was causing enough of a racket that Clara was alerted to her presence. "Zoraya, you will do no such thing."

Zoraya stopped the moment she heard Clara's voice and slowly turned around, her eyes blazing with anger. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Her voice rang around the room as everyone fell silent.

"Zoraya, I'm speaking as a family friend and as the person who helped raise you. Now, you better cool off, or I will kick you out."

The other maids looked astonished at Clara's audacity and feared for her life.

"Clara, where's Rose?" Zoraya asked, ignoring Clara's previous statement.

The maid who had nearly gotten fired answered, "Your Majesty, she's in her room, but she's not feeling well, so if you go see her, please be calm."

Frankly speaking, the maid expected to be dead by the end of the day, but Zoraya simply nodded, thanked her, and left.

"Clara, get me the name of that maid. I will have to chat with her later." Clara bowed and left.

Zoraya burst into Rose's room and told all the maids to leave.

"Zoraya, you better be here to apologize, and if not, please leave," Rose said.

Zoraya smiled and sat down on the edge of Rose's bed. "Now, now, that's no way for you to speak to your wife."

Zoraya may have been playing it cool, but inside she was overflowing with joy.

Rose crossed her arms. "I'm not joking. I want an apology."

She really looked upset. Zoraya lowered her head. "Yes, I know." She smiled weakly.

"Look, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to hurt you, and I apologize. I promise I won't do it again. Just please don't avoid me again."

At this point, there were tears in her eyes.

Rose leaned forward and wiped away her tears. "Apology accepted. You see, it wasn't that hard, now was it?"

Zoraya leaned forward, hugging Rose. "No, it wasn't."

Rose smiled, holding Zoraya closer. "I don't know about you, but I missed you."

Rose whispered into Zoraya's ear, Zoraya could feel her face heating up.

"I missed you too. I was told you were sick, so I was really worried."

Zoraya intertwined her fingers with Rose's.

"I am, but it's an incurable disease, which is another way of saying it's a new disease no one knows about."

Zoraya was struck with a pang of concern. "No one told me this."

She was slowly moving closer to Rose "That's because I didn't want to worry you," Rose said, trying to continue making excuses, but Zoraya had already kissed her.

"Mmm, mmm," came the muffled words from Rose, until she finally pushed Zoraya off her. "Next time, warn me before you do anything like that."

Rose's face was red, but Zoraya was thinking about something else. "Mmm, looks like I'll have to do more," she muttered, offering a quick apology before beginning to unbutton Rose's shirt.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Rose started to panic a bit as Zoraya began covering her with kisses.

Later, when Zoraya had finally stopped, Rose's appearance was disheveled, and she had hickeys covering her neck.

"What was that for?" she looked at Zoraya, trying to be angry, but her blush ruined the effect.

"Simple healing," Zoraya said, waving her hand in the air as if she had just done the most normal thing ever.

"What do you mean healing?" Rose questioned.

"I, as the demon queen, have healed you," Zoraya explained, "and if you had called me sooner, I could've healed you sooner."

Rose looked absolutely dumbfounded, so Zoraya elaborated, "The way healing magic works for demons is very different from humans. They can only heal when doing lustful acts, like kissing, hugging, and skinship. And the more difficult diseases make for more lustful acts."

A look of understanding flashed across Rose's face. "Oh, that makes sense now."

Zoraya got up. "You seem to be feeling better now, so I'm going to take my leave."

As Zoraya tried to leave, she suddenly fell backward onto the bed.

"Zora, just so you know, kissing someone the way you kissed me has different implications in the human world," Rose said, sitting on top of Zoraya.

"Ya, but I was just healing you," Zoraya replied.

Rose leaned down, whispering into Zoraya's ear, "Just kidding." She thought for a moment and then added, "Maybe."

She climbed off Zoraya, laughing.

Zoraya stood up quickly, her face redder than Rose's had ever been. "That was not funny."

Feeling extremely embarrassed, she stormed off, leaving a smirking Rose.