Cultivating Plants

“Damn, that’s quite the character,” Jafar said from the other side of the room.

“Character? I’ll give you character!” Aloe growled, a vein popping in her temple. “I wish that the towel was scalding!”

“Woah, no need for such aggressiveness. It isn’t like I haven’t seen you naked before, little plant” The guard added. 

“That was ages ago!” The girl refuted, her arm pressuring against her chest. “And I don’t want your perverted eyes over me!”

“Sorry to tell you this, but you are skinny for my liking.” Jafar snickered behind the door. “I like ‘em meaty ya’ know?” Aloe’s eyes wordlessly shifted to the housewife’s voluptuous figure. “Anyways, can I enter already?”

“Give her one second,” Mirah responded first. “Here Aloe, cover yourself with the sheets.”

Aloe did as instructed, covering herself with the rather unclean sheets. She would have been repulsed if it were not because it was her own substances dirtying it and the fact that she already felt repugnantly unclean at the moment.

“Come in.” She added after enveloping her tiny frame with the cloth.

“Well, it’s good to see you with such high spirits after the recent events,” Jafar said as he entered back into the room.

Aloe’s expression turned ever-so-gloomier at the implications of the guard’s words, rage shifting to sadness.

“Ehem.” Mirah cleared her throat, distracting Aloe’s thoughts and attracting Jafar’s attention. “What did you want, darling? It’s a bit rude to blast open the door of a sick person’s room.”

“Sick person?” Jafar pondered for an instant before his eyes settled on the bloodied nightgown on the ground. “Oooh. I get it now. She’s on that time of the month.”

“Bluntly, but yes.” His wife sighed at her husband’s lack of touch. “What did you think the vomit in the morning was?”

Vomit? Aloe thought, unable to recall ever puking. Though now that she mentioned it, her stomach felt a bit light.

“Well, considering the circumstances, I believed it was because of Shara-“

“Jafar!” Mirah snapped at the man. “You don’t do that!”

The housewife turned back to look at Aloe, whose face had become paler yet paradoxically darker.

“Sorry, sorry.” Jafar apologized. “It’s been now a few days, but for her, it was just tomorrow.”

“Just... don’t talk, darling,” Mirah responded with a facepalm and a sigh. “Leave us alone, Aloe needs to rest.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Jafar added with a sigh of his own.

“What was that now?” Mirah raised her voice and jumped out of the bed, leaving Aloe’s side. “What do you mean you can’t leave the poor grieving girl alone?”

“The emir.” The guard responded solemnly.

“Oh.” With those two single words, the sheer mention of the title, Mirah’s temperament instantly turned down.

“The emir has summoned Aloe to the court.”

Aloe blinked thrice before processing the words coming out of Jafar’s mouth. Her mind was working so slowly and her head hurt so much that she thought she had heard wrong, but judging from Mirah’s reaction, she noticed that her ears were working well.

“W-why does the emir want to see me?” Aloe asked weakly, she couldn’t discern if she did so as for the lack of strength or the raw intimidation from the summon.

Before responding, Jafar looked at Mirah for confirmation. The housewife looked down in defeat, realizing what her husband was going to say, but she didn’t stop him this time.

“It’s regarding your mother, Aloe.” Jafar explicitly avoided mentioning her name.

“Oh.” Aloe let out the same sound of surprise and acknowledgment that Mirah had done a few seconds before.

“Must it be now?” Mirah pleaded. “Aloe is not feeling well besides her mourn.”

“You can’t go against the emir’s orders, Mirah,” Jafar responded with a sad tone and emphatic expression.

“I’m not saying to go against them!” The woman stated defensively. “Just... give Aloe a bit more time.”

“Sorry, can’t do.” Mirah and Aloe knew that the man meant his apology, but that didn’t change anything. “Aloe must present herself on the palace today.”

Mirah looked at Aloe with pity, prompting the girl to sigh. She was suffering and aching from multiple fronts and reasons, but that look hurt her more.

Aloe looked at Mirah.

“I’ll...” Her voice was heavy, rough, and slow. She gulped down saliva and then turned to Jafar. “I’ll do it.”

“Alright, I’ll give you a moment to change and then we can get on our way, the sooner we end this the better,” Jafar said.

“No.” Mirah interjected.

“No?” Jafar was flabbergasted at the negation.

“I’m not going to let you bring this defeated and dirty girl,” Hey! “into the very emir’s palace.” Mirah stood up against the tall guard. “It needs to be today, right?”

“Yup, that’s right,” Jafar affirmed, unfazed by the woman’s attempts at intimidation.

“Give us a few hours so I can bring Aloe to the public baths at least.”

Jafar stood impassively for a pregnant moment, his expression showing that she was pondering his wife’s petition. A few seconds later, he responded with a sigh.

“Alright, get you two to the bath and make Aloe worthy enough to stand with the imperials.”

---

Before going to the bath Aloe, or rather Mirah, cleaned her body from traces of blood. Specifically, Aloe’s nether regions. It had been a bit humiliating, but Mirah made no jokes or fuzz about it, and Aloe appreciated that greatly.

As for clothing, Mirah thankfully didn’t need to lend her any clothes as the ones she wore before collapsing were still clean. That had been a lifesaver because, if she had no clothes, it would have been difficult to obtain them. Mirah’s clothes were just too big – especially on the torso region – and Aya’s clothes were too small. Even if Aloe had similar stature to the little girl, her build was that of a child, meaning Aya’s clothes were impossibly tight – especially on the hips.

The nightgown had been an exception as it was made of loose fabric.

“How are you faring, Aloe?” Mirah asked once they got out of the house.

Aloe had been offered a few pieces of fruit before leaving, but after a cup of water and half a banana, her stomach couldn’t take more even if she had eaten a miserable meal.

“Fine, I think?” Aloe responded awkwardly, having some incommodities in her step.

“You are one of those, huh,” Mirah said.

“One of what?” The girl inquired following the housewife a bit behind, her pace lacking.

“Of those girls who are devastated by their menstruation.” Mirah clarified.

“Absolutely.” Aloe groaned, her face vaguely reddening. “It’s a nightmare. Every month the same torture. Dizziness, cramps, itching, occasional vomiting, mood swings, especially mood swings. How do you deal with it yourself?”

“I haven’t experienced myself those problems, if I’m honest,” Mirah responded and Aloe noticed this was the first conversation, a real one without any intermediary forcing them to talk, she had with Mirah. “I’ve seen others suffer like you, maybe not as bad, and that kind of makes me scared. What if Aya is also like that when she grows up? I don’t have the experience, even when I was young I had no problems whatsoever, so I fear won’t be able to help her.”

“I’m sure you’ll do well with her,” Aloe responded honestly. “You did quite a good one with me. Infusion included. My mo-“

And then cut herself.

It was really hard to not think about it. It was so sudden. Aloe didn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it. She was well and fine when she left a month ago, and now... now she was dead.

Suddenly, without notice.

“Hey,” Mirah snapped her fingers. “Do not think about it. Just think about what you have in front of you and how we are going to have a girl’s outing.”

“Girl’s outing? Yeah and the other hundreds on the public baths.”

“Who do you take me for?” The woman scoffed and took out a handful of fajats. “I ain’t gonna take us to cheap baths. We are going to have good ones. You are going to visit the emir, after all.”

“You don’t need to, really,” Aloe said, pushing away the copper coins.

“But I do,” Mirah added with that sweet, warm, motherly smile of hers. “Aloe, you have had two losses in a single month. I would be already devastated at one, but two? I don’t know how you are coping with it.”

Two? Before Aloe asked, she realized that Mirah was talking about Karaim. Oh right, the old man died. Even if he left me a whole piece of land and houses of my own, plus some mystical and unknown magical arts, I don’t really feel a bit of sadness. That lack of shame and mourning on Karaim’s death comforted Aloe, no matter how macabre and awful that may be. A lack of feelings was exactly what she needed right now.

“Anyways,” Mirah cut through as Aloe had stayed lingering too much on her thoughts. “Shall we get going?” And picked up her hand.

She’s got it all wrong. Aloe kept in her mind. Mirah thinks I’m devastated by loss, too traumatized to even show my emotion. When, in reality, there are none. Aloe walked forward, her eyes empty and deprived of color.

I’m just a monster that doesn’t feel anything.