By the time Torin engaged the Whitescar raiding party outside of Riften, Alice would be fully recovered and she and Elizabeth would be on their way to meet them. However, a few strange events were to happen back in Whiterun in the days leading up to that. By the afternoon of the first day, the day of the group's departure and the camp at the copse of trees, Alice had woken up to find a covered plated of food on the table next to her bed and a loving note from Carlotta. Her door was closed and the house was quiet so she'd been able to get some good rest once she'd gotten settled. Overall she felt better. She was still warm but no longer burning and she hadn't sweated during her nap so her footy pajamas and covers were still comfortable. She was still drowsy which mean the healing potion was still in her system, but she was hungry enough to stay awake. Magic had kept her breakfast warm and it tasted good now that she could enjoy it. She saved the glass of orange juice for last, until after she'd drank the larger glass of water and the fresh healing potion laid out for her. They always tasted terrible despite Carlotta's effort to sweeten them up with honey. Alice's original mother Amy had never even entertained the idea of sweetening a healing potion, believing their rank odor and bitter taste to be the best way to discourage a kid from playing sick. She was absolutely right and it had gotten Alice, Cilla, Titus and even their eldest brother Stephen to cut more than one act. Alice supposed Carlotta simply had a different mindset and honestly, she appreciated it now. Even if it didn't really work. After downing the potion and chasing it with orange juice Alice wanted to go back to sleep, so she covered herself back up, turned on her side away from the door and continued her rest. She slept through the afternoon and into the evening when Carlotta came into her room. She stirred at the nose and then smelled potatoes and fried fish.
"Alice?" Carlotta called softly from the cracked door.
"Mmmmm..." Alice moaned. She rolled over to face Carlotta then shut her eyes just as she opened them. The hallway light bothered her. "...Mama?" She asked groggily.
Carlotta softly walked into the room but left the door open behind her to let more light in. It would help Alice wake up. "Hi sweetheart." She said, resting a hand on Alice's covered chest to relax her. "How you feelin'?"
"Good. Better. Those healing potions do a good job, even if they make me sleepy."
"They're supposed to do that. That's how you get good rest silly." Carlotta smiled down at her stepdaughter. She loved Alice and Cilla, so much that she no longer made such a distinction in her mind. They were just as much her daughters as Mila. "Dinner's ready if you're interested. You hungry at all? You feel okay to come downstairs?"
"Mhmm. Yeah. I think I'd like that. Where is everybody? And what time is it?"
"It's about 7:30. Mila's downstairs with dad and Elizabeth is asleep in the guest room. She's been napping since 12:30, poor thing. I hope she's not getting sick too."
"I don't know. She might be. Salthar's been training her really hard though. She's sounded pretty miserable in the few letters we've written to each other over the year."
"I'll have to talk to Salthar about that then. Whatever he's having her do he's pushing her way too hard. That girl's exhausted and needs rest in a bad way."
"Good thing she's got you to take care of her for a couple of days then eh? And Cilla was ecstatic to see her. She actually declared that she and Elizabeth were BFF's you know."
"I heard." Carlotta said, chucking. "Elizabeth is a sweet girl who loves Cilla. I'm glad to have her here. I'm gonna go into the other room and wake her up. How 'bout you head downstairs okay?"
"Sure." Alice said. Carlotta helped her up and then brought her into a warm, motherly hug which Alice gladly returned. "I love you mama." She said.
"I love you too sweetheart. And I'm...well...I'm glad I've earned the right to be your new mama. You make me very happy Alice. Both you and Cilla."
"Ditto." Alice said. Then she broke the hug and slowly headed downstairs, taking time to get used to the light. She could see from the living room window that the snow had stopped and a clear night had settled in. A warm fire was roaring and Simus and Mila were at the table waiting for the others. Mila was still in her green footy pajamas while Carlotta was still in her robe and nightgown and Alice, obviously, was still in her blue footies with yellow ducks. She suspected Elizabeth was in a fresh pair herself. It had been a fun, relaxing jammies day at the Psyrakon house.
Carlotta opened Elizabeth's door just as gently as Alice's. "Elizabeth?" She called softly. She headed over as the girl stirred, then bolted awake with a gasp, clearly startled. She bent over the girl and ran a hand through her soft brown hair to calm her down. "Shhhhh...It's alright sweetheart. It's just Carlotta." She had slept for a long time, much longer than she had intended to, and was probably worried about Alice. Carlotta kept her voice low and soft and stroked her hair to show her that everything was fine. "Shhh...It's alright Elizabeth. Alice is awake and heading downstairs. She woke up to eat and take her medicine this afternoon and she's doing much better. You've been asleep all afternoon but that's okay. You've been very tired and needed that rest." She calmed down some and looked up at Carlotta. "Now, dinner's ready and I bet you're hungry. Why don't you come downstairs with me?"
Carlotta then waited patiently for Elizabeth to wake up, listening to her as she talked. When she did get up, she pulled her into the same motherly hug she gave Alice and held her close for a few moments. "I'm glad you're here Elizabeth. I know Salthar's been treating you very harshly with your mage training and I want you to feel safe and comfortable while you're here. You feelin' okay? Anything you wanna talk about while we're alone?"