As we exited the prison at last, I looked to my left, then to my right. There was not a soul to be seen on the cobbled streets. No one came in or out of any of the neatly arranged shops. It was completely silent. I edged my way to the neighboring building that displayed a sign for pottery and leaned forward to peer through a window.

As I thought, there was nobody there. Not even the owner.

"Now that's mighty odd," said Ulrich as he walked up beside me and turned his head to peer in as well. "Thought I'd never see the day when Odette would leave her shop." His head moved the other way, "Herman, I thought you said only the guards were enchanted."

"They were," said the boy, "Odette was here when I was getting the armor. I swear!"

"Hmm…" was all the horse said. It was harder to gauge his mood without the aid of his ears, but I could sense that Ulrich was in deep contemplation. Eventually, he said, "Things are worse than I thought. The dang bard must be lurin' everybody somewhere."

The boy stepped forward into my line of vision. "They were gathering in the town square before I came to warn you."

"Were they now? Why do you think that is, Mr. Prince?"

"I suspect a trap," I said, "There's no doubt in my mind that Heide knows that we're here somewhere."

"Gertie…" said Lina with quiet sorrow as she began to tug at her chest plate.

So, she'd figured it out, too. There was only one way Heide could know where we were heading. Perhaps Gertrude had given the information under duress. I would not put it past the False Hero to torture his subordinate, even one of his favorites.

Ulrich snorted his approval. "I agree. But my question is how."

"Whaddaya mean?" asked Dietrich.

"If that girl lures people in through her flute playin', why have we not heard it? And more importantly, why has…" His deep drawl faded away as he began to move forward at a brisk trot. His eyes remained forward as we hurried behind him.

I had to jog to keep pace with Ulrich, "Perhaps she had the guards gather the citizens to the center?"

"You're probably right, Mr. Prince," said Ulrich without so much as a glance in my direction, "But there's somethin' I'm missin'. A piece of the puzzle that I'm not seein'."

I pondered what he could mean by that. I, too, had a feeling that I was overlooking something. But what?

Dietrich's voice approached as he caught up to jog beside me, "There's only one way to find out, right?" And with that, he jogged on ahead. Ulrich matched his speed with Herman bringing up the rear. I was about to do the same when I noticed that one of our party was lagging behind.

Lina was several feet back, bending forward, her hands on her knees. She was panting as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. Some of her hair was spewing from under the helmet, which became even more undone as she yanked it off her head and tossed to the ground with a clang. Then she pulled off a glove with her teeth so she could wipe her sopping face with a bare hand.

"Are you all right, Lina?" I said as I jogged back to her.

"Mm fme," she said through the leather in her mouth.

"What was that?" I said and wrapped my fingers around the glove, which allowed her to spit it from her mouth.

"Thank you. I said that I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath. It's just so difficult to breathe with this thing on my chest!" She clutched at the plate with a shaking hand.

"I can imagine," I said whilst trying not to imagine it.

"And I've…never had to run in armor before. It's like carrying a ten-year-old on my back! How do men do this all day? Even Silva managed to do it without fuss."

"To be fair, Silva's a breed all her own. That woman has no shortage of energy. And won't say no to a challenge. She could carry Ulrich if I dared her to."

Lina gave a small laugh, "That does sound like Silva. You must have known her for a long time."

"All my life, I'd say," I said as I bent down and picked up the discarded helmet, "I honestly can't remember a moment without her." I held the helmet in my hands and caught my distorted reflection gleaming back at me on its dull surface.

"She must be very special to you."

Startled by that, I looked up at her. Was her face merely red from exhaustion? Lina's expression certainly did not give anything away. "I suppose you could say that. She's been my constant companion since I was young."

Lina said nothing as she pulled her glove sandwiched between my hand and the helmet.

I felt the need to revise my earlier statement, "The equivalent of a friend or an angry but loyal dog. Something like that."

"I see." Her eyes were fixed on the glove as she pulled it over her hand. And when she was satisfied, she reached out for her helmet, which I began to hand to her, and was surprised to have her snatch it from my grasp. I stared at her. Lina's expression had become hard.

It was partially hidden as Lina squashed it on her head before saying, "Thanks for coming back for me, Anno. Sorry for slowing you down." With that, she began to march forward.

I blinked several times. What… just happened? Somewhere in my mind, I had the distinct feeling that I had done something wrong. But what? I debated for a moment about asking her directly but decided against it. If she was upset at me and I asked her, she would deny it like Silva tended to do; and if she weren't, then she would become upset that I interpreted it in that way. Again, like Silva.

It was a damned if I did, damned if I didn't situation and enough to make my head hurt. I swear that understanding women was as complicated as running a kingdom, neither of which I had yet to do. I understood Silva well enough, as she tended to say whatever was on her mind, but with someone as secretive as Lina, I'd have a better chance at understanding a kobold.

My mind was a complete mess as I went after Lina and fell into step beside her. We were silent as we walked forward. My eyes were focused ahead, trying to find the rest of our companions, but they were nowhere to be seen.

There was a distance between us now. I could feel it. And though we walked shoulder to shoulder, that gap was wider than the physical one between here and Grenna.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The awkwardness grew in my mind as Lina maintained her focus ahead of her, except hers felt even more deliberate than mine. No amount of princely authority could fix this. I could not simply order her to be honest with me. The only way forward was to be honest with her.

"I have no idea what to feel about Silva."

Her eyes grew wide enough for the edges to be swallowed by the helmet, "What did you say?"

I kept my eyes forward. "How can you know how you truly feel about someone until they're gone? She was always there, you know. Always striving to become better. She even managed to outclass many of the royal guards. And I got wrapped up in her ambition. She pushed me to become better than I was, better than all the leeches and cutthroats around me. I think it's because she was a commoner that she could see outside the politics of the courts. She was the one good in my life, I can say that much. And I miss it.

"I miss her chidings when I've fallen below her expectation—which was often, mind you. I miss our sparring matches, her practical jokes, and our conversations about life and other nonsense. I miss the one person whom I could rely on to tell me what the right thing to do is. And, I'll admit, Lina, I miss her. And I hate that rat you call your ‘darling' for taking her away from me! I no longer care if you think bad of me for it. I despise that man for all that he's done! And I will kill him for it, believe you me."

I fell silent as we walked the lonely cobbled streets together. My fists were clenched with the fury I'd been suppressing. Everything I'd kept hidden—mostly from myself—had come spilling out.

With a sigh, I turn apologetic eyes upon her, "Forgive me, Lina. I'm not as noble a prince as you'd imagined, now, am I?"

At last, Lina returned my gaze, "Oh, I wouldn't say that, Anno."

"You wouldn't?"

She smiled. A most welcome sight, "I never really imagined you as a noble prince, at least, not at first. I knew you wanted to kill my darling the moment you asked to go to Grenna. And, to be honest, I was at a loss. I ended up on the opposite side of the continent without knowing how I got there or with no knowledge of how to get back. And when I met you, I thought I found an easy target to use.

"I knew you were at least a good person from when I touched you, so you'd do everything in your power to keep me safe as we traveled back. But I underestimated how good a person you really were. The way you tried to help those people back in Pleasance, I saw someone who would risk their life for the sake of others. And that went double for when you risked your life for a stranger like me."

I rubbed my helmet with a sheepish hand. "To be honest, I was going to leave you behind in that fire. And I seriously considered it, too."

"But you didn't. That's what counts. And then the whole thing with Gertie and shielding me. No one else would have done that without knowing who I am. You even risked your life for what you thought was a Deborn!"

"I owed him. For saving our lives."

She pursed her lips at me, "See, that's where you're wrong. You keep making excuses, but you are one of the bravest and stupidest people I have ever met, Anno Wolfskreuz."

I laughed at that, despite my slightly bruised ego, "And that's where you're wrong, Just Lina. Not only am I brave and stupid, but I'm also a prince. And duty to a prince is everything; worth far more than his life. That's something Silva taught me."

"Is that right?" The corners of her smile were also consumed by the helmet's edges, "Then what would you say to someone who ran away from her duty?"

"You mean Silva? I don't blame her for one moment. It's that darling of yours that made her run—"

"I meant me."

Though her smile was intact, Lina's eyes shone with a pain that I had never seen before, not even at the brink of death. Her voice quivered, as did the little of her chin that I could see. It made me stop.

It took me a moment to process what she had just said. "Y-you? Abandon your duty?"

She nodded. I could see the beginnings of tears forming.

"But what? Why?"

"I…can't tell you. Not yet. Just know that it was a heavy burden. And darling…he showed me that I could be free. That I could run away and be the Lina I wanted, not the one I had to be."

I spoke before my thoughts could tell me that I was about to say something awful, "How could you? Duty is about putting others before oneself. And you abandoned them."

"I know. But you don't understand—"

I grasped Lina's hand with both of mine and pulled them upward, staring at her with pleading in my eyes. "I'd like to understand!" On a further impulse, I lifted the helmet from her head, which fell away. I needed to see her face in its entirety. "I want to know more about you. About the real Lina, not this…front you keep putting on. I want to know how you think, how you feel. I want to be a prince that you can rely on!"

There was silence as Lina stared into my eyes. Then she said, "A prince, you say? Is that all you want to be?"

"That's all I can be. All that I am."

Her lips tightened. "Then you could never understand me, Anno. All you'll ever know is only a glimpse of the real Lina." She slipped from my grasp and took a step back.

I let my arms fall to my sides. An overwhelming sense of defeat threatened to swallow me. What had I done?

This time, I knew. I just did not want to admit it.

I could only watch her walk away from me in the direction the others had disappeared. Her long, red hair swayed behind her.

"Lina…"

I did not expect her to turn around to look at me, and yet she did.

"Anno, I—"

There came a woosh and a sickening thud as Lina's body spasmed and jerked forward simultaneously. I saw her eyes pop with shock before she pitched forward and crumpled.

I was there to catch her before she hit the ground. Her armored body fell limp into my arms.

"Lina!" My entire body shook as the horror of what had happened crashed over me. My eyes rested upon the crossbow bolt jutting from the center of her right shoulder. It had punched through her armor like a needle through fabric.

My next instinct was to raise a shaking hand to pull the bolt out. But I stopped. I knew better. That bolt was now the only reason that she was alive and not bleeding out.

She had to be alive. She had to be. No, I needed her to be.

"Lina!" Now it was my voice that quivered as I called out to her. But she did not answer. At least with her voice. One of her hands twitched, and her eyelids fluttered open. She looked around, pupils unfocused until they found me.

Her lips moved, but no words came out, only a small stream of blood at the corner of her mouth. An…no, was what they formed. And then her eyes closed once more.

And she was still.

The world fell away from me as I stared down at her. All I could see was her beautiful face and few sweaty strands of hair that clung to it. I gently brushed one away with a finger.

My eyes filled with her unshed tears as I held Lina close to my chest.

For that moment, it was just her and me. Lina and Anno.

And then a voice brought me back to reality as I realized that I was not alone.

I was completely surrounded. Men who wore the same uniform as I were approaching me from all sides.

The one who had spoken was shouting as he focused his call at the rooftops. "You idiot! You were supposed to hit the prince! Lady Heide wanted the woman alive!"

"I'm sorry, sir! She turned around as I was taking my shot. I'll get him this time, I promise." That second voice was familiar. Horribly, unspeakably familiar. I raised my eyes to that voice as the boy it belonged to stepped forward to the roof's edge, pointing the large crossbow that seemed far too big for him at my face.

It was Herman.