Feeling apprehensive as following men has been getting me killed lately, I follow Aiden . My eyes flick around me as we walk, taking in the sight of all of the books. Back in my previous world there would be computer terminals and technology for rent. I see none of that here. There are large mahogany bookshelves full of books. The smells alone makes me happy. The thought of all of the knowledge and all of those stories makes me even happier.

I dig through my mind to see if Aria spent any time at the library, and if I would be killed for being here. I see no affection of suspicion in the bars above Aiden's head. It takes me a while for Aria's memories to come to the surface. Apparently both Aria and Poppy liked to read so they would come to the library sometimes, although they mostly bought books. We mostly bought books. I bought them. However, it doesn't seem like it would be too weird for me to spend time here. I can always say I am doing research for a new recipe. That won't be fully a lie either.

We keep walking until we come to a small, yet cozy looking room. There is a plush chair with large red pillows, a bed with big fluffy white pillow and a patchwork quilt, a sink with some cups and a cupboard above the sink. It also looks like there are sliding bins beneath the bed. Aiden opened the door and beckoned us both inside.

"Wow this place is really cozy. Do you spend a lot of time here? If I were you I would. Although, it seems insulated and like you really wouldn't be able to hear anyone coming and going. Can you? Do you have other people that work here so that you can come back here and chill, nap or read?" Alex asks Aiden.

"This is a large library. There are many people who work here. Though, only I live here. This is a shared space for any of my workers. We can pop in here and read. Also." he says, squatting down and pulling out one of the bins from beneath the bed, "This is where we keep rare materials to sell."

He carefully picks up and puts down items from within the bin. "Not this, not that, not that either. Hope it wasn't sold already. Where are you?" he mutters to himself. Neither Alex nor I interrupt him. He eventually stands back up, holding a few items in his hands. One of them is a vial holding a substance that keeps rotating between being a water and a mist and a bag with some seeds in it.

I look at the items and wait for him to say something. He looks me up and down with a slight smile and looks at Alex. He didn't seem impressed with him. No smile for Alex. Poor Alex.

"Alright Princess, coins first then I will hand you over the items." Aiden says, blowing his bangs out of his face. It didn't work at first so he tried a few more times before he manages to. A little. He seems resigned to his bangs still being a little in his face.

"Alright." I say and reach into my coin purse, taking out what he asks for.

"Her name isn't Princess guy, it's Aria. It's rude to call people you don't really know by pet names." Alex says to him.

"Who says that I don't know her well?" Aiden asks with one eyebrow raised.

"Do you?" Alex asks, sounding a little confused. "She didn't greet you by name."

"No. I don't know Princess here. I apologize for any offense Aria."

"None taken, although I do prefer to be called Aria." I tell him, hoping that my meaning comes across.

I don't think he was calling me Princess as a pet name. However, I don't want Alex to know that I am the princess yet. If he did, he would most likely treat me differently. I like being treated like a person. Not a witch and not the princess. Many people that I have met have treated me like a person, but they also killed me.

"That is everything we need. Thank you, Aiden. Next time I come back it will be to look at some books." I tell him.

"Very good. Come find me and I will help you find whatever you are looking for. If you need help that is." he says and smiles. Is that a dig at me being the Princess and people helping me a lot? Or is it because he saw us both gawking at all of the books. "I hope to see you both again soon. Good luck with the project." Aiden tells us and leads us back to the entrance.

"Thanks. I am sure that we will be back a lot. Aria and I both like to read. Don't we Aria. And we already agreed that we would be coming back to the library. And coming back once means coming back a lot of times, doesn't it? Yes, it does! But now is not the time to spend forever talking, there is a mystical magical rare artifact to be crafted!"

I think that if Alex had to give a one-word response he would die. Just cease existing. Which would be sad. He is amusing to be around.

As we leave the library, we discuss what our next steps should be.

"Did you want to come back to my shop, and we can divide our items?" I ask him. "I know that you are still working on your shop so if you would like me to hold onto all of the non-glass crafting items I can." I tell him.

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"That would be great! Thanks Aria. I know that I said earlier that I like to have everything in its place, but I haven't determined a place for everything yet. Thus, I would be worried about all our hard gotten items disappearing into the great Somewhere, the place all lost and misplaced things go."

"Let's go then." I tell him and lead the way back to my shop.

"Thanks for taking me along with you to get all of the items. It was a nice way for me to meet all of the shop owners." Alex says.

"Of course. We are partners in this project. Also, this is where you live now so it is important that you know the people around you. You never know when you will need to buy something from them, or when they may buy something for you." I tell him.

"And friends. It is nice to have friends."

His comment pushes me into a memory.

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"Oh Elia, I am so glad that we are friends. I never would have been able to understand that problem on my own." says a tall man in class with me. His name is Zerrick. Odd name, I know. He says that it helps people remember who he is though. I wonder if his parents named him that or if he decided on it himself.

"You're welcome. I was stuck on this one for a while myself. Don't worry though, I looked at other similar problems and their solutions and practiced until I understood it. Math and science are important for us to know after all. As is doing research." I tell him. Zerrick made me a bit uncomfortable at times, but everyone told me that he was a good guy. That I have nothing to worry about.

"If you are ever in trouble or if you need help you can always come to me."

"Thanks Zerrick. It is good to have friends here."

"Especially one as well know, popular and liked as me?" he asks.

I don't know how to respond to that. Zerrick is well known. Unlike me, who is here on a scholarship, his family has money. Is money. They contribute a lot to the school every year. He is well known for throwing his money around and spoiling his friends. I don't know what he is getting at with his question.

"Yeah no. I don't care who anyone is or how popular they are. What matters is how they treat other people, themselves and me."

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I almost freeze in my tracks just thinking about Zerrick. My mouth goes dry and my palms get a little bit sweaty. However, I manage to answer in a way that I think Alex would want me too.

"Of course. Having friends is great. It's always nice to have someone to talk to. To share memories or even just a sandwich with." I tell him.

"Food! Blizzie like food. Sandwich is food. Blizzie like sandwich?"

Instead of verbally responding I reach into my bag and pet Blizzie.

"That is not an answer. But Blizzie will accept this. Blizzie likes pets. Blizzie loves Aria. Aria is better than food." Blizzie says, sounding content and a bit sleepy. What a sweet sleepy baby.

"Glad that you agree with me. Speaking of food, after we split up all of our materials would you like to get something to eat with me?" he asks, glancing over at me, cheeks a little pink.

"I'd love to." I tell him. I wonder if there is a quiet place that we can go, one where people won't treat us poorly. Won't look down on him for showing up with me. "Would you be okay with street food? I know some people look down on it, but I love it." I tell him. This is true for both me and the original Aria.

"Okay! That sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Did you want to eat it walking around?" he asks.

"We could do that. Or we can go back to one of our shops and eat it there."

"Oh! Can we go back to your shop? I really want to see and hear all about how you mix potions!" he asks me enthusiastically.

"Sure." I say, surprised that he would want to come to my shop. I wonder if he is wondering why I don't invite him to my place, but I am grateful he isn't inquiring. I will tell him that I am the princess, but not yet. Not today. I hope he won't be mad when I tell him.

We stop into my shop and put all of our items in the back.

"Let's just divide them after we eat." I tell him.

"Sounds good." he replies. "Where should we go?" he asks me.

I pause for a moment and try to access Aria's memories. It takes but a moment before I get a flood of information. Seems to be getting easier and easier to access.

"There is a little place down the street from here. They have some great skewers, tacos and fried veggies." I tell him. I hope he doesn't mind fried food. "They also have noodles." I add.

"I am a big fan of noodles." he tells me, and I lead the way to the stand.

"What can I get you?" the lady at the stand asks us.

"Can I have noodles with stir fried vegetables. Lamb as the meat. Oh can I also get your least seasoned meat on the side?" I ask her.

"What kind of pet is it for?" she asks me knowingly.

"My cat." I tell her, almost but not quite bashful.

"Haha, I have a cat too. I'll give them some good chicken meat that I haven't seasoned yet." she tells me. "And for you?" she asks Alex.

"Can I get a steak kabob, and fried noodles with loaded veggies?" he asks her.

"Coming right up. You can wait on the bench over there." she says, indicating a bench for us to sit on. We take our seats and chat comfortable with each other. Our chat ends up being about my favorite foods to feed Blizzie.

"Meat obviously. I feed him sausages often. I gave him some lamb just the other day." I tell him. "He also loves cat treats, any and all kinds of cat treats." I tell him.

"Why did you end up with a cat?" he asks. Why did I end up with a cat? Ah, an Aria memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's winter and I can hear the snow crunching beneath my boots. I had decided to go for a walk after Irick had yelled at me. Again. For an hour. I tried to walk away from him but he grabbed my arm so badly that I had bruises. Deep blue and purple cruises, with the imprint of his fingers. He had been yelling about Iris. Again. Some slight that he thinks I did to her. Why does he always think that I am bullying Iris? I don't bully Iris. Poppy might on occasion, but because of my past friendship with her I don't. I even try to keep Poppy away.

He doesn't care about all of that. All he cares about is that his precious Iris. Why can't he see that I don't intentionally hurt people. Is he so blinded, so jaded. Did Iris say that I hurt her? That doesn't sound like Iris at all. Was she around me when she fell again? Why can't he see that she was always tripping over her own feet. If he had to blame anyone why couldn't he blame her own shadow. I swear.

I rub my arms and shiver a little bit. It gets cold in the kingdom. Steel your breath cold, make your nose stick cold. Not many people would be out walking in this cold by choice. It is a blizzard right now after all. As I am walking I see movement from what looks like a snow mound and I hear a weak little voice crying out. It was meows but it sounded like cries for help.

Without hesitation I make my way over to the small creature. I see what he is inside is a small box with a blanket in it. I can't tell if there had been more kittens at one point or not. I look around for little bodies, even digging into the snow all around the box, and see nothing. I do happen to see shoe and boot prints all around the box though, so that is a hopeful sign.

"Why were you the one that got left behind little fella?" I ask him, drawing near. He doesn't shy away from my touch but instead comes closer. It seems that he wasn't mistreated before being left out here or he would have shied away.

I can't help but think of a story I heard when I was little. Some strange wizard had gone around placing animals in different spots, waiting for their destined partner to come along and bond with them. We called it placing familiars. I don't know if that is what happened but I am taking this little one home with me.

I scoop him up and hug him close inside of my coat, letting my body warm his up. On impulse I also scoop up the blanket and bring that with us. I want him to feel comfortable in his new home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I guess you can I chose a cat because we chose each other. I wouldn't want anyone aside from my sweet Sir Blizzard." Named after the blizzard that he was found in. Of course, I don't say that part out loud. It is mine and his little secret.