Late that very same night, Prince Malcolm an Griest found himself in a small council chamber with the other Princes.

By a staggering coincidence, all four Princes of the other Great Houses had been available in Pardochel to meet tonight.

“Malcolm, do you have any bleeding idea what time it is?!” Argus an Craite demanded. Argus was a thick-bodied man with a huge, bushy beard. “This had better be important. If the Witch of Envy hasn’t broken free, then you’ll be getting a piece of my mind for dragging us out of our beds!”

A stringy, weedy man with thinning red hair gasped. “Is she?!” He whispered in a quavering voice. “My horoscope predicted trials and tribulations this week!”

The other Princes grumbled. Patrick an Brokvar was a Prince from the northern wastes. Time spent in the many months-long darkness of the northern Gusteko winter had resulted in a House of superstitious people often judged to be not quite right in the head. All the same, under Patrick’s superstition and paranoia lay an adapt mind able to see all angles and the other Princes had learned to listen to his words carefully.

“Let’s not speculate,” Donar an Hilde murmured. Donar was an old but still hale man. His hair and beard had long ago gone gray but he spoke with a demeanor of patient dignity and had earned the respect of nearly every Prince in Gusteko. “I’m certain that Malcolm would not have gathered us on such short notice without the matter at hand being dire. Prince Malcolm, I admit my curiosity is peaked.”

Malcolm took a deep breath. “Before I begin, I must start with a bit of background information. A bit over a month ago, a village of Lagunican peasants was attacked by Gusteko soldiers.”

Nobody needed to ask any more details. Every prince at the table turned to glare at the only man who hadn’t spoken yet. Vlad an Voivoide was a hulking man with thin, scraggly red hair and a mouth full of misaligned teeth that always seemed twisted into a sneer.

“What the devil?!” Donar hissed. “What are you trying to do, Vlad?! Start a war?!”

Donar gave Malcolm a side-eye as well. Donar knew full well that if Malcolm hadn’t explicitly authorized this action, he had at least been aware of it.

Vlad smirked. “I don’t know why your blaming me for this. Some of my soldiers just got lost and wandered across the border. It was Lagunica that killed them. My men were just looking for directions,” He said in a patently unconvincing voice.

“You must think us all fools to make your lies so transparent!” Argus roared, smashing his fist against the table. “Attacking civilians without warning or provocation?! The Hierocracy ought to have you strung up on a rope for this!”

“Unfortunately,” Patrick murmured. “The Hierocracy is hopelessly divided due to Holy King Gillecomegain’s incapacitation.”

“If the Hierocracy is too busy to defend Gustekan honor, then I’ll do it myself!” Argus shouted, leaping to his feet and reaching for his sword only to belated realize that it wasn’t there.

It was customary at these summits for all the princes to be disarmed before entering the meeting room and it looked like both Argus and Vlad now rued that deeply.

Argus rumbled like an angry boar and stepped forward to throttle Vlad with his bare hands.

“Hold!” Donar said, standing up and grabbing Argus’s arm.

Argus looked even more outraged. “Did you not hear-”

“I wish to hear more, Argus” Donar clarified, his calm voice silencing Argus. “Malcolm would not have gathered us all out of our beds to inform us of this. There must be more to this story…”

Malcolm nodded and Donar, Argus, and Vlad slowly sat down though Argus and Vlad continued to glare at one another.

“Just a few hours ago,” Malcolm murmured. “My soldiers at Trolleheim were attacked by Lagunican forces.”

The princes were all silent. Three faces were carved with deep concern and worry. Vlad’s face was a caricature of glee.

“This is dire news to be sure,” Donar murmured. “Was it intended as a proportional response or an effort to expand hostilities?”

“What does it matter?!” Argus demanded. “I’m not going to be the last one punched in a fight!”

“Let’s take the battle to Lagunica!” Vlad argued. “The dragon pact is broken! We march our troops south to loot and plunder!”

The princes glowered at Vlad whose smile only broadened.

“Argus,” Patrick said slowly. “If we attacked a Lagunican village unprovoked, it might be considered justice for them to attack one of our army camps.”

Argus looked incredulous. “Are you daft?! I mean, I’m not defending what Vlad did but-”

“But what?” Donar asked flatly. “If Vlad’s actions were unjust then what recompense should Lagunica have sought?”

“Can you old codgers pay attention?” Vlad sneered.

The princes all bristled.

“What does it matter?! The dragon isn’t protecting the kingdom anymore! Lagunica is wide open for us to march in and take whatever we want!” Vlad proclaimed.

“Lagunica is protected by more than just the dragon Volcanica,” Donar said in a steady voice. “It has a sizable army that’s already been deployed in the north to deal with the Witch Cult. Also, how confident should we be that the dragon pact is broken? Perhaps Vlad’s insignificant attack simply did not warrant the dragon’s attention.”

Patrick nervously scratched his face. “I say that we try to resolve this incident at the negotiating table instead of the battlefield. We’ve both bloodied each other. Honor is preserved. Let’s head this off before it gets worse!”

Argus grumbled and Vlad looked incensed.

Vlad was about to explode in rage when Malcolm cut him off. “There’s more,” Malcolm said in a grim voice.

Donar and the others looked at him in surprise.

“The camp at Trolleheim was attacked by Subaru Natsuki,” Malcolm said slowly. “This was done in the company of a positively identified Princess Kairei.”

The princes were dumbfounded.

Vlad snorted. “And why should I care? Natsuki and I have a score to settle anyway. He killed a lot of my men at Arlem! When I catch up with him, he’ll be one less problem for us to deal with!”

Everyone ignored Vlad.

“Ithil’s made an alliance with Lagunica?!” Argus said incredulously.

“Exactly,” Malcolm replied.

“Do you have evidence of this?” Donar said, his face grave.

Argus looked at Donar in disbelief. “The man just said-”

“I want to know what kind of alliance has been fashioned,” Donar cut him off. “In candor, despite this action being highly questionable, I’m uncertain that I can blame House Ithil for their decision. Malcolm has already won the war but he refuses to accept envoys to negotiate. He means to crush Siros. I’d like to remind you, Malcolm, that the name of House Ithil is now duly entered onto the rolls of the Houses of this Kingdom and are deserving of the same respect and honorable treatment you would bestow upon any other House. Your ‘total war’ policy has struck me as inappropriate and maybe even dishonorable.”

“War is a sacred contest!” Argus protested. “Two Houses locked in mortal combat where strength and valor determine the truth of any matter at issue! To recruit foreigners into such a conflict is dishonorable! Even treasonous!”

Vlad and Malcolm nodded fervently while Patrick and Donar shook their heads.

“I agree that Malcolm is at least as much to blame for this,” Patrick mused, drumming his fingers on the table.

Malcolm jumped to his feet looking enraged.

“Be silent, Malcolm!” Donar grumbled. “If you’d simply let Ithil sue for peace once your victory was certain, none of us would even be here! This contest has nothing to do with honor or your ‘vision’ for Gustekan purity. It’s all about Ithil threatening your trading monopoly. You’re just trying to line your own pockets!”

“Agreed,” Patrick muttered, fidgeting nervously. “We do need to do something about this though. We can’t let Lagunica think that it can get away with this kind of interference unchallenged.”

“But we can’t escalate the conflict either,” Donar replied.

“Hit them hard enough and they’ll learn not to hit back!” Argus declared.

Donar looked Argus in the eye. “I spent my youth fighting in the wars against Lagunica,” Donar said intently. “The better part of my marriage was squandered dealing with the battles between Hilde and Voivode. I lost two of three sons in the war against Karargi. I do not wish to lose the last son.”

Argus had no answer to this and bowed his head.

Vlad was sneering. “I don’t wish to lose my last son,” Vlad said in a mocking, falsetto under his breath. Everyone pretended not to hear him.

“Alright,” Argus sighed. “If not war then what?”

“A threat of war might serve us just as well as the real thing,” Patrick mused. “If we march our forces to the border and dig in there, we’d be a threat that Lagunica could not ignore. Then we could invite them to keep their noses out of our business unless they’d like us to stop over in their kingdom for a bit.”

“Sound strategy,” Donar approved. “Let’s be careful to get our message across without provoking escalation. Are we all willing to provide troops?”

“House Griest has an army of five thousand prepared to march tomorrow,” Malcolm declared. “They were to march to Siros and end the conflict but let it be clear that House Griest is prepared to once again honor its duty as the primary defender of Gusteko.”

The other princes looked unimpressed.

Argus shook his head. “I can’t very well send all my soldiers. I have bandits and the like to deal with. The best I can do is send half. Say a thousand troops.”

“I’ll also offer a thousand,” Donar added. “If House Griest is sending almost half of its army to the border then we should do the same.”

“I can probably manage that,” Patrick sighed.

“I can field two thousand troops,” Vlad sneered. “I’m not holding back! All of my forces will march together to the border!”

The princes looked at Vlad with annoyance.

“Should we send out an envoy as well?” Patrick suggested.

Malcolm shook his head. “Let them come to us and sue for peace! They were the ones who escalated! If we approach them first it will make us look weak.”

The others nodded.

“Is there anything else to discuss then?” Argus asked.

No one said anything.

Donar sighed as he stood. “A grim business, gentlemen. Let’s hope that it ends quickly and bloodlessly,” He said as he and the other princes filed out of the room.

Vlad stayed behind a moment, grumbling.

“Vlad,” Malcolm an Griest said in a quiet voice.

“Malcolm,” Vlad replied, in his standard growl.

“I view this situation as… an opportunity. I suspect that you do as well,” Malcolm murmured.

“Aye. But I don’t think anyone has the balls to take advantage of it,” Vlad sneered.

“But I bet you do,” Malcolm mused. “Once war is out of the box, there’s no putting it back in.”

Vlad snorted. “Those pussies won’t attack! They’ll stand their ground and turn to stone, no matter what insult Lagunica offers.”

“You’re probably right,” Malcolm agreed. “That just means that we need to make Lagunica play the aggressor.”

Vlad looked at Malcolm intrigued. “How would we do that?”

“None of the other Princes are going to talk to Lagunica,” Malcolm said as if just thinking out loud. “But if Lagunica got a message claiming that we intend to invade, say one signed by all the Princes, they would have to interpret our presence on the border as an eminent attack.”

Vlad scoffed. “Those prince pricks would never sign their names to a letter like that!”

“No,” Malcolm admitted. “But, do you really think that anyone would recognize their handwriting? Lagunica certainly won’t contact any of them to ask for details. All it would take is six signatures…”

Malcolm walked calmly out of the room.

Outside, each Prince was met by his honor guard and his weapons returned to him before they departed back to their own lands.

Vlad brought up the rear. His guard captain, Lear, handed him his weapon, a massive, double-sided battle-axe.

“Did everything go well, your highness?” Lear asked.

Vlad didn’t respond.

Lear tensed. Vlad liked Lear as well as he liked anybody but Lear knew that it didn’t take much for Vlad to go from ‘slightly annoyed’ to ‘swinging his axe to kill.’

A moment later, Lear realized that he’d been mistaken. Vlad wasn’t angry. He was thinking.

“Lear,” Vlad growled a moment later.

“Sir!” Lear said, snapping to attention.

“Tonight, you’re going to send a letter to Lagunica. This is what it will say…”

At daybreak, Subaru woke up without ever realizing that he’d fallen asleep.

Some sentry I am, Subaru grumbled to himself, gently moving Emilia off his lap. His arm felt much better although still not as strong as before.

Subaru walked over to Anri and gently shook her.

She moaned. “Subaru? That you?” She sat up with a yawn.

“Yup, it’s sunrise,” Subaru replied, sifting through the dying cinders of their camp fire.

Anri got up. “I’ll change Emilia’s bandages before we go then.”

“Need any help?”

“Thanks but no thanks,” Anri replied. “If you freak out at the wrong time, you’ll do more harm than good.”

Anri started to work on Emilia’s bandages. “OK, this is great. The wounds are mending nicely with the help of a little magic. They should be all gone in a day or two.”

Subaru sighed. “Thanks, Anri.”

Anri thought for a moment. “OK, Subaru, I’m not going to give her another dose of the sedative right now. We can always give her another one later if she’s still in too much pain but I think that it’s time for her to wake up and eat something. Her body needs fuel.”

Subaru’s eyes brightened. “You think she’s going to wake up?” He asked excitedly.

“Well, it won’t be for several hours,” Anri replied thinking. “Maybe even tomorrow morning.”

Subaru had a huge smile on his face. “That’s incredible news,” He sighed. “I can’t believe how much I’ve missed her, even though she’s still with me.”

“Hey, don’t get too excited. I’ve been dosing her heavily with sedatives. She may not wake up until tomorrow.”

Subaru’s smile didn’t flicker. “Got it.”

Subaru put out the fire and started to pack up their makeshift camp while Anri changed Emilia’s bandages.

Subaru scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Hey, Anri, do you think that Emilia would be OK being carried in the saddle today?”

Anri nodded. “Sure, her wounds are mending nicely. I wouldn’t go crazy with the bouncing though,” Anri warned.

Subaru looked over at the yawning Patrasche who had just stood up.

“That sound OK to you, girl?” He asked pointedly. “Would you rather take it easy and not go crazy with the running on this trip instead of pulling the wagon for another day?”

Patrasche gave an enthusiastic hoot.

“Hey, Subaru,” Anri muttered. “Do you really think we can carry all this stuff on Patrasche?” She asked, looking through the packed wagon.

Subaru shook his head. “We won’t even try. We’ll pack the food and whatever medicine we actually need into Patrasche’s saddle bags. We’ll hide the wagon in the trees here and then come back for it when we’re ready to take you to meet up with Victoire. We’re pretty far off the beaten trail. I doubt that anyone will stumble over the wagon by accident.”

Anri thought about that for a moment then nodded. “OK so we’ll double back here to get the wagon when we head to Stoneybrooke.”

Patrasche whimpered in protest.

Subaru sighed. “Also, maybe we’ll stop in Rixum and price another earth dragon to pull the cart…”

Crusch Karnstein stood before the sages’ council in a private, closed session. She was dressed in her uniform and stood ramrod straight, trying to convince the sages of the seriousness of her report.

So far, this had proved difficult.

“Lady Crusch,” Dore began with a sigh. “Do you truly expect us to believe that the Witch of Envy is free and roaming the world again? And that she has made an alliance with Subaru Natsuki?” Dore’s skepticism was palpable.

Crusch took a deep breath. “Your excellencies, we know that this person was freed from a place referred to as ‘the Witch’s Tomb’ in the Sanctuary. My officers and Subaru Natsuki’s own faction can both attest to the powerful and dangerous magic that she possesses. She even managed to escape from Reinhard van Astrea! I would respectfully argue that assuming she is a threat to the Kingdom until we discover evidence to the contrary is wise and prudent.”

The sages seemed to mull that over.

“That might make sense,” Byrd admitted. “But what are you suggesting that we do about it?”

“We must immediately devote all of our efforts to locating Subaru Natsuki and ascertaining what is really going on,” Crusch replied. “We can not make any kind of effective strategy for a situation that we do not understand. Whether Subaru Natsuki is a willing conspirator of the witch or a helpless captive, we must understand what the situation really is as soon as possible in order to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the kingdom.”

There was a knock at the door.

McMahon looked annoyed. “Enter!”

A young functionary in an elaborate hooded robe entered carrying a scroll.

McMahon sighed. “Adjunct. We are in session!” He grumbled. “If you are going to insist on continually interrupting our councils, I begin to wonder why we bother having a door on the council chamber at all!”

Dore chuckled.

The adjunct flinched. “A thousand apologies, excellencies. However, I believe that this missive has direct bearing on your deliberations. It reached us from Gusteko just moments ago.”

“Gusteko?” Crusch asked sharply.

The adjunct nodded and handed McMahon the scroll. She then bowed her way back out of the room.

McMahon read the scroll and his eyes widened.

“What is it?” Choi asked.

“Gusteko threatens war!” McMahon said incredulously.

The sages all looked shocked. “I thought that the Hierocracy was firmly against conflict with other nations!” Aghart said.

“This message isn’t from the Church. It’s from Vlad an Voivode,” McMahon explained.

Byrd snorted. “Oh. Is that all? That blowhard threatens war three times a season.”

“This may be a bit more serious,” McMahon murmured. “He is demanding reparations for a cowardly attack by Lagunica. And this letter has signatures from all the Princes of Gusteko!”

“An attack? What attack?” Aghart demanded.

“Voivode claims that Subaru Natsuki and a witch attacked and destroyed a small village in Gusteko called Iruk as well as savaged a military camp. He says that there were heavy casualties. He’s demanding reparations for this cowardly attack and that Lagunica publicly accept responsibility for using a witch in warfare against all rules of civilized behavior. He claims that forces are already being gathered and that if their demands aren’t met, they’ll come and take it themselves.”

The sages muttered among themselves. Crusch was already trying to consider what forces could be relocated from the southern border to the northern border without emboldening Vollachia.

“What kind of reparations is he demanding?” Dore asked.

“The city of Ganaks,” McMahon replied, reading the letter. “And a great deal of our northern territory! Gusteko’s southern border would be miles away from the capitol! He must know that we’d never accept this!”

“It’s a pretense,” Byrd said. “He sent us a demand that he knows we must refuse. It’s just an excuse to goad the nations into a war. Voivode has been squabbling with the Holy King and the Hierocracy for years. He’s likely hoping this would get him more leverage in that struggle. I’ve heard that the Holy King is dying. Voivode must want to take action and start a war with Lagunica before a new Holy King can be crowned to rein him in.”

“This is a dire matter,” McMahon mused. “Subaru Natsuki is a royal candidate. At least arguably, he represents Lagunica in foreign affairs, if foreign nations choose to view him so. If he truly is traveling the world in the company of a witch…”

“It would be disastrous!” Choi spat. “The other nations could accuse Lagunica of fostering witches which is against all international law and codes of good behavior! It would be all the excuse Vollachia and Gusteko need to attack us now that the dragon’s pact is in doubt. Even Kararagi might become involved! Lagunica does not have the strength to oppose the other nations combined!”

“Subaru Natsuki should be removed from the selection immediately and declared an outlaw!” Aghart argued.

“With respect,” Crusch interrupted, startling the sages. They appeared surprised to find that she was still in the room. “I submit that Subaru Natsuki is not the greatest problem. Our chief concern should be the witch. We would be remiss in not considering the political ramifications of her alliance with Subaru Natsuki but her powers appear to be growing steadily. In just a matter of days since her liberation, she is already capable of eradicating a large village! What will she be able to do in a year? The Witch of Envy nearly destroyed the world last time. We can’t allow her to try again! We…”

Crusch trailed off as she realized that the sages were staring down at her with profound skepticism. “Lady Crusch,” Aghart said with annoyance. “The fact that Subaru Natsuki has fallen in with a witch appears to be clear. That does not mean that the legendary Witch of Envy is free!”

“I’d like to point out that the fact that Subaru Natsuki is traveling with a witch at all is still supposition,” Dore interjected.

“What about the report we just read?” Choi demanded.

“The report from Vlad an Voivode?!” Byrd asked scoffed. “Because he is a reliable source! Voivode has been trying to motivate Gusteko into attacking Lagunica for decades. We should send our own private inquiry to ascertain the truth of these allegations! Before we bow our heads and permit our names to be blackened in the eyes of the surrounding nations, we should at the very least confirm that these events actually took place!”

“Yes,” McMahon said thoughtfully. “We must do that forthwith. Lady Crusch, can you send a small expedition north of the border to investigate?”

Crusch nodded. “They must move in secret. If they are discovered it will only fan the flames of Gusteko’s rage. I’ll need to send a small group of our best men.”

“In the meantime, we must learn more about this witch and what Subaru Natsuki’s relationship with her is,” Byrd mused. “We should summon Miss Felt to provide testimony as soon as possible.”

After several hours of deliberations, Crusch left the council chamber feeling that she hadn’t convinced anyone of her concerns. She found Montefort waiting patiently for her outside.

“What news, Lady Crusch?” He asked.

“Vlad an Voivode threatens war,” Crusch said grimly.

“Is it time to have the hedges trimmed already?” Montefort asked calmly.

Crusch gave him a perplexed look.

“I remind myself to call the gardener each time Vlad an Voivode threatens war. He is most reliable in his punctuality.”

Crusch actually began to chuckle.

Montefort smiled. “Even in times of crisis it is always important to keep one’s good humor, Lady Crusch.”

Crusch shook her head with a smile. “I’m afraid that this time things appear to be a bit more dire, Lord Montefort. Prince Vlad accuses Subaru Natsuki and his witch of attacking a village in Gusteko. He is demanding that Lagunica pay reparations for the damages and war is in the offing if not.”

Montefort frowned. “May I assume that the cost of the reparations Prince Vlad is demanding would be functionally equivalent to losing the war anyway?”

“You may. The sages’ council is still debating what to do about the matter. In the meantime we must ascertain at the very least whether this attack actually happened or not. I need to send a small elite team to enter Gusteko in secret and verify Voivode’s charges.”

Montefort thought for a moment. “A suggestion, Lady Crusch?”

“Of course,” Crusch asked.

“I was thinking that this might be a useful opportunity to allow the other royal candidates to… cooperate. I’d suggest that each camp send their champion to investigate and, if possible, free Subaru Natsuki from the Witch and bring him home. It would be the most effective strategy and the best optics for all three camps. It might even… reopen the royal selection somewhat,” Montefort mused.

Crusch thought about it then nodded. “That makes sense. Anastasia and Priscilla apparently still wish to make an accommodation with Subaru Natsuki. They should be amendable to this plan as well.”

“The royal assembly could simply make it a command, Lady Crusch,” Montefort suggested.

Crusch shook her head. “I like to observe the niceties when possible, Lord Montefort. Poaching Anastasia’s chosen knight will put her nose out of joint and Priscilla is contrary by nature. A small amount of respect will pay dividends in the future.”

“Forgive me, Lady Crusch,” Montefort said with a slight bow. “This situation has me all kerbobbled. I have forgotten the customary courtesies. You are right to rebuke me. Your father would have said much the same.”

“Thank you, Lord Montefort,” Crusch said with a smile.

“Splendid,” Montefort replied. “Can I leave it to you, Lady Crusch, to explain our situation to the other candidates? I have a royal assembly meeting to prepare for.”

“Of course, I’ll see to it straight away, Lord Montefort. Good luck with your meeting and, as always, thank you for your wise counsel.”

Montefort gave a reverent bow. “Of course, my Lady, of course.”

Crusch exited the hall.

Montefort watched her leave with a thoughtful expression.

It was growing dark when Patrasche charged across the frozen river toward the village was just a few miles away.

They’d followed the edge of the Elior forest to nearly it’s southeastern tip near Rixum before entering the wood and returning to the village along the route that Subaru knew.

Subaru held Emilia nestled against his shoulder, wrapped up in as many blankets as they could find. Anri rode behind them.

Patrasche reached Emilia’s cottage and Subaru reined her in. He help Anri dismount. He then carefully carried Emilia down off the riding dragon.

Subaru gently carried Emilia into the cottage. The cottage was cold and pitch dark.

Oh right. We need to start a fire.

“Anri, can you start a fire?” Subaru asked.

Anri nodded and gathered a handful of kindling from the wood pile. She took out her flint and managed to strike a small flame. The kindling burned and she quickly fed it with twigs and small branches.

Subaru unwrapped Emilia’s swaddling blankets and tucked her naked body into bed, wrapping the covers around her tightly and piling blankets on top. Her side was still tightly bandaged.

“Subaru,” Anri said, stepping away from the growing fire. “I’m going to drop my bag off in the other cottage and bring Patrasche back to the stable. I’ll be right back.”

Subaru nodded. “OK. Say, Anri, how brave are you feeling tonight?”

Anri gave Subaru a worried look. “…Why?”

“Because I’m about to try to make supper,” Subaru deadpanned, rummaging through the food bags.

Anri scowled at him and walked back outside the cottage, muttering curses under her breath.

Subaru sat beside Emilia for a long moment. “Don’t worry, Mili,” he said, stroking her hair. Emilia smiled in her sleep at his touch. He took a deep breath. “Mili, I never realized… how terrible this world has really been to you. I was completely blind to it the entire time we were roaming around the capitol. I mean, I knew that there were racists and fanatics who would call you names but until we went to Rixum, I never realized how…” He trailed off.

Subaru shook his head. “I’m going to protect you, Mili. That’s why I’m on this world, to take care of you, not to compete for some stupid throne. You deserve a hero, Mili. Unfortunately, for the moment, you have nothing better than me to work with. But I can do it, Mili. I want to do it. Mili, since coming here, you’ve shown me who I was meant to be. Every day I watched you aspire to change the world. You never gave up. No matter what people said and did to you, you kept right on going. I admired you so much for that, Mili.”

Subaru hesitated. “You know, I don’t think I ever told you that,” He said in surprise. “I need to tell you. I need to tell you how much I admire you. Mili, you’re the kind of person that I wish I could be. But at the end of the day, I’m just me. I can’t be like you, Mili. But I can guard, protect and love you. I can keep you safe on this journey we’re on together. I can make you happy…”

Emilia kept right on sleeping.

Subaru chuckled ruefully and got up off the bed. “Yeah, I guess I am pretty boring when I try to be all philosophical and profound.”

Subaru sat down at the table and pulled out some vegetables from the food bags.

Subaru inspected the vegetables with confusion. “You know, Emilia, I have no idea what most of these vegetables even are. After being on this world for two months, that’s a little embarrassing.”

Emilia didn’t respond.

Subaru stood up and started filling a pot full of water. He grabbed a knife off the counter and started trying to peel one of the vegetables, a round plant with a tough black outer casing. Subaru cut through the casing and found that the vegetable was lime green inside.

OK. I’m not good at this. I feel like I’m less peeling off that tough outer layer of skin and more slicing through half the vegetable.

I need to get better at peeling vegetables and making food. Nobody else is going to feed us, after all.

“Well, Mili, we’re home again. Home. This really could be our home. Still feels funny to say that word but the more I think about it, the more it feels like it fits. What a long, strange road we took to get here…”

Subaru kept struggling with peeling the strange vegetable. He knew this was good practice and he kept trying to get better at it. Before he knew it, almost forty minutes had passed with Subaru trying to peel the same vegetable.

Anri rushed into the cottage, panting and with a pale face.

“Anri?” Subaru asked. “What’s wrong?”

She gasped for breath. “Subaru. People! People in the forest!”

“What?!” Subaru shouted jumping up.

Anri nodded. “My legs were feeling stiff so I decided to take a walk. I found tracks, Subaru. Lots of tracks. There are a lot of people in the forest!”

Subaru’s heart stopped. Who is it? Reinhard wouldn’t bring a crowd with him. Neither would Regulus. Who else might be here looking for us?!

Maybe those weirdos who destroyed the grove?

Hang on, don’t panic, Subaru. Maybe this has nothing to do with you and Emilia at all.

But you had better check it out and make sure…

“Alright,” Subaru said handing Anri the badly peeled vegetable and grabbing his hooded robe. “I’m going to go out and check this out! Where did you say you saw the tracks?”

“By the river,” Anri answered. “Follow the river north. You can’t miss them!”

“Right,” Subaru muttered. “You stay here with Emilia and finish cooking dinner!”

“OK…” Anri stared at the vegetable that Subaru had handed her. She gave him a strange look. “Subaru, what are you making?”

Subaru shook his head, still preoccupied with Anri’s news. “I thought that I’d make us a vegetable soup tonight. It’s quick, easy, and it’s even possible that it’s a simple enough meal that I won’t completely screw it up.”

Anri had a dubious look on her face. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Anri said slowly. “But I’ve never heard of anyone putting an avocado in a vegetable soup.”

Subaru covered his eyes. “That’s what this is?!” He asked.

“Of course. You’ve never seen one before?”

Subaru shook his head. “I guess I never saw one raw.”

“Well, you already peeled it,” Anri said, picking up some of the peeled skin and looking at the healthy amount of fruit still stuck to it in disbelief. “Well, kind of. We might as well do something with it.”

Subaru sighed. “Let’s see if there’s any bread in these bags. I’ve heard that avocado is very good on toast.”

Anri laughed then her face grew serious. “Subaru, if you’re going to follow those tracks you should really get going,” She urged. “Patrasche is probably getting ready to sleep and it’s just going to get colder outside.”

Subaru nodded. “Look after Emilia while I’m gone,” Subaru asked as he walked to the door.

“Of course!”

Subaru rode Patrasche down the frozen river, looking at both sides of the riverbank for tracks.

OK, no tracks so far. You’d think after a big storm like we had a few days ago, all the animals in the forest would be coming down to the river to get a drink… except that there are no animals in the forest. There are only mabeasts that don’t need to eat or drink… right. Well, if nothing else, that should make whatever tracks I am looking for easy to spot.

Subaru rode down the frozen river at a leisurely trot for more than half an hour.

I’ve gone pretty far. Maybe I should have asked for better directions. I doubt that Anri could have walked this far down the river…

He was just about to give up on Anri’s warning as being a false alarm when he spotted some marks in the show and urged Patrasche over to investigate.

He reined Patrasche in and studied the disturbed snow. “I’m not sure how fresh these marks are. They have to be no older than today or the storm would have covered them up. It looks like a large group of men and… five carts, maybe six carts are trying to come through the forest. Why are they doing that?”

Patrasche gave Subaru a patient look.

Subaru scratched his chin, “If they’re carrying this many carts then they need to be merchants of some kind. Or maybe settlers? Hard to imagine anyone wanting to move into the forest but either one could put us in danger. We need to investigate.”

Subaru rode along down the river, following the tracks as the evening deepened and the cold became sharp and bitter. It wasn’t long before Subaru spotted a large fire burning in the distance. Subaru reined in Patrasche in the trees and slid down. “Stay here,” He whispered.

Patrasche’s cluck sounded somewhat petulant.

Subaru smiled, “Good girl,” He said, patting her face.

Subaru stayed low as he crept toward the fire. His hooded robe helped him blend in with the shadows of the dark wood.

Subaru slowly moved closer to the fire in the clearing until he found that he could hear the men’s voices. He stopped to listen, hiding in the nearby trees. There was a regiment of tents set up in the clearing. Subaru guessed it was twenty to forty men. A small group of them were clustered around the campfire. Most of the others seemed to be asleep inside their tents.

“Is anybody going to be able to sleep tonight?” One fat man with a short gray beard grumbled. He had the bright red nose of a hard drinker. He was dressed in patched, old clothes and he had a rusty sword belted at his side.

“Will you relax, Joe?” A younger man with a long face and large hands said. “We haven’t seen so much as a squirrel since we came into these woods.”

The fat man spat into the fire. “Young men. Their eyes look but they never see. Doesn’t that seem ominous to any of you? When the animals avoid a place, there’s probably a good reason for it!”

“Forget it, Bob,” A grizzled old man with a pipe said to the younger one. “Joe’s just that sort. Always throwing salt over his shoulder and talking about making money whenever his palm itches!”

“You may say so, Tim, but mark my words: Lady Koi has sent us all into peril just to save a few coppers! This forest is cursed and everybody knows it!” Joe snapped.

“All the better, Joe! The curse can’t be meant for us,” Bob pointed out, “But the local garrison isn’t going to pursue us through a cursed forest. We’ll be over the border and into Gusteko in half the time!”

“There are mabeasts in these woods,” Joe grumbled. “Big ones. And my grandmother once saw the Witch of the Woods. She said that devils roam this forest and sometimes they come through the villages in the dead of night, tempting men into dark accords.”

Witch of the Woods?! Do these men remember Emilia?!

…No, probably not. I’m guessing that they just have stories handed down to them about the other elves who lived in the forest before they were frozen.

“Is this the same grandmother who used to drink paint when she couldn’t afford liquor?” Tim asked in a bored voice.

Bob waved a large hand dismissively. “We can handle a few mabeasts, Joe. We’ve got thirty men! There’s nothing about us that should attract the attention of anything big and we can run off a few wolgarm,” Bob said.

“Wolgarm are one thing, boy, but there are Guiltylowe in the forest. Rumors say that there’s even a Snow Blight in these woods. Ever seen one? A small army would struggle to bring it down!” Joe growled.

I can vouch for that.

“Ignore this old fool, Bob,” Tim muttered, refilling his pipe. “Snow Blights are attracted to mana. It takes a large amount of mana to get the attention of a Guiltylowe, much less a Snow Blight. That’s why the Lady sent us instead of her best guards.”

“You’re an idiot, Tim,” Joe snapped. “Not that that’s news. I knew that you were an idiot twenty years ago. Lady Koi sent us because we’re expendable. If we don’t make it to Gusteko alive, she hasn’t lost much.”

“Forget it,” Tim grumbled. “We’ll be out of the forest by end of day tomorrow and over the border into Gusteko. We’ll deliver the Lady’s goods to the distributor and head back along the main road. No need for hiding then.”

Bob picked at his chin. “You know, me and some of the boys were talking about doing a little hunting while we’re in here…”

Tim squinted at him. “Hunting? Nothing lives in these forests except mabeasts. And mabeast meat would turn a rodent sick,” Tim replied.

“Nah, Tim. They’re talking about going hunting for the Witch of the Wood,” Bob whispered.

The two older men sat there in stupefied silence.

Joe’s jaw hung open. “Gods above. Lady Koi really is trying to get rid of all the mental deadwood in the organization,” Joe mourned. “Why the hell am I here?!”

“Have you gone completely insane, Bob?” Tim asked.

“What? We got more than twenty strong lads with us, plus you old codgers,” Bob snickered. “We sneak up on the witch real quiet-like and then: Off with her head! There’s a big reward for captured or killed Cultists, you know.”

“Witches and Witch Cultists are two different things, you slack-jawed gewgaw,” Joe said in a pained voice. “If the whole lot of you go chasing after a witch, there won’t be enough of you left to bury! Unless you she turns you into something unnatural or puts you in the stew. Didn’t you hear what Tod said about that frozen woman he saw in Iruk?”

Bob laughed. “Don’t tell me that you believe all that bullocks about the Bowel Hunter being turned into an ice sculpture by a witch. Besides, we have trained fighters with us. Men who do their fighting for the Black Silver Coins. Thirty men against one witch? We’ll lure her out and then one quick slash will put an end to her.”

Subaru’s mind erupted in flames. For a moment he wanted to dash into that clearing and strangle the lot of them with his bare hands.

Subaru slowly unclenched his fists and slipped away from the clearing.

Alright, so these men are smugglers of some kind. From what I can remember from my reading and from what Anri told me, Gusteko charges outrageous tariffs on foreign products and there’s big business in running goods across the border. Now it seems that these men are hoping to use the forest as cover when they sneak over the border into Gusteko. It’s actually not a terrible idea. According to the map, the forest does run over the Gusteko border and most of the locals are afraid of it so it’s an ideal route for smuggling. It sounds like this ‘Lady Koi’ has sent these men as a test run to see if the woods are as dangerous as the legends say. I think that I had better confirm her suspicions.

Still, thirty men is more than I can handle in a straight fight and I can’t count on them panicking and running away while they’re in a forest that they seem to be afraid of. If these smugglers stand their ground and fight then sooner or later, they’ll wear through Indomitable. If the Authority’s true power activated then there would be no problem but like always, it seems that it only works when it feels like it.

A cold voice from the depths of his mind commented, You can’t let these men leave this forest. If this ‘trial run’ succeeds then more and more people will come into the Elior Forest and that will put Emilia in increasing amounts of danger. That even ignores the possibility that some of these men might actually be dumb enough to go Witch hunting. Emilia is a gentle soul. If these men spoke kind words to her, they could easily take her off guard. Emilia is a sheep vulnerable to any wolf that can put on a kindly face. That is a chance that you simply can not afford to take.

It’s time that you faced reality. Ever since the Sanctuary you’ve been dealing with disaster after disaster because you’ve been trying to worry about too many people. If you’d learned to just say ‘Sorry, can’t help you. I have my own problems,’ then you, Emilia, and the spirits, would be safe in Gusteko right now and planning a new life for yourselves.

There’s no way around it. These men must die.

Subaru shook off the cold words.

I do need to face reality. I am not a hero. Being a hero is easy in the story books. No matter what stupid, self-destructive thing the hero puts himself through for the benefit of everyone else, the author always makes sure that things work out for him at the end of the day. What an easy job…

In real life, sacrificing for other people means actually sacrificing for them. You give something up and you don’t get it back. That’s what I kept trying to do out of some ludicrous fantasy that things would just work out somehow. Because of that stupidity, I’ve let my family get ripped in half!

I’m sick of trying to be a hero. It’s a thankless, sucky job. Reinhard is a hero. He lives for sacrifice. Even if he knew who Emilia really was, I have no doubt that he’d sacrifice her in a heartbeat to protect the world. He’d likely even sacrifice Felt if it came down to it.

Me? I’m not a hero. I’d burn this entire world to ash in order to keep Emilia safe.

That is who I am.

Without even thinking about how to do it, Subaru sent out a call.

Subaru sat on Patrasche in the dark Elior forest. They had been standing there for nearly half an hour. Patrasche was looking at her master with thinly veiled irritation. Patrasche was born to run. Only Patrasche’s loyalty and fondness for her master kept her there.

Patrasche twitched as she heard something creep through the snow.

She looked up and saw a Guiltylowe and a whole pack of wolgarm prowling through the trees.

Patrasche drew herself up in panic with a loud cry. She prepared to flee.

“Easy, girl!” Subaru whispered, patting her head. “Easy. Nothing to worry about. These are my creatures now.”

I hope.

Patrasche still looked terrified but she settled down slightly.

I suppose I really can’t blame her. The look in these monsters’ eyes constantly assures me that they’d rip me to shreds if they could find a way to do it. They obey me as long as my magic constrains them to do so and not a moment longer.

More and more of the mabeasts that Subaru had mastered the other day appeared until he had three Guiltylowe and almost fifty wolgarm standing around him.

This many mabeasts could probably defeat a small army, especially if they took them by surprise.

With a thought, Subaru directed his mabeasts to surround the camp and they silently spread out to do so.

This is going to be bloody. Do I really have to go this far? Do I need to kill all of them?

Leaving a few alive to the spread word of how dangerous the forest is would be a good idea, right?

Look, these guys are smugglers. Bad people, no question, but I’m talking about slaughtering them wholesale. Is that really necessary? I mean, sure they’re criminals but I don’t have any evidence that they’re really these horrible people who deserve nothing but death. This isn’t like killing people in a fight, although that’s bad enough. This is ordering the mabeasts to slaughter them. This is coldblooded murder. Am I really willing to cross that line?

Another part of Subaru whispered, Emilia is in danger from these men. That needs to be your only concern. Slaughtering these men will ensure Emilia’s safety and that your base of operations remains secure.

It’s a dirty business but that’s why it’s been given to you: You can make the hard choices necessary to keep your family safe. Part of these hard choices is making sure that they never have to worry about what the price of their safety really is or if it was worth it. You can carry that burden alone and ensure that Emilia remains happy. That’s your job.

All the same it is a dark night and it’s not impossible that some of these men could escape. Mabeasts are apt to be more interested in tearing their prey to bits than ensuring that none of them get away. Any rumors of Subaru Natsuki commanding a horde of mabeasts would cause enormous complications for your plans to protect Emilia and rescue Beatrice and Puck. No one can know that the monster of the wood is in reality Subaru Natuski.

Subaru shook his head.

No. I’m just going to scare them. Word of a dangerous monster in the woods served by a horde of mabeasts will be enough to school the locals to continue giving it a wide berth. And it shouldn’t attract any more attention from the kingdom since the kingdom has been ignoring the cursed wood for this long anyway.

I’ll use the mabeasts to scare them and send them running out of the forest.

Of course, if I do want them to survive then I had better figure out who I’m going to tell them that I am. After all, they need to tell everyone who the monster in the wood is and ensure that nobody thinks it’s Subaru Natsuki.

What kind of alias could I use? What’s suitable for the Witch of Pride?

Subaru sensed that his mabeasts were all in position and that nobody had detected them yet.

Subaru unleashed his monsters.

Bob was walking over to one of the wagons to find a bit of beer. He was far from the fire and he was fumbling around in the dark when he heard a faint sound, like someone walking through the snow.

Bob put his hand on his polished sword and peered into the dark until he saw a gleam of red eyes. Walking slowly toward him with a feral smile was a Guiltylowe almost twice his size.

Bob could only stare in horror. He blinked as if hoping it would dispel the terrifying vision but the Guiltylowe continued to approach unhurriedly.

“Guiltylowe!” Bob screamed. “Get up, lads, we’re being attacked!”

The entire camp jumped up or crawled out of their tents, drawing swords. Thirty cut-purses and alley thugs against a Guiltylowe wasn’t great odds but these were hardened men and they had no intention of going down without a fight. A lot of them would die but so would the Guiltylowe.

The men gathered in a clump to make their stand. The beast just grinned down at them, its huge fangs gleaming in the fire light.

Bob jumped as he heard another roar behind them.

He looked over his shoulder and saw two other Guiltylowes entering the firelight, sporting their own fanged grins. Beside them, dozens of wolgarms approached the camp.

The men looked at each other helplessly. Their chances had gone from slim to nonexistent.

They raised their swords for a final stand when they heard a voice call out, “Heel!”

The mabeasts all froze in place and then sat back on their haunches, watching the men intently.

Bob saw a man in a hooded robe ride into the firelight on top of a great black riding dragon.

The man cocked his head. “What madness bade you to enter into my forest?” He asked almost politely.

“Uh,” Joe began. He took a step forward, raising his hands in surrender. He cringed as this brought him to within touching distance of a Guiltylowe. The Guiltylowe bared its fangs but didn’t move. “Forgive us, my lord. We had absolutely no idea that this here forest was your property.”

The man didn’t answer immediately. “No idea? Are you saying that you did not know that this forest was the property of the Sorcerer King Taiyang? Whose curse blights the very air that you breathe? Whose will dominates every witchbeast within this forest?” He sounded offended.

Joe swallowed hard. “I’m afraid not, my lord. My men and I aren’t too wise, you understand. We’re only in this forest at all because Lady Koi ordered us to!”

“And who is Lady Koi?” Taiyang asked.

“Our employer, sir! She runs the smuggling branch of the Black Silver Coins cartel,” Joe said.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Bob winced to hear Joe give up their employer this easily. Lady Koi would certainly have the lot of them killed if she found out about this but right now that seemed to be the least of their problems.

He heard Tim whispering, “Listen, lads. This monster will kill us as easily as we’d swat a fly. Whenever it’s done toying with us and getting our hopes up, it’ll finish the job. Even if it let us leave, if we fail our mission, Lady Koi will make us wish that it didn’t. We have only one chance: take him by surprise. I want everybody to draw their bows. At my signal I want thirty arrows in this Taiyang’s chest. Once he’s dead the mabeasts should panic and turn tail.”

Bob thought this was a desperate idea that had only the faintest possibility of working but he loosened his rapier in its sheath. The sword was his pride and joy. He had stolen it off a drunken nobleman that he had stabbed as a boy and he had kept it well-polished ever since.

“Hm. An interesting thought. Should my righteous anger fall on the heads of those who simply carried out the orders or on the one who actually gave them?” Taiyang mused.

Bob saw the light of hope flare in Joe’s eyes. “I swear to you, my lord. None of us wanted to come into this here forest but the Lady threatened our lives!”

This was something of an exaggeration but Bob knew full well that Lady Koi certainly would have killed them all if they had refused to follow her orders.

“Where can I find this Lady Koi?”

“She has an estate, my lord! We left there but this morning,” Joe gave him directions.

Bob started to breathe a little bit easier. Maybe he’ll blame Koi instead of us.

“Fire!” Tim yelled.

All the men drew their bows and shot a flurry of arrows at Taiyang.

Bob hissed. Any chance of talking Taiyang down had vanished. Now they either killed him or died themselves. Bob desperately drew his rapier and stabbed it at the man’s throat.

The arrows that found their mark all bounced off Taiyang without effect and Bob’s rapier didn’t even seem to break Taiyang’s skin. However, the riding dragon reared back with a roar to avoid the arrows and Taiyang fell onto the cold ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of him. The riding dragon lost its balance, staggering backwards and barely avoiding falling onto its master as it landed in the snow.

Before anyone could move, Joe screamed. Bob spun around to see a Guiltylowe sink its great fangs into Joe’s large gut and ripping out a massive chunk of flesh and organs the size of a pig.

Joe’s body collapsed in on itself as he fell to the ground, a great pool of blood spreading around him while Joe screamed and his limbs thrashed helplessly.

The Guiltylowe paid no attention to Joe’s screams and returned for a second great bite of flesh, chewing his organs as the man slowly died, his eyes wide with horror.

Tim was driven to the ground as five wolgarm leaped upon him. The wolf-like monsters wolgarm didn’t bother with a killing blow, simply tearing great mouthfuls of flesh from Tim’s body as they went into a feeding frenzy.

Bob heard a low growl behind him and whirled around with his rapier extended.

The Guiltylowe bit through Bob’s sword arm in one great chomp.

Bob staggered back his eyes wide as a river of blood poured out of his missing arm. Bob stared at his arm that now ended just below the shoulder with horrified amazement. He raised the remains of his arm and watched it tremble and the blood flow increase.

The Guiltylowe chewed thoughtfully on Bob’s forearm for a moment or two and then let it fall out of its mouth with the rapier still tightly gripped in the hand.

Bob stumbled backwards and landed on the ground. Bob saw the Guiltylowe’s eyes narrow in dreadful intent and he began frantically crawling backwards.

“Leave me alone, you devil!” Bob screamed.

The Guiltylowe pounced and pinned Bob down with one great paw. Then its maw descended on Bob’s midsection and he felt the beast’s teeth tear him in half. Bob’s final sight was the mabeast standing over him, chewing. The beast let the great mass of flesh fall out of its jaws without bothering to swallow any of it and then it went back for a second bite as Bob’s vision faded.

Subaru lay stunned in the snow for several moments.

My hood is down! They know who I am!

Worry about it later! How did this happen?! I never thought they’d try to fight me when they were surrounded by mabeasts!

Subaru heard screams and the terrible sounds of tearing flesh.

Subaru shook his head and fought his way back to his feet. “Stop it!” He roared to the mabeasts. “Leave them alone!”

But it was too late. In fact, most of the mabeasts had already abandoned the men. The creatures seemingly lost all interest in their prey the moment that it died.

The few smugglers still alive were pale and shaking, their bodies lying in multiple pieces on the forest floor. They stared up at Subaru in horror.

Subaru bit his lip and took a deep breath. “This is your own fault, you know,” He muttered, in an uncertain voice. “You threatened someone who means everything to me. You have no one to blame for this but yourselves,” He finished as their eyes slowly went distant and their breathing stopped.

Subaru took a deep breath and looked over the field of torn up corpses.

He gagged. Subaru doubled over, trying not to throw up.

A nearby Guiltylowe glowered at Subaru with eyes as red as fresh blood. It licked its chops clean and seemed to be trying to convey to Subaru that it would much rather have torn him apart than some nameless smugglers.

How did this happen?! I never told them to attack! Did they break free of my mental orders when I lost my concentration?

No, I doubt that. If they were able to break loose, I’m sure they’d all rather kill me than kill the smugglers.

But then, how did this happen? I never told them to attack. Did I? I mean… I never thought that the smugglers would be dumb enough to attack when they were so clearly surrounded and outmatched. I never even considered the possibility…

Fuck, I’m an idiot! When the arrows came at me, I panicked. Indomitable only lasts for five seconds, I can’t handle a sustained volley of arrows! Did I… Did I tell the mabeasts to defend me without thinking about it?

Subaru was gasping for breath and trembling. The mabeasts stood glowering at Subaru or meandered through the vast pool of blood and offal, seemingly annoyed that their master hadn’t given them permission to leave yet.

I know that I was thinking about killing them before. It was the logical thing to do but…

Subaru screamed as he felt something nudge him from behind and spun around to see Patrasche there, nuzzling his shoulder.

“Patrasche,” Subaru whispered. “Are you alright, girl? Did those arrows hurt you?”

Subaru quickly examined the dragon.

“You look OK,” Subaru said dubiously. He checked the old wound on her shoulder but it was fine. “You’re lucky that you didn’t reopen that when you fell…”

Patrasche rubbed her face against Subaru’s chest. She looked somewhat ashamed for panicking and dropping her rider.

“It’s OK, girl,” Subaru said, patting her head. “It wasn’t your fault. It was my stupidity. It’s always my stupidity!” Subaru shouted the last part and it echoed out across the frozen forest.

Subaru panted for breath and held onto the riding dragon like she was a lifeline.

This wasn’t my fault. It was self-defense…

They attacked me. What else could I have done?

I didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s not my fault.

It’s not my fault…

Subaru took a deep breath. “Patrasche, you OK for another ride? We should head back home.”

Patrasche clucked agreeably.

Subaru gave her a weak smile. “Good girl.”

Well… This was a complete disaster. I can’t imagine how I mishandled this mess so badly! I was specifically trying not to kill them! Then…

Oh, fuck me.

Well, I proved that the forest is dangerous at least. When ‘Lady Koi’ finds out that her smugglers were massacred passing through the forest, I doubt that she’ll be quick to try again. That’s a silver lining.

I have no idea where I pulled the name ‘Taiyang’ out of. I was already talking to them when I suddenly realized that I had never picked out a name for myself and I started frantically trying to think of names to use.

I don’t know what Taiyang means. I think that Taiyang was a Chinese sun god? Maybe?

I can’t remember. It just popped into my head and I rolled with it. I suppose a Sun God is a pretty good name to apply to the Witch of Pride.

Or maybe I should just stop trying to rationalize a really dumb name. They’re all dead so it’s not like I’m committed to calling myself Taiyang anymore. Next time, I’ll come up with a better name.

I need to keep what I did quiet. Emilia will freak out if she finds out that I almost got shot by a dozen arrows.

I’ll just tell her that the mabeasts did all the work and I stood back and watched. It’s not exactly a lie.

Subaru climbed back onto Patrasche. He glanced down at the mabeasts who were cleaning their bloody fur in the snow.

I’d give anything to be able to tell the lot of you to go away and never come back, Subaru thought grimly. For their part, the mabeasts seemed no fonder of Subaru now that they’d had a good meal, or at least some sport, than they had been before.

Subaru sighed. Like it or not, I need them. They’re all I have to work with right now.

“Thanks for all the help, guys,” Subaru muttered to the belligerent mabeasts. “You can go home now.”

Subaru was exhausted when he returned to the cottage. He’d left Patrasche standing outside while he checked on Emilia and Anri.

Emilia was still asleep in bed and Anri was sitting in a chair beside her.

“Subaru,” Anri said, jumping up. “What happened? Did you find the men?”

Subaru nodded wearily. “Yeah. A bunch of smugglers. About thirty of them in fact who were trying to use the forest as a shortcut into Gusteko.”

Anri’s face grew concerned. “Subaru, what are you going to do? If people start coming into the forest, you and Emilia won’t be safe here for very long. We’ll need to head toward Siros immediately.”

Subaru snorted, ignoring her less than subtle hint. “Don’t worry about it.”

Anri looked incredulous. “Subaru! What if those smugglers saw the village?!”

“They might have but they won’t be seeing anything else ever again,” Subaru sighed, the field of ripped up corpses flashing before his eyes. “Or telling anyone about it for that matter.”

Anri’s eyes widened.

Subaru shook off the image of the corpse field and rubbed his eyes. “I’m exhausted. Hang on a second, I’m going to put Patrasche in the stable.”

“I’ll do that,” Anri asserted. “You stay here. I could use a walk before bed anyway. I’ll talk to you both in the morning. I got Emilia to drink some of the soup while she slept. There’s still some left if you want any.”

“Thanks, Anri,” Subaru called. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Anri slipped outside and closed the door.

Subaru heaved a great sigh. “I know that I need to eat something,” Subaru said to nobody, “But honestly, I think I’d rather just go to sleep and forget about the last few days. They’ve been pretty rough.”

Subaru went over to the pot on the counter and poured himself a bowl of soup.

He walked over to the bed and sat down on a chair next to Emilia while he ate.

“Hm. This is good,” Subaru said in surprise. “Is there anything Anri can’t do? That girl is really starting to make me feel in adequate! Honestly, if not for Felt, I’d suggest that she start dating Reinhard!”

Subaru chuckled briefly but it sounded weak and forced even to him. The smile fell off his face. “I guess I’m not ready to make jokes about them yet. I’m still pretty fucking pissed about what happened…”

Subaru rubbed his face. “Mili, I know what you’d say. I know that they meant well but I also know that they meant to kill you! Even if I was sure that they wouldn’t try to do it again, I don’t know if I could ever… forget about what happened…”

Subaru shook his head as he finished the soup. He brought the bowl over to the sink to clean it. “Well, I guess it’s not really an issue right now. If I see Red again anytime soon, there’ll definitely be a fight. A fight that I’ll lose in a matter of seconds and then you’ll…”

Subaru slammed the almost empty bowl into the sink with unreasonable force. He took a deep breath and the proceeded to scrub the bowl. When he finished cleaning the bowl, he dumped out what little was left in the pot and scrubbed that as well.

Subaru took his clothes off and climbed into bed beside Emilia. The bandages covering her side ensured that Subaru didn’t forget what state she was in.

What do I do? Normally I’d wrap my arms around her while we slept but maybe she’s too fragile for that right now.

Should I even be in bed with her? Although there aren’t a ton of other options for places to sleep. I doubt that Anri wants me to sleep with her.

Subaru was still mulling this over when he fell asleep.

As sleep took him, his mind mused on a final thought: How did Anri get far enough out of the village to find those tracks? And so quickly? She didn’t have nearly enough time to walk that far. And why didn’t I see any sign of her tracks when I was coming back to the village?

Unfortunately, Subaru would have forgotten these questions by morning.

Subaru woke up early the next morning, feeling well rested for the first time in days.

He opened his eyes and stared at Emilia’s beautiful face for several moments before realizing that she was looking back at him.

“Subaru?” She whispered. “How did we get back here?”

“Emilia!” Subaru shouted, sitting up in bed, instantly wide awake. “Are you alright?!”

Emilia thought for a moment as she sat up. “I think so,” She murmured. “What happened?”

Subaru looked awkward. “So, this is kind of a long story. It starts with the fight with Elsa.”

“Elsa…?” Emilia whispered. Her eyes widened. “Yes! I remember now! I fought Elsa! I… I defeated the Bowel Hunter…” She said in astonishment.

Subaru hung his head and looked away. “Mili,” He whispered. “I am so, so sorry.”

Emilia cocked her head in confusion.

Subaru’s face was filled with guilt. “When you really needed me, I wasn’t there to help you. You were in danger and I was sick in bed like a kid with a runny nose,” Subaru grated, disgusted with himself. “I’m so sorry. This mess was all my fault.”

Emilia stared at Subaru in shock. “Subaru, that wasn’t your fault,” She assured him. “You were ill because you’d already saved me from the Black Water! You can’t do everything by yourself. Besides,” She chuckled. “This gave me a chance to protect you for a change!”

Subaru sighed. “Seems to me that you’ve been doing most of the protecting lately.”

Emilia shook her head smiling. “It’s alright, Subaru. We’re together and safe now. That’s what matters.” Emilia paused and looked up at the ceiling. “I… defeated the Bowel Hunter,” She said in a tone almost of wonder.

Subaru looked uncomfortable. “Emilia,” He said slowly. “About… that fight we had the other day…”

Emilia’s eyes widened and she looked away, biting her lip.

For a long moment, neither one said anything.

Subaru took a deep breath. “I was wrong,” He apologized.

“You were right,” Emilia sighed at the same time.

They looked at each other in confusion.

Subaru shook his head. “No, Mili. What I said about Puck and the villagers, I was… way out of line. I took out all my frustrations on you and that’s inexcusable. I hope that you’ll forgive me.”

Emilia pulled her knees to her chest and looked down moodily. “Well, you weren’t wrong though. I thought that you deserved better than to be stuck here with me so I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to send you away even if it hurt. But I never asked you what you wanted. Or took the time to realize that by forcing us apart, I would be hurting you too… I’m sorry…”

Subaru sighed, “We’ve… both been under a ton of stress the past few days.”

Emilia nodded wearily, “It feels like I left the capitol lifetimes ago.”

Subaru coughed, “I’m not saying that let’s forget about it because… maybe we can learn something from what happened and be better next time we’re both stressed out and arguing. But do you think that you’d be willing to forgive me?”

Emilia smiled at him, “Of course I will. Will you forgive me?”

“Obviously!”

They smiled at each other for a moment then Emilia urged him on. “Finish the story, Subaru. What happened after I fought Elsa?” Emilia asked.

Subaru thought for a moment. “Well, Elsa had got you pretty good with her knives…”

Emilia reached under the covers and winced as she rubbed the huge bandage wrapped around her side.

“As you probably remember, Elsa’s daggers are poisoned and you were in a really bad way because your wound wouldn’t close.”

“Wait, what about Victoire? She was wounded too!”

Subaru growled, “Victoire was fine because that bitch decided to drink all of the antidote herself. And I’m just dying to have a nice, long talk with her about that…”

Emilia frowned. “If she drank all of the antidote than how did I survive?”

Subaru rolled his eyes. “After Victoire pigged out on the antidote, we needed to find more medicine. Anri sent Victoire off to deliver some letters or something, probably to prevent me from killing her when I found out what she did. Anri and I went to find the antidote. We visited a Sanshi army camp and we managed to talk our way in. We almost managed to talk our way back our with the medicine but our famous bad luck intervened,” Subaru sighed.

“What does that mean?” Emilia asked.

“The soldiers figured out who we were,” Subaru grumbled. “Someone from Iruk had shown up and reported what happened and he identified us. We were seriously outnumbered and we had to fight our way out.”

“Are you and Anri alright?!”

“We’re both fine,” Subaru sighed. “The forces of Sanshi? They didn’t have such a good day.”

“Subaru, how did you get out of that situation if you were so outnumbered?”

Subaru sighed. “I used my Authority,” He whispered. “And well… that’s pretty much all she wrote.”

Emilia furrowed her brow, looking at Subaru in concern. She seemed to debate her next words. Finally she shook her head and asked. “What happened next?”

Subaru shrugged. “Not much honestly. We camped out in the woods the night after we raided the army camp and we came back here late last night.”

“Where’s Anri?” Emilia asked in concern.

“She’s fine,” Subaru shrugged. “She’s sleeping in the other cottage again.”

“I’ll have to thank her for everything she’s done for us,” Emilia mused. “We need to do something nice for her.”

Subaru hesitated. “Yeah…”

Not yet. We’ll talk about Anri’s war later. Emilia just woke up. It’s too much to dump on her right now.

“Well, you haven’t eaten in days so I bet your hungry!” Subaru said, climbing out of bed and pulling his clothes on. The sun shone bright and clear and the near constant cloud cover over the forest had dissipated.

EMilia smiled. “Famished!”

“I’ll make breakfast,” Subaru volunteered.

“I’ll help you,” Emilia said, climbing out of bed.

Subaru gently restrained her. “Why don’t you just stay in bed for now. It’s cold in the cottage. Give it a chance to warm up first. Besides, you’ve got to be tired after the past few days.”

Emilia stared at him. “Subaru, I can endure the cold much better than you can. And I slept through the past few days.”

Subaru shrugged, picking her feet up and tucking a baffled Emilia back under the covers. “You’ve been through a lot lately and your body is still healing. Don’t rush it, is all I’m saying.”

Emilia looked at him incredulously. “Subaru, this isn’t about fighting an enemy! This is making breakfast!” Emilia protested, climbing out of bed again.

“Mili! I-”

“I feel fine, Subaru,” Emilia said firmly. “I’m perfectly capable of helping you make breakfast.”

Subaru sighed as Emilia pulled her clothes over the huge bandages. She walked past him and began to inspect the food bags looking for something they could cook.

“Subaru, I think this is porridge,” Emilia said, pulling something out of the bag.

Subaru stared down at the bag that she held in her hands. It was filled with something that reminded Subaru of plain cereal flakes.

“OK, Mili. Well, I’m really glad that you told me this was porridge because I never would have guessed that otherwise. Do you know how to cook it?”

Emilia flushed. “Not really.”

“Me neither! OK, time to start our next big adventure: cooking!”

Emilia gave him a funny look. “This is our next big adventure?”

“Yeah. And frankly, I think it might be one of my favorites,” Subaru replied. “Remember, it’s very rare when you get injured by cooking something improperly. Believe me, I like our quest to make porridge way more than I enjoyed dealing with Snow Blights, Archbishops, and murderous soldiers!”

Emilia snorted with laughter.

“Any thoughts on how we start?” Subaru asked.

“Umm. I think we fill a pot with water and then we cook it over the fire?” Emilia suggested. “Sorry. I wasn’t really paying attention when Mother Fortuna used to make porridge.”

“Oh, that’s alright, Mili. We’re smart and resourceful people. We can figure this out! Want to grab the pot?”

Emilia walked over to the counter and pulled out a large pot. She filled it with water from the sink.

Emilia carried the pot over to the fire pit. Meanwhile, Subaru gathered some more kindling and sticks from a nearby stack of wood lying in the corner. He began to dump them into the faint embers lying in fire pit. The fire slowly began to grow.

Emilia hung the pot on a beam over the fire pit. “I think you should put the porridge in now.”

Subaru took the bag and unceremoniously dumped it the porridge into the pot. The pot began to overflow.

“Oops. I think I put too much water in it,” Emilia said, shamefaced. “Puck says that I’m not a very good cook,” Emilia confessed.

“Yeah, Beako was telling me the same thing. But hey, we’ll learn together, right?”

Emilia nodded.

“So, any idea what we do now?”

“Um. Stir it and wait for it to cook?”

“Sounds good. Um, Mili, how will we know when it’s done cooking?”

“I don’t know!”

The pot bubbled and continued to overflow.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” Subaru called.

Anri opened the door and froze there in shock, staring at the strange scene unfolding before her. “What are you doing?!”

Breakfast was badly burned porridge but it was edible.

Anri had managed to salvage the porridge and they’d all had a filling breakfast.

After they’d all finished eating, Anri changed Emilia’s bandages.

“Your wound is healing nicely, Mili,” Anri said, after she’d finished redressing the wound. “But I think maybe we should give you one more day of recovery before we take the bandages off.”

“I thought you said that she’d be all better today!” Subaru said in sudden worry.

Anri gave him a strange look. “She’s recovering very well, Subaru. But wounds take time to heal. I think that she would be fine if we really needed to take the bandages off today but why take chances?”

Emilia nodded. “That makes sense. They’re not very uncomfortable,” She assured them.

“Anri,” Emilia murmured. “I’m guessing that you want to meet up with Victoire as quickly as possible.”

Anri nodded. “She should be waiting for us in Stoneybrooke. We have a safe-house just outside the city.”

“Where’s that?” Emilia asked.

“It’s north of Ganaks, just across the border into Gusteko,” Anri replied.

“Hold on! There’s no reason to rush, right?” Subaru protested.

Anri stared at him. “Actually, there kind of is a reason to rush, Subaru,” Anri said in a disbelieving tone. “I’ve got this little ‘war’ going on, remember?”

Subaru made a face. “Look, if Emilia will have her bandages off in the morning then… let’s just… head out to see Victoire tomorrow,” Subaru suggested.

Emilia gave Subaru an incredulous look. “Subaru, I feel completely fine!”

Anri nodded. “She’s perfectly safe to travel!”

Subaru shrugged. “Hey, like you said, why take chances if we don’t have to! If she’ll be all better tomorrow anyway, what do we really lose by making sure that she’s completely mended before we leave the forest? You never know what’s going to happen out there. Especially to us,” He added.

Emilia looked annoyed. “Subaru, I’m fine!”

“You’re almost fine,” Subaru corrected mildly. “But you will be fine tomorrow so… why don’t we just go tomorrow?”

“Subaru,” Emilia protested, rolling her eyes.

“Hey! I just… don’t want to take any chances with you, Mili,” He whispered, wrapping his arms around her. “I almost lost you once already. We’ve been taking lots of chances the past few weeks. Most of the fights we’ve been in have been really close calls. If we’d been just a little bit slower or if we’d tired out a little bit quicker, we’d be dead. I just think we should make sure we’re at one hundred percent before we leave the forest…”

Emilia looked up at him with mingled annoyance and sympathy. Finally, she laid her head against his shoulder with a resigned sigh. “Fine, Subaru. We’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Great!” Subaru said cheerfully.

Emilia looked at Subaru with clear annoyance and shook her head. “Anri, I’ll do the dishes since you did most of the cooking.”

Subaru broke in. “I can do that-”

“Subaru!” Emilia shouted in an exasperated tone. “I can do the dishes myself!”

Subaru looked shocked at her tone. “Mili, I was just trying to help…”

Emilia shook her head. “I know, Subaru,” She murmured, her voice sounding resigned. She walked over to the sink and began to wash the dishes.

Subaru scratched his head in confusion. Anri walked over to Subaru.

Anri glanced at Emilia and then lowered her voice, trying to make it look like they were discussing something else. “Subaru, don’t you think that you’re being, well… a little overprotective?”

Subaru looked at her incredulously. “She almost died, Anri! No, I don’t think that I’m being ‘overprotective!’” He hissed.

Anri folded her good arm across her chest, looking offended by his tone.

Subaru sighed. “Look, Anri,” He murmured in a more conciliatory tone, “Will one day really make that big of a difference?”

“Uh, yeah! It could!” Anri hissed back. “This is a war and people are dying everyday! But more importantly, there is absolutely no reason that Emilia will be any safer traveling tomorrow than she is today. You trying to keep her here is irrational.”

“Then I’ll be irrational,” He growled.

“Subaru,” Anri shook her head.

“Anri, do you have any idea how close I came to losing her?” Subaru snapped.

“Probably better than you do,” Anri whispered back. “But you didn’t lose her! She’s fine!”

Subaru scowled at her. “Anri, Emilia is my everything. I’m not going to take any chances with her ever again. The only reason she had to fight Elsa was because I dropped the ball. I won’t make that mistake again. I’m going to make sure that Emilia is completely safe from now on!”

“Yeah, that’s a really nice plan, Subaru,” Anri said in a faintly mocking voice. “But you can’t just wrap your girlfriend up in lamb’s wool for the rest of her life because you’re afraid that she’ll prick her little finger!”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Subaru whispered. “I’ll be sure to let you know if I’m looking for any more love advice from a fifteen year old!”

Anri glowered at Subaru. Her eyes glinted like ice as she brushed past Subaru and helped Emilia do the dishes.

Emilia gave Subaru an annoyed glance and he belatedly realized that she had heard every word they’d said…

After they had finished the dishes, Anri had gone back to the other cottage in a bit of a huff. Emilia sat on the bed looking at Subaru with annoyance.

Subaru scratched his chin. OK. I’m not sure why staying in her own home for another day is bothering Emilia but I’m not dumb enough to ignore it either.

“Sooo,” Subaru mused. “I’m guessing you don’t feel like going back to bed?”

Emilia glared at him.

“Right,” Subaru coughed. “Any thoughts on what you do feel like doing today?”

Emilia frowned thoughtfully.

“This could be great!” Subaru said cheerfully, sitting down beside her. “We have an extra day when we can actually just relax. What do you think we should do?”

Emilia didn’t answer immediately. Finally she sighed. “Well, I have a few chores I really need to get done before we leave again. Especially,” She added in a sad tone. “If we might end up heading toward Siros with Anri since we might be gone for a long time…”

Subaru gently took her hand in his. “Of course. Just tell me what needs to get done, I’ll take care of everything,” He promised.

Emilia smiled. “That’s sweet of you, Subaru, but I’m feeling fine. We should get everything done in half the time if we’re working together.”

Subaru shrugged. “Why not just give me a list of tasks? I can take care of it all and you don’t need to strain yourself.”

Emilia blinked. “Strain myself? Subaru, I’m much stronger than you are! I used to do all of these chores nearly every day and all on my own!” She said in exasperation.

“Sure but that wound won’t feel good if you take it out into the cold,” He urged.

Emilia closed her eyes and seemed to count to ten. “I’ll be fine, Subaru,” She sighed. “I have an injury. I’m not a cripple. You don’t need to do everything for me.” Emilia thought for a moment. “Actually, why don’t you stay here and make plans for tomorrow with Anri? I can go take care of all the chores by myself.”

“Oh no!” Subaru objected immediately.

“And why not?” Emilia asked in a dangerous voice. “Why shouldn’t I do the same things I’ve always done before?”

“Emilia, you just had a traumatic injury!” Subaru protested.

“Which is healing! Subaru, I got hurt in a fight! I’m not an invalid! Why are you suddenly treating me like I’m made of porcelain and that I might shatter if you handle me roughly!”

“I’m not! I’m just… being careful,” Subaru muttered.

“Careful?”

Subaru sighed. “I lost Beatrice and Puck. And I almost lost you too. You got hurt because I was passed out in bed when one of our enemies showed up,” He said, hanging his head. “You got hurt because I wasn’t there when you need me…”

A flicker of sympathy broke through Emilia’s annoyed expression and she took his hand. “Subaru, you’re not going to lose me,” She whispered.

“Damn straight, I’m not,” Subaru growled, staring down at the floor.

Emilia blinked.

Subaru put on a bright smile. “So let’s go take care of those chores!” Subaru said getting up. “This is really going to be my first time seeing the village!”

Subaru got to his feet and grabbed her hands.

“Come on, Mili! I want to see the village! I’ve been waiting for this almost since the day we met!” Subaru cheered.

Emilia looked up at him in surprise and began to smile.

“Subaru, this was the ‘Princess Tower.’”

Subaru frowned at the small, stone hut-like structure that Emilia had led him to. It reminded Subaru of a root cellar or an abandoned hovel of some kind. It was built under the roots of a tree and there was a door in the side that appeared to have an enormous number of locks.

I’m not sure if I ever saw anything that looks less like a tower in my life, much less anything having to do with princesses. This looks like the kind of place they’d lock up children for misbehaving in some orphanage.

Subaru gamely bent over and peered into the tiny ‘house.’ There was indeed a small bed inside and a pile of books.

Yup. No windows. And the locks are all on the outside…

Subaru stood back up and coughed, trying to word this delicately. “This is where the other elves made you live?” He asked.

Emilia looked awkward. “Well, I don’t know if I’d use the term ‘made’ necessarily…”

Oh, you mean you choose to live in this dingy little place with locks on the outside of the door by your own choice? Yeah, right.

“What about Mother Fortuna?” Subaru asked, struggling to keep the edge out of his voice. “Was she OK with you living here?”

“Oh, I spent most of my time at her house but I never slept there. I always slept here,” Emilia explained.

You know, Fortuna, I really wish that you were here right now. I’d have so very many questions for you…

And a few other things that I’d like to say to you too…

“Why didn’t you live with her?” Subaru asked, struggling to keep the growl out of his voice. “What would persuade the townspeople that you needed to sleep here?”

Emilia made a face. “I think… in retrospect, that they were trying to hide me. I’m not sure from who or what.”

Hide you? That’s interesting. Wait. That suggests that maybe the people who attacked the forest were specifically looking for you!

Yeah, better move this conversation along before that thought crosses your mind!

“So where did Mother Fortuna live?” Subaru asked quickly.

Emilia pointed up at one of the larger houses nestled in the trees above them.

Subaru looked up at it. “Looks nice. Maybe we should check it out. We will need a bigger house at some point.”

Emilia made a face. “Yeah… maybe…”

Subaru saw that Emilia’s face had become broody and quickly changed the subject. “Hey, what’s that meadow over there?” He asked, pointing at a large snowy field.

“That’s where we used to play games in the evening,” Emilia said with a faint smile. “When everyone finished our work, we would come out there and play games or pick flowers. That meadow was always full of wildflowers in the summer.” Emilia shook her head with a sigh. “It should be summer now.”

“This place is still beautiful, Mili,” Subaru assured her.

Emilia bowed her head sadly. “No, this is just an echo of the forest’s beauty. You’ve never seen it in springtime.”

“But someday I will!” Subaru assured her.

Emilia looked at him.

“That’s why we’ve been doing all of this, right? To break the curse and bring life back to the forest.”

“But, Subaru, the dragon blood is all-”

“I know, Mili. I know,” Subaru interrupted. “But I am absolutely certain that there is still a way to break the curse.”

“How?”

“I have no idea,” Subaru admitted.

“Then how are you so sure that we can still break the curse?”

Subaru sighed. “Before we fought Capella, Roswaal told me that he didn’t need me to sign the slave contract anymore. He said that I would learn something in the fight that would convince me to willingly work with him. During the fight, Capella told me that the blood was all gone. That means Roswaal must know another way to break the curse. I’d never make an alliance with him if he couldn’t offer me something important.”

Emilia’s eyes widened. “Subaru! You can’t trust Roswaal!”

“I never said that I trusted him but if he has information I need, I’d at least consider doing him a favor in exchange for him giving telling me how to lift the curse. Of course, the other option would be the Authority. I am absolutely certain that the Authority could break this curse once I know how to control it.”

Emilia looked even more unsettled. “Subaru! I don’t want you using your Authority anymore!”

Jeez, Mili! You’re being awfully picky about this for someone who has yet to offer a constructive proposal herself!

“Well, whatever,” Subaru shrugged. “The important thing is that somehow or other, we will break this curse. And you know what we’re going to do then? Like that very same day?”

Emilia squinted at him. “What?”

“We are going to go on a date!” Subaru proclaimed.

Emilia blinked. “What?!”

“Yeah! Crazy, isn’t it? I asked you out on a date the day after we met and two months later we have yet to manage to find any free time to do it! But that’s the plan. As soon as you and I break the curse, we are going to pack ourselves a picnic lunch and we are going to go out and sit in that meadow surrounded by wildflowers and we’re going to spend the entire afternoon just sitting there and enjoying each other’s company. Hell, we might even lay down and take a nap! Can you imagine that? Us having enough free time to just lay back and take an afternoon nap? As soon as we break this curse that is exactly what we’re going to do!”

Emilia laughed. “Subaru! That’s so silly! We save the forest and you want to celebrate by having a picnic?”

“Hey! I should get a vote in what we do!” Subaru chuckled. “Well, I’m calling the day when we finally end the curse! That day we’ll do what I want to do and what I want to do is have a picnic and a slow lazy day snuggling with my Emilia!”

Emilia shook her head with a smile. “How do you do it, Subaru?” She said, linking her arm with his.

“Do what?”

“We’re in a desperate situation right now: alone, friendless, and in great danger but you can still say something that just makes me want to burst from happiness.”

Subaru smiled at her. “The feeling’s mutual. Anyway, what chores did you want to get done before we leave?”

Emilia’s smile flickered. “Well, I wanted to make sure that the top of the Crann-sine wasn’t damaged in any of the storms,” She hedged. “And… I thought that I should go clean the snow off all the villagers,” She whispered. “They must be absolutely buried by now…”

Subaru coughed. “Not so bad actually,” He replied awkwardly. “I… cleaned them off after our big fight…”

Emilia’s eyes widened. “You did?”

“Yeah… I… I’m sorry about what I said about the villagers, Emilia. I didn’t… I didn’t understand how you felt about the people of the forest or how much it hurt you until I actually saw them. I found the statues and I tried to clean them off as best I could.”

Emilia didn’t reply right away. “Thank you, Subaru,” She whispered, taking his hand.

“Wow. What’s this?” Subaru asked looking up at what must have been one of the biggest trees in the forest. It was easily a two hundred feet tall and a broad ramp encircled the tree leading all the way to the upper branches.

Subaru and Emilia stood at the foot of the tree.

“This is the Crann-sine. It’s ‘the tree of the people,’ or sometimes we called it the prayer tree. We used to gather here to pray.”

“Neat,” Subaru replied in a tone that indicated he didn’t know why they were here.

Emilia smiled at him. “We’re just going to go up to the platform at the top and make sure that it isn’t damaged. We don’t want any cracks or breaks in the ramps or the platform to get worse while I’m gone.”

“Makes sense,” Subaru replied. His face grew a mischievous smirk. “Hey, Mili. Race you to the top?”

Emilia rolled her eyes. “Subaru. What are you, a child? Why would we race to the top?”

“I’ll give you a perfect reason why we should race to the top,” Subaru said, pointing at a house behind them. “Look there and tell me what you see.”

Emilia frowned and studied the house intently, looking for something special but nothing presented itself. “Um. Amarie’s house? Subaru, what-”

Emilia turned around only to realize that Subaru was no longer standing beside her and was in fact already running up the ramp giggling.

Emilia’s face twisted in outrage. “Subaru Natsuki! You dirty cheater!”

She lunged after him.

Subaru had gotten a large head start but Emilia not only caught up, she flew past him in a blur.

It took Subaru several minutes to reach the top of the tree. He was panting for breath when he reached the top platform.

The top platform was an enormous flat surface built into the upper canopy of the tree and it was the size of a baseball field. Several gazebo-like structures, with a wall covering one or more sides, dotted outer edge of the platform.

Emilia stood there waiting for him with her arms folded across her chest. “What kept you?” She asked in mock sympathy.

“You win!” Subaru said, gasping for breath. He put his arm around Emilia, leaning on her as he struggled to catch his breath. “How about a kiss for the gracious loser?”

“Nope!” Emilia turned her face away and put her nose up in the air. “Cheaters don’t deserve kisses!”

“Oh, come on, Mili! That’s a heavy penalty!” Subaru complained. “For how long?”

Emilia flashed him a mischievous grin. “Until I’ve decided that you’ve learned your lesson. Come on, Subaru. Let’s take a quick look around.”

“This place is beautiful!” Subaru said as they stood in one of the gazebos.

Emilia had shown him how the side wall of the gazebo could be slid around to block the wind and now they had a sheltered, cozy little hut to look over the forest that seemed to stretch out forever before them.

“We’re lucky that it’s so clear today!” Emilia said, looking at the snow covered trees fondly. “It’s usually stormy in the forest.”

“Yeah, no kidding. You can see forever up here!” Subaru said. The forest spread out before them and they couldn’t see the end of it.

Emilia smirked at him. “I bet that you’ve never been up this high!” She boasted.

“Oh sure I have,” Subaru replied calmly.

Emilia blinked.

Subaru glanced at her. “We’re really good at building towers where I come from. Some of them can be thousands of feet high.”

Emilia frowned at him. “Subaru. You said there wasn’t any magic where you come from. Are you trying to trick me again?”

“No!” Subaru raised his hand as if he was under oath. “I swear! Those towers really exist and they’re built without any magic at all.”

Emilia glanced away with a pensive look on her face. “Subaru. Do you… ever miss your home?”

Subaru thought about it. “Not really. I mean… I miss my parents sometimes. I wish that there was a way to let them know that I’m OK and that I’m happy. And I’d love to have them meet you.”

“Really?”

“Oh hell, yes!” Subaru said. “They would adore you!”

Emilia gave him a shy smile. “I know that Guese and Mother Fortuna would have liked you too.”

Subaru smiled at her and stared out toward the horizon. “So I think that we’re facing north?”

“Mmhm,” Emilia agreed, pointing at a symbol drawn on the floor of the gazebo.

No clue what that symbol means. North, I guess?

“So the other day we were all the way up there?” Subaru asked, pointing at the trees far away.

“Actually, we were much further away than that,” Emilia replied. “What you can see here is still the southern part of the forest. We arrived in the forest through the far northern western part.”

“You told me once that you mapped the entire forest?”

“Yes. It kept Puck and me busy. It took us seven years.”

Subaru gave a low whistle. “Wow. That’s dedication.”

“I almost never went to the northern part of the forest except for those times when I was making my map. The mabeasts up there are very aggressive. Especially the Snow Blight.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Subaru mumbled.

Emilia laughed.

Subaru smiled at her. “Well. Now that we’re checked the platforms, I guess it’s time to move on. I know this isn’t quite as nice as a meadow filled with wildflowers but it’s still a beautiful place to be.”

“It is,” Emilia agreed. “But now we need to go tend to the villagers.”

“So any chance of a kiss before we depart this very romantic spot?” Subaru asked plaintively.

“You need to learn not to be a dirty cheater,” Emilia replied primly.

“Haven’t I been good since then?” Subaru whined.

“Not good enough,” Emilia chuckled.

Subaru sighed in disappointment.

Emilia gently took his face between her hands. “This one’s on credit,” She teased.

Their lips met.

“Arche,” Emilia murmured, brushing bits of snow off the frozen statue of a slender, stern-faced young man. “I owe you an apology. We met a girl named Anri a few days ago and we let her stay in your house because she had nowhere else to stay and my bed wasn’t big enough for three. I’m sorry but I think you’d understand. You were always a very generous person and I know that you’d want to do whatever you could to get weary people out of the cold.”

Subaru swallowed hard as he brushed a few flecks of snow off the statue of a pretty girl around Petra’s age. Her face was frozen in an expression of absolute terror, her eyes were huge and thin streams of tears were frozen against her cheeks.

Emilia told me that this girl was named Amarie. I really wish that she hadn’t said that.

I did not want Emilia to tell me all the elves’ names. I did not want to start thinking of them as real people, people trapped by a terrible curse whose lives have been put on pause because of Emilia’s mistake.

People whose lives have effectively come to an end unless I can find a way to help Emilia break the curse…

“Maiel,” Emilia said, gently rubbing snow off a beautiful elven woman whose face was contorted in fear. “I’m glad to see that you’re still doing well. I wanted you to know that I’m still working hard to try to find a cure it’s just that… I’ve had a few setbacks…”

Emilia lowered her voice as she continued talking.

This is awful! I thought that this would be a simple chore and to some extent it is. There’s barely any new snow on the statues since I cleaned them off the other day but Emilia is making a point to talk to every statue as if it were an old friend, which I suppose that it is…

Emilia is telling each of them about her adventures over the past few months. Sometimes, I hear her whispering and I can guess that she’s talking about me. That’s fine though. But to listen to her carry on these one sided conversations…

This is all so goddamn sad! And Emilia did this everyday when she lived in the forest! She’s desperately trying to maintain her relationships with these STATUES. A relationship which currently does not exist. I’m not trying to be an asshole but all this talking to the statues is pointless. She might as well try to tell her kitchen table that everything is going to be alright for all the effect she’s having.

I’m torn. I desperately want to be anywhere else and at the same time, nothing could make me move. I want to be here with Emilia. I want to offer her whatever comfort my presence affords.

Since he hadn’t been talking to the statues, Subaru had been cleaning them off much faster than Emilia and he’d moved pretty far ahead of her.

Subaru took a deep breath. “So… Mili told me that your name was Amarie,” Subaru muttered as he gently brushed the snow off the statue of the little girl’s head.

Why am I doing this? Why am I acting like this statue is actually a little girl who needs comforting?

“She told me that you were a little sweet-heart who loved candy and dreamed of traveling,” He said. “She said that you wanted to visit the capitol someday.”

Subaru sighed. “You kind of remind me of Petra. That’s another little girl that I know. She gave me this handkerchief, by the way. The one that I’m using to clean you off. You’ll… meet her someday. Who knows? You two might be great friends!”

Subaru hesitated. “You don’t… have to worry, you know. I promised Emilia that we’d break the curse and bring you all back. ‘Promises are important and I must keep my promises’ and all that,” He muttered.

Subaru looked at the row of frightened statues. Amarie stood by her entire family. They had all been frozen together. “I know that we haven’t gotten very far with finding a cure yet but… I want you all to know how hard Emilia has been working. Mili has been through hell and back trying to save you all. I mean, she never takes a break! I don’t know how we’re going to do it yet but I promise you that it’s going to get done. Emilia won’t give up until it’s summertime in this forest again.

Why am I saying any of this? What’s the point? I don’t have an audience. No one is listening to me!

Subaru coughed. “You’re probably all pretty bored from standing here for so long but just… hang in there a little longer. Emilia and I are getting back on our feet and once we wrap up restoring Emilia’s memories, saving you guys is the next item on the list.”

Subaru paused. “Huh. I wonder if I’m going to get a lot of crap from you guys once you’re unfrozen. Maybe you’re not OK with elves marrying humans. Actually, let’s not think about that. I’m tired of borrowing trouble.

“The point is that, even though you’ve been stuck here for a long time, you can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re all going to come back here and there’s going to be green grass in this forest. Emilia won’t let you down. Trust me. She never lets anybody down when it really counts.”

“Subaru,” Emilia whispered.

Subaru started and spun around. He saw Emilia standing there with tears running down her face.

“Oh! Mili, I didn’t hear you,” Subaru said awkwardly. He coughed. “So are you done talking to the… villagers?”

Emilia nodded. She walked up to him and buried her face in his shoulder.

Subaru held her close. “We’re going to heal them, Mili. It’s just a matter of time. Nothing will stop us.”

Emilia nodded. “I know, Subaru. As long as we’re together, we can do anything.”

Felt sat in the carriage with Beatrice and Puck, slowly traveling to the capitol. Reinhard had been summoned to the palace before Felt had even left the army camp and Garfiel and the twins had already returned to the capitol separately.

Army officers had been questioning the spirits for the past few days. The questions were repetitious and the spirits’ answers were unchanging. Finally, Felt had put her foot down and demanded that the spirits be released into her custody and Reinhard had backed her up.

Crusch’s officers felt they had no choice but to acquiesce. Subaru might be missing but he was still the heavy favorite for the throne. Moreover, after the selection started, Subaru had given Felt executive power over his faction in case he and Emilia were ever out of contact in an emergency.

Felt had demanded that the spirits be returned and the officers had been unwilling to argue.

“Are you guys OK?” Felt asked the spirits.

Neither one answered. They’d hardly spoken on this trip at all. Puck seemed morose and miserable, staring off into the distance with nothing to soothe his loneliness but Beatrice. Beatrice by comparison seemed to be in much better shape. Her eyes were hard as agates but her expression was thoughtful. She looked like someone wrestling with an unsolvable problem.

“Look, I’m really sorry, guys,” Felt sighed, “I never wanted to put those damn magic-suppressing bracelets on you. I’m going to demand that the sages’ council takes them off as soon as we reach the capitol. We should get there first thing tomorrow. But at least you’ll be spending your time back in the Astrea manor with us. You’ll be more comfortable and we’ll be here to take care of you until Subaru gets back.”

Puck whimpered.

Felt shook her head, “Puck, I swear! I never meant to take you away from Subaru! I was trying to save him from that witch!”

“Killing the witch would kill Subaru, I suppose,” Beatrice said in a soft voice.

“Why do you keep saying that?” Felt asked.

Beatrice seemed to shake herself out of her reverie and gave Felt her full attention. There was no friendliness in her expression. “Perhaps Subaru is bewitched, perhaps our memories have changed, I suppose. Either way, Betty knows that her Subaru would not be willing to live in a world without the half-elf,” Beatrice flatly.

Felt gaped at her. “Beako! That witch is dangerous! Who knows what the hell she’s doing to Subaru now that she has him alone? She already almost killed Subaru and me! How do we break this enchantment on him?!”

Beatrice didn’t answer right away. “If Subaru is bewitched then it was done using the power of an Authority, I suppose. It cannot be undone by normal magic,” Beatrice said, petting the despondent Puck who sat on her lap.

Felt rubbed her forehead in frustration. “Alright then, how do we convince Subaru that he’s been bewitched?” Felt asked. “Subaru won’t be willing to die for this girl anymore if he realizes that she’s just tricking him.”

Beatrice sighed. “Witchcraft of this type is powerful but… never perfect, I suppose,” Beatrice murmured, her attention still focused on Puck. “Warping memories of the past is complex. There are always paradoxes in our memories that can’t be resolved.”

“What kind of paradoxes?”

“If Subaru’s memories have been modified, then the elf was inserted where she should not be, I suppose. This will create flaws in the memories. There is an old legend of a famous knight who was bewitched to think that an evil woman was his wife. The spell was broken when his son came to rescue him and the knight realized that the witch was not the boy’s mother.”

Felt frowned, mulling that over. “I don’t get it.”

Beatrice stared out the window with a pensive look on her face. She spoke as if she was talking to herself, “Because the son’s mother was not the witch, simply replacing the mother with the witch in all of the knight’s memories would lead to obvious inconsistencies. The wife and the witch would behave very differently in most situations, in fact. For example, the witch’s powers would trivialize many problems that the knight remembered them facing together in his modified memories. But strangely, the knight could not recall the witch having ever made use of these powers in all the time that they had been married. This is because the wife that the witch had replaced in those memories had no magic to use.

“If the magic attempted to clean up those inconsistencies then this only creates still more memories to fix because the outcomes of these remembered situations would be different than what he recalled due to the witch doing things that the wife would not or could not. If the witchcraft tried to make the son be forgotten about entirely, then more and more memories would need to be removed and the man’s mind would become fragmented. These are the paradoxes that Betty spoke of. If Subaru found such a paradox in his own memories then he would be convinced that he was bewitched, I suppose.”

“OK,” Felt sighed. “That at least gives us a plan, right? We take Reinhard, we find Subaru, and we have a parlay.”

Beatrice gave Felt a dirty look. “We wouldn’t be in this situation at all if the little thief and the red knight had done that in the first place and hadn’t threatened to kill the witch, in fact!” Beatrice hissed.

“Hey! You can’t blame me for that!” Felt protested, “I didn’t know that Reinhard was going to have his kill-switch flipped by all this! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get Red willing to kill anybody? Heikel is still alive! Think about that!”

Beatrice didn’t answer.

Felt closed her eyes with a sigh. “Beako, tell me the truth. Is there really any evidence that Subaru isn’t the one being bewitched?”

Beatrice shrugged, “Betty is just… keeping an open mind, I suppose.”

Felt buried her face in her hands with a moan. “Fuck me. Garf told me that I wasn’t looking at things objectively. He warned me but I was too burned out and broken to see it. If I’d just asked Subaru to talk instead of being so determined to kill the witch…”

Beatrice didn’t answer.

Felt shook her head. “Beako, when you guys were hiding in the cave, why didn’t you and Subaru tell us that you were there? Why not try to talk to us?” Felt asked.

Beatrice looked at Felt incredulously, “The little thief is either an idiot or she thinks that Betty is. The entire Lagunican army was hunting down ‘The Witch of Envy’ with intent to kill her on sight, in fact. The only persons who could have suggested to the army that the half-elf resembled the Witch of Envy were you and the others. You put all of Betty’s family in danger, in fact! Does the little thief really think the army would have considered Betty’s Subaru an unacceptable sacrifice if it meant killing the witch?” Beatrice grated.

Felt’s eyes widened.

Puck roused himself from his stupor to glower at Felt. “And Rem didn’t help either, Felt!” Puck growled. “She said terrible things to my Subaru. I would have obliterated her on the spot if I’d had more magic at the time. She told Subaru that they were enemies now and that the next time they met, she and Subaru’s former ‘friends’ would kill the witch and likely kill him.”

Felt stared at Puck in shock. “What the fuck?!” She gasped.

“The little thief sounds surprised,” Beatrice said dully.

“We never said that we’d attack Subaru! We were trying to help him! We wanted to stop the witch! And the soldiers were not supposed to know about the witch’s appearance! The whole ‘Witch of Envy’ thing was supposed to be kept confidential. Only Crusch and her top trackers and officers were informed. Until Rem… accidentally let it slip to some of the troops…” Felt whispered in dawning understanding. Felt stared off into the distance open-mouthed for a long moment. Then she shook her head and continued, “And just for the record, Crusch was not supposed to send out people with a ‘search and destroy’ attitude. We wanted to talk to Subaru. We were trying to protect him from the witch!”

“Apparently your soldiers didn’t get the memo, Felt,” Puck growled.

“Just wait until I get my hands on Rem,” Felt growled.

Beatrice sniffed. “Betty has no concern whatsoever for the little thief’s welfare, I suppose, but the blue maid will crush the little thief effortlessly.”

“I was going to let Garf do it,” Felt grumbled. She scratched her head. “Beako, do you know how Subaru… feels about us right now?”

“Betty’s Subaru was very angry,” Beatrice replied. “He felt betrayed, I suppose. Nobody except for Betty and Bubby trusted him.”

Felt flinched. “Beako, what was Subaru’s plan when you guys split up? Maybe we can still find him and try to talk this out.”

Beatrice shook her head, “Subaru’s plan was to escape the country so that we would all have been safe. Then he wanted to write letters to the little thief and the red knight, in fact.”

“Letters?”

“To convince them that Betty’s Subaru was still Betty’s Subaru. To try and work things out, I suppose,” Beatrice sighed.

Felt held her forehead as if she was in pain. “OK, what else?”

Beatrice shook her head, “To find a way to fix everyone’s memories, I suppose. But Betty’s Subaru didn’t have any ideas for how to do it.”

“Great,” Felt sighed. “And you really have no idea where that portal sent them? Just between us, I mean?”

Beatrice shook her head. She gazed out the window and her brow furrowed as she returned to deep thought.

Puck perked up. “Betty, I’m starting to wonder if maybe that girl really was a witch trying to trick us,” Puck mumbled.

“Oh?” Beatrice asked in an incurious voice.

“You opened a portal when you were nowhere near the library. And the portal moved Subaru far enough away that we couldn’t sense him anymore. I know how much mana that would take. There’s no way that you had even close to enough mana to pull off a stunt like that, especially after your mana got drained in the Sanctuary. If the girl could give you all that magic then she must be far more powerful than she led us to believe,” Puck said.

Betty’s head snapped around to give Puck her undivided attention.

Felt frowned. “Wait, the witch gave you the ability to open the portal?” Felt asked.

Betty stared at Puck intently. “Betty did not take any magic from the half-elf,” Beatrice emphasized. “Betty could not, in fact. Betty can only take large amounts of mana from persons she has a strong bond with.”

Felt frowned. Beatrice’s tone was that of someone trying to prompt their listener.

Felt realized that the spirits hadn’t been left alone since they were captured and would have had no time to talk without numerous eavesdroppers.

Puck looked up at Beatrice, his dull expression slowly giving way to confusion. “Wait, then where did you get all that magic? You didn’t draw it from Subaru. I would have felt it.”

“Betty did not draw it from Betty’s Subaru,” Beatrice agreed.

Puck looked annoyed, “So who then? Not Subaru, not me, and not the witch, who else is there?”

Beatrice gave Puck a frustrated look.

Puck thought about it for a moment and then his eyes widened.

“What?” Felt asked in confusion.

That night after dinner, Anri returned to the other cottage while Subaru and Emilia tidied up.

When they finished cleaning up the kitchen, Emilia had doused the fire and they’d crawled into bed.

He gently wrapped his arms around her, trying not to touch the bandages. “Am I holding you too tight?” Subaru whispered.

Emilia shook her head and snuggled deeper into his warmth, a smile on her face. “No, it feels good,” She murmured.

Subaru sighed in contentment.

“So tomorrow we bring Anri to meet Victoire,” Emilia murmured. “It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to her. She’s been a good friend.

Subaru took a deep breath. “Mili, there’s something I think we should talk about,” Subaru said slowly.

“What’s that?”

Subaru made a face. “Well… The other night, Anri told me that she needs our help.”

Emilia rolled over to face Subaru and nodded. “Of course. We do owe her our lives, Subaru.”

“No argument, but listen to the whole story first. Apparently, House Griest is trying to finish off her homeland. They’re sending a new army to crush them in a couple of days.”

Emilia blanched. “Subaru, I want to help Anri too but… we can’t fight off a whole army!”

“I agree,” Subaru said. “I was about to tell her ‘no’ but I guess she realized that was what I was going to say because she made me an offer.”

“What was that?”

“First of all, she offered us a home. She asked us if we’d come to Siros with her. She claimed that we wouldn’t have to hide there and that we’d be safe.”

Emilia squinted at him. “In Gusteko?” She asked dubiously.

Subaru shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know about that one either. Anri claims that Siros isn’t like most of Gusteko and that people are most accepting there. Maybe it would work out for us, maybe it wouldn’t. It’s an idea. Anri also offered to help us get the spirits back.”

“How?”

“She claims that she can use diplomatic pressure to make Lagunica release them,” Subaru replied.

Emilia bowed her head. “Daddy…” She whispered. A few moment’s later she looked up at Subaru. “If she’s right then we could have Beatrice and Puck back without having to confront Reinhard.”

Subaru nodded. “I know. I’ve had quite a few nightmares about bumping into Reinhard again. It’s an appealing offer if it will work. I don’t think Anri is lying but she might be overestimating her influence. The final thing she offered is she said that she’d give us access to the Grand Archives.”

“She mentioned those when we were talking,” Emilia recalled. “She said if we could find information about my curse anywhere, that would be the place.”

Subaru nodded.

Emilia looked away, her face twisted in doubt and worry.

Subaru sighed. “Mili, I… I feel like this is the only chance we have left. If we don’t go to the Archives to try to learn about your curse, then what will we try next? I feel like… we either try to go there or… we just give up,” Subaru said quietly.

Emilia glanced away and bit her lip. A dozen emotions flickered over her face. She looked back at Subaru, her face conflicted. “What do you think?”

Subaru sighed. “I think that if we have any avenue left to pursue that might make everyone remember you, we need to take it. Restoring your memory would solve almost all of our problems right now.”

“But can we really help Anri? Even if we wanted to, what could we do?”

Subaru shrugged. “I don’t know. This army is a completely different kind of problem than we’re used to. I’m not sure what we can do about that.”

“But at the same time,” Emilia said slowly. “We can’t just abandon Anri. Not after everything that she’s done for us.”

“Yeah,” Subaru sighed. “I feel the same way.”

“And this might be our last chance to find out how to lift the curse on me,” She whispered.

“Yeah, it might be.”

Emilia bowed her head for a long moment. “Subaru, I know that this is going to be dangerous,” She whispered. “And I know that I shouldn’t be willing to risk seeing you get hurt for anything…”

Subaru waited. “But…?” He prodded.

Emilia’s face tightened, tears flowing down her face. “I’d do anything to make Daddy remember me!”