It was another busy evening at the restaurant. Daliya traveled between tables, putting down dishes, picking up dirty plates and utensils, taking orders, and relaying them to Saad. Soon, they would have to switch, and she would stand behind the counter while he took care of the chaos outside. They had a system. Each of them would cater to a fixed number of tables before switching with the other. Whatever tip came their way was theirs to take.

Her business smile widened as she glimpsed another family entering the restaurant. The wife was in front. They seemed well off from her clothes and the jewelry adorning the woman’s neck. Their son, a seven or eight-year-old child, sauntered inside, right to the table next to the window. He took a seat, calling for his parents to hurry up, yelling that his birthday would be over before they even reached their table.

Ah, so it was a birthday party. And they didn’t even bother to make reservations. Daliya sighed. No matter. She beelined for their table, pulling her tired muscles into an ever brighter smile.

Once her eyes rested on the husband, she felt her breath stutter in her chest.

It was her father.

When was the last time she had seen him? Seven years ago? Ten?

Yet here he was, with his new family, happy and laughing heartily at whatever his wife–the beautiful woman sitting across him– said. Next to him was his son. He had his nose buried deep into the menu book.

She hesitated, debating whether she should just trace her steps back and get Saad to cater to their table, tips be damned. But before she made up her mind, her father looked up at her. She watched him, eyes blown wide, waiting for him to talk to her for the first time in years, to ask her what she was doing here.

He looked back at his wife, asking her what she would like to order.

Daliya stood rooted in place. She stood, half listening to the happy family banter as they chose their meal. The words floated over her, unintelligible, incomprehensible.

He didn’t recognize her. He didn’t even spare her a glance.

He looked down at the child and smiled, a fond, full-of-love smile that seized her chest and stilled the breath in her lungs. She felt like each inhale drove the jagged shards of broken glass deeper into her lungs, cutting her anew and drowning her in her own blood.

She wrote down their order, the scratch made by the pen too loud in her ears.

“That would be all,” he said, dismissing her.

She forced a smile and nodded. “Right away, sir.” Her throat seized, the words coming as a choked whisper.

She didn’t remember how she got back to the staff room. She didn’t remember walking around the tables, behind the counter, passing Saad, who must have called for her to ask her why she was abandoning her post.

She tightened her hold on her knees.

She was fine.

She needed to get back to work. She had bills to pay and groceries to buy. She couldn’t afford to slacken off now.

She was fine. She would always be fine. She didn’t need anyone, least of all him.

The ground suddenly disappeared under her. Her limbs flailed as she fell into the void. She threw her hands around, searching for purchase, for something to anchor herself. But there was nothing. She kept falling and falling, with no end in sight.

She startled awake, jerking forward to hunch over herself. She could feel her heart trying its best to beat its way out of her chest. She panted, drawing in huge gulps of air to calm her raging nerves. She heard a shuffle to her left. When she glanced up at red, bloody eyes, she thought her soul had left her battered body and exited through the crevices of the cavern.

She coughed and coughed as the saliva went down the wrong pipe.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Her eyes roamed around her, looking for something to ground her in the moment. She paused when they rested on the broken sword. She picked it up slowly, fixing her stare on the intricate carvings adorning its hilt. The word twisted and curved around the silver metal, forming the word ‘Ice.’

She blinked, frowning at the word. It wasn’t any language she recognized. Still, she could discern its meaning.

It fitted nicely in her palm. Its coldness was a nice comfort she didn’t think she would find.

The slight shuffling to her side shifted her attention to her only other companion in this strange place. The assassin sat silent, staring at her. His hand halted in mid-move, hovering in the space between them as if he was reaching for her.

“You okay?” he asked when the sound of her hacking her lungs out quietened down. His eyes had returned to their warm color instead of the threatening scarlet. Something she was immensely grateful for.

Unsure of what to say, she nodded.

He nodded back, then got to his feet. “We better get going.”

Daliya didn’t object even when her body protested as she shifted to get up. Anything but wallowing in self-pity. She stumbled to her feet, her hazy mind still stuck in the area between her nightmare and reality. She blinked, chasing the last images away; somewhere, hopefully, she wouldn’t find them again. She hated it when her memories chased her, even to the confines of her dreams. She had thought she was over this.

He guided them through the intricate set of tunnels, stopping every once in a while and staring with unseeing eyes at the walls as if he were looking through them. Maybe he was. For all she knew, it was another of his weird powers.

They took a short rest. No short naps this time. She was in no hurry for a repeat session. Once was more than enough.

The assassin–who refused to reveal his name and seemed more than averse to knowing hers–reassured her of the safety of their surroundings. Still, she found herself straining her ears for any sign of monsters. The assassin had slightly shaken his head, a hint of an amused smile pulling at his lips.

It was dark when they emerged from the cavern. The moon cast a feeble light in their surrounding, barely illuminating the shadows that twisted and twirled around the trees crowding the entrance.

“Great,” he muttered under his breath. “A whole week wasted for nothing.”

“Where should we go?” she asked.

He looked at her, his head tilted to the side. Something akin to amusement flickered in his eyes.

“I am going back to my hideout. You, princess, are going back to your castle.”

Daliya opened her mouth to protest. Leaving her here was as good as sentencing her to a horrible death. She had no way to protect herself against monsters lurking at every corner of this bizarre world. Couldn’t he get her to some city or town instead of ditching her in this forest?

“But I’m not–”

“Not my business.” He shrugged. “My job was done once the real princess departed from this world. Whatever you do next is up to you.” He paused. “Though it would be best if you kept the soul switching a secret. You don’t know how many daggers are out to get you, and many of them might be closer to you than you could imagine. This would be the weakness they’ve been waiting for.”

His head jerked up and tilted to the side as if he was listening to something beyond the whistling of the tree branches.

“They’ll be here soon,” he said.

She could see that the assassin did not welcome their presence from his thin, pressed lips and tight frown. He looked at her, a smile not quite reaching his curious eyes. He tilted his head in a nod, one eye closing in an exaggerated wink.

“Our short adventure ends here, princess. Pray our paths never cross again.”

Daliya’s body jerked in a half step towards him. “Wai–”

He didn’t even let her finish whatever she wanted to say. Without a second glance, he leaped over the rocks and climbed up the steep incline, disappearing over the top before she could say a word edgewise, leaving her alone in the resounding darkness.

She then noticed that, till now, she had yet to feel truly scared. The kind of fear that came with knowing you were stranded alone in some strange and bizarre land. His presence, short and curt as it was, brought her a comfort that she was sorely missing now. But as an unknown noise approached, her fear began to mount, a palpable tension in the air.

She startled as thundering noises sounded around her. Whatever he had heard was nearing her. She clasped the broken sword and clutched it in her white-knuckled hands, not ready to face whatever was approaching her.

At that moment, she couldn’t help but resent him. Why did he leave her alone? She knew he wasn’t responsible for her safety. Heck, he was here to assassinate her–to assassinate the princess. Still, in the short time she had spent with him lost inside the cavern’s darkness, she had come to rely on him and his strange powers for protection.

She wanted to get back to her world, to wake up from this nightmare and find herself still in her bedroom.

The thundering footsteps halted for a few seconds before a large number of armed men emerged through the trees, clad in armor and brandishing swords, ready to strike. At the sight of her, they stopped, silent for a moment, before they fell to their knees in a synchronized move as if practiced a million times.

“Your Highness,” their voices boomed in unison.

Exhaustion and hunger finally won over. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and darkness welcomed her in its blissful embrace.