Gwen looked out at the tops of trees fading into one black ocean as the sun went down, forest stretching all the way out to the horizon. She was a prisoner of luxury in the room meant for aristocrats, dignitaries and nobles. After she'd escaped the, as Alouella had explained it to her, mass death spell she'd been knocked out. The tingle of electricity up her spine and seizure had given her a good idea of who it was. She'd overlooked it.

She knew Alouella had ordered her locked up because of the...she didn't know what she thought she'd done. She didn't want Clarke to be all alone and she knew she agreed with what he was doing but she couldn't just abandon Alouella. Wade hadn't had any trouble picking a side, which she was glad of. It probably took more than one person to hold a city together after all the people running it had died.

From the small gossip she heard from the maids who attended her she knew Alouella needed all the help she could get to keep things from boiling over like a dwarven experiment gone haywire.

Gwen sighed and shut the window.

This sucks. Why can't we go back to how things were...

The locks on her door clicked and slid before several knocks hit the wood.

“Gwen?”

There was the tired voice of Alouella, her soft steps coming up the stairs to the room. She looked like death warmed over and she quickly fell face first into the bed, bouncing before settling into it with her feet hanging off the side, her shoes kicked off. Despite their obvious prisoner/imprisoner relationship she had come to see Gwen every night.

“Gwen...the thing....”

Alouella sighed into the bed and Gwen sat beside her, running her thick fingers through the tangled elven hair and massaging her scalp.

“How are things out there?”

Alouella groaned, not answering for a few minutes as she enjoyed having her head petted. She was a big fan of those brawny fingers. They relaxed her with normalcy.

“They're...they're getting better. People aren't so scared. I told them just enough to comfort them but not enough for them to get scared all over again. The...the bodies are taken care of and arrangements are being made. The Queen should be back in a few days.”

And here was the part she'd kept pressing on, a sore spot that Alouella kept enduring the picking of.

“What about Clarke?”

Alouella hesitated and Gwen stopped her petting, resting her hand on the mess of hair. She took the hat off so Alouella had nowhere to hide. She kept her face in the bedding so her words came out muffled..

“Everything is settling down. Things are going the way they should.”

It was the same quiet non-answer she'd been giving and up to this point Gwen had left it alone. Everything was such a goddamn mess that even she knew hammering at the problem wouldn't solve anything. But, like Alouella had said, things were settling and she wouldn't leave it alone this time.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Is Clarke in trouble?”

“I...I can't tell you.”

“You won't tell me.”

“Both true.”

She tried to put the hand back on her head but Gwen pulled it away.

“You think I'm going to go on another reckless rampage like you think I did in Deraforda-”

“You broke into a man's home without any proof!”

“And we were RIGHT. Then I sort of helped Clarke here-”

Alouella flipped over and looked the dwarf square in the eye.

“You 'sort of' helped? You were piling up bodies like a wall! You belong in a cell! You did something wrong!”

“Then why aren't I?”

She swung her arm around the room. The luxury, the weak locks on the doors.

“I'm not going to say something stupid like, 'oh, you must secretly think I'm right!'. I think we all had our own reasons down there and we all have our own reasons for what we're doing now. I helped Clarke because he brought my father back to me a long time ago.”

Alouella glared, a look that wobbled between anger and falling apart but Gwen reached out and put her hand back on the golden hair, pushing the strands out of the elf's face with her thumb.

“I know you think I switch sides a lot but...I just have to do what I think is right. And right now I think you need me to go back to Deraforda for you and look for Clarke's mom.”

Alouella's jaw dropped.

“How in the world would you think-”

Gwen shushed her, talking over every word she said.

“-not going to let you just walk aw-”

Gwen pulled her in tight, hugging her from side to side until Alouella went ragdoll. She let her face peek out.

“You're going to feel better without me here thinking I'll tear the place apart looking for Clarke. Plus, I think Clarke is, no offense to you, so damn scrappy that he's gonna find some way out of whatever trouble he's in and I'll just see him there. Plus you got Wade here watching your back harder than a loyal hound. You need me to go and try to do something about the last mess. Clarke's mom can just poof alter reality. Someone needs to go.”

Alouella went limp and lay on the bed, Gwen petting her hair again.

“I hate you for making things sound so simple but making me believe it.”

She rolled over, away from the door. Gwen stood, took a few experimental steps towards the door.

“Is that an okay or-”

Alouella pushed herself up, yelling at Gwen.

“Stop asking permission after you start doing something! It's not like you'd even listen you stubborn bull headed-...just go...and don't get hurt.”

Gwen almost wanted to turn around and get back into that bed at the sad tone she sent her off with. She shook it off and made her way out into the darkened halls likely festering with newborn ghosts taking their place in the castle's history.

“Hey.”

A voice whispered to her somewhere from one of the hallways. She whirled to see a floating head, mutton chops and red-

“Oh...Wade. I'm allowed to be-”

“I know. I was outside your room. So...you two are kinda...”

He crossed his index and middle fingers. Gwen blushed a bit and waved her hand.

“Oh, no, no, she just really...yeah, a little bit. Wade-”

Her eyes shifted a bit, her hands fidgeting. Wade felt his heart shrivel but felt no anger. He tossed her gauntlets at her.

“Take Bartholomew. He'll get you back to Deraforda quick and he balances better than a horse. He's down by where we parked the cart when we got here.”

She threw her gauntlets over her shoulder.

“Thanks. You watch out for her, okay? And Clarke. We're all gonna get back together after this, we're a team.”

Wade smiled and slapped her on the arm.

“Yeah. We'll all paint the town red. And yellow and whatever other colors we can.”

The lie tasted like bile.

Gwen took off into the night, yelling back as she went.

“Seriously man, you'll find an elf girl if you want. You're handsome as hell.”

She rushed off and Wade groaned, looking up at the ceiling. He was used to things not going his way, always passing him by just a hair and going to those around him and it still made him furious.

We're turning over a new leaf ever since the lizard thing. Let's try...let's try smiling. Being happy that Alouella is happy.

His face hurt just from trying to make his lips do what he wanted. He picked up a vase of dead flowers and hurled them at a wall, ceramic exploding across the wood and rug.

Could have been worse.