The air was unbearably awkward between Alina and me. So much so that I couldn’t even bear to meet her eyes. My secret had been exposed, and at least one of hers had. A Princess. That was… something.

How did the Princess of the Golden Empire end up a Lady for the Glass Kingdoms?

We still had the village audience looking upon us in frighteningly dead silence, and I wondered if this was how the actors on a stage felt in a theatre.

That also probably contributed to the air of awkwardness.

My eyes landed on the fallen form of the woman the Legatus had slashed.

I grimaced, looking at the crimson surrounding the body, the dark red mixing with dirt.

There was no chance she was alive, but I had to check. With cautious steps, I walked over to the body, doing my best to stay upright even though I wanted to collapse. I kneeled and pressed my fingers against her neck, searching for a heartbeat.

There was nothing. I wasn’t sure how my powers worked, but I was pretty sure a person still had to be alive for my healing to be effective.

A bitter taste filled my mouth as I looked down at her. Collapsed as she was, her eyes were still open and vacant, staring into nothing with forever darkened eyes.

It was my fault. If I had done something sooner, she would have lived. What good was the ability to heal if I was too afraid to use it?

Gently, I closed her eyelids, unable to take the darkened, vacant eyes.

I rose to my feet, almost collapsing as my body reminded me that it had been through far too much. I didn’t have the water of the forest here to restore my energy either.

A gentle hand rested upon my shoulder. I stiffened, still keyed up, before I realized Alina had come up behind me and looked at me with concern, her pretty face twisted into a sad frown.

Okay, one of those thoughts was just not helpful.

“It’s not your fault,” she said softly.

I blinked, staring at her strangely. It was entirely my fault.

Yet I didn’t have the energy to argue. I glanced at the horizon where I had seen the banners of the Kingdom of Glass and could see they were making progress toward the village.

“We need to leave,” I muttered lowly, giving her a meaningful look.

“Leave?” she frowned, looking at me, “The Kingdom’s armies wouldn’t hurt us. They’re likely here to head off the Empire’s forces.”

I looked blankly at Alina, “Apparently, you’re some princess of the Empire. The Legatus stated that quite clearly in front of everyone. There aren’t any questions you would rather not have asked of you?”

Alina blinked, and maybe it was my imagination, but I saw her cheeks tint faintly red, shifting closer to the shade of her hair as I looked disbelievingly at her.

“Okay, you have a point. We’ll talk later. Can you get us out of here now?”

I was about to remark that I wasn’t exactly a transportation service before realizing I indeed did have a solution.

Okay, maybe my body wasn’t the only tired thing if my brain was this sluggish.

Raising two fingers to my lips, I blew a familiar long flute-like note echoing through the air.

Thunder echoed, and the air shimmered, and Azure exited from seeming thin air, shaking her mane slightly as she trotted to a stop beside us.

“We need to get out of here,” I said shortly, looking Azure in the eyes.

‘Obviously,’ Azure snorted aloud.

I leaped up, straining my exhausted body even with that motion. I reached down and grasped Alina’s hand that she outstretched, pulling her up behind me.

As soon as Alina was seated behind me, the air seemed to ripple as we shot forward. We moved like a rushing river, slipping between buildings and over the wall.

We gained ground quickly, moving away perpendicular from the armies. We still needed Lord Balar back, and Azure must have read that thought from me as her path curved to the mountains until we arrived at the same point where she had previously dropped us off.

She slowed to what would have been a gallop for an average horse before she stopped shaking her mane slightly.

I dismounted, my knees almost giving out as I landed on the dirt. This kind of tiredness reminded me of when my illness was at its worst. Even getting out of bed had been too difficult without support.

I made a stumbling step before my legs gave out, and my body tipped forward completely out of control.

Soft arms prevented my face plant, guiding me down in a more controlled manner than my previous fall. Alina’s face was looking down on me, and I realized my head was resting on her knees.

“You’re exhausted,” Alina said, and I caught a hint of reproval in her tone.

“Not my fault,” I muttered, feeling a deep familiar shame of once again being too weak and relying on someone else.

“I am too,” Alina murmured, and I realized that she looked rather wan as she looked down on me. It was an easily recognizable expression, as I had seen it often enough when I looked at my father after he had a long day working on a project. When all he would do was collapse in a chair with a soft groan and sigh as he rested his aching body.

I realized I had been staring into Alina’s strangely fascinating green eyes for too long, and awkwardly, I averted my gaze to the side into the sky.

“So…” I said, not sure where I was going with my words.

“So…” Alina hummed to herself, and I caught myself before I looked back at her.

This was stupid. We had just fought together.

“We can probably rest here for a bit,” Alina said, “We may have to move again if Lord Balar doesn’t come back soon, but we need to rest. We’re no good beaten and out of magic.”

I nodded vaguely, staring still at the sky.

“You’re a White Mage,” Alina said bluntly.

I winced. She had said it with no real inflection, but it still bothered me.

“Yeah,” I said.

“I’m assuming that cure that Lord Balar mentioned does, in fact, need a White Mage then,” Alina continued.

“Yeah.”

“So why did you feel the need to hide you were a White Mage?”

I shrugged, “When I left the Great Forest, I ended up in some place called the First City, where I had to heal this girl to save her life. Her dad kind of lost his head and wanted to imprison me when he found out I was a White Mage. From there, it just seemed to be a better idea not to tell people.”

“Right,” Alina nodded, which I saw vaguely out of the corner of my eye.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I wasn’t trying to lie or trick anyone.”

It had just ended up that way. I hated dishonesty. I still had a vague memory of a doctor saying I would get better. That this treatment would work. That I was going to start feeling better soon.

Lies only delayed painful truths.

“I’m sorry too,” Alina said, and despite myself, I met her vivid green eyes, which were looking down at me. Her brow creased deeply, “You got wrapped up in my problems. It’s not right.”

I blinked, confused, “You mean that Legatus dude?”

Alina frowned and nodded, “Yes, the Legatus; though his name is not ‘dude,’ it is Victor Marcus. This would not have happened if I hadn’t demanded we return to the village.”

I frowned at that, “If we hadn’t gone back, he would have killed that little girl.” Something fiery hot burned in my stomach at the thought. It wasn’t right. How casual he was about killing the elven woman.

Alina’s eyebrows shot up slightly before something softened in her expression, “I suppose you’re right. We didn’t win but stopped him from doing more.”

A small silence occurred, but I couldn’t hold the bubbling question in my chest.

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“So, um, you’re some kind of princess?”

Alina sighed heavily, and her expression darkened, face twisting unpleasantly, “I was. I was first in line to the throne before I left the Empire. It shames me to admit it. I’ve grown to hate the Empire as much as anyone of the Kingdom of Glass.”

I suppressed a frown. Hating your home? That couldn’t be healthy, though admittedly, what I’d learned about the Empire of Gold did little to paint it in a flattering manner.

A part of me wanted to ask the simple but dumb question, “Why?” but I wasn’t sure that would help. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure if there was a better question.

So, despite how dumb it was, I asked it, “Why?”

Alina blinked and cocked her head as she looked down at me, “Why?” she parroted back.

I attempted a shrug, “Why do you hate them? Like, yeah, I get it they’re going around conquering the Kingdom of Glass, but you’re from the Empire of Gold. Shouldn’t you be on the side of the Empire?”

Alina frowned, biting her lip slightly as she looked at me, “The Empire took my parents from me. The Emperor killed my father, his own son."

"Oh," way to go, Jamie, real stellar question there, "I'm sorry, that's horrible," the words sounded weak even to my ears.

Alina gave me a small, sad smile, "Thank you."

An awkward silence stretched between us, but I couldn't let it lie. Alina's smile hurt too much.

Another topic, anything.

"So, um, that fire was pretty badass."

Alina blinked, and despite herself, she giggled.

"Thanks. My talents with Red Magic are something I've worked hard to develop. I can do other elements, but fire is by far my best."

Despite myself, I couldn't help my next question, "How does it feel? Your magic?"

Alina cocked he head to the side slightly in thought, “I guess I’d never given it much thought. I’ve been learning magic since I was quite young. Honestly, I can’t remember a time I haven’t been able to use it. I still remember when I accidentally set my bedsheets on fire.”

Unable to help myself, I snorted, “Really, you set it on fire? By accident?”

“Well,” Alina hummed, a faint tinge of red in her cheeks, “It was mostly an accident.”

I blinked, feeling a small amount of concern as I looked at her. Still, the conversation felt sufficiently diverted from the previous topic.

I was still feeling pretty lousy, though. I felt slightly more energy at this point, but I certainly didn’t feel like I would be getting up anytime soon.

It was honestly aggravating. I had thought my days of weakness were over since I had come here. The frustration I felt was tempered by everything that had happened today. I had never really seen someone die.

Or at least I didn’t remember if I had.

I had spent most of my life so aware of my own mortality. Maybe some of me just hadn’t given it much thought. My own life had already been so short.

Yet when I had died, it hadn’t been painful. It had been a release from constriction more than anything.

Was that how the woman had felt? I had no idea. My experience with the afterlife had been strange, but hopefully, hers was all right.

My eyes had closed at some point, and I fell asleep.

I woke to a strange moving curtain of red, feeling significantly better. I had slept longer than at any point I had before since coming to this world. Maybe I required a certain amount of physical activity before my body needed to rest, and that rest itself was based only on how much I needed to recover.

Of course, for the first time, I didn’t really want to get up, notably because I was incredibly comfortable. My head was raised, laying on something pleasantly warm, verging on hot. The ground beneath the rest of my body didn’t bother me too much, either.

That was when I realized there was a sleeping face in the curtain of red. Alina.

Oh.

Hesitating, I slowly shifted away, desperately hoping not to wake Alina. I made good progress in moving out from underneath her hair to a sitting position, and I could now see the sunset sky.

I looked around warily, senses on edge, but we seemed to still be entirely alone, and even Azure had seemingly disappeared. Though given everything, I was sure she would return as soon as we needed.

I sat up, stretching out my back slightly, enjoying the simple pleasure of a body that was completely pain-free.

As I stood up, I felt something latch onto my arm, and I almost jumped out of my skin before I realized that Alina had grabbed me. She wasn’t awake, though. Her eyes were closed, and she was still breathing softly, but both hands had latched onto my arm and pulled with a surprisingly firm grip.

I debated with myself for a moment, attempting to figure out how to get out of her grip. She had looked so tired, though, after the fight. If I woke her up, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

I shifted slightly so Alina could be more comfortable, letting her rest against my shoulder.

It was like leaning on a furnace in some respects. Hadn’t the Great Dragon of the Last Frost said something about a fire dragon?

It wasn’t my business to pry, though. We had already traded one secret about being a Princess and a White Mage. Whatever else there was, I was okay waiting for her to tell me.

I didn’t know where to place our relationship at this point anyway. I mean, I knew a bit about her, including a secret that could lead to serious problems for her if it got out. Just knowing each other’s secrets, though, wasn’t exactly a friendship.

What really qualifies as a friendship? I had noticed that sometimes the odd memory would resurface, like when I remembered my sister's name.

Before I had really gotten sick, I had a couple of friends. When I got sicker and left school, I saw them less and less until they eventually stopped coming altogether. I hadn’t really blamed them. Who wanted to be friends with some sick dude who had trouble getting out of bed, much less doing anything fun?

I shook my head. Those memories were entirely unhelpful. Why couldn’t I remember something useful like my parents' names?

I was still left with the current situation. Alina knew enough about me to cause me serious problems. I knew enough about Alina to cause her serious problems.

Not that I would. I owed her. Not only that, I knew I didn’t have it in me to ruin her current life. Even if she revealed I was a White Mage, I would keep her secret.

So, could I trust her?

It wasn’t so simple a question. Honestly, besides Sara, I wasn’t sure who I could trust. The only reason I trusted Sara was because I could feel her even now in my mind. In some way, Sara was one of the reasons I was here in this new world. Since I had been here, I had felt her emotions and feelings almost as if they were my own.

If such a connection had been described to me in my first life, I would have found the thought terrifying.

Yet, in this world, away from everything I had grown to know, it was deeply comforting.

Speaking of which, I felt a gentle nudge at my head and a questioning current sifted through my brain.

“It’s nothing,” I mumbled softly, “Are you doing okay?”

Fine.

I didn’t really believe it. Still, once we got this dragon claw back to the city and healed King Greymar, Lord Balar had promised to help me find other White Mages.

That was if he came back. I glanced toward the canyon he should be emerging from, biting my lip in thought. He hadn’t run into anything, had he?

If I found him stabbed in the back again, I would be quite put out.

Huh. Even in my head, it didn’t sound that funny.

I remained sitting there with nothing to occupy the moments. It wasn’t so bad. It was actually quite easy to get lost in my surroundings. Out here, surrounded by vegetation that almost felt like it hummed to my senses in a way it hadn’t in my previous life.

I shouldn’t have been able to tell, but I could almost feel the shifting and turning of the leaves of plants as they oriented themselves to the fading sunlight.

It definitely didn’t feel like the Great Forest, I reflected. There, it had been like being surrounded by life. Here, it was far sparser.

Yet I could still feel the life here, almost like a gentle heartbeat or maybe more akin to water as it ebbed and flowed around me.

I realized I had begun to breathe in the same pattern unconsciously and felt a faint warmth trickle into me.

I frowned in thought but kept my breathing steady. It was like liquid heat was slowly tickling into me, filling a container bit by bit.

It wasn’t quick by any means, but in the same way I had known how to whistle, I knew instinctively that this was the correct thing to do to recover.

I breathed slowly and deeply. White light shimmered faintly over my hands, swirling and seeming to sink into the skin.

I looked at the sunset and wondered if it had been so beautiful where I originally came from.

I didn’t honestly remember.

Orange hues painted the landscape as long shadows emerged from their slumber beneath the trees.

For a while, I was a solitary existence. A rock amongst a pond of water that ebbed and flowed around my edges. My strength had mostly returned, which was relieving.

I didn’t want to feel that weak again.

The clop and thud of hooves reached my ears, and I turned my head to look down the path Alina and I had stopped at.

The sound became louder until, around the bend emerged Lord Balar astride his horse with the two others behind him.

Even from this distance, I could see his eyebrows shoot up when he saw me, and he raised one of his hands in greeting.

“Jamie! I’m glad to see that you and Lady Dellar are all right. Did you have any luck finding a Dragon?”

Oh, did we.

“Yeah,” I shrugged and reached into my shirt, where I had placed the claw to keep my hands free.

“Oh ho,” Lord Balar chuckled with delight, and his eyes gleamed as he looked at the pale white chunk in my hands, “Whatever did you trade for it? I had brought some supplies with the horses, but to be frank, it slipped my mind to provide you some to trade.”

I chuckled, but there was no joy in the sound, “Uh, the thing is…” Bringing up that the Dragon tried to turn Alina into an ice cube was probably a bad idea. The question of why would probably be asked, and I had already decided to keep her secret.

The Dragon had initially been willing to give us the claws for free before it had figured out who Alina’s grandfather was. So, I would go with that.

“The Dragon just offered them for free after I asked,” Truth, “So yeah.” No need to dig the hole with a lie. I was already being misleading.

“Marvelous,” Lord Balar said, his eyes lighting up warmly, “Then I believe everything is settled. We can head back to the village for a night's rest and then head back to Haven.”

Ah. Shit.

“Honestly, it would probably be best if we started heading back immediately,” I said, “I think the city is busy hosting soldiers of the Kingdom anyway.”

Lord Balar blinked and then looked at the city, and his eyes widened in surprise, “Soldiers! Here! Perhaps it is best we head off then. If there are soldiers here, forces from the Empire could be here at any time!”

I could mention that they had already been here. It was a lie by omission if I didn’t. That whole story, though, couldn’t be told without revealing Alina’s secrets. There had been villagers who had probably heard what Legatus Victor had said. There was a high chance something could and would be said about Alina and myself to the soldiers there now.

Any excuse not to be associated with that was for the best.

I nodded in mute agreement with Lord Balar.

“Then let us away,” Lord Balar said before stopping as he seemed to realize Alina was sleeping on my shoulder, “Might you wake Lady Dellar?” he asked.

I had almost forgotten she was there and consciously forced down any flushing of my cheeks.

“Sure,” I mumbled before slowly hesitatingly shifting my shoulder; Alina turned slightly but did not wake.

Well, nothing for it, “Alina.” I said softly.

Nothing.

I repeated her name slightly louder, and finally, she shifted, pressing her head against my shoulder in a seemingly annoyed fashion.

Gently, I shook her, and that finally seemed to stir her, and she blinked blurry eyes at me, “Jamie?” she mumbled.

“Lord Balar is back,” I said.

She nodded sleepily and turned to press her face back into my shoulder before she stopped, and her eyes seemed to widen.

She shot to her feet, spinning so fast she almost unbalanced herself as she turned to Lord Balar, “Lord Balar, we have retrieved-“

Lord Balar waived her away, “I know; Jamie has informed me along with the Kingdom’s forces arriving. As such, we will start on our journey now and have to rest somewhat in the rough, unfortunately.”

“Right,” Alina said, nodding slowly, and then, as Lord Balar turned, she looked at me searchingly.

I shook my head, attempting to indicate that I had told him nothing. Still, I had no idea how good dwarfish hearing was, so I wasn’t going to risk it.

She frowned and bit her lip before reaching down and offering me a hand. I took it, and she pulled me to my feet.

“Don’t worry,” I murmured in her ear.

She looked unsure for a moment before she squeezed my hand with a firm grip before she let go.

We began our ride back to the Haven. It was a quieter start than when we had left, but as I glanced at Alina, I decided that wasn’t so bad. I had a lot to think about. Several bad things had happened. Yet I couldn’t say that getting to know Alina slightly more was one of them.

Maybe I had just made my first friend in this world.