Arwen shuddered as the utter neutrality of the Light Gem’s dimension was replaced by the warmth of the sun on her skin, the noises of passing townsfolk, and the smell of dry meat wafting through her nose. Ahead of her and besides Wynn, Hefin squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his head between his hands, scrunching up his light brown hair. “Why ask that aga-?” Wynn froze at the mayor’s sudden change in posture as the Princess spontaneously burst into tears ahead of him. “Hefin? Princess Arwen?! What is going on?!”

“Arwen?” Cai grabbed her shoulder and gazed into her misted eyes. “What happened?”

“Are you okay?” Gwyn was likewise concerned. Eryk appeared distressed at her sudden waterworks, but Owen simply wore a bemused frown.

“I- I need a moment,” Arwen had never felt anything even close to such a surge of emotion after Bran had died. In all her years of keeping her distance from people, failing to attach to them, she had forgotten what it felt like to empathise. “I’m just… he was just so…”

“What in the Gods’ name is happening?!” Wynn turned to the Princess for an explanation. “What did you do?!”

“We saw Myrddin together,” Arwen wiped her cheeks as she slowly struggled to regain control of herself. “And… and he told us everything.”

“You did what?” Wynn glanced at Arwen’s retainers behind her, trying to appeal to their concerned miens. “What is she talking about?”

Arwen suspected that none of them knew exactly what had just happened, for all took place within an instance in their perspective, but Cai nevertheless spoke up for her. “Let’s give her some time…”

After a few more moments to recover, the Princess then began to relay everything she had learnt to Wynn, who stood in a stunned silence as he absorbed her words. She told him of their theories behind the Dark Entity, the significance of its weapon, the reason why it may have been attacking Alaru, and finally, she reached the previous mayor’s illness and subsequent sacrifice. When she finished, she had almost started crying twice more while she waited for Wynn to digest the information load she had dumped upon his mind. After about a minute sporting a pained expression, he finally spoke up. “So, Myrddin lured the entity away from Alaru, and led it deep into Coed’s Forest?”

“Yes,” Arwen rubbed at her eyes. “I think it’s only temporary, but Alaru should be left alone for now. Though do not forget that it is out there,” she turned and gazed almost longingly at the rising heights of the trees poking above Alaru’s houses and perimeter wall, “somewhere…”

Wynn opened his mouth, then closed it. A range of emotions too fast for Arwen to catch splayed across his face. Then, he turned to Hefin. “Is this all true?”

“Yes,” Hefin mumbled into his hands. “I saw my Dad… he explained everything.”

“I… I do not know what to say…”

“Why don’t we meet tomorrow?” Cai suggested, deciding to regain control of the situation. “I believe we all need time to discuss our discoveries amongst each other. Until then, you can get some rest and try to process what has happened. At noon, by this sundial, we will give you our recommendations.”

“That… is agreeable,” Wynn said after a pause. “I do not think I can fathom much more information right now.”

“I’m going to the tavern,” Hefin’s shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath. “I need to wash away my sorrows.”

Wynn frowned at the mayor. “I have told you time and time again that alcohol will not help-” he hesitated, then softened. “Actually… I think I might join you.”

“Let’s go, then,” was the mumbled reply. Wynn snaked an arm around the mayor and the two left Arwen and her retainers behind, to meet again tomorrow noon.

-cut-

Cai Huws thought of himself as a relatively relaxed and down to earth man, until he met Princess Arwen Blayney of Cyfoeth. The girl was a spitting image of his sister, but when she opened her mouth, the hateful spitting of a spoilt brat boiled forth instead of the bell-like chime of his sister’s friendly tone. He was a year senior to her, but Arwen had first insisted on bossing him around like she was his mother.

Now, standing behind her after watching Wynn and that carriage-wreck of a man retreat to whatever beverage they saw fit to hide their pain from, Cai was struck with how utterly bizarre of a situation he found himself in. He had dreamed of becoming the retainer to royalty, and when King Blayney bid him protect his daughter, Cai could not have been happier. Yet, what never assaulted the light and fluffy dreams of his brave warrior feats, standing before a helpless girl with his skin and sword alight with his light magic- the very picture of honour! – was the dark reality of what he had come to accept as part of his life for the foreseeable future.

Princess Arwen had been entrusted with an artifact. A real, genuine artifact that had once sat in the very hands of the Light God himself! And stranger yet, it could probe the memories of unsuspecting people at her perusal so effectively that she had begun making eerily accurate statements about his view of her. He had been caught off guard when Eryk exploded into a fit of rage out of nowhere while he had been chatting up that girl at the Inn’s diner, and now he once again found himself perplexed when Hefin suddenly began to hold his head as if the entire weight of Loel’s continent had begun to crush his skull.

What had utterly shocked the light mage even more was when the object of his devotional promise of protection, the raven-haired Princess who was equal parts frustrating, rude, arrogant, and insightful, had broken down crying in the first real display of emotion he had ever seen from her. She had seen something along with the deadbeat that had truly affected her, and all Cai knew was that it had something to do with that old mayor man. He had no idea what was happening, and was doubting it was even real in the first place… yet, even as Wynn appeared unconvinced, and Cai had spoken up in her defence out of sheer instinct to play along first and ask questions later, Hefin corroborated her story and then left.

By Gods, Cai shuddered, the mayor really did look like a man who had just encountered his dead father out of nowhere after meeting with what he probably assumed was a group of useless young hotshots looking to make their mark.

When the mayor and his aide were out of earshot, Cai reached out and grabbed a hold of Arwen’s shoulder, turning her around so she would look at him. “What happened?” he demanded, but instantly regretted his overtly harsh tone.

His abrasively rude contact and tone of voice would normally have been enough to set off an explosion of anger behind the Princess’s eyes not too dissimilar to fire catching a hold of the pines on the branches of a tree, but she merely looked up at him with a sorrowful expression. “It is exactly what I described,” she claimed uselessly, much to his annoyance, but thankfully elaborated without prompt. “The man I saw yesterday in the forest… the one you couldn’t see yourselves. It was Myrddin, the previous mayor. I think he was asking directions to Alaru to see his son again, and when I dove into Hefin’s memories to seek the event of Myrddin’s disappearance, he finally arrived.”

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What the Princess spoke of sparked an immediate refusal to accept her explanation in Cai’s mind, for it seemed a too-convenient excuse to write-off her completely erratic behaviour the day before. The Light Gem allowing only its wielder to see dead spirits wander around a random forest? The very thought was offensive to the knight’s common sense. “So, our action now is to leave?” Gwyn instead asked besides him.

Arwen took a step back from Cai confirmed his question with a small nod.

Cai raised his hand in a gesture but dropped it half-way through. He let loose a befuddled sigh. “We will meet with Wynn and Hefin tomorrow and give our recommendations. After that, there is no reason to stay.”

“What if the Dark Entity returns?” Owen posed the question that was just about to pass through Cai’s lips.

“It won’t,” Arwen shrugged. “At least, not for a very long time, if what I am thinking is correct.”

“It could be here any day,” Cai pointed out the obvious. “What makes you so confident?”

“Its behaviour isn’t guided by an intelligent mind,” Arwen explained, though her eyes narrowed slightly at his scepticism. “From what I’ve seen, my best supposition is that the Dark Entity is aimlessly ambling around out there, deep in the forest away from human contact. It could be months, even years, before it chances upon civilisation again.”

“But what if it’s currently beelining its way over here? We need more than this! We’ll embarrass ourselves tomorrow!” Cai instantly regretted his words the moment they left his mouth.

“Why do you always have to refute everything I say?” Arwen asked in a tone Cai didn’t like. She sounded angry, and hurt. “Can’t you just… trust me? You never believed me about seeing Myrddin yesterday… you still don’t.”

“Arwen, look,” Cai tried to defuse the situation. “I’m just feeling like this is a little-”

“I just put myself through all those memories for you guys!” Arwen’s outburst was reinforced by another set of tears. “What about my feelings?! Why does no one care?!”

Cai felt the Princess’s state slipping out of control. “Arwen, please listen to me!”

Arwen shook her head. “No! I won’t! I know you think respect is earned and everything, but I am the Princess of your country! I will not stand your behaviour any longer!”

“Arwen!” Cai shouted, but the Princess had already run off in the direction of the inn. “For Gods’ sake!”

“She totally wasn’t projecting any insecurities, there.” Owen mumbled to himself. “Not at all.”

“Someone go after her,” Cai rubbed his face in exasperation. “I don’t want her running around alone.”

“She’ll be at the inn,” Gwyn lay a hand on the light mage’s back. “I think our best action is to give her space.”

“Look, am I truly the only one who is a little bit… sceptical of this?” Cai tried to appeal to his fellow knights. “All we have is Arwen’s words from these… visions, that none of us have ever seen.”

“I think it’s shady as anything…” Owen muttered, though his didn’t try to argue his point.

“My thoughts are that if Arwen was wrong about the Entity’s behaviour, then it would have arrived days ago,” Gwyn argued for the Princess. “But it hasn’t. The Princess’s explanation best explains the ongoings with the evidence we have.”

Cai frowned. He disliked the feeling that coursed through him. The feeling of… inaction. “So… that’s it. No closure on it, no remedy… we’ll just tell Wynn that one day it’ll be back and off we go?”

Gwyn squinted as he thought, but eventually nodded. “Some things aren’t always wrapped up neatly… if the Dark Entity truly won’t return for a while, then we’re just wasting our time here.”

“So… what now?” Owen posed the obvious question.

“Now, we get our heads together for tomorrow and get our recommendations for the mayor,” Cai shrugged. “After that? I have no idea.”

-cut-

Arwen Blayney had no idea how long she was sat in their room at the inn before the door finally opened. She had positioned herself at the end of her bed, hunched over and staring at her hands placed onto her lap, as if they could provide the comfort she needed.

She hated Alaru. Sure, the town itself was pretty, and the food was quite good- the inn serving as adequate sleeping quarters… but she didn’t feel herself all the way out here. It was the farthest she had ever been from the Kingdom. Gone were the maids and servants looking after her. Gone was the comforting voice of her father and the soft but lively discussions with her mother, who was also her best and only friend. Out here, near the border to Helvetia… she felt alone.

Almost no one had recognised her, which was another factor weighing on her mind. At first, Arwen failed to understand why. But she felt she could now hazard a guess. Outside of her dresses or the context of her Kingdom, she simply wasn’t recognisable.

Was she truly that… useless? She felt like she didn’t know who she was anymore. She felt like she had no identity….

Now, she wanted nothing more than to return to the Kingdom. Arwen was a small girl in a big world and that was an uncomfortable truth she did not want to face. In her castle, however, Arwen was someone. She could regain control over her life again.

And then, she saw the look on Myrddin’s face when he realised his last moments with his own son would not be a happy one. She did not know why, but that had broken through a dam of pent-up emotion which had uncontrollably cascaded through her. She couldn’t get that… hurt, anguished look out of her eyes. She almost felt… angry, towards Hefin. How could he treat his own father in such a way when he had sacrificed so much for them?

When the door gently creaked shut, she looked up at the forthright visage of her radiant knight retainer, Cai. “Princess Arwen,” his voice was low, apologetic. “I’ve come to apologise again for my treatment of you.”

The Princess just stared up at him, so he continued. “This pains me to admit… but I let my own personal feelings get in the way of yours. I’ve always had a vision for my future, you see. A path. And my whole life was spent in the direct centre of that path, never once straying. My ideals were firm. But when I met you and my ideal world of my protecting of you failed to pass, I grew… distraught. You weren’t the Princess Arwen I had in my head, and that angered me.”

Arwen let a small smile smooth her expression. She was grateful she wasn’t the only one having doubts. “It’s okay.”

“Do you need to talk?” Cai made his way over and sat on the opposite bed to her, so that the two were facing. “I’ll gladly lend an ear.”

“No, it’s fine… it’s just…” a deep sigh forced her gaze away from his, until she met his eyes a moment later. “When I saw how sad Myrddin was in his final moments with his son… it really upset me. It was the way he just… stood there, while his own son used his final moments with him to hurl abuse. I almost couldn’t bear to watch…”

“You did the right thing,” Cai leaned in to emphasise his point. “I think Hefin needed that- a way to express his emotions to someone who cared. Sometimes… healing isn’t all about that first step forward. I think you’ll find Hefin can only go up from here.”

“I’m not sure if…”

“Hey,” Cai cut her off and reached out for her hand. “You did well here, Princess Arwen. The physical exhaustion of searching that forest, the mental toll that artifact has on you… it takes fortitude to deal with that. But you gave us some crucial information, trust me on that.”

“But we never helped, did we?” Arwen gently pried her hand away. “We’ve done nothing for Alaru. My father sent me here to solve their problem, but all we’ve done is tell them it has only gone away for now. I feel like we’ve failed.”

Cai shook his head, though his eyes never once left hers. “You’re judging yourself too harshly. No one would be expected to know what to do about the creature out there. We did the best we could, and the only reason why we’re even sure it won’t return soon is because of you.”

“But how could I be a good Queen if I can’t even help my own people?” Arwen protested his kind words. “My father always told me that is what I’ll do when in power, and I just assumed it’d work out… but now I feel like I wouldn’t be up for it anymore.”

“You’ll have aides as Queen- resources. Here, you had four young men as retainers. Not even all of the citizens nor soldiery in Alaru could even come close to figuring this thing out, yet we were able to give them more in a few days than what they had in weeks. Don’t you see, Arwen? We at least did something.”

Arwen was unconvinced by his words, but nonetheless offered a small nod. “Thanks, Cai.”

Cai obviously saw she wasn’t sold, but he let the matter slide anyways. “It’s okay.”