After a rough fight, I know I need MeeMaw. I definitely have fractured ribs, I took a nasty hit from a club from one of the traders. Needless to say, we ran them off. It's late, and I'm exhausted, but I find my way to her small cottage. I do my customary knock, so she knows it's me.

"Nova, come in!" She lets me in, quickly shutting the door behind me, talking my cloak and hanging it on the hook by the door for me.

"The boys I send you earlier..." I ask quickly.

"I had to give the one medicine to make him sleep. He needs rest and lots of it. His friend wasn't in too bad of shape, but he refuses to leave the other's side.

"That's him MeeMaw. That's Carter." I whisper. She nods.

"I know, I recognized him right away. He'll be alright. Now, why are you here at this hour of the night?"

"I got hit pretty bad, I think he cracked a rib." I say quietly, trying to keep my voice low in case Ocean is still awake.

"Go, I'll meet you there." She points to her second patient room, the first must be where Carter is. I go in and somehow manage to get my shirt off. She comes in behind me and takes one look at my ribcage.

"Cracked? No way child, that's straight-up broken." She reprimands me. "When are you going to learn to be more careful!" She shakes her head while prepping to bandage it. She rubs salve on it, which I know will help numb my skin and make it less painful to sleep tonight. She then bandages my rib cage, before finishing it off with a careful tie.

"Thanks."
"You know he would be so angry if he knew about this." She tells me, keeping her voice quiet. MeeMaw remembered us as children, and how he used to be with me.

"But he won't find out for a while. They think my name is Ava and that I work for Queen Nova." I whisper.

She chokes back a laugh to stay quiet. Thankfully the rooms are somewhat soundproofed so if they hear anything, it would be severely muffled.

"You're such a child still." She shakes her head at me. "You need to rest. Are you sleeping here, or at home?"

"I'll go home. Thank you." She nods, and walks back to the door to the room, opening it and allowing me out. As I'm walking to the front door, the door to Carter's room creaks open.

"Ava?" a groggy voice asks, and I turn to see Ocean making his way out of the room.

"Oscar. Hey." I say. "How's your friend?"
"Sleeping. It's late, why are you here?"
"I told you I was going to come after I was done. It took longer than expected. I'll come back in the morning." I tell him.

"Ca... I mean Connar will be out for a few days to let his body heal. Can we talk for a little while?" He asks. I look at MeeMaw, who nods.
"I'll let you two talk while I check on him, but once I come back you need to go home and sleep, missy." I grin at her and nod, moving to the small table she normally has people wait at before she helps them. Ocean moves to the table and sits with me, while she takes his place in Carter's room.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I ask him once he's settled.

"Otterstail, what's it like living here? Is it true that Queen Nova lives with the people?" He asks, wide-eyed.

"Living here, it's magical. The people are so different than most people, it's hard to explain. And it's Princess Nova still, coronation is in a month." I tell him. He nods, soaking it all in.

"Where are you from?" I ask.

"Oh, we're from Adonia, we were on a quest for King Carter when we got ambushed, and we were told if anything ever happened to come here because our kingdom is on good terms with yours I guess." He says. I nod.
"What's King Carter like?" I ask next.

"He doesn't talk to many people unless he has to. He gets really angry when people try and set him up with their daughters, and no one really knows why. He says he has somebody, but no one has ever seen him with a girl." He says, clearly trying to read any reactions I might have.

"That's bizarre. Is he eccentric or something?" I do my best to act completely off guard.

"No, between you and me, I think he's had his eyes on someone for ages, and he's just too much of a stubborn person to admit it." He mumbles, looking down at his hands. He quickly looks back up. "What's Princess Nova like?"

There's the question I've been dreading.

"She's just one of us I guess. She doesn't like it when people put her above us." I shrug.

"How would you know that?" He pushes.

"I've spent a long time with her. Her father moved them to the village when she was 7, and I was 6. I grew up with her as my older sister. When her parents died, she didn't know how to handle it, so she turned to her people for help. That's what really got everyone behind her the way they are. She's never made it about herself, it's always about her people." I shrug.

"Did she ever talk about King Carter?" He asks. "They were friends as kids."
"She sometimes mentions missing him, but she misses him more than she talks about him," I tell him. He looks at me questioningly.

"She doesn't talk about him much, but when she does it's so obvious she really misses him. I don't know why they stopped being friends, she won't talk about it." I clarify. He nods.

"Do you think she'd..." He doesn't get to finish his sentence because MeeMaw picks that perfect opportunity to save me and come back out.

"He's set for the rest of the night, you need to go get rest Ava, and you, Oscar, need to get some sleep as well. To bed. All of you." She proclaims, and I know better than to argue with MeeMaw. I nod and grab my cloak from the door.

"I'll stop by tomorrow." Oscar nods.

"Goodnight, Ava."
"Goodnight." And with that, I slip out into the night, ignoring the steadily growing pain in my side. MeeMaw was right. If old Carter knew, he would be furious.