• There is a light that never goes out by The Smiths •

"Love," she called out to Avento, who had started to sift through the book he had come back for. "I'll go into the woods to do some training, okay? Stay here, don't go wandering about. I'll come back and make lunch."

Lari started to collect her equipment from near her makeshift bed, but two words from the child stopped her in her tracks. "Don't go," he murmured, but loud enough to be heard across the room.

The Princess turned to him and asked, with a quizzical expression, "why, love? Are you okay? Do you want me to make you something else to eat?"

The boy shook his head, his eyes still not leaving the book. "Then , is it okay if I go, train for a while?" Lari asked, and he shook his head again.

She moved towards him and sat down on the floor in front of his socked feet. "Are you scared of being alone at home?" She asked again, but in a more welcoming tone, in case his words sought refuge in her compassion. "Do you want to come with me and sit near the stream while I do exercises?"

After a few moments of thinking, Avento nodded. More to himself, than to Larimar. "Okay, let's go then." She stood up and produced a hand out for him.

Quietly, but firmly, the Princess led the young boy across the bridge over the stream. The water below them was clear as always, frothy from running too quickly over weathered rocks, and aquatic flora. Avento pulled the fronts of his woolen jacket closer as they hopped off the bridge, towards the forest.

"Avento," Lari called out when she reached a favorable spot. "Come, sit here." She patted on a rock that had a flat top surface, and the boy walked up to it and took a seat.

Having made sure the boy was seated and safe, the Princess started her practice. She bent and flexed, stretched and pulled, jumped and squatted, till she felt enough warmed up. She was about to pick up her bow and quiver, when a rustle from beyond some bushes startled her.

At first, she paid no heed to it, considering it a rabbit, or a similar small wild animal. But when a distant neigh came from further inside the woods, her grip tightened around her bow's body. She looked back at where the child was still safely seated and drew an arrow from her quiver. "Show yourself," she said, mustering all the courage she could find.

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"Danger," Jade heard the tricolored feline declare.

She had plopped herself on her mattress as soon as she had walked in, forgetting or maybe not caring about breakfast or even a bath. She was upset.

Jade had, for the last two weeks, told Lari, Citra, her friends and herself that she didn't expect Larimar to become fond of her or have any sort of attachment towards her. She was ready to surrender herself if that meant happiness and safety for the Princess.

Then why was she so bothered by Larimar speaking to a boy she had been involved with prior to their meeting each other? Was she bothered because Lari kept a secret, or was this just jealousy?

"Lari," Missy purred again, desperate to get the young Queen's attention.

Danger. She repeated, when Jade picked her head up to the sound. Her eyebrows were crooked in an attempt to understand the cat's messages.

"What?" She questioned, as if expecting an answer from the cat. Missy replied only by sprinting to the main door and then back to her, beckoning her to get on her feet.

"Lari is in danger?" The redhead asked, springing up from her position.

Jade quickly grabbed her stray sword, and ran out of the house. The cat followed her trail as Jade sprinted through the fields, leaving a trail of dust with every step. Panic rose in her throat like bile.

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"Greetings... High Princess Larimar!"

A young soldier appeared from behind a tree, with their arms in the air. Another appeared a few trees away.

They were both dressed in dull sandalwood colored tunics, and brown, oversized trousers. Over their torsos were rusty breastplates with no sigil. They were definitely not sent by her father, Lari made an observation. He would have proudly put his sigil and ordered for his blue flag to be waved on their arrival.

The Princess pulled her bowstring taut and pointed an arrow in the direction of the nearest soldier's exposed head. Their hands trembled in their already surrendering stance, making them look meek.

"We don't... want trouble, Your Highness," they said. "Neither do we... want to harm you."

"On whose orders are you here?" Lari asked, her voice and attitude shifting to a more assertive tone.

"Please come with us." They ignored her question and continued. "That way... nobody's harmed. We can avoid... all that... unnecessary bloodshed... if you just comply and... come with us. Please, Your Highness."

"Who sent you here?" Larimar asked again, her posture unwavering, unnerving.

"Your..." the soldier stammered. "Your aunt, Queen Sillia... the True... Queen of Jahima."

"A queen without a sigil is a coward," the Princess mocked.

"Listen up," she continued, finally letting her arm rest. "I want you to go back to where she is, and tell her that the High Princess doesn't speak to a coward. Not without an appointment."

"PRINCESS!"

A familiar scream washed over her a sense of safety and fear.

Lari could never tell why she did what she did next, but the following moment found her turning half a circle and pointing her arrow towards the running Queen Jade. The latter slowed down abruptly in her tracks, before coming to a dead pause. With a bridge between them, her face now showed more confusion than concern, wondering if she should now be afraid of her beloved Princess.

"Princess," she whispered, her voice dying under the stream's rhythm.

"Turn around," Lari called out from the other end of the bridge. "And run, Jade. Take the boy."

Avento looked up to meet eyes with her, and she could sense his defiance even before he shook his head. She looked away and towards Jade. She too had a stance of contumacy, rendering Lari frozen.

But before she could make a decision, the Princess felt thin yet strong, calloused fingers quickly curling around her throat. Lari's breath got shaky, and she put her weapon at ease in fear for her life.

"Do not touch her," Lari heard Jade's bellowing scream from the other end of the bridge and the following stomps of her feet on the wooden planks of the same.

The cold, steel tip of a dagger pressed against the bare skin of Lari's neck, making her gasp. "Drop your sword... Queen Jade," the soldier that held her captive, said aloud. "Or, the High Princess goes."

Lari's hands were close to numb, from fright. She kept looking at Jade, her steps loud, purposeful. She knew the Ironwood Warrior would save her. Again.

Or Lari could die here, at the hands of a foot soldier. What a miserable way for The High Princess to go! At least, Lari thought to herself, she would die looking at the face of this strong, beautiful woman whom she had grown to adore over the last two weeks.

"You think I'm dumb?" Jade stopped in her tracks, her voice quivering, but grip steady on the hilt of her Sun-kissed sword.

"Don't you have to bring the Princess alive to Sillia? It's a shame she sent two of her dumbest subordinates. Hema it is, isn't it? And that one's.. let me guess, Zirco? I know you two. Two summers in my army and you never got promoted. Why do you think so? Because you were lazy and always tried to find the easy way out of training and your duties, and now you've gone to the wrong side of history."

Lari noticed a change in the soldier's atmosphere. Their grip around her had loosened. But it was still not enough for her to break out safely.

"You..." It was now the trooper's turn to speak in a quivering voice, as Jade inched closer and closer to Larimar and her captor. "You remember our names... Your Highness?"

"Of course, I do." Jade assured, stepping closer. "Your current employer and I had a discussion about what to do with you. She wanted to lay you off while I suggested extending your training period, giving you more chances."

"You're lying!" Hema stated with gritted teeth, their hold tightening once again around Larimar.

"Why would I?" By the end of her reply, Jade was only a few feet away from Lari.

"Hema, she's getting closer." Zirco warned.

Hema lost their concentration momentarily, and Jade took the chance. She hit them on the arm with the flat side of her sword, just enough to make the dagger slip.

"Stop, or I'll shoot." They heard Zirco shout, and whipped their heads to see them holding up a bow and arrow. Before Lari could take her position, Jade magically pulled out her dagger from somewhere, and launched it in the soldier's direction.

It scraped a cut through their vest, spreading blood over the fabric, before landing in the grass near their feet. In reflex, an arrow escaped their grip. Luckily, it missed Queen Jade by at least a few feet.

Larimar was quick to pick up Hema's fallen dagger and brandished it in front of them, keeping them at bay.

"Hema..." everyone heard Zirco's shaky voice, beckoning their comrade. "Let's... let's go. I shot the kid. Let's... just go."

They all stopped in their tracks, and looked back to where Avento was seen standing only moments prior.

"No!" Lari shrieked, her hands instinctively covering her cheeks in shock.

Jade didn't scream. But, her blood boiled in her veins. She tightened her fist around the hilt of her naked blade and charged towards Zirco. No words - only short, deep breaths and a chase.

Larimar threw Hema's dagger away, and picked up her own tools of combat. For a second, she was confused about who she should aim her arrow at. Nervously, she shot one at Hema's legs. It missed the trooper's leg by barely an inch.

Her hands were shaking - torn between running to Avento's aid, supporting Jade, and not wanting to harm another person.

Taking a deep breath, Lari tried to concentrate again. She released another arrow. This time, it hit. She watched Hema let out a groan and fall to the mossy forest floor. Taking one last look at Jade, Lari hurried to the child.

"You coward piece of shit," the Queen growled through gritted teeth. She swung her sword at Zirco. The tip tore open their vest and slicing open their bare back. The soldier screamed out, falling to their knees.

Then, there was a neigh. And the rapid clopping of hooves. Jade looked up to see a masked third soldier, fully armored, with a fine sword at their belt, on a horse. They charged at full speed towards her, sending her running backwards a dozen steps.

The rider hauled Zirco up onto the horse's back with one hand, and left without a word. And without Hema. They stopped abruptly after trotting a little further away, and looked back. Their eyes were visible through the thin slit of their helm, and Jade realized that whoever it was, they had turned to look at Lari. It gave her an uneasiness in her gut that she couldn't shake off.

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