"This week has been so weird," I muttered to myself, staring at the ornate ceiling.
I sat up slowly, taking in the well-furnished room for what felt like the hundredth time. Everything here screamed luxury from the silk curtains that probably cost more than my entire childhood wardrobe, to the mahogany furniture polished to a mirror shine.
The bed I slept in every night was ridiculously comfortable, the kind of warmth and softness I'd only dreamed about back in Buena Village.
Yet despite all this comfort, I couldn't sleep.
Everything had felt off lately. Wrong, somehow. Like I was living someone else's life.
I slipped out of bed and padded across the plush carpet to the balcony doors, pushing them open. The cool night air hit my face, making me shiver slightly in my thin nightgown. I stepped out onto the balcony and gripped the stone railing, looking up at the stars scattered across the dark sky like diamonds on velvet.
Ever since… ever since Rudeus left, my entire life had changed.
I thought back to that day the crying, the unresolved questions, so many things left unsaid between us. And when I'd seen him for what might be the final time, I'd said nothing. I'd just frozen like an idiot. The look in his eyes when he realized I wasn't going to speak, that flash of pain before he turned away…
My hand moved to clutch at my chest, and I felt my eyes begin to water. "I wish…" I whispered to the empty night. "I wish I'd said something. Anything. If only I could—"
"If only you could go back?" a voice said behind me.
I spun around so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet.
Ariel stood in the doorway, her nightgown flowing around her like she was some kind of ethereal spirit. She had this knowing smile on her face the same expression she always wore when she caught me out here.
I let out a long breath, my heart still racing. "You really need to stop sneaking up on me like that."
"I wasn't sneaking," Ariel said, walking over to join me at the railing. "You were just too lost in your thoughts to hear me open the door." She looked up at the stars, her expression thoughtful. "This is the third time this week I've found you out here, you know."
"I couldn't sleep," I said defensively.
"You never can." Ariel glanced at me sideways. "Sylphiette, I have a question for you."
I made a noncommittal sound, not really wanting to have a deep conversation at such an early time in the night. But Ariel was in one of her philosophical moods, and when she got like this, there was no avoiding it.
"Why do you think about him so much?"
The question wasn't asked cruelly or mockingly. There was genuine curiosity in her voice, like she was trying to solve some complex puzzle.
I could have given her a thousand reasons. Because he was my first friend. Because he saved me. Because he taught me magic when no one else would. Because he never cared that I looked different, that other kids threw rocks at me and called me a monster.
But when I really thought about it, stripped away all the details and history and memories, there was only one true answer.
"Because I love him," I said quietly, but with absolute certainty.
The wind picked up suddenly, strong enough that I had to grab the railing to steady myself. My hair whipped around my face, and I quickly brushed it back. When I glanced at Ariel, she hadn't moved an inch, hadn't even swayed. She was just standing there with this soft smile on her face, her golden hair flowing in the wind like water.
The moonlight overhead gave her this otherworldly quality, like she wasn't quite real. It was the kind of beauty that made people stop and stare, the kind that reminded you she was born to be royalty.
"You know, Sylphiette," Ariel said thoughtfully, still gazing at the stars, "only recently have I really thought about what love truly is. And I still don't have a definitive answer." She turned to face me, that gentle smile never wavering. "But looking at you how you worry about him constantly, how you think about him even when you should be focused on other things, how your whole face changes when someone mentions his name I feel like I'm starting to understand what it might be."
My face immediately burned hot. I spun around to face the city, unable to meet her knowing gaze. "D-don't just say things like that out of nowhere," I stammered, my voice coming out embarrassingly high-pitched.
Ariel's laugh was light and musical. "You're so cute sometimes." Then her voice dropped lower, taking on that teasing, seductive tone she used when she wanted to fluster people. "If I were Rudeus, I would have already taken you to bed."
She stepped closer as she said it, close enough that I could feel her warmth despite the cool night air.
My entire face went from warm to absolutely burning. I was pretty sure I'd turned the same color as a tomato. I stumbled backward two big steps, nearly tripping over my own feet again. "I—you—that's—" I couldn't even form a coherent sentence. "You know what? I think I should be getting to bed. Right now. Immediately."
Ariel just smiled wider, clearly enjoying my embarrassment. She didn't say anything, didn't try to stop me as I practically fled back inside to the safety of my room.
But she stayed outside on the balcony, her amusement fading as the sound of Sylphiette's door closing echoed in the quiet night.
Alone now, Ariel's expression turned more serious. She gripped the railing and looked out over the sleeping city, her mind turning to darker thoughts.
"What he said to me was true," she murmured to herself. "A mass teleportation incident did happen. Derrick…" Her chest tightened at the thought of her trusted mage, her mentor, gone in an instant. "And Father's illness is getting worse."
She'd received the letter three days ago. The royal physicians were doing everything they could, but none of the spells were good. Her father the king, was dying slowly, and there was nothing she could do about it from here.
And now Sylphiette was here, having appeared at her palace like some kind of sign from the gods. Soon she'd officially become Ariel's guard, though Ariel planned to keep her out of the public eye for now. Rudeus's failed assassination attempt was still the hottest topic in Roa his face was plastered on wanted posters all over the city, with a bounty large enough to set someone up for life.
Ariel let out a soft laugh despite the heaviness in her chest. "To think someone our age would become the most wanted person in this entire city." She shook her head. "It's absurd."
But then again, knowing Rudeus, nothing was truly impossible. From what Sylphiette had told her, he was somewhere in the Sword Sanctum lands now, probably dealing with his own mountain of problems. It was a shame that circumstances had forced him away he would have been useful here, both as a powerful mage and as someone who could make Sylphiette smile genuinely.
Still, Ariel had a strange feeling their paths would cross again someday. Her intuition was telling her so, and her intuition had never failed her before.
So many unsolved questions spinning in her mind. Her father's illness. The teleportation incident. The political implications of Rudeus's assassination attempt. How to protect Sylphiette while also utilizing her considerable talents.
And one more question, smaller but somehow more persistent than the others
What exactly was love?
Rudeus had left her with that mystery, and despite all her education, all her careful study of human nature and political machinations, she still couldn't define it.
But maybe that was okay. Maybe some questions weren't meant to be answered through logic and reason.
Ariel stayed on the balcony for a long time, watching the stars slowly wheel across the sky, thinking about love and loss and the strange ways fate seemed to weave people's lives together.
Inside, Sylphiette lay in her impossibly comfortable bed, staring at the ceiling once more, her face still warm from Ariel's teasing.
She thought about Rudeus where he was, what he was doing, if he ever thought about her the way she constantly thought about him.
"Idiot," she whispered to the empty room, though whether she was talking about him or herself, she wasn't quite sure. She just wanted to see him again to sleep with him again everything felt so cold without him.