“My, don’t you look pale?”

Noah looked up. “Tiffany?”

“The one and only.” The princess smiled down upon her and winked, but the smile faded soon enough. “Are you okay?”

“I’m tired, I’m hungry and you scared the living daylights out of me. Other than that, I’m quite alright, yes.” Noah still rubbed through her eyes.

Tiffany slung Noah’s arm around her shoulder and held her upright as they walked. To the cabin, Noah knew. The view was finally beginning to look more familiar.

“What are you doing here, by the way?” Tiffany asked after she had wrenched open the door and had parked Noah in the bed with a bowl of berries in her hands, which the squire ate from hungrily.

“News.” Noah still had her mouth full. “Fantastic news, actually,” she said quickly before eating another blackberry.

“Well, out with it then.” Tiffany had sat down on the chair that was usually occupied by Noah. But where Noah slouched, Tiffany’s posture was impeccable. A posture one would expect from a princess. But instead of her fine dresses, she wore the blouse and trousers that were usually reserved for sword practice, and behind her belt glistened a sword, which Noah recognized as stolen from one of the decorative suits of armor that lined the walls of the castle. All things considered, it was a rather strange sight, but nevertheless it was one that Noah could get used to.

The princess waved a hand in front of the squire’s face. “Noah?”

“Oh! Right. Yes. The good news,” Noah stammered. “The king and queen are planning to reward the one who brings you home safely. That person gets to make one request that they cannot decline.”

Tiffany’s gaze turned to the floor. She bit her lip, but said nothing.

Noah silently fidgeted with her fingers. She shifted in the bed, sending a new wave of dust flying in the stale air of the cabin.

“And you’re planning to bring me home, so you can ask them for my hand in marriage?”

The squire froze where she sat. She glanced back and forth. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She breathed in again, and frowned deep in thought before she spoke. “I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. Or dreamed about it. Or fantasized…” she mumbled. “But this is your decision to make. So far, all decisions in your life have been made by others. Your parents, Eugene… You have to choose this for yourself.”

Tiffany bit on her lip again. “If you were in my situation, what would you do?”

Noah shrugged her shoulders. “If I were you, I would return to the castle and take the reward for myself. Use my request to ‘liberate myself from my gilded cage at the top of the monarchy’?”

The princess gave this due consideration. “It sounds like a sound plan. But… do you really think it’s possible? That they will just let me come back and fulfill the request?” She looked at the squire, eyes full of hope.

“If we don’t try it, we’ll never find out,” Noah said, with less certainty than she had hoped. “They were very upset, so you might be lucky.”

“And what if I’m not?” Tiffany asked. “What if they turn me away?”

“Then they won’t have an heir to the throne.”

“What if they turn you away?”

Noah shrugged her shoulders again. “Honestly, I expected them to send me back to my parents’ farm as soon as they found out about us, but I’m still here.”

Tiffany nodded. Her eyes were turned to the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill. She sniffled.

Noah stood up, placed the bowl on the bed and kneeled down on the floor in front of Tiffany. Carefully, she took the princess’ hands into her own and looked up at her through her lashes, gazed up at the girl struggling not to cry. She reached up and tenderly caressed her cheek with her thumb, rubbing away a tear. “Tiffany, whatever you might think, this debacle is not your fault.”

“Well, it’s not your fault either,” Tiffany said sternly. Her voice trembled around the lump in her throat. “You know, I’ve been really weird about the way things are recently. My life has always been like this, so it never occurred to me to say anything so far, but eventually, I would have gotten into trouble with mother and father. I’m just about done being their pawn.”

“But you don’t have to be!” Noah said. She squeezed Tiffany’s hands, hoping to inspire new courage in her. “Tiffany, you are the princess of Capturia. If anyone can change things for the better for you and your people, it’s you.”

The princess stood up from her chair. “You know what, Noah? You’re right,” she said, as the squire pulled herself upright by her hands. “Come on, let’s go home.