They asked the next shoemaker, and the next, and the next, but of course no one knew anything about the origin of the shoes.

Of course not. That was the whole point. They weren't meant to know, none of them, not about the shoe and not about its owner. Gem's search was an odyssey, doomed to fail from the get-go.

Sometimes Cinder felt a little bad for making him go on this trip. He had given him false clues and a false hope, and now he was traveling all over the place searching with no hope of finding anything. A cruel prank, almost. Or would be, if Gem wasn't so stubborn that the whole thing was sort of his fault anyway.

All the same, as he watched him grow more and more dejected, Cinder couldn't help but feel like a dirty liar.

"Where the hell is he?" Gem huffed as they left yet another shoemaker's workshop without any new information. "He must've bought these stupid shoes somewhere!"

"Maybe we'll have better luck next time," Cinder answered, knowing full well that wasn't the case.

"He's hiding so well," Gem went on, ignoring his comment. "Why won't he show up? The whole country knows I'm looking for him!"

Cinder shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe he left the kingdom or something."

A look of horror dawned on Gem's face, and instantly Cinder regretted his comment. "But then he could be anywhere!"

"He bought the shoes here, though," Olive piped in, "right?"

"Looks like it. Maybe he was visiting," Cinder said, "his godmother or whoever. But if he left soon enough after the ball, he must've missed your search for him."

"But then he must've been some noble's guest!" Gem burst out. "I should ask all the noble houses after we're done with the shoemakers…He can't have gone that far! True lovers always meet again." He placed a hand on his chest and nearly fell of his horse as his loyal steed tried to go for a wayside snack. "Maybe he's right under my nose! Maybe he's hidden in plain sight and I just don't notice!"

Cinder squirmed; once again he was getting dangerously close to the truth. "Didn't you say you'd recognize him anywhere?"

"Yeah, but…I don't know. What if something's keeping me from recognizing him?" Gem's gaze drifted into the distance. "Or even seeing him. What if he's not actually a noble or even rich? He could be really poor. Maybe he has a terrible family who didn't want him going to the ball but his godmother helped him go in secret, but he had to leave again before his family got back or they'd have found out…and now he's hiding his identity but secretly waiting for me to come and rescue him!"

Cinder gaped; he had no words for such amounts of delusion. "What fairy tale do you live in?"

Gem turned around to glare at him. "Hey, it could happen!"

"That would be the most convoluted explanation in the history of nonsense."

"I already know you don't have a heart or a soul," Gem replied, "but looks like you don't have an imagination either."

"Imagination is for fools with too much time," Cinder shot back.

And for people who could imagine happy things without pain, he added in his head. For people who could daydream without breaking their own heart with the knowledge that it could never become reality.

"You're dry as old bread," Gem said, pouting. "You know that?"

Cinder looked ahead. "Old bread has its purpose too."

"Purpose this, time that. You only ever think about duties, huh?" Now Gem was looking a little more serious, a little more frustrated. "Don't you ever just enjoy things?"

"Peace and quiet."

"You're not human."

"Good," said Cinder. "Humans are terrible."

He rode ahead, sensing Gem's gaze on his back. He didn't turn around. Most likely he would meet with that look of understanding again, and he was in no mood to see it right now. It made him anxious.

No need to think of that. Just a few more days, and then he'd be at peace anyway. Gem might claim to need him when talking with the shoemakers, but he would have no reason to take him to the noble houses too. And there, hopefully, he'd meet with a lot of people, and on his search he would find someone new, someone who wasn't Cinder in disguise, to fall in love with and have his feelings reciprocated.

Hopefully, anyway. Cinder didn't want to keep up this lie forever.

The day was nearing its end. On horseback they really were faster than on foot, and it had the added bonus of Gem almost not complaining. They hadn't pulled any more stunts since their impromptu race. Thank goodness; any more of this, and Cinder feared he might turn into as much of a man-child as Gem was.

"We probably won't reach the next village before the workshops close," Cinder said, squinting his eyes to stare into the sunset. "So once we get there, we can look for a place to sleep right away."

He just hoped it would be soon, because with the falling dusk it was starting to get freezing cold.

~ ~ ~

Thankfully the village wasn't far, and the inn still had a few free rooms.

Emphasis on a few. Or rather, too few.

"I am so, so sorry," the innkeeper said for the third time in a few minutes. "If we'd been notified of His Royal Higness and Your Ladyship's arrival, we would have kept enough rooms free in our humble abode. But as it is there's only two left, lady, and three of you, so to speak…"

"That's all right," Cinder cut in immediately. "You two take the rooms. I'll find a different place to sleep."

Gem's head spun around. "But it's cold out," he said.

"I'll ask around the village for a place to stay." Cinder shrugged. "I'll find something."

"No, there's no need," Olive intercepted, smiling amicably. "I'm sure the gentlemen won't mind sharing a room for one night."

They both gaped at her in open shock.

"Yes, we will!" they spluttered out in unison.

"I just offered to take care of my own room!" Cinder added hastily. "Why are you sticking us both together?"

She raised her hands in a deliberately innocent gesture. "It's just for one night, what's the big idea?"

"He snores!" Cinder answered, pointing at Gem.

"And he's a peasant," Gem added, "and I don't share my room with filthy peasants!"

"Why don't you share a room with him?" Cinder asked Olive. "You're his family!"

"I'm a woman," Olive answered, appalled. "Are you suggesting I share a room with a man?"

"You're a man sometimes too!" Cinder snapped, exasperated. "And you're his sister!"

"Not legally," Olive pointed out. "And the prince sharing a room with an unrelated noblewoman will definitely cause a scandal."

Cinder gritted his teeth, fighting off a headache. He knew for a fact that Olive didn't actually care about these things; she was just trying to set them up. Force them to get along, be friends, whatever. Too bad she was about to get the opposite of what she hoped for.

In desperate frustration Cinder glanced over to Gem, hoping he still had an argument up his sleeve, but the prince looked as lost as he felt. Olive had won. And going by the look on her face, she knew that very well.

"Whatever," Cinder said as they stood at the door to their shared room. "I'll just take the bedding and sleep outside the door."

Gem gaped at him in disbelief. "In the corridor?"

"All better than your snoring."

"I don't snore!" Gem burst out, and then, immediately, "And you're not sleeping out here!"

Cinder blinked. Was that compassion he heard in his voice?

"Why not?" he asked. "I thought you didn't want to share the room with me either."

Gem crossed his arms. "I don't want you sleeping out here either."

"One night won't kill me."

"Exactly, and that's why you're coming in there." Before Cinder could protest, Gem had grabbed him by the arm—would the arm-grabbing ever stop?—and dragged him forcefully into the room.

"Your half, my half," Gem said, pointing at both sides of the room. "I take the better bed. Stay out of my half or else."

Cinder clicked his tongue. "Snore and I'll suffocate you with a pillow."

"I still don't snore. I bet you snore. Hmm? Check and mate."

That comment, Cinder decided, was too stupid to warrant a response. Sighing, he retreated into the hindmost corner of the room to change out of his day clothes. On the other side Gem did the same. As if by an unspoken agreement they both faced in opposite directions, granting each other some privacy in this awkward situation.

Cinder was done first, turning around to crawl into his bed. On accident his eyes landed on Gem's exposed back. It was broad and muscular, like all of his build, but that wasn't what caught his attention. What he noticed much more was that most of it was covered in scars, great and small, some of them looking years old, others quite recent.

Scars? On a prince?

Cinder turned away. Probably training injuries or something, or else the results of his usual stupid impulsive stunts. Nothing to worry about, if he were to worry about the prince in the first place.

Gem, too, crawled under the covers and sighed. "This bed's so small," he said. "And hard."

"Welcome to the life of normal people," Cinder deadpanned.

"I miss my bed at home."

Cinder shifted on his mattress. This one was firmer than the one at the other inn, but it was still uncomfortably unfamiliar. He wanted his usual bed back.

"Me too," he muttered so softly Gem couldn't possibly catch it.

Silence fell. In the fireplace the light grew smaller and dimmed away to glowing embers. Cinder stared at it as the room grew darker. He didn't want to be here.

How much longer would this trip last? And after it ended, what then?

"Gem?" he asked into the darkness.

The prince shifted under the covers. "Hm?" he murmured sleepily, then he pushed himself up. "What did you just call me?"

"Nothing!" Cinder spluttered, his face heating up. Damn it, damn it. Stupid nickname! Why had he made it a habit in his head?

"I didn't give you permission to call me Gem," the prince said, but his voice wasn't as hostile as Cinder had expected. Must be the sleepiness.

"I don't need your permission," Cinder answered. "A stupid nickname fits you better than all your princely titles."

"It's not stupid! Less stupid than Gemstone Crystalline, anyway."

"Told you so."

Gem sank back into the pillows. "So," he said, "what do you want?"

Cinder stared at the ceiling. Suddenly it was hard to find the right words to say.

"If you don't find your beloved on this trip," he said at length, "what will you do?"

He fully expected Gem to dismiss it, state that he'd definitely find him, no matter what. But for a long moment, the prince was quiet. Thoughtful.

"I'll keep searching," he finally said.

"What if it's fruitless?"

"I'll just keep searching." The hesitation vanished from Gem's voice. "And searching, and searching until I find something out. And if that still doesn't work, I'll wait."

"For how long?"

"Forever."

He was so stupid. Or so idealistic; Cinder didn't know which.

"Why?" he asked. "It could mean you'll stay single forever."

"Because I want to marry the person I love, and nobody else."

Gem's voice was clear, but it was quiet, his words fading away into the expanse of the dark room. "They say princes shouldn't marry for love," he said, "and all that other stupid stuff. But I refuse to marry anybody I don't love." His voice grew steadier. "Otherwise I'll just end up like—"

He cut himself off. "Never mind," he said, his voice returning back to normal. "It's not your business."

So you have things you don't want to talk about too, huh?

Cinder suppressed the urge to smile. Suddenly he couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for the prince.

"I won't ask," he said, and meant it.

"Good," said Gem. "Because I won't tell you."

Cinder rolled over and closed his eyes. Somehow he felt calmer than before. He had fully expected this night to be a catastrophe, that by now they would be at each other's throats, but this right here felt almost…peaceful. He still wasn't too comfortable sleeping in the same room as someone else, but if it was like this, he might just get used to it.

What's there to get used to, stupid? This is a one-time thing. Don't get too comfortable.

Sighing, Cinder adjusted himself on the mattress and slowly drifted off to sleep.

~ ~ ~

He woke up in the middle of the night, with all traces of sympathy he had ever had for the prince flying straight out the window.

Gem was indeed snoring. Loudly. So loudly it had woken him up and now he couldn't fall back asleep.

Oh, right. This was why he hated sharing a bedroom. He remembered now. What had he been thinking in the evening? There was no way he could possibly get used to this, ever, not even in a million years.

He swore to all that was holy, he was so going to strangle Gem in the morning.