Evangeline stumbled about through the castle wall’s; she was what some considered to be “drunk”. Albeit she was not black-out rolling on the floor drunk, but she certainly well beyond the intoxication minimum. Yet, as messy was her walking were the thoughts that swarmed through her mind and the recounted version of the conversations that happened only an hour or so ago.

That woman, Leona, had simply taken Evangeline by surprise. She admitted that she never romantically was inclined to date a man, but, then again, she was never romantically inclined to date anyone. She was always too caught up in her own sparring and royal affirmations with Anastasia that she never thought about what love or being romantically affiliated ever would be like. And, thus, it led to her decline, or, to put it specifically, an increase in alcoholic beverages.

To put it bluntly, as Evangeline stumbled to her room, she was not sure what was ahead of her in life. She often thought more in the moment and she would worry about the future sometimes in, well, the future. Yet, the discussion at the bar really turned her head to the fact that she didn’t know what would happen when Anastasia got married. She didn’t know what she would do when Anastasia had new guards, better guards that would take over her place. 

“What will I do?” She slurred, placing a hand on one of the hallway walls to keep her balance. 

Evangeline had no sense in what she was good at to support her in life other than fighting. She was an elf with no ounce of experience in the market. Perhaps Anastasia would allow her to train in the military and be a guard? Yet, what was so fulfilling about that? 

One moment Evangeline was walking, and the next she had tumbled down onto the ground, landing on her knees and scratching up the slacks she wore. She swore loudly, realizing she landed also on the palms of her hands, the stinging of the fall apparent as blood dripped from the areas of connection with the ground. 

“Gods, this day cannot get any more,” worst was the worst she wanted to use, but was it truly a bad day? Or was it a reality she had ignored for so long that was finally coming to haunt her?

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, absolutely fi—” Evangeline’s eyes snapped upwards to see the young man she had met at the ball, the guard of prince Philip, Vance. “Oh, gods, you caught me in, well, not my finest moment.”

“That kind of day, huh?”

“What? Not at all, the day has been … fine. Yeah, fine.” Evangeline whispered the last word softly before shaking her head and letting out a breath. “No, today has been quite horrific. For more reasons than one.”

“Well, would you like to talk about it? With water instead of wine, perhaps. Though I suppose you have had more than just wine.”

Evangeline let out a chuckle as Vince let down a hand which she accepted. She stood up and stretched her legs.

“My room is not that far from here, follow me.”

Evangeline started to take a few steps, but she took in a hesitant breath as the moment she put wait on her right ankle, pain sprouted through her entire leg. 

“Shit,” she whispered as she attempted to put the weight back on her left leg. Evangeline tried to ignore the pain every-time she put weight on that ankle, but it was only a few steps longer before she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“That ankle doesn’t look too great, let me help. Put your arm around my shoulder.” 

Evangeline nodded her head hesitantly before attempting to put her right arm around Vance’s shoulder, however, he was significantly taller than her, and it proved to be rather difficult. More than anything, she felt that it was almost more counterproductive to do so. 

Apparently, Vance felt the same way. “On second thought, let me just carry you.”

“Wha- what?” Evangeline stammered, and she tried to not let out a scream when she felt her body weight become nothing as she was flung bridal style into Vance’s arms. 

“Put me down you arrogant, inconsiderate —” 

“Would you rather hobble all the way back to your room or should we make this faster so I can get you cleaned up? I know you’re rather independent, but let’s not be rash.” 

Evangeline attempted to counteract Vance’s point, but her words fell silent. 

Soon, Evangeline started to direct Vance where to go, and the two found Evangeline’s room not too far from where Anastasia’s room was. How people could where Anastasia’s room was the two guards that sat by either side of her door. 

Evangeline put her hand in her pocket and grabbed a little keychain, containing two keys. One to her door and the other to Anastasia’s door, in case of an emergency. 

“Put me down so I can unlock the door.”

“Are you sure? I can probably do that.”

“I am not  a damsel in distress, Vance. Please, for the love of gods, put me down.” Evangeline’s voice hissed throughout the halls, perhaps a bit louder than she intended. How did she know that? One of the night guards from Anastasia’s door turned to look at them, and Evangeline’s heart plummeted into purgatory. 

Once lifted down and on her feet, she shifted through the keys and unlocked the door, quickly ignoring the pain and dragging Vance inside. 

“I’m never going to recover from this,” Evangeline mumbled as she limped her way to her bed, collapsing down on the soft, fluffy blankets face forward. With her face in the blankets, she laid that way for a moment, embracing the calmness of the situation. Yet, like any normal thing in her life, that moment wouldn’t last. 

Evangeline managed to pull herself up and turn towards Vance who seemed to be rather uncomfortable. At first glance Evangeline noticed he appeared to be a nice person. He seemed to be a serene person, almost like a gentle giant yet someone who was not afraid to strike if they needed to protect someone. 

“The first aid kit is in the closet over there,” Evangeline pointed to the walk-in closet near her window. It was full of a majority of things, mainly weapons, books, and clothing. 

She watched Vance walk over to the closet cautiously and he opened the door, letting out an intrigued hum in the process. Evangeline chuckled, as she could only imagine what thoughts were traveling through his mind.

Forcing her legs on-top of the bed, Evangeline scooted back, trying to create as minimal contact to her foot as possible. She prayed it wasn’t broken, but she would have to see a doctor in the morning, if she was hungover, that is.

After a few moments, Vance came out with a little, clear box. Inside were bandaids, vodka, for both drinking and sanitary purposes, and a cloth wrapping. 

“This is it, right?” 

“That would be it.” 

Vance walked back over to Evangeline and looked at her right ankle, he let out a sigh, “I don’t think it’s broken, but I think a sprain would be our best probability. I am going to have to take that show off. We can either cut it off or we can pull it off, up to you.”

“Pull it off, I wouldn’t want to waste a perfectly good shoe.”

“You’re sure? You ankle is swelling so it might hurt.”

Evangeline waved her hand and nodded her head giving the go ahead. She noticed how hesitant Vance was but he gave at thumbs up and placed the box next to Evangeline, on top of her bed. 

He then looked at the right ankle and hesitantly placed his hands around her shoe, just gracing the skin. 

“Gods!” Evangeline screamed as pain erupted from the minimal pressure put on her ankle. 

Immediately, Vance retracted his hands and anxiously looked at Evangeline. “Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Gods, it isn’t you. Just, okay, I am going to count to three, when I hit three, no matter if I scream, cry, or hit, you are going to get that shoe off, you hear me?”

“Again, we can just cut it off if —”

“Vance,” Evangeline said harshly, glaring at him deep in his eyes. She could feel one fo her ears twitch as she dug her hands deep into her blankets, readying herself for the pain. “I have been handed much worst injuries, let’s just get this bloody shoe off.”

“Okay,” Vance breathed, and Evangeline equally took in an incredibly nervous breath.

“One, two, and — “ Evangeline didn’t even get to three when Vance quickly grasped the shoe and took it off. Evangeline let out a loud scream and grasp recoiled into a fetal position as the pain was so great within her ankle. 

“You asshole!” She screamed when she was done writhing in pain. Vance, himself, appeared to be a bit disheveled, perhaps he had not expected Evangeline’s screams. He tried to apologize but Evangeline let out a few more rather unkind words before bringing her hands to her head. Simply sitting up and trying to wonder what in the hell just happened. 

“I am doing what you asked,” Vance retorted, but Evangeline threw her hands to her side and hissed,

“I said three! Not to yank it off whenever!”

“It’s off now, isn’t it? Let’s get it wrapped.”

“Gods, I despise you right now.” Evangeline wiped a stray tear that fell from her eye as she saw vance pull out the vodka and cloth wrapping. 

“I am going to sanitize it with the vodka incase there are any cuts. I’ll wrap it after.”

“Maybe when we’re done washing off the wounds we can finish off that bottle,” Evangeline joked. She noticed Vance attempting to stifle a laugh as he mumbled something quietly to himself. Even with her enhanced hearing she couldn’t catch any formulation of wording that quite made sense. 

“I wouldn’t be opposed, but looking at the number of sounds you got, there might not be a lot to drink.” 

“That is true,” Evangeline glanced at her torn pants; she wasn’t sure how she would get them off with her ankle. Then again, that was a thought for another day, another more sober day.

Vance grabbed a little towel and poured some vodka on it, rubbing gently at the open wounds on Evangeline’s legs and ankle. Evangeline hissed a bit and winced in pain, but she allowed him to clean her up. 

The most painful part, during the cleaning process, was when she had her palms sanitized. It felt as though she was dipping her hands in flaming lava. There were quite a few swears during then, but eventually Evangeline’s ankle was wrapped up, and all her open scrapes were sanitized and bandaged to best of Vance’s degree. It was quite difficult when Evangeline refused to cut her pants off because she wouldn’t be able to get them off due to her ankle being, well, injured. 

Once things were done, Evangeline peered at the half empty bottle of vodka and then looked to Vance who was cleaning things up. 

“Do you want to finish that?” Evangeline questioned, still quite drunk. She could probably have downed a good bit more as she truly wanted to forget the past day.

“I think it would be best to leave this for another day. You’re already quite drunk, and I rather not drink as alcohol doesn’t quite sit well with me.”

“I would call you a bore,” Evangeline stammered, motioning for Vance to sit next to her. When he did so, she let out a little smile, a stark contrast from the tear stained cheeks she still wore. The night was full of emotions for Evangeline, and she soon realized why she never drank to an excess. “But, Anastasia was calling me that earlier, and now I am as drunk as ever, and I must admit, I am not having a great time.”

“I feel like drinking is really just an excuse to ignore the pain for a little bit, whatever pain you’re having, of course,” Vance suggested as he sat down on the bed. His massive frame shifted the weight slightly, and the bed creaked with the amount of weight being forced upon it. 

“I am not one to drink, well not heavily, in that sense, but after tonight I just needed to…” Evangeline couldn’t finish her sentence as she groaned, realizing that being a drunk mess was the last thing that would help her overcome the ambiguous feelings that swarmed within her. 

“Tonight was quite a disaster, I must admit. Not the most amazing introduction to the marriage as we expected. I am more surprised that King Ragnar didn’t tell the princess.”

“You and me both,” Evangeline said, shifting herself so that she could take off her scabbard and start to prepare for bed. She then looked towards Vance and tried to peek into his emotions, though the irises in his eyes, yet they were shielded, only reflecting basic emotions such as sympathy and empathy. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“With what?” 

Evangeline was quiet for a few moments before a few lone tears fell from her eyes, “everything. I don’t know what will happen during this marriage or what will happen to me. From what I have gained in these last six months, my life is devoted to protecting Anastasia, and once she gets married and gets these new guards, what is left for me? I have no where to turn, no family to go to and no homeland to call me own.”

“What do you mean by that?” Vance questioned, his eyebrows rose curiously yet cautiously, hinting that if it were too painful to answer that the question could be dismissed. 

“My life, I never gave it much thought after I awoke here. Yet, as drunk as I am now, I am starting to realize how desperate I am to know what happened. How I got here and who I am.”

“We all have mysteries,” Vance pointed out as he gave a reaffirming smile. “I have my demons and you do too. I haven’t really had time to introduce myself, Vance Collat.” 

He held his hand out and Evangeline shook it. For the second time tonight, she was shaking hands with someone, truly meeting them for the first time. Yet, unlike earlier with Leona, this handshake felt warm and inviting, the other time it felt scorching hot and almost secretive.

“Evangeline,” Evangeline hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand, “just Evangeline.” 

“Well, just Evangeline, I suspect we will be working together quite a lot in the future. I will see you, hopefully, when you’re not injured and when you’re a bit more sober. I shall take my leave.” Vance gave a little smile and retracted this hand. He grabbed the basket and put it back in the closet. Evangeline smiled a bit and watched him as she scrambled about, picking up anything that was left from earlier incident. 

As Vance was getting ready to leave Evangeline said somewhat loudly, “thank you, Vance. But let me ask one thing, what were you doing wondering the hallways in the middle of the night?”

Vance turned around with his hand on the door and gave a little wink, “goodnight, Evangeline.”