Lila Thornhill didn’t know how the hell she ended up on another continent. 

Well, that wasn’t completely true. She saw a glowy, blue doorway she could only assume was a portal instead of the usual door out of her bedroom. When she walked through, she heard the words ‘it’s your turn.' So technically, she walked to this other continent.

… Her turn for what? 

At that moment, all she really knew was that she wanted to get out of the rain. 

It didn’t take her long to find an inn where she slipped a sheet of paper, a quill and some ink from a table. It’s not like anyone would notice, or care enough to miss what seemed to be a poster for an event that had already happened. 

Just for good measure, she also took the gold left on the table. A tip, probably. At least she could buy herself dinner with it. 

Lila snuck into an empty room and locked the door. She caught her own eye in the mirror - her curly red hair had become even more unruly in the rain. She did what she could to tie it back, giving up rather quickly, before sitting down at a too-tall table. 

It was getting dark, she probably should have stolen a candle too. 

The chair and table was sized for humans - she was far too small for it, so she moved to the floor. Being a halfling wasn’t always easy, especially when traveling, but she had to make do.

Lila remembered her barely-older brother telling her, when she was still a child, that if she ever got lost, she should write a letter home. It would help her re-trace her steps and figure out where she went astray. 

So she sat down and wrote a letter to him. 

Dear Bartholomew, 

Did you wince at your formal name? I bet you did. I don’t know what our parents were thinking, Bartholomew and Delilah. People who don’t know us would think we sound so wise. 

How have you been? I miss stealing things from people's pockets while you distract them with music, it was so much easier making money that way since the drought in Fernsworth. How’s mom, by the way? Still can’t find her mind? And dad, is he holding up well? Have people been leaving donations at the Moon Temple? Last I spoke to him, that was stressing him out. 

Well, I guess you figured by this letter that I’m lost. Shocker, right? Wait until I tell you that I finally got home yesterday and this morning I woke up and my door turned into this blue portal thing. Weird, right? Who knows what the gods want. 

But hey, you suggested that I write a letter to re-trace my steps. So let me figure out what the beginning is. 

I guess one could say this all started when Taegan asked me to marry him… and I kinda said yes?

OK, OK I know it’s shocking. Don't gasp too loudly, you'll worry dad. I know about his oh-so-secret relationship with Folwyn, he knows I see him as a brother. It was just his dad was pressuring him to marry and it’s been so difficult in Fernsworth, we figured he could use the cover and I could use the money to help our town. You know his family would have been all high-and-mighty fancy pants if they learned he liked guys. We would have married on paper, he would still been all cute with Folwyn, it was a flawless plan. 

It f*ing sucks to be the 5th prince of the elven royalty. You’d think he was far enough down the line for people not to care, but nooooo, a prince must find a wife and make a bunch of little babies.

Don't worry, we would have pretended we just couldn't have kids. We thought about all that.

But, I did not have a reason to say no, so I accepted. It's not like I was pining for anyone else, nor have ever.

So of course when we announced it to Mr. Elf King Man, he got all excited and invited me to sit in on a meeting. 

Holy Moonmother, Bart, I thought I was going to die of boredom. 

While Taegan's father and eldest brother were discussing oh-so-fantastical plans they had for the city of Val’Lyera, Tae seemed to be… removed. There was a whisper of a moment in which he seemed to be in full disagreement of the ridiculous announcement made by his brother. However, I refused to dwell on it - he had had an eventful day. 

So that brings us to about a month ago when I went home to tell mom and dad. Of course, I didn’t. Not yet.

And then, surprise surprise, a crier came to our village. Most of what he had to announce passed as a blur, some nonsense about another heatwave coming and something else about a missing dwarf, but I was stopped in my tracks when I heard “Val’Lyera was attacked this morning - the two youngest princes have gone missing.”

Taegan and his brother Ranil had gone missing in the two hours it took me to get home. 

So I went back to Val’Lyera and went to the King, telling him I wanted to help find Tae and Ran. The elven elder was kind, like always - he gave me a dagger molten from the purest silver and blessed by the Moonmother.

It’s super cool, I can blind people with it if I angle it with the moon just right.

Anyway.

On my way to find the princes, I met a small group of adventurers, who claimed to be looking for Ranil. I'm not sure why they weren't focused on Taegan, but I figured that following them would at least give me a lead, right? 

When we found Ranil in a dungeon behind a waterfall, it was too late. 

He was beautiful even in death. 

That day, I pledged to do whatever it took to find Tae. That’s when I went home. That's when, this morning, I walked into a strange, different land. 

I don’t know where I went wrong, Bart. I did hear the words 'It’s your turn' when I went through that portal. Like it’s a game? Is that how the princes went missing? Maybe Tae is somewhere here, on this continent. 

Lila hadn’t considered that her sheet of paper was only a certain size. She had run out of room. 

She groaned and climbed into the too-large bed, not even bothering to take off her brother’s cloak she had borrowed. She looked at the small, ceremonial, silver ring on her hand and slipped it onto a necklace, still feeling odd about the engagement. 

“I’ll find you”, she promised to no one.