The town was an uncomfortable place, not because of the town itself but because Alice stood out so much in her earthling clothes.

 At one point, a child actually pointed and laughed. But she managed well enough – the money in the coin pouch was worth far more than Alice had initially thought, and it was a market day. She had been wary of being overcharged, so she hung back at first to listen to others making their purchases to learn the price points and how people haggled here. She didn’t really need to haggle, though, often getting lower prices than the others around her.

It was possible, she mused, that she looked so strange in her outfit that people thought she might be some sort of magical being in disguise, and that they were intimidated enough to give her their best prices. The thought made her chuckle. In her old life, being strange had been a problem, a negative thing. Here, it seemed like at least one positive thing came of being very odd. Perhaps she could stay like this after the princess left, living as the strange hermit woman in the woods, coming into town dressed like an alien and keeping everyone on their toes.

As she shopped, she kept an eye out for the boy from the story. He was meant to be about twenty – a little younger than the princess – with brown hair and dark red eyes, very tall, and charismatic. She did not see anyone who fit that description, and she was both disappointed and relieved. Finding him was essential to her plan to protect the princess and send her on the path the original story wanted, but Alice was not confident in herself. Maybe if she met him now, unprepared, she would just scare him off and ruin everything.

Exhausted from being so nervous the whole time, Alice finally made her way out of town and on the path back home. It was about a three-and-a-half-hour walk back, and sunset was coming soon, so she would be traveling in the dark for a while. Luckily, she had always been good with directions, and she had made a point to mark her path from the cottage to the main road with small strips of cloth she had made by tearing up a dishrag from the cottage. She had apologized to the house spirit as she had done so, and it hadn’t seemed to mind. In any case, the woods weren’t described as particularly dangerous in the novel, so she thought she should be fine.

The journey on the main path went smoothly for the first hour until she encountered a hooded person on horseback coming down the road towards her. She knew immediately there was something strange about them; the darkness of the growing early-evening shadows seemed to cling to them, and there was an odd chill in the air as they approached. In the novel, the witch’s minions were described as creatures of cold, a force that stood in opposition to the five Great Magics of fire, water, earth, air, and light. Alice could tell instinctually that this person was using the power of darkness. The heavy feeling grew stronger as the rider came closer, and Allice did her best to look unaffected and unconcerned. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t hold in shivers that quickly grew more and more violent. She started to worry she might not be able to keep walking just as they drew even with each other, and she heard a malicious chuckle before it suddenly felt painfully cold, like knives of frost were striking her skin. The pain was overwhelming for an instant, and then everything went black.

She woke on the road to find herself alone, the sky now a dark tapestry lit with brilliant stars. Fear that she hadn’t had time to fully feel before gripped her, and she sobbed once before shaking her head and taking an unsteady breath. Crying would do no good just yet. She could let herself process her emotions later, but for now, she needed to compartmentalize. Forcing herself into a state of detached calm, she cataloged what had happened, what was around her, and how she felt. She had been walking, and the rider had gone past her. When the rider had laughed, she had fainted, feeling very cold. It was at least two hours later now, maybe longer, and she was in the same place on the road she had been before. There was no sign of any frost or cold damage around her. She had all her belongings, and she was unhurt, but still cold and shivering.

Okay, she thought. Not so bad. They didn’t interrogate me, and they kept moving. I don’t think they know the princess is here. They just did that for… for fun. I’m okay, and I can make it home. I just need to rest for a minute.

So that’s what she did, moving to a more normal sitting position against a tree on the roadside, breathing carefully and trying to stop the shivers. As the minutes turned into an hour, she started to feel properly scared when the shivering did not stop and strength did not return to her legs.

It’s probably shock, she told herself, but it didn’t make her feel better. There was not very much she could do about it alone. It seemed like she might be spending the night here by the road. The princess might assume that Alice disappearing meant she was a servant of the witch and run away. She might even run into the rider and end up imprisoned. She would be terrified and it would all be Alice’s fault. Here she was, in her favorite story, and she was ruining everything.

I shouldn’t have stolen the cottage from the princess. I’ve been so selfish, and now the princess – now everyone – now everything is ruined. Alice started to sob, the sound rough and disjointed by the shivers.

“Hello? Aliss?” A voice came out of the darkness, from somewhere further down the road.

As disoriented as she was, Alice could only think, Aliss? I don’t know anyone called that in the novel.

“Aliss? Hello? Are you out here?”

The voice grew louder, and someone came down the road, a small figure in the darkness. Suddenly, Alice recognized the voice.

“Pr- you?” Alice was stunned. Why would the princess be here? How could she be? She was hardly an accomplished woodsman or traveler, and more importantly, shouldn’t she have assumed the worst and run away by now?

“Me, yes, I’m me. Are you alright?” The princess jogged towards her, the worry in her voice rising as she approached. “Are you hurt? Did you twist your ankle?”

“N— n-" and then Alice was laughing, shivering, and entirely unable to speak. She was already living in her favorite novel, and if she had also gotten a twisted ankle, forcing the main character to come help her? Such a cliché. It was honestly hilarious. Or at least, it seemed hilarious to her right now. The more she thought of it, the funnier it seemed, until her laughter rose to a slightly hysterical pitch.

“Alright, alright, steady there, okay. Let’s see, hold still,” and before Alice really noticed her approach, the princess was holding her shoulder and checking her over for injuries. Alice wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but soon a warm, gentle sort of feeling began to spread over her. The starlight made her hair and eyes look almost silver, glimmering and bright.

Ah, right, she remembered, she has water magic. The princess was capable of minor healing magic – or at least, minor at the beginning of the novel. By the end, she would be a force to be reckoned with: she would discover, on her adventure with the hero, that she actually had a small amount of each magic, and that by combining them she was far more powerful than the witch would ever be. That had been one of Alice’s favorite things in the story, that the balance of everything together made her more powerful.

“Alright, come on,” the princess kept repeating. She had been speaking this whole time, Alice realized, and was waiting for her to answer. Alice could only look at her blankly, not sure what she had been asking. “Come on, Aliss, how are you feeling now?”

“I—I’m fine,” said Alice, finding she could speak well enough now. “Just cold.”

“Okay, that’s okay, that’s alright,” the princess sounded relieved. “We can take a moment longer. But then you have to work with me, you understand? We need to walk all the way back, it’s not safe to stay out here.”

She must recognize the magic. She knows someone who works for the witch was here. The princess looked focused and determined, much more in control than she had the night before. She looked like a main character.

Alice started to laugh again, startling the princess, but this time it was a less maniacal sort of laughter.

The princess will trust me now, at least.