Walking along the narrow dirt streets and between the wooden buildings of the small town, Aurum and Alice moved slowly, both unable to hide how wary they were feeling. It was a market day, so the streets were busy as people from all the surrounding farms and housing milled about the town to buy and sell necessities. The crush of people made Alice feel a bit dizzy – she had never liked crowds, and she found they made her even more anxious now, after so long secluded in the cottage.

It wasn’t until they reached the same part of the market that Alice had shopped around last time that Alice realized that she might actually be as recognizable as the princess in town, if not more so, because of her bizarre get-up last time she visited. She had had her hair up then, though, whereas it was down now, so maybe she would be passably disguised. She hunched over self-consciously as they passed the food stalls she had shopped at on her last visit, nervous despite herself. It didn’t really occur to her that being recognized as a passing weirdo was not a particularly bad thing – not that it was good either.

“Your high– Aurum,”  Alice said, voice hushed. Aurum was walking slightly ahead of her and did not hear.

“Aurum,” Alice said again, this time grabbing Aurum’s sleeve.

“What?” Aurum asked, a bit sharply.

“I – we may have a problem.” Unsure how to continue, Alice looked around before gesturing to a small alleyway. The two of them moved out of the crowded street of stalls and shoppers.

“Remember what I was wearing when you first arrived? My clothes from my original world?” Alice was anxious bringing it up, since she knew continuing to harp on about coming from another universe was not the way to make Aurum happier. Aurum frowned.

“I remember the clothes,” she said slowly, “what about them?”

Alice looked around nervously, and Aurum seemed to understand all at once.

“Oh. Right. You wore them here. They must have thought you were…” Aurum looked thoughtful, trailing off before she finished saying whatever she had been about to call Alice. “So you shouldn’t do the asking, but I can’t risk asking, that’s what you’re saying?”

Alice nodded mutely.

“I’m not sure how big of a problem it really is, Alice,” Aurum went on. “I know we don’t want to be too recognizable, but if what they focused on were your clothes, they may not actually recognize your face. You won’t wear them again. And they have no reason to connect it to me.”

Alice nodded again, hesitantly this time, Aurum’s words reassuring her despite herself. Still… “We still need to buy more food for travel though. And the vendors are more likely to recognize me.”

Aurum took a moment to consider before answering. “I still think you should be the one to do it. I’ll be there though.”

Comforted despite herself, and in some respects relieved that Aurum was relying on her somewhat even with her previous assertions that she distrusted Alice, Alice nodded. They had gone over how to ask for information subtly before as they had approached the town. Nervous and anxious almost to the point of hyperventilation, Alice nodded again to brace herself before moving resolutely towards one of the stalls that was selling dried travel foods. The vendor was a short man with weathered skin that spoke of long hours in the sun and wisps of greyed hair around the sides of his head. He nodded agreeably as Alice approached, already welcoming her before she when she was just a few meters away.

“Welcome, welcome, what do we need today my dear?” His tone was amiable even though his voice cracked on the words, his manner friendly and assured.

Her voice shaking somewhat, Alice answered stiffly, keeping their planned script in her mind, holding onto it like a lifeline. “Food for travel, please sir. We are going to go visit my cousin in the capital. So we need a week’s worth. For two people.” As she spoke, her nerves grew more and more taut, splitting her planned sentences into disjointed phrases.

The man looked a bit alarmed. “Ayy, miss, you plan to travel there? Haven’t you heard some roads are frozen? A spring blizzard hit and snowed in. Odd, odd weather for this time, and no sign of the cold out here, but travelers have been turning back these days. That’s why this little town is so busy, the inns are full and merchants have even started camping around us. It’s nearing chaos now, it is…” he trailed off, looking sympathetic. Alice did not have to feign her alarm at the news, her nerves fading as the shock of the information hit her. She felt Aurum stiffen where she stood behind her, and she hurried to ask her next question before Aurum broke her silence.

“Is there no news? How is… the people in the capital, how are they?”

The vendor’s look of sympathy turned into a more obvious pity. “No, no. Not since the storm hit.”

Alice winced, knowing this would hurt Aurum. She did not remember this from the novel; it had spoken of the witch’s growing hold on the kingdom, but the narrative had focused on the adventures of the princess, not the impact of the disasters on the people or Aurum’s family. She did not think any of her family was badly hurt or killed, but she knew this reassurance would be unwelcome to Aurum  since it was knowledge from the original story.

“I see…” Alice trailed off. Going off script, she asked, “I have friends to the north of the capital as well, is there news of the rest of the kingdom.

Still looking pained, the vendor simply shook his head. “Not that I’ve heard, miss. You could ask the merchants and travelers, there are more arriving every day.”

“Thank you…” Alice looked at Aurum despite herself. Her face was a deathly pale. Forgetting her previous anxiety about interacting with people, Alice turned back to the vendor.

“We still need to buy supplies. Maybe the pass will clear. And my family…” Alice trailed off, trying her best to think of more arguments and explanations to wheedle out information even as she saw the vendor’s reluctance to sell them travel items. The vendor hesitated, clearly doubtful and concerned for them, and Alice’s heart warmed to him at his kind and selfless concern. Still, in the end, he acquiesced, and after exchanging goodbyes they left the stall with their goods in hand.

Aurum was very quiet as they walked through the streets, and Alice let her stay in her silence for a long while before speaking.

“We could go to the inn. We can listen there, instead of speaking with people. It’s probably more dangerous than we had thought here with all the travelers. There might be some of her spies around with so many people and strangers here.” She looked carefully at Aurum, who still looked shell-shocked. “We shouldn’t risk it. We can eat one meal, maybe it will be easier to learn things from people that way.”

Aurum shook her head, not in negation but as though shaking off whatever she was feeling. She met Alice’s eyes, deep concern still flickering there, but her attention was now on the present.

“Yes. You’re right. Let’s… Let’s go now. Then we should leave. Today.”

Alice put aside her lingering objections as she thought of the hero, someone she’d seen no sign of in the crowds as they’d walked despite her best efforts.

They found the inn quickly, Alice remembering its location vaguely from her previous venture. She had never been that good with directions. It was the only restaurant and lodging in the small town, and it was filled with people milling in line to wait for a space to eat. They had started serving food to people to take with them, like a to-go restaurant of sorts, since all the tables were constantly occupied inside. Aurum and Alice decided to take that option, not wanting to stay too long, the chances of a witch’s minion hiding in the crowds too high for them to linger.

Alice was unsure of their chances of finding much more information given that they were also still aiming to avoid interacting with people as much as possible. Nevertheless, as they ate, they overheard bits and pieces from the people eating around them in the street.

“It’s only gotten worse. At this rate, all the produce in our shipment will go bad before we can go there…”

“We might need to go south, but I heard there’s floods on the river…”

“No word on the royal family’s response to the disaster, the army hasn’t been seen. You would expect them to start work on clearing the pass, it’s very dangerous...”

Alice’s mood and Aurum’s face grew darker and darker as they listened in silence. Alice had no real awareness of what they ate or how it tasted, even though she really should have been more interested in the food after so long with little variety in their meals back at the cottage. The food tasted like ash, and Alice's heart ached for Aurum who was sitting rigidly beside her. In the novel, the adventure had been exciting, and Alice had found the princess’s journey to be inspiring and liberating to follow. Her pain and confusion was buried in that narrative, and seeing it cut Alice deeply.

She was reminded that the person before her wasn’t an illusion. As much as Alice was terrified that she would wake up to find herself back in her old life, she realized that she was doing the people around her a massive disservice by discounting their humanity, still thinking of everything as a dream or a story. At least, for as long as Alice was here, she resolved to commit to the reality she was experiencing, even as her fear and self-doubt lingered. As she reflected, the sun beat down, unseasonably warm, even as the news of the blizzard surrounded them.