Anne steered her wagon away from the town of Redington. They were making progress toward the Bloody Highway.

The fields of wheat, with drooping heads ready for harvest, gradually gave way to sparse forest on either side of the road.

Sensing they were getting close to the Bloody Highway, Anne spoke up.

“Challe, I bought you so that I could have a bodyguard. But I’ll make you a promise. If we make it down the Bloody Highway and arrive safely in Lewiston, I’ll give you your wing back.”

When he heard that, Challe looked at Anne suspiciously.

“Are you saying you’ll release me?”

“Yes.”

Challe looked stunned for a moment, but soon, he chuckled. “You’re going to release a fairy you paid good money for? Is anyone really that naive?”

“It’s rude to call me naive. I simply think that humans and fairies can be friends. I don’t like the idea of putting a potential friend to work. I needed a reliable escort on very short notice, and having nowhere else to turn, I purchased you, Challe. But I don’t want to use you if I don’t have to. Of course, I don’t want to sell you to another human, either. So I’m going to give your wing back. By making this promise, I hope to be able to treat you like any other friend accompanying me on a journey.”

“Friend? We can’t be friends.”

Anne sighed at his cold response.

“You’re probably right, but…it’s just, that was something Mama and I believed. But ideals and dreams won’t ever become reality if we don’t act on them. So I’m doing just that, taking action.”

“Your head really is as empty as a scarecrow’s. I’ll show you how foolish you’re being once we get to Lewiston.”

“I thought I told you not to call me a scarecrow?!”

Anne’s hand flew through the air, but Challe easily dodged it. Anne bit her lower lip in frustration.

“If you think I’m so stupid, then why did you tell me to buy you? I wouldn’t want to get ordered around by someone I thought was an idiot.”

“All you humans are the same. It’s easier on me to be under the control of a half-wit. And of all the humans I’ve had the misfortune of laying eyes on over the past few years, you seem by far the biggest fool.”

“…Somehow…I feel really depressed after talking to you…”

Anne fully understood why Challe had remained unsold for so long.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to endure being under his protection if he was going to verbally abuse her so badly.

The breeze fluttering the lace at her cuffs suddenly turned cold.

Anne recognized the rough, rocky road stretching out before them. It was the Bloody Highway. Her wagon rolled slowly onto it.

The tall, boxy wagon rocked back and forth as the wheels rolled over the stones.

The sky was a clear blue, but the air was cold. The Bloody Highway was surrounded by tall mountains, and the wind blowing down from them carried the chill of the heights with it.

As far as the eye could see, the land was a wilderness, rustling with dry, brown grass.

There were scattered stands of trees, but the soil was obviously barren.

There were no villages or towns along the Bloody Highway. The officials in charge of each province it passed through did maintain their respective sections, but that responsibility did not extend to controlling bandits or wild beasts along the path. There were only two actual requirements.

The first was to perform maintenance once per year to ensure that plant life did not obstruct the road.

The second was to build a series of simple forts known as way stations, where travelers could make camp.

The Bloody Highway was dangerous, but those measures at least made it functional.

Anne possessed detailed maps of the whole kingdom. They were indispensable for travel, and Emma had always treated them with great care, adding new information as she went to make sure they were always up to date.

Anne could tell from the map of the western provinces that there was a way station nearby. The sun was setting, and she had to hurry to make it there. She somehow managed to arrive before sunset.

The way station was just a square courtyard surrounded by tall stone walls in the middle of a copse of trees. There was no roof. The gate housed an iron door that could be raised and lowered using chains. The overgrown grassy area inside was spacious, with enough room to fit five horse-drawn wagons at night.

In short, travelers could take refuge behind the walls, hiding themselves from bandits and beasts.

Anne parked her wagon in the way station and pulled the iron door closed behind her.

She was understandably exhausted from being jolted around on a wagon for the first time in six months, and she decided to go to bed early.

Anne pulled out two of the leather mats and blankets that she kept stuffed under the seat of the wagon. One set was for her, and she spread that one out beside the wagon. She handed the other set to Challe.

“You can choose where you want to sleep. Lay that out for bedding. And here’s dinner. Sorry it’s not much, but we can’t afford luxury while we’re traveling.”

Next, Anne handed Challe a wooden cup full of grape wine and a single apple.

Dinner was frugal, in consideration of future travel.

Anne wrapped herself up in her blanket and bit into her apple, which she finished in seconds. Flinging the core as far as she could, she downed her wine in one gulp. As the bitter liquid hit her stomach, it immediately transformed into warmth. She felt her ears growing hot as she curled up on her leather mat.

Challe spread his mat out a short distance from Anne and sat down, placing the blanket over his lap. He held his cup of wine in his hand and looked up at the moon.

It was a full moon that night. The silver glow illuminated Challe’s face.

Bathed in moonlight, the fairy’s beauty was enhanced all the more. He had the luster of a precious gem wet with dew.

The translucent wing on his back glimmered with a peaceful, pale-green color.

Unlike the one that had been torn off, the wing on Challe’s back seemed to subtly change color and sheen based on his mood.

I wonder if they’re cold? Or are they warm?

Anne felt an overwhelming desire to touch it.

“Fairies’ wings are so beautiful. Could I touch yours?”

Anne reached out her hand as she asked. When she did, a shudder ran through Challe’s wing, which made a faint sound as it shook. Then it flapped, beating the grass two or three times.

Anne retracted her hand in surprise and saw Challe’s sharp eyes looking her way.

“Don’t touch! You may hold the other, but this one’s mine.”

Challe’s cold rage reminded Anne that she held his other wing hostage and that, to fairies, their wings were as precious as life itself.

“I’m sorry. I… That was thoughtless of me.”

Anne apologized meekly and gripped the strings of the leather bag dangling on her chest.

Fairies’ wings are the source of their life force. They are what hearts are to humans. Anne had another person’s heart in her hands, and she was threatening to crush it if he didn’t follow her orders.

That was what Anne was doing. From a fairy’s perspective, her actions must have seemed entirely monstrous.

Anne sighed softly.

I shouldn’t do things like that.

She wondered if she could get Challe to listen to her requests without resorting to such behavior.

Maybe if I could befriend him? If I did that, there would be no need to order him around.

She wondered if there was any way to get him to cooperate with her requests of his own volition.

“Hey, Challe? I’ve got a proposal,” Anne said, sitting up a bit. “I mentioned it this afternoon, but couldn’t we try to be friends?”

“Are you stupid?”

Challe answered dismissively and turned away.

Anne dejectedly covered her head with her blanket.

I guess it’s impossible right away. But I have a feeling that if I treat him well and with sincerity, he’ll understand in time. Anyway, I wonder what he was thinking about when he was looking up at the moon? His eyes looked so bright…

Anne’s eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.