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When Pandoria woke up from her nap, Zeke was gone.
He had been snuggling her when she fell asleep, so her first reaction was to be annoyed that she was no longer in her prince’s arms. But, she decided, it was no big deal. He’d promised that they would get dinner together that evening, just the two of them, so it wasn’t like he had abandoned her completely.
Besides, she reasoned as she sat up, she was a grown woman. She could live without her Driver for a few minutes. Yes, she was going to sit right here and wait for him to come back to escort her to their dinner date.
And when he did, he would no doubt ask her if she’d missed him, and she would tell him that she had not, and his reaction was going to be hilarious. Definitely worth waiting for.
After a quick stretch, Pandoria crossed her arms, her spine straight, and stared resolutely at the door.
She was so independent. She was strong. She was… bored.
She was going to go look for him.
On her way down the inn hallway, she ran into Pyra, who was carrying a tray with several bowls of stew on it.
“Oh, hello, Pandoria,” Pyra greeted her. “Did you have a restful nap?”
“Sure,” Pandoria said, trying not to drool at the smells coming from Pyra’s stew. “Have you seen my prince?”
Pyra shook her head. “Sorry. I’ve been in the kitchen for the last hour. You might ask the others. Speaking of which, I should really take this to them. There’s plenty, if you’d like some.”
Pandoria’s stomach growled. “No thanks,” she said, dragging her eyes away from the food. “I’m going out with Zeke. If I can find him, of course.”
“Good luck,” Pyra said. She turned and gracefully carried the tray down the hall to the dining room.
Pandoria followed her to find the rest of their group crowded around one of Anastatia’s tables. “Have any of you seen Zeke?”
She received a flurry of shrugs and murmurs. “I think he left about half an hour ago,” Rex volunteered around a mouthful of stew.
“Thanks,” Pandoria sighed. She headed right for the door.
The Soprac Old Market was buzzing -- well, as much as it could buzz -- that time of day. Most of the locals were stopping by on their ways to their respective homes, milling about in search of groceries for dinner. Pandoria grilled each shopkeeper in turn, but none of them had seen the crown prince around lately. Frustrated, she stomped down the stairs to the rear gate.
The one guard on duty today was slumped against the inner wall.
“Hey!” Pandoria barked.
He straightened up with a sharp snore. “Sir! Uh… ma’am,” he amended when he saw who had woken him.
“Have you seen Zeke lately?” she demanded.
The guard rubbed a hand against his mask. “Who?”
Pandoria tapped her foot impatiently. “The crown prince,” she growled.
“Oh,” he yawned. “Yeah, he came through here a while ago.”
“He went out there?” she asked, pointing. “By himself?”
The guard nodded, sagging against the wall again.
“What an idiot,” she muttered, storming past him.
She took her own post outside the gate, staring stonily down the path toward the crossroads. As soon as Zeke came up the path, she was going to give him such an earful.
“I mean, what is he even thinking?” she snapped to herself. “Going out on his own at this time of day… It’s stupid, that’s what it is. It’s a stupid idea.”
She puffed out her cheeks, narrowing her eyes at the path. Her shoulders buzzed and flickered. The air around her head crackled with static.
She had too much energy. She needed to move. She needed to talk.
And seeing as how there was no one to talk to, she would just have to keep talking to herself.
Pandoria pushed herself off the wall and crossed in front of the gate once. “I can’t believe this.” She crossed back again. “He’s so irresponsible. Why would he go out at a time like this? What on Alrest got into that thick head of his?” She stared at the snow at her feet as she paced. “And so close to our dinner date, too. Oh, I am so not letting him forget this. As soon as he gets back…”
She paused, turning to look down the path again. He would get back any minute.
Aaaaaany minute.
“Okay, he’s stupid, but he’s not that stupid,” she huffed. “What is he thinking? It’s getting late, and it’s cold, and it could get foggy at any minute. And he knows what happens when it gets foggy…” She bit her lip, staring intently at the path, willing her prince to crest the hill.
He didn’t come.
Her insides buzzed.
What if he was lost? What if he was stuck in a snowbank somewhere? What if he was kidnapped by Tirkin and being slowly roasted over a spit?
What if the fog did come in, and he was all alone, and she wasn’t there to help him navigate or fight off the monsters?
What was she doing, standing around here when her prince needed her?
“I’m coming, my prince,” Pandoria gasped.
She lurched forward, racing down the hill, her ankles shifting in the loose snow. Her every nerve felt over-charged and her hair stood on end. She had to find him. She had to. What would she do without him? How could she forgive herself if he got hurt, or worse, because she wasn’t there to protect him?
She veered left at Amphoret Pillar and lost her footing, sprawling face-first in the snow. Seconds later she was up and running again, hastily wiping her lenses on her shorts, scrubbing the snow away from her face with the heel of her palm.
She couldn’t afford to waste a second. Not when her prince needed her.
-----
The guard found it much easier to sleep when there weren’t any Blades ranting and pacing outside the gate.
The prince’s Blade had run off just under an hour ago, and the prince himself hadn’t been back since she’d left. It occurred to the guard that he should probably tell someone that they were missing, but if the Blade had found the prince already, they should be alright by themselves.
Besides, he reflected, he was far too comfortable right here, where it was quiet and sheltered and so easy to doze off…
“Ahoy, chum!”
The guard jolted awake as a hand clapped onto his shoulder. He looked up to see the prince’s impressive frame towering over him. “Oh, you’re back,” he remarked, stifling a yawn.
“I’m back,” Zeke echoed with a winning smile. “And just in time, by the looks of it. It’s starting to get a bit hazy out there.”
“Glad to hear it,” the guard murmured, settling against the wall again.
“And you’ll also be glad to hear that my trip into the wilderness was not spent in vain. Behold!” With a wave of his arm, Zeke brandished a bouquet of flowers. “Bellflower Crystals and Melancholy Roses. It took me longer than expected to gather them, but when Pandy looks upon their pale beauty, she’ll undoubtedly forgive me for being late for our date.” Clutching the flowers proudly in both hands, he turned triumphantly toward the stairs.
“Oh yeah,” the guard piped up, stretching, “did that Blade find you?”
Zeke froze mid-march. “What?”
The guard waved his hand absently. “You know, your Blade, with all the funny lights. Went out there almost an hour ago looking for you. You didn’t see her on your way back up?” He looked up when he didn’t hear a response. “Highness?”
The prince was nowhere to be seen. The only indication that he had been there was a pile of flowers limply scattered at the foot of the stairs.
-----
If there was one good thing about this situation, Pandoria decided, it was that Tantal didn’t get much darker at night.
Not that it really mattered, since everything else about the situation sucked.
The first hour of her search had been frantic and fruitless. She ran into some monsters here and there, but a few good shocks usually sent them running.
Of course, that was before the fog had rolled in.
Once the ether haze settled across the greater part of Tantal, she began to struggle. For the past half hour, she had been dealing with general confusion as her glasses continually fogged up, and she had two close calls with the stronger monsters that liked to prowl around in the mist.
It was one of these that she found herself hiding from now.
The beast had taken notice of her near the central ether boulder and began to follow her at a distance. She managed to take cover behind a partially crumbled brick wall several yards from Lumos Pillar, but the animal seemed determined to search for her and possibly snack on her.
After waiting for a few minutes, Pandoria felt brave enough to glance over the top of the wall. She removed her hat to prevent drawing unwanted attention and took a peek. The monster was still there.
The good news was that it was only an Obri Aligo and not anything really nasty like a Squood. The bad news was that the Aligo was currently blocking off her most direct route to Lumos Pillar, her only hope of climbing back up toward Theosoir.
What she needed was a daring plan of escape.
For the thousandth time, she wished Zeke were with her.
All she wanted was to see him, to touch him, to make sure he was okay, and then yell at him for running off on his own. But he wasn’t there, so she couldn’t do any of those things.
She tried not to think too hard about how much longer he’d been out here than she had. As cold, hungry, and tired as she was, he was probably colder, hungrier, and more tired. And on top of that, he could also be hurt or hiding from his own fearsome monster. He could be scared and lonely.
He could be dead.
Pandoria’s breath hitched in her throat. She could hardly remember being so afraid of anything in her life.
Loving Zeke was selfish. He’d stolen her heart, and so in turn she had stolen Tantal’s only hope for an heir, and by going wherever Zeke went, she was taking the nation’s control of their Titan as well.
Sometimes she felt bad for the people.
But most of the time she thought, screw them.
She was a person, and she deserved to be as happy as any other person on Alrest. So did Zeke. So they let themselves be selfish.
Pandoria peered over the wall to check on her pursuer, and her heart sank into her stomach. The Aligo had managed to attract the attention of two others, who were now snuffling around in the snow banks nearby.
She slid back down behind the wall, drumming her fingers against her thighs. With only one Aligo, she might have been able to distract it and run off, but she didn’t stand a chance against three.
She could wait behind the wall, but the monsters were bound to discover her at any minute. Meanwhile, her prince could be passed out in a ditch somewhere and slowly freezing to death and why oh why did he have to run off without her?
Panic crawled up her chest and she clenched her jaw. She had to get out of here. Now. Her mind raced as she tried to formulate a plan.
Okay, step one: jump out from behind the wall. Step two: summon a blinding lightning bolt. Step three: use the time in which they are stunned to get the heck out of there.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. On the count of three, she would go for it.
One.
Two.
“Pandy!”
Pandoria opened her eyes. “My prince?” she whispered.
She rose to her knees and peeked over the wall again. The Aligos were poking around several feet from her hiding spot. Beyond that, she could see nothing but thick green ether mist drifting sluggishly across the snowy landscape.
Her heart pounded. Had she imagined it? Was her desperation to see him so strong that she was now hearing his voice when he wasn’t there?
“Pandoria!” The voice was closer this time.
“Zeke,” she tried to yell back, but all she could manage was a sad whimper.
One Aligo turned its head toward her hiding spot. Pandoria froze, staring as it began to lumber toward her.
Then her prince emerged from the fog, limping.
He stopped short when he saw the Aligos, clenching his jaw as he regarded them. “Hello,” he said. “You haven’t happened to see my Pandy anywhere, have you?”
The Aligo that had nearly found her turned at the sound of his voice. The other two began to shuffle toward him.
“Don’t feel like talking, eh?” Slowly, Zeke dragged the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher from its sheath. “I suppose I’ll just have to smite you then.” The tone he used was a sad shadow of his usual pompous lilt.
The Aligos stopped short, their beady eyes glittering at the weapon. After a brief pause, one of them began loping towards him. The other followed shortly after.
Zeke rolled his shoulders back and lifted the sword half-heartedly. He slashed at the Aligo’s face as it reached him, stumbling back from the impact. The other Aligo swung at him, knocking him over.
Pandoria jolted to life as her prince hit the ground. Fueled by a rush of adrenaline, she leaped over the wall and dashed madly for him, yelling at the top of her lungs.
All three Aligos turned as she advanced. She tossed a shock of electricity at the first one and nimbly ducked between the other two, sending a zap at their faces as she passed them.
She slid to a stop next to Zeke, who was struggling to sit up, his fist clenched around the Dreamsmasher’s hilt. Its blade crackled with energy in response to her proximity.
“Come on,” she gasped, hauling him up by the arm.
“Pandy,” he grunted as he rose.
“Don’t talk,” she ordered him. “Let’s just get out of here.”
“Look out,” he groaned, and stepped in front of her, raising the Dreamsmasher to block an Aligo as it swiped its claws down at them. A streak of lightning leaped from its blade, throwing the monster back.
The second Aligo came growling towards them. Pandoria sent a wave of energy at Zeke’s sword as he swung it down at the beast. The monster twitched under the force of the shock it received.
The third Aligo joined the party just in time for Pandoria to thrust an arc of lightning at it from both her hands. It jumped back, whimpering, and slithered off. The other two prowled around them for a moment before joining their friend.
Panting, Zeke finally turned to her.
She stood there, shaking, and looked at him.
His coat had a new tear in its shoulder and two of his belts had snapped. His hair was a snow-filled mess. He was here. He was okay. She had found him.
She clenched her teeth as her eyes filled with tears. She bowed her head, closing her eyes tightly, and took a deep breath. “What,” she began, fighting against the tremble in her voice, “were you thinking?”
He didn’t respond immediately, so she lifted her head to glare at him through her tears.
“Do you have any idea how worried I have been for the past few hours?” she went on. “Why in the Architect’s name would you even think to come out here alone, without telling anyone where you were going? What was I supposed to do if you got hurt, or… or if you died?”
Zeke simply stared at her as she spoke, watching as she angrily swiped tears from her face. After a moment, he loosened his grip on his sword, which fell to the snow with a dull thud. He took a slow step forward, and then another.
Pandoria fell silent as he stumbled toward her. She stepped forward, half afraid he might pass out. “My prince?”
He closed the remaining distance between them and dug his fingers into her hair, kissing her softly, but with a hunger that told her he had been just as afraid as she had.
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her anger forgotten. All she felt now was complete relief and a need to never let go of him ever again.
Zeke pressed his hand to the small of her back, pulling her close to him, and she tightened her hold on him, kissing him harder. He stumbled backward and she let go.
“Oh, my prince,” she gasped, “I’m so sorry! You must be exhausted.”
“I’m not that winded,” he said with a sly grin, pulling her in again.
Pandoria stepped back, taking hold of his arm. “You’re not in the best shape I’ve seen.”
“Hey,” he protested weakly, even as he allowed her to pull his arm across her shoulders. “I assure you, I am just as… just as debonair as ever…”
“Just hold onto me,” she said, pulling him resolutely toward Lumos Pillar. “What were you doing out here, anyway?”
Her prince murmured something unintelligible into her hair.
Pandy wrinkled her nose. “Say again?”
“Flowers,” he sighed, leaning into her.
She shook her head, smiling, as she took another step toward safety.