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Yunaka was on edge.
This wasn’t unusual for her; though she’d left the life of an assassin behind, the traits of an assassin would always remain with her, a cold hand on her shoulder reminding her to always look behind her.
She looked behind her.
“Oh!” she squeaked, hand hovering at her side where her dagger was tucked away. “... Prince Alfred! What a pleasant surprise!”
It wasn’t like the prince was known for being a particularly quiet walker, so Yunaka had no idea how he managed to sneak up on her, unless she’d been deeper in thought than she was willing to admit to. Maybe she was losing her edge?
“Ah, Yunaka. I’m sorry if I startled you,” Alfred responded, eyes fixed on her hand.
Yunaka followed his gaze, and hastily propped that hand on her hip instead of allowing it to hover in such an obviously dangerous way.
“Nope, nopers, not at all!” she said with a grin. “What can I do for you, Mister Prince?”
Alfred looked a little bemused, as he tended to after spending, at minimum, about three minutes in her company. Still, he carried on far-too-comfortably. “I was wondering if you’d do me a favor. Cèline would like to head down to Lille, in Firene. Would you accompany her?”
Yunaka blinked at him blankly. “Your sister…?”
“Yes, Cèline. My sister.”
“You want someone like me to escort your sister?” Yunaka asked again, just in case he didn’t hear her the first time. True, she was hiding her true nature from the army as a whole, but still, talented an actress as she was, surely it was obvious that trusting her with younger siblings was a foolish thing to do.
“I don’t really know what you mean by “someone like you”,” Alfred responds, musingly. “But yes, that about sums it up. Do you mind?”
And wasn’t that just part of the pickle that Yunaka had found herself in? She knew that she was an untrustworthy scoundrel, a human being who had enough blood on her hands to paint a canvas with her sins. But Alfred didn’t know that, and now she was torn on whether or not to tell him. It would blow her entire cover. It would probably even ruin her attempts to better herself, because surely he would demand she leave the army after that.
Being a better person would probably involve telling him the truth. Certainly, it wouldn’t involve escorting his sweet sister, the princess of Firene. But the army here was warm, Alear was kind, and Yunaka wasn’t ready to give all of that up.
Make a clever excuse , she told herself. Just one excuse as to why you can’t do it.
“Sure thing, Princey!” her mouth traitorously said. “I’ve been meaning to see more of Firene anyway!”
He grinned at her, blindingly pleased. Oof. She was worse off in this place than she thought. It was probably time to start reconsidering if this was a place she could really stay, lest she taint more and more of the legitimately good people here with her company.
–--
“This place is named Lille,” Cèline informed Yunaka, and her princessly poise couldn’t hide her excitement. “I know it is rather frivolous, but the town is known for its incredible markets at this time of year. I simply could not miss it!”
Yunaka nodded in response, cataloging the colorful mass of people moving to and fro, from booth to booth. She could see why Alfred had wanted an escort. This would be the perfect place for an assassination.
If Yunaka was planning to kill the princess of Firene, she could commit the crime and meld into the crowd before a single person ever saw her.
What she said, instead of that, was, “Wowee! It’s so colorful!”
“Is it not wonderful?” Cèline beamed with the pride of a princess who truly cares about her country and all of its accomplishments. Yunaka wasn’t really sure what that sort of pride would feel like, and in a strange sort of way, it made her feel uncomfortable. So she changed the subject.
“Are we here to look for something in particular?”
“Hmmm…” Cèline considered that, placing a delicate hand to her cheek and tilting her head. “In a sense, yes, but if you are asking if I have a list of items to pick up… then no.”
Yunaka blinked. “Is that supposed to be some sort of riddle?”
“Well, no… not exactly.”
This sort of wishy-washy language was unusual from what little time Yunaka had spent in Cèline’s company; the princess had always seemed forthright and determined, certain of what she wanted in every situation. She shifted her honestly puzzled gaze to Cèline, only to find her shuffling in place almost guiltily.
Yunaka knew the signs of guilt better than anything, and her eyes narrowed a little in suspicion.
And then Cèline sighed, covering her face with both hands. “I simply cannot take keeping this a secret any longer! I am truly sorry, Yunaka… to be honest, I requested that Alfred ask you to come with me.”
Was this the moment? Yunaka couldn’t help but ask herself, even as she stared at Cèline, shock quickly morphing into resignation. Had Cèline figured her out? Was this the moment the princess, delicate and yet unwilling to accept unnecessary threats to her kingdom, told her to never come back to the Somniel?
Cèline met her eyes firmly, and then blindsided her. “I had hoped you would accompany me so that we could pick something out for you.”
She paused, clearly waiting for Yunaka’s response. Eloquently, she managed a confused, “... Huh?”
“You always seem to be on the edges of the Somniel, and when we are traveling, you keep to yourself…” Cèline tilted her head, lips pursing. “I was afraid that someone as shy as you might be feeling lonely. Please, consider this an overture of friendship!”
Here Yunaka was again, blindsided, confused, staring at someone who was far friendlier than the situation warranted. Here Yunaka was again, confronted with the fact that the people in this army were better than she could ever hope to be.
Here Yunaka was again, unable to pull away from that warmth, even as she knew she didn’t deserve it.
“I… I see…!” she managed, stumbling over her words, mind racing a thousand miles a minute. “That’s… so kind of you, Princess Cèline! I–hadn’t realized that my shyness was so obvious, ha… ha ha!”
Cèline simply reached for her hand, taking it in her own and tugging her towards the stalls. “I am simply determined to find something you really like. We have much to look at and only so much time, so let us begin.”
Swept up in the princess’s tempo, Yunaka followed, eyes fixed on the hand tugging at her own gently, warmly, towards a festival.
She didn’t pull away.
–--
Yunaka’s fingers brushed against the clip in her hair, and then yanked her hand away with a frown. It was quickly becoming a tic to do so ever since the festival, as if reminding herself that it was, in fact, still there.
As if she needed to remind herself of Celine’s joy when she found it and gifted it to Yunaka.
( “The colors do so bring out your eyes!” the princess had said. “And the flowers represent ‘hope’.” )
She dragged in a deep breath, hands resolutely at her sides, and turned to spend some time at the training grounds. That would clear her head, and help strengthen her rapidly wavering resolution to spend less time around these kind people, not more.
“Aha!” exclaimed a voice from behind her, but Yunaka could place it as Amber’s immediately, and didn’t concern herself with it. Amber was always yelling, ever since he’d arrived at the Somniel.
So she kept walking, shaking her head to herself a little. It really was always so noisy here–
“I said ‘aha’!” Amber said, a little more urgently.
“Hm?” It finally struck Yunaka that there was nobody else around that Amber could be calling out to, which meant… she grimaced, before she plastered on a smile and turned to look at him. “Gooood harvest moon afternoon!”
Amber trotted up to her, wheezing. “Good! Great. I’ve been looking for you, I–”
There was a beat as his brain caught up to her greeting, and he blinked. Good. Now he was off-guard instead of her, just as she preferred. Still, this was Amber; he shook that off surprisingly quickly, beaming at her.
“I’ve heard you’ve got really sharp eyes and an amazing attention to detail.”
The first thing Yunaka felt was a crawling sort of dread, the same thing she felt every single time she had to confront the fact that people were perceiving her and gossiping about her. Those words are harmless, of course, but what if people came together and through talking, realized just how shady she was–?
(Yunaka wasn’t sure she was ready to leave, not now, not after getting to know so many warm human beings.)
Oh, wait. She needed to respond before the silence dragged too long. “Uh–yep! That’s me. I’ve got the sharpest eyes on the… well, floating, mysterious island!”
“Great! Fantastic, excellent,” Amber said, still breathless. He paused again, hands on his hips as he dragged in deep breaths.
“Soooo…” Without knowing what he wanted, Yunaka had absolutely no way of gauging how long it was going to take to escape this social interaction.
“Right! So.” Amber grinned at her, apparently completely undaunted by her skeptical expression. “Apparently, there’s this legend that at the very top of the highest tower of the Somniel, there’s a mythical item that will grant the bearer unfathomable strength!”
“You don’t say,” Yunaka said.
“With your keen eyesight, if we get you high enough up there… maybe you’ll be able to sneak a peek and let me know if it’s there?” The hopefulness in Amber’s tone was undaunted by the blandness in Yunaka’s.
She considered this.
“What kind of item?”
Amber’s grin was unchanging. “No idea! The text didn’t mention, exactly.”
Yunaka’s eyebrows arched further. “And it wouldn’t be blown off by being so high up there?”
“It’s legendary, after all!” Amber responded, as if that explained anything.
Inwardly, Yunaka sighed, but it was very clear she wasn’t getting out of this one now–not with the hopeful stare that Amber had leveled her way, and the excitement that was practically rolling off of him in waves.
“Sounds like fun!” Yunaka said, meaning absolutely zero of those words.
–--
A shenanigans-filled experience later, all Amber and Yunaka had to show for their efforts was the knowledge that the top of the highest tower of the Somniel was home to a few very daring birds and their nest, filled with chicks, and a very long dressing down from Vander about being peeping toms around Alear’s bedroom.
It wasn’t that Yunaka didn’t know Alear’s room was up there, of course, and it isn’t as though she wouldn’t sneak a peek any other time, but she found it deeply unfair that she was being scolded the one time she hadn’t actually been up to no good.
Still, despite his disappointment at the lack of legendary items, Amber was in good spirits when he thanked her effusively for her efforts, proclaiming that he would definitely seek her out the next time he needed a partner in Legendary Item Hunting.
“Zappy!” Yunaka said in response, desperately looking for an escape route.
Blessedly, one presented itself when Amber realized he’d promised Jade a spar at least half an hour prior; Yunaka waved him off weakly as he scrambled away, and then she sighed, shoulders slumping. Her hand was still warm where he’d taken it between his as he’d thanked her, and… she just couldn’t understand. How could everyone here reach out so easily, so friendly and warm and genuine? The whole thing had obviously been a fool’s errand from the start, but… it had been fun in its own way, and the chicks had been very cute.
“They’re kind, aren’t they?” Panette asked from beside her, and Yunaka looked at her sidelong.
Like, Yunaka knew, recognized like, and so Panette put her on edge more than anyone else in this ragtag army. Panette, for all of her charming good manners and kindness, had blood on her hands. Panette knew how cruel the streets could be.
But she looked merely thoughtful as she looked off in the direction Amber had gone, and there wasn’t any sharpness in her gaze when she met Yunaka’s eyes.
“Isn’t everyone?” Yunaka asked, aiming for jovial and airheaded. She knew she missed the mark when she heard her own tone, cringing a bit at how fake she sounded.
Panette, mercifully, didn’t call her out. “Most certainly not. In fact, I would say that kindness is a rarity in this world, and certainly unusual to find in this frequency in one place.”
Perhaps, if only for a moment, Yunaka could let her guard down–just a little. Perhaps it would be worth it, if only to try to understand .
So she was frank when she asked, “How do you put up with it?”
Panette folded her hands before her, prim and proper, and smiled. “With their kindness, even though I know I do not deserve it, you mean?”
That was a little more of a deep cut than Yunaka was ready to agree to, but Panette didn’t seem to need her acknowledgement.
“I suppose… I remember that kindness is a choice they make,” she says simply. “All of them–my lady, the Divine Dragon, and all of the others here. If they are strong enough to make that choice, then… well, they are certainly more than strong enough to handle the both of us at our worst, aren’t they?”
Panette, once again, did not wait for her response. Instead, she turned neatly on her heel and left–tossing over her shoulder a simple, “By the by… you are invited on our next camping trip. Do consider it, won’t you?”
Yunaka stared after her for a long moment, but Panette did not look back.
And, slowly, she smiled a little to herself, and didn’t worry about who might see.