This Is What It's Like To Be Lovers [ON HOLD]

16: To Die By Your Side

• There is a light that never goes out by The Smiths •

"Love," she called out to Avento, who had started to sift through the book he had come back for. "I'll go into the woods to do some training, okay? Stay here, don't go wandering about. I'll come back and make lunch."

Lari started to collect her equipment from near her makeshift bed, but two words from the child stopped her in her tracks. "Don't go," he murmured, but loud enough to be heard across the room.

The Princess turned to him and asked, with a quizzical expression, "why, love? Are you okay? Do you want me to make you something else to eat?"

The boy shook his head, his eyes still not leaving the book. "Then , is it okay if I go, train for a while?" Lari asked, and he shook his head again.

She moved towards him and sat down on the floor in front of his socked feet. "Are you scared of being alone at home?" She asked again, but in a more welcoming tone, in case his words sought refuge in her compassion. "Do you want to come with me and sit near the stream while I do exercises?"

After a few moments of thinking, Avento nodded. More to himself, than to Larimar. "Okay, let's go then." She stood up and produced a hand out for him.

Quietly, but firmly, the Princess led the young boy across the bridge over the stream. The water below them was clear as always, frothy from running too quickly over weathered rocks, and aquatic flora. Avento pulled the fronts of his woolen jacket closer as they hopped off the bridge, towards the forest.

"Avento," Lari called out when she reached a favorable spot. "Come, sit here." She patted on a rock that had a flat top surface, and the boy walked up to it and took a seat.

Having made sure the boy was seated and safe, the Princess started her practice. She bent and flexed, stretched and pulled, jumped and squatted, till she felt enough warmed up. She was about to pick up her bow and quiver, when a rustle from beyond some bushes startled her.

At first, she paid no heed to it, considering it a rabbit, or a similar small wild animal. But when a distant neigh came from further inside the woods, her grip tightened around her bow's body. She looked back at where the child was still safely seated and drew an arrow from her quiver. "Show yourself," she said, mustering all the courage she could find.

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"Danger," Jade heard the tricolored feline declare.

She had plopped herself on her mattress as soon as she had walked in, forgetting or maybe not caring about breakfast or even a bath. She was upset.

Jade had, for the last two weeks, told Lari, Citra, her friends and herself that she didn't expect Larimar to become fond of her or have any sort of attachment towards her. She was ready to surrender herself if that meant happiness and safety for the Princess.

Then why was she so bothered by Larimar speaking to a boy she had been involved with prior to their meeting each other? Was she bothered because Lari kept a secret, or was this just jealousy?

"Lari," Missy purred again, desperate to get the young Queen's attention.

Danger. She repeated, when Jade picked her head up to the sound. Her eyebrows were crooked in an attempt to understand the cat's messages.

"What?" She questioned, as if expecting an answer from the cat. Missy replied only by sprinting to the main door and then back to her, beckoning her to get on her feet.

"Lari is in danger?" The redhead asked, springing up from her position.

Jade quickly grabbed her stray sword, and ran out of the house. The cat followed her trail as Jade sprinted through the fields, leaving a trail of dust with every step. Panic rose in her throat like bile.