For several days they traveled with the old servant until they reached the northwestern town of Hegdegrove. It was a place renowned for red wines across half the continent. (The other half swore by a darker, sweeter mix fortified with teaflower honey.)

Andrik let the woman out near breakfast before tossing the princess a packet of dried food. "We aren't stopping here long enough to eat. It's a half-day to the next town, where we've set up camp."

And then he left her alone.

Leena swiped at her watery eyes until a voice spoke up: "I thought they were never going to go away."

Startled, she looked around for a moment, but then realized that the voice was coming from her bag. "Why don't you come out of there and show yourself?"

"It's not that simple. Open the bag and I'll tell you all about it."

Leena frowned, but opened her tapestry bag to pull out the red-gold skull chalice. Before she could reach in, the statue of her dreams crawled out.

It was distorted; there was no way a man that big could come out of that tiny bag. It struggled at the hips, horns brushing the ceiling, before pulling its bare feet free.

The creature of madness sat down next to Leena and pulled the girl under his heavy, marbled arm. The servant wouldn't have done this.

Scrunched up under him, she became aware of his distinct lack of shirt. Thankfully, he had pants of some sort, tattered and stone-stiff. The hand that braced her distant elbow had a broken shackle that scraped her skin with its too-sharp angle.

But this was more contact than she had with her father some days, and it left her feeling uncomfortable. "Could you stop touching me?"

The creature scooted away and hid his laughter behind a cough. "Sorry, the only human I know said it was normal. I'm the Cup of Madness, a creature owned and bound by the one who drinks from the chalice."

She turned to stare at him...and wished she had curtains to hide him with. He was indecently dressed. No one went around the castle shirtless. No one even practiced swordsmanship with that much skin exposed.

What was she to do with him? It was moments like this where she wished she could hide behind her mother, but Nadia was timid in all things save her children's welfare. Would Mama faint at the shirtless statue, or would she slap him for impertinence with her child?

"Why don't you have your clothes on, sir?"

"I was trapped in that cup when I looked like this. Anything more requires a sacrifice. Right now, no one else can see me but you, without a ritual to give me permission."

"Why me?"

"Well, you can see me. I spent nearly two centuries waiting on someone who could." He smiled softly at the child. "And you're going to have to get over the touching thing."

Leena flinched, remembering nightmares and vague memories. "I don't want to."

"Child, I've chosen to allow you to protect me and use me. While I can manifest for you, I am the cup, not this body. You will carry me in my diminutive form on a chain around your neck as my guardian. People fear me. They would break me, and the rot will eat this world until nothing but rot is left."

The girl didn't like how any of that sounded. "Is there another way?"

He sighed, looking concerned. "I could manifest my own form so people could see and protect it myself. But it would take a sacrifice from you. Perhaps your pinky?"

That thought made the girl nauseous, and she barely remembered the breakfast pack the duke had thrown at her. She opened the package and placed a cracker in her mouth. It was too dry for her to eat, almost causing her to dry-heave to clear it out.

He reached over and carefully patted her back, dislodging it. It made a manky mess on the floorboards, too close to looking like a chewed finger for the Princess.

She needed to throw up in earnest, then. Thankfully, she scrambled to the door and tossed it open while the carriage still moved. She splattered the bile in her stomach on the closest horse's leg.

Leena began to wobble until the statue pulled her back in, against his tattered waist. "Don't ever do something so dangerous again!"

The knight she had vomited near leaned towards the carriage and slammed the carriage door shut.

No one stopped to have anyone check on the girl.

"You're truly alone, aren't you, little princess?" The statue settled her into her seat again, but chose to sit across from her this time. He leaned forward, doing his best to put her at eye level. "Your own grandmother wouldn't travel the whole way with you and left you alone with me. You may be betrothed to that young man, but he doesn't care about your welfare at all. I suggest you sacrifice to me so I can stand by your side, Leena of Slavicazoya."

"What grandmother?" she asked. The creature led a conversation of confusion. She had more questions than answers, and there was too much of an adult world to sort. Surely he didn't mean that the dour servant was Queen Nadia's mother.

"The queen is not your mother. You're a bastard princess of no importance, in truth. The people who raised you kicked a small child out to an unforgiving partner, and for what? Because we, together, can rid the world of a blight? Which one am I ending, the rot in the fields or you, child?"

She had not expected the statue to alienate her further, as it was the source of her talent. Innocence cost her deeply when listening to the statue.