The marble floors of her bedroom were cool against her feet as she paced back and forth in front of her window. When she was thinking things over, processing difficult pieces of information, she often did so in her bedroom, barefoot, and with the windows wide open. This way, she could ground herself to prevent any dangerous outbursts like when she was younger. These outbursts often resulted in scorched bedsheets or fire alarms sounding through the whole palace. As she aged, she learned how to control her emotions and funnel her thoughts into one constructive conversation with herself.

You're- you're what? Is that a joke? She'd laughed. Death? Is that a nickname?
He had returned her laugh, but he sounded much more sure of the situation at hand.
Come with me, darling. I've a lot to explain.

"Okay so." She took in a breath, allowing the cool air from the incoming thunderstorm to clear her mind. "You- you actually are Death. Whatever that means for you. And... you've actually been here all my life, protecting me? Whatever that means for me. And the reason you've been doing this is because my mother, while she was pregnant, made a deal with you that you should protect me and grant me some power that I could use to defend myself."

Her hands shook slightly, as though unsure they belonged to her. She let them fall to her sides with a frustrated huff, then resumed pacing. "This is why my mother died when I was born?"

Death was lying back on one of the sofas with his hands folded behind his head and eyes closed. "In a nutshell."

His voice was raspy, but still soft spoken, like if crushed velvet could make a sound. It was also calm and collected, as if this was just another normal day for him.

She shook her head at his carefree attitude and continued to pace. "So I haven't been able to see you until today, but you've been here the whole time?"

There was a sigh. "For the fourth time, yes.'

"But why?"

"Just the way it is, sweetheart."

She groaned with confusion and frustration. None of this made any sense. Even if it were to make sense, what was she wanting to hear? What exactly was she trying to understand- to figure out? She stopped pacing and turned to face him.

"Mr.- um- Death, sir?"

"Don't call me that."

"Don't get me wrong here. I really do appreciate your protection, and... I guess for giving me this power, but... I'm just a bit confused."

"Yeah no, I think I've got that."

She ignored his remarks and continued to speak. She was patient. Kind. A perfect princess with perfect poise. He would not ruin that.

"What I'm getting at is, why exactly have you returned, now?"

Death sighed, shifting his posture and sat up with a casual yet focused air, as though preparing to explain something tedious to a child. Sitting down he looked much less intimidating. He had a thinner frame, but packed a decent amount of muscle tone on his upper half. She could tell when he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, that the material of his coat clung to his shoulders.

"Now we're getting somewhere new," he let the corner of his mouth twitch into a grin as if he were impressed she made it this far. "Technically, I can see what you're doing whenever I'd like. Pop in, come and go, whenever I please, as I've been doing. However, I'm required to stay with you through your entire birth month. This way, when you turn twenty-one and your powers are fully developed, I am there to help you manage them. Then you're free and fully capable of protecting yourself."

The princess listened intently, her body still except for her wringing hands. Something she often did when she was trying to focus.
After a moment she spoke again. "Okay. Okay, I understand," her voice was softer as things started to- sort of- line up.

There was a brief moment of silence in which the man before her was likely anticipating another round of questions, but a knock sounded at her door causing her to jump.

"Who is it?" She straightened out her dress, and wiped away the modge-podge of feelings that was surely painted all over her face.

"It's me Kal, is everything okay?" Her brother. Thank goodness. Just who she wanted t0- needed to see. Someone to talk this through with.

Her tense posture softened, letting out a long breath, hands unclenching. She strode to the door almost immediately. "Elliot," she opened the door to let him in. "Oh am I glad to see you. I-"

"Who are you talking to?" The young man's eyes swept the room as he walked in, and a look of both panic and concern took over his features as he looked back at her, "Are you alright? You left the trial so suddenly, and you looked terrified. What's going on?"

By the time he finished speaking he had stepped closer to her and took her hands in his. This was a habit he'd developed as their family learned to deal with Kali's ability. He'd told her that this way he could tell when she was close to 'an incident' because the temperature of her hands would rise before it happened.

Once, her hands had burned him- an uncontrolled burst of heat escaped that left his palms raw and blistered. He had recoiled, but returned to her side moments later, his arms wrapping around her trembling frame instead. After a while, he learned to endure it, or perhaps she learned to pull back just in time. Either way, the habit remained, a silent promise that no matter how dangerous things became, he would be there for her.

Her eyes dropped to their hands, the contact grounding her as she fought to keep her composure and arrange her words in a way that she wouldn't sound out of her mind, "I- yes, I'm okay. Sorry.'" She shook her hands out of his grasp and clasped them in front of her.
His eyes, a warm hazelnut brown, searched for her own, "Kali, please. You can tell me anything, you know that. Is it about mom? Because if it is I can promise you-"

She could feel the heat rising in her chest, crawling up her throat, threatening to burst out in a scream. She opened her mouth to speak, but it all spilled out in a rush, her fists clenching at her sides.

"Why does everyone think every time I'm unhappy it's because of a woman I've never even met?" Kali let out. She inhaled deeply, pushing the lump in her throat down before exhaling slowly, trying to calm the storm inside her. "I'm sorry. It's just- It's a long, quite confusing and quite unbelievable story. I just don't want you to think I've lost it because I honestly already think that myself."

Her eyes finally rose to his as she finished speaking, and immediately she started to feel better. Her brother was probably her favorite person in the world. He was always there for her, and everything about him was just so naturally calming. If one of those big, warm, everything's-gonna-be-okay hugs was a person, it would be Elliot.

His cautious aura diminished, replaced with a smile full of compassion. "Okay. Alright, well, what do you say if after dinner we go for a walk in the garden. You tell me everything you want, no matter how crazy. I'll try my best to understand. And if I can, I'll try to help you, but if not, it'll at least be something we can worry about together, rather than you worrying all by yourself. Deal?" He spoke to her like he could give her the world if he could, and she believed he would.

She nodded as a smile made its way onto her face, "Yes, yes that sounds nice, actually. Thank you."

He returned her smile, clearly relieved with her compliance, "Good, then I'll see you at dinner." He started toward the door and gave her one last glance, "You were wonderful today, mother would be proud. Whatever this is, you're surely capable of getting through it, and I'll always be here to help."

"I know." Her smile widened. She felt so much better that she almost forgot what she had been so worked up about. Almost. That was until the bedroom doors had closed, and she was by herself again.

Well, sort of.

"That," the man stood from the sofa and faced Kali's back, crossing his arms over his chest. His tone was full of mockery, "was probably just the cutest thing I have ever seen."