Sienna! A voice tugs at me but I am suddenly feeling everything again. And I have forgotten it.

It's dark but not entirely. In that darkness, small lights flicker on and off accompanied by an incessant beeping. Sweat blurs my eyes and I get the nauseating sensation that something is really wrong. I register a burning pain above my eyebrow. My stomach feels weird, and my heart is thumping erratically. I am on the ground and yet I am falling.

Panic turns me cold as I realize what's happening.

I struggle to my feet and scramble to a lever. It takes all my arm strength and bracing my feet on the wall to pull it back. The feeling is relieved. The faux dragon pulls back into the sky. I heard them when I was falling, people screaming and running as I got close to the ground.

I've been tossed around this metal can ever since the airship started rumbling. The mechanical dragon made it further than I thought it would.

After taking off, I had quickly realized everything wrong with this prototype. I knew from the start I was on borrowed time, but I had to get far away from Maru. And with no navigation and limited visual, I was literally flying blind. And it was definitely not a one-person job.

Then the pressure in the pipes suddenly peaked and a loose bolt shot out and hit me upside the head. I wondered if it was a bruise or a cut. The stinging was making me think cut. I was incredibly lucky to have woken up before crashing into the ground.

But now I was in trouble; everything was malfunctioning, my vision was in doubles and to top it off, I was stuck in this disadvantageous position whilst the steering was free to jolt about. I couldn't do anything about that though. The only thing I could focus on was keeping this lever held back so I would not crash into the unfortunate town I was evidently hovering over. The rotary pin that held the pilot steady must have fallen out or gave way.

There has to be a way out of this. Panic was spreading but I couldn't let it freeze me. The water reservoir was running low. And from the smell of it... the boiler was overheating.

Reverting the power to the thrusters will plunge me to my death if I let go of this lever. Maybe if I reposition the motor and the wings and simultaneously reverted the power, then I could get lucky and catch a wind current that will blow the ship away from civilians. If I could find something to hold this lever and if I could grow an extra set of arms...

Something huge hit the ship causing me to hit my head hard and lose conscience. A hurricane of flames rushing at me was the last thing I remembered.

Another blackout.

A wave of images and emotions flash around me revolving around the girl with flawless, ivory skin and iridescent eyes the same color as a spring leaf illuminated by the sun.

Glinn was wrong. There are angels in Alderias.

I had passed out again but I felt safe because she was there.

Her manifesting after I was interrogated in that medieval dungeon confirmed that she had to be a benevolent spirit. The way she looked at me, I haven't had someone to look like they cared for me in a long time. I let my guard down then I found out she was a princess. Those feelings of betrayal surged in me. Was her concern for me fake?

The anger cooled as the image shifted to her face scrunched up as she concentrated on breaking flower stems over her fingers. Her laughter filled up a void I had wanted to remain vacant. That hole seemed to be overflowing by the time her pleading eyes connected with mine right before she fell into the river, my name the last word she would ever say.

Dammit!

Sienna!

Sienna... Sienna!

His voice is getting louder until it's right in my ears.

"Sienna! Sienna! Can you hear me? C'mon! I need you to breathe right now!" He half dragged my limp body out of the river. I felt him shake me hard. His fingers trailed up along my neck searching for a pulse.

I saw myself through his eyes: dark wet strands of hair stuck to my cheeks, skin paler than the bright moon's light, lips and fingertips a dusky blue. Tallis was shaking from the cold but his panic kept him from feeling it.

I watched mortified as he suddenly pressed down on my chest, a popping sound splinted the air as my ribs cracked under the pressure.

My vision began darkening. Am I losing consciousness in my own conscious? Is that even possible?

Then just as I thought I would never be again, a light blue light shined in the darkness. I heard a chorus of voices chanting in unison in a twisted language. The omniscient light healed me, and my chest was no longer hurting.

I opened my eyes. The water droplets that clung to the tips of his hair looked like little diamonds. His gray eyes widened. I turned my head to find that the moss I was lying on was glowing like the night flowers and on my chest was the blue amulet I distinctly remember throwing away. Zeph who stood behind Tallis had the same stupefied look on his face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We thought... I thought you were..." Tallis's voice broke and he hid it in a cough before stumbling back on the ground flinging the diamonds to the ground. He rested his elbow on a raised knee and his face in his palm.

"Aislei has saved you," Zeph said lowering himself to the ground, bowing his head and whispering his thanks.

"Really? But how--why? Tallis?" I looked to him and realize he was avoiding looking in my direction. "Tallis, I'm okay..."

I felt more than okay. I felt like I could run for miles.

"Yeah... I mean I know. But just a minute ago... you were... you looked dead. You were cold, blue, and there was no pulse! And now you are 'okay'." I reached out to him instinctively, but he jumped to his feet. "It just doesn't make sense. Sorry... I just need a minute. And we need to build a fire, or we are going to get sick. I'll get some wood to burn." He stalked off taking a whole lot of anxiety with him.

I cautiously got up on my feet testing out my legs. Looking back towards the river, reality suddenly felt more dream-like than whatever world I had just left.

"Zeph, what happened after I fell in the river? It feels so surreal as if years have passed..."

"No, Princess, just a few moments that felt like so. We pulled at the rope as Master Gray had commanded. But only he came out. You must have let go. Honestly, it was surprising he held on at all. It takes a great deal of strength and will power to resist YromėmFoRėvir's pull that humans typically just don't have."

"And then what?"

"Tallis jumped back in after you. You were both carried down the river a ways. I followed and threw rope in once the current steadied long enough for Gray to get his bearings and drag you out. He tried to bring you back, but you were... as he said. I placed the amulet on you..."

"So, this amulet is magic?"

"No! I do not have the power to bring one back from the bridge of death! The amulet itself has no power. It is a talisman meant to bring its wearer luck and good fortune. No more, no less. I presented it to you because... I thought you had died saving my people and I wanted to honor you... and perhaps, if you saw that amulet in your afterlife, you may know how sorry I was. It is a pitiful gesture. And does not make up for what I did. I see that." He used his hat he had clenched in his fist to wipe at his eyes and sniffed. "Only Aislei herself would bless you so."

"I see," I said squeezing the blue stone in my hand. I wanted to throw it again. But something kept me from doing so. Instead, I tied it around my neck. "Is your family safe then?"

"Aye, I think so. Thanks to you and Master Gray. They should have already started heading towards Highveine. With the ogres having to go around YromėmFoRėvir, it gives us a head start but they are a vengeful sort. We can hope them not having a leader to rally their clans will cause their pursuit to be delayed but we cannot take any chances. We should make haste as well... after you and the young Gray are dried and rested by the fire, of course."

Tallis came back and went to work building the fire. He still seemed pretty shook up so I just tried to stay out of his way. We sat in a thick silence, neither one of us feeling tired enough to sleep whilst Zeph insisted on being perched up in a tree surveying the area for any hint of danger. Though all he has managed to scare off are capers and ribbets.

I sat as close as I could to the fire, but the wind sent a heavy sigh down my back making my teeth chatter. My breath came out in misty puffs. What I wouldn't give to be back home in my bed and for a maid to place a pan full of hot coals under my thick sheets by my feet! In my imagination, I ordered her to bring me hot sweetened tea and warm, fluffy muffins.

"Sienna. Come here." Tallis motioned me towards him.

Confused, I crawled over to him. He suddenly turned me, so my back was against his chest and his arms circled around. He took my hands in his, rubbing and breathing on them.

"W-what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm warming you up. Your chattering was giving me a headache."

My face was definitely warming up, as were my hands. And his body was protecting me from the cold night air.

"Aren't you cold?" I shivered and nestled up against his chest.

"No."

"Are you sure?" I tried to crane my head back to look up at his face but he pressed his hand down heavy on my head.

"Yes, stop arguing with me."

"I wasn't arguing with you. Your clothes are as wet as mine."

"You have been sheltered in a castle your whole life. I doubt you have the immune system to protect you from a cold. Stop worrying about me."

"I don't see what that has to do with---"

"Stop arguing--"

"It's a conversation! Not an argument! It would be awkward to argue with you in this position. I can't even see your--"

He covered my mouth with his hand. I was about to decide whether to bite or lick him when he whispered, "I can't watch you die again."

A deep sorrow silenced us. Slowly he removed his hand. Suddenly my stomach gave a mournful growl that sounded more like a whine than growl. I blushed harder. "I'm hungry."

"I heard. Clearly."

This time, I growled from my throat.

"Calm down, carnivore. We'll eat once we get moving. The sky is starting to lighten up."

I bit my lip trying to come up with something clever to say back. I did not want us to fall back into silence now that we were finally talking.

Should I bring up what I saw in the river? His memories? I shouldn't. I had intruded into his mind and violated his trust. Again. I did not mean to but that does not matter. It still happened. I can't seem to stop hurting him. A shiver went through my body that had nothing to do with the cold. I tried to stop them, but hot tears spilled out of my eyes.

The change was unexpected and Tallis reacted instantly, shifting to look down at me. "What's wrong?"

"I-I am so sorry. It's not my business... I didn't mean to do it."

"Shh... it's okay. Please just stop."

"It's all my fault. Everything. I am so dumb and you had to save me. You could have died all because I though I was something special."

"Sienna. Please." I turned fast before he could stop me. Tears welled up in his eyes and he tightened his jaw wiping at them with annoyance. "How do you feel so much?"

"Tallis... what's happening?"

He scooted away from me. "I.. don't know. Something has been wrong since we came out of that river."

"Zeph? Do you know?"

Zeph blinked down and looked between us. "I have never heard of any living creature coming out of that river alive. Technically, Princess Sienna didn't. Tell me, Princess, did you stay in your own mind?"

"Um--"

"No, she was in mine," Tallis said.

"Oh, good. You know." I sighed with relief. I wasn't sure how to tell him that.

"Working hypothesis. I think our minds are still linked somehow, Sienna," Tallis said.

"Linked? What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know how to explain it. It makes no logical sense. I just feel you. Ugh! I hate magic. So just stop feeling bad. It was not your fault. I don't blame you. We are okay. Got it?"

"But how is it not my fault?"

"I let you in, Sienna. You didn't invade my mind. You knocked and I opened. Logically, it was the only way I could keep you around... you would've stayed in your own mind and drowned if I did not."

"So... we are okay?"

"Yes! We're okay. It's over. We are going to get you home safe and sound."

"Home? No, wait. Tallis, you don't have to come back. You have your freedom now. I didn't realize what you had been through when I got mad. You can---"

"Listen. I am coming back with you."

"But why?"

He took a deep breath. "I am going to own up to what I've done. I used you... and I knew it. I knew I should have stopped you from going. I knew there was something off about all this. None of this would've happened if I hadn't acted so selfishly. And I don't think I apologized for that."

"No, you don't have to. It was not your fault. I dragged you into this. All of it. What you thought about me is true. I do act without thinking through the consequences. But why would you come back? I don't blame you, so you don't owe me anything."

"Sienna. I relived all my memories too..." He kept talking but turned his face away and started poking at the fire with a stick. "I was like you. I acted on impulse. I had no real plan when I left Maru. I was lucky to have crashed here. Lucky that you found me. And because of you, I do have a plan now. If I am not thrown back in the dungeon, I am going to pledge my service to your father again, in earnest."

"I am lost. Why would you want to do that?"

"I never had much choice in life. It was easier to accept that I will just be a tool for a bigger man's plot. I thought I escaped that life. I thought I would rather be dead than used again. Your father isn't who I thought he was. I saw through your memories too. I see why you have faith in him. I saw that he isn't just a king, he is a good ruler and a man of his word."

"You're going to trust him based on what you saw through my eyes? Are you sure that's wise? I mean, we did just confirm that I am awfully gullible and naive..."

"The world would be a much better place if everyone saw the colors of it through your eyes, Sienna."

I smiled and tried not to let that get to my head. But he and I both know it did. "But what about your mother?"

"I haven't given up on the idea of finding her. But I got time to figure that out. And if I do find her, being a part of a king's court means I can support her. I don't want to imagine what she has been through..."

I took his hand and squeezed it. "When that time comes, I will help you, Tallis. I promise."

"Thank you, Enna. And I have also decided, if I am allowed, I will be your tutor. Mainly because I feel sorry for Mildred."

"Excuse me? What? Surely, I misheard. Sorry for Mildred? What about me? What about my pain?"

He laughed.

"Okay, laugh it up. But I am not going easy on you just cause we're friends, you know."

"I'm always up for a challenge," he said with a cocky smile. "You should get some sleep."

"I don't think I can. I mean, I can. But I don't want to. I'm afraid..."

I didn't have to explain to Tallis what I was afraid of. So many things have happened. Our memories felt safe, like being wrapped up in the warm blanket of nostalgia. At the same time, the blanket was suffocating, a deceitful friend. My dreams would feel the same, plagued with pixie screams and gnome corpses.

Thank you for your patience with this update. I am so behind my original schedule.

Anyways, I hope you guys like the new cover. I love it (: courtesy of TheMythicalCommunity and cherryreh thank you again!