Aliana stepped into the dilapidated shed and looked around at her dreary surroundings. "I was hoping this place would be... warmer. And more comfortable."

"It's not horrible." Even Iora sounded uncertain.

To begin with, the front door was broken off the hinges and had been wedged in the frame, forcing Iora to kick in. They stepped over the threshold, only to discover the inside of the cabin was in even worse shape than the outside. The walls were crumbling and large chunks were missing in some sections, exposing the snow outside. Although there was a fireplace like Iora had said, it seemed in no condition to hold a fire. A tiny bed, the frame made of decaying wood and the mattress a bundle of hay and old blankets, sat in the corner. It was directly beneath the window, which meant a thin layer of snow was also on it. The entire floor was scattered with a fine layer of sticks, mud, and dead bugs. A chilly breeze rippled through the whole space.

"How old is this place?" Aliana said disgustedly, kicking a branch with her foot.

"How am I supposed to know? People who want to disappear come out here in the summer, when the weather is actually pleasant, and build houses. They think they can make it during the winter, but when winter actually comes, they're extremely unprepared. People usually either leave or die within a few months."

Aliana's eyes widened and she looked at Iora with fright in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier that there was a good chance we would die?!"

"I thought you would assume that!" Iora tired to defend herself. "I've been telling you that it would be dangerous out here!"

"But I didn't think we would die!"

"It's common sense."

"Ugh!" The princess groaned in frustration and kicked the wall angrily. She instantly regretted it when her foot began to throb.

Iora tossed her satchel onto the makeshift bed, causing a cloud of snow to fly up. "That might not be the best idea," she cautioned. "These walls are so unstable they'll probably collapse during the first snowstorm we have."

"This is miserable!" Aliana flung her good arm up in the air. As she spoke, her voice was steadily getting louder and louder. "Why is it so impossible for us to find a nice little cottage with a nice little bed, a warm fire, and a clean floor? Is that too much to ask for?"

"Yes," Iora deadpanned. "Out here, this is considered luxury. We're lucky no one else has taken it already."

Aliana turned to her with desperation in her eyes and tears beginning to well up. "I just want to go home! I want to go back to the castle because it is warm and clean and cozy! I want servants to wait on me and bring me all my meals! I want my comfortable bed and fancy dresses!" With a final scream of rage, she threw herself onto the ground.

The guard, slightly stunned by the unexpected meltdown, didn't know what do with princess. She hesitantly grabbed a nearby stick and gave Aliana a tentative poke with it. "Are you okay?"

The response was another exasperated scream.

With a sigh, Iora knelt down next to the princess and placed a hand on her shaking shoulder. "Please calm down."

The princess rolled over, covered in dirt and leaves. "I want to go home."

"But you can't. You know that." She held out her hand. "Now get up off the nasty ground and help me clean this place up. We'll make it look better."

She wiped away a few strays tears that had leaked out of her eyes. "Can I just sleep?"

"It's not time yet to sleep. We need to get to work."

"Fine." Aliana reached up and grasped her hand.

Iora smiled as she pulled Aliana off the ground and onto her feet. "Do you need a hug?"

"What I need is to go back home and stop living in places like this!" She gestured to the whole inside of the cabin.

"Can I tell you something?" Iora placed a hand on the princess's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. Her face was serious.

Aliana, slightly startled, took an involuntary step back. "What?"

"This was the size of my house growing up. My parents slept on the bed and my sister and I slept on cots in the corner of the room. Just like this house, our walls were falling apart and the cold would constantly leak in. During the peak of winter, we would have a fire going nonstop just to keep us from freezing. Our blankets were thin and our clothes were worn. I hate to say it, but honestly I think I am better off now than I was during my entire childhood."

Aliana opened her mouth to respond, but found herself at a loss for words. She knew Iora's childhood was tough, but the guard had never gone into details on what her house was like. The princess instantly regretted her temper tantrum over not living in the castle anymore. She hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

Iora gave her a pat on the head and said, "Don't feel bad, just promise to stop complaining."

"Well..."Aliana gave her a cheeky smile, "I can't promise that."

"Then just help me clean this place up." Iora bent down and began picking up the debris that was scattered about the ground. Aliana also began to clean up.

As they explored to cramped cabin, they discovered that someone had occupied the space at one point. Discarded strips of leather were by the door and moldy blankets were found in the back corner, blocking a rather large hole to the outside and preventing the snow from getting in.

"I hope someone isn't still living here," Aliana mumbled to herself after a while.

Iora, overhearing her words, said, "I doubt it. Nothing's been in that fireplace for some time. We should be safe. Why don't you begin by clearing out the fireplace. Then I can fix it up a bit and we can get a fire going to warm ourselves."

Aliana cleared out the old logs, which fell apart as she picked them up. To help, she retrieved a pot from the floor and brushed blackened remains into it and dumped them outside the shack into the snow. It was several minutes before she had the frozen pieces cleared out and called Iora over.

"Looks good. While I work on this, why don't you gather wood. We need plenty - some for the fire and others to block the snow from coming in."

"Very well," she answered as she rubbed her frigid arms before leaving. The princess kept gathering wood until there was a large pile of it outside the door. Iora, having done her best with the cleaning, started a fire going. By then, both women were freezing and took a much needed break to warm themselves as well as the horses, which they had brought into the cramped space in order to get them out of the cold. They stood by the fire, lingingering a while longer, not wanting to lose the warmth, but knowing they had more to do.

Once their bodies had been unfrozen, they set back to work. The guard did the best she could to fashion coverings over the openings of the shack. As she did so, Aliana gathered the blankets and shook them each out several times in attempt to unstiffen them, then hung them in front of the fire to thaw. When finished, she scooped larger piles of snow into the pot throwing them outside and lit branches, placing them strategically to melt away some of the smaller piles of snow and ice which had accumulated. When they were finished, the two women made a sparse stew for dinner.

"I won't let us die, you know." assured Iora as they ate as close to the fire as they could possibly get. The horses stood behind them, half asleep.

Aliana looked at her questioningly, wondering how it was possible for Iora to have any power over their lives. "I told you," Iora continued, "I've lived in situations much like this before. Lived through them. I know how to survive. I'm not like the ones who come up here in the summer and leave after a few months when the going gets tough. I know how to find the resources we need to patch this place up well. I know how to find food. I can keep us warm. Those are the only requirements for survival. I will keep us alive. I will not let us die." Her voice was firm, her eyes unwavering. At that moment, Aliana believed her without any doubt.

"Thank you," she said softly. The words did not seem sufficient after all Iora had done and was continuing to do, but it was all she could think to say. Perhaps one day, in the not-too-distant future, she could do better and give the guard a reward that was worthy of her.

"No need to thank me. I need us to survive as much as you do. We'll have to make do with things the way they are for the night, but we'll fix things up all the more tomorrow. I'll hunt down bricks and make a clay to fasten them with and you can finish cleaning out the snow from the house."

"What do we do with the horses?"

"It will be better for both them and us if we keep them in here during the night."

"Let them stay inside with us?" verified Aliana incredulously.

"That's what the poor and cold do. If we keep them outside, they'll freeze to death, which will leave us without transportation. We'll sleep on the bed with the horses tied next to us."

"That doesn't sound very pleasant," Aliana replied with an air of disgust. She eyed the scrawny beasts.

"Perhaps not, but it's what peasants do to keep both themselves and their animals from dying in the winter, just as I said before. You did want to stay alive, didn't you?"

Aliana stamped her foot in defeat and finished her meal. With her stomach still rumbling, she climbed to her feet and made her way past the horses, over to the bed. She brushed off the snow that had managed to get in despite the blanket that was hanging over the window. Keeping her boots on, she climbed under the filthy, thin blankets and did her best to get comfortable. It was going to be a long, cold night.