A blinding light enveloped Raven and Chasey, and the forest went out.
They came down in the royal garden, and Chasey, entirely unused to teleportation, collapsed onto the grass the moment she arrived.
"Weak in the legs?" Raven said immediately, looking down at her. "Is that from hitting your head?"
She stayed where she was for a moment, reasoning it out to herself. She had come from a world without a scrap of magic in it. Everything here — the circles, the light, the men who cut down five half beasts in three strokes — was utterly bizarre, and the more of it she saw, the more she wondered how long a person like her could possibly survive in it.
Raven was still standing over her. Then, unexpectedly, he put out his hand.
"How long do you plan to sit there?"
His kindness made her instantly suspicious, because he never paid her any attention at all under normal circumstances. She took the hand and mumbled a quiet thank you, still unable to make sense of the change in him.
Then she remembered Zephy's warning, and worried, looking at the shadows under his eyes, whether the prince might genuinely be on the verge of exploding after overexerting himself the way he had.
Raven hesitated. His hand went to his collar and gripped it, and he stood there for a long moment plainly wrestling with the night before.
"I apologise," he said at last. "For shoving you down."
Chasey stared at him, astonished.
"And don't push yourself so hard," he added, more gently than she had ever heard him say anything.
A ticking time bomb, said Zephy's voice in her head. Be extremely careful.
"I'm fine," she said. "Truly. Your Highness, I'd honestly prefer it if you just treated me the way you always have."
Raven looked puzzled. "The way I always have," he repeated. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
He clearly did not understand, so she pressed on, earnestly, asking him to please follow through with what she was about to say — and then she said it, cheerfully, as though offering him a gift.
"Feel free to ignore me. Look down on me. Hurl insults at me, if that makes you more comfortable. Whatever's easiest."
With the trouble involving the other races resolved, life in Distan had at last returned to its former peace. The palace grew livelier by the day; the soldiers had even begun joking again, and a favourite joke that week was mimicking the young lady's bizarre suggestion that people simply insult her.
"Go on, insult me!" — "My lady, you're a disgrace." — "Thank you, that's very comfortable—"
The fun was interrupted by a commotion somewhere beyond the yard. The group turned, craning, unable to work out what was happening or who was causing it.
Damian stepped forward to explain. "A festival theatre troupe appears to have lost its way. Clear a path for them, please, before this turns into anything worse."
A play. The soldiers sighed with relief and then found the whole business rather funny.
Prince Raven did not find it funny. He grew steadily more irritated at the number of people gathering and gossiping in his vicinity, and turned on his deputy commander.
"How many more times must I repeat this?"
Damian bowed and apologised — and then, having apologised, decided that as long as he was speaking he might as well say all of it. He criticised Lady Chasey for making remarks in front of the troops that could so easily cause misunderstandings. He reminded His Highness that arguing harshly with a woman was simply unacceptable behaviour. He observed, at some length and considerable volume, that only by conducting oneself properly, in a manner befitting a prince, could the order and dignity of the palace be maintained—
And in the middle of his passionate lecture on etiquette, Damian's nose began to bleed severely, and he could not utter another word.
To the shock of both Raven and Chasey, the deputy commander swayed and collapsed to the floor, out cold.
They could only stand there, frozen, and watch with concern as he was carried off for emergency care.
"His condition," Raven demanded of the doctor, the moment there was a doctor to demand it of. "Now."
"He has fallen into a deep sleep, Your Highness," the doctor said. "Nothing more alarming than that. It follows a prolonged period of severe sleep deprivation."
Chasey was astonished to learn that going without sleep long enough could produce symptoms as alarming as that.
"As long as he avoids stressful situations and gets sufficient rest," the doctor assured them, "he will recover quickly."
Both of them agreed at once to do everything they could to ensure Damian got the peace and quiet he needed.
Even so, as they left the sick room, Chasey could not shake her worry. "He really is going to be all right?"
"There's nothing to worry about. I've spoken with Damian personally; I know the situation." It turned out the deputy commander had struggled with insomnia for a very long time, and had always appeared so composed that nobody around him had ever noticed his exhaustion.
Chasey felt a pang of regret. All this time she had never once noticed what he had been silently enduring.
"And don't add any more pressure with your remarks," Raven said.
She blinked. "My remarks? What did I do wrong?"
He did not answer.
"Did what I said earlier upset you?" she asked timidly.
"Are you being serious," Raven said, irritably, "or are you mocking me with these ridiculous questions?"
"I'm serious," she said. "I only suggested you insult me or belittle me because I wanted to make things easier for you. Less forced." She spread her hands, entirely reasonable. "After all, that's exactly how you've always treated me anyway."
Raven fell silent.
Chasey watched him and wondered why he was reacting as though he had been deeply hurt. Then she worked it out — or thought she did. He must feel uncomfortable being made to compromise with a person he had always despised. Of course he did. That was the problem, and it had a solution, and she decided that now was the time to clear the air completely.
She ran after him along the corridor, delighted with herself.
"Your Highness! Starting today, I'll officially resign. I'll give you back your freedom and your peace of mind — I'll disappear completely, so you never have to see my face in front of you again."
Raven stopped and turned. He appeared too stunned to produce a single word.
She smiled up at him happily, entirely convinced this was the best way to set him free, wondering why on earth she had not thought of it sooner.
Then her face fell.
"Oh — the kitchen." Who was going to cook? The whole army. Every day. "Perhaps," she said, hesitantly, "I could keep working for a little while longer. Just until the palace finds a new cook to replace me."
Raven turned and walked away.
"You truly remain as selfish as ever," he remarked, not looking back. "Nothing about you has changed at all." And then, coldly: "Do whatever you want."
Chasey was left standing in the corridor, overwhelmed with confusion and unease. The atmosphere had gone strangely tense, and none of this was unfolding the way she had planned it. She had the distinct feeling that she had said something wrong — that she had hurt him somehow — even though she had never meant any harm by a word of it.
The great palace of Distan stood as peaceful as ever, whatever the people inside it were feeling.
Walking back through the grounds, Chasey ran into a pair of familiar soldiers and greeted them cheerfully.
A little later the two men stood looking at each other, sheepish.
"Where did she go? She was right there."
"She was. And now she isn't." A pause. "Do you think we saw a ghost? In broad daylight?"
"Don't say that."
"A ghost," said Prince Raven, from directly behind them.
Both soldiers nearly left their skins.
"This talk of a ghost roaming the palace," the prince said. "Explain it."
They frantically denied everything. It was their imagination, Your Highness, entirely their imagination, they had only thought they saw Lady Chasey, it was nothing but an illusion, a trick of the light—
"I understand the situation well enough," Raven said thoughtfully. "I won't pursue the matter."
Elsewhere, flattened against a wall, Chasey let out a long sigh of relief at having avoided him. She had deliberately chosen the spot in the entire palace furthest from his office, and she had still very nearly walked into the man.
A ticking time bomb, she reminded herself. Safe distance. For both our sakes.
But avoiding Raven in a palace this vast was turning out to be a far tougher challenge than she had expected; he seemed to be everywhere she went. In the end she decided to head for the royal library, and could not help feeling slightly odd about it as she approached — she had not appreciated, until she stood at the foot of the steps, quite how imposing the scale of the place was.