None of this felt real to me, even now. It had been difficult to focus on what Dame Ilex was saying when she tried to scold me upon my return. Eventually she gave up and sent me back to my quarters to rest. I would have to apologize to her tomorrow, for that and more.

  As I draped my cloak over a chair, a stern voice came from the doorway. “There you are.”

  On reflex, I stood up straight. “Dame Selene. It’s… good to see you.”

  She nodded and gently closed the door behind her as she stepped into the room. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Selene knew me too well to accept any excuse I could come up with on short notice.

  Did I have a good excuse, anyway? It had felt like a good idea at the time, but now, I struggled to find a justification for what I’d done.

  She sighed. “Do you know why I’m here?”

  “Well… I assume you were notified as soon as the patrol got back, and you rushed here… I’m really sorry for troubling you.”

  “If you were truly sorry, you wouldn’t apologize for things like this so often.”

  I anxiously itched the mark on my hand. “It’s not that often, Dame Selene. It just feels that way, I think. It’s only been… a few times.”

  The dame smiled. “I suppose not all the incidents were your fault, either?”

  “Well… most of them were, I think.”

  “You and Sola are too alike in this regard. And she was already a lot to handle.” She stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder. “You both take risks as if you’re invincible, and for some reason, things usually work out.”

  “But Frost, you mustn’t convince yourself that it’s fine because things will continue to work out. Do you know why?”

  “Because one day I could be unlucky, Selene?”

  She frowned. “No. It’s a problem even if things work out in your favor. You need to be aware of the consequences of your actions. All the consequences.”

  What had I overlooked? Perhaps my stunt had done something to morale here at the garrison, or I was setting a bad example for the trainees? But neither of those felt right. “I don’t understand.”

  “When Helian went off with Coroban, how did learning about that make you feel?”

  “I was really worried, of course. I wanted to help somehow.”

  Selene squeezed my shoulder tightly, and I flinched. I realized at that moment I had injured it earlier. “But there was nothing you could do to help, even though she was in trouble. Even though the ‘novel’ assured you that she would escape, you were worried, right?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I was worried.”

  “Frost, how do you think Helian felt when she first encountered you at the dinner party and realized what you had been up to?”

  Ah.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “She would have realized that you were in a dangerous situation, and you had gotten yourself into trouble on her behalf. Even though she asked you not to. And it wasn’t possible for her to get you out of it. There was nothing she could do to help. And worse still, she had no assurances that things would work out.”

  “You didn’t tell Helian about this, did you? I shouldn’t have done something that would worry her, not with how stressed she’s been lately…”

  “Don’t worry, Frost. Helian doesn’t know about this – I only learned once I arrived. But you can’t keep living like this. It hurts to watch someone you care about put themselves in danger. We can’t help but worry, and the sense of relief when they’re safe doesn’t last, because we know they’ll just do it again.”

  I had promised Helian I would be careful and take things seriously. Why had I forgotten so quickly?

  The dame smiled and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Frost.”

  The anxiety built up inside me lessened, if only a little.

  But wait… Selene said she only learned what I’d done once she arrived. Why was she here?

  “Selene… if you aren’t here because of what I did, did something happen back at home?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Sola sent me to fetch you and take your place here. You’re needed at home. Well, not there exactly, but in the county…”

  Well, if it’s not at the estate, then it doesn’t involve Helian. “I see. Do I need to hurry? I can leave in the morning, I think.”

  “Considering your condition, I don’t think it would be wise to hurry. You should rest for at least a couple days before leaving.”

  “What’s so urgent that mother would send you, but it can wait for me to rest?”

  “It’s not urgent, it’s just something you’re best equipped to handle. Before you set off for the county, I can explain everything to you… but for now you should focus on resting. You look like you’re about to collapse.”

  I certainly felt as if I could collapse at any moment, so I took a seat on my bed. “Did Helian send a letter along with you? I still haven’t received anything from her.”

  Selene frowned. “No, she didn’t. You haven’t received any letters? That’s strange, I’m certain she sent at least one.”

  “It must be some sort of problem with the courier… I suppose there’s no way to find out right now.”

  “Yes, I think that matter should wait until you get home. Before I meet with Dame Ilex to discuss the situation here, is there anything you need to tell me?”

  I suppose I ought to tell her. “I expect one of the others already reported this, but there are a great many lizards frozen underneath the snowpack. They’ve been digging each other out since the warm weather exposed the ice. I expect the beasts’ strange behavior as of late is a result of this.”

  The dame stroked her chin. “I see. Troubling, but at least there’s a good explanation for what’s been going on. Anything else?”

  “I met a dragon in a cave.”

  Selene sighed deeply. “That sounds like a national secret, Frost… please don’t tell anyone where it lives. I hope you didn’t do anything to offend it?”

  I shook my head. “No, to my surprise we got along quite well. It even gave me a sword.”

  With an exasperated expression, Selene examined the scabbard leaning up against my bed, then stared at me for a moment. “It’s not haunted, right?”

  “Of course not. What are the odds of one person finding two haunted swords in their lifetime?”

  “What were the odds of you finding one haunted sword, Frost?”

  It occurred to me that in the world of a novel, one person could quite possibly find two haunted swords in their lifetime, especially if the author thought it was very funny.

  “I’m sure it’s fine, Selene. A dragon gave it to me, after all.”

  “Where did the dragon get it from?”

  “Do you want to inspect it for yourself? I’d welcome your opinion.”

  “I think I’d rather pretend we never had this discussion, so I can feign ignorance if your mother gets upset about this matter later on.”

  Even though we had been something like allies during the early days of my stay at the estate, Selene had drawn a clear line between us as of late. I decided to consider it a sign that her relationship with my mother had improved further.

  “On that note, has she been doing okay lately? I hope the king hasn’t been piling too much stress on her shoulders…”

  “You don’t need to worry about that. Just focus on not being a source of stress quite so often yourself.”

  “That’s… fair. I’ll work on that, I promise.”

  “Anyway, now that we’ve talked, you should get some rest. We can discuss matters further tomorrow. I’ll see you later.”

  After Selene left, I slowly finished taking off my uniform and prepared to climb into bed, ignoring the exciting array of new bruises on my arms and legs from my adventure.

  Then, after a stray thought, I carefully moved the sword to the other side of the room.

  Just in case.