The princess’ eyes open.

Haze can’t believe it. She shakes her head in case she is hallucinating.

She did it.

She healed Princess Aziza.

As she blinks a few times to reorient herself, Ward practically throws himself on the bed next to her.

“Aziza!” Tears freely flow down his cheeks like a waterfall, showing how close he thought she was to death just moments before.

“Ward? What’s going on?” Her confusion seeps into her voice like a chilling breeze sinking into your bones. She sits up and brings her hands to her cheeks. “I feel…ok?”

He turns to Haze and Nova, who are just kinda standing here awkwardly. Gratitude so clear in his gaze. “Haze and Nova risked their lives to get here and heal you. You’re healed, Ziz. Fully healthy.” The confidence in his tone warms Haze’s heart. No one besides Nova had ever had this much faith in her.

The princess and Ward hug, embracing each other as if it was their last time. Maybe they realized how close it was to being the last.

“How did you heal me? Are you a medic?” Aziza questions once they part. She stares straight into Haze’s soul with those stunning eyes. Why isn’t she saying anything? Did her tongue swell up?

“Haze, my sister, is a magic user,” Nova replies, careful with her wording.

“I’m a witch,” Haze answers honestly, undoing what Nova was trying to accomplish. Nova steps in front of her, hand clutching the handle to her knife, poised like a mother bear, ready to defend her cubs.

Princess Aziza’s eyes fill with panic. She scrambles up against her headboard, getting as much distance between herself and Haze.

“Ziz, it’s ok! I trust them,” Ward assures her. Those words appear to settle her a tiny bit, but her apprehension is clear.

“Why? How do we know they actually healed me? How do we know your trust isn’t manufactured by their dark magic?”

Nova is fuming. This time, Haze puts out her arm to stop her. “I truly only meant to help you. I had no reason to heal you. But I did. You don’t have to believe me, but witches can’t make people trust them.”

The princess is silent, a little mouse cowering at the sight of the predator.

“My sister just saved your life. Would it kill you to be a tad grateful?” Nova exclaims.

It makes her happy to have her sister defending her, but this isn’t the time. Haze slowly approaches the bed, giving the pirncess enough time to leave her position.

She is still up by the headboard with Ward next to her. Haze sits down on the bed, not touching the princess but near. “I know you trust me. Or trusted me before. I wouldn’t have been able to heal you if you didn’t.”

“I was barely aware of anything going on around me,” Princess Aziza explains, but it sounds like she is trying to justify it to herself than to them.

“But you did trust her before knowing she was a witch. What is so different now?” Ward questions.

“Everything is different,” she replies.

Nova comes to stand close to Haze. Her arms are crossed with a hard look on her face. If one was looking for sympathy, it wouldn’t come from Nova.

She is pleasantly surprised when her sister gentle says, “Witches aren’t all what you were taught. I know Haze better than anyone. All she’s ever done is want to help.”

Pride radiates from Haze. Her sister is almost never this polite and restrained. She almost is acting like a normal member of the realm.

The princess appears deep in thought by her furrowed eyebrows and intense stare. Haze can’t help but find it a little cute.

“You healed me? Permanently?” There still apprehension, but not as much. A small voctory.

Haze nods, “Yes I did.”

The princess fully relaxes back into her bed. She bows her head and says, “Thank you. I mean that.”

“Can I ask you something?” Haze asks. She waits for a response. It takes a full 30 seconds before Princess Aziza gestures to go on.

“Can I stay? I want to show you and the royal family, the whole world really, that witches are not all bad.” It’s a passionate plea. It might be hopeless as well, but Haze is never one to lose hope. Not about this. She will stand strong through the storm.

Nova is nervous. Haze can tell. Nothing about this interaction eases her sister. Nova hates when their lives are in other people’s hands. Both of them are wild spirits, having grown up in the Wild Thicket. She knows what Nova is thinking. That they aren’t meant to be cooped up in a castle.

Normally Haze would agree, but she needs to do this.

She and Nova can clear the witch name. For so many.

That is, if the royal agrees.

“Yes, under one condition,” Princess Aziza finally answers.

“What is the condition?” Nova demands, even more on edge than before if that’s possible. If they were on a cliff, Nova would be falling down to the crashing waves.

Folding her hands in front of her, she looks so proper. “I supervise you. While you healed me and I am greatly in your debt, that does not mean you have a pure agenda.”

Her sister mouths the last two words with a mocking amusement, but Haze hushes her.

“We have a condition,” Haze brings up. The princess and Ward look at her expectedly. She lets her sister take it from there. “We are not kept prisoners here. Haze and I can leave if we want without anyone tailing us or arresting us. As long as we don’t do anything to upset the royal family of course. Sound good, your royalness?” she says with a roll of her eyes.

Princess Aziza and Ward both look at one another, perhaps looking for an answer within each other.

“I accept your condition if you accept mine,” the princess answers.

Haze looks to Nova, but she shakes her head. That doesn’t mean she thinks she should reject the offer. Her sister is leaving it up to her.

“Ok. We accept your condition and your condition only, Princess Aziza.”

A laugh that sounds too sweet to be called a laugh comes out of her mouth. It has the lightness of the breeze. Like a bird’s song.

“Please, we are about to spend a lot of time together. Call me Aziza.”

With the backing of a princess and a respected knight, the realm will just have to listen to them now.

Right?

———

(So if you’ve read my Trust series, for the past two stories, I wrote the name “Waylen” instead of “Ward.” I don’t know how I did that, but I fixed it now. If you noticed that, just know it was a mistake 😂. How did I write the wrong name for like three stories? 🥲)