That evening was one of the first in a long time that Maeve had felt so happy, so calm, so at peace - and it would be the last for some time. In the friendly woodsman’s home, drinking hot tea and chatting away with her best friend, she felt like a normal girl again. The sun set and it seemed as though all of her troubles were setting away with it. No more battles. No more war. No more sides. No more danger. No more prophecies, or responsibilities, or thrones, or bloodlines to worry about. Just two teenagers giggling over the silliness of boys and men they were way too young for.

There was no armor - literal or otherwise - and there were no swords drawn. Just a warm glass and some sweet cookies and no ogres or faeries or unicorns in sight. Maeve soaked in every last drop of this last perfect night. For she knew that in the morning, a long journey awaited her, to an unknown end about a rather unnecessary war - in her own opinion anyway. She did not know if that made it easier or harder to fight, to know that lives were being wasted over trivial matters and nonsense. But she knew nonetheless am that she had to go. She had to go for the sake of her family, for the sake of her country, and for the sake of the whole world.