I woke up with a gasp and a small scream. Pain and fear blinded my senses momentarily, before I gathered my thoughts together and looked around. The fire was almost out, emitting a small, heating pulse inside our circle. Beside me, Lydia stirred before opening her eyes and gazing up at me. She studied my face a moment before whispering, “Are you okay?”

I shuddered, attempting to clear my head, but it wasn’t working.

“Serah?” Lydia repeated, frowning.

To the other side of Lydia, Elizabeth lifted herself up on her elbow, “You good, sis?”

I ignored her teasing tone and pulled myself to my feet.

“Where you going?” Elizabeth asked, alarm entering her voice.

“A short walk. Chill out a bit, will you?” I snapped as I pulled my hair out of my face and began to walk away from camp, grabbing my horse’s reigns as I walked past.

I let the light from the full moon guide me through the night, and a million thoughts ran through my head as I did so. I mounted my stallion as we came out of the field and into the woods. And promptly broke into a fast gallop, dodging at all the branches and roots that sprang out at us.

We travelled through the woods until we came to a cliff, where I dismounted quietly. I slung my horse’s reins over a tree stump and sat quietly at the edge of the cliff.

“You really like cliffs, huh?” Amber’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts a few minutes later.

I tilted my head without turning around and listened to her silent approach.

“Also, late night walks.” She added.

I shrugged, “I do my best thinking at night, and in a place where I can see a lot.”

Amber came and sat beside me, quietly. We sat in tense silence for a few moments before she spoke up again, “I’m sorry, by the way.” She said finally.

“For what?” I asked.

“For…making fun of you and the others the other night, and being just rude this entire time in general.”

“You are quite rude.” I admitted.

She frowned, “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

I smirked, “It’s fine.” I said, “I know you just wanna go home.”

“Don’t you ever get homesick?” Amber asked, “For both the Isle and…your kingdom?”

I shook my head, “I never liked the kingdom. It was Sam’s to begin with, so I never bothered with it. I don’t miss the Isle. I like being out where I can see everything and I feel free, even though I can’t go farther than the boards of the ship.”

Amber nodded, as if she understood.

“Do you…want us to stay?” She asked finally.

I choked at her question and sat straight up, blinking down at the spot where she had been laying beside me in the grass. She casually looked back up at me.

“…S-stay?” I asked.

She frowned, confused by the sudden edge of fear in my voice, “Yes. Stay. Sure, we get homesick, but we’ll get over it eventually. If Louis doesn’t want Perryn to come back, maybe we should just stay here. We could join your crew and even—“

“No!” I yelped, jumping to my feet, “You can’t stay here!”

She stood up as well, facing me, “Why not? Is something wrong?”

“You’ll attract the royal guards once they catch wind that you’re on the island. And believe me, someone here is going to recognize you and send the information over to the mainland. And then we’ll all be in danger.”

A few moments passed as she studied my face, “You’re…afraid of being caught. You don’t want to go home and be known as the princess again.”

I swallowed, before quietly sitting down again, “Sam wants to go back. She wants to rule the kingdom. But not me. I want to be free to wear what I want, say what I want, and just do what I want.”

“Ahh. Typical rebellious princess crap.”

I scowled, “What’s what supposed to mean?”

“Nothing bad.” Amber said quickly, “It’s just that every prince or princess goes through that stage. There’s just very few who act on it. You and Sam were the only two, as far as I can recall, who have stayed away for so long. People started thinking you were dead. But your father insisted that you were alive. That old man was right, I guess.”

I sighed, “Well, looks like Sam’s going to admit defeat. She wants to go home.”

“What about you?” Amber asked.

My heart hardened against her question and I scowled up at the twinkling, starlit sky, “Never.” I growled, “I will never go back there.”