One more night, I thought. Tomorrow, the others would finally go back home, led by an old guy in the body of a young woman. Life is strange.

“You guys surprised me a little,” I said to Berla at my side, while sitting at the campfire at night. “I didn’t expect you to agree quite so readily.”

When I had declared that we would go to Alarna tomorrow, I assumed there would be some pushback, or at least a lot of hesitance, but to my surprise, the others were quickly convinced of my plan. I was happy at first, but over the next couple of hours it really sunk in how much they were trusting me. After all, this was essentially a life or death situation.

“Is that so weird?” she asked. “You’re certain this is the best path forward, right?”

“Well, yea, but—”

“And you thought it through?”

“... I did.”

“That’s enough for us. We trust you.”

“With your lives?”

“You make it sound so dramatic. It’s not the first time, is it?” she said with a chuckle.

“I guess not, but I figured this time would be a little different.”

Over the past couple of weeks, we had been in a few hairy situations. However, we rarely had much of a say in what happened next. Going with my plans when the risk was low or when there wasn’t much time to think things through was one thing, but this time, we would willingly walk into the lion’s den. If it were me, I would at least be nervous.

“Well, you know that Riala will happily go with you, but maybe she’s too young to really understand what’s about to happen. You shouldn’t be surprised that Tomar would go along with it though. He’s been doing that for a while after all. And Reurig has been waiting for this day to come.”

“A girl who doesn’t know better, a boy who’s going along with it out of habit, and a guy who’s desperate... Great!” I said with a chuckle. “What about you?”

“You know, don’t you?” she said, leaning against me and resting her head on my shoulder.

I guess I do... I thought, and we ended up sitting like that for a little while. I wasn't an expert in such matters, but I’d had my suspicions for a couple of days. The looks, the touches... the smiles... We had gotten along well from the start, but ever since I came back, she was always as close to me as she could. I didn’t particularly mind at first, but it was starting to go in a direction I wasn’t sure about. She should’ve known about me though.

When the two of us talked during one of the first nights after she joined us, the topic of Tomar had come up, and how two agents of the temple had wondered if he might be gay. It was quite common to start looking for a partner once you became of age in Alarna, so they thought it was unusual that Tomar completely ignored the attractive girls around him, like his colleague, Mirya, or the young, female merchant he saw at the market district regularly. Berla’s mother had been bugging her to find a partner herself, so she understood where they had been coming from. Even if you might not see the urgency yourself, it was expected of you. She had come to understand that, as far as I could tell, these things hadn’t really been on Tomar’s innocent mind yet, however.

During this conversation, I mentioned that romance had never been my cup of tea. That I had been single all my life, which in raw time was even longer than most people lived in this world, and how I hadn’t been interested in anyone in all my years. This hadn’t changed, and I didn’t know how to handle this situation at all, even if you were to ignore the fact that I was long past looking for someone, or that this wasn’t my body.

Hm... Assuming I wanted a relationship in my current situation, what would that look like...? I wondered. I couldn’t think of any books or movies where such a situation had ever come up. My hosts and I were essentially sharing a body, and unless you were to limit yourself to nighttime, when one was asleep, the other one would always be there. Sounds a little awkward. Wait... what if both had a partner...? Surely that wouldn’t work.

It was an interesting thought experiment, but as far as I knew, relationships between more than two partners rarely, if ever, worked in the real world, and two of them occupying one body couldn’t possibly make that arrangement any easier.

I was lost in thoughts about three way relationships when I heard a light snoring from my side. Glancing at Berla, I saw that she had apparently fallen asleep at some point, and she had clasped my arm without me noticing. When did that happen...? I need to stop daydreaming when I should be thinking about tomorrow.

“Berla?” I whispered, but she didn’t react. I briefly considered waking her up, but I figured I would be able to lay her down and then get back to my nightly activities. It sounded simple enough in my head, but the fact that she wouldn’t let go of me made it complicated. I managed to get her off the log we had been sitting on, but when Berla was finally lying on the ground, I was somehow lying right beside her, still in her clasp, unable to move away or get back up.

“You’re not messing with me, are you...?” I said, but there was no response from her. Eventually, I gave up and shifted my eyes towards the starry night sky. I guess I can think while lying here just as well, I thought with a sigh. I finally went back to go over the plans for tomorrow mentally, but from time to time I found myself glancing at Berla.

***

After receiving the report about what had happened in Cerus, King Hertar retreated to his chamber to think. He wasn’t usually the brooding type though, and when he hadn’t returned in several hours, his sister got concerned.

“Hertar?” Berlotte said as she knocked on his door. When he didn’t answer, she entered the room and found him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Claid in comfortable clothes, and with his hair disheveled, he was far removed from his usual royal and professional appearance. Even in the worst of times, he hadn’t let himself go like this in decades.

“Hey! Why aren’t you answering!? I was worried!” she yelled at him. This would be the moment where he was supposed to get up and apologize to her, but contrary to her expectations, he still didn’t respond. “What’s wrong with you?”

With a light sigh, he finally glanced her way. “It’s all falling apart, Berlotte. It’s over. You might as well lay down and relax as well.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“We had a good run. Almost five hundred years since our branch of the family took over,” he said, staring at the ceiling once more. “And now it’s coming to an end.”

“Hertar, I don’t know what you’re going on about, but the guards are waiting for instructions! Would you please get dressed and talk to them?”

“You don’t know?” he said, laughing. “What am I supposed to tell them? ‘Men! This is our chance! We will take Cerus from the invincible, talking beasts and make Alarna great again!’ It’s ridiculous. We’ve barely had a single day without incidents or emergencies in months. I’m tired. And without the soldiers, our reign will soon be over. Let’s see if Orthur does a better job.”

“... have you lost it? You want to let the temple take over? Orthur is an idiot who only ever thinks about his own benefit!”

“We aren’t any different, Berlotte, and that’s fine.”

“We are working for this town and its people!!” she said, fuming.

“Let’s not fight right now. I’m tired enough as it is.”

Berlotte looked at him in exasperation. “I don’t get it. Just because a portion of the forces are dead? You still have men left! And if you get that girl from outside the walls on your side the temple won’t be a threat either! Why are you so depressed? You have every chance to win this!”

“The girl... Did you know she didn’t respond to a single one of my invitations? That’s the extent of my power. I can’t even get some girl to come here to talk,” he said with a derisive laugh.

All his life, King Hertar had played his part, and on most days, he had enjoyed it. He had been so much like his father that nobody ever questioned that he would become the next ruler of Alarna, and when he took over, everybody recognized him as such. To the young king, the power his new position brought was like a drug, and while he didn’t always make the best decisions, in all, he figured he was a decent enough king. He did care about the town, and he did his best to keep it safe, even if the wellbeing of him and his family would always take priority.

Over the years, his enthusiasm waned slightly, however. The constant threat of beast attacks, the fights with the temple and the High Priest, negotiations with the greedy mayor of Cerus, and all the administrative responsibilities slowly but surely gnawed at him. He never showed it publicly, but he had now finally reached a point of resignation.

High Priest Orthur was on the best way to convert the town into a crowd of mindless believers, who would pay more attention to the gods’, or rather the temple’s teachings, than to whatever the authorities said. Meanwhile, a large chunk of the king’s forces, which he believed to be the primary reason the royal family was able to keep control at all, had been killed, and Cerus, their only source for stones, had essentially been destroyed as well. Not to mention that his best friend was missing and presumed dead. To top it all off, there was apparently a new kind of beast that was more dangerous than the ones they typically encountered in this part of the world. Smarter, able to speak, and difficult to kill.

A whole slew of new problems awaited him past his bedroom’s door, and while he knew what his next steps would be if he were to step out of this room, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to get back up ever since he laid down a couple of hours ago. If at least this rumored “Lilly” were to agree to work with him, his burden would be lightened.

“If she doesn’t come willingly, you have to force her! It was weird that you only invited her from the start!”

“Even assuming that I could force her, do you really think it would be a good idea to do that to someone hailed as the savior of the people? To force her to come here and bow before me against her will? Not to mention that our assumption that we could control these people and their abilities has been wrong several times already. If we had approached that boy and the girl differently, we might be in a much more favorable situation right now.”

“Well, if my suggestions are so bad, get up and do something! Or I will go out there and tell your men what to do!”

With a surprised expression, the king’s head snapped in her direction. “Berlotte... don’t.”

“Someone has to do it! And you’re apparently not in any state to rule! I’m not going to let that maniac at the temple make decisions for the town!” she declared and stomped in the direction of the door.

“Wait!” Hertar said, sitting up at the edge of the bed. “You’re staying right here!”

The king got up and went to get dressed hastedly. While him being so much like his father was one of the reasons he had been chosen as the successor, another was that his sister Berlotte was unpredictable. He knew that the High Priest might not be the greatest person, but he would at least leave the town intact. If his sister were to try to make any decisions, however, he knew that chaos would ensue.

Hertar briefly stopped in front of the door, took a deep breath, and left the room. Berlotte was left behind, smirking, as she looked after him.