A "lee" came out of the little mouth.

"You think so?" Yugo tilted his head, pretending to be deep in thought, and blinked at Eva, who giggled. Dally, sitting on the bench at her side, rested his chin on the archer's shoulder for a better look at the bundle she was holding.

"She's got her mom's brain" he said proudly "you can tell, right?

All three of them laughed, and Amalia crossed her arms. I'm this close to a great loud scream, she thought.

The trees swayed gently on the breeze, Dally's statue shone like real gold, it didn't even smell like rain anymore, just herbs and grass warmed by the sun. It's been only a week since the roads dried and hardened enough for the cart to get Yugo and his family from Emelka to Sadida, to visit the princess.

And now, instead of spending this time with her, he was either in the library or cooing over this kid.

"My Xena" said Dally in an adoring tone "will grow up to be the smartest - oi!" he cried at Eva and Yugo, who were giggling again. Amalia rolled her eyes. With a loud sigh, she plunked herself beside the bench, automatically plucked a blade of grass and proceeded to mangle it in an absent way.

"Sweetie" Eva untangled one slim hand from the shawl she and her baby were wrapped in, to pat the redhead's.

"We talked about this, remember?"

"What's wrong with this name?" Dally huffed. The baby sneezed, and her mother fixed the shawl on reflex.

"I just don't think it's her" she explained with a very thorough lack of a giggle.

"You don't?"

"M-m."

"I dunno what to call her then" Dally sighed, leaning forwards, his elbows on his knees.

"Laskarina" Rubilax mumbled from his side.

Eva bit her lip, Yugo's eyes went large and shiny. Amalia gripped the turf as strong as she could to stop herself from banging her head on the bench.

"Erm, no, thanks. Bit long." Dally said absently.

"Couldn't remember that, eh?"

"You know" said Yugo, putting his hands into his pockets, his eyes never off the white bundle in Eva's arms, "how about River?"

"River? I don't know..."

"But, Eva, listen-"

Enough. Amalia was through with it. Yugo began a long, convoluted lecture on the advantages of the name "River", punctuated by broad gestures. He was looking at Eva, sometimes at Dally, who kept chiming in, but not once, not even once did he look at Amalia. So the princess rose from the grass and brushed at her skirt. Then she brushed it again, glancing from behind her bangs at Yugo, completely lost in his argument. The sitters on the bench (and Rubilax!) ignored her completely.

Which is why she turned and left.

Amalia shook herself off, fluttered her eyelashes to get rid of the black spots that filled her vision, then glared at the insolent person who bumped into her, a look capable of scorching bark right off a tree. The insolent person turned out to be Adamai, so, for her troubles, she got the privilege to see a dragon goggle.

"A princess attacks a dragon" he said "the world's gone crazy."

Amalia gave him the highest and mightiest look in her arsenal.

"When a dragon runs around like a drunk arachnee" she stated " it's no wonder he bumps into people."

"That doesn't apply to princesses?"

"It's my house! I can still walk around it!"

"You walk around with your head in the clouds."

"Excuse me?"

"I forgive you." Leisurely, Adamai got up from the resin floor, stretched, then began a methodical brushing off of his scales, looking askance at the princess, who still sat, legs wide, in the middle of the hallway.

"What, beow-meow got your tongue?"

Amalia jumped.

"You lizard, you scaly reptilian, you!"

"Such a nice lady."

"You haven't seen me nice yet" Amalia growled. Adamai grinned, then courtsied, hands wide apart.

"Oh, Yugo" he chittered in a sickeningly sweet tone "you're-ow!"

Rubbing her hand, Amalia murmured "Shut it."

"You know, I think you dented some scales. Okay, okay," he added, taking a step back. "You're a prickly one."

"Shut. Up."

"Yeah, yeah, right, don't antagonise the mighty sadida, sure."

"Adamai, you're asking for it."

The dragon shrugged, scowling in mock pain. For a while they stood in a green hallway, silent, not looking at each other.

"Where's Yugo?" Adamai finally asked, and now it was Amalia's turn to shrug.

"By the statue."

The dragon frowned, but remained where he was.

"Well, go to him!"

"He'll be in the library in a while." Adamai said carelessly.

"So why ask?"

"Just cause."

Amalia tossed her hair back.

"You've got to keep the conversation going in company, so they told me" Adamai continued. "Lovely weather we're having, aren't we?"

"Very lovely" Amalia muttered.

"Flowers bloom, birds chirp..."

"Adamai..."

"Hey, if you want to talk about Yugo, I'm all for it. I've last seen him at breakfast, how about you?"

She propped her back on a smooth wooden portion of the wall. "Just a moment ago" she admitted, "but he didn't see me."

"What, have you turned yourself into a bush?"

She smacked him again, with less energy this time, but Adamai still made a show of rubbing the place hit.

"Subtlety itself."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Amalia mumbled, pushing away from the wall. The dragon moved into her way.

"The kids are napping, Alibert went to town, your brother's nowhere to be found. I could go and study but I don't feel like it. Hey, what's wrong?"

Because Amalia sniffled loudly.

"Armand is in the valley" she explained "he'll be back in a couple of days."

"And you're crying because of that?"

"I'm not crying!"

The dragon's eyebrows went as high as they could without flying off.

"Yugo's got his nose in the books all day, father is always busy, Eva's forgoten about me..." the princess's voice had a definitely wet quality to it.

"What about these two heads of cabbage who follow you around, whass-their-names?"

"Canar and Renate? They're trying to help Eva" Amalia pouted "and she sends them on all sorts of wild goose chases to get a quiet moment."

"Ah."

The dragon waited for Amalia to finish wiping her eyes before he said "Did I tell you about my great discovery in Emelka?"

"Eliatrope ruins, I heard something."

"The first thing Yugo did was to upbraid me for that."

"Not for going there alone? No backup? And getting hurt?"

"Puff."

"He wouldn't have come for me" she muttered, making Adamai snort.

"For you? He'd come flying, babe."

Amalia's bangs tickled her nose, and she brushed them aside.

"No. You've been here for three days and I only talked to him twice. Maybe."

"Wanna learn? Come to the library!"

Eva had told him the palace library had a special sort of ambience, but Yugo never understood that until he went in himself. The high, pointed windows let in lots of light, brown branches grew out of the floor, interweaving to make tables and shelving units, with an emerald leaf here and there. Yugo could easily just close his eyes and walk around by the soft glow of wakfu, given off by the living wood along with resin fragrance and the feeling of calm. Whenever he went in, Yugo would stroke the branch by the entrance, part of the shelf containing a collection of thick atlases. And it always would give him a pleasant tingling sensation.

The Tree of Sadida welcomed him as a friend.

Yugo was sitting at a table, cheek propped on a hand, stooping over a huge tome. He didn't see them. His other hand was playing with a pencil.

"Well?" Amalia hissed, when Adamai pulled her back behind the shelf.

"What now?"

The dragon tilted his head, thinking.

"And what's he studying, anyway?"

"History, geography" Adamai shrugged "all he can use when the eliatropes come."

Amalia lodged her elbow between shelves to lean further forwards.

"When will that happen?"

"Dunno. Watch-"

His words drowned in a horrible clatter of a wooden floor suddenly meeting a very solid piece of a princess.

"Ohhh..."

There was a screech of a chair pushed back.

"Amalia?"

A hand appeared in front of her which Amalia grabbed on reflex. She bit her lip, because pulling up to standing position made her elbow complain.

"Made noise like a herd of gobbals" muttered Adamai, but Yugo asked with concern "Are you all right?"

The elbow hurt a bit, but seemed to bend.

"No. I think."

"Are you sure? Come and sit down."

He led her to the chair, got a stack of books off the other one and nodded at his brother.

"Something happened?" he asked, putting the books on the table.

"We just came for a chat" the princess said. Yugo raised his eyebrows.

"Now? It couldn't have waited till I'm done?"

Adamai let out a soft snort.

"You'll never be done" Amalia said.

"Done for today" Yugo clarified with a smile, but she blurted "We barely even see each other. Stop it with the puzzled face! You're either here or twittering over the kid."

"Twittering?"

"Ooh, Eva, she's so cute, coo, coo, coo" Amalia said exaggeratedly.

"Har, har. You know perfectly well where I am."

The princess crossed her arms, straightening proudly.

"You always shake me off."

"When did I last shake you off?" Yugo stared at her from askance.

"When did we last talk?"

"You know I have to study."

"I don't know! Amalia jumped up, sending the chair crashing to the floor. "You never tell me a thing!"

Yugo shook his head, and she added "Have you come for me or for the library?"

"You're being unfair, Amalia."

"I'm unfair? I've been waiting for you all winter!"

"I missed you, too."

"Really? Haven't noticed." The princess snorted.

Adamai slid off his chair, but Yugo steadily held Amalia's gaze. Her cheeks reddened. She tossed her hair back with a flourish.

"You're not showing it!" She finally screamed before running out of the room.

"Girls" Adamai muttered after a moment's silence.

Yugo put the chair back up, sat on it and hid his face in his hands, elbows on the table.

"Must be from another dimension" the dragon said awkwardly.

"Yeah." There were pencils scattered on the table top, and Yugo started pushing them around. He arranged them in a row, then for a while moved pencils from one end of it to the other, and then he stood up.

"Guess I'd better say sorry."

The dragon shook his head. "Now? Let her cool off."

"I'd rather she didn't fall into a hole" Yugo smiled slightly.

"That was a completely-"

The eliatrope stretched, gathered the pencils into his pocket, and started to divide the books into two equal stacks.

"Done for now?" Adamai asked.

"Uhm."

"What do we do now, then?"

"Go looking for the librarian" Yugo picked up one portion of books, so Adamai snatched the other and followed him deeper into the library.

Her sandals thumped an uneven rhythm on the resin floor. Amalia pushed the door at full pelt, dashed through the arcade, barely noticing a colourful group of handmaids. A turn, a hall, another arcade and finally she was in a small side corridor in front of the door she had been looking for, one woven from leafy boughs. She rested her hands on the door, sent a little wakfu in and the boughs parted before her.

Amalia went out into the sunlit open. Grass was tickling her feet between the straps of her sandals. She took them off. The turf was cool and moist.

Carrying her shoes, Amalia walked forwards, unthinkingly avoiding trees and bushes and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Why couldn't Yugo just have told her he had important business? Why won't anyone tell her anything?

Behind the leaves she heard a high-pitched voice, all too familiar. Leave them alone for five minutes... Shaking her head, she pushed the branches aside, but froze mid-gesture.

By the statue of a triumphant iop there was a blanket spread on the ground. As far as she could tell, it was an agressive fuchsia colour, but (thank Sadida for small graces) the horrible fabric had been mostly covered with heaps of milk bottles, rag dolls, rattles, baubles and ribbons which tied it all up together into an incredible ball of mess. At the edge of it Eva sat, gingerly, hugging her baby, a harassed expression on her face. Between her and the two courtiers stood Dally, hands on his sides, firmly engaged in losing the discussion. He just didn't know this yet.

"So, you're going?"

"And leave you here without help?" Canar chattered, waving a soft toy bow-meow which Amalia had lost a couple of days back.

"What help?" There was only an honest puzzlement in Dally's voice. The princess was sure Rubilax rolled his eye.

"Listen" Eva said, "we are very grateful, but-"

"O, Eva, dear, bringing up our little Bouboulina is a duty of us all!"

Amalia bit her lip in order not to laugh at the faces the new parents made.

"Yuck" Renate scowled "you still want to name her Bouboulina? Well, look at her! Does she look like a Bouboulina to you?"

"More than she looks like an Artemisia" Canar retorted.

"What are you doing?" asked Amalia, emerging from behind the bush. The courtiers stared at her, nonplussed. Canar hid the bow-meow behind his back.

"Thank Cra" Eva sighed.

"Hi, Amalia" said Dally tiredly.

The princess took a long, hard look at the childish items dump around Eva, then she sighed theatrically. She did notice Canar dropping the toy.

"Well?"

"O, Amalia, sweetie" Renate chippered "we're trying to make life a bit easier for our Eva."

The princess lifted her eyebrow, really, really high.

"See yourself, the poor thing's over her head."

"We found them here" his colleague chimed in "they didn't even have a blanket! They needed so many things, see?"

"Still don't have any swimming trunks or sawmills" Rubilax cackled, but it was cut short by Amalia's stomping.

"Your duties do not include" she hissed "playing nanny and carrying things out of the palace!"

"But Eva needed-"

"Silence! You're bothering Eva instead of doing your job."

"What's our job?" Renate asked, confused, and Rubilax at Dally's side roared with laughter.

"Not this!"

"But-"

Canar's words were drowned out by a sound exactly like this made by Ruel when a coin fell into a gorge. Blinking, Amalia looked around. Impossible for such a tiny...

"There, there" Eva was rocking the white bundle in her arms. Amalia couldn't actually hear her say it, just read her lips. That kid had a very good pair of lungs.

"Eva..."

The cra rose carefully, rocking her screaming baby, and slowly went towards the palace. Even if she's heard Amalia, she didn't show it, and Dally's back hid her from the princess's view within a moment anyway. Neither the ginger or his beloved looked back.

Amalia watched them vanish among the trees, then she stared at the trees, until the baby's crying dissolved into a ringing silence.

Then she turned. There was an impressive still life of discarded toys at her feet, but not a trace of Canar or Renate, only a plushie bow-meow, staring at her with button eyes.