Like most ceilings in the kingdom of Sadida, this one was also woven from living boughs. Dawn made their dull-brown colour seem almost black.

A cool breeze from the riverbank blew into the room through the open balcony. It flapped the curtain, tilted the lamp that was hung over the low table, penetrated the thin covering of nettle-fibre fabric. Somewhere in the distance trees cracked, a bird twitted. Eva realised her feet were uncovered and so cold they hurt.

"Eva!" she hear Amalia calling from outside the door. "Are you still asleep?"

She said nothing. Her feet hurt, her arms hurt, her heart clenched. Her head felt full of lead.

"Eva! Are you in there?" Amalia's voice was ear-piercingly shrill. She sounds upset, Eva thought. I really should talk to her.

She made no move.

"Eva!" The princesses' scream echoed in her head. Evangeline turned onto her stomach and pressed the pillow to her ears, all limp and sweaty, as if she's just came back from an intense training session.

Am I ill? She thought without interest. Her own thoughts seemed to come though a layer of wool.

Amalia yelled for a while more, but the pillow muted her words.

Finally, silence fell and Eva let the pillow slide down to the floor.

She was brought out of her sleepy state by thumping at the door. With a weak moan, Eva leaned out of bed.

"Evangeline, if you don't open it this instant, I'm going to break this door down!"

As long as you do it quietly, she thought, but obediently got up, cradling her pillow, and opened.

"Finally!" Salix, ruddy and flustered, barged into the room, wings aflutter. "What is it with you, girl?"

She pushed Eva onto the bed.

"Say 'aaa'."

"Aaa..."

"Fine." Putting her hand on Eva's forehead, Salix clacked her tongue. "I've already checked you up after the battle, you're not wounded. Anything hurts?"

I do. "No."

"You sure?"

Eva, palms clenched on the pillow, stared at her own feet, glaringly white against the background of a reed mat under the bed.

"Can I come in now?" Amalia asked from the door.

"Nothing wrong with her but exhaustion." The eniripsa patted Eva's shoulder. Her hand was very warm.

"Go to bed early, eat well. I'll talk to the cra commander, you're on leave from training until further notice."

"I'll keep an eye on her!" Amalia said. "We can have a picnic today, all right? Us two and Yugo, on the meadow, it'll be nice!"

"Well then, the important part of the job is being taken care of. Fresh air will do you good, Evangeline. See you soon."

The door squeaked softly. Eva heard Amalia rummaging around the room.

"Where's your hairbrush? You can't go out with such a mess on your head. Ah! Here it is!"

She pushed it inbetween the pillow and Eva's fingers.

"Tidy yourself up, I'll go get Yugo. See you downstairs in half an hour!"

Bare feet tapped away on the resin floor. Eva sighed.

She didn't feel like eating or talking, especially not with energetic Amalia and eternally happy Yugo. She was tired. But when the princess got something firmly into her head, it couldn't be dragged out by wild dragoturkeys. Eva, whether she wanted to or not, was going to a picnic.

Slowly, she started brushing her hair.

Obviously, where Yugo went, a voracious young dragon went with him. Eva, who knew from the very start that Adamai and Az were going to come to the picnic, was honestly at loss as to why Amalia would be shouting about this so much. She rubbed her forehead.

The day turned sunny, if chilly. The cra, squinting her sore eyes, one hand clenched on the basket handle (Amalia, of course, needed both hands to yell at the boys), the other on the shawl she was wearing, dragged her feet through the tangled grass.

Suddenly Amalia hung on her shoulder and squeaked, right into cra's sensitive ear. "We're here!"

"Finally." Adamai grumped. Yugo laughed. He flapped the blanket he was carrying before spreading it on the ground, while Eva's heart skipped a beat from the sound.

"Sit down, here." The princess pushed her gently, and Eva sat, folding her legs in a neat manner, as befits a well-brought-up cra. Amalia joined her on the blanket with just as much elegance, while Adamai sprawled on the grass. Amalia dragged the basket closer to herself.

"Lay down the plates, Adamai." she ordered.

"Yugo, the mugs." She handed him four at once, sparing the mugs an odd look, then shrugged and continued unpacking.

"Pour the lemonade. Oh, almond cookies!"

Eva was picking at the edge of her shawl. Something cool touched her hand.

"You didn't sleep well?" Yugo asked with concern. She took the wooden mug he was giving her.

"No, not really." She admitted, then took a sip to ease the tightness in her throat.

Yugo flopped onto the blanket by her side. Although he balanced his mug expertly, some drops did fall on the grass. Az wasted no time getting to them, but the eliatrope put the mug down, caught him and put him into his pocket, despite the tofu's twitters of protest.

"It's bad for you." he said, reaching for lemonade with his free hand.

"Amalia, there's some water for Az in the basket."

The princess gave him a long look, then rummaged among the picnic utensils and wordlessly handed Yugo a small waterskin.

"Ah, that's what I call living." Adamai stretched to his full length in the edge of the blanket, his hands under his head, his nose aiming at the sun.

They were silent for a while. Wild tofus were twittering in the forest, Az took noisy sips from Yugo's palm, the dishes clancked in Amalia's hands.

Eva rubbed her eyes. She took another sip of the lemonade, so sour it burned. Amalia made it, most probably, in one of her bids for independence.

Right now, the princess was busy dishing out the nut-paste sandwiches. Adamai opened an eye.

"No meat in this place?" He asked, lazily.

"The sadida live on the gifts of forest." Amalia said through her teeth. "We never take what's not given."

"These are delicious!" Yugo enthusiastically pulled his and his brother's plates closer. "One of a kind." He added through a sandwich.

Adamai was still staring sceptically at his plate when Yugo, having swallowed, said as an afterthought "But dad makes the best gobbal stew ever! Wait till you've tasted it."

"Mhm, Grougaloragan was a decent cook, too." The dragon said, not diverting his eyes from the sandwich. "But he mostly had fish to work with. Oma is a small island."

"You'll have to get used to this, because we only have fish in the river." Amalia scoffed. "Eva? You don't like the sandwiches?"

"Mm?" Suddenly, she noticed the full plate at her knees.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

Amalia continued to stare at her worryingly, so Eva grabbed a sandwich and took a bite that turned out a little too large. It seemed to grow even bigger in her mouth, but generous amount of the bitter lemonade served to soften it enough for swallowing. The rest of her sandwich was eaten more slowly, while ignoring the princesses' concerned stares.

"We have fruit, cookies and two bottles of lemonade." Amalia said in an encouraging tone.

Eva put her mug down. Az, who had managed to extricate himself from Yugo's pocket, hopped up to it and hit the mug with his head.

"It's bad for you." Eva whispered, but the tofu kept pecking at the mug.

"Az, you're a woodpecker now?" Yugo laughed, catching his pet.

"Lemonade, Eva?"

"Yes, please."

Adamai took an experimental bite of his sandwich and scowled.

"Princess! Princess!"

"I asked not to be disturbed!" Amalia stood up in one fluid move, then, hands on hips, glared at the messenger, who nearly fell down to her feet.

"What is it?"

"Lady" the messenger kneeled, maybe in reverence, probably to avoid the princesses' glare. "Your father summons you."

"Right now?" She sighed.

"Immediately."

Amalia gave a deep sigh. "You'll have to excuse me." She courtsied formally then left, tall and proud, with the messenger skulking in her wake.

"Are you cold?" Eva saw worry in Yugo's eyes. She smoothed out her shawl.

"A little."

"Probably because you didn't sleep well. The baker from Emelka, remember him? He told be once he'd be long frozen if it wasn't for the oven.

"Yes, I guess so."

"You can always have a nap here." Adamai said lazily.

"On the meadow?"

"Why not?" The dragon stretched in a very bow-meow fashion. "We've slept under the stars hundreds of times."

"Exactly!" Yugo agreed. "We'll stand watch so nobody wakes you up."

"I'm a little partial to my own bed, but thank you for the offer."

She rubbed her eyes, more sore every second.

"You know what?" Yugo caught her elbow. "Amalia's probably not going back soon. We'll pick everything up and walk you to your room, okay? I've never been in that part of the palace."

Now Yugo was carrying the basket, swinging it in the air, which made Az very unhappy with his place on the cover. The tofu flew up and perched on Yugo's hat with a chirp from him and laughter from the eliatrope.

Eva and Adamai followed. Ever now and again they were all greeted by a sadida going the same way, carrying some planks or tools. Really, they should be among the houses already. Yugo must have chosen some roundabout way.

"Yugo..."

"Yeah?" The blue hat was sitting crooked on his head and Eva stifled an irrational urge to pull it off.

"We're not going towards the palace."

"Oh, no… I wanted to show you something. You'll love it."

Yugo rubbed his neck with a smile so wide it made his eyes turn into thick, black lines. Eva breathed in, then sighed.

"You'll sleep all the better for it."

"Alright, alright."

The kid caught her hand and pulled Eva inbetween the trees. "Here! Ta-da!"

She looked up. Blinked. Her heart clenched suddenly, and she had to lean on the nearest trunk.

"Dally?" She whispered.

A figure made of magically preserved pale wood. It depicted Percedal posed like a hero of an old tale, sword raised, a triumphant smile. A green-haired sadida was polishing the blade of his sword, two others kept busy building a small bench at the feet of the monument.

"See?" Yugo's hand was nearly burning hers. "We'll always remember him, and so will the sadida."

"A hero." Adamai added.

Eva wiped the back of her palm over her eyes. "Let's go." She managed to say before pulling her hand out of Yugo's grip and going towards the palace.

The cooks and maids were all loving Az, who commented each tickle and pinch with a long stream of indignant twitter. Eva saw exactly what he meant.

A smell of nettle soup filled the kitchen, more annoying than ever, along with the chattering, clunking of pots and with stifling heat. Adamai, lounging on a cabinet, was eating the contents out of an earthenware jar, while Yugo chatted with the head cook, a plump, white-haired sadida, like they were best friends their entire lives.

Eva moved back to the wall, but nevertheless people kept bumping into her, apologising profusely and running away. Changing her spot merely resulted in another collision with the same scullery maid. Good thing she was only carrying some wooden mugs.

"Excuse me." They said at once, and the maid curtsied and run.

The awed shrills and Az's frantic protests piercing her skull, Eva shot a glance at Yugo, lost in conversation, then at Adamai, whose nose seemed stuck in the jar. Then she moved back among the cabinets into the hall, cool and quiet.

The first thing she did was to bolt the door. Eva's shawl slid down to the floor when she was putting a bottle on the table. It was a bottle of pandalusian bamboo milk, decorated with grass-like writing. She sat on a floor cushion, elbows on the table.

The sunlight refracted in the crystal glass. Eva moved the bottle, observing the colourful bits of rainbow that appeared, quivering, on her wall.

From the river a gust of wind blew, moving the curtain, Eva's bangs, the green lamp hung over the table. The archer hugged herself.

The rainbowy spots lost their colour as the sunlight dimmed.

Somebody knocked at the door.

"Eva! You in there?" Yugo called. She stared ahead, unspeaking.

"Guess she isn't." reasoned Yugo. "Where would you look for her, Adamai?"

"Maybe she's asleep?" said the dragon.

"You think?"

"She'll find us when she wants us. Cra can find anything. You told me that story about the bwork in the woods, the one that ate a ring, at least three times. Remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Listen, Yugo." The young dragon spoke in his "older and wiser" tone. "Eva's tired. We can tell her about the party when she feels better."

"But it's tomorrow!"

Yugo's voice moved away.

Next to the wall in her room, Eva had several cabinets for her clothes and other belongings. She hid the bottle between a drawstring bag filled with rosin bits and the neat coils of spare bowstrings. Then, wrapping the shawl around her shoulders, she stepped onto the balcony.

On her left there was the scar left by Nox. Sand. Broken trees. Crashed remains of the Clock… Eva looked away.

She sat down, turning so she'd only see the familiar, comforting green of the forest. Resting her forehead on the cool balustrade she also saw the brownish green of the river below, shining slightly.

She squinted. Her eyes felt full of sand, hot, rough sand. Her head felt empty. The cool breeze was pleasant on her skin.

"Eva! Eva!"

"What?" The archer started, fluttering her eyelids. She was stiff with cold. The sun was peeking out from behind the dark line of trees.

I've slept the whole night in here?

Thumping to the door got even stronger. "Eva, open up!"

"Coming!" She pulled herself up and slowly, stiffly went to the door. "What's going on, Amalia?"

"The boys didn't tell you? We're having a celebration of victory, are you listening?"

"What? Yes, I'm listening."

Amalia looked her over assessively, hands on her hips.

"You look awful. Have you even slept?"

The balustrade left an imprint on her cheek. She touched it reflexively.

"I have, don't worry."

"In your clothes?"

"I'm fine, princess." Eva said curtly. Amalia gave a theatrical sigh.

"Like a kid. I was going to ask you to help with the decorating-"

Eva stepped forwards, but the princess stayed firmly on the spot.

"But the boys are going to have to do some work themselves."

She pushed past Eva and started rummaging in her cabinets.

"You had other dresses… oh, this one will do. Where's your hairbrush? You've lost-"

"No need, Amalia."

"No need, right. I know what you need. Dressing gown, towel?"

"On the door."

Eva flopped on the bed, but the princess pulled her back up.

"We're going to the baths. That's an order!"

Wind was brushing at the leaves of the vines that clung to the monument. At the same time it was threatening to freeze Eva. All her strength had to be focused on not shaking, so she had little left to listen to the speech.

None left to look at the monument.

Yugo stood with Amalia at the right hand of the king, on his left Armand was looking proudly at all the assembled. Eva avoided his eyes.

"Gave their lives" the king continued, his voice booming. "so that we can live in peace."

He made a pause for effect. Eva couldn't see the king from her spot behind the listeners, but didn't need any effort to imagine him bowing his head. His subjects bowed their heads.

Eva sighed, very softly. Her eyes stung. All she really wanted was to run away, as far as possible, over the sea.

At last the king ended this reverend silence. "They shall live on in our memories. We, however, shall rejoice! We have lost much, and much we have gained. Never shall we let the gift of life, the gift bought with blood, go to waste. Rejoice, the people of Sadida, for you are worth fighting for!"

His subjects cheered loudly.

All year round there were lamps and luminaries everywhere in the kingdom of Sadida. As long as there was someone to fill it and light it, the tiniest window would hold a lantern to ward off evil and guide travelers home, or simply to make houses, gardens, even the more frequented parts of the forest, prettier.

Eva, with her eyes of a cra, wouldn't have lost her way even if all she had for lighting was the starlit sky, but she kept tripping on the hem of her dress. The sweet perfume Amalia doused her with crowded the smells of night flowers and moss completely out.

Eva crossed a bridge, decoratively woven out of living tree roots, and, past a crossroads, slowly walked to the clearing.

Once there, her hand pressed to her sore side, she sat down on the bench, lined with soft, green turf, like all the sadidan benches. A moon ray touched the pale surface of magically preserved wood.

She shuddered and hugged herself.

The stars were twinkling on the clear black sky, themselves white and cold like mercury. The wooden Percidal stared into space with dumb optimism.

"You'll be cold, Evangeline."

"Mhm..." She cast her eyes down. Among the blades of grass she saw his Majesty's shoes as he walked up to sit on the bench by her side.

"Yugo and Amalia are looking for you everywhere."

"I don't feel like playing now. Please, forgive me."

Heavy, smooth fabric was draped on her shoulders. "Sire..."

"Quiet. I won't be cold, since I'm going back in a minute. And you aren't, am I right?"

Eva said nothing.

"Amalia told me everything." The king added.

She stared into space, palms clenched on her knees. "You're going to tell me I should have acted sooner, that life is going on, and we all lost something, and he wouldn't want-"

She bit her lip and glanced at the king, who was looking up with a serene expression.

"You miss him."

Her cheeks burned. She hung her head down.

"Why?"

She blinked. "Why?" Words crowded in her throat. "Because he was an idiot iop! Moronically brave! Because he saved me and Amalia, and he was seasick, and he went blindly into any danger! Because he couldn't count to five and got words wrong, and broke my bow-"

She inhaled sharply. His Majesty nodded his head. "Sit down, Evangeline. I don't know how to comfort you."

"I want no comforting." She said without thinking, then pressed her hand against her lips.

"I don't know how to comfort you." The king said calmly. "You already said everything I could think of."

Eva stood, shaking despite the thick cape.

"Nobody else misses him." She whispered.

"Where did the monument come from, then?"

"That's just wood! Even if it was a good likeness, so what? Nobody here knew him. That's not what he was like."

"What wasn't he like?"

Eva's hand drew a vague shape in the air. "So… dull. Forgive me, sire, but..." She sighed.

"A monument just stands there, it says nothing. A legend should be told..."

"Why don't you?"

"Who's going to listen?"

"You just told be it wasn't dull."

"Did I?" She smiled, a little. "Maybe I did."

The king rose. "Go with me to the party?"

"No, not right now. Thank you."

"Keep the cape for now. You'll give it back later. Goodnight, Evangeline."

She curtsied. "Goodnight."

Thumping woke her. Not again, Eva thought drowsily.

"Are you in? Open up!"

There was something hard under her hip, and under her elbow as well. Ow. That seemed so much stranger than Amalia wanting in. Need to open my eyes, she decided.

Doing that, she saw dark, smooth surface of polished wood. A white sheet, blown on the wind, slid off the table just in front of Eva's nose.

"Open up right now!"

Yugo's voice, much calmer than Amalia's, said "Maybe she's gone somewhere?"

"She wasn't at breakfast, what am I supposed to think? Eva!"

She propped herself on her elbow, when the cushion slid out from under her legs, making Eva's knees hit the floor. She picked herself up, massaging her back, then crouched to gather the spilled pages.

"Enough" said Amalia, but Yugo chimed in. "I'll go. I can let you in, okay?"

"If that wasn't my home..." The princess snarled.

A blue circle of a portal opened on the surface of the door, letting Yugo in.

"Hi, Eva. Wow..."

"What! What is it! Let me in!" Amalia hit the door with all her strength.

"I slept in!" Eva called. "And I've a bit of a mess in here."

"We thought something happened!"

"I'm fine, Amalia."

Yugo fished a paper ball from under the table. "You were up writing the entire night?"

"Must have fallen asleep around dawn. Give me that, it didn't work out."

Yugo looked around, curious. "Which ones are good?"

"I don't know yet. It all needs a revision." She brushed her bangs aside, then held out her hand. Yugo handed the papers to her with a smile.

"I want in!" Amalia thumped the door to show she was serious.

"Not now, princess. I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Right now?" Eva sighed. "Tidying up."

"Will you come to dinner? We're having a great picnic on the meadow today!"

"I don't know, Yugo. I'll try."

He gave her a hug, then opened a portal.

"She's fine, we'll see her later." She heard him say from behind the door.

"I want in! How can I know she's fine?"

"Cause I told you? Come, Amalia."

The princesses yells faded slowly. Shaking her head, Eva started smoothing the paper balls out. One after another, she laid them out on the table. Then a blow of wind pushed everything onto the floor again.

"Drat." She picked the papers up. Reaching into a cabinet, she pulled out the first heavy thing she found – as it turned out, a decorative pandawan bottle. She put the papers underneath it.

Then she stretched till her joints clicked and pulled up a cushion to sit.

The shadow of the bottle managed to move quite far before Eva chose the best version of her "Legend". She wasn't perfectly content – reading it with a cool head she saw some important details have been neglected, and the style could be more ornate here and there, but less purple in some other places. Still, the pages she selected held a rather faithful summary of the history of Brotherhood of Tofu, from its beginnings in the forest near Emelka up to the final battle. She folded them carefully under her improvised paperweight, then gathered the rest of her notes and put them into a drawer for later. A wild tofu chirped outside the window.

Time to tidy herself up and get ready for the picnic. The thought sounded, oddly, much less absurd than it did two days back. Eva reached for her hairbrush, but, in a sudden influx of inspiration, put it down and picked up the bottle instead.

The cork popped out beautifully. Grasping the pages of her story, Eva stepped out to the balcony to pour the bamboo milk by the balustrade.

The kitchen was, thankfully, silent.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

"Hello, miss."

"Ah! A, I'm sorry, I-" Eva backed away and hit an edge of a table.

"What are you so scared of, miss?" The elderly sadida brushed a hand at her apron.

"Slept through the breakfast and came for a snack, hmm? I won't rat you out, just don't make a mess."

"No, I'm not hungry" Eva felt her stomach protest, but ignored it. "I just wanted to seal a bottle."

The cook smacked her lips. "You'll find sealing wax here, on the shelf. I'll make you a fire."

"Thank you very much." Eva's ears burned.

"But be quick about it, miss, they're already setting the tables there. Yes, lamps all over the meadow. I was just leaving." She waved her hand at an earthenware jar on the table.

"Well, well. Here's a nice fire, but be sure to put it out when you leave."

"I will. Thank you."

Holding a warm bottle, Eva walked slowly at the edge of the gorge. She was already past the bridge that led to the meadow.

The river of Sadida was loud here, rapidly flowing down in the ravine. Gnarly, overgrown trees gave way to grass, and Eva could see all the forest, up to horizon – all emerald, with darker streaks where the river or its tributaries grew wide enough to cut through the trees.

She couldn't hear her thoughts for the rumble of the waterfall.

Eva looked down the cliff. The narrow, steep stairs, cut out in times unremembered by a nameless sadida, gleamed with moisture. She went down slowly and surely, catching on a convenient branch only a couple of times, more out of prudence than any real need.

At the feet of the waterfall the current was still too fast, there were too many rocks on the bottom. The archer continued along the river, until she reached a small bridge.

She sat on it, her back to the waterfall, hanging her legs over the clear, brown water. The bridge was made out of half a tree-trunk, and warmed by the sun – it gave off an aroma of resin. Its shadow was a dark streak on the sandy bottom. Tiny black fish swarmed around the few rocks, poking at the algae they were covered with.

The water murmured, the sun was hot. Eva reached down to, very carefully, put her bottle into the water. Sitting on the halved tree-trunk, she looked at it, until the bottle floated out of sight.

"You're finally here!"

"Didn't I say I would?"

Amalia pulled her amid the tables, flushed with maybe anger, maybe excitement, chattering constantly. "It's going to be something special, I dread to think, you know how father likes to eat, and the eniripsa said- Yugo!"

Eva looked from behind her back and, sure enough, there he was, facing the princess, with a smile on his face and a parcel in his hands. Az, perched on his hat, was busy preening.

"Hi!"

"Well, at last! How much do I have to run about to gather you all in one place? Now Ruel's gone somewhere, if I-"

"Amalia" Yugo patted her hand. "Calm down. Haven't you forgotten something?"

The princess stared at him, then at the package, then she chuckled nervously. "Right."

"It's a gift for you."

"For me?" That was a pleasant surprise for Eva.

"From all of us, the Brotherhood of Tofu. Ruel got the paper."

"In the royal chancellery." Muttered Amalia.

"Amalia sewed it up, I made the cover. Adamai got some gerbil fur and made the brushes. Do you like it?"

Eva unpacked her present carefully. She flipped the smooth, white pages. The cover, velvety to the touch, had a couple of loops inside that held several paintbrushes and a pencil.

"It's wonderful."

Yugo smiled brightly, as Eva hugged her new diary.

"Lovely. Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it." Amalia put her arm around her. "I told them you could use a new dress, but who's listening to me?

Eva gave her a tiny smile. "Do gifts have to be useful?"

She and Yugo shared a glance.

A gong sounded. Amalia sighed. "Time for dinner."

"Good." Eva said. "I'm hungry."