For years, Evangelyne has run. Since childhood, she has run. Run for Amalia, run for the king, run for her princess' every need, always with an eye cast over her shoulder waiting for an ambush. At a moment's notice, she must be prepared to protect her princess and her kingdom; there is never a rest for the Cra. Even in sleep she's watching her back, watching Amalia's back, a hand poised at her bow and another at the quiver.
The most tiring run, though, is running away from herself, chasing her tail in circles like a young and excitable bow wow, desperately avoiding feelings building in her head and her chest and her core. Over the years, Eva's desire to protect becomes not only of duty and honor, but of a different desire that pulses through her being with an intensity enough to scare her more than any battle, a strength that would propel her through a million forests if it weren't enough weakness to stop her from charging through one. When she sees Amalia's smile, a fire is lit within her chest; when she admires her princess in full regalia, unfamiliar wetness spreads between her legs. Eva is scared for her life, so she flees from it again; but every time it finds her.
At 15, Evangelyne is run ragged, and she finds herself panting and sobbing at the feet of her princess. Amalia's tender eyes cast on her in worry, and Eva can hold the façade no longer. In the beating summer sun her feelings spill from her lips like the tears from her eyes and the sweat from her brow, and Amalia drinks them in; as Eva feels herself sinking into the ground next to a small puddle of her own tears, Amalia grasps her hand and pulls her out of the darkness, to a place with light she hadn't imagined possible.
She finds herself in Amalia's bed not long after, gently exploring her princess's warm body, lapping sweat from between her breasts and whispering into her chest please, please, let me love you just tonight – and Amalia does, Amalia reciprocates and finds things about Eva she's never known, breaks all of Eva's bodyguard barriers and comes to her soft and vulnerable core in a room filled with little squeaks and ragged breathing.
Evangelyne awakes to an empty space in the bed next to her and a note:
Father has found out. We can't do this. Let's please still be together as friends and traveling partners, okay?
3
Eva runs to her own room, drops to her knees beside her lonely bed, and cries.
