**This one is a bit shorter, but hopefully you'll like it :) **

Why do I do this to myself? As I walked down the corridor after her, I tried to force myself to turn around. I could just walk back to my chamber and—but it's already too late. She must have heard me because she turned towards me. I scrambled in my head for something to say.

"Your Highness, I see your beautiful embroidery everywhere I look in the castle. I'm so happy to finally meet the artist." She blushed as I said this. The color added to her cheeks made my own face feel hot.

"Thank you," she said quietly, keeping her face down, "They're not very good."

"But they're very good!" My main goal was to put the blush back onto her face. She didn't let me down. Soon, an even darker shade rose to her cheeks, making my heart beat faster. She didn't say anything in response. Instead, she kept her face down, avoiding my gaze.

"Making cloud pillows is one of the first lessons a sorcerer learns," I said, hoping that it would get her to talk. I saw her bite her lip, as if keeping in something she wanted to say. Encouraged, I tried again.

"I'm sorry about your chambermaid," I then went on to explain to her that sorcerers never get sick, thus making the thought of something injuring you on the inside such a tragic thing to me. I've always pitied the humans and their short lives.

"Er…that's interesting," she stammered. We had reached a stairwell and I began to descend with her. I had no idea where we were going, but I knew that I was not quite ready to leave her. I tried to keep the conversation going, talking about how different we are from other creatures. As I glanced behind me, I saw a strange look on her face. Perhaps all of this talk of the Gray Death was beginning to worry her. I asked her if she was afraid of it. She shook her head in response.

"You're brave, Princess Addie," I replied, smiling. She looked surprised at this. But honestly, how could she be surprised? If I were so vulnerable, I would be afraid as well.

"Do you think…" she began, interrupting my musings. She hesitated, probably deciding whether or not to continue. But then she resumed her question hastily, "Could you rid the castle of spiders?"

I halted in place, surprised by where her thoughts were. Could I do that? I thought back to all of the books in my chamber, filled with spells. I'm pretty sure I saw one in there about spiders. It couldn't be any harder than getting rid of mice. I nodded.

"Certainly I can. I'll do it tonight. Ugly little beasts, aren't they?" She smiled in response. This was no longer the shy smile I had received before, but one that lit up her entire face. It took everything in me to turn around and continue walking down the stairs. I needed to get away from her soon.

"Thank you," I heard her whisper.

"You're welcome." Soon we fell into silence. I thought of something else to say.

"In sorcerers' years I'm a bit older than you are, but not a great deal older. I'm seventy-eight. If I were human, I'd be just about seventeen." She didn't respond. I tried again. "I envy human children. You learn everything you need to know at such a young age, whereas sorcerers learn very slowly. Sure, we can talk and fly when we are born, but everything else comes so gradually. It's hard to endure at times."

We had now reached the bottom of the stairs. Now is when I can make my escape. I needed to get away for a while to clear my head.

"I must leave you now. I look forward to speaking with you again" Although I'm sure you aren't, I added in my head. She must think I'm crazy with all of my rambling. Perhaps I am. After all, I was attracted to a 12 year old princess. That has to say something about my sanity! Maybe I'm just too much of a romantic. I'm always looking for love, and when the first sign of attraction comes, I pounce on it. I need to reign myself in. I came here to serve King Lionel, not flirt with his daughters.

Although I did make a promise to one of his daughters, I remembered. Flying back to my chamber, I looked through all of my old books. After a few minutes, I found the spell I was looking for. Grabbing my wand from my pouch, I repeated the instructions. A spider that I saw crawling on my window soon vanished. I smiled. Addie can now be at ease.

Princess Addie! I forced myself to put her out of my mind, to think of her as nothing but a friend—if I'm still lucky enough to have her friendship. This infatuation will only cause me more pain. She will grow up into a beautiful young woman, and she will marry a handsome prince and live in a castle far away. And I will retire to my citadel and never see her again. The best thing I could do for myself, and for her, is to force her out of my heart forever.

During the next few weeks, I would see her every now and then; when I wasn't being sent off by King Lionel to help out in his kingdom. Whenever we ran into each other, I would politely smile and talk to her, sharing stories that I thought would interest her. I never sought her out like I did on the day we first officially met. I made sure that she didn't have a clue of my affection. However, every now and then I would slip up and show off. I saw her watching me from her window as I talked to her father. He was sending me off to a distant farm who had just been hit by a hard storm. I was to help clear the trees that had fallen.

As he talked, I felt her gaze on me the whole time. King Lionel dismissed me, and I flew off backwards, showing off. Hopefully it had amused her for a minute.

Besides these minor slips, I kept myself away from her as much as possible, while also being polite. I replaced my thoughts of her with thoughts of improving my magic. I congratulated myself on my control.

Four years later, however, things began to change.

**Thanks for reading! More chapters soon**