Happy Friday, guys!

I've had this chapter partially written most of the six weeks (?) or so it's been, but I just finished it yesterday. I'd been writing and getting a few chapters ahead, then catching up once I ran out, and last time I ran out I just didn't do that XD Anyway, I actually really appreciated getting yelled at a little! Honestly, if not for that, I probably wouldn't have finished this chapter by now. So I wouldn't consider it rude here, though I think that depends on the author. I knew a girl who got angry when people asked her for updates and probably updated slower! But I kinda needed to get whacked on the head a little XD

If you didn't know already, I've been posting progress updates on my profile, so if I'm not posting you can check there to see what's up! The story is never discontinued. It's so close to being done, and also I am too competitive with myself not to finish it once I've started. I said I would finish, and I am going to. Even if I didn't just want to write a complete story, I kinda want to prove to myself that I can. I haven't written a lot of chapter stories, but I'm not discontinuing any that I do, this one or any other future ones. (Although hopefully in the future I will plan ahead better XD)

To the guest with the super long review- thank you! I tend to remember book details pretty well, but not as well as just having read the books again, I guess XD I didn't know there was a canon location for Selona- either I forgot it from when it was first mentioned or it was mentioned in a newer book after I started writing this. Either way, I'm pretty sure I was guessing when I gave it one XD I was planning on going back and editing some things at some point, so I'll probably do that if I remember! Another thing I know I was going to do is change some of the times. I'm not exactly sure where, but there was definitely one I realized was weird after I had already written/posted it. It might be the second one you mentioned, but I honestly don't remember off the top of my head. (looking back- no, it's not that one. I think Eve was reading all night and there was something else I was thinking about before) You asked if Eve still opposes the neutrality policy- I'd say yeah, probably. I don't know why she wouldn't! I'd assume she might actually get more invested in that as she gets older. It's not really relevant to the plot of this story, though! The only age we got for her in the books was Seth saying something like "what are you, twelve?" which makes me assume she's twelve because that was probably the author's way of telling us how old she is, but Seth was also guessing, so I could see her being maybe thirteen already. On the comment about how I've been writing Seth- thanks! His character in general is a really interesting contrast, with the way his personality is and the dark powers. I think that's one of my favorite things about him from a writer's perspective, the conflict between people expecting him to be evil/his potential for that with dark powers and the way he really just wants to help people and do what's right and be good! And as for Eve's perspective, that's this chapter! :)


Death.

Eve watched Seth as he stared at the book, wondering what he was thinking. These were ancient laws that outdated any Underking. She wondered if he would be able to lessen the punishments for her or if she'd just have to live with them. Live with them. Maybe 'take them' would be better phrasing.

"What do I do?" She asked, hating how small her voice sounded. She didn't know what to say or what to do, and she hated that too. This whole mess could've been avoided. She'd done it to herself.

Seth looked up, startled, as if he'd forgotten she was there. "It'll be okay," was the first thing he said. Eve suspected that he didn't quite believe it herself and was just saying it to make her feel better.

"It's really… death for taking a flower?"

"Well, it's either death or become undead, whichever would be worse for the specific person."

"Great. That makes it so much better." Eve felt sick. She should've gone home when it was time to leave. Why did she get herself into these messes?

Seth was looking at the book again. "I'm sure there's something I can do," he said absently. The look on his face said he was thinking hard, coming up with some sort of plan. Even now, Eve couldn't help but think it was cute. That made her feel a tiny bit better.

"There… is?" She asked. She'd almost forgotten what he said already.

"There has to be," Seth said more confidently. "I'm the Underking. I'm in charge here."

Eve wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of anything. Her eyes were watering.

"It's gonna be okay," Seth said again. He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Blinking a couple times and holding her eyes open, a method she had learned long ago to prevent crying, Eve met Seth's gaze. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't identify, but it made her believe him.

Deep breath in. Let it out. "Okay." Be brave. "Thank you," she added, and she meant it.

Seth gave her a little smile and squeezed her hand before letting go and turning back to the books.

Continuing to take deep breaths, Eve could feel the tightness in her throat fading. She would be okay. And if she wasn't? If she ended up dying from this anyway, at least it wasn't an unjust punishment for a crime she didn't commit. Whatever happened happened. Thinking about it like that helped her to feel more calm.

Glancing back down at the book in his hands, Seth flipped through it a little, then looked up at the shelves in front of him again. He hovered a hand over the section that book came from, and Eve could see which book he was looking at by watching his hand move across the row.

For a couple minutes, they stood like this. Eve watched and tried to keep herself calm as Seth stared at the books, occasionally pulling one off the shelf and opening it but always putting it back. She wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

"Oh!" Seth said to himself. "Not here." He started to walk out of the aisle, then looked back and waved for Eve to follow.

She followed him down a few aisles and around corners that couldn't be seen from the open end of the aisle, which ultimately resulted in them taking a route Eve hadn't known existed to an extremely well-hidden section in the very back of the library.

Eve studied this new area with interest. If Seth hadn't purposefully brought her here right now, she would've never known it existed, and for it to be so well-hidden suggested secrets.

She was just about to ask what they were doing back here when Seth gave an answer. "This is one of the less public areas of the library, for older books or secret books or things like that. Well, and. It's got all of them: older books, secret books, and things like that." Eve laughed.

Seth started looking through the books back here, and Eve thought he seemed to be looking for a specific one. She stood uncertainly, watching him look. "This might take a while," Seth told her, as if reading her mind.

"All right then," Eve sighed, sitting down on the floor with her back against the wall. "I guess we don't have to worry about time limits anymore, huh?"

Seth laughed.

A while later, Seth sat down on the floor next to Eve with a large, antique-looking book. She hadn't noticed when he'd picked one out. He opened it on his knees.

"What did you find?" Eve asked, glancing at the pages.

"A lot of the same options," Seth said. "Death or becoming undead. But I did find one other option."

"What was it?" Eve asked when Seth didn't offer it. She noticed that he wasn't meeting her eyes.

"The only other option given in this case is for the person who's supposed to die to marry the Underking instead."

"... For us to get married?"

Seth slid the book over to Eve. "That used to be a common solution to breaking curses and things in the magical world." He was right- this book did say that the final option was for the offender to marry the Underking. The book painted that as the last resort, even after just taking the punishment of dying or becoming undead. The past Underkings were probably pretty disagreeable, Eve supposed. Good thing she got the good one.

"That would make sense why it's in fairytales then," she commented, thoughts spinning. It did make sense that the fairytales would have a basis in reality, and with how many she read, she should've guessed. There was silence for a few moments, and it felt a bit awkward.

"I would do it if it saves you," Seth said abruptly. He still didn't look at her. "Besides, it's not like it would be preventing me from marrying someone else." He laughed, then quickly became more serious. "I know that might not be true for you, though."

"No, no," Eve said quickly. She was of the age that her parents had been encouraging marriage for her, specifically to any one of a number of acceptable suitors they'd chosen. However, Eve hadn't come close to even liking any of the ones she'd met so far. "I don't have anyone I was planning on marrying."

She'd always wanted to get married for love- though she'd never been sure how she could make that happen.

"Would…" Seth hesitated, looking straight ahead. "Would you prefer this option over the other ones?"

Eve felt like her brain paused. Absolutely was her first thought. She would choose this a million times over. But it felt wrong somehow to say that- especially because she knew that if something like this happened, she wanted it to be real. If she were to marry him, she wanted him to want to marry her, not to ask because he had to.

But things didn't always work out the way she wanted them to.

Be brave.

"Yes," she said. "But… are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you have to-"

"I don't," Seth interrupted. "I mean, I'm not asking you out of some sort of obligation that I don't have." He looked her directly in the eye. "I would rather you not die."

Eve couldn't help but laugh a little. "Me too." She drifted back into her own thoughts. She couldn't just marry him to stay alive and not even tell him how she really felt. It wouldn't be right to lie about her motivation. She did want to stay alive, but if it somehow happened that he found out how she felt about him after they'd gotten married not for that? It would look like she was a crazy person trying to get an excuse to be with her crush or something. She had to-

"I need to tell you something, Eve," Seth said, interrupting her thoughts. He sounded tired.

"Okay," she said slowly.

"I just want you to know…" He took a deep breath, looking down at his hands, then looked back at her. "You mean a lot to me. I don't think I could stand losing you at all, especially if there was anything I could've done to prevent it. I… I care about you a lot." His eyes flicked back and forth between her and the ground, but he was making an effort to look at her as he spoke. "Man, I don't know how to say this."

Eve felt her face heating up. Seth was having an awful time trying to get out the words, but she was pretty sure she understood what he was trying to say anyway.

Seth fumbled the words for a few more moments before blurting: "I think I love you." The silence after that was strange, the simple declaration clashing vibrantly with the jumble of words before it, all trying to say the same thing in a much more complicated way. "I wasn't- well, I don't know if I was going to say anything about it. But it just doesn't feel right agreeing to marry you without letting you know that."

Eve didn't know what to say. Seth had said the exact thing she had been going to say, and she hadn't expected it. "I…" She had known fully well that she was in love, and she'd felt rather competent for realizing it, but she had completely overlooked the possibility that he might feel the same way. She hadn't even been looking for it. "Thank you," she finally said. "Thank you for telling me." Her head was spinning more than it had all day, trying to process this. Hadn't she had enough life-changing developments already today?

But the one thing she did know for sure was that she needed to let him know she felt the same.

One deep breath was all Eve allowed herself to prepare. Time was a commodity that wasn't well-used in conversations. She looked at Seth, who had looked back away from her once he finished talking, then touched his arm to make sure she had his attention. He met her eyes, and that connection was enough. "I love you too," Eve said quickly, releasing her breath in a rush. Oh. That was not at all what she was expecting to say. She'd figured she'd probably chicken out and start trying to talk around it and end up talking about some nonsense, but this was better.

It was what she meant.


but in the end if all we are

is dogs out back chasing cars

then pray that we don't get the things we want