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Malty wasn't sure how much time had passed until a guard returned to bring her food. Or rather, to all the prisoners before her, which was yet another insult. Her indignation turned to revulsion as soon as she saw her dinner.

"What is THAT?" She pointed at two wooden bowls filled with some kind of gray slop which looked suspiciously like dirt. The bowls were accompanied by two cups of water. "Am I supposed to eat this crap?"

"Either that or starve," shrugged the guard. It wasn't the same one that told her of Rabier's plan, but he appeared just as indifferent to her fate.

"Do you know who I am? I am the future queen of Melromarc!"

"Queen? Aren't you the useless, spare one? Anyways, it's all the same to me. M'lord told to keep you here so there we go. Be grateful he's feeding you at all." He turned to leave.

"Wait, wait, alright. But two bowls is hardly enough. They barely fed me on the road. When are you coming back with more?"

"Two bowls? What are you going on about? The other one is for the girl." The guard paused. "You can eat both I guess. Just means she'll die sooner is all. Now stop wasting my time."

Malty turned around to look at the sleeping figure. It still hadn't moved except for a few bouts of shaking and coughing. Apparently, this one was a female. Whatever. Surely, if the little beast actually died, they wouldn't leave her to rot in this cell. Would they?

The princess brought one of the bowls to her nose and sniffed. Thankfully, it smelled like nothing. Quite likely tasted like nothing as well. At least on the road she ate some kind of monster meat prepared by the guards. She had no idea what kind of peasant food this sludge was supposed to be. And yet, she had to eat. No matter how many men her father sent after her, it could take a few days for them to find her. Maybe even a week. Malty just needed to survive that long.

Which also meant that the demi had to survive as well, unless the princess wanted to spend several days with a corpse. It was dangerous, she knew that much from her lessons. And not just because of sickness. There was also some kind of poisonous gas involved. An unpleasant prospect. Oh, how much she hated that Rabier! She'd have to ask daddy for a very, very slow death for that scum. Now, what to do about the beast?

"Hey you! Demi! Hey!"

No response. Was this little monster ignoring her? Malty set her bowl down on the dirty floor (not even a table in sight) and approached the corner of the cell.

"Wake up you lazy beast!" Overcoming her disgust (the smell of urine was unmistakably stronger here), Malty shook the creature's shoulder roughly and tuned it on its back. The little animal groaned and coughed again but showed no signs of consciousness. It had shoulder-length blonde hair (though dirty and matted) and big round ears on top of its head. Taking away its blanket (also dirty), Malty saw that it was dressed in rags and almost skeletally thin. Losing its only cover, the demi shivered and tried to curl upon itself. What a pathetic sight. How was she supposed to keep this creature alive? Malty never had any pets, at least not for long, as she usually lost interest in a couple of days. In any case, she had servants to take care of things, like feeding them. She shook the beast again.

"Get up already. The food is here. Wake up or I'll eat it all myself!"

"Stop screaming at Rifana!" said a hoarse voice from one of the other cells. Malty turned her head in shock. Somehow, she forgotten about the other prisoners or slaves or whoever they were.

"Who are you? And how dare you address me this way? I am a princess you filthy peasant!"

There was a pause. Then the voice continued.

"My name is Keel. If you are a princess then why are you here with us? Anyway, don't scream at Rifana. It's not her fault she's ill!"

"You ungrateful swine! I'm trying to wake this one up so it can feed."

"She's not an it! And don't you think she'd wake up if she could?!" The voice, or Keel, started coughing too and fell silent. Apparently, he (or she?) was ill too.

Malty rolled her eyes. So if the demi girl wasn't well enough to eat on her own, what was she supposed to do? Feed her? She had vague memories of being bedridden and feverish and having servants slowly give her soup spoon by spoon. It was annoying, but she hadn't even had the strength to complain. Then father would come and sit with her, which was tolerable. Malty shook her head. It was a long time ago.

Throwing the blanket back over the shivering figure, Malty picked up the bowl but then changed her mind and chose a cup with water instead. Who knew how long it'd been since the girl had been awake. Pursing her lips, the princess looked at the demi's face. Her lips were dry and cracked. Now, how does one go about giving water to someone unconscious.

"Hey, you! In the other cell! What is this girl's name again?"

"It's Rifana," the voice answered weakly. "And I'm Keel."

"And I don't care. Shut up now."

Feeling a little better at having the last word, Malty knelt on the dirty floor.

"Rifana. Rifana. Rifana!"

The girl moaned in response and her eyelids fluttered. Well, it was better than nothing. Malty leaned in and pressed the cup to the girl's lips. The first few drops of water rolled down the grimy neck, making little trails. Angrily, the princess used her other hand to squeeze the girl's cheeks to keep her mouth open and then poured more water in it.

Which was a mistake, as the girl started wheezing and shuddering which likely meant the water got into her windpipe, shit. Not being a complete imbecile, Malty dropped the cup and took hold of the girl's head and shoulders, turning her around and hitting her back. After a few fits of coughing, the demi seemed to be breathing again, which was good.

Most of the water escaped the dropped cup, but some was left. Enough for another attempt at least. Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Malty used her left shoulder to prop up Rifana's head, then pressed the cup against her lips again. Either this was a better position or nearly drowning served to make the beast more coherent, but now she finally drank in small, hesitant sips. In no time at all the cup was empty. Malty put the girl back down and decided that she played the demi nursemaid enough for one day.

She drank half of her own cup of tepid, tasteless water, then managed to eat some of the slop. She must have been really hungry to suffer through that, not to mention the lack of spoons or any utensils. The list of indignities just grew and grew. No amount of torture would be enough for Rabier and his men.

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After another few hours the girl was somehow still alive. Malty even managed to feed her some of the food, using her fingers to put small portions of it inside the demi's mouth. Rifana chewed and swallowed slowly, without properly waking up. To Malty this whole thing felt pointless and exhausting. She had to remind herself that her only goal was to prolong this creature's life for a few more days, just enough for Malty to be rescued.

That however presented another problem. The princess was tired enough to fall unconscious herself, but there was no bed, no cot, not even another blanket. The guard was not coming back, probably until morning, which left her with very few choices.

She could take the girl's blanket for herself. It was better than nothing, even if filthy, but then she could very well wake up with a nice fresh corpse in her cell. Not to mention all the coughing and shaking which would be insufferable.

She could try and sleep on the floor with no cover. Now that she looked properly, Rifana at least had some straw to sleep on. This was completely unfair. What were the guards thinking? Why was a demi slave in a better condition than a princess?

Consoling herself with the thoughts of screaming at whichever moron came in the morning and forcing him to bring her proper bedding, Malty decided on the only available course of action.

She just had to share with the damn beast. There was a risk of catching her sickness, but it was hardly worse than staying in the same cell, and definitely better than a rotting body. So, taking off her boots and leather armor (she was still dressed in her Myne disguise), the first princess of Melromarc climbed under the dirty blanket with a sick, unconscious demi-human girl.

The threadbare cloth was far too small for even one person. The straw bedding was no better. After some tossing and turning, Malty managed to find a tolerable position. Which was very undignified, as she had to lie on her side and put her arm around the girl's thin figure. This way the blanket almost covered them both and Rifana's feverish body even served as a half-decent heating pad. In just a couple of minutes, the exhausted princess fell asleep.

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As usual, Rifana awoke into a world of hurt. Her back was on fire, her chest and stomach ached, and her body itched all over. But this time something felt different. Not having the strength to open her eyes, the weasel girl still tried to make sense of her surroundings. After a few moments, she pinpointed the strange feeling: it was warmth. And not warmth born of fire or the sun, which she hadn't felt in ages and could barely remember. No, it was a familiar warmth of another body surrounding her. A feeling she never expected to experience again.

"Raph- Raphtalia?" she asked weakly? Did she dream of her friend being taken away? It seemed so real at the time, real and horrible. She hoped that wherever Raphtalia was taken, it would be a better place than this one. And yet, she couldn't bear the thought of dying alone. Keel was somewhere nearby, but neither of them had the strength to raise their voices for long periods of time. And not being able to see or touch each other was its own kind of torture. Poor Keel. He'd been alone from the start.

The body behind her moved and the hand around her stomach tightened. Rifana's sensitive ears finally registered the soft snores and she stiffened. Raphtalia didn't snore. The figure also felt larger, at least a head taller than she or her friend. And finally, there were definitely breasts being pressed against her back. At least, this was a woman, although it didn't mean that Rifana was safe. She figured that women could be as evil as men, even if she was yet to encounter any examples.

Still, Rifana made herself relax for the moment, as hope started to return little by little. It seemed like somehow, this stranger wasn't trying to hurt her but rather kept her warm through the night. Maybe, just maybe, she was not going to die just yet.

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A/N: Yep, Keel is a boy here. I mean, I only just found out that she's a girl in LN. Nothing wrong with that, but I already got used to a boy Keel.