"Care for a few more grapes?"

"Sure, a couple more would be nice."

Alfred reached across with the bunch of grapes and allowed his guest to pick off a few nice ones.

He had left Niba early this morning on horseback, heading north to the Tailian Mountains. He had chosen a nice spot to camp for the night, only to come across another fellow traveller. After they made their peace and assured each other no harm, they had decided to band together and watch out for each other through the night.

"Thank you," Natalya said as she withdrew her hand.

Alfred took a few more grapes for himself, then stashed the rest back in his bag for tomorrow. As he sat back again, he quietly observed as Natalya looked off into the distance, the fire's light flickering in her face. She had fair skin with purple eyes, and long flaxen hair nearly reached her waist. Her face had a serious demeanour to it, as if smiling was a rare occurrence for her.

If anything, she looked a lot like the young woman Arthur showed Alfred in the vision. He had to remind himself that, despite their similarities, Natalya couldn't possibly be the same girl. His true love had much longer hair, and was locked in a tower. It could only be a coincidence that Natalya looked so much like the vision.

"So, may I ask where you might be travelling to?" Natalya asked.

"My fae cousin sent me north," Alfred answered, "He foresaw that my true love needs to be rescued, so I'm on my way to find her."

"What are you rescuing her from?" Natalya prodded, "Who is she?"

"I don't know how to answer either of those questions," Alfred denied, "I've never met her, and all we know is that she is trapped and likely needs help escaping."

"That is awfully vague in detail," Natalya presumed, "I suppose you're keeping quiet on that for a reason?"

"You're very perceptive," Alfred remarked, "And yes, that's true. Hope you don't mind, I just need to be careful as I travel to my destination."

"That's understandable," Natalya allowed, "I hope you find her easily enough."

Alfred popped a grape into his mouth as they fell silent again. There was no need to specify that he was the Prince of Aegaimore, or that his prospective future queen was locked in a tower. Best to keep that information secret until necessary, for all he knew Natalya could be a troublemaker. Perhaps it was best to ask and see what she said.

"And how about you?" Alfred pried, "Where are you headed?"

"I haven't quite decided yet," Natalya considered, "There's so much of the world to see, after all, and I haven't been so free to do so in years."

"Perhaps I should change my question then," Alfred amended, "May I ask where you're running from?"

She raised her eyebrow at him suspiciously, which Alfred happily smirked at, before she finally relaxed once again.

"I'm running from my brother," Natalya disclosed, "Well, we're not actually blood-related, I was adopted. Still, he kept me locked away for 13 years after his mother's death. I recently found my opportunity to escape, and so I did."

"That is awfully brave of you," Alfred remarked, "So you just ran with no plan in place?"

"Well, I did take a couple days to prepare," Natalya elaborated, "Francis often goes on long trips, and leaves me enough food to last. However, he never gave me much in travelling clothes, so I had to make do with what I have."

Natalya reached down to rub at her feet, upon which a dainty pair of flat shoes were already well-worn and beaten. Around her wrist, a white ribbon was looped around multiple times and fastened to stay in place.

"I'm sure you'll get some fresh travel clothes soon," Alfred assured, "Niba is to the south of here, only two more days on foot."

"That is likely where I'll stop for a few days," Natalya planned, "I don't have any money on me, but maybe I'll find some generous people who can help me out. After that, I'll have to figure out what to do for a living if I stay, or find the means to continue on somewhere else."

"A tough choice to make," Alfred supported, "I'd personally recommend finding a ship that can take you to Aegaimore. I'm from the capital city of Thagia, but it's up to you if you'd like to travel even further than that.

"And what would you recommend I do in Aegaimore?" Natalya asked

"That's a hard question to answer," Alfred admitted, "My family is quite fortunate, I've never had to think too much about that. Still, if you're looking to keep away from Francis, that might be easier to do in Aegaimore than if you're still in Solyra."

"That is true," Natalya chuckled, "His magic won't carry him across the sea so easily."

"Magic?" Alfred checked.

"He's a warlock, and his mother was a witch," Natalya revealed, "I don't have any magical skills, though they did try to teach me the basics and rules."

"Ah, I see," Alfred noted, "That's still useful knowledge to have, you never know when you might cross paths with a magic user."

Natalya settled and leaned back, popping a grape into her mouth as she looked out into the distance again.

"I think the Eldarin Sea itself is what I most look forward to seeing right now," Natalya contemplated, "It's been so long since I've walked along the beach, or seen the horizon reach across the waves."

As she spoke, Alfred noticed the faintest glimmer of a smile on her face, a single trace of hope and enthusiasm for what fate finally had in store for her. Perhaps it was a tease of what it would be like to genuinely know her, she certainly was fascinating.

Alfred simply shook his head to himself, not noticed by Natalya as she continued looking south. It really was a shame they had to part ways at dawn.