Princess November: One Princess, One Peasant, One Strict Queen

X. Talking in your Sleep

November had failed to find a cure; despite the many nights she had spent awake crying over bunches of plants, it had never come to something successful. Crying never helped her; all it did was water the plants. The disease had officially been named Azulis, but at this point the princess could not care less.

"Shh. Ivy, calm down." Rebecca coughed, stroking her small dog's fur comfortingly. Ivy, Rebecca's pug, was continuously yapping and it was tiring the blonde out. Regardless of the annoyance brought on by the constant noise, she would never let her puppy go.

She was almost sure that her dog had caught the virus, but what could she do about it? There was no cure, so she had to watch as her innocent pug became continuously more sick. The pug's wide, brown eyes looked up at her owner sadly. Rebecca noticed the hopelessness in Ivy's eyes and frowned in response.

The helplessness that fell over Rebecca had left her bedridden in her treehouse for days. Even the match that was November's hope was flickering out rapidly.  Rebecca did not know how to feel at all - if a cure ever came, it wasn't like she'd be able to afford it anyway.

Her dog was named Ivy thanks to the birthmark on the dog's face; it looked like an ivy leaf. The birthmark adorned her face among many other features - her wide, brown eyes, her adorable wrinkled nose and her miniature floppy ears. Seeing such helplessness in the dog's eyes made a winter rain want to escape from November's green irises.

"November!" Rebecca called out to November, who was chopping up some fruits she'd bought from the market. Her voice sounded less strong and confident than when they had first met, almost as if she was finally letting the world get to her.

"Yes?" The princess turned around, frowning when she saw the look of dismay on Rebecca's face. The weakness resonating within her voice was painted on her face too. Despite the two being surrounded by many other villagers, they could not have been more alone. Evergreen trees around them were wilting into hues of grey and darker browns.

"What is it, Becca?" November asked.

"I think Ivy's got... what's the disease called, again?" November's heart shattered as she heard the breaking in Rebecca's voice. The blonde had abandoned all personal needs — her hair was unbrushed and she refused to leave any food for herself.

"Azulis. And are you sure?" November inquired, putting down the fruits gently and walking over to Rebecca. The redhead felt like she was forming a new kind of feeling, and this one felt like a dormant volcano. She wanted so desperately to help, but the volcano was inactive and the lava would never be able to come out.

"Quite sure. Why else would she be spazzing out like this?" Rebecca frowned, gently stroking the pug's petite face. Ivy's wide eyes stared up at her owner, almost as if pleading for things to get better. For the first time that November had ever seen, raindrops fell from Rebecca's brown eyes.

November quickly pulled Rebecca's wrist away from Ivy, shaking her head warningly. As much as she pitied the tiny, innocent creature, she did not want Rebecca to suffer Azulis too - surprisingly enough, its effects seemed to be worse on humans.

"It's contagious." November cautiously warned her, watching intensely as the stubborn blonde moved her hand back towards the shaking puppy.

"I don't care." Rebecca frowned. "It's either I watch Ivy die, or I die with her." For a second, November pondered this statement before raising an eyebrow.

"Rebecca, that's unnecessary. You told me once that parents die every day here, right? You got through that, you can get through this." November smiled. For the thousands of battles that Rebecca had already fought in this world, this seemed only to be yet another one.