"Thank you so much for saving Aelia!" The woman yet again grovelled.
"It was my pleasure. I couldn't let her die." Of course she couldn't! Then the healers arrived. And stared in shock.
"How...?" One asked. Elentiya blushed - how had she done it? Could she heal people now, then? She hoped so; she wanted to heal people. Couldn't she be a healer? She supposed that was what being a queen meant. That she healed her country. Embarrassed by all the attention, she slipped away, and now that the healers were concentrating on Aelia, it was easy.
Not wanting to return home just yet, she wandered through the streets, not really noting where she was going. Until another girl joined her.
"Hello, I'm Eleri - Aedion and Lysandra's daughter. I've been watching you - but not in a creepy way - but Mother said you probably wouldn't want to be bothered and that I might overwhelm you. I talk a lot, you see. I want to be friends, though."
"Um... Hello?" Elentiya laughed nervously. That was unexpected.
"Don't be shy - please. I hate it when people are shy. Especially since you were literally just talking and laughing like any other person."
"Sorry. I just... haven't ever met anyone like you."
"I should hope so! I am unique."
"Oh, really? I thought you were just a mindless clone." Elentiya really hoped she hadn't misjudged the situation. She didn't want to upset anyone. But Eleri just laughed.
"If that were true, then you would be too." What? Elentiya just blinked. "I don't even know!" Eleri exclaimed. Elentiya decided that, though she was a little over the top, she liked her.
"I know - there's this place I know, where we could go for lunch." Elentiya tried to protest that she had no money, but Eleri just said that she'd pay.
"You can pay next time." Elentiya worried that they'd be too young, but no one at the tea room Eleri had taken her to seemed to mind. "I know, it's not really a lunch place, but it does the most amazing chocolate crêpes! You do like chocolate don't you, 'Tiya? Do you mind if I call you that?"
Elentiya began to relax, and by the time they had eaten, knew that she and Eleri were friends. Proper friends, who could rely on each other when stuff went wrong. She couldn't say how she knew, but she did. Eleri was actually really easy to talk to, and even demonstrated her knowledge of the Old Language. Elentiya knew it was mean, but couldn't help laughing when Eleri accidentally called herself a blue penguin. They didn't talk about the bad stuff, not yet, but Elentiya knew that if she needed to tell Eleri anything, she would be there for her.
That night, Elentiya went to sleep thinking about her new friend. When she woke up, she realised that it was the first night that she had had a good dream. But she kept that to herself. Some things are just too good to share.