The Princess ran her fingers over the bark of the tree. A blight, she could smell it just from the pollen it was giving off, but touching it confirmed her suspicions. If she just left it, the blight could spread to other trees and utterly destroy the forest. Luckily she could cure it. She pressed both hands against the trunk. It only took a little bit of mana to heal it. She gazed up at the branches above.

“You won’t tell my secret will you?” she asked it. No answer, but she sat down and leaned against the tree just the same.

“I didn’t think you would.”

She closed her eyes so she could hear better. Plants had a small degree of mana and it gave off a sort of music-like sensation. If she focused a little, she could hear it. She found the sensations of a properly cultivated field of crops to be different from those in the forest. Crops on a farm was like a group of people all singing in the same key, same note at the same time with very little variation. A forest, or any uncultivated area was more like a symphony. Different keys, tones, voices. Each plant sang so uniquely, yet all were in harmony. She supposed a garden was a little more akin to a band, smaller than the forest. Her garden, which she allowed only a very small, select group of gardeners tend to, was as close to the symphony as she could get without letting it go wild.

She could read plants very well. It was people that always confused her. While she had a small degree of empathic power, it was only for an impression of personality, not current mood. And the older she got the more tiring these reads became. She just wanted to rest where the sounds of life were more harmonious.

“Are you skipping lessons again?”

The Princess opened her eyes. Her Knight had come to retrieve her. She couldn’t even muster the strength to smile at him.

“Yes,” was all she would say. He sighed and sat next to her.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked. She just rested her head on his shoulder. “I noticed you were a little tense with your economics tutor. What’s going on?”

She glared up at him. He probably knew why she skipped class already, it was hard to hide from him. The Princess curled up as if that would help her mask her feelings (knowing full well that in all honesty it made her feelings only more apparent to him).

“You skip a lot of classes,” he said.

“I don’t skip the ones that are important,” she said.

“You mean you don’t skip the lessons you like,” he said. “So you attend all your magic lessons with your aunt, you attend all the lessons about agriculture, literature, art, and history, but skip all the ones about economics, politics and etiquette.”

“What’s the point? I’m going to die before I get to use any of that anyway,” she said. She regretted the words as soon as she said it. She might not have true empathic powers, but it was confirmed that her Knight did. Now he had a read on her and wouldn’t leave her alone. She could summon a hedge of thorny roses to keep him away, but that would only make him more suspicious and read her even more.

“This is something you don’t want me to know about isn’t it?” he said. She curled up and rested her head on her knees.

“You know already. I’m going to die as soon as people figure out I do more than just make flowers grow,” she said.

“That might not be true. Your mother didn’t die simply because people knew she could heal. You know the history better than I do, your mother fought several plagues and droughts, she spent more than a decade over exerting herself. She left this kingdom in a better state so all you have to do is maintain what she left behind,” he said.

“Right now, I'm viewed as an inferior version of my mother and they’re still seeking ways to exploit me. So what do you think will happen when people realize that I can heal them?”

He draped his cape over her head. She couldn’t resist his offer of comfort and sat closer to him.

“If you want to lock yourself up in a tower and never see people again, I will guard you. But don’t give up on people until you at least show yourself to others a little. I think you’ll have more support than you realize.”

“All I need is my family and you,” she said.

“Princess…be careful about saying such things about me,” he said. She looked up at him solemnly. How could he read her every passing mood so clearly but not see the obvious?

“I’m not the only one who runs from things they’re scared of,” she said. “Let’s make a deal. If I stop running from my classes, you need to stop running from things too.”

He swallowed and avoided her eyes.

“I’m not sure what you think I’m running from, but it’s a deal,” he said.

She grinned and twirled a lock of his hair. A peavine flower bloomed and she grinned. He’d keep his word, she knew him well enough to be secure in this.

She hid in the hollow of a tree. She attended all her lessons as promised. She performed well. She understood economics and politics and could perform etiquette just fine. Her teachers were kind and patient enough and praised her efforts. They told her that they didn’t understand why she skipped class so often and she could offer no explanation that could be satisfying. She wished she was like her father, or even her Knight. They somehow could mask their discomfort and she absolutely could not. She knew her eyes widened in terror and her smile was obviously forced. She knew she looked tired after all her classes. She needed to hide for now.

Yet, he would not let her just hide. She glared at her Knight as he approached. He knelt before her and held out his hand. She put her hand in his. Why, when he was partially the cause for her sour mood, could she not resist him? She had no self control. She was scared, tired, and in some sort of weird emotional pain so strong it almost felt physical, like something was clawing out of her chest. So any form of soft, physical contact brought comfort.

“I’m sorry you’re so tired and hurting,” he said.

“I need to sneak,” she said. She didn’t look him in the eyes, she felt so defeated and exhausted.

“I…Princess if someone catches us…”

“I want to go to the library and hide in my corner and write my stories and I don’t want to ​​be seen,” she said.

He helped her up and lifted his cape. They called this “sneaking.” Because she was so small, she could sneak around the castle by hiding under his cape and walking right behind him. She would gently place her hands on his back and match his steps as best she could. She never told him that when they did this that she just enjoyed being so close to him. She loved his warmth and even the way he smelled. Very much like how she could smell certain things about plants, she could smell certain things about humans other than the obvious. She could smell illness and mana the clearest, and her Knight’s mana was very alluring to her, it always had been. He wasn’t a mage, he didn’t have much mana, but it was enough. If she had to describe it: his mana was relaxing like lavender, sharp like mint, something deep and spicy, and just a hint of sweetness.

The relief of his closeness made her cry and his willingness to take her to a safe place so she could perform her preferred coping mechanism made her feel particularly cared for. The pain in her chest subsided, she unclenched her jaw (she hadn’t even realized she’d been doing that at all). She breathed in and out slowly and she was glad she was supposed to be hiding, because she’d admit certain feelings she wasn’t ready to say aloud.

Her Knight may have claimed that his Princess was obvious with her feelings, however, he was obvious as well. He hadn’t said anything, it was just actions, especially the subconscious ones. Those with little mana couldn’t control it well, so it often acted on very base impulses. Despite his efforts to remain reserved and distant, his mana betrayed him and gave her all the affection and comfort he tried to stop himself from giving. She knew that her constant relief when he was present was at least partly due to his mana mingling with hers and toning down some of her wilder physiological reactions, making them much weaker and less distressing.

They arrived at her corner of the library, where her pens and journals waited for her. Her Knight stood by, even though they were no longer in extremely close proximity, the effects of his mana still washed over her, keeping her calm so she could properly channel her energy.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?” he asked.

She looked at him and smiled softly. She’d forgotten he’d be unaware of what he was doing to help her. Here was a man so helpful, he literally was not aware of all the good he was doing.

“For everything,” she said. She could elaborate, but he would deny it and she wanted to hold on to these warm feelings with no outside input to rattle them.