The trip to Terravale went smoother than she expected. Back when she was traveling incognito to Elysara, she had a limited budget and had to make it to her destination as soon as possible to beat her parents there, otherwise Livia’s lie would have been found out and her best friend would have gotten in trouble with her parents, which is not a good thing for anyone.

In comparison, the trip to Terravale was practically a luxury. They didn’t have to worry about meals nor the inns they’ll be staying at because the budget was practically limitless. On top of that, they even have access to warm and clean water for bathing. Her parents even sent a small entourage for protection during her journey. 

Traveling as a princess and traveling as a war nurse are on two widely different levels. 

The biggest issue was boredom. Traveling from Etheria to the Temple of Elysara takes much longer than traveling from the royal palace of Etheria to the royal palace of Terravale. Due to the rocking of the carriage and the chance of motion sickness, Amaryllis couldn’t really read books or do embroidery or anything that could pass time other than recite passages from books she’d read in the past to Livia or look outside the window at the scenery. Because she mostly only had medical books memorized, the recital quickly became boring. At least Livia learned some new things, even though they wouldn’t be useful as neither of them were war nurses anymore.

So eventually, the topic turned to Amaryllis’s future husband.

“I can’t believe I’m getting married to the man whom all of Mythina thought to be dead.” Amaryllis remarked. “Like, he was presumed dead, then a few weeks later, he was revealed to be alive, and now we’re getting married as soon as I arrive at my destination. He was quite literally the topic of gossip for weeks.”

She didn’t bring up how she mourned his supposed death out of respect. They might be on the opposite sides of war, but gods knew she held him in high regard. There are some people in this world who you just can’t help but admire because of their good character.

“I heard he’s handsome,” Livia offered. “And young. And he treats everyone well regardless of gender. Didn’t you want someone like that?”

That was exactly what Amaryllis meant by good character.

“He’s also a general of our enemies’ army.” Amaryllis started to argue back for no apparent reason, despite agreeing with Livia. “He’s partially responsible for all the people we had to heal in the past few years.”

“Didn’t you also praise him for lowering the casualty count once?”

“That’s—!”

“More than once, actually. I distinctly remember you saying, ‘I don’t know how he’s doing it, but the other war leaders should learn from him.’”

Amaryllis hid her face behind her hands in shame. “I also called him an idiot for wearing gold armor.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Livia backed her up. “Gold is too soft and flashy for battle.”

“It was actually some type of golden alloy, which is stronger than pure gold.”

“How do you know this?”

“I heard about it from a Terravalen.”

Livia gave her a weird look when she said that. “Does this happen to be the same Terravalen captain you saved before?”

Amaryllis averted her eyes. “Please don’t judge me for saving an enemy captain, Livia. It’s a really long story.”

“Well,” Livia leaned back in her seat. “We have all the time in the world for this long story.”

Amaryllis let out a deep sigh, then started recounting the story of how she and Evan first met when she found him washed up on the shore of the river, how he saved her from a water snake, so she felt indebted to him.

“Are you serious?” Livia nearly shrieked. “I should have been there! What if he tried to hurt you?”

“I can take care of a single man, Livia, especially an injured one.” Amaryllis omitted the fact that she was scared senseless when she first met him. “Not to mention, my ability to sense emotions has never led me astray before.”

“Amaryllis,” Livia pinched the space between her eyebrows. “You are too kind and trusting toward others.”

“You forget that even though I can sense the worst in people, I can also sense the best in them. And most people are better than you give them credit for.”

Livia was silent at that statement.

“Do you… like him?” Livia suddenly asked out of the blue.

Amaryllis flinched in response. “What?”

“You have this wisty tone when you talk about him.”

“Maybe a tad bit of infatuation,” Amaryllis admitted, averting her gaze again. “He was very kind and good looking. He’s the kind of person who leaves a deep impression and makes you think about him for a very long time.”

He cooks for me and gives me flowers. He read me books and told me funny stories. He made me smile and forget my worries. He made me feel safe when I’m with him.

“It’s funny,” Amaryllis noted. “I was praying to the gods for the souls of the lost soldier just before I came across him. One can almost say our meeting was… fate.”

“Well, I’m sure this is going to be an awkward reunion when Evan sees you marrying the prince of his kingdom.”

Amaryllis’s heart dropped a little. “That’s true.”

A beat of silence again.

“I wonder what Etheria will be like now that the war is over.” Amaryllis pondered aloud. “We’ve been at war for over a century. I’ve never seen a world without war.”

“I’m sure you can go back and visit in the future.”

After a few more uneventful days, where the only interesting thing was one of the guards in her entourage purchasing a musical instrument to entertain the whole group, they finally reached Terravale.

They were delayed a few hours due to the amount of people swarming the streets to catch a glimpse of the royal bridal procession from Etheria. People flocked to the edge of the street, the crowd sometimes gathering so thick that the Terravalen guards had to step in to clear a path. The Etherian soldiers were also a little on edge, anticpating the possibility of the crowd turning violent, but to Amaryllis’s surprise, the crowd were mostly full of well-wishes, tossing flowers and rice and other charms for good luck.

Then, they started to approach the capital of Terravale, where the royal family resided. Amaryllis had been anticipating this moment for the past few weeks. The start of her new life, with her husband. As her stomach twisted itself in knots, the carriage slowly pulled itself to the front of the royal palace.

The royal palace of Terravale was taller than the royal palace of Etheria, but it had fewer windows. The stones were slightly darker as well, and covered with moss and ivies along certain areas.

On the top of the stairs leading up to the entrance of the royal palace, Amaryllis could see three figures, who she made out to be the king, the queen consort, and their eldest child, Crown Princess Rowena. On the bottom of the stair, stood a familiar young man.

Amaryllis squinted, but the window of the carriage and her veil were obscuring her vision somewhat. She could see the figure approaching the carriage door. Based on the fine details and embellishments on his clothes, he must be her betrothed, Prince Tristan. 

The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the stairs, and the footman got out to open the carriage door. 

Tristan then stepped forward and offered his hand to her to help her out of the carriage. “Princess, I’ve come to escort you to the royal palace.”

His voice was smooth and familiar. Where had she met him before? She quickly read through his emotions. He was nervous, anxious, but also amicable and understanding.

Before she could second-guess herself, she took his hand and stepped out of the carriage. As soon as the sunlight hit her face, she squinted, and suddenly, she could see him better. He was tall and fit, with golden hair and jeweled blue eyes…

Suddenly, she realized that she knew him too well. In disbelief, Amaryllis yanked off her veil. 

“Evan?”