Their footsteps squished against the stone and rain. The ruins they had passed throughout the kingdom was enough to leave them in shock. From each weathered stone, they wondered what this kingdom used to look like. Their steps were careful not to stride on the shards of glass as they wondered about the old. Each fracture of glass belonged somewhere. From glass doors to silverware, it was their culture. They came across a particular shard with dirtied blue swirls and white accents. Taking out their handkerchief, they rubbed the foggy layer of dirt away from the surface. It was even brighter than it was before with small green specks. It was sure to be a souvenir that they could bring back home. 

Looking up they gasped softly to themselves. The sight of this particular ruin was even greater. The tall church’s arch leaned up towards the sky. In their mind, they could see the architectural blue print that was supposed to replicate what it had looked like. The ruined church was barely even to the top window frames that were empty of their stained glass. Even if what had been was gone, it was proof of all the stories they had heard about. The story they were chasing where even immortals died. 

Walking over to the window frame, they stared at the frozen droplets of gold that dripped down the sides of the quartz. It was beautiful in the grace of it’s down fall. The stories told of flames. But what flame of a kingdom could melt this gold in such a way? Even so, how did the droplets freeze like they had? It was as if, the fire had simply vanished and was replaced with a sudden winter. 

They climbed over the window frame and reached up for a lantern on the wall. With a flick of their match, the air snuffed out the colors. They paused as the flame refused to ignite. Their eyebrows furrowed. They had struck it hard enough for it to light, they were sure of it. After many attempts, it seemed pointless to get the lantern to burn. They had hoped to see the ruin in more detail but the only light they had was the light from the doorway from which they stood.  

“OOooooOOO!” 

They turned to see a small blue wisp. It got close to their nose before giggling and dancing around them. They smiled in awe by the expression of this lonely wisp. It seemed so pure and innocent as it simply played with them. 

“What’s your name?” they asked. 

The wisp landed within their hand and tilted back and forth with a variety of hums. 

While they didn’t understand what the wisp had said they still smiled at it, “That’s a very pretty name.” They watched as the wisp sang in excitement. They laughed under their breath, “Why, aren’t you an excited bundle of joy.” 

The wisp twirled around in their hand before blinking in remembrance. The wisp spoke in its hums in an urgent manner. Not as if someone were injured but out of excitement. They tried their best to follow but the wisp was very hard to understand, even with its movements to help convey the message. 

After a while their shoulders slumped, “I… I’m sorry but I don’t understand what it is that you are saying.” 

The wisp sadly hummed as it lowered into their hands. 

“Is there anyway that you can show me?” they asked softly as to not make the wisp more upset. 

“Unfortunately, he can not.” 

They jumped and the wisp disappeared. Resting their hand on the hilt of their knife, they looked to the shadow in the ruin. They gulped as they tried to find their words, taking a step back.  

“Don't be frightened. I mean no harm.” The shadow stepped into the light to reveal a face they had only seen on paper before.  

“You- you’re- you're- you’re-” 

“Yes.” 

The being in front of them was just as still as when they were on paper. The birthmark along their neck with the same deep blue eyes were identical. Their attire was just as clean cut as any outfit said to be designed by them. It was like a dream to imagine they would be in the same breath as them. “But but you how-” 

“Olinn… I know everything the light touches.” 

“The light?” They looked around to notice even though there wasn’t a lot of light in the ruin, it just so happened that they were standing in the only light that came through the doorway. “Oh.” 

“Let’s get you out of the rain. You shouldn’t get sick on your travels.” 

Olinn watched them walk farther into the ruins where a dark archway was in the back. They weren’t sure where it would be dryer since the roof was either gone or had holes in it. The wisp appeared next to their ear, humming sadly. “It’s okay. I’ll follow.”  

As they followed through the darkness, they came to the same archway as the being had gone through. They were hesitant as they looked down the stairs. The being was nowhere to be seen but there was a light below that was warm with a red glow. They took in a deep breath and released it in hopes it would help with how tight their shoulders felt. Even a breath that big seemed to do nothing. 

The wisp nuzzled their cheek and hugged their nose.  

Olinn smiled softly, “I know. I’ll be safe. You’ll stay with me right?” 

The wisp paused before hiding behind their ear again. 

They sighed, “Alright I guess.” They went down the stairs carefully since the steps were slightly wet. The light grew brighter, warmth surrounding them the farther down they went. They made it to the bottom to be surprised by the small room that looked more like a house. There was a small table with a counter for the kitchen. Not far from there was a rocking chair with a couple blankets and a bed within the wall. To the other side was a wall packed with books that had titles they had never seen before. As for the being, they were at the kitchen counter, making something that they could not see. 

“I… haven’t had a guest in some time so I pardon myself in advance if I might do things differently,” the being said. 

“That- that’s okay I I wasn’t really um… expecting to find you here.” 

“But you were looking for me.” 

Olinn messed with the ring on their pinky, “Um… yeah um sorta.” 

“Well,” the being said with a smile as they stirred the stew, “You are lucky that he likes you. If it weren’t for his persistence I would not have come up at all.” 

“Who’s he?” 

“The wisp. I guess he’s gotten a bit bored of me,” they said with a soft chuckle. 

“He likes me?” Olinn paused for thought. They knew a lot of the tales of this being and their wisps. For thousands of years, they had been together. “Wait- can you understand him?” 

“Well of course! I’m only stuck with them every bloody second of my life.” The being took a ladle and poured the ready-stew into two bowls. “Let's eat and you can ask your questions.” 

Olinn looked around to notice the table only had one chair. The only other one was a stool that held three books, a pot with no plant in it, and a scarf. There was also the rocking chair but that wasn’t very suitable for a kitchen table. “Um… where do I sit?” 

“You can rest in the bed. It's best you get some rest before you’re on your way.” 

“Eat? In bed?” 

“Why not?” 

Olinn shrugged softly as they looked over to the small bed. It did look very comfy after their long travel. “I’ve never been allowed.” 

“Well I do things differently, I guess.” They smiled softly, yet somewhat sadly at them, before walking over to where the bed was. “Put your shoes in front of the furnace there. It’ll dry them off.” 

They did as they were told along with taking off the soaked cloak and scarf. Their gloves and socks were also put there. The being was very kind to lend them some warm socks and sweater to keep from the cold. The furnace was nice as it rubbed all along their cheeks, melting them with relief.  

“Here,” the being handed them their bowl with a spoon. “You can have seconds if you would like.” 

“When did you start making that stew?” 

The being sat down in the rocking chair. “Mmm, probably a few hours ago. I make a lot so I can eat some later.” 

“Oh.” Olinn played with the stew for a little while, watching the potatoes and meat twirl around with satisfaction. After a bite it was hard to resist another. The being sure did know how to make some good stew. It seemed the being enjoyed it too as they ate in silence.  

“So… your questions,” the being finally said. 

Olinn looked up from their stew. They noticed the being’s gloves and set their bowl in their lap. “Why is it you are wearing your white gloves? Isn’t the white supposed to mean purity? From what I’m told, royals only wear white gloves and only during balls or formal occasions. Though sometimes they made gloves to match the colors of their attire.” 

The being sat the bowl down as they thought, rubbing their thumb along the side of the bowl. “There is a lot of meaning to the color of the gloves. And it is true. That is, what you say about the white gloves. I wear them to hope that maybe I, too, will be forgiven.” 

“Forgiven?” 

There was a shift in the being’s eyes. They were always cast downwards but this was different. Sadder. Longer. “What tales have you heard?” 

“There are a lot of stories. Like a lot. And even drawings too! Not many pictures though. But most of them were about how you were the Majesty of a land called Nevalen and defeated an army of evil people which… destroyed Nevalen in the end. And Nevalen now can only be found by someone true of heart. Which is… why I didn’t think I would actually find you. Shouldn’t you be dead?” 

“Dead? I wish.” The being looked over at them before sighing. “I wish that tale was as lighthearted as you made it sound.” 

Olinn was silent for a while to hear what else the being would say, but they didn’t say much else. “Are the tales not true?” 

“From what I hear? Yes.” 

“Then… what really happened?” 

“Are you sure you want the answer to this?” 

“I guess so.” 

The being looked down at their stew. Olinn could tell it was a lot for them. They could only imagine what it had been like for them thousands of years ago. “Well… it’s a long story. My mother, the Queen of Nevalen, had me. I was sent to drown down a river but never did. There, I was taken in by a young civilian who would later be a grand scholar. I stayed with her until the kingdom burned and I was brought to a valley. I was a cornflower farmer for a couple of years with my two fathers. That was until the Captain of Nevalen found me and took me in to be one of the Nevalen Knights. We took a train back to my new home, in Nevalen, where I met my best friend for a long time. His name was Xander and he didn’t speak much English at the time, but that didn’t stop us from being the chaotic duo we were.”