Warm, steamy air overwhelmed Princess Valerie as she stepped inside the home. The hunter stayed just a few inches behind her, watching her every step.

The smell of food masked the mustiness of the room. The air was warm, thick with soot and cooking moisture. In the corner, a fireplace was crackling, with a cauldron suspended above. In the middle of the room stood a crooked table. At the table sat a woman cradling an infant, a teenage boy, and a young woman, obscured by the darkness of the room.

April handed the hunter Valerie’s chain. He kept it short. Valerie watched April fill pottery bowls with soup from the fireplace. She placed the first bowl in front of the woman with the baby. The woman did not look up; her face was still hidden in the darkness.

April then filled bowls for the young woman and the boy. They showed equally no reaction, their shadowed faces still turned towards Valerie.

April gestured for the hunter and Valerie to come. The hunter pushed Valerie toward a tree stump and coerced her down. He sat down right beside her. April put down soup dishes in front of them. Then she walked around the table and stepped behind the older woman, stroking her back gently.

“Look, Ma, it’s Princess Valerie!”

The woman looked up slowly. A blank stare from a gaunt, pale face, empty eyes fixed on Valerie but also far away.

April, too, now looked at Valerie, but her eyes were filled with tears. “Princess Valerie will now apologize for what she did to our family.”

Valerie’s thoughts raced. She did not know them. She did know a lot of people had suffered in the last weeks - months, even. As had she. Losing her sister, carrying the burden of responsibility, making terrible sacrifices. And she did everything she could. She didn’t even know what she could do better if she could repeat it all again. It was not her fault that Patron Eli did not answer her prayers.

To better her chances of survival, she should probably crouch on the floor, begging for forgiveness. But she couldn’t. She held her position; she kept fighting. Even when all hope was lost.

April’s lips pressed together, her eyebrows narrowed, and tears swelled in her eyes. She burst out, with forced constraint:

“Even now.”

She walked over to Valerie and whispered in her ear, spitting every word with anger:

“You damn prideful, arrogant witch. I will give you one more chance to apologize to my mother.”

The mother started cradling the infant again. No, wait. Valerie squinted. The bundle was too small, too rigid. It was a log of wood draped in a baby blanket.

Valerie felt a shudder crawling over her back.

“Alright… I will make you apologize then,” April said.

Valerie looked at the other people at the table - the boy, the younger woman, the hunter. Their faces were like stone, showing no emotion. Nobody stood up to get a weapon; no sign of anybody getting ready to attack Valerie.

Would they really kill Valerie in front of the mother?

Valerie spoke the first words since she was kidnapped. They came out raspy and weak:

“I understand your pain. But hurting me won’t bring any of your loved ones back. We should work together inst-”

Valerie’s voice faded. She tried to form another word, but no sound came out. She tried again. Now she heard her voice, but they were not her words:

“Mary, you are a great mother. I, Princess Valerie, am so very deeply sorry that my stupid selfishness, my damn pride, took your sons, daughters, and husband. We of royal blood pride ourselves on our powerful magic. But we won’t help our people when they are consumed by a terrible plague. We will just let it happen.”

Valerie felt like she was suffocating from panic. She tried to grab her mouth, but her hands would not let her. She clenched her jaw, tried to bite her tongue. But nothing would stop the strange words from coming out. Her limbs felt paralyzed, yet her body was moving on its own, rolling from the stump onto the floor. Valerie wanted to scream in pain as her knees scraped on the bark. But she was not allowed to. Before she knew what was going on, she was kneeling in the dirt in front of the family.

Her head jerked towards the hunter so fast she heard her spine crack:

“March. You hunt for my kingdom. You bring my people food, and I took your father and siblings. I am so very sorry!”

Valerie’s head slammed against the earthen floor in a violent bow. Then her gaze was forced toward the young lady:

“June! Studying forest magic and teaching it to your sister. I look down on it, I hate it, because I only want royal magic in my kingdom. Because I want to keep the power of my bloodline! But I apologize for letting your siblings die. Patron Eli did not help his people because of my prideful, arrogant, abhorrent family. That’s my fault.”

Valerie’s body performed another forced bow, like a puppet on strings. Then her head was turned to the boy:

“Jules! I am so sorry! My actions led to you being infected by the plague-”

Valerie’s voice stopped. Her hands raced to her mouth, nearly punching herself. Reflexively, she backed off but was stopped forcefully by the rattling chain.

She looked up. April was sobbing uncontrollably. It was like time was frozen for a moment. The only sound was April's crying. Then the girl ripped a bag from her belt and slammed it on the table before running out the door.

The room fell silent. Valerie felt dizzy, like she needed to vomit. The ground was spinning. She needed to hold onto the floor. She must not lose control again.

After an eternity, June said in a blank tone:

“I don’t think that made any of us feel better.”

“Big surprise,” the hunter, March, answered, his voice exhausted.

“She’s a child. At least she is trying to process her grief.” June looked at March, who adverted his eyes.

Valerie was still curled up on the floor. Scattered, panicked thoughts flew through her mind without sense. It was impossible to comprehend what had just happened. She glanced up, meeting June’s eyes.

“It’s forest magic. You would not know how powerful it is. You are probably quite sheltered,” June explained, as if reading Valerie’s thoughts. She gestured for March to pull her up. He sat Valerie back on the tree stump.

June opened the bag April had left on the table. She took out bundles of herbs Valerie had never seen before, worn dolls, and scissors. Then June grabbed a smaller pouch and opened it, revealing shiny black beetles and seeds.

“Oh, not that one,” she murmured quickly, opening another.

Having found what she had searched for, she looked at Valerie:

“You have to take this pill now. You can take it yourself, or March or April can make you.”

Valerie grabbed the pill and swallowed it without a word.