Seren sipped at their tea while staring at the wood kitchen floor. They focused on a single line in-between the panels. The ceramic cup was warm in Seren's hands; the warm sweet smell carried by the steam up to Seren's face. They took another sip. The tea wasn't burning hot but warm. It was a little too strong and sweet. Thanks to the tiny cheese cloth bag full of tea leaves, still inside the cup. Accompanied by the healthy spoonful of honey resting on the bottom of the mug.

Seren, lost in the wilds of their imagination, held the tea string and bobbed it in and out of the mug.

“Hey, you mind it I take the table?” Mykolas asked. He hid behind the wall of the kitchen as if he didn't want Seren to notice him.

“Hm?” Seren looked up, “Oh, yeah. Sure.” They scooted back so that more of the table was available. Although they were only taking up a negligible amount of space to begin with.

“Thanks,” He murmured. Mykolas walked in with a large square wicker basket that clinked while he walked. “Hope you don’t mind, I don’t like doing this without a stable work space.” He placed down the basket and began pulling jars and cups of colors out of it.

“Paint?” Seren asked with a sip of their own cup.

“Yeah,” Mykolas nodded. He finished emptying the basket and put it under the table. “One sec,” Mykolas left out the back door and then ducked back in with a large canvas. There was already a scene started over it. A cityscape at twilight.

“It’s beautiful,” Seren said. Leaning forward a little to see it better. Mykolas looked up and his cheeks went red, tilting the canvas away from Seren.

“Thank you,” He said. Taking a look at the painting putting it onto the table with delicate care. “It’s not finished.”

“Where is that?” Seren asked. “Is it a real place?”

“Yeah, it’s the place where my sister and I were born.” Mykolas pushed the canvas a little closer toward Seren. “At least, the best that I can remember it. We haven’t been there for a while.”

“Why?”

Mykolas stared hard at the painting. He slowly sat down into his chair and took the lids off the jars of paint.

“We left, and we just never went back.” He said finally. Seren nodded.

“Fair enough,” Seren pulled the bag out of the tea. It was now a burnt caramel color.

“I’d like to go back there someday,” Mykolas added. Dipping a thin brush into royal purple paint.

“What’s stopping you?” Seren sipped at their tea, it was growing lukewarm.

“Iekika,” Mykolas whispered. He looked around to make sure she wasn’t anywhere near by. “She doesn’t want to leave yet.” Seren nodded with contemplation. Watching the careful and delicate movements Mykolas made on the painting. They watched him paint every stroke with intense, deliberate movements. Painting a glorious red-pink sunset over shadowy buildings. His face went serene as he drifted into the painting. Seren liked watching him drift through different emotions behind his eyes.

“You paint a lot?” Seren whispered. Not daring to break his concentration but unable to help themself. Mykolas’ concentration shattered and he looked up with a jerk.

“Painting, do you do it a lot?” Seren asked again.

“Yeah,” Mykolas nodded. Staring at his painting with a sad, absent look.

“What others have you done?” Seren asked, resting their head on their hand. Mykolas looked up at them with a sparkle lighting up his eyes. He put his paintbrush into his cup of water and scooted his chair back. Not quite rising yet.

“Do you wanna- wanna see them?” Mykolas spoke softly, he had a small stutter in his quiet excitement. Seren snickered behind their hand.

“Yeah, I’d love to.” Seren put their mug down. The tea inside was getting cold anyway. Mykolas started to jump from his chair but collected himself and got to his feet slowly. Seren was on their feet before Mykolas, he took the time to push in his chair while Seren shifted in place. Rubbing their arm and looking around the room feeling awkward.

“Uh, follow me.” Mykolas raised his hands in a jerking motion until he was pointing towards the doorway. Seren followed after him through the living room and up the two flights of stairs. He led them to his room and paused at the door. He turned and looked at Seren with a slight embarrassment coloring his cheeks.

“I keep them in my room. Don’t mind the mess,” He stated. Seren smiled, yesterday's mess still vivid in their mind. Mykolas opened the door to a pristine room. The wooden floor boards had the reflections of the furniture in them. The bed covers were the only thing not in place. All walls lined with paintings of forests, oceans, and other places Seren had never seen.

“Wow!” Seren couldn’t help themself as they followed Mykolas into his room right over his shoulder. There were paintings of sunsets, sunrises, paintings in blue, in red. They hung over the walls and some draped up against the walls and over the desk. Rolls of uncut canvas tucked away in neat corners.

“You did all these yourself?” Seren brushed past Mykolas into his room to marvel at the paintings.

“Yeah,” Mykolas started around the room. Picking up things from the desk and putting them into drawers. Moving things into covers or under other furniture.

“They’re beautiful,” Seren clasped their hands together. “This is all from your imagination? Or your memories?”

“Yeah,” Mykolas ducked low around Seren to get to the bed. Pulling the covers straight.

“Which one’s your favorite?” Seren turned around to him. He paused like a spotlight was set upon him.

“Uh,” He said. He dropped the bed covers and stepped back. Looking around the room's walls, hands on his hips.

“That one,” He pointed to a painting of a windswept meadow with long flowing grass. Daisies dotted the field with bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds above it.

“Oh, that one is so pretty,” Seren stepped closer to where it hung on the wall. “What makes it your favorite?”

“It’s a place from my childhood,” Mykolas said. “We used to live near this field. My sister and I played in it all the time.” Seren smiled, then looked about the room.

“I think I like that one the best,” Seren pointed at a picture of a seaside cliff.

“Have you ever been to the seaside?” Mykolas asked.

“I don’t think I ever left the castle. Prior to coming here, I mean.” Seren said, sheepishly rubbing their arm. “I’d love to go some time.” Mykolas stared at the painting hard for a while.

“I guess we should go back to the kitchen,” Mykolas said finally. Seren looked at him and then around the room at all the paintings.

“Yeah, I guess.” Seren nodded and started walking out of the room. Casting lingering looks at the paintings before exiting.

“You’re very talented, you know that?” Seren asked Mykolas as he came out from his room and shut his door. He blushed again and scratched at his hair to try and hide it.

“Thanks, I just…” He fake coughed into his hand. “It’s nothing.”

“I mean it is, I bet if you wanted to you could sell them or trade them for quite a bit” Seren started for the stairs. Mykolas kept behind them in silent contemplation. The pair went down the stairs and towards the second set.

“Oh! Seren! Can you give me a hand?” Aurora called from the sewing room. Seren turned to Mykolas and gave him a small wave.

“Sure, what do you need?” Seren asked. Aurora was pinning together fabric along a mannequin in a loose idea of a design.

“I need help. I wanted to make a new dress so I picked up some fabric. But I can’t decide which to make into a dress and which to make into curtains.” Aurora placed her hands on her hips and frowned so deep it was visible in the creases of her forehead. Seren stood next to her and crossed their arms. There were three different fabrics that were all different colors and designs. One was teal with little white birds, Another; red with small dots and the last was white with flowers.

“I think the ones with the flowers or birds would be best for the curtains and the dots would be the best for a dress.” Seren said. “Or a very pretty blouse,” Aurora nodded.

“I do like the blue birds,” She said. “It would be beautiful as a dress,”

“You could do two dresses,” Seren pointed out. “One with the dots and the other with the birds,”

“Ooh!” Aurora gasped. “That would be wonderful! That’s a good idea, you do any sewing?”

“I can,” Seren shrugged. “I had to do a lot to keep my clothes wearable.”

“Let’s make dresses together!” Aurora bounced with excitement. Seren hunched their shoulders.

“I don’t really want to, but I’ll knit something while you sew a dress,” Seren offered.

“You knit?” Aurora asked as she started unclipping the fabric from the mannequin.

“Yeah, a bit” Seren went to the closet where the house kept yarn. They dug through the yarn bin for a color they wanted to work with as well as what they wanted to make.

“Wow, we haven’t had someone who could knit in a while!” Aurora folded her fabric up and put it away in a box.

“People come and go from here?” Seren lifted a mild blue yarn ball and then moved onto the needles.

“It happens,” Aurora turned her attention back to the fabric with the birds. Still pinned to the mannequins. “People get lost and end up here and then they move on. We’re the ones that chose to stay.” Seren pulled a pair of needles from the bouquet. They wandered over to where Aurora was pinning the fabric into more of a dress shape, h’mming over it.

“Could you grab me that book over there?” Aurora asked, pointing to a stack of books hidden between scraps of fabric. “The one on the top?”

“Oh sure,” Seren moved the yarn and needles into one hand and brushed the crafting supplies off the book stack. Seren brought the book to Aurora. She flipped it open and began thumbing through the sewing patterns. Seren pulled a stool out and sat. Pulling a basket out to hold their yarn, pulling a length out to cast onto the needles. They got to thinking about the house, they had assumed their stay would be permanent. Where else did they have to go?

“I know it’s early to ask, but do you have a plan for the future?” Aurora asked, still flipping through the pages. “I don’t. I ran away from home after some family drama and just never felt the need to leave.”

“You ran away?” Seren asked. Winding knots with the yarn.

“Yeah, but it’s not very exciting.” Aurora tapped a picture in the book a few times. “Not as exciting as being wanted dead by a queen!” Seren pressed their lips together, holding their yarn taut between their fingers.

“Yeah,” They breathed.

“But who cares about the past right?” Aurora turned and bounced her shoulders around playfully. “We gotta live in the now! Look toward the future!” Seren laughed at Aurora’s dramatics.

“Mmn, I heard a rumor in town and I meant to bring it up to you.” Aurora snapped her fingers and put the book down on top of the desk as well as everything on it. “I heard it from the fabric vendor. He said that there was a prince that came by not too long ago. Calling for any displaced nobility to find their way to Sjodyr. I bet that has everything to do with you doesn’t it?” Aurora looked at Seren through long lashes with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Well, I mean…” Seren dropped the yarn. Having cast on all the stitches they would need for whatever they were making. “Displaced nobility isn’t that uncommon is it?”

“Riding through here? Escorted by the Queen’s guards? You have to know the Queen’s guards aren't dressed like the kingdom’s guards. They have the purple trim to their armor.” Aurora explained as she checked a few numbers in her book and grabbed her measure. “C’mon, he had to be talking about you.”

“Why?” Seren asked. “I mean. I know James. We met when we were little and-”

“And?” Aurora turned to face Seren with renewed interest. The tape measure wrapped around her hands. “Spill it, hun. Let me in on the gossip.”

“He said he wanted to court me, officially.” Seren hunched down behind their single line of stitches on the needles. Trying to hide the blush over their face. Aurora lit up.

“Oh. My. Fey and Fauna!” She squealed. “You’re in love!”

“I haven’t known him that long,” Seren rolled their eyes and dropped their needles into their lap. Looking up at the ceiling beams and imagining James’ face. “He was really pretty though. His eyes were… unlike anything I’ve ever seen before…”

“You wanna see him again?” Aurora turned back to her fabric and began measuring. Seren pressed their lips together and rested their teeth on the inside of them. They felt their cheeks going red again.

“Should we start thinking about getting you toward Sjodyr?” Aurora asked. “I know a couple of us would love the adventure.” Seren’s face dropped.

“I just got here,” They said, knitting their stitches faster. Focusing hard on the knots they were twisting.

“Well, yeah.” Aurora said as she sat back, looking around the desk and room. “You’re always welcome here, but if there’s somewhere else you’d rather. -ugh, have you seen the scissors?- There’s somewhere else you’d rather be then we want to help you. What if your prince charming is out there?”

“What if he isn’t?” Seren shot back a little aggressively. Aurora looked down and then turned to face Seren again.

“Because true love is a beautiful thing, and you should never turn your back on it.” She said seriously. Seren put down their knitting and glared at Aurora.

“There’s no such thing as true love. Just hard work and communication,” Seren said, eyes boring into Aurora's resolve.

“There is,” Aurora insisted. “True love is the spark that ignites when two people are right for each other. You have to feed and tend the fire but there is such a thing as true love. It is real!” Seren narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

“Who are you trying to convince here?” Seren asked.

“You!” Aurora rolled her eyes with a laughing sigh.

“Are you? Cause you’re really intense right now,” They said. Emotions came and went through Aurora’s face in seconds.

“I ran away from home to meet someone I thought was my true love.” She said. “He had done everything, said everything that I wanted to hear. I felt the spark of true love for him as he told me such wonderful things. Things no one had told me before. My family life was a little broken… a lot broken. My grandmother said if I was going to marry him to never come back. He told me I didn’t need them, any of them. So I stole my grandmother’s most expensive jewelry, as much money as I could get and we ran away. Into the night…” Aurora paused. Seren grabbed a scrap of fabric and handed it to her as her tears began to fall.

“You don’t have to talk about this,” Seren said.

“No, this is important.” Aurora said. “We ran off to this place, a cemetery. Where he robbed me and left me for dead.” Seren froze as Aurora took the fabric from their hand.

“Oh, my gods.” Seren said. They put their knitting to the side and bent down to the ground where Aurora was crying. Seren held up their arms to hold her if she wanted it. “I’m so sorry that happened,” She nodded and took a deep breath. Wiping her eyes.

“It’s so important we don’t forget that true love is a very real thing that happens,” She said. “It’s a spark that can grow into something bright and warm and beautiful if you put the work in.” Aurora grabbed Seren’s hands and put them into both of their laps.

“It is real. We can’t let these things jade us.” Aurora insisted. Seren nodded.

“Okay,” Seren said. Squeezing Aurora’s hands. Aurora nodded and squeezed back. She then laughed through her tears and looked around the desk.

“Where in the realms did you put the scissors?”