Roche stared in horror, the world drawing to a stop as Tigris raised the apple like she was toasting the damned thing. Then she took a hearty bite, juice dribbling down her pale chin.

"No!" Roche shrieked, throwing herself forward, over the chair between them. It was too late. Tigis' hand went slack, the apple falling to the ground with a wet thump. Tigris' beautiful green eyes rolled up in her head, and her body fell back. Roche lunged to catch her before her head could hit the ground.

"That concludes the test," Tarak announced monotonically as Roche lowered the princess to the ground, her red hair fanned around her like a pool of blood.

Panic rose in Roche's throat as she stared at the unmoving woman. This couldn't be it. Tigris was destined to do incredible things. Roche was supposed to protect her.

She'd failed.

Tears pressed against her eyes. She swallowed them down, tapping Tigris' pale cheeks desperately.

"Come on, you royal brat. Wake up," she begged, her taps turning into full on slaps, "You can even try to shoot me with your gun when you wake up. I won't take it from your bedside table again."

Tigris didn't stir. Roche choked back a frantic sob. A deafening metallic crash sounded across the room, drawing Roche from her grief induced hysteria. Brom had fallen to the ground, his inkblood restraints coming undone. With him, all of Tigris' blades had clattered to the ground.

Roche stood shakily, her eyes drawn to the other man in the room. Orpheus was awake, blinking at her sleepily. She stepped towards him and his guardian, standing in front of Tigris' fallen form.

"Please," she pleaded, not sure what the other inkbloods could do, "Let me take her place. She can't die this way, I'm supposed to protect her."

Silence ticked on. Her hope waned, devastation taking hold and dimming the world.

Brom staggered to his feet with a muted curse, stumbling over to Roche's side. He knelt by Tigris' side, his face solemn and twisted with respect.

Grief choked Roche anew, making it hard to breathe.

She'd failed. She'd failed. She'd failed-

Brom inhaled sharply.

"She's not dead!"

Roche spun around to see the man pressing his fingers against Tigris' neck. Roche scrambled to kneel beside him, pressing her shaking fingers to her lady's neck. For a terrifying moment, Roche felt nothing but clammy skin. Then the pounding thrum of a pulse pressed against her fingertips.

A hysterical laugh rattled out of her. "I can heal her if she's alive!"

"There's no need," Tarak finally spoke, drawing closer. His eyes twinkled, "The poison is not fatal. It merely rendered the princess unconscious. She will wake in an hour."

Roche stared at him blankly. "But you said the poison was deadly!"

"Don't make him change his mind," Brom muttered, but Tarak merely smiled.

"The princess needed to believe that she was sacrificing her life. She needed to set aside her pride and life for someone beneath her station. By sacrificing her life for yours, Princess Tigris has shown she will lay down her life for her citizens and a mere stranger." Tarak explained, lifting his brows at Brom, who furrowed his brows.

"You told me I couldn't interfere," he pointed out. Tarak smiled.

"After the princess had already determined that you would not participate," he explained, turning away, "Come along, Orpheus. We have a blessed kingdom to see."

"Remember this place, Ala. You'll need it soon, if the coven's prophecies are to be believed."

Roche startled at Tarak's voice. He avoided her gaze, but Orpheus didn't. He stared at her with those strange, bronze eyes, his pale skin somehow seeming translucent when surrounded by the white stone.

Roche hadn't forgotten Circe's warnings. Today, Orpheus' instructions had nearly led Tigris to her death. Her fingertips tingled, her inkblood pressing against her skin in warning as the truth of Circe's words began to sink in.

"Goodbye, Ala." Orpheus' voice rattled through her head.

She watched him and Tarak press their hands against the mirror. One day, that boy would be back and willing to kill Tigris.

When that day came, Roche would be ready. Her inkblood buzzed.

Until then, she could not fault him for something he hadn't done. She let her inkblood settle back.

Roche stared at Orpheus and his guardian as they stepped into the swirling surface of the mirrored wall. They disappeared with a blinding flash of light. And Roche let them go.

-------

"Thank you for doing this. And for trudging through a snowy forest for someone you don't even like," Roche panted to Brom as he helped her lower Tigris' body to the snow beside the horses. He shrugged, rolling his shoulders to loosen his muscles.

"It was nothing," he replied, his eyes gleaming strangely as they darted between her and Tigris, "Perhaps she's not as bad as her father."

Roche grinned down at the unconscious princess, stooping to brush a strand of hair off her red cheeks. "She's going to be a great ruler."

"Maybe," Brom conceded gruffly. His eyes skated across Tigris' prone body, "She was willing to throw her life away for you and me. She's the type of person my father thought Romulus was, the type of ruler he wanted to serve."

Roche glanced up, noticing a wistful, almost longing look painted itself across Brom's features.

"You could always come back to the city, if you want. You can serve Tigris, if you want." Roche offered, plowing forward when she noticed an intrigued glint in the man's eyes, "I saw the way you were when we were tracking Tigris. It came almost naturally to you, like most of the knights I've met."

Brom canted his head thoughtfully. "I've always thought knighthood to be a noble profession."

Roche felt excitement bubble within her. She signed excitedly. "You could be one! Tigris would surely knight you after you helped me through the forest for her sake."

"I didn't do it for her," Brom said fiercely, flashing Roche a playful grin, "I did it for a loyal, kind woman who needed to help a friend."

"That just makes you more noble than half of the knights."

"Perhaps," Brom's mirth faded, and his eyes darkened, "But as long as Romulus is alive, I'd be serving under him. I could never do that, not after everything he's done to my family."

Roche fell silent, her mirth fading. She could see how much Brom wanted to follow his father's footsteps as a knight. She wished Romulus was a better man. She wished Tigris could bring the prophesied age of balance quickly.

Brom clapped her shoulder jovially. "Maybe one day, when Romulus is gone, I may return."

"You'd be a knight for Tigris?"

Brom's eyes twinkled. "Maybe that royal's worth serving, eh?" he said with a small smile. Roche beamed back at him, leaning forward to hug him. He was stiff for a moment and then melted into the embrace. He hugged like a man who hadn't been hugged in a long time.

"If you come to the city, come by the castle. I'll have a room waiting for you." she told him. Brom pulled away.

"You won't tire of me and my honesty?"

"Never," Roche promised with a laugh, "Only if you won't tire of my stories."

"Say them slow, and I won't." he replied cheekily. He mounted his horse, tilting his head towards Tigris, "Watch out for her, will you?"

Roche smiled. "That's my job."

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter! I was actually being productive with schoolwork for once  and nearly forgot to upload the chapter lol. Anyway, how'd you like this chapter? This is the end of another arc, and I have to warn you that the next one is seriously heartbreaking. Get ready, everyone.

Spoiler for the next arc is below:

Roche is going to fall in love.

And so will Tigris.