for how solid the girl and her sword were.
But Aurora Rose gritted her teeth and swung again.
The girl spun her sword and did a clumsy, childish parry and riposte. The tip of her toy didn’t reach anywhere near the princess’s body.
Aurora Rose raised her sword above her head, prepared to do the girl in. To cleave her head in half if she had to.
The girl made a concerned, tching sound.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?”
The princess shook with the effort of holding the sword. It wasn’t so big a thing, really, but it was solid metal and above her head. She could feel the blood draining down her arm into her shoulder and it ached terribly.
And what was the point?
They couldn’t kill the thing. Whatever it was.
Her sword fell to her side.
“Rose, kill it!” Phillip shouted. “It’s not a little girl!”
“I know,” she said dully.
“Don’t feel bad,” the girl said. “You’ve only killed one other person, really. I’m not counting the mist sprite because your boyfriend here helped you finish it off.”
Aurora Rose felt herself wilting. Person?
“That demon who looked like me was no person,” Phillip said quickly. “It was another evil creature, like yourself, whatever you may think you are.”
“Honestly, you seem a little tired,” the girl observed, looking at Aurora Rose and ignoring the prince.
The princess collapsed to the ground. It was kind of a relief. She didn’t really want to kill the girl, anyway. And the ground was safe and comfortable.
The girl smiled sadly at her like a mother at an exhausted baby.
Phillip watched in confusion—but only for a moment. He took the opportunity to try a sneak attack, running up behind the girl with the pommel of his sword raised to knock her on the head.
The girl didn’t even bother to look. She was suddenly a mirror image of herself, still turned to observe the princess, but now at the opposite angle.
Phillip fell over, with no plan in his mind for stopping once he had engaged the girl.
The girl stood there, looking mildly disappointed, both teenagers on the ground around her.
Aurora Rose struggled up from the inviting ground. She had to do this. She had to. She was just so weak, and battered-feeling, and exhausted….
“No, no, stay there. Really. You look like you could just…use…a little…lie…down…” the girl said sweetly.
The princess lay down with her head in the dirt, feeling waves of not caring wash over her. It was just like when she was a little girl….
“Rose!” Phillip cried. He leapt up. “Rose! What are you doing? Get up!”
“Leave her alone, can’t you see she’s done in?” the girl said with mock impatience.
Aurora Rose felt sluggishness pour over her like molten lead from her feet to her shoulders. It was a dark wintry day in either life, Thorn Castle or forest, when the sky was an ugly noncolor and it was cold, but not the kind that made you want to bundle up and be comforted with a cup of hot tea. It was the kind of day when you just lay, unblinking, and wished to die.
“Rose! Stop it! Get up! Why are you listening to her?” Phillip demanded.
“She’s listening because I’m not telling her anything she doesn’t already feel,” the girl explained with a mysterious smile. “I’m not telling her to do anything she doesn’t already want to do.”
“That’s not true,” Phillip said—but he was hesitant. “Rose?”
She picked up her weary head to look at him. She couldn’t do much more than that. This really was what she wanted: to be left quietly, at rest, alone.
Maybe it would be better if everyone just stopped talking.
“Behold your true love,” the girl said through perfect tiny white teeth. It was almost a hiss. “A directionless, indecisive, despondent, sad little girl.”
The princess wrapped her arms around her legs, each word dripping acid into her ears. It felt strangely good.
“That’s not true!” Phillip said, going to her and kneeling down. He put his hand on her chin and turned her face so she was forced to look at him. His eyes were large and bright and passionate. “I fell in love with Rose because she was happy and lighthearted. I fell in love with her because she was beautiful and as cheerful as the sunshine. I fell in love with her because I heard her singing with her beautiful voice…as carefree as a songbird. I fell in love with a girl who danced and twirled across the meadows like an angel of happiness.”
Aurora Rose listened to him. The