They arrived at the rest house by the first hour of the fourth quarter which means they get about three hours of sleep before they travel again. Well, a little was better than none.

Xanthy stepped inside one of the tall buildings. This one was slightly bigger and taller than the others.

Inside, several square holes serving as windows greeted Xanthy. These lent her a view of the glowing roads and other houses. On her far left, a staircase curved upward, supported by a fancy beam with carved festoons. Three square tables, each a little wider than one arm span peppered her view to her right.

The high ceiling stood a few feet from her head sporting sticks of glowing material. Apparently, that's where the golden ambience of the room came from.

A cheery-looking brownie smiled at them from behind a counter at the far side of the lobby as they entered. It unnerved Xanthy seeing the woman having pointy ears like her. There was once a time where she would have fainted just by seeing one pointy ear. Now, it looks like she just has to get used to seeing it all the time.

Cyrdel stepped towards the counter and engaged the woman in a series of negotiations for room prices. Xanthy shrugged it off and wandered towards the back end before June or Nyxis could stop her.

The counter stood a little too close to the entrance for her taste. Was there something behind that wall? Odd.

Turns out, she was right. A door stood just where the counter wall ended, sporting a wooden sign with strange squiggles of a script. She couldn't read Keijula but she could turn knobs so she did just that and pulled on the door. It swung open with great ease. She peered inside and knit her eyebrows. What was she looking at?

There was a slab of rock that looked a lot like a backwards fungi sitting in the middle with a gaping hole on it. A lot of weird tubes and pipes were connected at its back and Xanthy spied even weirder levers and cranks up the wall.

To the left, a tube protruded from a wall and just hung downwards. A few inches down was a knob very much like the door's. On the floor, there were strange holes the size of a small fruit.

What in the Queen's name was this room? Some kind of torture chamber for misbehaving guests?

A hand gently clapped her in the shoulder and she whirled to find Cyrdel standing close to her again. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Cyrdel laughed.

"This is my first time seeing a fairy gawk at a bathroom like it's Calaris on earth," he leaned in and gave the room a quick look. He had an amused smile on his lips.

Xanthy's jaw dropped. "This is a bathroom? Like, you use it to wash yourself?" Xanthy gestured like how she washed her face in the morning with collected rainwater. Cyrdel nodded. Queen's britches, this was a house in itself!

"You'll see more once we get to Depandes. Come on, I've gotten us a nice room upstairs. Let's go with the others," Cyrdel jerked his chin to the ceiling.

He began walking away, leaving Xanthy with no choice but to close the door to the "bathroom" and follow him.

Upstairs was even cozier than the first floor. The walls and floor were made of burgundy wood, polished so that they glistened against the golden light. Strange doors with elaborate carvings lined the walls flanking the corridors she was in

There were no windows, so it feels a bit stocky. It's dim, with glowing sticks of metal attached to the walls burning weakly. Xanthy wondered if there's little oil left or if those even run with oil.

Cyrdel moved past all of these without batting an eyelid. He traipsed straight towards a door to Xanthy's northeast and slid it sideward. Xanthy gawked at the door, swearing she could hear a number of gears clicking in place as Cyrdel did the action. She trailed behind him as he entered a room with nothing but a pool of down.

She watched Cyrdel pry off his boots off his feet before stepping inside the room. He left his boots outside the room. Xanthy shrugged and followed suit.

Inside the room was the bedding that spanned the whole perimeter. A single glowing stick burned like the rest outside. Xanthy collapsed into the white mattress. Ah, finally!

"Gods, this feels so good," she muttered with her face pressed into the linen. It even smelled like fresh grass.

June's chuckle made her look up from the bedding. He sat next to her, crossed-legged. "Remember, you have to wake up early. The last time we let you sleep freely, you woke up half a day after."

"Is that possible?" Cyrdel asked, his voice somewhere in Xanthy's far right.

"Oh, yes," Nyxis nodded as he set his satchel at the head of his place on the mattress. "You should see how difficult it is to wake her up. She even went as far as punching June in the face."

Xanthy knit her eyebrows. "I did?"

"Yes, and I have a bruise for two days because of it!" June pointed to his eye.

The room erupted in laughter and Xanthy crossed her arms but a smile played on her lips. "Well, I am sorry for the bruise. I will try my best to wake up early. I am just so tired from all the walking."

"Settle down as best as you can," Cyrdel removed his spectacles and dropped them into a pocket in his coveralls. He looked different without them on. More innocent. "We will be heading to Depandes from here. That means this is the last cozy house you can settle into. The next three days will be out in the forest."

Xanthy scrunched up her nose. "I better sleep on it as best as I can, then."

"But do not overdo it," Nyxis warned, tousling his hair. He flopped down next to Ravalee who naturally settled beside Cyrdel who took the farthest left. June took his place beside Nyxis and by then there's only a little room for her at the right edge.

She slid her bow and quiver off her shoulder and set them by the door as Ravalee moved to slide it shut. She settled on the remaining space for her. The moment her head hit the down, the light extinguished, plunging the room in darkness with only the moon's light shining through the open window.

Xanthy rested her head on the bedding and came face to face with June. The darkness swallowed most of the colors, turning her khaki brown hair into a grayish shade and June's hair into blue.

Strangely, June's onyx black eyes remained the same. She locked eyes with June and she can't help but stare deeper. Did his eyes always have gray flecks in them?

He smiled at her, his lips pressed in a thin line. Xanthy noticed a thin scar from his temple to his cheek. How did he even get it? Gods, she hoped she didn't give him that without knowing it.

Her heartbeat thundered in her head. Must be the fatigue speaking. But why was her face overheating?

"It feels like it's just the two of us again, isn't it?" June whispered in the dark. Xanthy could only hope it hid the color of her cheeks.

"Why? Do you want it to happen the second time?" Xanthy chuckled, humoring June's question. She had no idea why her voice was small in her throat. Was it because she needed to be quiet to let the others sleep?

June kept his gaze locked into Xanthy. "There's too many people around you now. It didn't feel like I had you to myself anymore."

"Because you don't, June," Xanthy said as flat as she could. Where was this going? June's name felt weird but strangely satisfying in her tongue. "You haven't since the beginning."

June put his arm over his eyes. "I wanted to tell you something for a long time now," he whispered.

"Hmm? Why now?" Xanthy propped her head against her folded arm as she turned her body to face him. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

He sighed then he chuckled. "Would it kill you to just read between the lines, Xanthy? Stop making it harder for me."

"Harder for you to do what?" Xanthy frowned. What was June getting at? "Since when did you start calling me 'Xanthy'?"

"You really are clueless when it comes to this, aren't you?" June removed his arm from his face to glance slightly at her. "I'll tell you a story then."

Before she could open her mouth to reply, June spoke, his voice dropping lower and lower every word. "Have you ever heard of Lusa and Quard?"

Xanthy shook her head. "No. Who are they?"

June shifted so that he faced the ceiling. "Lusa is a princess in the kingdom far north and beyond our island. Quard is a humble shepherd. With her wealth and beauty, Lusa is revered by all men. They vied to have her hand. But the princess didn't want them. She wanted Quard."

"Why?" Xanthy asked.

"Because Lusa saw that Quard isn't looking for wealth or beauty. He looks at the heart and for him, Lusa has the purest heart of all," June replied.

Okay. A weird story but she should just go along with it.

"So when the courtship day came, everyone was shocked when Lusa came forward and chose Quard as her suitor. This led the other men to seize him and ship him into a faraway island, never to be seen again. Lusa was left sad and lonely. She vowed to never marry if Quard is not found alive."

Xanthy followed June's example and stared up at the ceiling as well. She folded her hands atop her stomach.

June continued. "Quard, meanwhile, looked for ways to return home to his princess. The tale consisted of his laborious journey home, facing beasts and waves alike. You should read it. It's a classic."

Xanthy chuckled as softly as she could. "Okay, but what's the point?"

June took a deep breath. "Quard may not have succeeded in his journey home and Lusa never experienced getting married, but in the tale, it's what kept them both going. Every night he spent on his little raft, he sings her a song with the stars as his audience. She's the only one that appeared in his songs, the one who became the subject of much longing. Lusa is the only one who truly meant everything to him. He is willing to brave seas and danger so they could be together again."

He met her eyes the second time and this moment, Xanthy saw how much of her was reflected in them. "Xanthy," he said. "We're them."

"What?" Xanthy's breath hitched. She didn't like where June was going with this.

He faced her again. In the dark, Xanthy forced her heart to stop pounding, to stop beating entirely. She had a feeling she wouldn't like what June had to say next.

"I am Quard," June said, his voice low and hoarse. "You're my Lusa"

Xanthy's jaw dropped. She froze. This couldn't be happening. Impossible! It's not even a month since they first met and they hated each other! They're just friends. This...this couldn't be. Xanthy forced her eyes to stay in June's until she can compose a coherent reply.

"You're saying that..." Her voice died entirely.

June smiled gently, his eyes twinkling in the darkness. "I like you, Xanthy," he finished for her. "And I am willing to brave anything for you."

By the great and almighty Queen, Xanthy resisted the urge to scream. She's not delighted. She wasn't angry either. She didn't know what to do. What would Nyxis and Reeca say about this? Would they laugh at her? Ravalee said that June was somehow "in'' to her. Was this what it was? Gods, this couldn't be!

No. No. NO.

She cleared her throat. "W-what am I supposed to say to that?" she stammered. She raised her hands to her face. When June didn't speak, she sighed and faced him. "I need time to think. Can you give me some time to, you know, process things?"

June's smile faded. "Of course," he nodded. "No pressure. It's fine if you don't give me an answer at all. I guess it's too early."

"I'm glad you told me, though," she smiled but even her muscles moved with uncertainty. "I just didn't expect it."

She reached out and tapped his arm. "I'll go to sleep now."

"Yeah, of course," June sighed. "Good night, Xanthy."

Xanthy turned away with her back to him. "Good night, June."

After a while, she called his name again. She didn't bother turning around to face him. "Are you sure about what you said?"

"Of course," came June's reply. "Why?"

"Because you need to know what you're doing," Xanthy dug her nails in her arms hard enough to know she would have crescent marks on her skin tomorrow. "The heart is tricky, after all."

June didn't reply. Was he having doubts as well? Xanthy would never know. She sighed and closed her eyes. Has June fallen asleep already? No. She shouldn't check.

Go to sleep —Xanthy told herself— you've got a big day tomorrow.