Merry Christmas! My gift to all my fans: a bonus chapter told from Leon's perspective of the first time he and Ivy met (basically chapter two).

Enjoy!

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The sun beat down harshly on his sweat-drenched back and he wondered for the umpteenth time why he insisted on taking this journey time and time again. Father and Mother would doubtless be happier if he agreed to let someone else do it. But he must have lost his sanity from the trying trips because he knew he wouldn't give them up for the world.

"How are you doing Apel?" Prince Leonardo murmured, stroking his horse on the head. Leo had had the stallion since it was born, and he a child as well, and felt a sort of humble gratitude towards Apel for putting up with him. He knew horses and desert didn't exactly agree, something his tutor never failed to remind him. He should just hurry up and get a camel if he kept insisting on making this maniacal trip. But the thought of going on somewhere without Apel just felt wrong. Leo knew it was cruel to keep putting the poor animal through this, but then again, he never claimed to be the nicest person. That would probably fall to Grandmother, he thought with a wry grin. Besides, it still seemed like Apel was still as fond of the prince as he was of the horse.

The back of Leo's throat felt parched and dry, and not for the first time he wished they could hurry up and reach the next oasis. Their water rations were nearly gone, he was hot and tired, and he could tell from their gradual slowing that Apel was exhausted as well.

In fact, he was craving water and rest so badly he was tempted to stay at the oasis longer than the one night he had planned. He knew the only thing stopping him was his desire to see Grandmother. It had been far too long since he had seen his fairy godmother, and he was excited to see all the little children of her town as well.

He knew that the desert didn't really affect the fairy, but couldn't fathom why humans would chose to live out here, in the middle of nowhere. As far as he knew, they weren't aware that they were living with a fairy and she was the only reason they hadn't perished, been wiped off the map like a little speck of dust.

But then again, everyone, himself included at times, thought the prince was crazy for willingly giving up his pampered palace lifestyle in favor of the harsh desert. In fact, it seemed that every time he crossed he resolved to never return, to be the good boy his parents wished, and to waste his life away listening to the frivolous complaints of shallow nobles. Anything better than this stifling heat. But then when the opportunity presented itself, he never failed to fling that all away and hop on Apel without looking back.

Putting his hand up to shield his eyes, he looked forewards, eyes peeled for any glimpse of the oasis. It had been well over a year since he had last taken the journey and he just prayed his direction wasn't wrong. His eyes scanned the horizon, darting back and forth until they stopped on something. Just a slight glimmer, a little shine that he might fear was a mirage, a hallucination to get his hopes up before crushing them. Fortunately, there was a little dark smudge poking up from the ground with just the hint of green that he knew from experience was the tree that bore those disgusting fruits he once had the misfortune of trying. He had only seen it deep in the Krwenian desert and still wasn't sure what the fruits were called. When describing it to his tutor, he was told to stop being such a picky eater, and the one time he tried to bring it back home it started to rot and spew a nausea inducing smell that couldn't be washed from his pouch. Needless to say, even a week after casting it away he was miserable, and it was evident that Apel wasn't too thrilled either.

He was about to urge his horse ahead faster when his eyes settled on something else. Frowning, he tried to place it for a moment. Next to nothing grew here, and he didn't know anybody else crazy enough to take the direct route through the murderous desert.

Or at he didn't used to know anyone because unless his eyes deceiving him, the figure was a human racing toward them.

Leo couldn't make out any features, but could tell at least that the person was afoot, and another look confirmed that there was no camel or even horse anywhere near. Either this person was even crazier than he, which seemed unlikely, or they were in deep trouble. It didn't matter which way, Leo was already urging his horse forward. Perhaps Apel sensed that this situation was different from the norm because the poor beast, despite his exhaustion, picked up the pace, clomping across the harsh terrain until he was looking down on the person.

It was a she. That was the first thing Leo noticed, and it shocked him. Perhaps because he had never heard of females going on trading or exploring expeditions, nor was it common for young ladies to go out alone, even small distances in quiet, safe, residential areas. A female on her own away from civilization was strange, as was anyone in this desert. Together? No words.

He gauged she was about his age, perhaps a little younger, though it was a bit hard to tell through her bedraggled appearance. Her whole body was covered in sand and dirt, and her skin was toasted to a painful looking pink, red in some places like the tops of her arms that were exposed more directly to the sun. She was wearing a ragged and faded looking purple dress that evidently used to cloth the wealthy. Her hair was cropped close to her head, in a way he hadn't ever seen a female's hair before, ragged at the ends, forming a picture frame around her tired face. But what struck Leo the most was her eyes. The wild, primal, desperation in them.

It was definitely the second option, he decided.

"Hello," he called down, unsure what else to say. For all his intensive palace training, nobody had ever coached him on what to do upon stumbling upon a pretty yet half starved looking girl in the middle of the nearly desolate Krwenian desert.

The girl took no hesitation. "Please tell me you have some food or nourishment to spare for a weary girl. Please. I'm begging you." The words seemed to tumble out of her mouth, in one continuous string, and there was something raw in them. She had nothing to lose. She had already lost it all.

In that moment Leo was suddenly glad for Grandmother's gift. At birth she had gifted him to be perceptive and when he was young he had always complained that it wasn't a "cool" gift like godly beauty or inhuman strength, or something cliche like that. Now he was grateful that he could understand this girl. He wasn't sure why, but he knew that he wanted her out of her suffering, wanted it so badly that it nearly caused him suffering.

He was probably experiencing, as his brother Flor liked to call it, "Knight in Shining Armor Syndrome." He wouldn't know. Unlike Flor, he wasn't the heir and thus hadn't had many chances to meet damsels in distress.

Leo wasn't sure how to express his concern without seeming weird- typically people weren't so perceptive- so all he did was nod and tell her of the oasis up ahead. It was likely that she already knew about it but he supposed it couldn't hurt to bring it up.

Maybe it could. She laughed, a sort of wild gleam in her eyes, and Leo suddenly felt hurt as she explained that she had been living there. He was just trying to help, she didn't have to go and mock him. He wasn't sure why he wanted her to like him so much. Probably it was because as a prince he was used to everyone always "liking" him, sucking up to him and wanting his stamp of approval. He had never really had to try to get people to like him before.

It only took a second for guilt to wash over him. Clearly she wasn't used to being on her own like this; nobody could be. He felt a sudden sense of admiration that she had survived; he would probably be lying dead at the base of that poisonous tree.

"What's your name, Miss?" He immediately felt worried that she might be a lady and chastise him for using the lower title. She, coupled with the ornate dress, certainly looked regal enough to be a lady which was ironic considering the sorry state of her desert burned self.

When she didn't reply, Leo repeated the question, which he supposed she didn't like because her eyes were suddenly lit with fire, burning the hopelessness away, which gratified him. Of course he didn't want her angry with him- who ever wanted people angry with them?- but it was better than seeing her so sad in rock bottom.

"Do you have a name, Mister Rude And Uppity?" she demanded, the words flying from her mouth with a sudden intensity.

Leo had to fight to contain his smile which he suspected may not be appreciated. Nobody except Flor really had ever dared to insult the prince to his face. It was kind of refreshing. After a while everyone seemed the same, just another generic "Your Highness-ing" robot

"Of course. It was rude of me not to introduce myself first. I am Leon."

The name popped out of his mouth before he could think about it, startling him. To practically the whole kingdom- skies the whole Greater South and beyond!- he was His Highness Prince Leonardo of Krwenia. To his close friends and family he was just Leo. Who was Leon?

Deep down, he knew. He liked that she didn't suck up to him, so the prince thing was an obvious no. And perhaps the prince thing was the whole root of the issue. Leonardo, Leo, whoever he was, was still the court pampered prince. But Leon, Leon was someone completely different. Leon was a random lad who got yelled at by strangers in the desert.

So yeah, he was definitely crazy. Was that really a bad thing?

"I was named after a vegetable," she said suddenly, startling him out of his philosophical haze. She then went on a strange spiel about a garden, ending with, "My name doesn't fit me anymore."

"I've got a couple of nicknames myself," Leo said, trying to put himself out there as an ally, someone to whom the girl could relate. It was a small stretch from the truth as he only had one nickname- Leo- up until a few seconds ago when he deemed himself Leon, but he was clinging to anything at this point.

"A nickname is different from changing one's name outright," the girl pointed out.

"True, but in essence it may be more similar than you think." What was he saying? He sounded far too much like those pompous old lords that liked to pontificate about the most useless things, and that wasn't a good thing. He was scrambling for any common ground and it was pathetic.

The girl, whatever her name was, thought he was crazy as well and wasted no time in informing him of the fact. Leo tried his hardest to keep himself from grinning, but he couldn't help it. He loved this, this casualness that came from her not knowing of his status. Or perhaps this was how she treated everyone, regardless of rank. He was dying to know her status, but dared not ask lest he offend. She hadn't objected to being a "Miss," but who besides a lady would have a dress like that? Regardless of rank, he embraced it. Even people he had known all his life like his jousting master and tutor treated him with a certain reverence. The only people he could really be himself around were Flor, Lily, and of course Grandmother.

Her words swimming in his baked head, he pondered it all for a moment before something clicked. Sending a mental thanks to his fairy godmother, he informed her of it, hoping to impress.

It didn't work. "How should you know that?" she demanded, eyes narrowing. "You don't know anything about me!"

No, but I'd like to. He swallowed the response, instead giving his reasoning. She, in turn, rolled her eyes. "I can see why people say you are perceptive. So as not to wound your ginormous ego."

Leo couldn't fight back the chuckle as he imagined one of the stuffy old courtiers telling him that, or his parents hearing it. The insult didn't bother him because he could see in her eyes that he had hit on something deeper.

Perhaps this was why people liked Flor more than he. Flor had been gifted with great leadership. None of this sentimental garbage.

"So, I don't suppose you want to tell me what a pretty girl in a fancy dress is doing all alone in the middle of a desert?" He hadn't intended to say the words, but hadn't been able to control himself.

To his surprise, she started laughing. "Me, pretty? You did not tell me you were a comedian!"

Leo frowned. Was this girl serious? Had no one ever told her how pretty she looked? She certainly looked a marriageable age, and he had a hard time believing she had never been courted. Perhaps she was an extremely low rank, but then where had she gotten that gown? And if she looked pretty now, starved and dirty, he could only imagine how beautiful she must look normally.

"I'm no comedian. I'm a merchant." Traveling merchants were fairly common, and she shouldn't doubt his story. At least until she met others, but they were unlikely to see them in the middle of this vast death trap. He realized the deception might not be appreciated, but he wouldn't be able to deal with "Your Highness" out here. He left home to get away from it all, skies forbid it should follow him.

He was confused and slightly alarmed when she revealed that she had been thrown out of her home, in Styluna, to here, the vast and deadly Krwenian desert. He couldn't fathom it. It made no sense. It had to be a lie. But why would she lie about something like that? She had to know how unreasonable it sounded, and lies were usually clean and simple. The truth was messy. Could she be telling the truth. How was that possible?

And besides his pondering, even if it was true, who would do such a thing? Who could think it was okay to throw a young lady into this deadly place where she would likely have died had Leo not found her? It was probably more of Flor's Knight in Shining Armor Syndrome, but he couldn't help the anger from creeping in.

Finally, when he could contain his churning thoughts no more, he asked, "It wasn't anything bad, was it?"

"Why?"

Because I care. It's my job as a prince to care about my subjects. Because I'm intrigued. You're the most mysterious person I've ever met and I want to know more. Because...

He went for the cope out. "Well, if I'm going to be traveling with you for the next week, I'd like to be prepared if you're going to murder me in my sleep."

The girl's eyes filled with tears, and Leo filled with terror. Had he done something wrong? He hated it when girls cried. He never knew what to do. To comfort them, or leave them alone? He was so glad he had a brother and not a sister, for sure. Tears were a capricious thing.

"So you'll help me?" It took a moment for Leo to realize that the tears were grateful, not distressed, and that she had actually thought he might leave her here. The thought! To think such a thing...

Perhaps she had known someone or something bad in her old life, before she got thrown out. He wasn't that kind of person. He wanted her to know that.

"Of course," he said, and it was true.

"Thank you, Mister Leon."

He frowned and shook his head. Here, another stupid title to fight its way in. "Just Leon. Just call me Leon."

She seemed to be pondering something for a moment before she finally said, "I've changed my mind. Whoever I was, that girl is dead, like Mother wished. For now, call me Ivy."

His mind was spinning in a hundred directions. Dead? Her mother had wished her dead? How? Why? Who was she?

Whoever she was, he intended to find out.

"Ivy," he said, a small smile stretching across his face.

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