Fog. So thick that you couldn't see your own body. Some flashes of light, individual voices and echoes, sounds of fanfare, the neighing of horses ... Sometimes, steps were heard nearby. A strange feeling, as if the body was not ... And suddenly it all began to move away and Alina opened her eyes.

The image was blurred, but then it began to take shape. She was in her room. Over her father bent, Eric and blue-eyed elf, which she did not know. They looked at her excitedly, and then with tremendous comfort.

Alina tried to ask something, but she did not have the strength. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The Trinity looked at her for a moment, excited, pale, with deep shadows under her eyes, until she was convinced that the girl was breathing.

The past two days were spent in preparations for resuscitation. The moon circled like a bee, making various potions and creams, but on the day when Eric took the spell off his sister, everyone was very nervous, fearing that she was dead. However, Alina managed to return to life. Elf, feeling undead, exhaled with relief when she saw that Alina did not become undead.

The girl slept soundlessly for a day, and then her strength began to return to her. Thanks to the masterful medicine of the moon, she quickly went on the mend. The wound on his shoulder was quickly tightened, and as quickly returned strength. On the third day, she was able to get out of bed, held by her father and cousin.

However, she was still weak to walk for a long time, and the Moon spent a lot of time with her. Basically, they just sat side by side and read, sometimes exchanging a couple of different phrases, or discussing books with enthusiasm. Alina did not remember what happened, and everyone tried not to remind her about it.

But one day, scraps of conversation between her father and Eric about the orcs did not reach her as they walked into her room along the corridor. Alina stared at the book with a blank look, instantly remembering what had happened to her.

“I have good news, Madam Luna,” said Wilhelm, entering the room. - Your father will arrive here in a week. We need to discuss some of the details of his greeting.

Luna smiled and left, leaving her book.

Eric looked at his cousin.

- Are you ok, sis?

Alina nodded shortly, never taking her eyes off the book. Erik worriedly approached and put his hand on her shoulder. Alina shrugged her shoulder, throwing off her hand.

“Yes, brother, I'm perfectly fine,” she said in an unnaturally friendly voice and looked up at him. His eyes were so empty that he recoiled when he saw this strange metamorphosis. - Can I be alone with a book?

“Are you really okay?”

- Yes, I'm fine, - Alina replied softly. - Just an exciting book ... I can't wait to find out what will happen next ... If you don't mind.

“Of course,” replied the magician, looking at her doubtfully. - Take care of yourself.

He went out. The moon walked down the corridor to meet him. Seeing him, she smiled benevolently and hurried to share that her dad was coming in a week.

“This is great news,” Eric agreed. The moon shrieked with joy and hugged him, but at the same moment, embarrassed by her arrogance, she recoiled. - My congratulations...

“Thank you, sir,” said Luna meekly.

Eric came closer to her and lowered his voice, saying:

- Alina is a little crazy ...

“I’ll see what I can do about it,” Luna promised. Light bows followed, and they parted.

The elf walked over to her chair and the village. And she began to observe. Alina sat, not moving, and just looked into the book.

- Alina, are you alright?

The girl did not answer. The moon saw tears drip down the pages of the book.

- Alina, something happened. Tell me why are you crying? - She asked, going to her friend.

Alina turned and took the moon by the hand, looking at her imploringly:

- Please say that no one knows about ...what happened in the cave ...

Everything became clear. She remembered. Trying to keep calm, the elf shook her head:

- I only know about this ...

“Did they catch the orcs? ..”

- Caught ...

An expression of anxiety and fear appeared on the girl's face:

“They will tell ... how I will live, knowing that others know about my humiliation ...”

Luna bit her lower lip and stared at the floor for a minute. Then she looked up and whispered softly so that no stranger would accidentally hear:

“You don't have to worry about it ... They got caught.” And I confused their memory ... They do not remember about you ... or about me ...

An expression of incredible relief appeared on Alina’s face, as if the mountain had fallen from her shoulders. She burst into tears, smiling, and hugged the moon:

- Thanks for that ... You're a true friend.

Luna hugged the girl back.

“No one will know about this if you don’t want it,” she promised.

A couple of days later, Alina got so strong that she could get out of bed and walk. Medicines and healing magic helped her quickly heal wounds, she recovered a healthy complexion, and a live blush began to play on her cheeks. But although her physical health was in a rut, her state of mind disturbed her loved ones very much.

The girl sat by the window and stared into nowhere with a lifeless gaze. Several times the moon found her putting a knife to her wrist and looking away at him. When Alina was pressured, saying that she needed help, she just waved off, and explained that she was simply not getting enough sleep.

The girl avoided communication with everyone, even with the Moon.

Looking at her, Eric, too, did not walk himself. He tried to talk to his cousin, but she only dismissed him, and blithely said that everything was in order, and his guilt was nothing. However, when he tried to get closer to her than at arm’s length, she always found a polite excuse to keep a distance.

On the leading questions of her father and cousin, if she suddenly remembered something, the girl answered with a puzzled look. Alina understood that they realized that she could remember about the orcs, and therefore, in order to protect herself from unnecessary attention, she began to behave more cheerfully. But Luna knew perfectly well what this girl might be experiencing.

The day before the arrival of her father, the Most High Prince Dobromir, she came to the door of her bedroom and knocked. Alina sat in an armchair with legs tucked under herself and read a book.

“Come in,” she said, without interrupting her reading.

“It's me,” Luna introduced herself as she stepped inside. - How are you?

Alina postponed the book.

- Fine.

“You understand that Eric and his father are not fools, and they are well aware why you are so depressed.”

- They do not know for sure ... - Alina slammed the book. - What should I do? I can't live like this anymore! These memories kill me ... Sometimes it seems to me that I'd rather die.

- Do not say so, I ask you ... You can not imagine how they love you.

“They love,” the girl repeated with a wicked grin. - Father loves. And Eric ...

“Of course he loves you,” Luna objected indignantly. - He didn’t find a place for himself ... And still he blames himself for everything ... For that matter, you have to blame me for everything, because it was me who was in the wrong place at the wrong time ... If everything could be done it was back, I would never run away ... and you would be fine ...

Alina sadly chuckled.

- I do not regret your salvation ... But even if we had not met you, he would still break my heart.

Alina gained desperate determination and without reserve she told the elf about the relationship with Eric, and that she was in love with him as much as she remembered herself. At the end of the story, Luna sat and desperately fought the urge to cry.

“I understand you so well,” she said, remembering her personal story of unrequited love for one beautiful warrior. - But who never fell, never rose ...

“And I don’t want to remember my fall,” Alina replied sharply, but immediately changed her tone: “Forgive me ... This is stupid, is it?