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Gem paused when Nali drew close to her. She forced herself to look away from Ross’s face and turned her attention to the Empress. She still didn’t know how they had known she needed help, or why they had come, but she was grateful.
“Thank you – for coming here,” she said.
“No thanks are needed, Princess Gem,” Nali reassured her.
Gem shook her head and looked back at Nali with a troubled expression.
“I should have insisted that we help in the fight against the creature on the Isle of Magic as you requested. I didn’t know about the alien creature being here as well. If I had…,” her voice faded.
She didn’t know what she would have done. She looked over Nali’s shoulder to Ross. He was standing in the shade with his hands in his front pockets. Would she have met him if things had been
