Author's Note: Chapter 3 is coming soon. So please review and tell me what you guys think! I'll be waiting!

Chapter 2-

When Ruskon awoke, he momentarily forgot where he was. He woke to find himself in a one room cottage, very scantily furnished. There was a desk against the wall to the north of him, and the wall above it was blank. To the east of that wall, there was a rocking chair that looked as if it was about to break the next time someone sat in it. Next to the chair, was a small pile of ancient looking books, their pages well worn with use. There was an area rug that was a deep purple against the faded wooden floor, and a small fireplace next to the rocking chair that looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years.

On the west wall there were two windows, very small and gilded, but clean and easy to see out of. Next to this wall, there was a chest, what was in it, it he didn't know, but it was very large, at least five feet wide and two feet deep. He examined the bed that he was on and it was medium-sized with raggedy blankets on it, worn from use. There was a window above the bed, it too was gilded. Aside from that, the room contained nothing else. It was bare, but it looked well lived in and inviting.

For that short span of time, Ruskon forgot where he was. He forgot his banishment and meeting Merwyn and their plan to escape. All of it was fog inside of his brain. He looked out of the window as memory began to dawn on him, and seeing the darkened forest with a starless night sky, he remembered the desperateness of his situation and his need to escape. To return home to England, where his manor was, by the cliffs overlooking the sea.

But, where was Merwyn? He was clearly alone in the cottage. He waited a few minutes more, and seeing that she did not return, left the cottage for the first time to find her. When he opened the door, he was met with a light breeze that ran across his skin like fingers gently dancing across the surface. He closed his eyes and savored the niceness of the moment. Opening his eyes again, he continued onward, the entrance to the wood was thick and the branches were a mahogany brown with gnarled limbs that were interwoven together. Leaves densely blanketed the forest floor and covered any trail Merwyn might have taken. This was all compounded and made more complicated by the fact that forest was so closely packed together that the treetops made a canopy too thick for moonlight to filter through, and he was walking in virtual darkness.

He began to feel uneasy when he entered the forest and the trees shifted behind him, moving from their places into other ones and so, he could no longer tell where he had entered. There was an uneasy chill shooting through his chest and down his fingertips, and yet he still continued. Merwyn had ventured into this forest many a time, and she had survived. He was man, and if he couldn't do this, what was left of him? He would consider himself a coward not worthy enough to claim his father's name. Shame was not a pleasant word, and he did not want to find out its true meaning.

He looked to the right of him, and a white smear shot across his peripheral vision. He turned his head and saw a lightening white wolf running across the wood, dodging trees and branches gracefully before disappearing into the thick. He heard a loud snap behind him, as if branches were breaking and turned to greet whatever it was that was behind him. He saw only darkness.

He imagined that he heard the voices of the forest whispering dark messages to him, ones of his death, and how it would happen. He wanted to run, scream, and be free of this wood that was beginning to feel like a grave.

It was then he stumbled upon the open meadow, with high grass and wildflowers of all colors dotting the field. Here he felt a sense of sanctuary, a relief from the terror of the wood. And that is where he saw her. Moonlight shining down in silvery spirals that fell upon her hair, making it look more red than he remembered. She was poised as if waiting for something and he inadvertently tensed, waiting for her to move. She didn't. She stood there unmoving, as if she were a statue and he wondered if she was a dream.

He started to move, but then her head shifted and swung to look at him. He froze again, but she stared past him, and he heardrustling behind him from the forest. Out of the leaves and branches appeared the bright white wolf and it slowly stalked past him and toward Merwyn. He was unsure. Should he call out to her, and warn her, tell her to move? Or observe what was about to take place? She seemed like she was expecting this wolf, like she knew it. He waited and gazed at them both. A meeting was taking place, he was sure of it now.

The wolf paused reverently in front of Merewyn. It stared up at her with charcoal gray eyes, knowing and wise. It bowed, if that it what it can be called, gently on its front legs and then rose. Ruskon's eyes widened as he watched this.

Merwyn's face was hidden beneath the blanket of darkness and he could not see her expression, but he could see her mouth moving quickly as if a message was being relayed. But, he could not hear the words spoken, and he fought with the urge to move closer, to make himself known.

The wolf backed away from Merwyn, and then turned on its haunches and ran into the the woods to disappear once more like a ghost in the night. Ruskon shifted slightly as if coming out of a trance, and when he did, his eyes fell upon Merwyn standing in front of him looking ethereal and majestic. He thought that if he blinked while she was in front of him she would disappear with the wind, he tried to resist the urge to blink.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered in the darkness, her words floated to his ears as if rousing him from some waking dream.

He shook his head. "Looking for you. Where are we? What were you saying to that wolf?"

She smiled questioningly. "What wolf?" She looked behind her into the darkened meadow searching for the wolf he spoke of. She was beginning to understand speech much easier now, and was falling into an easy repose with him.

His expression grew frustrated. "The one that was just in front of you. It was white. So white. I've never seen anything like it."

Merwyn touched his forehead and felt no trace of fever. "Are you well? I was just out here... doing..." she paused as if trying to recall a memory long forgotten. She did not continue.

"Well?" he questioned, his eyes peering into hers. But she was searching her mind for answer that didn't seem to exist.

She stared blankly at him. "I don't know what I was doing. I think..." she faded off again.

Ruskon clenched his fists in a display of impatience, but Merwyn took no notice of it. "You don't know or you wont tell me?" his voice was becoming angered.

She shook her head incredulously. "I really don't remember! I was standing there," she gestured to the spot she had previously occupied in the meadow. "Looking for something. What was it?" she said to herself. "And then, you were here, and I saw you. And I came over." She was alarmed at this missing time he had informed her of. How could she not remember something that happened five minutes ago!

Ruskon raised an eyebrow at her. "That's all you remember? In earnest?"

"Earnest?" she questioned.

"Truthfully?" he offered this time, trying to see if this word was in her small vocabulary.

"Yes. Truthfully. Earnestly." she enunciated this word for emphasis. "That's all!"

Ruskon's eyes became curious, ponderous. Maybe there was something more going on here. Something to do with why she was here, and her banishment. Maybe it was part of the witch's magic taking place. Maybe he had witnessed something important.

"What?" Merwyn questioned.

Ruskon held up a hand to tell her to wait. "Something just happened. I'm not sure what, but let's go back to the cottage and figure it out. We have much to talk about and much to plan."

She nodded and took his hand and led him through the wood. She paused at points, looking as if she was figuring out a puzzle. Then she would continue on to a new path, and sometimes in an opposite direction. Ruskon noticed that with Merwyn, the wood no longer seemed the terrifying place it had been previously. It was still vast and deep, but no longer ominous nor malicious.