Guys I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a year, well more. I just lost inspiration but I've recently read over my story and I got excited again by reading all of your reviews. Thank you so much and I hope that my faithful readers are still there and I hope that any newcomers enjoy the story too! I promise to try and get a chapter up at least every couple of weeks. I'm trying to get better at writing and what better way than by practice! I will say though, I started writing this before the 12th book came out so this is the years between the 11th and 12th book. So I hope you guys enjoy!

Bold = memories

Cassandra stood outside the door, a dumbfounded look upon her face. Where had Will found this boy? Where could he possibly have come from? It wasn't as if Skandian slaves washed up on shores all the time. Plus, Erak had stopped the addiction to the horrid drug known as warm weed. That had stopped years ago when she and Will had been captured. So what was this?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Will came back out having left the boy with the medical staff. Why was he so oblivious to the look in the boy's eyes? There was something wrong here. Too many questions that didn't have answers and it only seemed that every time she tried to answer a question a new question popped up seemingly out of nowhere. This was only going to leave her with a headache but she couldn't keep her mind off of it.

"Will." She called softly as he passed her, the edge of his cloak rustling as it brushed against her skirts.

The young man stopped in his tracks and looked back at her, that smile everyone knew and loved crossing his face. "Evenlyn, I didn't see you there." Evenlyn. The name that Will called her. She smiled a little herself, his own smile being infectious to anyone in the vicinity.

"Before you go, I was just wondering, where did you even happen to come upon that boy?" She needed to come up with an excuse as to why she was asking the question instead of being in there and helping herself. "I want to send some soldiers that way to make sure it's secure. That's all." Cassandra forced her smile to stay put on her face not wanting to alarm Will, though to be honest, he probably saw right through her facade.

"Oh, Ebony found him in the woods not a mile or two from here. And it's alright. If you're worried, I'll go check it out myself. But I think I'll stay a few days if that's alright. I want to make sure he's ok before I just up and leave."

Cassandra nodded, glad though that Will hadn't figured out yet what was most likely the true ailment of the boy. She knew that look, the way his head was glossed with a sheen of sweat, the blank and desperate eyes that pleaded for one thing. That boy was nowhere near being weaned off the awful narcotic. But what if Will went back to investigate? What if he ran into some band of thugs that kept their own controlled slaves? What if Will ran into the drug and couldn't help himself? There were too many risks and if there was one thing she never wanted to see again, it was those blank and glassy eyes on Will.

"No!" she almost yelled catching Will off guard who raised an eyebrow in her direction. A very Halt-like look. Cassandra blushed slightly realizing her blunder as she swallowed thickly. "I mean, I just think that you should stay here is all. As you said, you found the boy and I think you should stay here. I can have some guards look into the matter."

"It's really alright. And it's my job Evanlyn. I'll be back before the dawn. I just want to have a quick look around is all to see if there are any clues where the boy came from. I want to get there before anything is erased if it already hasn't been. And I promise I can do a much better scouting job than your soldiers could do in a hundred years. That was what I was trained for." Will just gave her a friendly smile started to move away again. "Why are you worrying so much? It's not like I'm about to take on the entire Temuji army by myself." He chuckled slightly and pulled the cowl up over his eyes, the top half of his face now shaded. "I'll be back to check on the kid." And with that he retreated down the hall, his soft leather boots making barely a sound as he left the hallway they were both standing in.

"That's not what I'm afraid of." Cassandra whispered to herself in the silence of the stone corridor.

He woke up to the sway of a ship under him. Loud voices were bellowing around him as the floor beneath him dipped and rose in an almost calming fashion. He could have almost fallen asleep if it weren't for the gnawing worry and fear that seemed to be trying to eat his stomach. Dark blue eyes opened slowly to the bright glare of the sun, but no warmth from it could be felt. Feet crossed back and forth in front of his face, never the same pair twice. Where was he? But that wasn't the thought that mattered at the moment. There was a scream of the young that child rung in his ear, loudly as if a continuous echo.

"Gwen!" he cried out sitting bolt upright which he quickly regretted as a stabbing pain lanced through his skull.

"Ah! The young fish is awake! We had almost thought you were dead there for a while." A large shadow appeared over Alek who tried to shrink away from the imposing figure.

"Please don't hurt me," whispered the young boy, sandy hair falling in curls into wide, fear-filled eyes. He finally looked up to the man that was addressing him. He was a burly figure. Dark brown hair braided into thick locks that fell over his shoulders. He had a very piggish face, eyes too small and beady. His nose was even slightly upturned as a snout of a pig would be. The man snarled, his mouth twisting up in the corners to show blackened teeth, jagged and few of them filed to a point. His breath smell of the stench of alcohol, a smell that Alek had gotten used to knowing around his father.

"Don't hurt you, you say? We'll see about that." His hand went up, the beefy muscles in his arm flexing just a bit.

Alek cried out and shied away, bound hands coming up as if to fend off the blow. The man just laughed as he stood up, landing a kick into the defenseless boy's side who gave a cry of pain. "Look at that, lads! We've got ourselves a crier." And the man was right. Tears stung the corners of his eyes and slowly dripped down his cheeks.

"Captain! We have lost Gorgon's ship! Shall we now change course?" The man, now labeled captain, smirked wider and nodded.

"Change our course! We sail south." The captain looked down and spat at the boy at his feet. "Enjoy the fresh air. I don't suspect you'll be getting much where you're going."

Alek started to cry harder as fear slowly clutched its scaly hand around his heart. Where was his sister? Where was he?

Cassandra made her way slowly into the room of the boy, watching over him for a moment. He couldn't be more than fourteen, maybe thirteen even, quite a bit younger than when she and will had traveled to Skandia.

She sat down by his side, her skirts spread over the chair she perched on and spilling onto the floor. The soft violet color of the material glowed in the sunlight that seeped in through the nearby window. Cassandra had asked to be alone with him after the healers had done what they could for the boy. A white bandage was wrapped around the dirty, sandy-blond hair. They had washed the rest of him but were afraid of agitating the wound on the back of his head, so they left his hair alone. He now was dressed in soft woolen pants, a tunic lying loosely over his torso where several more wounds had been found. However, even with all that care, Cassandra knew it would not matter if the boy didn't find his drug soon. It had taken her months to ween Will off of it, and she knew no one had taken that care with his boy.

"Do not worry," she whispered softly to him, taking his small, callused hand into her larger, warmer one. "I will take care of you. I will find who did this to you. And I will make sure they pay for what they have done." Her eyes glinted in the light that was cast upon her face, the fire in them no doubt telling the truth of her promise.

So there you have it folks. I'm sorry; I know this is kind of short. I'll try and make them longer in the future. I also apologize as I know I'm a crappy writer, but I'll do my best to improve for you guys! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!