The ruins of the Brick Maze stretched out for what felt like ages. Sir Didymus, Ambrosius and I continued our march steadily through the rubble and overgrown flora. A kind of after shock of the first earthquake hit us as we went along. The earth trembled under our feet. It wasn't nearly as strong or destructive this time, though, and we managed to keep our footing as it played itself out. I listened hard for the distant sort of scream I'd heard before. But it wasn't there.

"Has that been happening a lot?" I asked Didymus as the earth calmed itself.

"Aye, Milady." He replied with nod, "The tremors have been a daily occurrence as of late. Sometimes mild and few, sometimes harsh and plenty. But not a day goes past that isn't fraught with them."

"You weren't kidding when you said this place was in trouble." I commented half to myself.

It looked as though Didymus was about to plunge into another of his dramatic monologues but whatever he might have said was lost when Ambrosius let out a sharp bark. I jumped at the sudden sound. Evidently my nerves were still on edge. Ambrosius barked again and darted off down a particularly plant covered sidepath. Didymus tutted and sputtered like a fussy tea kettle as the dog carried him in what he adamantly protested to be 'the wrong way.' I wasn't so sure, however. So far Ambrosius seemed to have a keen knowledge of where we were meant to go. I knew better than to assume that he would lead us straight to the Castle. That would be taking him for granted. But I did trust his instinct whole heartedly.

I followed them down the narrow path, dodging brambles and ducking under spindly branches that grabbed at my hair and clothes. Ahead of me I heard Ambrosius bark again. I pushed through the last of the foliage to find him standing proudly in front of a single stone turret. The scent of wild violets and electricity flooded the clearing. And there was an almost palpable tingle of energy in the air that made the hair on my arms rise. Ambrosius wagged his tail excitedly as I came towards the foot of the looming structure. It must have been at least two stories tall and was made from sand coloured stones. There was a single arched window that stood directly above the wooden door at its base. Ambrosius barked again and turned circles in front of the door.

"Ambrosius! Settle down at once, or so help me!" Sir Didymus demanded, "Why ever would you bring us here? You know perfectly well that no one lives here anymore!"

"Didymus, what is this place?" I asked as I admired the structure.

Wherever we were, I had an overwhelmingly good feeling about it.

"Milady, this is my old Master's Keep." He explained as he dismounted from his tiny saddle, "But she has not lived here for several ages. Ambrosius, you walking carpet, what purpose could you have for bringing us here?!"

"Are you calling my dog names, Sir Didymus?" Came a smooth voice from behind us.

I turned with a start and an involuntary gasp. An older woman, perhaps in her late fifties, was smiling at us. Her short, tightly curled, dark hair was only just starting to turn silver at her temples. A lovely contrast next to her deep brown skin. She was about my height and visibly strong through her arms and legs. She was like a Knight from a Faerytale. Everything about her spoke to someone who had seen proper battle. Her posture and stance, the scars on her hands, even the way she dressed. Like Didymus, her fashion sense seemed to be straight out of the Elizabethan era. She wore a tight grey top, it's sleeves rolled up past her elbows, under a dark blue and gold doublet. Her black boots came up over her knees and hid most of her gold coloured breeches. And there was a sword at her belt. She could have been the dashing lead in a Shakespeare production. Despite her intimidating appearance her amber coloured eyes were full of humor as they examined us. And she was smiling.

"Lady Viola!" Didymus pulled his cap from his head in a sweeping bow that very nearly brought his nose to the ground.

"Greetings my old friend." She returned his bow, "I see you travel alongside a fine young Lady. How pleased I am to finally make an acquaintance of you, Miss Sarah. I have long looked forward to this day."

"You… you knew I would come back?" I stuttered in confusion.

"Heavens, no, child." She laughed, a sound like summer, "But I suspected you would return to this realm one day. And lo! The Champion hath returned, indeed. I must be allowed to play at being your host. Please, do come in."

In a kind of charming whirlwind Lady Viola ushered us inside the Keep while she insisted on making tea for us all. And before I had time to register what was happening, she had done just that. I sat at her table in a kind of amazed shock as she filled the fine china cup before me with tea from a matching pot and inquired after my preference in biscuits. Didymus sat next to my elbow contently munching away on a jammy dodger. And Ambrosius was somewhere under Lady Viola's side of the table, lapping away at tea and honey she'd poured into a saucer. I didn't have a favorite biscuit and I politely told her as such while looking around the interior of her home.

The Keep was, like I'd guessed from outside, comprised of two stories. The ground level seemed to be where Lady Viola lived. It had all the makings of a lovely one room home. And it smelt strongly of that violet and electric perfume that seemed to be everywhere we went. We looked to be stationed right in the center of her kitchen, which clung mostly to the far side of the Keep in the form of fine cabinetry and spotless surfaces. The round wooden table we sat around was more or less in the heart of that section. A good portion of the left hand section of the first floor was cut off from view by gorgeous brocade curtains of red and blue. I suspected that the makeshift wall hid her bedroom on their opposite side. To the right sat a flight of steps that followed the internal curve of the Keep's wall. The stairs also seemed to function as her bookcase.

" 'Ello, again." A familiar, high pitched, voice said cheerfully.

I looked down. There, next to the scones, was the little Worm I had met in the Brick Corridor during my first run of the Labyrinth. He smiled up at me, the red scarf around his neck matching his bright eyes almost perfectly in colour. The fine tufts of hair on his head bobbed this way and that as he nodded up at me. Beside him sat another worm. This one wore a bright red cap on its head and was a sort of sky blue in colouring rather than the deeper sapphire blue of my friend at its side. I wondered if this new worm could be the infamous Missus I was once invited to meet.

"Hello!" I beamed.

" 'Ello." He said again, "Fancy seeing you here. Missus, this is that girl I told you about."

The sky blue worm nodded to me and said in an equally high voice, " 'Ello. Nice t' make yer acquaintance."

"Likewise." I smiled, "Whatever are you two doing here?"

"Needed a place t' stay when them plants showed up, didn't we, Missus?" The Worm asked his wife.

"I'd say, Love." She agreed, "Made a mess of the neighborhood, they did. Good ol' Vi came through fer us, though, didn't she? Always a good 'un, my friend Vi."

"That she is, Missus." Worm smiled again, "Kind of her t' let us stay while that mess is sorted."

"I could not think to leave my dear friends in such peril." Lady Viola chimed in as she scooched the biscuit tray towards me again, "How lovely that all at my table are thusly acquainted."

It was lovely. We chatted pleasantly together for quite some time, munching on biscuits from the tray that seemed to never go empty and drinking tea from the pot that seemed to never run dry. The conversation was easy. I listened more than I spoke. Which was just as well considering Lady Viola's vigor for storytelling. She recounted her rescue of the Worms in deep detail. She had fended off the plants of the Brick Corridor several days ago in order to complete the task, cutting them down with her sword. When Didymus explained how the dastardly flora was just as lush as ever there was concern in Lady Viola's eyes. But she smiled broadly and laughed and joked about going to 'prune the hedges' again soon. Then the two Knights fell into the tale of Didymus' apprenticeship with her. They tag-teamed it's telling.

According to my host and my friend, Sir Didymus had come to her as a young lad full of ambition and enthusiasm. Lady Viola, who was already a well known Knight at that time, accepted him as her Squire. Together they spoke of the many adventures they had together which were all fraught with danger. They fought in battles, saved damsels and quested with one another for many years. After saving Lady Viola's life Didymus graduated from his position as her Squire. She Knighted him right there in the Ogre infested cave, using the tooth he'd pulled from her side to dub him as Sir Didymus a Knight of the Underground. The two only separated when Lady Viola was called away to fight in a war. She explained that, though he'd protested most valiantly, she could not in good conscience allow her dearest friend to follow her. Lady Viola tasked Sir Didymus with safeguarding the foot bridge between the Bog of Eternal Stench and the Enchanted Forest while she was gone. And there he stayed until I met him.

I fell asleep in Lady Viola's large armchair as visions of Knights and Ogres filled my mind. I hadn't realized I was so tired. But I supposed there must have been a rather significant time change between the Underground and back home. After all, it had been midnight when Didymus fetched me through my mirror. And it was just past sunrise here when I arrived. I don't know how long I slept. I drifted in and out of strange dreams.

One moment I was climbing up a never ending spiral staircase, trying to find something or someone. The next I was wandering along the bank of a crystal blue river in a long gown with the sense that I'd been there before. And still I felt as though I was looking for someone who should have been there with me. Then I'd be back in the Brick Corridor, running it's endless length as the sound of my armour rattled against itself. I could hear the Sweepers coming up behind me. They were getting close. I had to get away. I had to find… I had…

I woke to someone gently shaking my elbow.

"Milady, awaken." Lady Viola told me gently, "You must rise and come with me."

"What?" I looked around groggily, "Where?"

The Keep was dark and the rest of Lady Viola's guests were snoring gently around the room. She was crouched at my side, her strong hand on my arm. It took me a moment to remember where I was and who she was and what I was doing in her house. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with the heels of my hands as the events of the previous day came back to me.

"Milady," She said in a hushed voice, "I would ask that you follow me. I dare not waken the others and have them privy to our council."

"Alright." I nodded.

Lady Viola lead me up the spiral staircase that followed the curve of the Keep. I had to avoid the books stacked and littered across the steps as I followed. At the top of the stairs was another room that looked to be like an office of sorts. I had never seen one like it outside the pages of a book before. The desk that sat looking out the single window was littered in old maps and scrolls. Through the glass of the window I could see that it was already some time into the night. Swords as well as other examples of ancient weaponry hung carefully from the walls in a grand display illuminated by candles. To one side of the room was a large wardrobe. Across from it a suit of magnificent golden armour patterned to look like leaves stood proudly on a mannequin against the wall. The candle light made the surface of its metal shine. And in the center of the room was a long, low, table. I stood in silence at the top of the stairs as I took it all in. This was unmistakably the office of a Knight.

"Milady, when I said that I had long awaited the chance to meet with you, I spoke in earnest." Lady Viola said as she crossed to the large wardrobe, "I was not present in this realm at the time of your first coming. But I have heard a many great thing about you, Miss Sarah. And you live up to the name you left in this place rather magnificently."

"I do?" I asked, surprised, "But I haven't even really done anything yet. Ambrosius has done most of the work so far."

"He is a most loyal creature. He led you to me post haste without delay." She smiled at this, "Just as I requested. I simply had to meet the girl who ran the Labyrinth and thwarted the King. You may not have done much yet, child, but you will. And for that you have need of what I offer you. This is not a gift, mind. Thus you needn't worry after my collecting a debt. What I am offering belongs to you. You need only choose if you want it."

"A debt…" I repeated the odd portion of her explanation half to myself as I began to understand what she was saying, "You're Fae?"

She smiled broadly at me, "That I am. You are a rather clever girl, mortal child. Does that change your opinion of me?"

"No." I shook my head, "But I think I understand you a little better now."

I knew my lore. The study of Faeries had been something I'd spent most of my early childhood absolutely enthralled in. My first encounter with a Faery during my run of the Labyrinth taught me a solid lesson in the form of a sharp bite, though. I hadn't known even half of what I thought I did. Upon my return home I went about setting the record straight. I studied the real lore. I ignored the sugar coated versions most people accepted as truth. I learned the rules. And I began to have my suspicions about some of the encounters I'd had while visiting the Underground as a fifteen-year-old uneducated in the ways of the Fae.

Lady Viola chuckled, a sound like early spring rain, "So, Miss Sarah, do you want what rightfully belongs to you?"

"I suppose that depends a great deal on what it is." I replied.

She nodded, joy in her eyes, and turned to the wardrobe. Without another word she opened its double doors. I couldn't see past her strong figure as she reached into the darkened interior but I heard the sound of clinking metal as she took out an armload of items. She laid them out on the low table in the center of the room. I watched her slow, deliberate, movements as each piece was set out. A gold coloured gambeson with above-elbow sleeves. A chain shirt that glimmered silver. A chest piece with sprawling floral designs etched into its surface. A gorget and matching pauldrons. Shin greaves. And a straight bladed cutlass with an ornamental knuckle-guard of twisted silver leaves. It was all beautiful.

"The Champion's armour." Lady Viola explained after the long moment she allotted in order for me to take it all in, "Your armour, Miss Sarah. The story of your victory has traveled far beyond the borders of this realm. It reached me while I was in Places Elsewhere. And so I had this set crafted for you and kept it safe in my keeping until such a time as it could be given to you. I believe you have need of them now."

My fingertips brushed over the cold surface of the chest piece, "Didymus said there was something was wrong up at the Castle. He didn't know what, exactly. I guessed it had to do with… That something has happened to…"

"You guess correctly." She didn't need to hear it in order to know what I meant, "He is in peril, Miss Sarah. To call our politics complicated is an unimaginable understatement. The Fae Courts are more intricate than most mortals can imagine. And more vicious. His Majesty, while King of this realm, does answer to his Mother who is Queen of the Winter Court. She is…"

Lady Viola paused for a moment, considering what phrase to use. I found myself pondering what she was telling me. If his mother was the head of the Winter Court that meant she was Queen Mab. I hadn't ever considered who his family might be. I hadn't even imagined he would have a family. I supposed, that in an odd sort of way, it made sense.

"… displeased…" Lady Viola finally found her word, "with His Majesty's conduct as of late. She finds it disgraceful that he was bested by a mere mortal girl. A sensitive point for her, to say the very least."

"But that happened seven years ago." I shook my head, not understanding, "Why would it suddenly be a problem now?"

"After your victory you left His Majesty rather devastated." She explained kindly, "For, you see, after the completion of your quest the Winter Queen did not believe him competent enough to retain his Kingship. If a mortal girl, a child, could defeat him then… Well, you understand. His ability to rule was called into question. His Mother granted him the time of seven years in which he could prove to her that his hold over this realm was still absolute. But he failed in this task. She has usurped his throne for the time being until she can decide what it to be done with him. He is in great peril, Miss Sarah. We all are. The Labyrinth is in great need of its Champion once more."