As Will walked away from his apprentice, he tried to take in the tale he'd just been told. The basic facts seemed to match up with the garbled and confused story that Harrison had given them. Norgate's Ranger seemed to have trouble recalling the time the twins had spent with him; an effect, no doubt, of Ariel's binding. The fact that the stories matched, however, seemed to indicate that Netra had been telling the truth. Unless, of course, Harrison had been bound to lie to correspond with her. Though if she had Ariel do that, she would probably have spun a tale putting them in a better light...Will shook his head. He truly didn't know anymore. His instincts told him that Netra was telling the truth, that she wasn't a bad person. When he'd untied her blindfold, it had been because of that instinct; he really did want to trust her. But could he?

When he'd heard her story, he'd heard the regret for her mistakes and the genuine disgust at the people she and her sister had been in her voice. Most of all, he'd heard the sorrow she felt over the loss of her sister. Yes, she had lied to him, but it had all been in the hope that it would help her save her sister. That didn't make it all right, but did it make it forgivable? He thought maybe it did.

Which brought him back to his earlier question: could he trust Netra? He had a choice, he realized. He could choose to trust her, or he could choose to believe that, because she had lied, he could not.

But it wasn't really still a choice, was it? He'd made his decision months ago, when he'd decided to trust the strange green-eyed girl who'd stolen his horse. He'd decided to trust her then, and even though he was angry and hurt that she'd lied to him, he still trusted her. He'd spent the past few months with her, and he knew her; Netra might have made some poor choices, but she was a good person.

And she would make a great Ranger someday.

With that thought, Will's steps quickened. Crowley had ordered him to report on Netra's past, and he needed to do just that-and convince Crowley to let Netra stay as his apprentice.

"The answer is no, Will". Crowley said. "She's a criminal, by her own admission! Her interference with Harrison is treason, and you know it".

"Crowley-" Will begged, but Crowley cut him off.

"This isn't open for discussion. There are far more important things at stake right now".

"She's my apprentice!" Will said, his voice rising. "I don't care what important things are at stake-"

"She isn't your apprentice any longer," Crowley said coldly, "And I think you'll find this news as important as I do". Will suddenly noticed how deadly serious Crowley looked; it was the complete opposite of his typical cheerful nature. His angry retort dying on his tongue as dread for whatever Crowley's news was settled in the pit of his stomach.

"What's happened, Crowley?" Halt, who until now had been standing there silently, asked. Crowley, despite his normal energy looked for a moment old, and tired.

"Gilan's gone missing".

Apologies for the short chapter! I'll try to get chapter 11 up soon to make up for it. So, question for you guys: do you think Netra is a Mary Sue? I've been trying not to go down that path, but I took an online Mary Sue test, and it said there was a high probability that she was one...I dislike reading Mary Sue OC stories, and it was NEVER my intention to end up writing one. So honestly, is she one? If you want to do me a huge favor, tell me your opinion (and why you think that) in a review (or a PM, whatever you want). If people think she's a Mary Sue and have suggestions on how to fix it, I'll go back and rewrite past chapters and try to change my outline to get rid of any Mary Sue-ness. Thanks y'all!