Alys entered the great room where Lathandrian was sitting on his throne. No one else was in the room. What good does sitting on your throne do if no one is there to watch? She wondered, but then realized she was the one watching. He smiled as she approached. She only glowered in return.

"What is the matter dear Alys?" his smile fell and was replaced with concern.

"Give me back my memory!" she shouted at him, almost immediately.

His concern was replaced with a snarl, "You do not know what you speak of dear Alys."

She felt her fists clench, "Why am I not able to remember Selendrile?"

Lathandrian was on his feet, a dangerous essence clouded around them as he glowered down at her, "How do you know about Selendrile?"

"Why did you make me forget him? WHY!?" she cried, ignoring the initial question and remembering how comforted she was by Selendrile's touch. She forgot she was screaming at the most powerful of all beings, but did not care once she realized.

Lathandrian took in a breath and closed his eyes with a smile, "I told you it would be an ill mistake to hear of him."

His eyes snapped opened and he raised his hand—she recoiled fearing he would strike her—and stumbled backwards. He caught her fall, and his hand flew down but only softly stroked her cheek instead of slapping it. He then captured Alys in his arms dipping her low as if they were in a dance, "I'll show you why I made you forget him." He then cupped her cheek, and his touch went deep, releasing a prick of energy in her mind and that was when all the trapped thoughts and memories of Selendrile flooded her head.

She ran and ran back to St. Toby's feeling that if Selendrile didn't make it, then neither would she.

"Or, you could stay with me."

"Do you mean it?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I mean it," he said decisively.

She smiled, "Well in that case, I will."

"Alys—I wouldn't leave you for the world."

"I'm done with you."

"I don't want anything to do with him anymore. He is nothing but a liar, a horrible, vile liar!" She screamed into the dark.

"I risked everything for him. He allowed me to be near him, and to trust him for months, I daresay even begin to love him…and…and…and…after all that I've been through with him, after he promised he wouldn't leave me—he told me he no longer has any use for me, I am not to follow him furthermore. I must be a miserable burden and he must be a selfish liar."

"I hate you,"

"I HATE YOU!"

She remembered now. She remembered his beauty, his lies, his deceit, his betrayal, and the ways he had made her feel—exhilarated, frightful, frustrated, and angry.

"Stop," Alys said and crumpled in tears as Lathandrian let her fall to the floor, all the heartbreak, disappointment, questions, and betrayal once more filling her. It stung her to no end that Selendrile had repeated those words again—his promise of not leaving her for the world—not even a half hour before. Where was he now? Certainly not here now, so he had lied again. Why would he want her to remember him if all she could remember was how he hurt her?

"You see dear Alys, that is the reason I removed him from your memory and now you will be fated to carry that hurt with you always," the divine leaned over and said softly. She let out a cry and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace, for any sort of comfort. He stroked her hair but otherwise did not return the embrace as she had brought the hurt upon herself by asking.

She lay on the cold marble floor as he sat next to her, his attention on her albeit, curiously. She breathed in and out, trying to sort through her memories and emotions about the Prince of Dragons.

"Why do dragons have to change to their true form before the sun rises the next day?" she sniffled.

A cold look entered his eyes, "Because they must be reminded of what they are, and be what they are. They are my warriors, and cannot hide in the lives of different beings."

"So they must die?"

"What good are they to me if they become something else?"

"Why even allow them to be human then?!" Alys asked angrily, propping herself up on her elbows.

"All fey creatures may disguise themselves in human form—at first it was to better infiltrate the masses. It also is handy as all fey may understand each other in human form. A gryphon cannot understand a dragon while in their true forms, so they speak the human language as a bridge of communication."

Alys bit her lip, while thinking it was quite a clever concept—sinking back to the floor. Still she did not understand Lathandrian's need to have his fey imprisoned in their true forms. Perhaps they did not think of it as an imprisonment. She thought about how Selendrile enjoyed being a dragon and often felt that it gave him more intelligence and power over her. True, he was more powerful than her but she could think of a few foolish acts on his part that didn't seem so intelligent.

He kissed me.

That was a foolish thing for him to do, that is, if he was going to have nothing to do with her. He should not have kissed her so gently by the hot springs, then she would not feel so conflicted about him. She would be able to loathe him without doubt, but yet he seemed to be playing games. She remembered the look in his eyes as he spoke to her.

She couldn't fully loathe him, and it frustrated her that she didn't know his intentions.

I want to ask him, see him just one more time…

She shook her head abruptly back and forth, shouting "NO! NO! NO!"

Lathandrian raised a curious brow but smiled cleverly although she had seen he had done nothing of the sort.

"How do you feel about celebrations?"

His question caught her off guard—she looked up to him with a frown, "What is there to celebrate?"

"I can celebrate anything I want."

She sat up from the floor, tilting her head to the side in contemplation, "They're fun. I've only ever celebrated the Christmas and I did get to eat pies…"

"I think I shall have a celebration tomorrow then."

"Why?"

Lathandrian scrutinized her, as if she were the mad one, "Because I want to. I'll invite the whole Realm and there will be dancing and music and food. I haven't had one in some time so therefore, I shall have one tomorrow."

"It's your world," she shrugged, still not sure why he wanted to throw a celebration. He was grinning to himself, probably considering celebration details.

Alys stood up and tried to straighten her damp hair, as she wasn't fully dry yet.

"Dry me," she whispered, but the wind did not obey. There was no wind. Suddenly Lathandrian was laughing at her. "What?"

"Dear Alys, the wind does not blow indoors, not unless you open a window."

She frowned at his manner, his mocking amusement towards her. She thought he had liked her—after all, he had kissed her. She began to think that all the horrible things she had been hearing—the 'him' everyone had referred to—was Lathandrian.

"Why did Selendrile leave the Realm?"

Lathandrian stopped laughing and gave her a suspicious look.

"That's none of your concern."

"It very well is!" Alys shouted stomping her foot, which made his brows rise in mild surprise. "I'm here because of him, and if he would have never left here I would be…I would be…" she trailed off, remembering how she would be if he had never met her—dead.

Lathandrian seemed to sense this and smiled cunningly, "Very well. He left the Realm because he was threatened by me. I created him as a perfect creature and it infuriates him that I am the superior one."

"He's not perfect," Alys huffed, and crossed her arms.

"That's because you have been lucky enough to meet me. How did you feel about him before then?"

She strained in her memory, what was it like before he betrayed her? He never answered her questions, he was moody and quiet, he was very unpleasant to travel with…still it felt like a memory was missing—she had to have felt something for him if she was so riled at the thought of him lying to her and breaking her trust.

"I don't remember!" Alys cried with frustration, throwing her arms in the air, "Maybe you didn't give me all of my memory back."

Lathandrian only widened his eyes innocently but it neither confirmed nor denied it was a fact that he had returned her memory in whole.

---

Willyr was shocked at the new fact that Moshire had allowed the sorceress to live and felt somewhat betrayed by his associate. After all, she was close to destroying him as well, "We must inform Selendrile at once."

Lianna became discomforted with that fact, as the Prince of Dragons would most likely destroy Varisca, when she could potentially be useful to them all. She looked away, twisting a loose strand of hair and thinking of what to say to dissuade him from telling Selendrile—at least for the time being.

She saw the phoenix child in his makeshift nest, sleeping soundly. He looked no older than a five-year-old but had healed many over eons. It was amazing to her.

"He's calling for me," Lallielle mumbled, interrupting their thoughts.

Willyr, Aerend, and Lianna stared at her. Lianna didn't know who she was talking about but the two dragon-youths grabbed Lallielle by her arms at once, taking care not to press on her wounds, and fearing she had gone mad.

"No, you cannot go to him!" Aerend cried frantically, his fawn colored hair falling into his eyes.

Lallielle tried to struggle away but they held her down. Lianna could see the red scars, hashed across one another on her arms and was startled at Lathandrian's cruel treatment. When she realized they were not letting her go, Lallielle started crying, as if being forced not to obey was hurting her. Lianna was horrified to see that her tears were blood. She grabbed the Book of Ages and fell back as the Parra thrashed about.

"I must!" Lallielle cried, wailing and wriggling.

"NO!" Aerend refused to let her.

"Lathandrian will only torment you further if you leave!" Willyr tried reasoning.

With a scream of pain, her body vanished and instead, many little black birds 'peeped' as they flew out of the den, sending a mass of wind that beat the rest of them backward. Her wails from before echoed off the rocky walls and resonated her memory of the sounds of agony that hundreds of her kinsmen made when they faced obliteration within the blink of Lathandrian's golden eye.

Lianna was on the ground, clutching the book as ashes rubbed her face and she breathed the scent of brimstone—her heart racing with adrenaline and worry.

Once the birds were gone, Aerend sat up and sprinted to the entrance of the den. With a roar of determination he leaped off the ledge and transformed, mid-air, into the silver dragon of the blowing winds. He spread his leathery wings and they caught the air, thrusting heavy and propelling him away from them hastily. Aerend was the fastest flyer of the magnificent seven, and would hopefully catch up to Lallielle on the winds before she could reach Lathandrian's palace.

Willyr now knew that Lathandrian had a possession over Lallielle's body, which forced her to be obedient to his commands. He hoped that Lathandrian didn't also control her mind—for then he would discover that the book was truly on the Realm side, and in possession of the dark fey. He sensed Lianna's heart beat—thudding against her ribs in concerned fear. He glanced at her and could give her no comfort. The worst feeling he had ever felt hit him in the gut, as he looked into her wide, beautiful, blue eyes—if Lathandrian found out about the book, he would surely discover Lianna's existence as well. He did not want to suffer the same way Selendrile had—with both Sasinna and now Alys.

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A/N: I might start drawing what all these Realm characters are looking like, so stay tuned for updates :D