A/N: Hi! If you read the update to the Slipper Fit you'd know I promised to update this story too! And so I did! I hope to get back into the groove, though forgive any errors- I'm still a little jet-lagged and have written this chapter over such a long period of time it was difficult to go back and edit. Nevertheless thanks to all my lovely reviewers and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little bit of a game-changer.

Chapter Eleven- Smoke and Shadows

I slept well for the first time since I'd left the tower- probably in the first time ever. Although I still had much to think on, there was something to be said for the comfort of my sleeping roll in the tent, and the gentle sound of Arden's breathing next to me. I felt at peace with myself and what I was, perhaps because even though I didn't like the truth the Bone Women had shared, I still needed to hear it to be at rest within myself. To make matters even better, Nero's kindness towards me of late had given me even more to think on- especially after Arden's words to me the night before.

I wondered why she had thought I needed to hear about Nero's wooing habits, or why I should even care- but perhaps what bothered me the most was that I did care. I found my thoughts drifting to him constantly, to the thought of him calling me a lady, of him laughing at dinner, and the way he showed his affection for his sister. I would often try to sober myself with thoughts of him before, of how he had treated me when we'd first met, but those memories were quickly being replaced by ones that were far more pleasant, and far more frequent. It seemed like being in the mountains was doing us both a great deal of good.

If it weren't for the knowledge of my mother and what she was doing to so many innocent people, I would have been content enough to remain there, where I wouldn't be judged for an appearance I knew now I could never change- someplace I could be accepted. Nevertheless there was a thought that echoed in the back of my mind- one that I kept trying to ignore. I knew that eventually I would have to go back there, to that tower and the darkness I hated so much.

Hedda came to fetch Arden and I from the tent early in the morning, before life in the camp had really started. She appeared to be quite tired herself as well, and carried with her a number of soft, cotton blankets.

"I thought you might want a bath before breakfast," she said with a yawn. I remembered my experience at washing back at Nero's smithy and was eager to try again. The feeling of being clean was a spectacular one after all. Arden and I followed Hedda a little way up the mountains, in the opposite direction of the Bone Women's tent. Sitting beneath a large jutting peak were a number of pools that sent steam rising into the crisp morning air. A number of women had already gathered, and were bathing together. When I realized that I wasn't going to have any privacy, I grew a little uncomfortable, especially as I hadn't brought my hood with me. When Hedda urged both Arden and I to remove our nightgowns we both looked at each other hesitantly.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked the older woman a little cautiously, and she laughed.

"It's a morning ritual. It shouldn't make you uncomfortable, for as soon as your'e in the water no one will be lookin' at you anyhow," she said. In the end, the desire to be clean far outweighed our unease with the situation, and so it didn't take long before we had both removed our clothing to step into the hot pools.

I could feel my muscles relax, and tension I didn't even know I was feeling faded away from my body as I breathed a heady sigh of contentment. Arden did the same, and I could tell that she was just as enamored with the hot springs as I was.

After we returned and got dressed in some furred, mountain garb we set out to meet the rest of our companions. We found both Nero and Brynjar in the smithy, Nero marvelling at the quality of the steel axes and swords that lined the log walls.

"So you've arrived!" Brynjar said with a smile, drawing Nero's attention to us as well.

"Took you long enough to get ready," he chastised as he drew his fingers across the sheathe of a newly crafted sword in admiration of their craftsmanship.

"We went to the hot springs!" Arden exclaimed happily. Her brother smiled.

"Apparently the men go in the evenings, so I shall have to look forward to it. Until then I am forced to remain woefully unwashed," he said, patting Arden on the head affectionately.

"Arden you stay with Brynjar, I need to talk to Elora for a moment," he urged, and the younger girl nodded. The two of us slipped away from the camp and began to walk through the woods a little before he felt comfortable enough to speak.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" he asked.

"Honestly, if I could spend the rest of my life here without worry I would," I answered softly, almost as if I were wishing that could truly be the case. Nero smiled before sitting down on a fallen tree, gesturing for me to join him.

"I wish that too, but that would mean throwing away everything it took to get here. I've been working on a way to stop the Queen for a while now, and to give up seems like such a waste."

"I agree. I never want to see another woman like Liza again, and so I've decided to speak with the Bone Women again."

Nero looked at me, concerned.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"No, but it's worth the risk I think. I've let my mother control my whole life, and I'm not going to let her get away with it anymore," I asserted. I was surprised when he took my hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze, as if somehow he could share his strength with me.

"Then I shall do my part as well. I've been reading through my grandmother's book, and while I haven't discovered anything to help us yet I'm sure there must be something. I just have to look harder." We sat in silence for a moment, staring at one another until a loud sound from back towards the camp drew our attention away.

"What is it?" I asked, my heart pounding with fright.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's not good," Nero answered, drawing his sword. The two of us rushed towards the camp, hand in hand, until we saw the mountain people gathered around a fire that looked to have been put out. Tendrils of black, thick smoke floated into the air above it almost unnaturally until they joined to form an all too familiar figure screaming like a banshee from one of Knight Valiant's stories.

"Is that-" Nero began.

"My mother, yes." I pushed back the ache of fear her presence usually imposed on me until I was able to walk towards her firmly. The Bone Women surrounded the tent, holding their arms over their heads as if using some sort of power to keep my mother's figure at bay. They looked worn down and weary, even more so than their old age allowed them, and so I knew it would be up to me to do something.

"Are you looking for me?" I shouted at the smoky figure, the blackness so overwhelming that it drowned out the afternoon sun.

The shade of my mother spun quickly at the sound of my voice, and her black, dead eyes regarded me with such hatred that I could feel it physically pressing down on me.

"Creature," she hissed like the thought of me was poison on her perfect tongue.

"I am not a creature," I shouted back, and she laughed and laughed at my assertion.

"One need only a mirror to discern what you are. Your little foray with those old crones was more useful than you know. It led me straight to you." She smiled a grin of exquisite satisfaction, knowing and believing that she'd won.

My heart ached at the idea that I could have led the mountain tribes into danger. I'd had no idea that was even possible, but I couldn't let them pay the price for what I'd done.

"What do you want from me?" I demanded.

"Only your safety dear child," she crooned back, reaching a smoky finger towards me to stroke my face. The feeling of the smoke stung my skin and made me cringe. It smelled unnatural, and not like the comforting smell of a hearth fire that I'd grown used to of late.

"The world is cold and unkind to a monster such as you. In your tower you are safe from all who would try and harm you, and I need you safe."

"I am not going back there!" I insisted.

"Oh but you are. My men are on their way to you as we speak, and you can choose to come with them quietly or not. The outcome will be the same for you, though I can't promise that your savage friends won't come in harm's way."

"Call your men back!" I insisted, angry she was using an entire community as hostages for my safety. My mother laughed again.

"And why would I do that?" It was a good question, since the two of us were completely uneven in terms of power. She held it all in the palm of her hand. There was only one thing I possessed that was valuable to her- my life, and the only reason that my life mattered was because it was directly connected to hers. Still, at least it was something I could use against her.

I spun around as quickly as I could muster and pulled Nero's sword from his hand before he had time to realize what I was doing. With a wince, I held it to my neck awkwardly. I'd never held a sword before, especially towards myself, and for all I knew I could have been doing it wrong since my mother hardly took my threat seriously.

"Am I to think you'd really do yourself in?" she laughed.

"No, you're not a fool. Still, perhaps this will prove to you that I am very serious," I said, pulling the steel against my neck so that it stung. Hot drips of blood ran down my neck but I refused to show any weakness lest my mother doubt my resolve.

"Elora!" Nero shouted in concern, but I paid him no mind. My eyes didn't leave my mother's, and I watched as her face twisted with rage while she clutched at her neck, black smoke fell like drops of blood from the same place I'd hurt myself. In that moment I understood the full reality of our bond. Our flesh was one, and even the slightest injury to myself would harm her in turn. It was more leverage against her than I thought I possessed, and while I wasn't eager to harm myself even more it was all I could do.

"I don't even need to kill myself mother, for it would be simple for me to mar my face. It would hardly make my appearance worse but I can't imagine you'd be happy with the change. Young or not, scars will last you forever!"

My mother screeched with fury, her smoky arms flailing through the air.

"Call off your men mother, for the moment I see one I promise you I will do whatever it takes to stop you. I have nothing to lose!"

"Oh you have something to lose, I've only got to find it creature. Rest assured that I will, and you will live to regret this day," she warned before the smoke was swallowed up by a strong breeze.

As soon as I was certain she'd disappeared I fell to my knees, my chest heaving with tears I'd refused to shed in her presence.

"What were you thinking you fool?" Nero yelled, snatching his sword from my hand and throwing it to the ground beside us with a resounding clang.

"I'm not a fool I just didn't know what else to do!" I shouted back.

"You didn't have to hurt yourself!"

"Don't yell at me! I don't need you angry with me, too!" I protested, finally letting my tears fall. Nero immediately sobered and fell down beside me, pulling a cloth handkerchief from his pocket and holding it against my wound.

"I'm sorry Elora, I was just worried. For a moment I thought you were actually going to go through with your threat."

"What choice would I have had? We were lucky I have a stronger connection with her than we thought or I would have had to. I can't let her hurt you and Arden, or the mountain people because of me," I said.

"Some knight I'm turning out to be. How can I protect you if you're so bent on destroying yourself?" he asked, and quite beside myself with relief and fear I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him in the same way Arden had when she was upset earlier.

I knew it probably wasn't an appropriate reaction, but given the circumstances I couldn't help but want the comfort of arms around me, and Nero didn't seem bothered by the idea. He was so much bigger than me that his arms practically crushed me against him as I cried into his shoulder. When my tears finally stopped, he held me at an arm's length away from himself as he examined my injury thoroughly.

"You need to get that taken care of," he insisted.

"No, I need to see the Bone Women again."

"I think you should rest first."

"There's no time. As much as I don't want to, I need to leave this place before I put anyone else in danger. But I can't do that until I get some more guidance."

"Where will you go?"

"The only place I can go. I need to go back to her. She won't hurt me, she can't- but she will hurt you and everyone I care about if she gets a chance."