Hey, everyone. So, some mixed feelings about the direction this story's taking. Let me make a few things clear: first of all, I'm absolutely not going to be straying off canon. By my count, two weeks pass before Char sees Ella again, and you'll see then why he doesn't tell her about all this. As for the persuasion: my interpretation is that the ogres have some inborn talent for it (though even NiSSh had to practice a bit, if you recall). Humans just hadn't thought to try until now, but they can do it with some effort (and apparently Ella was better at it than most, maybe because of her fairy blood). Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but it's a subject Gale Carson Levine didn't flesh out too much, which I'm trying to explore. That's what fan fiction is all about, right? Also, I reread the part where Ella's afraid that if she marries Char, "enemies of Kyrria" will use her as a weapon, and that got me thinking about enemies of Kyrria.

The thing to remember is, this is Char's story, not just Char telling Ella's story. Most of what happens here will still be based on things obliquely mentioned in the book, but not everything – otherwise there would just be a lot more scenes with the men shouting at the ogres or talking around the fire, which would get boring fast. That said, I'm certainly not offended by your doubts – I'm writing this story at least partly to become a better writer, and concrit is an important part of that. So please, keep letting me know what you think! And with that, we return you to your regularly scheduled story…

I woke stiff, cold, and not entirely sure where I was. Then it all came rushing back. I didn't think I'd ever been this frightened. I'd grown up hearing about assassinations and political intrigues, but it always seemed so removed, not something that could ever happen to me. In many ways I was still the little boy, shocked that someone had the audacity to throw a tomato at my family. But this went considerably beyond tomatoes.

I stood and felt my way around in the dark, trying to get a better sense of my surroundings. The cave was a bit larger than I'd originally thought, with a small stream running along one wall. I splashed a bit of the water on my face, gasping at the numbing cold.

What scared me the most was that Aubrey had always been a spy. Rhinian allegiances didn't just pop up overnight – he'd been a soldier for lord knows how long, gaining everyone's trust, just waiting for his opening. And I'd been the one to give it to him. If it got out that humans could use the persuasion on one another, even as limited as it seemed to be, every would-be villain had a new tool at his disposal. Always assuming, of course, that Aubrey didn't start a war here and now.

"There has to be a way to stop this," I muttered to myself, my words echoing strangely off the stone all around me.

"You wouldn't be talking about me, now would you, lad?" came Sir Aubrey's voice from the entrance. I whirled around. The man had timing, I'd give him that much.

Time to get to work. I took a deep breath. "Of course not, why would I want to stop you? I only want to help you, Aubrey. I'll even sign over the land. Did you bring the pen and paper?"

He squinted at me suspiciously. "Aye, lad, I did. What is it you think you're doing, exactly? You trying that persuasion thing again? Because it's not working."

I made wide eyes at him, and layered my voice even more thickly. "I'm hurt you would even accuse me of such a thing. Why would I need to enchant you when we want the same thing? Just give me the paper, I'll sign it right now."

He held my gaze for a long moment. "Don't know why you're talking like that. I'm warning you, I think I might be immune to that magic. Or maybe you're just no good at it. But if you're really ready to sign…" He reached for his gunnysack, and in that moment when his eyes flicked away from me, I sprang for the knife at his belt.

It worked – I had caught him completely off guard, and now I was standing holding a knife against the man I had seen almost as a brother for the past month. This was really as far as I'd thought things through. "I don't think I am much good at the persuasion thing. Taking away someone's will, bending reality till they see the world the same as you… I'll leave that to you." I wasn't sure where to hold the knife – against his neck seemed wrong, somehow, since I was quite sure I'd never be able to really harm him, spy or no spy. I settled for waving it around in the air as I talked. "So… we're going back to camp now. And you're going to prison."

He looked at me steadily. "You're bluffing. You'd never use that thing. And I've another."

I did everything I could to keep my face calm. "Reach for it and see what happens." He considered for a moment, then slowly raised his hands in the air. "Right, then. Turn around and lead the way back." I kept the knife leveled at his back as he went, wary lest he reach for his second knife, terrified of what I'd do if he did. Where could he even be keeping it? I didn't see any obvious sheaths about his person.

John and Bertram were asleep by the banked fire as the camp came into sight, and I began to allow myself to feel relief. "John! Bertram!" I called. "Wake up! There's mischief afoot."

Like the well-trained soldiers they were, they were up and reaching for their swords before they stopped to question me. "Lad?" Sir Bertram asked, peering at me in the dim firelight. "We thought you'd run off on us. What's going on?"

"Sir Aubrey tried to kidnap me." I held up my hand to their immediate protests. "I'll explain in a minute. For now, just tie him up and gag him."

If I'd ever had doubts about these two's loyalty, they evaporated now. Here I was, asking them to tie up one of their own, and they did so almost without question. I really thought it was all over until Sir Aubrey pulled his second knife from his boot, cutting through the half-tied ropes and brandishing it at us with a crazy look in his eyes. "I'm not going down. Not like this." It was three on one and he knew it – even as he swung the knife back and forth to point it at each of us in turn, he was slowly backing away. "Don't try to follow me." And with that, he took off running.

All three of us made to chase after him, but he was fast, and within moments his form was lost in the darkness.

John turned to me then. "Care to explain, lad?"

. . .

After I'd given them a full account of the past night's events, Bertram and John sat shell-shocked. "He was… he seemed like such a good sort," John kept saying. "I worked with him on and off for years. All that time…"

Bertram's face was stony. "He fooled us all. And now he'll murder us all in our sleep."

I blinked at him. "You think he'll come back here? Surely he'll run now…."

Bertram snorted. "Lad, Aubrey was a soldier for years. He'll have been planning this his whole life. You really think he'd just give up now?"

"I suppose not. Well, we'll stay on guard. Never sleep all at the same time, always keep someone on watch until Martin and Percival return with my father's men, and they can launch a full-scale manhunt."

"I'd like to hunt him down myself. Scum thinks he can mess with our prince and get away with it…" I was rather touched that I was Sir Bertram's prince, really, but there was no time for heroics just now.

"We will find him. But for now, we're down to three men, we can't spare anyone to search."

John nodded slowly, over the initial shock now. "The lad's right. Aubrey's always been good in stealth exercises, if we split up we only help him."

Sir Bertram looked ready to strangle someone, but he nodded slowly. "Right, then. I'll take first watch. John, you'll take over at dawn?" John nodded. "Best get your rest, lad, you'll be needing it." He laughed humorlessly. "Have you noticed how your plans tend to end up with no one getting any sleep?"

Shorter chapter here – turns out it's kind of hard to get these written in a day. But also, this was the only logical place I could think of to end it. More soon!