Kadir raged as the shadows whirled around him, his claws tearing at any flesh they found, feet kicking helplessly.

Then the world came to him in a rush, unnaturally bright and quiet. He was shoved onto a table, his claws digging into someone's arms that were bracing his shoulder. His teeth snapped down and he reared, aiming for Connal's nose, but the fae scrambled back.

Fenrys was there, though. He grabbed Kadir's shoulders again and slammed him into the wood. "Calm down!"

Kadir took in a breath. Then another. "Bring me back to Royce." His voice was harsh and cold as his mother's.

"You know we can't," said Connal, crossing his large arms.

"I'm sorry," Fenrys said.

Kadir wanted to cry. Wanted to break down, to crumple at his failure. They wouldn't let him and he had no chance of getting passed them. He knew how a blood oath worked.

He finally bothered to look around, finding himself in a kitchen. The ovens were still hot and an elderly demi fae glared at Fenrys and Connal while a younger one shifted uneasily in his stool.

"Just for that," the older man said, slapping a wet rag on the wood beside Kadir. "You two get to wipe the counters and do the dishes."

"I'm older than you," Fenrys hissed in defense.

"You don't act it and you got blood all over my table."

There was indeed blood running down both of the fae's arms, gouges put there by Kadir. The blood had yet to clot thanks to the iron of Kadir's claws. He felt a kind of smug satisfaction.

Connal looked like he was going to protest but another wet rag landed on his face with a disturbing sound.

Kadir slid off of the table with a humpf. The younger half-breed was staring unabashedly at his claws.

Kadir brought them to his mouth and licked them.

The boy whitened.

"Get to cleaning. Luca, start on the vegetables for tonight." The older fae shuffled to Kadir and pointed at his hands while Luca jumped to his task. "Put those away and you and I won't have a problem."

Kadir sniffed but sheathed his claws.

The older man smiled. "I am Emrys."

Kadir would have shaken his hand if his own weren't covered in blood, so he hid them behind his back. "Kadir," he said with as little disgust as he could muster and bowed.

"Prince Kadir Havilliard, if I'm not mistaken. Old men do still keep up with the times."

Kadir grimaced. "Can you get me back to Royce Whitethorn? I have no idea where I am."

Connal and Fenrys stiffened, but Luca made a cheering gesture. "My ship has sailed!"

"What?" Emrys and Kadir asked at the same time.

Luca only grinned as he continued on the vegetables.

Emrys said, "You are far from Doranelle, boy. Welcome to Mistward."

X-X-X-X-X-X

When Royce was four, she had gotten lost in the woods, having let go of her Evangeline's hand in favor of chasing the hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees. She never found the owl, but when she looked back, she found she'd gone much further than she intended and there was no one left in sight.

She looked for the creek that she had seen on there way but could find no trace of it, not even a dried bed. Her parents had gone hunting with Aedion and Lysandra with their children close on their heels. Evangeline had been forced to watch her, though she'd been more focused on her parents' hunting tactics than anything else.

Royce collapsed against a tree, her lips quivering. Don't cry, she told herself. As loud as she could, she yelled out for her mother and father.

Only echoes answered her.

The forest seemed to grow darker, trees looming like giants, every noise making her jump. She screamed when a chipmunk sprinted across the floor. Wind whistled through the branches of the greenery above her, howling like a mournful widow.

Royce sniffled, remembering from the maps just how very large Oakwald was and all the stories Elide had told her. The trees and rocks all looked the same to her and she refused to move in fear of getting further from her parents than she already was.

Her small frame shook with terror as she called again, "Mama? Papa?"

They'll find you, she told herself, they'll find you and dote on you and give you a mug of hot cocoa when they got back to the cabin.

She bit her sleeve, trying to keep the tears in. They'll find you. Just wait.

But the forest only grew darker, they eyes of the animals within multiplying as night approached.

Royce had never felt so helpless.

She cried at full force now, hoping maybe the trees would hear her and whisper to her parents. Had they even noticed she was gone?

She was tired and hungry and lonely and lost.

lostlostlostlostlost

She rubbed at her eyes mercilessly, hiccupping into her skirts. There was a quiet rustle from the bush next to her, making her jump to her feet.

But on a moss-ridded stone lay an arrow of twigs and leaves.

Wiping her face, Royce stared at them, unsure of when they got there. Then a little hand darted out from the bush, pointing in the same direction as the arrow before disappearing.

Royce gasped.

She stumbled through the forest in the direction that had been indicated, sobbing to herself. "Mama? Papa?"

Then she heard it, the buzz of voices, crashing of someone hurtling through the trees. "Royce!"

Then her mother was there, scooping her up. Her father came bounding after, wrapping her in his huge frame as he whispered her name over and over again. Suspended between her parents, Royce continued to cry, relief and exhaustion hanging heavily over her.

"Shh," her mother said, pushing her hair back, "we've got you. You're safe."

"I'm sorry," said her father, his deep voice rumbling through Royce's small body. "I'm never letting you go. Never again."

"Never again," her mother agreed, burying her face in Royce's tangled mop of golden hair.

She'd never been grateful of that, of her parents' love for her, until today.