"Prince elf, prince elf!" an unfamiliar voice called.

Fenris frowned, and looked down at the raggedly-dressed elven woman hurrying alongside Ari. "I am no prince," he said sharply.

"Sorry, m'Lord... please, m'Lord, I must beg you for help..."

Fenris sighed and reined Ari to a stop. "I am no lord either. What help do you believe I can give you?"

The woman looked around, eyes wide and frightened, then stepped closer, hands knotting into the ends of the worn shawl draped around her narrow shoulders. "It's... it's my daughter... M'Lo... ser..." she stammered in a hissing whisper.

"What about your daughter?" he asked patiently.

She blinked, looking on the edge of tears. "She... she's mage-born, ser, just come into her powers... and... and I'm scared that someone might hurt her if they find out, or the templars come and take her away."

Fenris frowned. "You should take her to the chantry..." he began.

"Oh, please, ser... the chantry and all them templars frighten me! But I heard that... that the Prince has made a place for the mages, where they're kept safe?"

"He has," he agreed, nodding his head.

"Couldn't you take her there? I'd know she was safe if it was you that took her away... oh, please, ser, she's so young..."

Fenris sighed. "How old is she?" he asked.

"Just going on five, ser."

"Five!" he exclaimed. That was young to be showing mage powers. And a dangerous age at which to have such, as well. He frowned, then nodded sharply. "I will help," he agreed. "Lead the way."

He swung down out of the saddle, leading his horse behind him as the woman hurried through the narrow streets and into the area designated as the alienage here in Starkhaven. It was one of the few cities he'd ever seen – granted, his experience of cities wasn't particularly wide – where the alienage seemed of equally good buildings as the human-inhabited areas. But then Sebastian had mentioned that much of the city had been rebuilt from scratch after a disastrous fire over a century ago, with the buildings by law having to be of stone construction with slate roofs, instead of the timber, wattle-and-daub, and thatch that were more normally used in much of the Free Marches. Doubtless the alienage had benefited from the reconstruction also.

The woman led the way over a doorway, and looked nervously at the horse, as if wondering whether or not the great beast would be coming indoors as well. Fenris dropped the reins to the ground, and touched Ari's nose. "Wait for me here," he told the horse, then turned and follow the woman inside.

The buildings might be of similar construction to that in the human areas, but he doubted the humans packed as many people into them as the elves did. The place was crowded with elves; he suspected that a space as large as he occupied by himself up at the castle would here house an entire extended family of elves. The woman led him all the way up to the top-most floor, a small garret room in the attic, lit by a pair of narrow dormer windows. Judging by the bedrolls stacked against one wall, it was occupied by at least five people – the woman and four children, it turned out, three boys and the girl, the eldest boy a teenager, the youngest perhaps a year or two older than the girl. All took after their mother, with black hair and dark blue eyes.

The mother took the girl's hand and led her over to Fenris. "This is her, ser... my Kyla."

The girl stared up at him, one finger stuck in her mouth – she was chewing nervously on it, her eyes big and frightened. Fenris frowned slightly. He'd had very little to do with children, and wasn't at all sure how to talk to them. Like an adult, he supposed. "Hello, Kyla," he said. "My name is Fenris. Your mother tells me you're a mage."

The girl nodded, eyes getting if anything slightly bigger and more frightened. His frown deepened, and he looked at the girl's mother for guidance. She seemed as distressed as the girl, now that she'd brought him here. "Does she have things? Clothing? A favourite toy?"

"She has a doll," the woman said, looking around distractedly. "Will... will she be allowed to keep it, ser?"

Fenris blinked. He didn't really know. "I will see that she is allowed to," he said. Surely he could do that much.

The woman nodded and began to move around the room, picking up some clothing and a tattered ragdoll – more rag than doll by the look of it. The little girl retreated to rejoin her brothers as soon as her mother moved away.

The eldest of the three boys abruptly stepped forward, moving between Fenris and the girl. "You're going to take Kyla away?" he asked belligerently.

"Yes. Your mother asked me too."

The boy scowled. "I don't trust you. You're no prince! Elves don't have princes!"

"I never said I was a prince," Fenris pointed out mildly. "Other people call me that. I don't like it."

The boy's scowl deepened. "Then why do you let them?"

Fenris snorted. "Because I can't stop them."

"Oh," the boy said, and frowned.

"Why not? You could kill them with that big sword, couldn't you?" asked the youngest boy.

Fenris felt one corner of his mouth twitch in an amused smile. "I wish it were that easy. But I would have to kill a great many people."

"Stupid!" hissed the middle brother, which started an argument with lots of name-calling and shoving between the two.

The mother returned at last, and handed Fenris a small bundle. "Here's her things, ser... I can't thank you enough... you'll see she's safe?"

"Yes. She'll go to where the mages can help her learn how to use her powers safely," he assured the mother.

She nodded her head, looking fearful, and drew Kyla forward again. The girl looked even more frightened, then abruptly started to cry, terrible sobbing wails. The mother and the eldest boy hurriedly tried to comfort her. It took them several minutes, at the end of which she was clinging tightly to the boy, watching Fenris fearfully.

The boy looked up at Fenris. "You'll really take her somewhere safe?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, as I told your mother," Fenris said, and looked again at the girl. However was he going to get her out of here and to - wherever he should take her... the chantry? The castle? – if she was scared to go with him. He didn't imagine that carrying a crying girl child through the streets would be inconspicuous. And what if she became frightened enough to use her mage powers?

"Could... could I come, and see where she goes? So I know she really is somewhere safe?" the boy asked worriedly, and darted a glance at his mother. "She'll stay quiet for me, I look after the others while mam is out working..."

Fenris frowned. That would solve the problem of keeping the girl quiet, certainly... and... well, why not, it couldn't hurt for the girl's family to know she really was somewhere nice, and safe. He smiled at the boy. "Can you leave for several days? The place for mages isn't here in the city, so I'll have to take her to people who will see she gets there safely. I can arrange for them to take you there as well, and then bring you back, but it may take several days."

The boy looked worried again, then looked down at Kyla, who was looking at him with a big-eyed pleading look, then at his mother, who looked frightened but nodded agreement. The boy looked at Fenris and nodded. "I can, yes," he agreed.

"All right. What's your name?"

"Gevin."

"All right, Gevin, get some clothes for yourself as well, and we'll go."

The boy nodded and scrambled around, grabbing some clothes from a pile, bundling them together and then hurrying back over, taking Kyla by the hand. Their mother hugged the two, and Fenris and the two children went back down the stairs and outside.

Ari was waiting patiently where he'd left him. He eyed the stallion, then the two children, and scowled slightly as he realized he was going to have to walk. Or perhaps not... the stallion was large, and the children were small. Ari could doubtless carry all three of them without difficulty.

The children were nervous about the idea at first, but once Fenris had mounted, Gevin lifted Kyla up where he could reach her and lift her to sit in front of him, and she crowed with delight at finding herself so high above the ground. Ari flicked one ear at the noise, but otherwise remained as still as a rock. Fenris reached down and pulled Gevin up next, the boy wiggling in between him and the girl as Fenris eased a little further back in the saddle.

"Hold on to your sister tightly," Fenris warned. "I will have Ari move slowly, but I don't want either of you to fall."

They both nodded, looked big-eyed with excitement, and he gently nudged Ari into a slow walk, turning him away from the house. The big horse calmly picked his way through the streets, and back uphill toward the distant castle.

Gevin started looking nervous as the horse proceeded up the hill, out of the lower city and through the wider avenues of the upper city. "Where are we going?" he asked in a small, frightened voice.

"To the castle. I live there."

"But you're not a prince...?"

Fenris smiled. "No. I am not a prince. But Prince Vael is my friend, and I live in his house. It is he that gave me this horse, and this armour."

"Oh," the boy said, looking impressed.

"It's a pretty horse," Kyla piped up, leaning forward to pat Ari's neck. "It looks just like you. What's its name?"

Fenris smiled. " Arianblaidd. But I call him Ari."

"That's a nice name," the girl said approvingly, then settled back, looking around without the least trace of fear as they approached the castle gates. The guards looked a little dubiously at the two children, but let Fenris through without question – they knew that both the Prince and their captain trusted the elf implicitly.

Fenris had slowed Ari and was puzzling over whether to follow his normal of routine of riding Ari around to the stable, or to stop and do... something... with the children first, when he spotted Sebastian standing near the steps up to the main doors, talking with a small group of nobles. Saying farewell, it appeared – he smiled and said something to them, and they nodded, then turned and walked away. Sebastian turned to watch them, and caught sight of Fenris, his eyebrows flying upwards as he noticed the two elven children perched in front of the warrior.

He grinned, and walked over. "What's this, Fenris? Bringing me guests?" he called out as he approached.

Fenris smiled slightly. "Of a sort, yes," he said. "This is Kyla and her brother Gevin," he said, then lowered his voice so only Sebastian could hear his next words. "Kyla is mage-born. I have promised their mother to see she is sent safely to the circle."

Sebastian nodded in comprehension. "And the boy?"

"Along to see that his sister is well-treated and not frightened, and what the place she is being sent to is like. I have promised him that I will see to it that he can go there with her to see the place, and will be brought back to the city afterwards."

Sebastian nodded approvingly at Gevin. "You are a good brother to your little sister," he said, then smiled charmingly at Kyla. "May I help you down from your fine steed, Lady Kyla?" he asked.

The girl giggled and smiled, and when Sebastian raised his arms, slid happily down Ari's shoulder. He caught her and lowered her to the ground, then helped Gevin down, with somewhat more dignity. Fenris reluctantly dismounted and handed Ari over to one of the servants to be led off to the stable. He much preferred to look after his mount himself, but supposed that today he'd need to make an exception.

Sebastian picked up Kyla, who was fascinated by his fine clothing, and turned to walk into the castle, Gevin and Fenris following, the boy carrying their bundles. "Is it really okay for us to go in here?" Gevin asked anxiously as they climbing the stairs and went through the door, the guards at it looking as impassive as if it was perfectly normal for their prince to walk by with a couple of ragged children.

"Of course it is," Sebastian said. "Fenris wouldn't have brought you here if it wasn't okay."

"Oh," the boy said, nervously, and edged closer to Fenris, looking around with equal parts wonder and fear as they entered the big entry hall inside, the floor of fine polished stone, the walls plastered and painted a smooth gleaming white, hung with colourful banners, a huge unlit chandelier dominating the space between the curving arms of the staircase that led higher into the keep.

Sebastian paused for a moment, looking back at Fenris. "There's another shipment of supplies leaving for the circle keep in four days, if I remember correctly," he said, then looked down at Gevin. "Can you wait that long?"

"I... I don't know," the boy said anxiously.

Sebastian smiled kindly at him. "In that case I'll see if they can move it up and leave tomorrow or the day after instead. Would that be better?"

"I... yes. You can really do that?" Gevin asked, sounding surprised.

"Of course," Sebastian said. "Well then, you two will need a room to stay in for at least one night, perhaps two," he said. "And how about a nice bath, and then you can join Fenris and I and a friend of ours for lunch."

He resumed walking, heading over to a staircase and upstairs. "I think the room next to yours would be good, Fenris – so the children are near someone they know."

Fenris nodded, glad that Sebastian had taken over organizing things. "That sounds good," he agreed.

Sebastian gestured to a passing maidservant as they walked down the hallway, and quickly gave a rapid-fire string of instructions. She nodded repeatedly, then gave him a quick little bow when he'd finished. "Yes, m'Lord," she said, and hurried off.

By the time Sebastian reached the room he wanted, a servant was already there putting fresh bedding on the bed. The children stared in big-eyed wonder at the room – palatial, compared to their attic garret, though only in the mid-range of what was available for guests in the castle, Fenris knew.

"All right. The servants will fill the bath for you and bring you some good clothes to wear. Fenris' room is the first door to your left if you go out in the hallway here. And he'll come back in a little while to bring the two of you to have lunch with us. All right?"

The two nodded. A matronly maidservant arrived just then, and Sebastian introduced her and the children before leaving them in her care, Fenris following him out of the room.