"You're the huntsman?" Kara exclaimed. Anything was possible, she supposed, but the word huntsman brought to mind a big, rugged, axe-toting man with a beard, not this serious, dignified young nobleman.

He nodded. "I am. I know I don't fit the stereotype, but I came by that name because-" He broke off, suddenly. "Well, perhaps I should start from the beginning."

"That might be a good idea," J'onn said. Once they were gathered in a circle around the fire, Alex on Kara's shoulder and Kara turning the lost princess' portrait over and over in her hands, the stranger began his story once again.

"As you might have guessed, I was born into a noble family," he said. "It was a far-away kingdom; I doubt you've heard the name. And you couldn't very well describe ours as a happy home. My father was alright, but it was my mother who held the reins, and she..." A shadow came into his eyes, and he shook his head as if to clear it. "Well, the less said about her, the better." Kara and J'onn exchanged questioning glances, but stayed quiet, allowing the story to continue uninterrupted.

"I was always something of an intellectual. Princess Lena- once I made my way to the Luthor kingdom- she used to call me Brainy." His mouth curved up in a half smile at the memory. "The princess is a good friend of mine."

"Brainy," Alex repeated. "Right." She drew the word out a bit longer than she should have, which she often did when she was both amused by and skeptical of something.

"How did you end up in the Luthor kingdom anyway?" M'gann asked.

"I was coming to that. It's not that exciting a story, actually. Once things became too tense at home, I decided I'd had enough and struck out on my own- to seek my fortune, as it were." Kara had already noticed that Querl- "Brainy," apparently- talked a bit more formally than most people did. Strangely enough, she liked it.

"I didn't really know where I was going, or what I wanted to do when I got there. So I ended up in the Luthor kingdom. And that's where I met Lena. She went exploring in the villages quite frequently, and I suppose she knew that I hadn't been there before, so she asked where I'd come from and what I was doing there. It didn't cross my mind not to give her my real name, but she was glad to hear it. Her mother was friends with mine, she said, and insisted I come back to the palace with her." His brow furrowed. "In hindsight, the fact that my mother was friends with Lillian should have been my first clue as to what the Luthors were like, but I wasn't as careful back then."

"So you went to the palace," J'onn said. His face was expressionless, and Kara couldn't tell whether he believed the story or not. "Then what?"

"Then I met Lex and his mother. There was nothing to alarm me at first; Lena and I became good friends, and Lex asked me to stay on at the court. I agreed. I would even say I was happy there, for awhile. And then Lionel died, and Lillian took the throne. Once that happened, I started to see who her and her son really were."

"Anyone who's been in a room with Lillian for five minutes can see that," Alex said harshly. "Lex hides it a little better, but he's the same way."

"And perhaps I should have seen it sooner. All I know is, I didn't. I assume Lex told you the story? What happened between Lena and her mother?"

"Lillian got jealous of Lena, so Lex sent you to take her somewhere safe," Kara said. "And for some reason you never brought her back like you were supposed to, so now he's sent all of us to find her."

Brainy nodded. "Once I knew what Lex was like, I knew someone had to keep an eye on him," he explained. "So I pretended I was loyal to him, and eventually he started to trust me. It wasn't an easy part to play, but who knows what he would have done if I hadn't been there to talk him out of the worst things." He drew a long sigh. "Sometimes it would get to be too much- the lies, the deception, the intrigue. When that happened, I would slip out to the woods for awhile, just to be alone. That's why they started calling me the Huntsman. Lex thought he could trust me, and he knew I was friends with Lena, which is why he asked me to be the one to take her to safety."

"That makes sense," Winn spoke up, "but why didn't you bring her back once Lillian was exiled?"

"Because Lena didn't want me to. She knew I wasn't really loyal to her brother, so she didn't hesitate to tell me that. She may have been close with Lex, she may have loved him, but she knew what he was really like just as well as I did. She didn't want the throne, but a Luthor mind can't fathom somebody not wanting power. If Lillian saw her as a threat to the throne, Lex would see the same eventually. And Lex is far more underhanded. She wouldn't have known a moment's peace with her brother as king, and she knew it. So as much as she loved her people, as much as she hated to leave them under Lex's thumb, she decided not to return. I escorted her to safe haven, but I decided not to stay with her. If Lex grew suspicious and came looking, one could hide more easily than two. Of course I couldn't go back to the Luthor kingdom either, so I went to the North Kingdom. It was isolated, closed off- I'd be safe there. But when I heard a rumor that someone was at the Queen's ball asking questions about a lost princess, I thought it might be Lex. So I had to find out what was going on."

"That's why I didn't see you the first two nights," Winn said. Brainy shook his head.

"I was at the second. You must not have seen me."

"Not that you were looking all that hard, between your stepsisters and your lady friend," Alex teased. Winn reddened, but M'gann and Kara laughed, and even J'onn let a bit of a smile slip through. Now that they'd found the person who knew about Lena, and there was nothing to fear, they could see the humor in Winn's, er, distraction.

"That's something I don't understand, actually," Brainy said. "I know who most of you are already. You're Sleeping Beauty, obviously." He nodded to Kara before glancing across to J'onn and M'gann. "And I've been around nobility long enough to recognize a knight and his lady."

M'gann's cheeks turned pink. "Oh, I'm not his-" But J'onn was smiling, just a little, and Brainy was already talking again, so she fell silent.

Brainy's gaze flicked to Alex. "Your friend," he said, "is...in an unfortunate and obviously magical predicament which I shall not comment upon."

"Wise move," Alex said. Brainy turned to Winn.

"But you," he said, "are not a prince. So what were you doing at the ball?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"To an ordinary royal, no, it wouldn't have been. To anyone looking a little more closely, it was quite apparent. I tend to observe things more sharply than most, so I knew right away. And of course the disappearing coach-" Brainy waved his hand toward the empty space where the pumpkin coach had stood- "suggests magical involvement. Does one of you wield magic?"

"Us?" Kara laughed. "No. It was- well, maybe I should start from the beginning too. As long as you think it's safe, J'onn?"

J'onn nodded. "I think we can trust him, Kara. Go ahead."

And Kara did, pouring out the whole story with the others adding bits and pieces she forgot. Brainy was a good listener, asking only a few questions here and there and staying quiet the rest of the time. Not even the stranger parts of the story- like Kara's curse or the dragon in the dark- seemed to faze him, leading Kara to wonder if perhaps the "far-away kingdom" he hailed from was as magical as Kryptonia was.

"An incredible quest," he said when she had finally finished. "Although I can't see where Lena fits into it."

"Neither can we," Kara replied. "All we know is what Cat told us- she's important somehow."

"But if Lena hasn't gone back home in all this time because she wants to avoid her brother," M'gann said, "I doubt she'll want us bringing Lex proof that she's alive. Once he has that, what's to stop him searching for her?"

"That's up to her," J'onn said. "All we can do is find her. That's what Cat told us to do, so that's what we will do, and we'll just have to trust that things will work themselves out. You still haven't told us where exactly she is, by the way." The last words he directed towards Brainy.

"It's easier if I show you. It's...quite a remote location, and very few know the way. But I'd be happy to guide you."

"How long is the journey?" Alex asked. "We don't know how much time we have before Kara falls asleep again."

Or how much time we have before something terrible happens back home, Kara added silently in her mind. She still hadn't told the others about the danger Cat had foreseen for Kryptonia. There didn't seem to be a point to telling them, since not even her fairy godmother knew what the danger was and there was little they could do about it, but that didn't stop Kara from worrying.

"Two weeks' travel, perhaps. We'll have to pass through Daxam, but it's not a dangerous route."

"Daxam?" Kara repeated. "I remember them. Weren't they that kingdom where there was always some festival or another going on and no one could ever take anything seriously? Don't tell me they're our enemies too."

"That's the one," Alex said. "And no, they're not our enemies. We're still each ignoring the other kingdom's existence, like always."

"You may get a handful of glares as we're passing through, but nothing worse than that," M'gann added. "Daxam's too small- and too devil-may-care- to risk crossing swords with your cousin."

"Then we don't have anything to worry about," Kara decided. "Unless the dragon in the dark shows back up, of course." The mention of the dragon brought another question to her mind. "Brainy, do you think Lena could be the person under the fourth curse?"

The huntsman shook his head. "It would be impossible. I didn't leave her on her own; she's with some very good friends of mine. Very powerful, magical friends. They can shield her from any spell Lillian- or Lex, if he knew how- might try to cast. Whoever the fourth curse belongs to, it isn't Lena."

"Well, I hope we learn who it does belong to, and soon," Kara said. "We can't break a curse we don't know about." And the sooner we break the four curses, the sooner we can get home to help keep Kryptonia safe.

"We'll leave in the morning, then," J'onn declared.

"Is your leg up to that?" M'gann asked worriedly.

"It will have to be," Brainy said. "The sooner we're out of this kingdom, the better off we'll be."

"Why's that?" Alex asked.

"Don't you feel how cold it's getting? And look at the stars." Kara glanced up, following Brainy's finger. The friendly pinpricks of light had vanished, obscured by heavy clouds, leaving the night in pitch blackness. And he was right about the cold too- a chilly tendril wrapped around her. Shivering, she reached for a blanket.

"We left the ball early, so I can't say for certain," Brainy said. "But if I had to guess, I would say that Reign has returned to the North Kingdom."