When Tempeste's eyes fluttered open, she was immediately accosted by a pair of hands, pulling up into a sitting position. Fingers tangled into her hair, examining it. Another pair of hands took her wrists, examining them, pulling at the skin that covered the bone. The face of an elderly old hag peered into hers, examining every detail of her young face as if searching for something that lay behind the flesh and bone. Her gaze made Tempeste shudder and she tried to pull away, mewing slightly. Despite all her tough talk, she was still a child, and she was frightened and alone now. Her eyes couldn't spot Erik any where within the room she was being held in.

"She's lovely enough. I'm sure that customers would pay a pretty penny to see her dance." The elderly woman traced a finger over Tempeste's jaw and turned away, looking to the other's in the room, all younger women. "Let's see if we can't fix her up to be more like us, eh girls?"

Tempeste let out a tiny cry and struggled against the arms that held her back, the hands that tilted her face up. "Let me go." Her voice was more of a gasp than a scream, and tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "Where is he...please? Please tell me where he is?"

"Where who is, my pet?" The older woman replied, rubbing at a spot of dirt on Tempeste's cheek. "The little monster you were traveling with? Don't you fret your pretty little head over him...he's not to trouble you any more."

Tempeste let out a tiny sob and twisted away, wriggling away from the grasping arms as only a child could. Backing away towards the flap of the tent, she held both her hands out, her eyes scanning the room for every possible means of escape.

"You tell me where he is. You tell me now." Taking another trembling step backwards she felt her bony shoulders collide with something soft. Turning around she came face to face with a tarnished belt buckle. Tilting her head up, she saw what was most likely the largest, most fearsome looking man she'd ever laid her young eyes upon.

"I'll show you where he is, girlie." He laughed. His belly shook when ever he spoke and it gave Tempeste the horrid mental image of holiday pudding that had been left out in the sun for too long wrapped in foul smelling cloth. The man grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her out of the tent. Tempeste had to run to keep up with his long strides and tears streamed down her cheeks the entire time. Oh, how weak she was. When she was thrust up against the cold metal bars of a cage, she didn't quite understand. Had the fed Erik to a beast of some kind. Scanning the corners of the cage, her eyes widened when she saw his tiny body curled up in a ball, bruises peppering his chest, and his hands held tightly over his face. Wrenching her arms away from the man's grasp she sprinted to the door of the cage, pulling and pushing at the lock futilely.

"Let him out! Let him out, you...you horrid beast!" She sobbed, reaching a tiny hand between the bars to touch Erik's sleeping form. The large man yanked her back before she could lay a hand on the boy, and sent his own hand across her face. She toppled to the ground, grasping her cheek.

"Don't touch the merchandise, girlie. You're in Javert's world now. And your little monster here belongs to me. And so do you. You keep away, you understand me?" He spat on the ground, rubbing over the saliva with his boot. "I see you near him and I'll break that little neck of yours." Tempeste swallowed hard and nodded, letting her eyes flicker over to Erik's form again. She would never be strong enough to free herself, or him. And so she let the gypsy women take her away and clean her up.

She refused to see the "performances" as Javert called them. She didn't see the art of tying a defenseless boy to the bars of a cage, parading a malady of birth before paying, prying eyes. And besides, seeing him like that would only remind her how very hopeless their situation was. She worked for her keep, dancing and cleaning when it was needed. Making sure that the men were fed, and that the other children stayed in line. The women of the camp treated her like a daughter...but still, she was no true gypsy, and she would never truly be one of them. But still, every night she would sneak out to Erik's cage with a bit of food and a comforting word, and sit with him until the sun started to rise again.

She was hanging laundry out to dry when she overheard the fateful conversation. At first she was frightened that Javert had finally gotten fed up with Erik's antics and was making to kill him. But when she managed to move a bit closer she heard what was truly going on.

"If you give me lilies...I can make them sing every night."

"And if I don't?"

"You'll keep losing money. I know that my struggling frightens the women. Give me only a bit of freedom and in return...you'll have my loyalty."

Erik's voice calmed Tempeste enough to allow her to continue her work, while still listening intently. She knew that if she was caught eavesdropping it would mean certain death, but she needed to know what was going on.

"What...sort of freedoms?"

"Give me back the mask..."

"I'll do no such thing! If you wear the mask no one will give me a damn penny to hear you and your voice from hell."

"...I'll...I'll remove it at the end of every performance. But only for a moment. And I want my own tent."

"Oh and is that all, your majesty? How do I know you won't run away?"

Erik's next words seemed to say everything and nothing all at once, and it tore Tempeste apart to hear them, for they rung far too true for her young ears. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had thought that they would return home to their mother's soon...that this was all just some childish game that would be over all in good time. But now she realized that she did indeed need to grow up, and fast because there would be no trip home. Only outward and onwards.

"I have nowhere to go."

The next day Erik had a tent set up on the very edge of camp. The children were all afraid of him, all avoided the powerful sorcerer. But Tempeste quickly made the tent her own, dragging her sleeping pallet in to lay next to his the moment she had the chance. And on his first night of freedom, they sat together, talking late into the night about the future...about what would happen to them.

"...I'm frightened." Tempeste whispered into the darkness. The candle had burned out long ago, and now the two children lay curled on their sleeping mats, fingers tightly entwined together.

"Don't be. I'll take care of you...I'll always take care of you." Erik hugged her tightly for a moment before pulling away, reaching down to tug his blanket up over him. "Get some rest Tempeste... you'll need it for tomorrow." The little girl nodded and curled up tight, holding his hand to her chest.

"Erik?"

He opened one eye sleepily and let out a sigh. "What?"

"I love you."

"Mmhm." He closed his eye again and let out a yawn.

"Don't you love me back."

"Go to sleep."

"You're insufferable."

"And you're irritating. Go to bed."

"Fine."

A thick silence fell over the room, as Tempeste lay dejected on her pallet, mad enough to spit. Taking a deep breath, that turned quickly into a yawn she spoke again.

"Erik?"

"Oh for God's sake, what?"

"Do you really think I'm irritating?"

"No...now go to sleep."

Smiling contentedly, Tempeste cuddled into her blanket and closed her eyes. Perhaps the gypsy life wouldn't be so horrid after all.

AN: Sorry for how poor this chapter is, but it's really only a plot mover... I hope you enjoyed it anyways. I was reluctant to write anything so obviously centered around Tempeste because she isn't really the focus of the story but for now it will just have to be accepted. Review as always.