Disclaimer: I do not own anything written by the fantastic Gail Carson Levine. The only things that are mine are anything that you do not recognise – i.e – most characters and the plot.

Summary: Sarah, Ella's daughter, is kidnapped on the night of her debutante ball. At first she does not know what her captors want from her, but when she does her life is changed forever. What follows is an adventure featuring magic, mayhem, romance, elves, balls and a prince in disguise!

A/N: I just wanted to say thanks to all my reviewers so far! This chapter is kinda different so I hope you all like it.

Chapter 5:

Linnarch

Sarah closed her eyes, preparing to sleep when she felt it.

The warm liquid oozed down her back, sending shivers down her spine. She sniffed the night air and realized that the liquid was in fact blood.

Sarah started to panic. What was she to do? She tried to move but unfortunately, the potion had not worn off yet. Sarah struggled until she had tears in her eyes but was not even able to turn her head. She knew that Fin must have been injured somehow, and wondered if he was alive.

She tried to talk but she found that she could not do this either.

Here she was, in a strange forest that was completely unknown to her, and the person that was supposed to be looking after her was hurt and perhaps dead. Sarah was startled to find that she used that term "looking after". In a way, he was her protector. He had saved her life and she was in his debt. Now, when she had the chance to help him, she found that she could not.

"What am I to do?" she thought. She breathed deeply, trying to calm that hysteria that was welling up inside her, threatening to choke her. The sky was growing darker and darker, a feeling of dismay rose up in Sarah's chest when she realized that there was going to be no moon tonight.

Now she had no hope of seeing where they were going.

She hoped that the horse was taking her into the right direction. Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something howling.

Terror gripped her. "Wolves!" she thought.

With her being unable to move, and Fin unconscious (Sarah could not bear to think about Fin being dead) they were sitting ducks. Sarah could hear the sound of animals running. Sarah tried harder and harder to move but it was no use.

The growling was so close now, that Sarah knew that they were only metres away.

She was just about to give up when she saw something bright flash in front of her and she fainted.

And then everything was no more.

Sarah woke up for a second time to the sound of people speaking.

She could make out somebody peering over her.

"Kummeck ims powd." The person said.

Sarah squinted my eyes, waiting for everything to come back into focus.

What she saw shocked her.

The person was an elf.

Sarah scrambled up onto her feet, the potion that she had drunk had worn off. What was she doing here? Where was Fin? She looked around but she could not see him anywhere.

"Kummeck ims powd." The elf woman repeated. Sarah remembered her manners. She tried to remember the Elfian that she had been taught. Her mother had been insistent in her learning different languages. Like Ella, Sarah had a great talent when it came to studying other dialects.

"Kummeck ims powd." ("Hello") Sarah greeted the woman. "Manin lench pix dok?" ("Where am I?")

The elf only said one word but the word she said greatly stunned Sarah, "Linnarch."

Linnarch? She was in Linnarch? Sarah had grown up listening to the many stories of this legendary town. But it was only based on myth. The city never existed.

Linnarch was a great city that was supposed to have been by the sea. It was a peaceful place, with much beauty. The ocean was said to have been especially made as a present for the city by the gods themselves. (A/N: I hope that made sense!) When the sun actually set on that magnificent town, it was as if all the glory of the world was present.

The rulers themselves were not like many other monarchs. They understood the many needs of the serfs and peasants, and so naturally, many flocked to this great city. The city was also host to a number of races: elves, ogres, humans, fairies, wizards and witches. What was even more surprising was the fact that they all seemed to live in harmony. What helped them to live in harmony, it was rumoured, was a special necklace that resided in the palace.

Few had apparently seen it, but it was given from King Francis of Linnarch to Queen Lucia of Denfriar once they were finally reunited.

They had been separated before they were married (when they were only prince and princess) due to the fact that the kingdoms they were from were at war. The necklace was a symbolism of their love and of the peace that was brought to their realm once they were married and had become King and Queen.

The necklace was made out of white gold and at the bottom hung a tear. A tear that the King had supposedly cried.

There are many other legends attached to Linnarch, but supposedly one day, an evil man, Rapat, from another kingdom had fallen in love with one of the princesses of Linnarch. The King of the time had met this man before and knew that he was an unworthy and dishonourable person. He rejected Rapat's proposal of marriage.

The story continues that Rapat was so enraged that he decided to seek the magical necklace and steal the precious item as revenge.

The necklace was stolen successfully, and the city went into despair. The necklace had kept peace and harmony throughout the town, and now that it was gone, life was utter chaos.

The city fell into ruins, it was no longer the majestic place that it once was and its glory days were over.

What became of the necklace nobody knew...

Sarah looked up at the elf and said in elfin (asterisks indicate elfin), "But I thought Linnarch was just a fable made up for young children."

The elf smiled sadly, "It is funny how people forget. There is more to the stories that you have been told. But this is not the place to discuss that. First, I think that there is somebody who you should very like much to see."

The elf led Sarah over to a small pond. Lying beside it was Fin.

"Fin!" she cried. She ran over to him and hugged him. She burrowed her head in his chest.

"Ouch." He winced and Sarah pulled away.

"Oh, sorry." She looked at his arm. His shoulder was bandaged. "What happened?"

"I'm not too sure. I was riding on the horse with you one second, and then I felt something pierce my shoulder. It was some sort of arrow. I think it was poisoned. The elves have told me that they poison was not strong enough to kill me, just strong enough to knock me out for a while. The question is why did they do it?"

"I have no idea." Sarah brightened- could it have been her parents' soldiers come to rescue her?

As if he could read her thoughts, Fin said, "It could not have been anybody from Kyrria sent to rescue you. They would not have snuck up on us like that. From what I know of Kyrria's guards, it is not like them to do something like this."

Sarah shrugged. She went to see if the elf woman was still around and saw her motioning for them to come over.

"Are you both feeling better?" she asked, "I gave you some herbs while you were sleeping."

Sarah nodded. She did not have any major aches or pains and felt the best that she had in days.

"Well come along this way. You are lucky that we found you two. We do not know who or what was after you, but they were no ally. It is very rare for Linnarchians to reveal themselves to outsiders. We mostly like to stay hidden nowadays." Sarah looked at Fin, he seemed to understand what the elf was saying and she was amazed that he knew Elfian.

They went over a hill and Sarah gasped in wonder at the sight that greeted them.

The city was truly beautiful. The palace stood out with its large white walls and its numerous turrets.

"I am taking you to meet the King. He has ordered us to bring you to the palace." The elf told them.

Sarah gulped nervously. It was then that the following though occurred to her:

Sarah, under the care of this Linnarch, would be able to escape and go back home.

Sarah was startled to find that she was not looking all that forward to going back and when she looked at Fin she knew why.

His sun streaked brown hair had started to grow longer and made his face even more attractive. He had a cheeky charm to him, and when he turned to smile at Sarah, she felt her heart thump.

"I couldn't be-? Could I be?" she thought to herself. No, she did not have any feelings for him. They were just friends. Or so she told herself.

Sarah nervously approached the palace, wondering what was going to happen.

A/N: Thanks for reading this. Now all you need to do is review! I love getting reviews and I need them to know whether people are reading this story! : )

Adios,

marina eyes.