Sorry for the delay. Here's a rehash. A murderer is after a girl named Princess Rebecca. He supposedly murdererd Caroline, who is fortunately alive in Wheat Hill. Lake and Hyrum are searching for the murderer, and Hyrum revealed his crush on Lake. Andrea was upset to learn Jay's secret.

"So you're not a princess, then? At least take a healthy dose of flattery from it, girl—you're as pretty a young woman as any princess." William Miller took a swig of ale and winked at Caroline.

Caroline laughed. She was a fair judge of a man's character, and William Miller wasn't interested in chasing any young skirts. In fact, if she had it right, and of course she did, he was sweet on Rina Wood. "You're right. Nothing wrong with being mistaken as a princess. Only when it leads to abduction."

"Finished it." The healer Bethany set a glass of a steamy something before Caroline. "Rina's got the ale, but a few good herbs will put you as right as rain. It was sure something that you've been through, my dear."

Tevor Fisher muttered something under his breath and nodded. "Don't know what kind of man drags a woman away. Hardly decent behavior. Coward who can't get the touch of a woman on his own."

That was a thought Caroline didn't want to think about. It was safer here in the tavern, a roaring fire and a circle of men she was certain she could trust. She was laughing already, wasn't she? She had not quite expected that. "I'm sure that missing boy would never do such a thing."

Tevor gave a low chuckle. "Timber's a good lad, wherever the brat is. Up at the palace, for all I know. Sometimes I think he is as crazy as Robert. Now that's a fellow, Caroline, you need to meet. Absolute loon. Makes up crazy names for himself. Plots against vampires. Not the best thing for Timber to hear. That boy, I'm going to wring his neck when he gets back."

Something glassy exploded against the floor. Caroline and the men jumped around in their seats. Linda glared at them all behind the pool of glass and water she had apparently—and purposely—thrown at the floor. "I don't see you men out there looking for that little boy! Why, Papa, you oughta be ashamed of youself! My own husband is out there, after bringing in this girl, back out trying to keep Rina's heart from breaking! It's dark out, Timber's probably scared out of his wits, and here you are jeering on like it's all an elaborate joke! The girl is fine, Bethany and I are here, so shoo yourselves! Shoo!"

Tevor laughed again, but there was a solemnity about it, and he rose from his seat with a firmer face. "That's my daughter you are, Linda. I apologize."

"Just get your old ass out there." Linda reached for another pitcher. "You too, William."

William got up with fewer heroics than Tevor. "He's at the palace, I'm certain of it. That's where any boy with a lick of good spirit would be, considering the situation."

Linda's glare evoked demons. "Don't let me catch you speaking such in the presence of Rina. Now out! Find that boy! In fact, make your boy Jay help. Where is he?"'

"At the palace, visiting Lake. Why do you think I would suggest such a thing?"

"Out!"

Linda's glare did not soften until the tavern door was closed and the last echoes of the men's voices had faded away into the night. Then she turned to Caroline with a tired smile.

Caroline decided immediately that this was a girl she liked. No wonder that handsome man had married her. "You certainly know how to run a town."

Linda wiped her wet hands on her apron. "It's called being a mother, Caroline. Please, stay seated. I hope you didn't think my wrath was toward you."

"Caroline here is a woman like the rest of us," Bethany said. "Though it would do her well to take my advice and get a sip of some good tea.

Oh, yes. That steamy river-water. "Forgive me, I all but forgot with that screaming fit of Linda's." Caroline picked up the cup and took a sip. It nearly burnt her tongue, but it was surprisingly delicious. She could taste the herbs and spices in there. It tasted like how the palace kitchen smelled, and the fumes went right to her head. "Oh, wow. Bethany, this is what I needed."

Bethany nodded and waggled a finger at her. "It always pays to listen to me in this village. Where did you grow up, Caroline?"

Caroline shrugged. "I was born west of here, but I made my way to the palace after my parents died. Been there ever since."

Bethany's old face scrunched up in delight. "Oh, the palace. I never grow tired of hearing about the palace. Tell me, do you know the royal family well?"

She immediately forced away any thought of Prince Isaac. What on earth would these villagers think of a servant girl and a prince? "Well, they are friendlier and more down-to-earth than you might think."

"I believe it," said Linda. "But now isn't the time to talk about that. Caroline, that man brought you here, so he'll come back—what with his things still kept here, anyway. Bethany, have you been thinking?"

"I'm always thinking, and I'm just glad to have a couple of girls to assist an old woman. What does Adam keep about?"

"Just about everything." Linda wiped her hands again and all but dove behind the bar.

Well, this was certainly odd. "Exactly what are you doing?"

"Princess or no princess," said Linda, stepping up with a collection of knives. "That man is an awful lot of trouble, and I don't plan to let him get away with anything."

The palace was empty. As empty and as black as any old ruin from one of Caroline's stories. Andrea had never seen the palace in such a state. Most of the torches had burnt themselves out, and she found herself wishing for a talent like that Timber's. She kept her hand on the wall as she tentatively slid her feet along the floor, feeling incredibly stupid. She was a servant who was supposed to know these halls better than most, but then again she had never seen a lone palace. Someone was always about, cleaning, keeping watch, searching for something on the clandestine side of fun.

This wasn't natural.

Good heavens, had she missed something? Had Jay taken her into the fairy woods for centuries on end, and had she escaped into a palace long dead? She cursed herself for thinking something so foolish. What reason would Jay have for trapping her in the fairy woods? And she expected herself to notice something a little fancier about enchanted woods. No, those were the king's woods and that was that.

Fairy tales, fairy tales. She was for once and for all sick to death of them.

Strange that she should fall in love with a boy with fairy blood. Speaking of Jay, where was he? Wasn't he supposed to chase after her in a wild passion of sorrow? Apologies galore, begging her forgiveness? Well, he hadn't bothered to show up yet.

The halls were awfully dark. The next living torch she saw would be hers. She couldn't be expected to find her way to the servants' quarters like this! How late was it? It couldn't be terribly so.

Then again, Andrea had never been the type to stay out late. Heaven forbid she tread upon the meeting place of Caroline and the Prince.

Andrea sighed. Oh, Caroline. Caroline and her mad ideas about love. Andrea had perfectly seen Caroline flee away from Prince Isaac's first bids of romance. Caroline, practically a whore, afraid of a few sweet smiles with the Prince.

Dang it, why had Jay failed to come after her? She wasn't angry with him, not anymore. Jay was a fairy, of some part of blood. Well, all right then. Was it so difficult thing to imagine? As for his sister Lake, why, it was rather sweet of him to give her credit for the gold. Very sweet, in fact.

Maybe she should run back out to him. No, not a possibility. Not a chance of finding her way back in this darkness.

Then they came, the sounds she had been waiting for. A cough, a few footsteps. Andrea's heart leapt. "Hello?" she called.

A pause, then "Andrea? Andrea, is that you?"

"Hannah!" A blot of dark shadow stepped into Andrea's vision. "Hannah, yes it's me, Andrea."

Arms were quickly thrown around her neck. "Andrea, where were you? You can't be out here!"

Andrea could better see the form of Hannah's face. "What do you mean? I was… everyone else wanders."

Hannah sighed. "Didn't you hear? Caroline was murdered!"

Caroline was murdered. The words echoed silently over Andrea's lips. They still didn't make any sense. "What? That can't be."

"Andrea, I'm so sorry. I knew how close the two of you were… and then no one knew where you were. Andrea, where were you?!"

The meaning then sunk in like a knife, and Andrea screamed against her will. "She's dead?!" Caroline. Her best friend. It couldn't be. That was impossible. Andrea had only been gone a few short hours… The tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she couldn't quite manage to cry them. "How?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

Hannah's reply came as a sharp intake of breath. "It… it doesn't matter. I… Andrea, there's something I really need to tell you first."

What could be more urgent than Caroline's murder? The words were still ringing in her ears!

But Hannah did not seem to care. Her hands dug into Andrea's shoulders, her eyes glinted wildly. "Andrea, my name isn't Hannah. I'm Princess Rebecca of the kingdom Larspeer. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone. It's my fault Lord Orson was murdered, my fault Caroline was murdered, and…"

A gruff voice boomed from the corner.

"Run!" Hannah screamed. Her nails dug once more into Andrea's shoulders, then pushed her hard away.

"Coward, princess!" the other voice shouted.

Meanwhile Andrea ran, her legs feeling strangely clumsy as she did. Her breath burned in her throat. She didn't know why she was running, but she didn't want that man getting her.

Behind her Hannah, or Princess Rebeccah, screamed.

The tears that had held up for so long burst out as if from a storm cloud, blinding Andrea more than ever. Why was she running? What had Hannah done? What was going on?

Where was Jay?

She hit something, a body, and another scream welled in her throat.

"Quiet!" a voice hissed.

The shock was enough to recapture some senses. "Prince Isaac?"

"Quiet," the Prince repeated. His fingers gripped her arm and dragged her back into a quick walk. The world was shadowy, and she could only see the blurry forms of something on the wall. Something that the Prince was moving.

Whoever that man was had Hannah. Had someone called Princess Rebecca. Did Prince Isaac not care? And if Caroline was dead… Prince Isaac had to care! Did he even know? She had to tell him. It was imperative she tell him, but the words were not coming out.

"Shh," he commanded. "Be fast."

A tunnel. The dreary light could have been fodder for all imagination, but she was staring at some sort of tunnel. She hesitated, unsure as to what exactly the Prince expected her to do.

"Now!" he hissed, and pushed her hand into the tunnel. "Crawl."

She crawled. She apparently had no choice.

Something swung shut behind her, and she heard the Prince clambering after her. A tunnel. In the palace. What a strange thing. Did Caroline know about this?

Caroline. She began to cry.

Then the wall opened again. Someone else entered the tunnel.

"So," said Timber.

Jay stared at the kid, oddly despising the sight of his face. Timber sat on a boulder, whittling a stick with a knife he had seemingly popped from nowhere. "So?"

"Aren't you going to tell me all of your secret?"

"I thought you were all concerned with the legend of this murderer."

Timber stopped whittling and made a face. "Yeah, well, apparently there's not a whole lot I can do. I'm just a little boy, remember? One you tried to run over with a cart."

"I said I was sorry about that." Jay stared up into the canopy of trees. The night was getting chiller by the minute. "Are you sure about this?"

A shrug. "No one ever believes me about anything."

"What do you mean?"

"I was telling everyone about the murderer. But did anyone listen? No!"

Jay laughed into his hands. He still didn't know what to think. After Andrea running off… he couldn't shake the feeling that he should go after her. But quite a lot of time had passed, and that would be rather weird to go apologize now. The timing was far too off.

Timber snapped his fingers, and the end of the slightly pointed stick caught flame. "How much fairy blood do you have, Jay?"

Fairy blood. Honestly, it was not something he thought about too often. "My mother was a fairy."

Timber nodded, as if it were hardly a major secret. "How come you didn't tell your sweetheart?"

"Do you tell everyone about yourself?"

"I like having secrets, Jay. Secrets are fun. They make me special."

How blissfully childlike. "I use my powers to rob people."

Timber immediately took more interest. "Really? Then you could rescue the princess."

Jay stared. That was hardly the comment he had expected. "Huh?"

Timber sighed with definite irritation. "I already told you. The murderer is here to find a princess. And if she ran away, she apparently does not want to go with him. So you have to rescue her."

"Timber, Lord Orson was murdered days ago. What do you think you are talking about?"

The boy hopped off the rock, burning stick held out like a torch. "I wouldn't have come all the way here if the murderer wasn't going to kill anyone else."

Jay immediately set off for the palace.

Among the various declarations of love that had been given to Lake over the years there had never existed one quite like what Hyrum had just said. Love was a favor to her from the royal and the noble, something for which she should be grateful. She was beautiful and desirable, and she had always worked that to her advantage. Possibilities had never been an option. Since when did anyone "think" he could fall in love? Everyone else just said it and that was that.

Her feet were melded with the floor—no, that was her entire body, trying to process this particular declaration as Hyrum marched down the hall like she had just offended him. Or something.

But no. She had intended to follow him, and follow him she would. She took a deep breath and jerked herself away from the spell. This was no different. Men fell in love with her all the time. Hyrum may not be the prince, but certainly he was allowed to shower his affections on someone. Though he only had known her a few days.

The same time period everyone else required falling for her.

And Hyrum had only said "think". What was that supposed to mean?

"Wait!" she called. She hurried after him—awkwardly. "Hyrum, wait!"

He stopped at the end of the hall and turned to her with a face that was burning red. "What?" he snapped.

"What do you mean by think? You said you think you could fall in love with me?" She wasn't sure why she had to know, but she had to.

"I barely know you, Lake." The "miss" had been dropped once again. "I'm not such a fool as to think I could fall in love with anyone so quickly."

"But don't you think I'm pretty?" He was moving again, but she did her best to move her oddly heavy feet in something of a dance around him.

He didn't look at her. "I think you're beautiful. You're like a fairy."

She giggled. "I'm not a fairy."

"You have enough attitude for one. Look, we can't discuss this right now." He picked up his speed.

"But you're the one that brought it up!"

He growled deep in his throat, like an animal. "You asked, I merely responded. Besides, you made the Prince I swore to avenge fall in love with you. You would hardly care about…"

Ooh. He was too proud to say aloud his station. How obnoxiously stubborn. "Hyrum, I really am the daughter of a miller. Or a man who used to be a miller."

"Lake, please, I have something to do." Once again he sped up, focusing his gaze straight ahead and not on her.

She finally let herself fall back behind him a few steps. He wasn't even going to flirt back. This was new. All the princes, kings, and nobles had always tried to be as charming as possible. How useless the Bear was.

Hadn't she made guards fall in love with her before? Of course, none of them had ever said anything. But still, how original could this be?
Her heart felt rather funny. Most of the time the kings and nobles had just wanted gold.

Though Hyrum was apparently perfectly aware of the gold. Maybe he wanted some gold, too.

Well, she had never found Hyrum ugly. He was… he was a very nice person, when he wasn't being such a Bear.

Yes, this was something new to consider.

She was beginning to feel dizzy. She only felt dizzy when she was sick.

Oh, no. It had finally happened. Damn it, Lake, she thought, don't do this to yourself. You've never let yourself get caught up in this before. It's only a game, a ruse.

She was acting like a little girl.

She picked up the trail of Hyrum. It was obvious why she felt that way. No one had ever stopped at thinking of loving her. She was only intrigued by this. And she could not deny that the guard was handsome.

Why not? They would be gone soon, anyway. Yes, she could let herself see where this went.

It was a room Andrea had only seen once or twice. The back of the palace, a room rarely used. Thick, dusty curtains hung like hillsides from the walls. She half-wondered if Prince Isaac knew of the room.

"I'm expecting silence from you!" The man struck her across the face and threw her to the floor.

It was difficult to move fast in a tunnel. Prince Isaac had admitted that. Blood still poured from the gash in Prince Isaac's leg.

Had Caroline bled much? Andrea drew in a dusty mouthful of murky air. She didn't feel much of anything. This was all a nightmare, she had decided, a horrible nightmare that she would eventually wake from. Then everything would be all right and she wouldn't have to worry. Yes, a nightmare. Caroline's murder. Being chased. The murderer following them into the tunnel and stabbing Prince Isaac. This ugly room at the end of the passageway.

She hated that man, though. If there was one emotion she could remotely feel, it was pure hatred for the man above her. He flashed his knife once more in the Prince's face. Then the blade was gone, and a fist flew into Prince Isaac's face.

"I never get to do enough of that," he said. A gentleman's voice.

The Prince had been leaning against the wall, weak from loss of blood. More blood spurted from his nose, inky black in the darkness. "What have you done with Caroline?"

"The servant girl?" the man echoed. "A pretty thing she is. I almost mistook her for Princess Rebecca. It sounded as if she felt strongly for you."

"If she's dead," the Prince whispered. "I'll kill you."

"I believe, Your Highness, that I will be in charge of the killing in this situation. She's alive, though. I meant to question her about Princess Rebecca's whereabouts, but a girl in a library instead of protection with others was an intriguing premise."

Caroline was alive! Andrea felt vague relief. Maybe this wasn't so much of a bad dream. Just a… dramatic dream.

There was a weeping sound, an intensified version of what Andrea felt. It seemed to be coming from the Prince. "Who is Princess Rebecca?"

"She ran away from her home. She was to be the bride of my employer. He's not much nicer than I am, and was very upset when she failed to show up at her wedding day."

Hannah. Hannah had been posing as a servant.

"You have her already. What do you want with this girl here?"

The man laughed. It was a hideous sound. "I came here for the Princess, but I heard a few rumors going around. A girl who can spin straw into gold. I want her."

Don't say Lake's name, Andrea silently begged.

"I don't know what you're talking about," The Prince's voice was getting harsher by the second. "But if you are such a coward as to stoop to kidnapping an innocent girl—"

The sound of a hand against bone. "A coward does not have the mind I possess. Your Highness, if you so much as--" His voice cut off as he gave off a moan of pain.

Andrea tried to focus her eyes. The man was doubled over, gasping the side of his abdomen. Something small and sharp was clenched in Prince Isaac's fist.

The man stared at the Prince, who was breathing heavily. He moved his fist again. Andrea could almost imagine the blade glinting like fire. This room needed light.

But the man was good. His humongous blade, like a veritable sword, was lifted into the air…

"Andrea!"

She snapped from her daze. Jay! That was Jay's voice, coming from Jay… as he slipped into the room. Through the wall.

Her hero.

The man, this crazy murderer, only hesitated a moment before his knife found a different target. He whirled, black cloak like a cloud behind him.

The blade pierced through Jay's chest.