It was at least twenty minutes before Delilah stopped crying. After she gained control over herself, she got dressed and went to find her mother. She found her parents in the sitting room talking. They hadn't seen her, so she decided to stop and listen.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Delilah strained to hear what they were saying, but it was difficult to tell what they were talking about.

"He's had many years of experience, darling. It's a wise choice."

"Who, father?!", Delilah thought.

"I know my daughter, Nicholas. And I know, at one point or another, things might get out of hand."

"Gee, thanks for having such unwavering faith in me, mother.", she thought.

"Aleena, you are getting ahead of yourself. Besides, the pros of my decision outweigh the cons. I am done discussing this."

There was a long silence before Delilah figured that it was safe for her to enter.

"I really wish I had heard the beginning of that conversation.", she thought as she walked into the room. She walked in, and almost immediately her parents heads rose to meet her gaze. Her mother walked over to her and pressed her palm against her forehead.

"Are you feeling alright, angel? You weren't at breakfast this morning."

"I'm fine, mother. But, may I speak to you for a moment?"

She looked to Delilah's father, who in turn, nodded and left the room.

The queen motioned to the chair, instructing her daughter to sit.

"What do you require of me, my dear?"

Delilah took a deep breath and asked,"Mother, what does it mean when you dream of the Gray Gale?"

"You dreamed of the Gray Gale?", she nodded and the queen continued,"Oh how wonderful, Delilah! She must have been protecting you from the witch!"

Visions came flooding back into Delilah's mind of Dorothy's skin burning. She had to swallow hard to avoid becoming ill.

"So it means good fortune then?"

"That's what it usually means, yes."

"Well", Delilah tried to search for the right words,"What if the dream was more of a nightmare?"

The queen gave the princess a look she couldn't quite read. It was almost like shock,confusion, and horror all at once.

Now it was her turn to stumble over her words,"I...I've never heard of Queen Dorothy appearing in a nightmare before."

"Great", Delilah thought,"Now my mother thinks that I'm a demon child because the Great Dorothy Gale hates me."

Both of them stayed silent for a moment before a maid entered the room. She bowed before the queen and the princess and waited until she was spoken to.

"Yes, Clara?", the queen spoke.

"Queen Aleena, the royal chef and I need to know how many are to be expected tomorrow, so we can prepare."

The princess looked to her mother, just as eager to hear how many Tin men were going to arrive the next day.

"Tell them about fifty. Actually Clara, I wish to assist you. I should really talk to the cooks anyway."

The queen rose to follow Clara, and Delilah's jaw practically hit the floor. Was her mother trying to ditch her?!

"Mom! What...what about my dream?"

"Honey, why don't you talk to one of the advisors? I'm sure they will be able to help you."

Delilah sat there in shock. Her mother had just brushed her off as if she was dust being swept under the rug! A deep growl escaped her throat, and she abruptly stood from the chair and stomped off to find An-non.

Delilah found An-non in his study in the East wing of the castle. She walked up to the open door and he immediately sensed her presence.

"Princess Delilah." He rose from his desk and took the princess's hand in his.

"Come in, your Highness." He then led her to an empty chair in front of his desk. He sat down across from her and waited for her to speak.

"I require your advice on a personal matter,An-non."

An-non looked at her hesitantly; a little scared of what she was going to ask of him.

"If I may ask Princess, if this is a personal matter then why don't you ask your mother for advice?"

Delilah had to suppress a snort. "Oh, if you only knew...", she thought.

"Truth be told, you are much more wiser than my mother."

An-non smiled at the princess's boldness. She knew she could let go of the prim and proper act a little when she was around him.

"What is it that's bothering you, Delilah?"

She sighed before she began," Okay. Well, last night I had a nightmare." She paused for a moment, becoming hesitant about what she was about to say." And Dorothy was in it."

"Ah. I see.", An-non nodded. Now he realized why she had come to him. He tried to picture her talking to her mother about this. It was true, Queen Aleena wasn't very smart when it came to things like this. He had to smile in spite of himself. This was definitely something he could help her with. He stood up and started to walk around the room.

"So you want to know if this is something you should be concerned with."

Delilah nodded.

"Well," An-non began, "When you see the Gray Gale in your dream, it doesn't nesssarly mean good or bad luck. It usually means prophecy."

The princess's brow furrowed. She was more confused now than she was this morning.

"Um, prophecy?"

He sat down again and looked her in the eyes, becoming very serious.

"Princess, something very important is going to happen soon. The fact that you had this dream right after the witch escaped isn't surprising really. But the fact that it was a nightmare is significant."

Delilah was literally hanging on the edge of her seat," Significant how? What's going to happen?"

An-non shook his head," I'm not sure."

She took an overdue breath and put her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Delilah. I wish I could tell you more than that, but I can't."

She put her hand on his and said," I'ts alright, An-non. You helped me a lot more than Mother did." She sighed. "This must be pretty big if even you don't know what's going on."

He smiled as the princess rose from her seat.

"Thank you, An-non. I should be going now. Mother wants me to visit the tailor this afternoon for a fitting."

The advisor bowed and said," Very well, Princess Delilah. Glad that I could be of service."