Kai smiled at Romulus, who was finally eating the food given to him. From the side of his eye, Romulus took in Kai's façade. A mop of golden brown curls fell constantly into hooded, forest green eyes and his tanned skin gleamed in the firelight. Dressed in black pants tucked into thin bots and a dark red shirt covered with a light jacket covered his body. Kai leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees and murmured, "Tell me, Romulus. Why've ya come to the Enchanted Forest? Even with the Huntsman gone, it's still a dangerous place to travel through. Do ya know where ya're going?" Romulus sighed and set down his now empty plate to give Kai his full attention. He had known that the questions would come, but he was still unprepared for them.

"My siblings and I aren't from this kingdom or any of the others. We're from…you may know it as the Tenth Kingdom?" The look of surprise of Kai's face answered Romulus' question. "Our parents, Virginia and Wolf, came back or at least we think they did. From the story they told us, we have a slight idea of where we need to go. We just need a map to Wendell's Castle where…Oh my God! We have a grandfather!" Romulus' eyes widened in surprise and he smiled softly. He continued his answer in a happier tone, "My parents and Grandfather traveled with Wendell and defeated the Queen. I know my parents went back to New York and I need to find the mirror that sent them home. Can you help, Kai?" Silence enveloped Romulus and he began to fidget nervously. Kai gazed at him in confusion.

"I don't know anything about mirrors, but I can help ya to the Fourth Kingdom and Wendell's Castle. Ya're lucky that we found ya because ya were traveling into the Troll Kingdom. Even though Queen Blabberwort is trying to make amends with the other kingdoms, there's still too much turmoil for anyone to be traveling in and out with no escorts. She's a great ruler for the trolls and I hope she can make treaties with the other kingdoms."

"Were the trolls that bad after the fall of the king?" Kai nodded solemnly and stoked the fire, sending sparks in the cool, night air. Remus and Luna stopped playing and listened intently to the conversation. The other Gypsies also listened silently and sat around the fire comfortably.

"Yes, they were. They started to attack the other villages. Murder was high on their lists of atrocities, but it wasn't the worse of the crimes they committed. After three years, Blabberwort and her two brothers, Burly and Bluebell, began to take back their kingdom. It was a slow and tedious process that's taken years, and yet it's still unfinished. The two brothers were killed in their efforts to secure one of their main trading towns and Blabberwort snapped. I've heard that she's unstoppable. She fights alongside her soldiers and takes back her towns with a vengeance. It was after the battle to secure the same town that her brothers tried to secure that she sent a messenger to King Wendell for peace. He's accepted and that acceptance is ridiculed by many of the other kingdoms. He doesn't seem to mind, though. He stands by his decision and that's what makes him a great king for the Fourth Kingdom." Romulus nodded, almost to himself, and gazed at the fire quietly.

"What can you tell us about wolves?" Remus snapped his head up and gazed at his twin in surprise and confusion. Kai, on the other hand, was shocked at the question. Obviously, those kinds of questions were not asked by anyone.

"What'd ya want to know? There are many answers to be had about wolves."

"What happened after Prince Wendell pardoned them?" A look of understanding passed on Kai's face and he smiled.

"There were some who couldn't understand the King's decision. Those people have formed a group with the unfortunate name, 'The Axemen of Red Riding Hood.' They hunt down and kill any wolf that has the unfortunate chance of being in their kingdom. There are rumors that run amuck in the villages that the axemen capture wolves from the other kingdoms and have executions in the middle of their towns. I don't know if there's any truth to those rumors, but they have reached the King's ears. I do know for a fact that the axemen do kill wolves who do seek refuge in the Fourth and Troll kingdoms."

"The Queen is allowing wolves to enter her territory?" At Kai's nod, Romulus continued, "I thought you said that it was dangerous for people to enter the Troll Kingdom?"

"The wolves are useful to Queen Blabberwort. She uses them to make food and weapons."

"But…But that's slavery!" Kai shook his head quickly.

"The wolves don't mind. King Wendell had the same reaction as ya, Romulus. He didn't like what the Queen was doin', but the wolves are okay with the arrangement." Romulus shook his head angrily, glaring at Kai.

"How can they be okay with slavery? I could and can understand if they were working honestly, but being forced into servitude!" Remus moved closer to his agitated twin, Luna in tow, and placed a calming hand on Romulus' leg. It was in times like this that Remus was glad that his twin could be calmed by a familiar touch. When angry, Romulus was a force to be reckoned with.

Kai watched silently as one twin calmed the other with a simple gesture. He was surprised at the rage emanating from the longhaired twin. Romulus' mismatched eyes glinted with a ferociousness that Kai had only seen on those protecting their kind. His own mother had once sported the same when she protected him time and again from his father's drunken rage after he found out that he was married to a Gypsy and siring a half-breed. Kai was thankful that the Gypsies always saw him as part of their caravan, especially after the death of his mother at the hands of his father over seventeen years ago. King Wendell did not like murderers and the last Kai saw of his father was when he was taken from their home by the King's guards. Last he heard his father was serving a life sentence in the Snow White Memorial Prison. "Romulus, please listen?"

"What?" Romulus snarled the word at Kai, his anger barely in check. Kai took a deep, calming breath to speak, but Remus beat him to it.

"Rom, ya need ta calm down. This isn't doing anyone any good. Why don't ya listen ta Kai and try ta understand, 'kay?" The twin nodded and closed his eyes. Slowly, his body began to relax until the trembling all but stopped. When he reopened his eyes, there was no warring between his emotions.

"I'm sorry, Kai, but I cannot fathom why people would want to be forced into any kind of servitude regardless of what you receive from it." Kai nodded in understanding.

"It's alright. Ya're new to the Nine Kingdoms and tired. Why don't ya and yar siblings sleep? We'll speak more of yar situation in the morning." Romulus nodded and scooped Luna into his arms. Following Kai to where he would be sleeping, only one thought raced through his mind, 'I'm so going to be late to school on Monday.'