(A/N: It's been a looooong while-a lot has come up recently-but I figured I may as well keep on writing. Please let me know what you think, and so sorry for the way-too-long update!)

Chapter 4

Morning

It is truly a strange experience to laugh and cry at once. I don't speak of laughing so hard that tears come out or crying to a point where the only thing your body has left to expel is laughter. I speak of when both come at once, sisters of a sort, and coexist as they cavort throughout you, contradictory and craven, until you collapse in a heap of unsure emotion. Though it may sound strange, that is exactly what that run through the forest was.

At first, the experience was all physical. I was going through unfamiliar terrain (at nighttime, no less) and looking behind me every few seconds to make sure I wasn't being followed. I tripped over roots, landed painfully on jagged pebbles, and even got my feet wet in a little brook. Despite all this, however, I pressed on, some sixth sense pointing me ever westward, through thicket and thistle until finally I arrived at a great clearing and buried myself in the tall grass, breathing heavily and finally taking stock of just what I was doing. Like the crazies, I was about to give up the Earth.

When a dwarf leaves her home and family to live among "the tall folk," all of what makes her dwarven is lost to her. She loses her affinity for stones and gems, her knowledge of the Grand Annals (which hold all dwarven history, ritual, myth, and custom), her ability to use any Earth magic, and most significantly the support of all dwarvenkind. A "crazy" who returns to her people by law must not be looked on as a dwarf. By all accounts, she becomes a very short human. This is a massive risk to take. Since dwarves aren't exactly the adventurous type, the very idea of doing such a thing terrifies even the most stalwart of us.

But I'm not very stalwart. Just stupid. And so I lay there and wondered about getting some sleep, letting myself slowly realize the rule: When I woke up tomorrow in a place that wasn't home, I would no longer be a dwarf. I did not cry at this, for I knew then that something bigger was in store, and I knew even then that it was only the first of many sacrifices I would make. It turned out to be harder than I thought, though, when someone stepped on me and tumbled down beside me in a fit of shouts and coughs.

I reacted fast, leaping atop the person and pinning his mouth shut with my hand. He erupted into a chorus of hacks, and I removed my hand.

"Cuch? What in Hades are you—?"

"Sigrun! Thank the gods! I never thought I'd find you! You're safe and—" His face darkened. "And I'm very angry at you! What's gotten into you, friend? You've been on edge for a week now, and now you go gallivanting off into the night, on the night of Vespers, no less, and Domnall and Freya are worried sick about you, and they had to stop the ceremony to go find you and the Grand Cleric is in quite a mood about that. Just wait 'til you get home—she'll have some words for you. When you get home…" He trailed off as he noticed my serious expression. "You're not coming home." He lightly shoved me off him and stood up, a lost look on his brow.

"I don't understand. I just don't understand."

"Neither do I."

"Then why…?"

"Because I have to."

"Don't be stupid, Sigrun. You don't have to. You never have to. You're going to hurt a lot of people, whatever it is you're doing."

"I know that."

"So why—?"

"You have to trust me. Please, Cuch."

The look on his face made me stop for a second—I was getting into something far beyond myself, running away from all I had ever known, and I was going without even saying goodbye. He was right. My family would be immensely hurt by this—how could I just…? The image of the demon came to me again, and my resolve steeled. No. This had to be. I had to know.

"Why should I trust you, Sigrun?" Cuchulainn said softly.

"Because you're my best friend. And I love you like a brother."

He stared hard at me. "What does that mean anymore? You're leaving. You're…you're giving up the Earth. We can't…talk like we do after tonight. How is that love?"

"There's a lot I can't tell you, Cuch. I would if I could, but it's bad, real bad. And I don't want to drag you into it. Just trust me, go back home to your wife and daughter, and don't tell anyone you saw me. I beg you."

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly before opening them and nodding slowly. "I don't know what you've done or what you're doing, Sigrun. Almost everything inside me wants to drag you kicking and screaming back to Domnall's house. But I…I just know." I smiled at him. He smiled back, but there was a great deal of pain in those blue eyes of his. He fumbled in his tunic and pulled out a tiny book, bound sloppily and sealed with wax. He handed it to me, and I found I couldn't open it.

"What is this?" I asked as I tore at the seal.

"An idea. I had a feeling I was supposed to give it to you tonight. Something tells me you'll be able to open it right when you need it most. Don't worry about It now." I eyed him suspiciously and slipped the book into my tunic.

"Now you're being weird," I laughed, and he joined me.

There was a long, long pause, and then he embraced me, whispering in my ear, "I don't care about any stupid law, Sigrun. If you ever need help, you'll know exactly how to find me." With that he sped off into the night, and though he was one of the most honest men I had ever met, I knew my secret would be safe. I felt the imprint of the book on my chest. Another mystery. Small wonder. I found a hillock to rest my head on and found I slept easier than I had anticipated. I passed through a dreamless slumber and awoke to discover an entirely new world.

I opened my eyes to the morning sunrays, their warmth pleasant against my skin. Strange. Dwarves hate the heat of the sun. I felt the earth between my fingers, but I could not for the life of me remember what kind of soil it was, what stones could be found in it. The grass felt soft and inviting, far less grotesquely squishy than I had remembered, and the clouds were telling me a story. I sat up swiftly.

So it's happened, I thought to myself. Sigrun, you are no longer a dwarf. That sentence rattled around in my brain as I stood up and set westward again. I was very hungry, and the grass was nearly up to my waist, but I had nowhere else to go, so I pressed on through the vast expanse of meadow until the woods came back near a little spring, where I dipped my hands in and had a breakfast of slightly questionable water. One must take what one can get. I kept the sun as my reference—so long as I was facing away from it, the closer I was getting. Just to the main road, then a few twists and turns, and then the palace.

That march continued until the sun was high above me. I know now that I traversed over ten miles in that time (probably around the span of four or five hours). My people have legendary stamina, and luckily this was not lost to me, but just because I wasn't tired doesn't mean I wasn't bored. I quickly found out that though mountains and woods are beautiful, they tend to look the same if all you do is walk for miles through them. Tree, bush, rock, tree, bush, rock, log, squirrel, toad, tree, bush, stream. None of it was particularly magical. It just…was.

Just as I was growing peeved with the lack of variety in the landscape, I crested a hill and looked down to the sight of a large town in the distance. Overjoyed, I rushed down and in, down and in, arriving at the first street in what felt like years. Panting and smiling to myself, I took in my first real glimpse of a human community.

It was…life. People milled about in the street, laughed and chatted with their acquaintances, kept their heads down for everyone else and never really stopped to notice the way sun played across the cobblestones and sent shadows soaring into the crevices between houses. They didn't see the squirrels dance across the treetops or the cats playing games of subterfuge and mystery in the gutters. In short, it was everything I was used to, only bigger. Everything was so needlessly large, and in the middle of it all, I felt more out of place than ever.

As I began to stroll down the main thoroughfare and wondered what my next step would be, I heard a few men shouting on a side street and turned to see what all the fuss was about. Doors slammed, shutters too, and a frantic aura of panic pervaded throughout the morning air. Still, I saw nothing to worry about. I was very surprised, then, to see a grand carriage, grand and gilded, soar down a side street and directly onto the road on which I stood. I moved aside and noticed that I was alone in the street. Before I had time to comprehend it slowly, the carriage stopped directly next to me, its occupant gracefully opening the door and descending the landing ramp toward me without any help from his footmen.

He was very attractive in a classic sort of way. Dark hair and eyes, strong jaw, and a smile that could have launched all the women of the world into a global conflict for the ownership of it. He was dressed impeccably in Schonheit tunic and leggings, but his carriage and bearing gave him away.

"Hello there," he chirped, a noxious grin across his face. I stared at him. "Hello?" Patiently patronizing. "Can you speak?" I nodded. "Oh, wonderful! Then maybe you can help me!" I shrugged. He turned to his footman and muttered something. I barely concealed a grin. When he turned back to me his smile was a bit more forced.

"Look, Dwarfmaid. You probably don't know who I am. That's fine. I don't expect you to."

I could not possibly care less.

"You see, I'm Frederick VI, you know, King Frederick's son, Crown Prince of Minuit, all that."

Woah.

" I'm lost, and I need to be at the palace before sunset. No one in this town or the last one seemed to be willing to assist me, and if you would be so kind as to…" The rest of his words were lost to me. What he said wasn't very interesting, after all, and I already knew what I was going to say. I nodded as he spoke and hummed a song to myself, trying to remember where I had heard it. When he finally finished I spoke.

"I can help you."

"Great! So…"

"But I'll need you to do something for me in return."

His brow furrowed, but his smile did not falter. "Oh? Like what?"

"I need a ride."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Wh…where?"

"To the palace."

"But….wh-why?"

I shrugged. "That's my business."

He stared hard at me, and his face slowly, finally began to level. "I can't possibly see what someone like you would need…"

"Do you want to get to the palace or not? I promise you no one else will help you."

"Why is that?"

"Our king is dead. It's your fault." He sputtered. This was a fun game.

"Now…now see here! You can't just—It's not that simple! And that's some way to ask for help!"

"You asked first."

His face flushed a bit, and then he regained his composure. "You're very strange, Dwarfmaid." I blinked at him—once, twice, three times. He stared back at me, his face screwing up in concentration. And then the strangest thing happened. He laughed. He laughed heartily and loudly, his chortles cracking open a few doors and windows.

"Good grief, Dwarfmaid," he said, taking my hand in his. "You are certainly welcome to come with me. A girl with a wit like yours, why, I certainly wouldn't mind having you on the way." Confused as I was by this sudden change in demeanor, I allowed him to lead me into the coach and seat me across from him as he oozed pleasantry from his every orifice. I was suspicious, I'll admit, but as I gave him the directions to the palace, I was content to listen to him talk about nothing in particular and watch the road. I would be to the palace much faster now, and everything was looking much more promising than the in the morning. If only Lauga could have… I stopped myself. The countryside glimmered as the sun crested and began to fall again. The golden hour commenced, and I wept silently as the prince slept beside me. The carriage pressed ever eastward, and I was a spirit again, detached and meaningless, propelled toward a fate it could never possibly comprehend.