Author's Note:

So sorry for the month+ hiatus! Wow, that was a really bad place to have a cliffhanger. Or a really good one, maybe. I don't know. But I'm back now! Let the story continue!

Please review and comment.

Numbness washed over Freja like icy water. She sunk to her knees, her palms pressed firmly against the cool ground. Her sobbing had been halted suddenly, and her body shook violently. Elsa. Her baby girl was gone. And now, her whole world was caving in around her. Dots of black spotted her vision. She couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't breathe.

She hardly noticed when Stellan's hands pulled her limp form up from the ground, clutching her tightly to his chest, which was heaving in soft sobs. Freja stood still, leaning into her husband, not really feeling him, her eyes fixed on a point of the horizon. The gray light of dawn was beginning to show, sleepy and uninspired through the overcast sky. Freja was vaguely aware of her legs turning to noodles beneath her, and she slipped halfway to the ground before Stellan grabbed her by the waist, his arms shaking through his emotions. He lifted her up like a child and touched his broad forehead to hers.

"We'll get her back," he spoke like he had just been washed up on a beach after drowning, "I promise you, Freja, we'll find her."

And Freja's head lolled against Stellan's shoulder as her vision went black.

Rosie stood outside the door as Stellan laid his unconscious wife gently on the bed. Tears welled in the Queen of Corona's eyes. Oh, Elsa. Clutching her own daughter firmly to her chest, it was all Rosie could do not to put herself in her sister's position. What if someone had stolen Rapunzel? She honestly couldn't even imagine what her response would be to that tragedy. She assumed that it would be quite similar to Freja's.

Stellan stalked out of the room, his eyes fierce and his sword clutched so hard that his knuckles were white. He hardly glanced at Rosie as he spoke.

"Take care of her, please."

"What are you going to do?" Rosie hurried after him. She practically had to run to keep up with his fast pace.

"Find my daughter. And put that Alazair out of his misery."

Thomas emerged from the adjoining hall, carrying his own sword and tailed by a brigade of palace soldiers.

"I'm coming with you."

Stellan nodded. Later on, he would find time to give them his thanks. At the moment, there was only one thing on his mind. And it had to do with that miracle man drowning in his own blood.

"Please, please," Rosie begged, more praying than asking, really, "Bring her back."

She was met only by the silence of the men preparing for their departure. The mood was far too serious to allow for comforting words.

A whimper sounded behind the queen, and she turned to find little Eugene peering around the corner, his eyes wide and his face frightened.

Rosie cast one more glance at the men, throwing one more desperate prayer their way before approaching the boy, shielding him from the sights with her body.

"Come on, darling, it's still dark out. Let's get you back into bed for a while."

A squire pulled a tacked-up stallion in front of Stellan, the white horse pawing the ground with anticipation.

"Easy, Octavius," the squire said, rubbing the stallion's nose.

Stellan strode up and swung into the saddle, his face set with a deadly cocktail of emotions: desperation, fury, and determination. It was time for him to address the men, but he could hardly bring life to the words that were spilling from his mouth.

"I thank you for your willingness to help us tonight. As you are aware, my…" Stellan bowed his head and coughed back the lump rising in his throat, "my daughter was kidnapped a short while ago. The perpetrator is known to be the miracle man, Alazair. We don't know what he intends to do next, nor where he will go, but we need to find him."

His voice failed after that, and he gazed distraughtly at the soldiers around him. His thoughts seemed far and distant, his feelings welling up inside him until his whole body seemed to be on fire.

"Let's head out!" Thomas called from the front of the pack. The only sound following the command was the clopping of hooves on cobblestone as the procession of riders thundered away from the castle.

Rosie led Eugene by the hand into the room that had been prepared for him during his stay at the castle. Holding Rapunzel in one arm, she guided him up on the bed, then knelt beside it, her face level with the boy's.

"Are you alright, sweetie? Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

Eugene shrugged. He looked nervous.

"Is Alazair here?"

Rosie was taken aback. How could this darling little boy know that awful man's name? She thought of his parents, their throats slit.

"Do you know who Alazair is?"

Eugene nodded.

"How? Have you seen him before?"

Another nod. Fear seemed to be at the deep corners of the boy's eyes, a kind of unconscious wariness.

"He was at my house. With Carney."

"He was? Who's Carney?"

"I don't know. My daddy's friend. I don't think they are really friends, though."

Eugene laid his head down on the pillow. Rosie's mind was racing. There was no doubt in her mind that Alazair had killed the boy's parents, or at least had something to do with their murder. And Eugene's father was found wearing a Coronian soldier uniform, but he wasn't a soldier. And he was killed right after Elsa was born. But who was this Carney person? She looked down at her tiny guest and saw that he was already asleep again, his mouth opened slightly as his face sunk into the soft pillow.

Slipping out into the hall, Rosie clutched Rapunzel tightly. Every shadow made her wary, and every small sound caused her to flinch. Suddenly, she jump out her skin as a scream pierced the deathly stillness. A tear ran down the queen's cheek. Freja was awake.