A/N: OMG I found out that this story has had a staggering number of 13,272 views!!! Wowee! People, please review, I always love to hear what people have to say, even if they tell me I was/am touched in the head to be writing this – it's all good!

Q&A: I got a question that I thought a lot of you guys would want answered, so here it is-

Q. Rye can shape-shift too, so why hasn't he? Or is he hiding it from his captors? Or did you just forget about that?

A. I did not forget that Rye can shape shift; the problem is that he is too drained to do it – that's the reason he hasn't tried to escape – because of the torture as well as the fact that he is being watched around the clock.

Chapter 34: Consequences

Just past midday was when a crow swooped down on a relatively large house that was out in the middle of nowhere. Strangely enough, although the house had an air of neglect about it, there were many people roaming around the grounds, and even more secured inside – servants and mages alike.

The atmosphere was tense, although not many knew the reason for this. The crow landed on a windowsill and played at the lock.

.xX Adalia's POV Xx.

Even as I flew away, I recognised the foolishness and utter stupidity of what I had just done. Aside from the fact that there would be no reinforcements to help get us both out of there in one piece, I now had no weapons or even clothes. The wind seemed to whisper to me as I cut through it, 'You are an idiot.' Gods knew I was whispering it to myself.

There was one thing that kept me flying towards Justin's stronghold. It was the only thing that I could not get out of my head. The vision of Rye had shaken me to my core, and it demanded that I go at once. Rye must live. Before I had gone, he had told me that he loved me, and at that moment, a piece of my heart seemed to slide into place. Into a hole that I never knew existed, but I knew instinctively that if I lost Rye, it would disappear again, and I would never get it back. I would fight with my life to ensure that he came home with me.

I could not have said exactly how long I had been flying before I reached a remote house that was almost hidden amongst the thick trees. To me, it felt like an eternity. On the way, I had observed with dismay the sheer number of foot soldiers, and felt the strength of the mage barrier. I could only hope that they would be careful in their approach.

I did a circle of the house, and could make out people working or sitting down and eating, and I could see from the shimmer around them that most were lesser mages and helping Grenike with the barrier. Scrutinising the windows, I spotted one that was half open, and landed lightly on the sill. While playing with the window, I searched out any animals in the house, and was glad to find an accommodating cat that promised not to eat me. The cat watched as I managed to slide into the room. Now was the time to push aside my fury at the capture of Rye, and try to think up a way to rescue him. Hitting inspiration, I asked her, 'Do the two-leggers have a room which has many pointy objects?'

The cat gave me an amused nod and replied, "Yes, and I will show you to it. But you better not be spotted by the two-leggers or I will be in trouble.'

She twirled around and strode out the open doorway. I soared up to the high ceiling, hoping this was enough to avoid notice. There wasn't much more I could do. The cat led me down a dark corridor, and I thanked the gods that no one walked down it while we were passing through. She pushed into a door and I waited outside for a moment. I was frightened to hear the harsh tones of a man tell the cat to bugger off.

She run back out and curled up near the doorway. I landed softly on the rug next to her and asked softly, 'Are you ok? How many were in there?'

Her voice sounded disgruntled as she told me, 'Two. But the pointy things are in there.'

Damn and Heck. I kept my mind relentlessly blank as I considered what I was going to have to do. I steeled myself and transformed back into human, feeling instantly uncomfortable and making the mental note to knock them out hard so they would forget what they saw.

Cursing the lack of clothes, I decided that the sooner I did this, the less chance of anyone walking down the corridor. This thought, along with the vision of Rye that had risen once again in my mind, gave me the guts to yank open the door. The two men had just enough time to widen their eyes before I managed to knock them out. Hard. I all but slammed the door shut as I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, praying to any listening gods that no one would come in here, and stood still with my ear against the door. I sighed in fervent relief as the footsteps bypassed the door, and turned back to scrutinise the room.

The cat was correct in saying there were plenty of pointy things, which was very comforting. Racks of weapons along the walls were a welcome sight, but even better was a bin of clothes, which I rushed to first.

I emerged from the armoury fully dressed in a guard's uniform, but more importantly now with daggers on my person and a sword belted at my waist. They were not able to compare with my personal weapons, but at least they were sharp. The other good thing was that the cat had decided to wait outside the door.

Even as I stepped out into the hallway, I could feel a difference from when I was a crow. The building seemed darker and more ominous, and I could feel a kind of tension that seemed to linger between the walls. I couldn't suppress a sudden shudder as I bent down to stroke ginger fur softly, at the same time asking her if she had talked to a two-legger named Rye. To my delight she said, 'Yes. We can all tell he is one of the People, just as you are. But he is wounded badly, and this prevents him from escaping. We have been helping him by bringing food, but he willnot let us attack the two-leggers.'

I was surprised to feel tears in my eyes at this description of Rye, but forced them back to properly concentrate at the matter at hand, 'Can you lead me to him?'

The ginger meowed softly and padded down the hall. I gritted my teeth and followed her with all my speed, praying that even if I was spotted, they would not be able to distinguish me from the rest of the guards present in the manor.

As we approached a staircase that led down to the basements the number of guards was increasing. I pulled up short as I watched the cat scamper down the stairs, going around the guards. Thus far, I could see ways to avoid the guards, but those two would certainly notice if I came out with Rye. I drew in a deep breath and strode purposefully over to them. I had nothing planned; all I knew was that I had to get in there.

Instead of stopping and talking to the men, I made directly towards the stairs. The two glanced at me and one yelled out, "Oy, you can't go down there! Grenike's orders."

Changing my voice to make it deep, I said, "Grenike told me to check on the prisoner."

I steeled myself to meet his gaze, and to my intense surprise I turned just in time to see a fist come flying at my face. I reacted instinctively and caught his fist, mere inches from my nose. There was time enough to register his shock when something large and hard barrelled into my chest. I doubled over in pain, using my free hand to clutch my stomach. Forcing the pain aside, I took in a great sobbing breath and reached out to grab the second guard's hair. When I straightened, I felt a sickening pain searing through my chest. This led me to believe a rib was broken.

I forced myself to straighten although I could not banish the hot pain in my chest. I tightened my hold on the men, changing my grip of the first man to his hair rather than fist. I yanked viciously at them so their heads were below mine and glared into their eyes. It was with immense satisfaction that I felt them shiver as they looked into my violet eyes. I all but growled, "Now why would you do that?"

It was with grim satisfaction that I saw them close their mouths. In the next second, I propelled their foreheads together, creating a sickening crunch.

"Why?" I growled again shaking them at the same time, and one of them spoke up.

"There is a code that we use to say we are going to check on the prisoner, so that we can identify intruders. I didn't know why the mage was so pedantic about security, as no one was supposed to be able to get through the gods curst barrier, but I guess you answer my question." He said bitterly. "I was here just to get paid. No one said we would be under attack."

I snorted, filled with contempt for someone who would be willing to do this for money. Since I had gotten my answer, I said harshly, "Well boys, I think you should learn not to believe what other people tell you." And with that, I crashed their heads together, effectively knocking them out. I will admit right now that the broken rib vexed me, and it gave me an ill humour.

After installing them into an empty room nearby, I carefully followed the stairs down to a dark basement, subconsciously clutching my chest, the breath sobbing in my throat. The air was noticeably cooler than in the floor above when I reached the bottom.

I started violently when something brushed up against my leg, but was calmed instantly when I realised it was the ginger cat. She rubbed comfortingly up against my leg, and then traipsed towards the far left side of the room.

I thought it was empty, except for a few rags heaped against the wall. When the cat nuzzled the pile and it shifted, with shock I realised that it was not clothes.

"Rye!" I yelped, and flung myself across the room to where he lay, the pain from my broken rib abandoned. I landed hard on my knees just as Rye opened one slitted grey eye. It seemed unfocused, but there must have been recognition as he sighed and said, "Ady."

The hoarseness of his voice frightened me, and I barely registered the tears in my eyes – I do not know if they were caused by my fiercely protesting ribs or witnessing the present state of Rye – probably both.

It was at this second that cold steel pressed against my throat.

.xXx.

A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter!!! I decided to write most of this chapter from Adalia's POV, because what is the point of a character going into a suicidal mission if you don't experience the building of tension? None at all, I answered myself. So there it is. Lol I find it funny that I am torturing you all with yet another cliff-hanger, but hopefully you can all contrive to live until next week to find out the ending!

Peace, Skyflyte12 : )