"This is amazing!" Corinne said "And trust me, being in the air is nothing new. But it never gets old!"

"Especially when you're flying a magical horse!" Liana added.

Corinne looked over at her and smiled "I'm glad you came with me. I never would have known about that shortcut... or the diamond castle."

Liana nodded "Did you find it strange how those two guys couldn't tell us apart?"

"Yes." Corinne nodded in agreement "It worked to our advantage though."

"It's kind of fun having a look-alike." Liana rubbed her pegasus's neck "How long have we been flying?"

"Um..." Corinne looked at the sun "About three hours."

"Do you think we're almost to the border?"

"I don't know. It's a three day walk, so I guess a one day flight?" Corinne shrugged "If Louis were here, he'd know."

Liana smiled "Really?"

"Mm-hm." Corinne avoided looking over at Liana "It's true." just then, an arrow went soaring past the tip of Corinne's pagasus's nose.

"What on earth?" Corinne looked down, her eyes widened "We've got company!"

Liana looked down and gasped "It's a whole army!"

"We've got to get out of the sky!" Corinne said urgently as she looked back down at the army "We're open targets!"

The two pegasus's sped ahead. Showers of arrows flew into the sky. The two weaved in and out, dodging the weapons. But one caught in the wing of Corinne's pegasus, and it quickly began to fall.

"Corinne!" Liana turned her pegasus downward.

"Go home." Corinne whispered to the horse, then she stood up and jumped. As soon as she was off, the pegasus disappeared.

Liana grabbed Corinne's hand and pulled her up.

"Thank you." Corinne said as she situated herself behind Liana "Now. Into the trees!"

The Pegasus dove into the woods below. The horse softly landed and the two girls jumped off its' back.

"Go home." Corinne said then watched as the Pegasus disappeared "Refreshing to know the other one did the same thing." she looked back at Liana "Come on."

"They're in the woods!" A voice shouted.

The two girls looked at each other "Drake." then they ran.

"We could just set the woods on fire!" Heinrich shouted.

Liana flashed Corinne a worried look.

"Oh that would work." Drake snapped sarcastically "If we would have a chance to escape first."

The shadows from the setting sun cast and eerie glow on the trees.

"We've got to find somewhere to hide." Corinne whispered "It too dangerous to keep going."

Liana nodded and pointed ahead "Look. There's a giant oak! Sometimes the middle is hollowed out."

"Perfect." Corinne glanced back at the lighted torches that weren't too far behind "As long as they don't know that."

They ran around tree, and sure enough, there was a large opening. They quickly ducked inside. Corinne pulled a pile of dead foliage over the entrance then backed against the side of the tree.

Neither girl moved as the army ran past shouting. The light from their torches flashed inside the hollowed out tree till they were gone.

Corinne sighed and sat down "That was too close." she whispered.

Liana nodded "Way too close." she pushed her hair out of her face "Now what?"

"We stay here till morning." Corinne answered "It's too late to be traveling through woods that we know nothing about. Especially since now it has five hundred gorillas with torches."

Liana laughed softly "Yeah." she laid down on the mossy ground "Good night."

"Good night." Corinne followed suit and stared up into the blackness of the tree "We'll be home soon." then she curled up and fell asleep.

The next morning, Liana and Corinne cautiously stepped out of the tree and looked around.

"I don't see or hear anything." Liana whispered.

"Me neither." Corinne glanced around again "What I would give for a talking lizard."

Liana laughed softly "Come on. We can't be too far from the border."

"So much for not being far from the border." Liana sighed "How long have we been walking?"

"Five hours." Corinne answered. She looked around quickly "I wish I knew where those guys were."

Liana nodded in agreement "Same here. Do you think they're waiting at the border?"

Corinne peeked out from behind a tree and smiled "Nope."

"So, we just need to take a ship to Dulcenia now. Right?"

"Right." Corinne scratched her head "You... don't happen to have money for a ship fare... do you?"

Liana reached into her pocket, her face suddenly blanched "Oh no. I did have a small bag of money in my pocket!" she groaned "It must have fallen out while we were running!"

Corinne sent her a reassuring smile "It's okay. We'll just have to find another way on."

An hour later, they walked into a town. People were rushing around everywhere, and the smell of fish and saltwater was heavy in the air.

Corinne made a gagging sound "I never did like fish."

Liana laughed "It definitely stinks." she grabbed Corinne's arm "Look! There's Heinrich!" the two girls dodged behind a wagon that was loaded with barrels and looked around.

"They're guarding the place to pay for a trip. As well as the boat." Corinne shook her head "We have to get on that boat!"

"Hey!" A man walking by shouted to another man "Get these barrels loaded on the cargo ship heading to Dulcenia!"

Corinne smiled "Cargo ship? That'll do!"

"But how are we going to sneak on?" Liana asked.

Corinne pointed to the wagon "The bottom of the carrier is about a foot and a half above the axles. While the sides hang down enough to cover them."

"Oh." Liana nodded "We're just going to ride on?"

"Yep." Corinne nodded "And we'd better get on quick or it's going to leave without us!"

The two girls quickly crawled under the wagon. There turned out to be a rather large ledge on each side, which made the ride a bit more comfortable.

Liana looked out a small crack that was in the boards and watched as they passed several of the soldiers that were looking for them. Not one of them were under seven foot, or weighed less than three hundred pounds... all muscle.

The wagon jolted suddenly, almost throwing Liana from her perch.

Corinne cringed as Liana struggled to keep herself up.

After a few moments, Liana sent her a thumbs up and they both sighed with relief.

The wagon was finally loaded onto the ship, and the two girls slipped off and hid behind some large piles of cargo.

"Maybe by some chance we'll get to Paris before they do." Corinne whispered "Because there's no way all those musketeers will be able to out muscle those guys. They'll have to outsmart them. And if they have a few moments to plan, they'll be good."

"And if we don't make it back before they do?" Liana asked "What if they're already there? I mean, they kidnapped you. Right?"

Corinne nodded "You've got a point. But I'm guessing they were going to try to use me for a sort of trade or something. You know, me for the kingdom."

Liana's eyebrows rose "Would the king go for that?"

Corinne looked down at the floor "I... don't know."

Liana opened her mouth to say something, but clamped it back shut as the door slammed open and some men started loading more cargo.

Ian and Jeremy pulled up to the small cottage.

"Hello girls!" Ian called.

Alexa and Melody stepped outside and waved.

"I still say they're cuter outside the mirror than when I was inside the mirror." Melody whispered.

Alexa laughed "I have no doubts."

Jeremy scanned the yard "Where's... Liana?"

Alexa sighed and looked down at a rosebush "She left."

"What!?" the twins exclaimed.

"But she's coming back!" Melody quickly added.

"Yes. She said she's coming back." Alexa said "She's helping that girl we introduced to you the other day get back home."

"Where is home, exactly?" Jeremy asked slowly.

"Um..." Alexa tittered "Over a thousand miles away."

"What!? Liana just took off halfway around the globe with a complete stranger?!" Jeremy gasped "Please tell me you're joking!"

Alexa shook her head "She... wanted to help Corinne get home."

"So why didn't you go?" Ian asked gently.

Alexa sighed and looked down at her shoes "I... I was scared. I didn't want to leave again. I..."

"Hey, it's okay." Ian said quickly "No one blames you. Connie was a complete stranger."

"Corinne." Melody and Alexa corrected in unison.

"Whatever her name is," Jeremy said, turning his horse back towards the gate "I'm going after her and Liana." He shook his head "After everything, I'm not going to let something happen to her now." then he slapped his horse's reins and took off down the road.

Ian stared after him "To go or not to go, that is the question." he shrugged and dismounted his horse and clapped his hands together "So, which flower garden first, Ladies?"

Corinne groaned quietly as she rearranged her legs in the small space.

Liana smiled "Can't stand to not move?" she whispered.

Corinne nodded "It kills me!" she crossed her legs and leaned into the crates behind her "Just glad I don't get sea sick. We've been here forever."

Liana shifted slightly "Please don't remind me how long it's been since we've eaten. And these crates don't help."

Corinne glanced behind her head "Potatoes. Nice." she scanned the other crates "Ooh! Carrots!" she reached through the hand hole in the wood and weaseled out two long orange sticks "Better than nothing, right?"

Liana nodded "Definitely." she was about to take a bite of the carrot when someone came shuffling in.

"Hey, Jack!" he called up to the deck "Where did you say you put the potatoes?"
Corinne slowly looked behind her head and cringed. There was nowhere to hide!