"For the crime of kidnapping Princess Nicolette Clarisse Amelie de Gardenia of Lilac, and for the murder of Lady Rosemary Baker, we sentence this man, Maximillian Greene, to hang!"

Nikki gasped and looked around. Prince Edward was in his wedding suit, and her mother was in more formal clothes than usual. Looking down, Nikki realized that she was wearing her mother's wedding dress. She then glanced at the gallows, where she could see Max with his hands tied behind his back as he stood by a noose.

"No! Max!" she yelped, trying to run to him. She felt a hand on her wrist.

"My sweet Nicolette, this man is getting what he deserves," Edward purred, caressing her face with his other hand. "He's not fit for you to worry your pretty little head about."

"He's my husband, you bastard! Let me GO!"

She wrenched her hand away from him and ran towards the gallows. Something slowed her down, however—a hand on the skirt of her dress. Nikki turned and saw Rosemary with a dagger sticking out of her chest. The blood flowed freely, staining the white fabric crimson.

"He'll hang no matter what you do," Rosemary sang in a taunting voice. "He's a low-life thief who deserves this. And so does his family."

As if to punctuate the statement, Nikki watched in horror as David, Gwen, Jaspar, Campbell, Neil, and even Lizzie were led to the gallows. Several more nooses dropped from the bar and hung there, ready to snap their victims' necks in an instant.

"No! Let them go!" Nikki screamed, trying to run again, but another hand grabbed her dress. She turned to see Jason holding onto her.

"Your husband said I could break you in," he stated with a grin.

"No, he didn't! Max would never!"

"Not him. Marriage between a good-for-nothing peasant thief and a princess of your stature doesn't count. I'm talking about Prince Edward."

"No!" Jason began dragging Nikki away, Rosemary giving one last haunting laugh before collapsing on the ground, dead. Nikki was powerless to fight back, but she found herself unable to not see the caravan and Neil as the platforms dropped.

SNAP.

That was the sound that perforated the air around her. The sound of seven necks being snapped by nooses. She felt her stomach drop at that moment, viewing the bodies of the people she considered her real family. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. The world faded and she was left standing over a pit. In that pit were Max and his family. And Neil and Rosemary. Their bodies left to rot where they were, without a proper burial.

And… at the bottom, there was another body. This one was wearing the clothing of royalty, and the crown of Lilac.

It was her father's body.

She felt like she was going to scream.

"Nikki…" Max's corpse groaned, reaching for her in an undead trance.

"Max, I'm sorry!" she wailed.

"Nikki, please…"

"I'm sorry!"

Nikki was panting as she looked around. She was in her bedroom in the castle.

It had just been a nightmare, but one that was dangerously close to coming true.

I need to see Max.

Determined, she pulled off her blankets and leapt to the cold stone floor. The princess retrieved a plain cloak that Lucy had left behind that day when Nikki had screamed at her to get out in a burst of anger and tears. A lump formed in her throat as she made a mental reminder to apologize to the maid. That wasn't important right now. Nikki shook her head and grabbed a candlestick holder off her dresser before making her way to the door. Opening the small window at the top, she could see a single guard stationed outside her room. Quietly, she slipped out and hit him on the back of the head before dragging him into the room.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She took one of the lanterns in the hallway and carried it with her through the darkness.

The castle was deathly still at night, the hustle and bustle of the day long over. The building itself seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for morning to come. A chill was in the air, indicative of the winter that was on its way. Nikki pulled the cloak tighter around herself, wanting Max's blue cloak he'd laid over her so many nights when it got cold. It was of better material than the plain cotton one Lucy had, which was meant for the oddly chilling warmth of the fall.

Focus. Get to the dungeon. Find Max.

She started down the staircase to the dungeon, remembering days when she and Neil would sneak down there to see all the criminals who had defied the kingdom. Now she saw each thief as someone desperate to survive, each magic-user as someone with a gift, and each murderer as a possible defender, perhaps of their family. There weren't many prisoners in the dungeon—just a thief, a supposed witch, and Max. The witch was dead asleep, as was the thief, so Nikki slipped by them without a problem.

Max was in a high-security cell, unguarded due to the fact that only Captain Baker had the key to the lock. He was lying on a straw mattress and she could see marks on his wrists where shackles had been. Most likely they'd chained him to the wall and let him down so he could sleep.

"Max!" she hissed. He shifted slightly. "Max, it's me!"

He rolled over and his eyes widened as he sprang to his feet and rushed to the door of his cell.

"Nikki? What the hell are you doing down here?"

"I needed to see you." She set the lantern on the floor and gripped the bars. "I'm so sorry, Max. This is all my fault."

"No. Shut the fuck up. It's not your fault."

"But… if I had just done what my mother told me…"

"Then we would never have met. I would've stolen your crown and we never would've seen each other again. I'm glad you don't listen, because that's part of who you are." He took her hand in his and they interlocked fingers. She was grateful for the five inches of space between the bars that allowed them to have this contact.

"I'm so scared… I just had a nightmare about you and David and Gwen and Lizzie and everyone in the caravan being hung, and—"

"Nikki, calm down. It's going to be fine. Your mom can't hang me, because that just means you'll run again. And you've got survival skills this time, so you might actually make it on your own."

"I don't think living outside the castle is worth it if you're not there."

"I agree. I love you. Don't you ever forget or doubt that."

"I love you, too." They leaned over and started kissing through the bars. It was desperate, as if they were dying and this was the last chanced they'd have to kiss.

Which, in a way, was true.

"Get some sleep, Nik," Max whispered hoarsely. "A guard'll be coming soon, so you need to get out of here."

"Okay." She gave him one last kiss before picking up the lantern and walking away.

Max stared at his hands as the early-morning sunlight streamed through the small window at the top of his cell, swallowing the lump that was in his throat. Just two days ago, he'd woken up in the wagon with Nikki by his side, the happiest he'd ever been. He was married to a girl he loved and the world was perfect.

And it had all come crashing down in an instant.

They were both imprisoned, in different ways—she was at the mercy of her mother and he was locked in the dungeon. She'd still come to see him, sought comfort from him, and he'd tried his best to make her feel better about the situation.

But he was lying to himself.

In truth, they were in deep shit now. Nikki seemed to be having a rougher time due to the fact that she was being forced to marry an asshole the next day, and the fact that he suspected that security around his wife's room had been increased to keep her from getting to him.

How she'd managed to the night before was a mystery.

However, he also knew for a fact that she was still carrying the guilt of Rosemary's death. With no way out of her arranged marriage and no way for him to get to her in time to stop the wedding, it looked like their wedded bliss was over.

Kinda figured my marriage would last longer than a day…

He'd wanted to have a few years of happiness with Nikki—start a family, travel, spend time with Lizzie and David and Gwen… but now none of that was going to happen. He was never going to see Nikki's face first thing in the morning again. He wouldn't get to have small arguments with her and watch the way her nose scrunched up when she got mad. He wouldn't get to see her have his kid.

All of that had been taken away from them by Nikki's mother.

"Aw, somebody looks depressed," sneered a voice. He looked up to see Prince Edward and balled his fists on reflex. "And hostile."

"You'd be hostile if someone was forcing your wife to marry somebody else."

"She's not your wife. Your union was illegal and ungodly. An abomination, if you will. Nothing good would've come of it." He let out a snicker. "Not to mention, her body is something to be desired and only worthy of royalty."

"Shut the fuck up, you sick son of a bitch. Don't talk about her that way."

"Why not?"

"Because if these bars weren't in the way, I'd strangle you with your own stupid jacket. She's a person, not an object."

"Puh-lease. Women aren't people. They're tools for bargaining and objects of desire. The only use they have is giving birth and nothing else. Speaking of which, I wonder how long it'll take for her to get pregnant once she has me in her bed each night…"

"Shut up. Shut the fuck up." Max wanted to break the door down and stab the prince, repeatedly, in the throat. "This is the problem with you royal fucks. You think men have all the power and that women are just… baby incubators."

"But that's the way the world works. Men are tough, smart, and strong. Women are weak, stupid, and useless."

"Maybe in your world, but in mine? We're on equal footing. We don't get married for cash; we get married because we fall in love. That's what happened with me and Nikki."

"And still, there's no marriage contract, no witnesses, no proof of this supposed wedding. You're on thin ice. I'm asking Candy if I can take you back to Woodland after the wedding—maybe I'll break you in front of Princess Nicolette. She'll see my strength and want me more than you."

"You really have no idea who you're fucking marrying, do you?"

"Again, women don't need a personality. Her job will be to give birth to the heir, and nothing more. That's been the job of hundreds of queens before her, and it'll be the job of thousands after her. And if she has a daughter? We'll keep trying until we have a son. Over and over and over."

Max thrust his hand through the bars, landing a punch to the prince's face.

"You stupid moron. Suck a dick and go back to your own fucking kingdom. Leave her the hell alone."

"Guards!" Edward yelled. A few guards came at his call. "He just struck me! Assaulting royalty is a crime!"

"You were just talking about torturing me in front of a princess! That's an assault on her eyes!"

"She doesn't matter, you fool!" He held his cheek. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see my bride before the ceremony tomorrow."

Max staggered backwards, landing on the straw bed.

No. No fucking way I'm letting her marry that fucker.

Let's step away from the 'happy couple' for a moment, shall we? Because there are a few key players we haven't discussed yet—namely, the caravan and our friends in Sleepy Peak. What about them? How are they dealing with all this?

Not very well.

"Where's Max and Nikki?"

Neil felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach as Lizzie asked the question for the tenth time in two days. The five-year-old was not dealing with her brother and sister-in-law's disappearances. None of them had seen what had happened, but Lizzie had come back talking about how Max and Nikki had just fallen asleep after Rosemary bled a lot.

He suspected Rosemary was dead and that the newlyweds had been taken by guards, but he couldn't say that. Instead, he was stuck with a little girl who never listened to a damn thing he said and her hysterical parents. David and Gwen were now being overprotective as fuck towards their remaining child, and Neil could tell that it was driving Lizzie insane.

"I don't know where they are, Lizzie."

"We could ask Nerris."

"Why didn't you suggest that before?"

"Because you weren't listening. You were trying to fix Mr. Campbell's belly."

Oh, and there was the fact that Campbell was still recovering from the injury his daughter had inflicted. Neil hadn't even told him that Rosemary was most likely dead yet so that he could heal without interruption.

"We're going into town to see Nerris, then. You and me."

"Not without us!" David called, walking up to them. "After Max disappearing like that, I don't want Lizzie out of my sight."

As if to emphasize, he picked his daughter up.

"Fine. Let's go."

They walked into town, where they could see everybody going about their normal lives. Neil suddenly remembered he had no idea where Nerris lived. He'd only ever seen her at The Grumpy Butterfly when he was in town, but that wasn't an option. After her jailbreak, she'd be at home, recovering.

"Thanks for the meal, Ered," he heard Harrison say. The illusionist was leaving the pub with a bag in his hand, a worried expression on his face.

"Harrison!" Neil called. Harrison turned and a half-smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, Neil! You guys are still in town? I thought you'd be long gone."

"Not without Max and Nikki!" Lizzie insisted.

"Can you take us to Nerris?" Neil requested. "We need to talk to her."

"I can, but she's not really in good condition right now. It's why I'm buying her dinner."

"Please. She's the only person who can help us."

"Okay. Just… be careful not to upset her."

Neil, Lizzie, and David followed Harrison to a back-street, which was lined with houses. He went up to number 16 and opened the door to reveal a room filled with books and papers. It was well-organized and clean, with a thin layer of dust over everything.

"Sorry about the dust. I've been taking care of Nerris since I found her unconscious in the woods."

"Wait, unconscious?" Neil repeated in confusion.

"Somebody knocked her out and left her there to die. I brought her home."

Harrison began climbing the staircase, Neil right behind him. David and Lizzie stayed downstairs, figuring more people would agitate Nerris. And an agitated sorceress was dangerous. Emotions tended to make magic go haywire, spells happening at random with seemingly no cause other than the extreme anger or sadness or joy that the user felt.

"Nerris, I'm back," Harrison said in a gentle tone. Neil caught sight of Nerris lying in bed, her face slightly paler than usual. She rose slightly.

"Anything good?"

"Ered sent you some soup. Said it would help you get better. And… Neil wants to talk to you."

Nerris's blue gaze landed on Neil.

"It's about Nikki and Max, isn't it?"

"Can you tell me what happened? I need to know so I can try and find them."

" 'Eight entered the space and one dropped dead. Two fell asleep and one lost breath. Three took two and the first one away. If you want to see two again, you have to go back where you began.' "

"What the fuck?"

"Sorry. Riddle-tongue slips out when I'm stressed sometimes." She put on her glasses. "In the forest that day, Rosemary was after Max and Nikki. They split up and Rosemary chose to chase Nikki instead of Max, which led to a confrontation. By the end of that confrontation, Nikki killed Rosemary."

"But… that doesn't explain anything else. Where did Max go? Where's Nikki?"

"I wasn't finished. After that, Max caught up with Nikki, and I arrived at the scene. Lizzie was there, too, but I think she was in shock. Anyway, Max and Nikki got knocked out by drugged darts that were fired by one of Prince Edward's lackeys. I was surprised and didn't have time to react when they kicked me aside. The same guy who fired the darts forced me to lose consciousness. If I had to guess, I'd say that Max is imprisoned back in Lilac and Nikki is preparing for her wedding to Prince Edward."

Neil's eyes widened.

In the two days that they'd been missing, he hadn't even considered the most obvious option.

"Fuck. No… I… I can't believe all this is happening…"

"I'm sorry I was useless," Nerris sighed. "It seems like whenever it comes down to protecting people I care about, I can't do anything. First my parents, now Max and Nikki… why was I given this gift if I can't use it right?"

"You can, Nerris," Harrison assured her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Neil suddenly realized something, his eyes widening as the idea came to him.

"How would the two of you feel about going to the royal wedding?"