She slept in the attic of Tyne and Alvina's home, where their children used to sleep before they married and moved into their own homes. During the night, a scratching on the window shutters and a plaintive meow woke her. When she opened one of the shutters, Chi-chi leapt into the room and marched across the floor to hop up into her bed, curl up and immediately went to sleep. Nori entered behind her with a happy chirp and wound around her shoulders in a tight grip. Smiling, Violet went back to sleep and had a peaceful night, not worrying about rats.

The next morning, she joined the village women in the division of Ima's belongings. Personally, she wanted nothing for herself, but she was curious enough to tag along.

Before they retired the night before, Tyne had told them of the gruesome remains they found in the other locked rooms. As Violet had predicted, Hazel's desiccated corpse was among the others they found, including Hella and Bernald. Nope, she thought, she didn't want a single thing from that house.

When they found a trunk of Hazel's clothing, though, Alvina insisted she have them. They were outdated, but the cloth was still in good shape so she could have them remade into newer styles. Alvina offered to help her do so if she stayed a few days before leaving.

"Child, you have nary a thing for yourself. After all you endured, you should at least get some clothed for your suffering."

Violet reluctantly agreed partially because Hazel had much better fashion sense than her sister-in-law. Loaded with an armful of clothes, the two women left Tyne and his two sons to collect the few items that Alvina had selected for her home. They stopped outside Ima's house and carefully shook each item out, ensuring it was free of blood and vermin, then they took the load to Alvina's home and deposited it on the table, before returning to watch the start of the fire with the rest of the village.

By lunch, the house had burned enough for the roof to collapse and the roses were reduced to unidentifiable charred lumps on the ground. That afternoon, the men took shovels to the garden and turned over dirt to check for blood. Their efforts uncovered more horrors. Seven tiny, misshapen skeletons were unearthed from under the rose beds, the fruits of Ima's ill-fated pregnancies. The skeletons bore evidence of malformities present at birth: stunted, twisted limbs; oversized skulls, one even had a tail. All the little skulls were smashed in. They had been born alive and killed shortly afterwards. Two of the men that dug them up had to leave the garden to be ill. One of the women that saw the remains passed out and had to be carried home by her husband.

The fires burned into the night and by the next morning only hot embers remained of the house and garden. The villagers vowed never to build on the spot again and to just let the forest retake the area. Violet agreed whole-heartedly with them.

Talking with Alvina and some of the other women of the village over the course of the next few days, Violet found that fashion in Faerun was more varied than she expected. The women of the Dale Lands certainly tended towards simple, early European medieval dresses, but there were enough travelers through the lands, not to mention the elves that inhabited the area, that they knew fashion was largely a personal choice. With that in mind, Violet chose to keep her choices simple. Lose, flowing skirts of various colors and fabrics, modest blouses of lighter fabrics in solid colors, and laced up vests in darker, sturdy clothes.

The small group of women worked on the clothes as they exchanged gossip and stories under a shade tree and watched a handful of young children. In the bundle that Alvina had insisted they take from Ima's home, were two cloaks, one of which was made from thick wool and lined with fox fur. Violet hadn't wanted to take it, but Alvina had insisted that she would need it during deep winter. The same went for woolen hosiery.

"When that icy northern wind blows up ye skirt," one of the women told her, "ye'll wish ye had those itchy things covering ye legs."

The other women cackled in agreement, prompting Violet to keep two sets.

By the time they were through, there was quite a pile of clothing. Almost more than Violet had at home, she thought.

"That's too much," she protested, looking at the pile. "How am I supposed to travel with all that?"

"Never you worry, lass," Alvina told her. "Once they're packed up, they won't take up much space at all."

Violet planned to leave the village once her clothes were ready, so there was nothing else keeping her. Except a way to travel. Tyne had informed her it would take her at least three days on foot. After all that had happened to her so far, she wasn't sure she wanted to spend the night out in the open, even with Nori standing watch.

The new village blacksmith, a young man with a pregnant wife, offered to let her borrow one of his horses and leave it at a stable in Highmoon for him to retrieve later. Those were her choices: walk or borrow a horse. Since Violet had never ridden a horse before she was left with just one option.

That is how it came about that she was preparing two mornings later to start her journey to Highmoon. Alvina, true to her word had bundled up all her clothes and wrapped them in a blanket another woman had scavenge from Ima's. The resulting bundle was larger than a backpack, but not as unwieldy as she had feared. Another bundle was strapped to the top of it: bread, cheese, and dried meat for the trip. A dented metal cup hung from a strap fashioned from scrap strips of leather that also served as shoulder straps for her to carry it comfortably like a backpack.

She chose one of her new outfits, a lovely pink skirt with little yellow flowers printed on it that swirled around her ankles as she moved, a pale pink blouse with a scalloped neckline and sleeves that were tight to the elbow then flowed out like bells, and a deep yellow vest that laced up the front and tied everything together. With her long braid wrapped around her head like a crown, she felt more like a Disney princess than a witch lost far from home.

It appeared that the entire village was gathered to see her off on her next adventure. She hugged first Alvina, then Tyne farewell before turning to the others who she had become friends with over the last few days.

Hovering near her was the young blacksmith and his wife, who shoved him towards her.

"Go on, give it to 'er," she told him.

Blushing profusely, he approached and held out a sheath attached to a belt, "you…, you shouldn't…," he stuttered, "be out there without something for protection." Shoving the sheath into her hands, he disappeared into the crowd.

A knife was in the sheath. Violet grasped its handle and pulled it free. It was a nicely made hunting knife with a wide, arced blade and serrations down its spine. The handle was made from a deer antler.

"He worked on it for the last two days for ye," his wife told her.

"It's lovely," Violet said. "It's not too heavy or too big for my hand."

"He used me as a guide for how big it needed to be."

Violet returned the knife to its sheath and strapped it around her waist. The belt was a little too big and it settled around her hips instead.

"He couldn't use me as a guide for the belt, obviously," she smiled patting her growing belly.

"It's perfect. Please tell him that and thank him for me," Violet said as she hugged the young woman. "And good luck with your baby! I hope he or she brings you nothing but joy."

"I'll tell him," she assured Violet, hugging her back. "And good luck on your journey. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"So do I," Violet replied. "So do I."

The group followed her to the edge of the village and called goodbye until she was out of sight around a bend in the road. Picking her way carefully along the edge of the road where the ruts and holes were less noticeable, she walked along, using the walking stick another villager had gifted her. Occasionally, she spied a plant along the roadside that had useful properties and stopped to gather it, putting it in the bag from Hamish that hung from her belt opposite her new knife.

Within minutes of leaving the village, Chi-chi broke from the edge of the forest followed by Nori. With her two companions back by her side, her spirits rose, and she started humming a song to herself as she walked. Chi-chi ended up perched on the top of her clothing bundle and rode easily against her shoulders. Nori flitted around them chasing butterflies, dragonflies, and the occasional bird. Violet caught glimpses of tiny fae among them from time to time.

She stopped at noon with the sun high overhead to rest in the shade by a creek Nori had found. Pulling the pendant from her pocket, she held it up in front of her face and watched the lights within it dance in the light. It had proven itself useful time and time again, maybe it wasn't something to be feared after all. She pondered just wearing it around her neck instead of keeping it in her pocket.

"You should be careful with such a powerful object."

She jumped up, nearly dropping the pendant, and spun towards the intruder, her walking stick held up in front of her. Chi-chi, being unceremoniously dumped on the ground, hissed, and promptly disappeared into the underbrush. Nori was nowhere to be seen.

Tamival and Tamirell stepped out of the forest and into the little clearing soundlessly. Their green and brown clothes matched the dappling of light through the leaves of the forest so closely, they appeared to magically appear in front of her even though she was looking straight at them. She stepped back and waved her stick at them.

"Stay back."

They exchanged a look before turning their attention back to her.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Tamival - or was it Tamirell? She couldn't tell the two apart – asked.

"It's a stick, not rocket science," she shot back. "I whack whoever gets too close."

There was that look again. Then one of the two brothers moved so fast she didn't have time to react. Before she realized what was happening, she was on her butt on the ground and her walking stick was pressed against her throat.

"I don't know what this 'rocket science' is you speak of," his brother said watching with wry amusement, "but I hope you're better at it than with the staff."

His brother lowered the stick and bent to hold out a hand to her. Swallowing her pride, she took it and let him pull her to her feet.

Handing the stick back to her, he told her, "better not to have a weapon at all, than to give one over to your enemy to use against you."

Blushing furiously, she replied, "I've never had to use a weapon in my life."

"Then you, girl, have lived a sheltered life."

"Not really," she said as she bent over to pick up the pendant she had dropped and slipped it into her pocket. "Where I'm from, most people can go their entire lives without seeing violence except on tel…," realizing her slip she quickly corrected herself, "…without hearing about it from someone else."

The brothers looked at her as if expecting her to elaborate, but she was just going to keep her mouth shut before she slipped up again.

When she didn't say anything else, the one that didn't attack her motioned to the pocket where she had deposited the pendant, "where did one such as you come by such an object?"

Violet narrowed her eyes, not sure if she had just been insulted, "what do you mean 'one such as you'?"

"You're obviously untrained with your magic," he said with slight curl of his lip. "To the point of being a danger to yourself and those around you."

Putting her hands on her hips, she faced him defiantly, "I am not untrained! I have been training for over five decades."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. Maybe they wouldn't catch her slip. Maybe they didn't know what a decade was here in Faerun.

The elf closest to her frowned and circled her, his eyes searching her intently. "Five decades?" he scoffed. "You look barely old enough to be out of the nursery. Have you the blood of Tel'Quessir running through your veins?"

"I don't know who Tel'Quessir is," she said, blushing at his scrutiny.

"Our people," the other brother answered. "You humans call us elves."

"I can tell you with certainty that I do not have any ancestors that were elves."

"Then explain," he ordered.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," she retorted. "In fact, it is time for me to continue on my way. I have a long way to go, and no time for this nonsense."

She hefted her pack and started past him. Only to come to an abrupt stop when a slender blade blocked her way. Reaching into her pocket, she wrapped her hand around the pendant; it pulsed soothingly against her skin. She wondered if she could count on it to help her out of this mess.

"I think you have a story that needs to be heard," his brother said calmly from nearby.

"I have no story," she lied. "I'm just trying to get back home, that's all. There isn't anything unusual about that, is there?"

"Where is home?" the one beside her asked, not dropping his blade.

Again, she said the only place outside the Dale Lands she knew. "Waterdeep."

"Ah," he nodded. "Which ward?"

"Um, the north," she answered.

He nodded again, a smug look crossing his face, "there is great view of Dragon Lake from that ward. Tell me, is your family's home on the lakeshore?"

"Oh, no," she said hastily, silently relieved, "my family is not wealthy enough to afford a lakeshore home. We live several blocks back."

He grinned wolfishly.

"What?"

"My brother just caught you in yet another lie," the other one told her from directly behind her. "Waterdeep is far from Dragon Lake."

She froze like a rabbit under the gaze of a predator. Swallowing, she considered her options. She could continue to lie and hope she could talk her way out of trouble, but she had proven how bad she was at falsehoods rather conclusively. She could just refuse to answer any more of their questions, but the blade at her throat was a sharp reminder that avenue had failed also. That only left the truth. Etta and her family had accepted the truth in stride and welcomed her into their home. She didn't know how these two elves would react, but it couldn't get much worse. Could it?

"If you would get your sword out of my face, I will tell you everything," she conceded.

"Strange," her tormentor mused, lowering his blade, "that your response to being threatened is to confess rather than resort to magic."

"I don't think it's strange at all," she shrugged, stepping away from him. "And once you hear me out, you'll agree."

He indicated that she should sit, and they followed suit. At her prompting, they identified themselves again and Violet noticed that Tamival had a small scar through one of his elegantly arched eyebrows, so she had a way to tell them apart. As she told her story, she discovered that he was also more intense and pricklier than the laid back Tamirell.

She started her tale with the appearance of the wood sprite.

"This fey creature came to you for help?" Tamival asked skeptically.

She shrugged, "I have a good relationship with the fae in the woods around my home. I bake them treats and they bring me trinkets in return."

"Trinkets?"

"Mostly sprigs of various plants from the area, cast of rubbish, interesting rocks." She didn't tell them about the key and her suspicions concerning it.

Violet told them about the blight and how she carefully researched the ritual to cleanse it in her grandmother's grimoire and modified it so that one lone witch could perform it. She skipped the details of the ritual itself, only telling them that it had worked, and the blight was vanquished.

"I was so exhausted when it was complete, I immediately fell asleep. When I woke up, I was here."

"Here?" asked Tamirell.

"In your world. Faerun," she answered, preparing herself for their reaction. "This is not my world."

"How do you know this for sure?" he asked, ignoring his brother's snort of derision.

"Well, for one, there are no elves in my world. That's how I know I have no elf ancestors."

"Maybe there are, but you have never seen them," he suggested.

"No, I'm sure. You'll just have to take my word for it. The only known sentient beings on Earth, which is what my world is called, are humans. There are no elves, dwarves, halflings, orcs, goblins, giants…," she ran out of the races of Faerun that she remembered Etta telling her about. "There are fae creatures that can resemble some of them, but they actually exist on another plane and only witches and druids can see and interact with them."

"Only humans?" Tamival asked with another snort.

"Will you stop that," she snapped. "It's really rude."

"Forgive my brother," Tamirell stepped in, "he's not used to social niceties."

"Obviously." Violet directed her attention to him instead, deciding to just ignore his brother.

Continuing her story, she told them about being found by Hamish and his family, then the encounter with the fae in the forest.

"The Prince of the Forest graced you?" Tamival exchanged looks with his brother.

"Apparently. When Lettie came back for me, he disappeared and over an hour had passed though it had only seemed to be minutes. I found this", she fished the pendant from her pocket and held it up. "I wasn't sure if it was safe to have. Gifts from the fae are not always benign."

The brothers nodded their agreement but didn't interrupt.

"I've even tried to get rid of it. The first time, I left it in the barn overnight because Etta didn't want it in her house. I didn't blame her. But when I woke up in the morning, it was laying on my bed beside me. The second time, I took it back to the place where I found it and left it there. It was back in my pocket by the time I got back to the farm. Since then, my magic has changed. It's stronger and I have made up three new spells on the fly. The one that killed Ima was the last."

"So, you did kill her!" Tamival said triumphantly, slapping his thigh and shooting a smug look at his brother.

"She was about to kill me," Violet protested. "And the spell wasn't supposed to actually kill her. At least I don't think it was. It was a total accident that the tub crushed her head. Anyway, that's why I'm on my way to Highmoon. I've been told there's an extensive library there. I need to find out what this thing is and how to get back to my world."

The brothers exchanged a few words in their language. Tamival grew angry during the exchange, standing abruptly and stalking away. Even though Violet watched him, he disappeared almost as soon as he stepped out of the little clearing by the creek.

"Wow," she breathed. "That's creepy."

Tamirell chuckled then stood, extending a hand to help Violet stand, "we will accompany you to Highmoon."

"Oh, there's no need for that," she didn't want to have to endure his brother's hostility for the entire trip.

"These woods may seem safe, but there's always a chance of a lone female running into trouble." He paused and smiled, "and your story has piqued my interest."

Realizing she wasn't going to win, she hefted her pack and followed him without argument back to the trail. Tamival awaited them, holding the reins of two horses.

"I'll take your pack," Tamirell said, relieving her of her burden. "You will ride with my brother."

"That's ok," she said quickly. "I'll just walk."

She had never ridden a horse before and certainly didn't want to spend the next few days riding with the sour Tamival.

"You cannot keep up with us on foot and it will take you twice as long to get to Highmoon," he said with a frown.

In one fluid motion, he mounted his horse and held out his hand to her, "come. Don't be foolish."

"What about my cat?" she asked. "I can't leave Chi-chi behind."

Tamival snorted with disgust, "there are plenty of cats in Highmoon."

"I am not leaving Chi-chi."

"Is the beast your familiar?" Tamirell asked patiently.

"No, she's my friend," she replied, wondering where her familiar had gotten off to. "Chi-chi, kitty-kitty!"

With a meow, the feline came out of the forest, stopping on the edge of the trail, well away from the horses. Violet rushed to her, scooping her up, murmuring nonsense to her.

"It's not riding with me," Tamival said firmly.

"I'll take her," his brother said. "Here, pass her up to me."

Dubiously, Violet lifted Chi-chi to him, fully expecting her to protest and try to get away. She was shocked when the cat leapt from her hands into his, allowing him to set her on top of Violet's bag tied to the back of his horse.

Sending her traitorous pet a scowl, she stepped tentatively towards the mounted elf, "I've never been on a horse before."

Tamival snorted, "come. It isn't hard."

Perhaps I would be more willing if you weren't such an ass, she thought, reaching to take his hand.

"Put your left foot in the stirrup and swing yourself up," Tamirell instructed from his horse.

Violet had to hike her skirts up to her thigh to get her foot in the stirrup, baring most of her leg which was not covered by a stocking. Tamival's eyes widened at the sight before he turned his head to look away. She realized that she had no underwear on under the skirts and flushed pink. His brother chuckled.

With him pulling her up, she managed to climb up behind him with little grace. Once up on the animal, the ground seemed far away. When they started forward, she wrapped her arms around Tamival's waist to hang on for dear life and closed her eyes, praying to the goddess that she didn't fall off.

"There's no need to cut off my breathing," he grunted.

"I beg to differ," she said into his back.

"I am not such a cur to let you fall."

"You're actions so far say differently," she retorted, but loosened her grip slightly.

His brother laughed from beside them, "she has a point, brother."

Tamival replied in their language, making Tamirell laugh even harder. Violet wondered if she could devise a spell to turn him into a toad. After her feet were back on the ground.

Traveling by horseback was faster than walking, she had to admit once her initial fear abated. The ground practically flew by under them, though the few times she looked down, she was threatened by vertigo. Belia's gate was smooth, and the rocking motion lulled her almost to sleep against Tamival's broad back. Every time she was about to doze off, her grip loosened oh Tamival and she slumped to the side, starting to slide off Belia's back. Tamival would slap her thigh sharply to wake her up.

After the third time, the Tamirell brought them to a stop. The shadows had grown long with the sinking sun.

"This is a good place to stop for the night," he announced.

Tamival grunted, "there's still daylight left for traveling."

"Violet will not make it much farther," his brother pointed out. "Unless you want her to fall off your horse."

"Very well," Tamival said grudgingly.

Violet released her grip on him and shifted in preparation for getting down.

"Hold," Tamival said over his shoulder sitting stiffly in the saddle, "wait for Tamirell to help you."

"That's okay," she brushed him off, focused with just getting off the horse and away from him. Her leg still stung from his last slap. "I can do this."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged and removed his foot from the stirrup for her.

Without his assistance, she struggled to find something to hold on to as she swung her leg over and down, settling for the rounded edge of the saddle. As she lowered herself, her foot didn't touch the ground when she expected it too and she lost her grip on the saddle falling backwards with her other foot still in the stirrup.

"Crap!" she yelped, flailing her arms.

A strong pair of arms wrapped around her, stopping her fall, "are you determined to hurt yourself?" Tamirell asked.

Trying to kick her foot free of the stirrup, she sputtered, "well, I thought…,"

Tamirell's shocked intake of breath stopped her. Once again, her skirts had risen, leaving her leg bare. An angry red handprint marred the pale skin of her thigh, overlying two others that had faded only slightly. Flushing furiously, Violet yanked her skirts down to cover it and managed to pull her foot free at last.

Tamirell said something harsh to his brother as he set her down, who answered angrily.

Pulling away from her rescuer, she insisted, "it's nothing. It'll fade soon."

Violet tried to take a step, but her legs didn't seem to want to work and Tamirell had to catch her again to her continued humiliation.

"Give yourself a moment," he told her. "Your legs just have to adjust to being back on the ground. This is a common occurrence with new riders."

She could only cling to him while she waited for her legs to cooperate once again. He spoke to his brother briefly, and Tamival took both horses, leading them off the road and into the darkening forest.

"Do you think you can walk now?" Tamirell asked.

She nodded mutely, waiting for him to release her. Taking slow step, she found her legs would once more obey her commands. He led her from the road to an area nearby where Tamival had tethered the horses and was removing their saddles. Tamirell began setting up camp, clearing an area on the ground for him and his brother to roll out their blankets. After tending to the horses, Tamivol disappeared into the forest.

Violet unrolled her blanket on the other side of the clear area from the brothers' beds. Tamirell glanced over and frowned but said nothing. She pulled out the food, Alvina had given her and held it out.

"I have some food if you're hungry," she offered.

"Put your food away," he told her as he started building a fire in the center of the area. "Tamival went to find something. We'll have hot food tonight."

Wearily, she put the food back in the bag and stretched out on her blanket. Chi-chi curled up in a kitty loaf next to her. She must have been more tired than she thought because she was asleep before Tamirell had the fire lit.