(A/N: This chapter is heavily influenced by a song called 'Faerie Queen' by Heather Alexander. Down to even dialogue in a good few places. So yeah, that song and artist gets a lot of credit. The solos in that song aren't the ones I envisioned in this chapter, just so you know, so they're not a good reference point for what they would sound like.)

Winter

He wore a crown of red leaves and berries in fall. The crown seemed to change with the seasons. When winter came, his crown became one of frosted pine and twigs. His garden disappeared, mostly, beneath snow. He built, then, a barn and a coop, the largest available, and filled it with animals of all sorts who were most often outside. Both barn and coop were always open for them to come and go as they pleased. Each creature he brought adored him the moment they met him. The cellar of his house he filled with casks and preserve jars. A storage building—they couldn't call it a shed, what he'd done with it made it seem more like a treasury—was built by Robyn for him, and beyond what the carpenter had done, he himself built onto it by his own hands via a means they had yet to understand.

During the Festival of Ice, he stood staring into the secret forest that was temporarily blocked off, as if longing to go there rather than be in the midst of their celebration. No one questioned him. His gazing into those woods was typical. He tended to stay far away from them, disappearing into Cindersnap forest and only emerging every so often to check on the progression of the festivities. When the festival ended, he went deep into Cindersnap forest as the others went home, and entered the secret woods unseen. He didn't emerge from that place until the dawn. Leah saw him coming and demanded to know if he was alright and if he'd gotten lost. His answer had been an amused smirk and an assurance that never could he be lost in a forest. Then he left her company without a word more.

That winter he began to fish and enter the mines more often. Within the span of a week, he cleared the caverns down to the lowest floor, purging everything that stood in his path, cleansing the mountain of the beasts within. More would of course find their way to the mines, but regularly he'd make the trip back down to empty it again. Things were being fixed and repaired with no one having a clue as to how or when, and it seemed always to happen in the night. Before the end of the season, he brought the Community Center back to life and drove Joja Corp from the Valley with extreme, extreme, extreme prejudice. It was like it had never been there! He took the ruins of the store and marked it off for himself, and gradually those who walked by started to notice subtle changes to it as if it was being prepared for something great. He did all of this before the Feast of the Winter's Star, and it was good. Everything was so good!

Then, if it hadn't already been, good became a relative term…

Stardew

Winter was nearing its close. Before its end, a raven-haired youth proposed to a pale young maiden with purple hair, and the valley rejoiced at the engagement. The ceremony would take place late winter, it was decided, and for a time everything was going alright… Until it wasn't…

Shane stood at the edge of the cliff gazing down, tears threatening his eyes. He refused to let them fall. He always did. He breathed deeply in through the nose and closed his eyes, imagining what it would be like to just… fall forward. The wind on his face, the weightlessness, the stillness… He let the breath out and leaned forward. "Shane?" a voice said. He stopped, opening his eyes but not turning. He kept looking over the edge. "What are you doing at the edge of the cliff?"

Shane closed his eyes, drawing a shaky breath again. "Enjoying the peace and quiet. Or was until you showed up," he answered gruffly. He turned around. Sebastian. It wasn't often Sebastian was spotted in the woods, in fact it was virtually never, but apparently fate just loved to conspire against Shane, because here he was. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a walk, clearing my head. I have a lot to think about," Sebastian replied.

Shane was quiet. "Congratulations on your engagement," he soon said. "Figuring out a place to live one of those things you're thinking about?"

"Yeah, it is," Sebastian replied, flushing a bit. "There's not really a lot here in Stardew Valley, or many places to set up in. Might end up having to beg my mom for help to build something. Or we could move into the city. There's not much opportunity here."

"Ain't that the truth," Shane wryly agreed. "You old enough for a beer, kid?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow but nonetheless cautiously approached. Shane knelt and pulled one out, tossing it over to him. Sebastian caught it and looked dubiously at it. Shane pulled one out for himself and cracked it open before tipping his head back to drink from it. Sebastian eyed the other warily before opening his own and sipping. He grimaced at the temperature of it, and the taste - he'd had better - but settled anyway. They stood in silence, Shane looking over the edge and Sebastian watching the horizon quietly.

"Come away from the cliff, Shane," Sebastian finally said.

Shane tensed up. "Don't you have a friend to go hang out with?" he replied.

"The way I'm seeing it, hanging with an acquaintance might be the better idea right now," Sebastian replied. Shane bitterly chuckled but said nothing. "Get away from the cliff, Shane," Sebastian said again. Shane's jaw twitched slightly. He scoffed, turning and picking up the beers, walking away from it. He wasn't going towards Marnie's ranch, though. Sebastian frowned suspiciously and followed. "It's getting late. You should go home," he said.

"Look kid, I'm like ten years older than you, if not more. You don't get to pull that card," Shane said.

"You're less than ten years older than me, I'm pretty sure," Sebastian replied. Unless he was in his mid-thirties. Not impossible, but doubtful. "Marnie will be expecting you. Jas might want you to say goodnight or read her a story."

"I'll get there when I get there!" Shane snapped.

"Fine with me. Where are we walking?" Sebastian asked.

"You mean me? As in singular me?" Shane replied, glaring back at the young man.

"No. I'm not leaving," Sebastian said.

"Oh? And why not?" Shane asked, turning and crossing his arms confrontationally.

"I'm not going to fight you, Shane," Sebastian said, stepping back a bit. He didn't continue to back away, though, and he didn't seem intimidated in the least. "I'm worried. That's all. People don't stand precariously close to cliff edges and lean forward if they're doing okay."

"People don't live their lives in basements and despise the cheeriness of summer and spring and daylight if they're doing okay," Shane replied. Sebastian's eyes narrowed, but he didn't snap up the bait. Instead he sipped from the beer and said nothing. He was sticking close, so Shane better get used to it. Shane shifted. "What could I even do to myself in this forest?! I'm away from the cliffs. No more danger, see?"

"Hanging isn't exactly an uncommon method," Sebastian replied.

"Morbid little thing, aren't you? No. I wouldn't do that to Jas," Shane replied.

"You were about to do it at the cliffs," Sebastian said.

"At least that way she could be told it was an accident!" Shane said.

"And that, what, makes it better?" Sebastian asked.

"It makes it less painful. Yeah," Shane replied. He wouldn't meet Sebastian's eyes, though.

"There's also a lake out here that I won't let you go to alone, and the generic dangers of a forest at night," Sebastian said.

"Damn you," Shane all but snarled.

"You're drunk. Sleep it off," Sebastian said. "Maybe in the morning you'll start thinking more clearly."

"Go spend time with your fiancée or something, Sebastian! Leave me alone," Shane replied.

"My fiancée is doing a week-gig at the Casino in the desert," Sebastian replied. "Emily brought her there a few weeks ago and convinced her to play for Sandy. Sandy liked it and recommended her. Abigail's always been great with music."

"And Emily's always been great at helping people out," Shane murmured, head bowed.

"She is… Maybe you should talk to her," Sebastian said.

"You think I haven't? I have. Stopped that a while ago now though. Don't… want her thinking that she wasn't good enough or didn't do enough if… if something bad happens…" Shane said.

"People care about you, Shane. You can't escape that whether you shut them out or not," Sebastian replied.

"That what's kept you going, emo boy?" Shane bit.

"Yeah, actually. It is," Sebastian said unwaveringly. Shane started, visibly surprised at the response. "What, you think I haven't had thoughts like that before? I'm not a stranger to those feelings, you know… Or to attempting it…" Again, Shane looked stunned. "Three times. When I was a teenager."

Shane was quiet. "Teenagers are hormonal, emotional, impulsive, and have all-around bad judgement. There's a reason so many of them pull that kind of shit. Get those feelings in adulthood, on the other hand…"

"You're making excuses, Shane," Sebastian cut off with a scoff, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Read my lips. Take. A. Hike," Shane said.

"Read my lips. No. Way. In. Hell," Sebastian answered. "Please. Let's just walk. I don't want to argue with you, I don't want to fight, I just… I just want to make sure you'll be alright. I know right now you don't want to be, but you need to be."

Shane was quiet, glaring at Sebastian. "Fine," he finally relented. Sebastian nodded gratefully.

Stardew

They walked in silence, maybe every so often making small talk. Usually if Sebastian noticed Shane starting to look for an escape, in which case the short conversation would be a distraction. He didn't notice what Shane was doing. Not until they were right there. He saw the path to the secret forest, he noticed the time of night, and he put the pieces together in a heartbeat. That heartbeat, though, was all the time Shane needed to break for it and all but throw himself into the secret forest. "Shane, no, don't do it!" Sebastian shouted after him in alarm, racing after the man desperately. He had to stop him before it was too late!

The Secret Woods are mine…

Elliott's message from the elf king…

Woe to whosoever determines they will not heed my warnings in regard to them.

"Shane!" Sebastian frantically called. "You can't do this! Don't do this!"

I have told what may happen to those who stumble across my subjects at their merrymaking. You know the cost of your curiosity.

"Shane, no!" Sebastian cried out desperately as a distant glimmer of light came into sight. Sebastian cursed his smoking now, but pushed himself into a desperate sprint, determined to stop the other from this madness.

Shane drew nearer to the light and nearer. His breaths became more ragged and frantic the closer he came. He heard mysterious singing and eerie moaning and gritted his teeth, determined to make it to the circle of light. It was true. It was all true! For once he was glad to be wrong about something. He was almost there, just a little farther…

"Shane!" Sebastian shouted out from right behind him. He felt someone seize the back of his shirt and throw him backwards before crying out in alarm and stumbling, rolling down a hill and right into the circle of light!

Stardew

Shane gasped, snapping out of his momentary loss of sense. He went pale as he looked out and saw the elf king standing tall and imposing and fierce, eyes ablaze with wrath and vindictiveness. The fairies floated in the air, circling and glaring. The Junimos shivered uncertainly, backing away a bit.

No…

Shane caught his breath and made to leap out of the bush to drag Sebastian out of there, but then the elf-king spoke, and it was as if he suddenly couldn't move… "Why have you come here, mortal?" the erlking asked.

"I-I was looking for a-a friend," Sebastian, terrified, stammered out as he looked up at the creature in dread. "He-he hasn't been in a good place and he just vanished from his home! I was only trying to find him, I swear it! I didn't find him anywhere else!" Shane gawked in disbelief. Sebastian was covering for him? Sebastian was… was protecting him… Shane felt like he'd been punched. He hated when he was forced to face the fact people cared for him, and this? Sebastian was all but offering his life to keep him alive and safe!

And you want to throw it all away. You think he's the only one who would have done this for you…?

It wasn't okay. No! Again, Shane tried to move or to call out or to anything. Again, he failed. "A noble goal, that I cannot deny," the elven king said, pacing around Sebastian. "But you would have been better to wait 'til daybreak."

"It might have been too late," Sebastian said through gritted teeth.

"Now it is instead too late for you," the elf king said. He came around in front of Sebastian and bent down, staring into his eyes. "I gave my warnings, I told my price. You knew the cost of discovery." Sebastian was quiet, willing himself not to shiver. The elf rose up straight again. For a moment tiredness came to his eyes before he hid it again. "Mortal, you should have stayed away… Now here you kneel, and here I stand bound by my word… Do not think I take pleasure in this…"

"Then let me go," Sebastian said, unable to hide the fear anymore. "Please, please let me go."

"Shh… It will be alright. I won't hurt you," he soothed, reaching out a hand and gently touching Sebastian's head. Sebastian gasped and stiffened. He stopped shivering. He stopped everything. Just knelt still as the elf king did whatever it was he was doing. Shane fought to get control of his body and voice again, inwardly cursing the elf king for all he was worth. The creature soon withdrew his hand. Sebastian stayed still, eyes glazed over as if he were in a trance. "Rise," the elf king ordered. Sebastian did so without protest. Shane, in a cold sweat, quickly realized what had been done. He'd enthralled him. The elf king had enthralled Sebastian! He'd… he'd made him his slave.

The fairies approached again, and the junimos. "I know you're there, mortal. Had I not, you would have been able to move," the elf said, and Shane knew immediately it was to him the king had spoken. Like magic his control of his own body seemed to return and he shot to his feet, racing out in a fury ready to full on tackle the elf king. He lunged but passed right through! He gasped and looked around quickly. He started. The elf king and his fairy ring was behind him?! But-but how?

"Let him go!" Shane shouted furiously, scowling.

"He knew the price he would pay. His dishonesty, arguably noble though it was, did not help his case," the elf king replied.

"It was the price I should have paid, not him! Let him go and take me! It was me! He only tried to stop me," Shane insisted frantically. "Please, he's just getting his life together. He's engaged to be married, he's planning for a future! Let him go, I'm begging you."

"He knew the price he would pay for you," the elf king specified, glaring over at Shane. "Selfish mortal, you should have suspected an outcome such as this. Did you really think your life was worth so little that there would not be those willing to give their own to protect it? This young man… not even a friend and yet this is the price he paid for you. Now go back to your village and ne'er return here. The next time you consider ending your life in my woods, my valley, my kingdom, remember this night and remember what this boy gave to ensure your survival."

Shane gaped, struck dumb. Tears burned in his eyes as he stared at Sebastian. He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "No! I won't leave here without him. Give me the kid right now! I won't let you take him, and if you go I won't stop searching for him until I've found him!" This was his fault, and he would do whatever it took to fix it. "He has a family, a mother and sister and fiancée and step-father. He has a future!"

"And it seems he believed that you also did. Now go, and may you live it," the elf king said.

"Give me the kid!" Shane snapped viciously.

"Guard your tongue in my presence," the elf testily replied.

"If I get my hands on you, you treacherous, filthy, woodland sadist, I'll tear your eyes and hair out of your head!" Shane threatened. "Give him to me!"

"I am done with you," the elf replied, turning his back and walking away, flanked by the fairies and junimos. Sebastian stared at Shane a moment more before turning and following as well, standing at the elf's side.

"Sebastian, don't!" Shane called, racing forward and reaching out to catch him. He passed through and looked around with a gasp. There was no one here! Shane gasped, looking frantically around. "No. No, no, no, no, no, Sebastian!" Shane called, searching desperately. He didn't leave the woods until the next morning. He ran from them and raced right to Robin and Demetri's house. He had to tell them what had befallen their son. Maybe they could help! …Or beat him into a fine pulp for losing him… Oh god, Abigail. What was he supposed to tell Abigail?! She was due back in less than a week. He damned himself a million times over, but now wasn't the time for self-loathing, now was the time for action. He wasn't going to rest until he fixed his grave mistake.

Stardew

Three days of searching yielded nothing. Both Elliott and Harvey, who knew who the farmer really was, had gone to his glade to plead with him. He hadn't been there. Linus and Penny and Willie and Evelyn all tried desperately to contact him as well, but he would meet with none of them. The only one who'd made contact was the wizard, and the wizard had come back grieved and empty handed. A shake of his head had told them he had been able to do nothing. Robyn was devastated… Three days of searching yielded nothing. She mourned deeply along with her daughter. Demetrius… He was hard to read. Numb, would be the term perhaps. Numb and guilt-stricken.

"Sebastian! Sebby!" Robin called into the woods desperately, in tears and almost totally broken.

"Sebastian, where are you?! Elf king, bring him back! Give me my brother back!" Maru screamed furiously into the forest. Harvey put a grounding hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Screaming would do nothing to help. The elf would do what he would do.

Shane stood numbly by a tree, looking down into the glade where last he'd seen Sebastian. "It wasn't your fault," Emily said, coming up behind him and gently touching his arm.

"How was it not my fault?" he asked through gritted teeth, closing his eyes tight. "If I hadn't… He would still be here, Emily… He would still be here…"

"Don't do that to yourself. Please," Emily said.

"It should have been me," Shane said. "He had his whole life ahead of him."

"Stop it," she said through gritted teeth. "I hate it when you talk like everyone in this valley except for you has a future ahead of them. You have one too, Shane! You have one too. Sebastian saw that, I see it, everyone sees it! Why can't you?"

Shane was quiet. "It shouldn't have been this way," he said, voice breaking.

"We'll fix it. We'll find him and the monster that took him," Emily stated.

Shane was quiet. "Has Abigail heard?" he asked.

"No. Caroline and Pierre are hoping he'll be found before she comes back tomorrow. After that, though…" Emily began. She trailed off.

Shane nodded. "He could be right here. He could be standing right in our midst and we wouldn't know it if he didn't want us to. His illusions… I've never seen anything like it before… He could be right here… Elliott keeps saying the fae are neither wicked nor good, Evelyn says they're apathetic towards mortal-kind… But how can this be anything other than wicked, what he's done and what he's doing…?" Emily was quiet. She didn't know…

Stardew

Abigail rode back to Stardew Valley on a horse, smiling widely. The week of gigs at the casino had been so great! She'd had no idea her musical ability would be so appreciated outside of the valley. She was really, really happy Emily and Sandy had given her this chance. She felt professional, and she'd made a surprising amount for her performances. Now she could go home, and in a day or two more she and Sebastian would marry. Oh, she couldn't wait!

Suddenly her horse froze in place, ears twitching. She frowned curiously. "Hey, what is it boy?" she asked. The horse whinnied a bit and began looking uneasily around. "Whoa, what…?" she began. Suddenly it bucked with a screech! She screamed as she was thrown from its back into a nearby ditch. She cried out in pain. The horse kept rearing and freaking out before suddenly calming down. Abigail stared at it, mouth agape in shock. What on earth had gotten into it?! "What's the matter with you?! What…?" she began, trying to rise as she looked down the road. She stopped dead, falling silent as a wondrous sight met her wide eyes. Her lips parted in awe and wonder. "Oh my god…" she breathed.

There, coming towards her, was a train of fairy creatures dancing by, cavorting around their king who rode tall and proud upon an elk, the most beautiful man she'd ever seen in her life. Creature, a voice corrected in her mind. Whatever it was she was seeing, it was anything but a man. The Elfin King… She saw the figure of a mortal trailing behind him, utterly and totally enthralled to the fae. The king had been out hunting, she noted on realizing it, delighted by the prize trailing behind him like a pet. As they neared singing and dancing, though, she saw in the mystical glow just who that prize was. She would know those gentle eyes anywhere. She gave a cry, covering her mouth in horror. No. Sebastian! Oh gods, no! No! She had to do something. She had to save him!

As they drew abreast of her, she stood. "Elfin King, I challenge you for your prize! He's my husband soon to be, and I won't let you have him!" she furiously shouted.

They stopped and he stared down at her, the king astride his steed, and read her quietly. Her flaming eyes met his evenly and defiantly and bravely. She wouldn't back down. She wouldn't show him fear! "I see you have the courage, dear, but skill is what you need."

"Skill?" she warily asked, suspicious. What did he mean? His gaze travelled to her flute.

She tensed, eyes widening slightly. Her skill with music. Oh no… She swallowed, glancing at it, then looked back at him boldly. "By all means, my lord, set the rules."

"We each shall play a song, and when we have finished I will declare which of us played best. Should you win, this mortal toy I'll free without protest," the elf king replied.

Abigail glared. To most that would seem like a majorly biased approach to it, but the elven king wasn't mortal or human. He was of the fair folk, and that name hadn't been given to them lightly. You could count on no one to be fairer than they when push came to shove. For the most part. Albeit they were fair in a… not entirely 'fair' sense. "Fine," she finally agreed. "Let's begin then."

He hummed and turned to his entourage of fairy creatures. Two of them flew forward, holding a panpipe between them that was as black as the elf king was fae. They placed it in his hands, and he raised it to his lips, and without hesitation he began to play…

Stardew

Abigail was enchanted and entranced the moment the first notes departed the instrument. She listened in wonder and awe as he played his tune of the forest, melancholy and sad, heartbroken. Filled with pain and remembrance, powerful but regretful and angry… Aged and betrayed… His music almost seemed to speak and tell a tale that came across so plain in her mind it was as if she had been there herself, and the tale it told moved her to tears with its beauty so at times she felt like sobbing, though she managed to refrain. She cherished every sound that left the instrument… And hated it… With every note he played her heart sank lower and lower. She couldn't hope to compete with the music of the elves… For three minutes the song went on—no doubt an abridged version of what it was meant to be—and slowly died out.

Her spirit low, she raised her flute. Where could she even start? How could she hope to match him? She looked to Sebastian in grief. His eyes were on her and she met them… It almost seemed as if some part of him understood… She could feel he was afraid. She could feel him, despite that, trying to assure her that it was alright, trying to assure her she'd at least tried… Pleading with her to go and be safe… She stared into her lover's eyes then looked into her heart, trying to find something. Anything. Her head filled with mortal dreams, kisses beneath the moon, embraces in the spring rain and summer sun, the changing seasons passing them by as they'd grown older, drawing them nearer and nearer to one another… She wanted to spend her life with him… She needed to. She wouldn't let the elf king take him away.

She looked up at the faerie king once more and brought the flute to her lips, beginning her tune. Her plea. Yes, plea. She poured heart and soul into the music, trying her best to make it into a story as he had done. Trying to give him, without words, her entreaty, trying to express everything Sebastian meant to her and to his mother and sister and even his step-father, though you'd never guess with Demetrius, and to Sam. She was begging, she knew. Not with words or with actions, but with music, pleading and pleading desperately for him to let Sebastian go.

Let him go. Just let him go…

The Elf King listened in silence. She couldn't read his expression and her heart sank… When she could think of no more to play, she lowered the flute and raised her head, arms feeling like lead and heart ablaze. If she had to, if her plea wasn't enough, then she would fight for him. She would do whatever it took to get Sebastian back. The elf king looked down on her and now she could read his expression. He was shaken. Straight to the core he was shaken! That was good, right? Right?!

"I've played for many centuries, but by the stars above… Child, your skill was not enough, but hardly did it need to be; for you played with all that was in your heart… Skill cannot compare to that deep a love. You have won your prize. Take him and go on your way in peace with my respect," the elf king said. Sebastian suddenly gasped and gave a cry, collapsing to the ground. She caught her breath and ran to him quickly, sliding next to him.

"Sebby!" she said, lifting him into her arms as best she could and looking frantically down at him. He shuddered in her embrace and his eyes began to flicker open again.

"A-Abby?" he said, sounding both scared and concerned. "Abby, what are you doing here? You can't be here!"

"It's alright. I'm alright," she quickly soothed, sniffing and wiping her eyes quickly as she forced a grin. "Everything's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

"Wh-where am I?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter. You're with me now," she replied, voice breaking. "I'm going to get you back home. How long have you been like this?"

"Four days," the elf king answered. "To him it seems only a moment. His confusion is for the fact he is no longer in the secret woods."

"Sebastian, what were you thinking going there?!" she freaked. "You knew what waited for you there, you knew!"

"So did Shane," Sebastian said, grimacing, and Abigail caught her breath. It didn't take much to put together a vague picture of what may have happened. She looked up to the elf king and gasped. He was no longer there, at least not that she could see. Nor were his company. She didn't have time to question it.

Abigail turned attention back to Sebastian and helped him to rise. "It's almost over. You're going to be home soon with your mom and step-dad and sister… I can't even imagine the hell they're going through."

"As if Demetrius would shed a tear," Sebastian said, grimacing. Abigail was silent. There was no use arguing with him, she knew. He tended to need to figure things out on his own. She helped him onto her horse and mounted with him, positioning herself in front. It wouldn't be an easy task to ride behind him. He was taller than her so she wouldn't have been able to even see very well where she was going. He seemed balanced enough, though, and wrapped his arms around her middle gently. She glanced concernedly back at him then made for home at a canter, not wanting to go too fast but not wanting to risk being in these woods longer than was strictly necessary.

Stardew

The people of the town were returning to their homes dejected and miserable. Another day with no sign of Sebastian. No one spoke. There was nothing that could be said. Demetrius held the sobbing Robin close to himself and kept a grounding hand on Maru's shoulder, his daughter near to breaking down. He wasn't fond of her relationship with Dr. Harvey, but right now he was profoundly grateful the man was at her side holding her hand. It was probably helping. He hadn't spoken to Harvey since seeing the way his daughter had greeted him after his rescue. When only days later Harvey had approached him to ask for permission to court his daughter—no doubt at Maru's prompting, the man wouldn't have had the guts to ask otherwise—he'd almost physically thrown him out but was stopped by Robin's firm glare. He hadn't given his express permission, it was more a 'do whatever you want, it's not like I could stop her if I tried anyway' thing. With time he'd… calmed a little about the situation. He'd even started seriously considering the possibility of maybe one day speaking to him again, or if nothing else giving him tentative approval, but he was reluctant. Just… something wasn't entirely right, he felt. About the doctor. No, it wasn't the age gap—goodness, the difference between them wasn't even overly large a gap, though it might certainly waggle a few eyebrows—but it was something. He just couldn't pin it.

A whinny was heard suddenly, and they all turned hoping it might be the farmer returning. He might be able to speak to the elf-king on their behalf and get Sebastian back! Those few who knew the truth of what the man was, though, held no such illusions, and only stared numbly not relishing seeing him. They gasped, however, when they saw that the one on the horse was none other than Abigail. And behind her rode Sebastian!

Robin gave a cry and jerked away from Demtrius. Maru quickly followed, and Sam, then Shane. "Sebby!" Robin screamed, all but dragging her son off the horse and falling back onto the ground weeping and clinging tightly to him like she'd never thought she'd see him again. She probably hadn't, Sebastian knew, so the last thing he felt was begrudging. He coughed as Maru all but leapt on top of him too, hugging him as tightly as she could and letting herself cry now, this time in relief and happiness.

"Oh my god, you're alive. You're alive!" Sam all but cheered, dragging him off the ground. Maru clung to him and so was pretty much pulled up too. Sam hugged him tightly. "Dude, I thought I'd never see you again!"

"You're okay," Shane said, voice suddenly weak and near breaking.

"Yeah. I am," Sebastian replied, looking at him.

"I… I'm sorry…" Shane said.

"Don't. I chose it," Sebastian replied.

"But you shouldn't have had to," Shane whispered, bowing his head ashamedly and closing his eyes.

"Stop it, Shane," Sebastian warned. "I shouldn't have had to, but I did happily. And maybe next time you'll think twice about pulling a moronic stunt like that."

"He said the elf king got you. How did you get away?" Demetrius asked, tentatively approaching his step-son.

Sebastian glared warningly at him. He stopped approaching. Sebastian sighed, relaxing his stance and looking away as a silent invite for Demetrius to keep coming. He did so carefully. "It was Abigail who saved me," he said. "She challenged the elven king and he took her up on it. A music contest… She won, by his decree, and I was the prize so he set me free."

"The elven king offered you?" Shane said in shock. He caught a smug smirk on both Evelyn and Elliott's faces and frowned. "Don't say it," he warned them.

"Say what? That the fae are neither kind nor cruel?" Elliott blamelessly questioned.

"You want to eat this?" Shane threatened, showing his fist. Elliott smirked victoriously but wasn't stupid enough to push his luck any further. Shane wasn't known for idle threats.

"I don't believe he ever wanted to hurt the boy," Evelyn said. "Did he harm you, dear?"

"No, Mrs. Mullner. He didn't. He… he treated me well," Sebastian replied. He'd been a thrall, not zombified. He remembered snippets of his time with the elf king. "I was fed from his table. I was given wine to drink, milk and water when I expressed distaste for the wine. I had a place to sleep that was my own, in case anyone's afraid something disturbing was happening when it wasn't… I was safe." The food had been to die for, but he wasn't going to confess that lest Gus get upset. He'd arguably had it pretty good for a faerie prisoner, so he doubted there'd been much for maliciousness behind the creature's actions.

"You were an example," Shane said. "For me."

"Did you get it?" Sebastian asked. Shane didn't respond, though the way he shifted uncomfortably implied he had. "Then I don't begrudge the elfin king anything he did. Have you even thought about your depression or suicide since I've been gone?"

Shane looked puzzled, then startled. He hadn't, he realized in shock. It hadn't even crossed his mind. Guilt, yeah, but not anything like suicide. He'd been too focused on fixing his mistake and finding Sebastian and getting him back. He hadn't even touched alcohol since Sebastian was taken! He hadn't had the time to think about it.

"The doings of the Fair Folk are both blessing and curse. It depends on how one looks upon their actions that makes the difference," Elliott spoke up. "You think what was done a cruelty. Perhaps it was; but look at the good that also has come from it." No one spoke, left to seriously consider Elliott's words. One by one they drifted off back to their homes and spoke no further on the mysterious elven king that had come among them, and both cursed and helped as he saw fit… The farmer wasn't seen again until Abigail and Sebastian's wedding day…