Edited on August 24, 2014. I'm currently working through this story and making slight adjustments to the story in order to fix certain inaccuracies that started popping up later in the story.

I own nothing of the Black Jewels Trilogy or any following novels. All rights go to Anne Bishop. Thanks for reading!

BJT:ANW

Chapter 7

Arina slowed Star as the group of teens arrived in the large, flat clearing covered in wildflowers, looking around curiously. "This is a really pretty place," she said with a smile. Lucien smiled back at her.

"It's our favorite place to go when we're at the Keep or Uncle Lucivar's," he told her as he dismounted and walked over to help her down. She glared at him for a moment from Star's back, but then sighed and let him help her down. Meanwhile, Rose had called in the picnic supplies, and the boys were setting things up as the girls dismounted. Within minutes, all the teens were sitting down, eating sandwiches and stew, and generally relaxing away from the bustle of the town. The males were certainly less tense, considering how unhappy they had been in town. Having no one else around—no threats around—was something that they were pleased about.

The group settled down and started eating, chatting quietly as the girls grouped together closer to the middle with the boys around them. It wasn't until they were all finished with the main course and were about to start the desert—some wonderful looking miniature apple pies—when Arina cleared her throat.

"Wait a minute, please" she said quietly. "We need to talk." Never good words to hear, and they got everyone's attention.

"I've never really been good at talking to people, so I'm just going to say this. Jaenelle arranged for me and the girls to go to…Arachna, right?"

"Yes," Rose confirmed.

"Arachna. I'm not doing it because of you…ok, that's a lie." Arina paused and looked around at the males. None of them looked happy. She looked down at her lap reflexively. "Let me explain, ok? I'm sure you already know that my…former life was very difficult. I don't know how much you all know, and I'm not sure how much I want you to know. But frankly, everything is so different here, and you all make me nervous, on top of trying to understand the rules here. I'm not used to the attention that you all are giving me. You, and everyone else, so don't think that it's only you. I just am not really handling things well, here and now. Jaenelle said that I needed to be alone for a while, or at least mostly alone, and to have my time. So she arranged the trip for me."

The males all looked at each other over Arina's head. This news was not entirely unexpected to them, although certainly unpleasant. While Arina had never been exactly afraid of them, she had always been on edge, tense, and nervous, except when she was taken by surprise, unguarded. Witch, more than anyone else, would have understood this and made arrangements accordingly.

Lucien growled softly, despite himself. He understood why his mother had arranged this, and even agreed that it was a good thing, that it would help settle Arina. But he still didn't want her to leave. His every instinct demanded that he be there, that he guard her, and never let her out of his sight. He knew he'd have to work on that last one, though.

Arina's nerves flared momentarily as he growled, then faded as Arina took a deep breath and steadied herself.

"How long will you be gone?" Yaslana asked slowly, thoughtful, but reluctantly accepting.

"Two or three weeks, most likely," Rose responded for her.

"Maybe a bit longer, depending on how quickly I can adjust," Arina said, "but not more than a month at most." She smiled faintly. "I've started to think of this place as home, kind of. I'll miss it."

"Will you miss us?" Andulvar teased quietly.

Arina smiled slightly, then grabbed one of the little pies. "Maybe, maybe not," she said jauntily, and took a bite quickly. Several of the girls laughed before they could stop themselves, and then even the boys were laughing.

Arina got to her feet, holding a second pie along with hers. She smiled at Lucien. "Do you want to walk?" she asked, gesturing to the trees. He got up very quickly, smiling brightly, relief coursing through him.

"I'd love to," he replied. She smiled slightly as she turned for the trees, him following behind her.

BJT:ANW

The pair entered the woods in silence, and Arina relaxed a little as the trees cast them in shadow.

"So," she said after a few minutes of simply walking in silence, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, anything," Lucien responded lightly. "Books you like, or childhood memories…I feel like I don't really know anything about you."

"But you still think that you love me," Arina mused. "Now there's something that I don't really understand."

Lucien paused and looked at Arina. "What do you know about my parents?" he asked her abruptly.

She looked surprised. "Very little. She is Witch, Dreams Made Flesh, and your father is the Warlord Prince of Dhemlen, and wears the Black Jewels. Other than that, though, nothing."

"My father loved my mother for over 700 years, before she was even born. He loved her, and waited for her, for that long. Really, he was made for her. So I don't find it strange that I already love you, even though it seems difficult for you to grasp. I just know that I was made for you, just like my father was made for my mother. I just didn't have to wait for you seven hundred years. I don't know how he managed it, to be honest."

Arina gave him a curious look. "700 years?" she said in astonishment. "Really?"

"You did know that we were of the long lived races, right?"

"Long lived?" she asked, somewhat warily. "How long lived?"

"About 4000 years," Lucien replied lightly. She stopped dead and gave him a look of utter horror. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"We…4000…what?" her voice was faint.

"You didn't know?" he asked gently. She shook her head slowly. "It must not have come up before then," he mused. "It's not a really big deal, though," he continued. "There are many people who are long lived, so it's not like you will never have friends. I'll be there, and so will my family."

"I'm…alright. It's just…a shock," she replied, finally snapping out of her shock. "In my world, no one is long lived. There are stories, fairy tales really, of certain races that are immortal unless they are killed, of course, but in reality, living to be one hundred is considered ancient. You get special awards for it and all. I've never even considered living that long."

Lucien relaxed, then hesitantly reached out and took her hand, hoping that she wouldn't pull it back. She just looked at the way their hands were intertwined thoughtfully, but didn't protest.

"So," she said dryly, "in conclusion, we are going to live for a really freaking long time, and predestined soul mates are perfectly acceptable and no big deal."

"What's a soul mate?" Lucien asked curiously.

She laughed slightly. "A soul mate is someone who is made for someone else, their perfect match, and their other half. Supposedly in some cultures or stories, a true soul mate pair formed strong magical bonds, where each could, I don't know, communicate mentally, feel the other's emotions, and all kinds of cool things. But really the gist of the stories is that they were perfect compliments to the other."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess that would describe us pretty well," Lucien said with a slight smile.

"So you say, and yet you still don't know me," Arina replied, rolling her eyes slightly.

Lucien groaned. "Right," he muttered. The pair stopped under a huge tree that had a low branch that was set in a place that was just right someone to sit down on. He gestured to the seat, and Arina sat down with a slight smile. Once she was sitting on the branch, he sat down cross-legged on the ground in front of her. The young Queen raised her eyebrows in quiet amusement. "Alright," Lucien continued. "We have established that we really don't know much about each other, so we should go back to sharing our favorite books and things…"

"Just in general, you mean things that we enjoy, correct?" Arina clarified. "Because I have no idea what kind of books there are here, and you don't know the kind of books from my world."

"Well, yes," Lucien said after a moment, somewhat sheepish. "I forgot about that."

"We can do books, though," she teased. "I can let you mine, and you can lend me yours." He smiled at her in response as she relaxed, leaning against the tree.

"Alright," he said lazily.

She nudged him with her foot, grinning. "My favorite books are, among several others, the Narnia series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harry Potter, of course, and the Game of Thrones."

"I'll just pretend I knew what any of those were," Lucien said dryly. "Mine are the Tracker and Shadow novels by Lady Fiona and Lord Jared's journal."

"Sounds good," she said, giving him an identical smile to the one he had given her. "Maybe we should talk about colors and memories, rather than material things that we don't understand," she suggested, starting to laugh slightly. "My favorite color is purple."

"Blue," Lucien replied, laying down on the ground and folding his arms behind his head.

"I don't even know what this is telling us about each other," Arina mused.

"We're both bad at these stupid get to know you games?" Lucien offered. She snorted out a quick laugh. "We already know some things about each other. I know that you had a terrible childhood, without love, that you are incredibly intelligent, you have many loyal friends in the kindred from your world, and you crave freedom."

"Hmm…and I know that you had a wonderful childhood with loving parents and family, that you are very powerful and your family has great influence, you're a bit of a temperamental jerk, and your entire family is certifiably insane, including yourself, and you love me."

Lucien smiled, before the other part of what she had said registered. "Hey! I am not a temperamental jerk!"

"Yes you are, dear, but I don't hold it against you. You can't really help it, after all," Arina reassured him with a smirk. She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair. "Oh, wow," she murmured. "That's nice."

Lucien leaned into her touch slightly, resisting the urge to make any noise and scare her off. There were a few moments of silence as the two simply sat there together. Lucien had closed his eyes as Arina stroked his hair humming to herself.

*Hey, did you two get lost and fall down a hole?* Rose sent suddenly. Arina jumped, and Lucien swore.

*Dammit Rose!* he shouted back at her.

*What? It's been half an hour, you know. We really should be getting back to the Keep. Papa just asked where we were; they're getting worried.*

"Oh, fine," Lucien grumbled, getting up and brushing himself off before offering his hand to help Arina off her seat. She gave him an amused look as he pulled her up, but didn't say anything. *We're coming. Happy?* Lucien shot back to his sister.

*Ecstatic.* Rose replied tartly before cutting the link.

Arina started to pull the irate male back through the woods to return to the clearing. "We were gone for a while, you know," she said dryly. "And you don't quite have a monopoly on me yet."

Lucien broke into a smile just as the pair reached the edge of the woods and rejoined the other teens that were waiting with varying degrees of impatience…mostly on the part of the other males.

The blanket and picnic supplies had disappeared, and the others were already mounted.

Yet, Lucien thought as he mounted his horse after helping Arina up on Star. Yet. As the teens left the clearing, he listened to the girls plan the trip to Arachna. It will help, he told himself firmly, holding Arina's statement in his mind. He had a chance, and this trip would help her to settle more and allow them to connect. The trip that she was going on—alone—was a good thing. Arina caught his eye as she urged Star into a trot, the others following her lead. Leon and Farostel both skipped straight past the trot and burst into a gallop as they began racing up the mountain back towards the keep. Arina smiled at Lucien, before leaning forward to murmur into the horse's ear. A second later, Star and Arina exploded forward after the two males, leaving the others to groan, and try to catch up.

It will help. Now, if only he could actually convince himself of that, Lucien thought dryly as Arina disappeared over the hill after Leon and Farostel.

BJT:ANW

A hand touched Arina's shoulder, and she opened her eyes quickly. Jaenelle was leaning over her, waking her up. Jaenelle smiled as Arina struggled into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. "You look like me," the elder Witch said lightly. "I'm not much of a morning person either. I can't believe I'm out of bed this early." Arina blinked at her, then grinned before yawning widely. "Get dressed," Jaenelle instructed as she stepped back towards the door. "It's time to go. Do you remember how to vanish your things?"

Arina did in fact remember that lesson from Lorn. The others were slowly coming back to her over the days that she was awake. It was like she had learned it all, but her brain had closed that part of her brain off and was only letting some information back at a time so that she wasn't overwhelmed. Whatever it was that was doing it, she certainly appreciated it. She nodded to Jaenelle.

"Good," Jaenelle replied. "Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?" Arina nodded again, and Jaenelle smiled at her before leaving the room, probably to wake up the other girls or something, Arina thought fuzzily.

The young girl yawned again as she pulled herself out of her bed and pulled on the pair of jeans she had left on the floor by a chair. She grabbed a crimson sweater from the chair and tugged it on over a black undershirt as she slipped into the bathroom. Quickly she brushed her teeth before cleaning her face with bitingly cold water in an effort to wake up further. After a moments internal debate, she braided her hair down her back, then went to take care of her moontime, grumbling. Once she was done in the bathroom, forestalling makeup for the day, she put everything that she would need in a bad, then vanished it. Returning to her bedroom, she picked up the bag she had packed last night with several jeans, shirts, sweaters and sweatshirts and vanished it. After some thought, she added several books and two pillows in a separate bag to take. She then picked up a nice blanket that she had stolen—found—in another room and vanished them as well. The blanket had felt comforting, so she had taken it. She felt a little guilty, but she would return it later.

There was a knock on the door, and then Rose stuck her head in. "Are you ready?" she asked. Arina took one last look around the room, but couldn't see anything that she wanted to take. She had already vanished the heavy stuff last night, only leaving the clothes for today.

"Yes," Arina replied as she left the room and joined Rose in the hall. "I'm ready. Now what?"

"Come on, let's head to the courtyard. That's where we're leaving from, and most of the others should already be there, along with the carriage Mom got to take us to Arachna," Rose said as they started walking. "And when I say everyone, I do mean everyone. The boys found out where we were leaving, so they all showed up to say goodbye."

"I didn't know we weren't telling them," Arina said as they turned a corner.

"I know, but it just would have been easier. We said goodbye last night, after all."

"Still, it doesn't seem very fair, to just leave in the middle of the night," Arina argued. "It feels too much like we have to be sneaking around, leaving in the dark like criminals. It's not cool," she finished as the pair entered the courtyard and looked around. Janos promptly ran over to Arina and leaned against her legs, obviously hoping to be scratched. Arina smiled and obliged him, and crouched to start scratching behind his ears. The other males had turned to look when Janos raced over, and now started to come over in groups.

"Trying to leave without saying goodbye?" Yaslana called across the courtyard.

"Ask them," Arina replied lightly. "I didn't even know when we were leaving." She turned to Jaenelle, who had been standing by the door when she came in with Rose. "Janos isn't allowed to come either, is he?" she asked quietly.

"No, he isn't," Jaenelle confirmed, shaking her head. "You girls are the only ones allowed to go." Arina nodded to herself, and then tilted her head back as Lucien came to her side. The other males were loitering nearby, but giving Lucien a little bit of space.

"Hey," he said quietly. She smiled at him in response, then climbed back onto her feet, brushing off her pants. "So, are you excited?" he asked, trying to be happy for her. She rolled her eyes a little when she recognized what he wasn't saying.

"A little nervous, but yes, I am excited." He grimaced slightly and she laughed softly. "It's not the end of the world," she reminded him lightly. "I am coming back."

"Are you ready to go, dear?" Jaenelle asked as she came over to where Lucien and Arina were still standing. Rose had moved over to stand with Yaslana and Daemonar when Lucien came over to Arina, leaving the two alone. Lucien sighed when his mother laid a hand on his shoulder, but nevertheless took a step back. "Everyone else is ready," Jaenelle continued to Arina.

Arina nodded. "I'll be there in a second," she promised. Jaenelle smiled knowingly. She squeezed Lucien's shoulder slightly in support before walking back over to the carriage. Arina looked back at Lucien and smiled very slightly. "I may not be as comfortable as I want yet," she told him, "But I can at least do this." She took her step forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, laying her head on his chest. He bit back a growl, and then closed his arms around her as well. Thank the Darkness, he thought quietly, knowing that this was what he needed if she couldn't give anything else. He thought back to what she said, that she wasn't as comfortable as she wanted. She was trying, and this was what she wanted to do with her life. She was making the effort to be easier. She stayed in his arms for a moment, letting him just hold her and calm down, before making a slight backwards motion. Reluctantly, he let her go.

"Hey," Daemonar said suddenly from behind them, only slightly joking, "How come he gets a hug?" If Lucien and Arina hadn't had everyone's attention before, they certainly did now. Arina grinned, starting to laugh.

"I'm going to have to hug every single one of you, aren't I?" she teased. "But in answer to your question…I like him more." She stepped lightly over to the big Eryien and gave him a hug as well. Lucien was pleased to note that it was definitely shorter than the hug she had given him, simultaneously celebrating the fact that she was admitting that she liked him at least a little. Yes, he wanted more, but that was a very good start.

Hope built in his chest as he watched her being passed around the males in the courtyard, hugging everyone, even, he was amused to note, his father. He almost laughed when she gave him a quick second hug at the end of the row. Then she was gone, climbing into the carriage and vanishing onto the Winds, headed to Arachna. He sighed. Patience. She would come back, happier, and feeling better. It would be alright. He just had to be patient.

Ha. Easier said than done, and not at all easily said.

BJT:ANW

One Week Later…

Arina slipped out of the tent that she had been staying in while in Arachna and walked over to the tree line, standing in the shadows. Around her, the tents of the other girls formed a loose circle at the edge of a wood. It was their last night in the spider's territory, and Arina had yet to decide if she was relieved, or disappointed that the time was almost over.

The Arachnids were interesting, that was certain, but they were also…a bit too strange, even for her. They saw things in a very simple way, so much so that it was hard to understand their meaning, sometimes. Still, being among them had calmed her mind quite a bit. Their simple sight helped her to put things in perspective, so to say. While she was still a bit leery of some of the facets of society in her new world, she was no longer terrified and on edge. She smiled to herself. She wasn't running from anything anymore, at least.

Emerald emerged from her tent, looked around, and then walked over to stand with Arina. Arina glanced sideways at her in a silent question.

"I figured that since you know Rose best, you should get to know the rest of us as well." She smiled lightly, to show that she wasn't being too serious. Arina smiled hesitantly back, not sure where Emerald was going. "Rose is the daughter of Witch, so of course she would find it easier to relate to you," Emerald continued, "But that doesn't mean that we can't relate to you either."

"Did she say that?" Arina asked, startled.

"No, of course not." There was a slight pause. Then, "You did, Arina, by your actions. You stayed by Rose, and avoided us in a way. Not physically, I guess. That would be kind of hard to do in such close quarters. You talked to us, but really you didn't connect with any of us. At all."

Arina stared out at nothing, absorbing what Emerald had said. It hurt a little to realize that she had been—unknowingly, but still—cutting off the people who could be her friends. Her first friends. Somehow, though, it was good to feel that hurt, because that meant for the first time that she had opened herself up enough that other people's opinions and thoughts mattered to her. She smiled at the realization, then turned back to face Emerald.

"I hadn't realized," she murmured quietly.

"We knew that, but we still wanted to put it out there. You are our Queen too, you know."

"That's something I still don't understand. Oh, I understand the concept of Queens," she added, catching the slightly stunned look that the other girl was giving her. "But…why me? I was just a normal girl from Earth, and now I find out that I am a Queen of all things in another world entirely? It just doesn't make any sense to me."

Emerald paused, surprised. A second later, Titan came up behind them, looking between the two girls. "What is it?" she asked curiously. The physic scents of the area were confusing. Emerald quickly explained Arina's feelings to Titan on a psychic thread. She frowned. None of them had realized that Arina was having these doubts.

"Arina…you aren't just a 'normal girl'. Not here, and not there. You were born as Blood, and that has always been a part of who you are. As for why you…in your world, weren't there people who were born into certain positions? It's just fate, and everyone is touched by it. The only odd thing is why you are from that world, rather than ours. No one, not even Witch, knows why. We have ideas, but nothing concrete."

"You are who you always have been. But now that you are here, you are among people who are more like you and can understand you. You do fit in here, or you do more than you did before," Emerald added onto Titan's explanation.

"But even here, I don't really fit. I'm still…"

"Other. You are Witch, Dreams Made Flesh. And Witch is Blood and Other."

"Dreams Made Flesh?" Arina groaned, dropping down to sit on air instinctively. "Whose dreams? What dreams? Besides, I thought Rose's mom was Witch. How can I be Witch as well?"

By now, all the other girls had joined them, looking slightly amused. At those questions though, they grew thoughtful.

"I think you are all of our dreams, to be honest," Augustine said slowly. "And our parents'."

"And at first we weren't sure if you were really Witch," Titan elaborated. Arina looked confused, and then opened her mouth but was cut off before she could start talking. "Oh, we knew you would be a Black-Jeweled Queen, and therefore the Queen of Ebon-Askavi, and as such, have the title of Witch, but we weren't sure if you were Witch Witch. As in Dreams Made Flesh, rather than just being really powerful.

"But—"

"There can be multiple Dreams alive at the same time. Admittedly, it's really rare, but it can happen. It has twice in the past, according to Draca." Lillian told Arina, speaking for the first time.

"Who's Draca?" Arina asked in confusion.

"She's the Sentinel at the Keep. She was the Dragon Queen who made the Blood. You haven't met her yet," Rillian said, rustling her wings. "You will soon, though, especially if you stay at the Keep for much longer."

"But you're sure that I'm actually, truly Dreams Made Flesh now, right?"

"Yes. Otherwise, the Weavers wouldn't have let you come here, let alone teach you everything that they did."

Arina smiled. The Weavers really had taught her a lot. Of course, while she now knew just about everything about being a Black Widow, and how to weave Tangled Webs, the Weavers hadn't taught her much about the world, partially because they didn't know much themselves. They taught her what they knew, and what she needed them to teach her. She would have other teachers for the other things that she would need to learn.

"Ok, so I'm both Blood and Other, literally made of Dreams, of all things, and this is known because I am in a land of golden spiders, and I'm still not really normal. Thanks so much. That clears everything up like mud. I'm even more confused now than I was before we started talking, just so you all know."

Everyone laughed, even Arina.

"The point," Augustine said, grinning, "Is that while it's true that you might not be exactly like us, we still love you, even if you are different. Look at Jaenelle. And if you have trouble understanding what Witch really is, than you should talk to Witch. That is, Jaenelle, the other Witch." She amended, accompanied by snickers. Arina groaned in mock exasperation. "Because you most definitely are Dreams Made Flesh."

"Why does everyone talk about Jaenelle and Witch like they are two different people, if Jaenelle is Witch?" Arina asked curiously.

"That's something you will have to ask her," Alexandra said quietly. The tiny girl had gone almost unnoticed before she spoke. Arina nodded in understanding.

"But all of this leads us back to one of my first questions, and that being…What dang dreams? If it's everyone's dreams, like you suggested, than what were they in particular? And how could I be your dreams? I'm your age! If there's one thing I learned from the Weavers, it's that the Web has to be complete before it is bound to the Flesh!"

"Well, yes," Lauranna said patiently, hooking her hair behind her pointed ears, "but that goes back to the theories we mentioned as to why you are from a different world. We think that separation, is what allowed the Weavers to continue to add dreams to your Web while you were alive."

"Besides, I know that I've heard both Papa and Grandpapa talking about how Mom's own dreams for herself changed her Web, so I know it's possible to add to Webs while the Dream lives," Rose added.

"And when the Weavers had finished, Lucien became aware of you, probably because of his own dreams, and as a result of all of that, you were brought home." Astira finished with a smirk.

"And that's another thing," Arina complained. Everything was coming up now, so she might as well make the most of the opportunity to get everything she could. "No one has really explained why Lucien is so interested in me. And what do you mean, his own dreams?"

Everyone looked at Rose, who sighed slightly. "Well, my brother has always wanted someone who could stand his strength, just like our Papa did. So, Papa's dreams helped shape Mom, and Lucien's dreams led him to you."

"Led him to me," Arina repeated. "But your father's dreams shaped your mom. Right? So what you really mean is, Lucien shaped me."

"No! Well, kind of. But even though you are younger than he is, in every way that matters, he was made for you. He didn't do anything to you."

Arina frowned.

"Lucien needs you, desperately," Rillian said firmly. "And frankly, if we have to beg for you to get to know him and give him a chance, we will."

"I don't understand why it's so necessary for me to commit right now, though," Arina said in frustration. "I mean, what if it turns out that I can't stand him? What's wrong with taking things slowly?"

"Because you are thinking in terms of Earth," Lillina said, leaning forward. "Short term. But Lucien is a long lived Warlord Prince, and therefore volatile,"

"And he's a SaDiablo to boot, the son of the Sadist, and grandson of the High Lord of Hell, Prince of Darkness, so that only adds to his power and overall danger level," Astira added.

"He's a Black-Jeweled Black Widow as well," Rose said. "All of that means that he needs someone to hold his leash, and you are the one he has chosen. He will only listen to you now, and that means that he will no longer listen to mom, or at least not very much. When you saw him, did you feel something inside that told you—"

"Mine?" Arina said.

"Yes."

"Well, kind of. I wasn't quite sure what it meant though."

"It means that you hold his leash, and he will serve you," Titan said.

"You all keep talking about leashes, but that sounds really bad," Arina said, frowning again.

The other girls looked at each other in surprise. "I guess it does," Alexandra said finally. "But it only means…well…" she paused and thought for a minute.

"It means what it means, and I need to let go of my prejudices?" Arina suggested after several minutes of silence. "I know that things are different here, and it does make a kind of sense, that phrase."

"Oh, good," Lauranna said with a smile. "I don't even know where we were going, trying to explain that."

"So, this service thing…"

"Aunt Jaenelle and Lady Karla will explain everything," Lillian said.

"Don't worry about Lucien," Arina said. "I'm working out my issues, and I definitely am interested in him too, so relax." She yawned. Titan looked at her watch and groaned.

"All right, it's late, and we're leaving for Glacia in the morning. We should get some sleep," she said, getting up and stretching. "'Night, all." The girls all quickly dispersed back to their tents. The talk had been good, but it really was late. And they did still have a week or two to spend in Glacia before returning to the Keep and the boys. Everything was going to be fine.

BJT:ANW

The next morning the girls all dragged themselves out of their tents with a definite sense of relief. No more sleeping on the ground, tonight they would have real beds. And, extra bonus, they would have real adults to talk to instead of spiders who really didn't understand some things. Rose and Arina were the last ones up, Rose snarling at everyone, very much like her mother, and Arina very quiet.

"Are we going now?" she asked, looking around. She had been sitting awake for a while, having one last lesson with the Arachian Queen. Several of the golden spiders had come out to see them off, including their Queen.

*Go now,* the Queen told Arina. *Remember, you are Dreams. Witch. Strong. You will unite realm. Remember lessons.*

The spiders flowed away. Arina stared after them, dumbfounded. "No pressure or anything," she muttered. A moment later, the carriage that had brought the girls to Arachna appeared in the middle of the clearing, and Jaenelle stepped out.

"Hello, girls," she said brightly. "Ready to go?" Arina stared at her for a moment, then looked back in the direction the spiders went. She looked back at Jaenelle, vanished all of her things, and dove into the carriage. "Get me out of here!" she cried dramatically.

Everyone else laughed as they climbed into the carriage to leave.

BJT:ANW

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