The next day the group left that town and once again continued their journey to the Fourth Kingdom. At long last they reached a hill nearby an abandoned mill where Vox's castle could be seen in the distance.

"Well there it is Princess." Alastor said. "The Fourth Kingom, your future home."

"Goodness, it's a lot more extravagant than I thought it would be." She said wistfully.

"Yeah old Voxy tends to go overboard with everything." Angel said. "I'm sure he's compensating for something."

"Compensating?"

"You know, he has a very small-" Alastor quickly stomped on Angel's foot. "Ow!"

"I guess we...We better get going." Alastor said hesitantly.

"Sure but Al..."

"Yes?"

Charlie found herself not wanting to go to the Fourth Kingdom just yet. She still wasn't sure what to do about her growing feelings for Alastor. She felt that perhaps, one more day with him would help her come to a resolution.

"I'm...I'm worried about Angel."

"What?" Alastor said.

"I mean look at him. He doesn't look very good, does he?"

"What are you talking about, toots? I'm fine." Angel said.

"Well that's what they always say and the next thing you know, you're on your back."

Angel looked at her confused.

"Dead." She replied.

That's when Alastor realized where Charlie was going with this. After all, did they have to rush to the Fourth Kingdom so fast?

"You know she's right." He said to Angel, stalling for time. "You look awful. Do you want to sit down?"

"No I-"

"I'll take care of him." Vaggie said, reading the room. "Come along Angel, I'll make you some tea."

"From what? You don't even have a kettle." He said while she was ushering him away, leaving Charlie and Alastor alone.

"Who's hungry?" He asked instantly. "I'll find us some dinner."

"I'll get the firewood." She offered quickly.

They moved so hastily that they accidentally bumped heads.

"Oh sorry!" They both said simultaneously. "No my fault! I...Uh...Do you wanna?"

Then they laughed nervously before going off in opposite directions. For dinner, Alastor first checked the mill for any tools he could use for cooking. He found a stew pot, two spoons, three bowls, and one knife. After that he searched the forest for ingredients. He found non-toxic mushrooms, more wild onions, hawthrone, hazel, sassafras, and a buck large enough to feed an army. He slayed the deer first and then gathred up the mushrooms, onions, and herbs. Next thing he did was locate a river of fresh water and washed the cooking appliances of dust, rust, and stains. With that finished, he filled the pot with water and went on back to the mill where Charlie had already started a fire.

"Did you do this all by yourself?" He asked her.

"Yes." She said. "When you and Angel would start the fire, I paid close attenntion."

"A willingness to learn new things? I like that in a person. Care to learn to cook?"

"You would teach me?"

"Of course."

"That's great. What are we making?"

"Venison gumbo."

Charlie paled for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No. I...I was just wondering. It's just a regular deer right? It's not anything like you where it has advanced thoughts and feelings, right?"

"Sure. Just your garden variety deer."

"It wasn't white was it?"

"White? Darling do you know how rare white deer are? Why they're almost extinct."

"I'm sorry I just don't feel comfortable eating white deer because orignally they were human like myself."

"Well I can assure you this one was brown and it has never been human in it's entire life. Now are there any other reservations I should know about before we get started?"

"Yes, is there a way you can fix a bowl of gumbo without the meat. Vaggie is a vegetarian. She can't eat meat without it reminding her of...You know."

"I understand. I'll fix her a special bowl before I add in the meat."

"Thank you."

"Now we'll have to be very quick. There's no ice box around here so the meat will spoil very quickly. I'll handle gutting the deer and preparing it for the pot, but I'll need you to mince the mushrooms, the onions, and the herbs while I'm at it."

"I've never minced before."

"Here, I'll teach how to you mince the onions, they're usually the hardest and then leave you to do the rest."

He carefully showed her how to hold and use the knife, and then guided her to chop the onions. The knife part made her nervous but through his firm yet gentle guidnace, her fear was soon eased and she was able to gain confidence in the action. In alomst no time at all, she minced the plant and fungi ingredients perfectly. Alastor used his claws to gut the deer, though he made sure to wash his hands first, and by the time that was done, Charlie had minced all the other ingredients and he could use the knife to cut the meat properly.

Using a tree branch, he hung the pot over the campfire and showed Charlie when to add in each ingredient and how much, and how to stir it all together. He also showed her how long the pot should be left to stew and how to use taste to figure out when the whole process was done or if the dish needed anything. Finally dinner was served and the results were delicious.

"Mmm. This is good." Charlie said, swallowing another spoonful. "This is really good."

"Thank you. Though this just something I threw together under short notice. You should taste my cooking when I'm in my element. I make frog legs better than the French."

Charlie smiled, but her smile quickly faded. She sighed, looking over at Vox's castle where she was to be wed the next day.

"I guess I'll be dinning a little differently tomorrow night."

"Maybe you could come visit me in the forest some time." Alastor offered. "I'll cook all kinds of stuff for you. Including my mother's world famous jambalaya."

"I'd like that."

Her smile returned and she gave him a longing look. This caused him to become a little flustered.

"Oh lordy." He said pulling on his sirt collar. "I do believe it's become awfully warm at the moment."

He nervously turned away from her gaze and started to take of his jacket to make his excuse more believeable. Something fell from the pocket and landed at Charlie's feet. It was a handkerchief. She picked it up and started to look at it. It was a silken, cream colored handerchief with magnolias and the letter C embroidered on the fabric. A design that was very familiar to the princess.

"Where did you get this?" She asked him.

"I beg your pardon?" Alastor turned around to look at her. When he saw the handkerchief, he panicked. "Oh! That...That's nothing! Nothing important! But please give it back! It's for cleaning and it's the only thing I have that'll do the job!"

He reached for it but she stepped back.

"Where did you get this?" She repeated the question. "This used to be mine."

Alastor suddenly rose to his feet, staring at Charlie as if he'd never seen her before.

"What?"

"When I was a little girl my mother gave me this handkerchief and I would carry it with me always. But one day I gave it to a small boy."

She looked up from the handkerchief and into Alastor's surprised face. That's when both their minds snagged a wisp of a memory. One where the two of them were much younger, much smaller, and much more innocent.

"Good sir I pray that you take this favour as a token of my gratitude." She had said, placing that exact handkerchief into his clawed hand.

"I don't mean to be rude." He had said. "But what is this?"

"It is my favour." She had answered. "By giving it to you I have identified you as someone I am now fond of."

"You're fond of me? Why?" He had asked feeling shy.

"Well for one thing you retrieved my ball for me." She had blushed a little then. "And I like you."

That's when it finally dawned on them. She was the little princess who had attempted to befriend him despite the fact that he was considered a monster. The first human to show him any true kindness. To this day, he wondered how she had not been frightened of him at first glance back then.

"You." They pointed to each other at the same time.

"Well...Um...Don't we live in a small world?" He laughed nervously.

"I can't believe you kept this." She said in awe. "After all these years."

"It was one of the only two items from a happy memory that I manage to salvage. The other being a storybook my mother gave me." He admitted. "But you can have it back if you'd like."

"No. No I gave it to you, so it's yours."

She handed the handkerchief back to him. Their hands lingered briefly as they both held on to it.

"Man isn't this romantic!" Angel interrupted. "Just look at that sunset."

Instantly, Charlie's mood changed and she stood up abruptly to face the sunset.

"Sunset?! Oh no!" She cried.

"Oh not again." Alastor sighed. "Charlie if I may ask, what is it about the sunset that gets you so frazzled?"

"I...I..." She was helpless to explain. "I can't say. Now is not a good time."

"Well it can't be because you're afraid of the dark. The other night when you woke up from a nightmare, you begged me not let in any light."

"I really can't give you an explanation right now." She backed up toward the mill. "I...I...I just need to rest. We can talk more in the morning. Please?"

Alastor's curiosity was high, he really wanted to know about Charlie's little secret. But the scared look in her eye made him comply with her wishes.

"Alright."

"Thank you." She sighed in relief. "Come on Vaggie, we better go inside now."

Vaggie nodded and followed Charlie up the mill steps. But then the princess stopped and looked back to give Alastor a sad smile.

"Goodnight." She said to him.

"Goodnight." He said mystified.

Angel watched them carefully. Paying close attention to the way Alastor's gaze stayed on Charlie until she disappeared inside the mill.

"Okay I can't take this shit anymore." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Alastor asked.

"You know what I'm talking about. You and the princess digging on each other this entire trip and neither one of you willing to say or do anything about it."

"You're crazy." Alastor replied with a faux chuckle. "I'm just bringing her back to Vox."

"Oh wake up and smell the pheromones, Smiles. Just go on in and tell her how you feel."

"There's nothing to tell." Alastor snapped. "Besides even if I did...I'm not saying I do, because I don't. She's a human and I'm..."

"A wendigo?"

"Yeah, a wendigo." He turned and headed into the woods.

"Where are you going?"

"To get more firewood."

One look at the huge, un-burned pile of firewood told Angel everything he needed to know. Alastor just wanted to be alone, so Angel let him be.

The wendigo decided to sit himself down by a grove of Magnolias and watched as the pink-orange sky gradually turned dark and starry. Glancing over at the Magnolias, an idea crossed his mind.