Children of Fate

Ana's first sight upon awakening was the tall turrets and stone guard-walks of Blackenvire Castle. She couldn't help but give a small gasp. Blackenvire was so much grander and larger and more elegant looking than Davies Manor or anything she had ever seen before. Davies Manor alone could have fit into Blackenvire's cobblestone courtyard, and Ana couldn't help but wonder if things were just better this way.

Maybe Sugar had been wrong about the whole 'Savior' bit. Maybe those dreams weren't at all real. Maybe she could work her way up amongst the line of Duchess Marjoni's servants, and maybe...

Ana shook her head sharply.

In that one moment she had shown her greatest weakness yet: want.

Setting aside the images of the pampered life of a handmaiden, Ana stared down into her lap. She had to find Liza and Rey. There had to be someone somewhere inside the castle's dark depths that had heard of her friends. And then she needed to plan an escape.

Easier said then done, she knew.

Ana was not the type to formulate extravagant plans. She did things as they came to her, using the best possible resources she could locate at the time. It would be hard enough to sneak out of the castle alone. But no, she needed to bring Amber-Lyn along as well. And then she'd have to find a way to make sure they weren't caught, and then she'd have to make her way to the locations of her friends, and so on and so forth...

Ana closed her eyes as the carriage pulled into the alcove in front of the stables. The door flew open of its own accord, and she took it as a sign to step out. She was careful to scoop a still sleeping Sugar into a pocket before any other servants came around, and, with a small grin, she flicked Amber-Lyn on the nose to awaken her. With an angry curse thrown Ana's way, Amber-Lyn stretched ceremoniously and followed her out of the carriage.

"And it's about time you all arrived." A warm, syrupy voice startled Ana and caused Amber-Lyn to jump. They turned around quickly to see a portly, elderly woman in a thick woolen shawl and a long gray dress standing on the far side of the carriage. She looked kind and motherly, and she was smiling, so Ana felt instantly at ease with this woman. "Now, what would your names be?"

"I'm Ana," Ana said, "and this is Amber-Lyn."

"Ana and Amber-Lyn," the woman repeated. "Lovely names...Maybe a bit too lovely for servants, but I'll deal with that later. What would your last names be?"

"Lowell and Wood."

"Lowell and Wood, eh? So you two aren't related?"

Before Amber-Lyn could say anything stupid Ana answered, "No. But we get that a lot. People think we're sisters sometimes." Shooting a look of mock annoyance at Amber-Lyn Ana added, "But I can't see why. I'm so much more beautiful than this one."

A little conceited, maybe, but it did the trick. The women stopped looking suspicious and introduced herself. "I," she said, "am Marie Connelly. You will address me as Mrs. Connelly in the presence of the Duchess, the princesses, and their company, but while we're alone please do call me Marie." She gave Ana and Amber-Lyn a warm smile and wrapped her shawl around Ana's shaking shoulders. "Winters coming, darlings. We had best get inside the castle where it's nice and warm."

All too happy to comply with the wish, Ana and Amber-Lyn clambered after Marie in the darkness, and to their new home.

***

Marie showed the two girls into the castle, up four flights of stairs, down six corridors, and finally to a small, paint chipped door. "This," she said, "is your rooms. It's large and grand for a servant's quarters, but you're to be the handmaidens to the princess, so you have to look like you fit the job." Marie handed Ana a key and continued with her speech. "Each morning at six you'll be woken by a buzzing in your rooms. After the buzzing awakens you, rise and wash yourselves. Eat and dress after that, then come to the princess's quarters. Once you are there help the princess wash, dress, and prepare for the day. You'll be equipped with an itinerary at all times, so you'll know where to go and what to do. Of course, the first morning I'll help you along with things, but after that you're on your own."

Ana nodded as Amber-Lyn made faces. "I understand, Marie. Thank you for your help. We'll be off to bed now, to catch some rest before the buzzing wakes us up."

Marie nodded and set off down the hall. Ana watched her go before she turned and opened the door to her rooms. She waved goodbye to Marie, and she began to make her way towards the tiny rooms in the back that must have been the bedrooms. Marie had been right about the rooms being "large and grand" for a servant. It was much more elegant than the cabin back at Davies Manor, but Amber-Lyn turned her nose up at the room.

"This is where we live?" she asked snootily.

Ana sighed and nodded. "It's nice for a servant, Amber-Lyn, so don't go and mess things up with your mouth. You can be a real cow to live with, and I won't have you verbally attacking anything in this castle. It's too risky."

Amber-Lyn seemed shocked. Ana was willing to bet her life that no one ever talked to her like that. "I still hate you," Amber-Lyn said after a long silence. "And it's all your fault we're here. If I can't yell at those I 'serve' then I'll yell at you!"

Ana shook her head scornfully as Amber-Lyn stormed into one of the two small bedrooms. Sugar was well awake now, and she too watched--and heard--as Amber-Lyn ranted about everything. "That one's going through a tough transition," Sugar muttered.

"And I suppose we'll have to take her with us when we run," Ana muttered, starting off towards her own room.

"You're not that kind of person, Ana," Sugar replied. "You'd take Amber-Lyn with you even if she wasn't your cousin."

Ana opened the door to her bedroom--a warm, lavender colored room with a small bed and a nice fireplace. "Believe me," she muttered. "That's the last reason I'm bringing Amber-Lyn."

Sugar shook her head and climbed out of Ana's pocket. Using unusually nimble moves the faerie clambered up Ana's apron and onto her shoulder. "Have you even thought about escape?" she asked.

"It seems impossible," Ana admitted.

"I'm sure it seems that way," Sugar said, "but you're a smart girl. You roll with the punches. You'll think of something, and you'll find a way. I have good faith that you will."

Ana shed her apron and climbed under the covers. "Faith," she chortled. "I could use some of that."

Sugar sighed and looked at her young goddaughter. "Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light," she said softly. "That was said by Helen Keller."

Ana seemed to ignore Sugar's quote. "Do you really believe that my mum's dead?" she asked out of the blue. Sugar floundered for a few moments before finding a suitable answer.

"Well, you're aunt-"

"Perhaps you do not understand my question. Do you think my mother's dead?"

Sugar looked at her hands, at the ceiling, at the door--anywhere but those questioning blue eyes. "Yes," she answered after squirming for a few seconds. "How could she be alive?"

Ana shrugged. "I don't know, but I think that she is alive." Her tone grew more serious by the moment. "Sugar, I have these dreams, you see. In these dreams I see people and things that are far, far away. Sometimes these people can see me, and sometimes they cannot. One of the people who can see me said that his name was Nicholas Lowell. He was living with his foster parents, both muggles, and he said that he had two half-sisters, girls named Jenny and Ana. His mother gave him a letter that told him all this, and he said that one day his sisters would come to get him."

Sugar had stopped squirming, and she looked extremely interested. "Dreams?" she asked. "You have dreams about other people?"

Ana nodded. "I've had ones about a small girl named Claire, and I've had a dream about a girl--who, I might add, looked exactly like me--and even one about Draco Malfoy."

Sugar suddenly began clapping. "Bravo, Ana," she said. "I'm very impressed."

Ana was confused. "Impressed about what?" she asked.

"Your dreams. Only a few Seers have the power to Dream-See."

Ana raised her eyebrows. "Dream-See?"

Sugar stood up and began pacing back and forth. "Dream-Seeing is only one name for the talent," she said. "There are other more official terms, but I think that Dream-See says it all. That's what you do, isn't it? You see real events in other parts of the world through your dreams."

Ana had begun to understand the concept. "So I can see anything in the world when I sleep?"

Sugar shook her head. "It's not the simple. You see things pertaining to yourself, or you see things that could help you to solve something. You see people that could prove to be important or useful to you in the future as well."

Ana thought for a moment. "Could I dream into the future?" she asked.

"No," Sugar answered. "No one, not even Seers, can dream into the future because the future is never a sure thing. You can dream into the past though, on rare occasions, because that might help you along on your mission."

"But do you think that boy was telling the truth? And how come he could see me?"

Sugar smiled. "He's still young enough to believe in magic, Ana. He's probably lonely there with the muggles, and he's looking for anything that could lead him to his sisters."

"Draco Malfoy saw me as well," Ana added.

"Did he now?" Sugar seemed surprised. "Well, I suppose he's thinking a lot about Kate these days. I don't know why, but he is. Maybe his guilt is growing, or something like that."

"So, back to my original question. Do you believe my mother was alive?"

Sugar shrugged. "I'm not sure now. We know that Kate lived long enough to give birth to two more children. We know that she couldn't take care of your little brother, and that the same probably goes for your sister. But most of all we know that Pegatha Davies was wrong. She said that the Death Eaters left your mother for dead. They must not have properly checked your mother, and maybe other as well. For all we know everyone in that crew could still be alive."

Ana was wide-awake by now. "But what about Bill Weasley? He's dead, right? I mean, Mrs. Davies said that they disposed of him too."

Sugar seemed to be as wired as Ana. She was holding her chin in her right hand, and her face was fixed in an expression of deep thought. "Well, now I'm wondering about everything your aunt told us. There's a small chance that they might have just tortured Bill and left him for dead as they did your mother. There's a small chance that he too got away from the attacks." Sugar took a deep breath and locked eyes with Ana. "Of course, there is the possibility that your mum died after giving birth to Nicholas. She did, after all, tell him that his sisters would come to get him, not she herself.

"And we must wonder why, if she'd been kicking for the last ten years, that she hasn't sought you out and reclaimed you." Ana inhaled sharply at the implications of the statement. "Ana, darling, I know that your mother could have overpowered Pegatha Davies and taken you back if she tried hard enough. And Ana, if she were alive, she would do that. Either she died, and that's why she hasn't gotten you, or she..." Sugar trailed off, unable to continue.

"Or she abandoned me," Ana said softly. She looked as though someone had punched her in the stomach. "You think either that, or she's dead. Just come out and say it."

"I believe that there's a large possibility that she's still living," Sugar said hastily.

"Yeah, I know that. It's just that you believe she'd given up on me and my brother and sister. You think that she's given up on the wizarding world. You think that she's off living some other life." Ana paused to snort scornfully. "I bet you even think that she's married another man and has her own new, perfect family."

Sugar could find no reply to this. She couldn't deny a word Ana said. She knew in her heart that Kate would have come after her daughter by now, if she were truly alive. Ana allowed a few moments of silence to let her words sink in. Then she was off again.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Ana asked quietly. There was a certain air to her tone that made Sugar feel even smaller than she was. "I think that you have too little faith in my mother, and too much faith at the same time. You think that she'd give up so easily on me, on my brother, on everything she believed in. But you think too highly of her at the same time.

"My mum was no superhero. She was only human. Isn't it possible that she's tried to rescue me, but that she's failed on numerous occasions?" When Sugar didn't answer Ana went on. "Isn't it possible that my mother doesn't know where I am? Why would she have reason to believe that the very sister who betrayed her would keep her child alive? She could be looking for me, but in all the wrong places."

There was a new light in Sugar's eyes when she continued Ana's train of thought. "She might not even know where you little brother is," the small sprite murmured. "Or maybe Nicholas is some sort of key to finding you. Kate must have known that you'd eventually begin dreaming of your little brother.

"She probably also knew that keeping him with her was a danger to them both, so she put him up for adoption or something to that degree. She knew, though, that one day you'd come looking for Nicholas, and that when you reach him you'd go looking for her." Sugar snapped her fingers. "That's it! Nicholas must have some sort of puzzle piece to finding Kate. Maybe that letter of his says something that leads us to Kate."

Ana nodded. "So not only would she regain the daughter she had lost, she'd also get her little boy back."

"And you'd both be at ages where it was safer to have you two around. You two wouldn't be infants or toddlers so you wouldn't need constant supervision. After that she must have had some sort of plan on how to keep you two safe."

"Us three, you mean," Ana corrected. "You're forgetting my sister Jenny. She'll probably get the same idea and come after Nicholas as well."

"That way," Sugar said, "even if she died before you three arrived, you would have each other." The faerie chuckled softly. "Kate was so, so, so much smarter than her mother believed her to be. If things had been different than she would have gone on to do great things in this world."

Ana was getting sleepy again, but she asked, "Who's to say she isn't? Maybe she's one of those radicals that the Death Eaters are all after."

Sugar looked sleepy too. "You're probably right," she agreed.

A strange peace had come over Ana. "When we get out of here I want to go and find my little brother. Then, if my sister hasn't found him yet, I want to locate her. Together we'll work as a team to track down our mother."

"You have things planned out, don't you?" Sugar asked. "What about Rey and Liza?"

Ana frowned. "I had forgotten about them. I guess I'll have to save them first. Liza's pretty brilliant, so I'm sure she'll find a way to get Nicholas to me safely. And it'll be nice to have Rey along as protection. Tinkerbell will probably have some answers too."

Sugar made a face and snuggled up in a fold of the sheet. "That bimbo will pretend she has ideas just to get attention."

Ana smiled. "She's a good person. I think you two would like each other if you gave each other a chance."

"Don't even start...I like her about as much as you like Amber-Lyn."

Ana's face fell. "Darn. I had forgotten about her."

"So had I."

Ana pulled the covers up around her shoulders. "She's not going to like any of this, is she?"

Sugar yawned, and her voice was now reduced to a tired whisper. "Probably not. In fact, she might not even want to go with us. She might want to part ways after we escape."

"I suppose I'll cross that bridge when we get there," Ana muttered.

"You do that," Sugar added. Sleep was overtaking the faerie, and soon both she and Ana were fast asleep.

***

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!I

A loud, persistent, never-ending buzz drew Ana out of her deep slumber faster than you could say 'magic'. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was, but then the memories of the night before sank in, and she yawned sleepily. Sugar was not by her side, but Ana was not worried. The faerie was probably scouting the castle for leads as to where Liza and Rey might be.

The buzzing stopped after two minutes, and Ana swung her legs over the bedside as soon as the sound went away. She made her way to the bathroom slowly, scratching her head and pondering the new day. Secretly she wondered if Princess Senna was anything like the Davies girls. She shuddered at the thought and climbed into the shower. After washing her hair with a wonderful smelling conditioner, Ana climbed out of the shower and dried off. She returned to her room to find her uniform but when she opened her closet she was surprised to find an array of pastel colored dresses.

The garments were simple, of course, but Ana was still enchanted. She ran her hand over the fabric--so much softer than anything she had ever worn--and finally settled on wearing a light blue dress with a violet sash and lace on the ends of her sleeves. She pinned her hair up in a bun as well, and, after slipping into a pair of simple black shoes, she went into the kitchen.

Amber-Lyn was there, dressed in a smock of pea green and with her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. Ana ignored Amber-Lyn's look of contempt as she entered the kitchen, and, instead of returning the rude hand gesture, she began eating an orange from the fruit bowl on the small dining table. Her thoughts were focused on the conversation that she had held with Sugar last night, so she gave a small start when the door behind her slammed shut, and Marie came in.

"Good morning, ladies," Marie said, and she had a jovial presence about her that put even Amber-Lyn at ease. "I'll show you to Princess Senna's rooms now, and I'll give you her daily schedule as well. You'll have a map of the castle too, so you won't get lost while escorting her Majesty around." After pausing to let Amber-Lyn finish her apple Marie continued to speak. "Now, if you're both ready, we should start off towards the princess's rooms."

For such a plump woman, Marie could move very gracefully and very fast. Ana had to give an effort to keep up with her, and so did Amber-Lyn. Finally, after making several turns down several corridors Ana and Amber-Lyn arrived at two large, ebony doors. They both turned to Marie for their next orders.

"Now, both of you look sharp and bow the moment you enter the princess's rooms. You bow to her--and any of the Marjonis, for that matter--whenever you enter a room with one in it. You will always address Princess Senna as Princess Senna. This afternoon the Duchess will give you wands, and I'll teach you spells to protect the princess from those who wish to harm her.

"Another thing you should be aware of is that Princess Senna is never wrong, or so she likes to think. Never ever tell her otherwise, or your life might very well be ended. Along the same lines, never talk about her father to her. Some could consider such actions treason, and that could lead to executions or banishment. I'll take you in, now, and I'll introduce you to her, but after that you're on your own." Marie stopped talking and produced two cards and two rolled up scrolls to Ana and Amber-Lyn. "These are the daily itinerary of the princess, and these are the maps of the castle. Follow the princess's schedule very carefully, unless you want a good beating." With that one last warning Marie opened the double doors and stepped inside the princess's chambers.

The splendor to be beheld inside was unlike any Ana had ever seen. It was almost too much, really. Tapestries hung from every wall, and rich, dark colors dominated everything. The rugs were thick and plush, and, as Ana followed Marie up a staircase, she felt her feet sinking into it. Murals that moved decorated the hall leading to the princess's bedroom, and they all whispered and pointed as Ana and Amber-Lyn passed by.

Finally, however, Marie stopped walking in front of another large door. She made a motion that probably meant 'be quiet' and eased the door open. Ana followed Marie into the bedroom on tiptoes, and she gave Amber-Lyn a venomous glare when she purposefully kicked the door. The three servants made there way over to a large, iron bed with the drapes pulled tightly around the four-poster frame. Curtains made of dark, heavy material covered the three large windows, and Ana was struck by how dark the room was.

Marie went over to the first window, Ana went to the second, and Amber-Lyn to the third. Each of them opened their curtains at the same time, and light flooded the room. The sky was downcast, and it was raining, and the weather put a sudden damper on Ana's mood. She turned around quickly, though, when there was an annoyed groan from the bed.

The curtains were pushed open, and a pretty face poked itself out. Senna Marjoni Riddle had her mother's tea colored skin and her father's cold green eyes. She shared her mother's strong nose, but the rest of her features were those of her father's. She was delicate looking, but Ana knew better than to be fooled. She knelt quickly, and she pulled Amber-Lyn down with her.

"Who are you two?" Senna asked, raising an eyebrow in a truly sinister manner.

"These two are your new, personal handmaidens, Ms. Lowell and Ms. Wood. They are gifts from your father, and they are here to serve you," Marie said softly, working carefully so as not to look the princess in the eyes.

Senna's face perked up, and she seemed strangely happy for a daughter of Voldemort. "Oh, wonderful!" she muttered in a pleased tone. "Daddy finally came through on his promise! Oh, Ms. Connelly, he's been promising me my own handmaidens for two years! I suppose they're early birthday presents, too." She stepped out of bed, wrapped a thick bathrobe around her tall, lean form, and she looked haughtily at her new servants. "Go and draw my morning bath, Ms. Wood, and Ms. Lowell, make my bed."

Both girls did as they were told, and Ana followed Senna into the bathroom where Amber-Lyn stood rigidly. "Your bath, princess," Amber-Lyn said softly, and Senna nodded approvingly before shedding her bathrobe and stepping into the immense bathtub. She paddled around her tub for a few minutes before commanding Amber-Lyn to shampoo her hair, and Ana to conditioner it. The next fifteen minutes were spent pouring various flower scented oils into the princess's bath water before Marie came in and suggested softly that the "princess get started getting dressed, for her grandmother does not like to be kept waiting".

"Of course," Senna said in a regal and pompous voice. "Ms. Wood, fetch my bathrobe. Ms. Lowell, be quick and pick something out of my closet, preferably something pink. My grandmother's favorite color is pink, and every time I wear it she gives me a nice present."

"Yes, Princess Senna," Ana murmured softly, and she left the room and followed Marie to a small door made out of ivory.

"This," Marie said, "is the door the princess's personal wardrobe. I'll give you the key to it since I'm sure you already know how to dress a lady of stature properly." The portly woman paused carefully before adding, "And, if you don't mind, I'll give you the key to just about everything else to do with Princess Senna. That companion of yours doesn't seem to be too sharp in the ways of the world. In fact, I'd wager a guess that she's been someone important up until now."

Ana didn't bother to tell Marie that Amber-Lyn had, in fact, once been somebody important. Gossip like that could damage Amber-Lyn's favor with Senna, and that wouldn't be well at all. Instead she nodded, took the key, and walked inside. Luckily for her the dresses were arranged by color, and so she found a nice, pinkish-mauve dress made of satiny material right away. After finding a matching corset and hoops for the skirt, Ana returned to the bathroom.

Thankfully Amber-Lyn had not strayed from her duties in her absence, and she was just finishing drying off Senna's dark hair. After combing out any tangles Amber-Lyn stepped back and watched Ana lace up the corset, slip on the under dress, arrange the petticoats, adjust the skirt's hoops to the princess's comfort, button up the back of the dress, and all within eight minutes.

Even Senna was impressed. "Very good, Ms. Lowell," she remarked, turning every which way in the mirror and admiring her image. "Now come. We have to go to my Grandmother's for tea."

After bowing down quickly both girls followed Senna out of her bathroom, down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the front doors of her chambers. Ana fell back then, and she brought Amber-Lyn with her. "Now's a time when we follow her. We only lead her places that she isn't sure the location of. If we led her everywhere then she might get the idea that we think we're smarter than her, and that sort of thing always upsets royalty."

Amber-Lyn didn't seem to be listening though. "How did you get her dressed so fast?" she asked.

"I've had practice," Ana answered. "With Rachael, Mandy, and Lindsey I was always working on a tight schedule. If I wasn't fast enough with one girl I'd be late for another, and then everyone's morning would be messed up, and I of course would get in trouble. It took me a few months to get everything down right, but it's pretty easy to dress someone else."

Amber-Lyn sighed. "I barely know how to dress myself," she said softly. "I've never had to. My governess, Miss Tildy, always did that for me. In fact, everyone's always done everything for me."

Ana suddenly got where Amber-Lyn was heading. "Nervous that you'll mess up on something simple, are you?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm not as stupid as you might think. I know that showing even the least bit of attitude towards any official of the Dark King's could get me into a lot of trouble. It's just that I'm not sure when to bow, or how long I'm supposed to stay down, or how to make a bed, or anything like that. You don't have to push me to do everything. I know what I'm supposed to do, just not how."

"I see," Ana said. "I'll try and remember that in the future. And I might be able to teach you a few things about the servant's life, too."

Amber-Lyn, much to Ana's surprise, gave a small smile. "And in exchange I'll give you magical lessons. I doubt that anyone here will be very keen on teaching us anything that might aid an escape, but I excelled at everything my moth--I mean Mrs. Davies taught me." Amber-Lyn paused. "Is Sugar with you?" she asked.

"No," Ana replied. She had never had a civil conversation with Amber-Lyn before, but she might as well try and become some sort of friend to her. "She's probably scouting about and looking for leads to where we can find Rey and Liza."

Amber-Lyn's eyes widened with surprise. "Does that mean that we're--OW!" Amber-Lyn danced on the spot, clutching her shin and biting her lip.

Senna had turned around, and she looked vaguely annoyed. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry, princess," Ana murmured, averting her eyes to the ground. "Ms. Wood is terribly clumsy, and she walked right into that table. It won't happen again."

Senna seemed satisfied with the answer for she turned away from her handmaidens and resumed her pace. When she was far enough away so that she wouldn't hear any conversations, Ana turned sharply to Amber-Lyn and hissed, "Don't you even think of saying that word with the princess is around! I'll tell you my plans tonight, in my room, where I'm sure it's safe."

Amber-Lyn glared spitefully at Ana, but she nodded all the same. The friendly mood had been broken, though, and the two girls walked in silence until Senna stopped in front of a large, grand curtain that covered a giant, lofty entrance. Senna pulled out a wand and, in a low voice, murmured, "Razzo Razzi!"

The curtains flew back suddenly to reveal a large room with a high, high ceiling. The room was decorated with a multitude of pinks and grays. It made for a strange combo, and Ana was surprised that Duchess Marjoni tolerated such a light, joyful color as pink. Special exceptions, she supposed, could be made for one's mother, who was addressed as Lady Lyris

Lady Lyris herself was sitting in dark gray sitting chair, sipping tea and looking important. For a woman who must have been at least fifty-five, Lyris-Medea Marjoni was very beautiful. Her skin was as white as milk, unlike her daughter's, and her eyes were cat-shaped and bright green. Her hair was a fiery, bright red that she wore down to her waist, and everything about her radiated elegance.

"Grandmother," Senna said softly, sinking to one knee with Ana and Amber-Lyn. "You look beautiful today. I should hope to age as well as you did when I grow up."

Lady Lyris set down her tea and rose to her full height. "My little one," she said. "It is good to see you. Has your father given you anything since last we met?"

Senna nodded and stood up. "He gave me these two handmaidens, Ms. Lowell and Ms. Wood. Grandmother, is it true that Mercutia Riddle has only one handmaiden?"

Lady Lyris nodded, but she did not share her granddaughter's enthusiasm. "Yes, but that's because your father has already given her three ladies-in-waiting, one footman, and five personal servants," she said gravely.

Senna's face fell. "He still favors her, doesn't he?"

Lady Lyris motioned for her granddaughter to sit down, and Ana pulled Amber-Lyn into the shadows of the curtains. They stood still, but still in sight, and listened to Senna's grandmother explain the politics at work in the castle. "Darling, your father will turn his favor to you, too. You see, the reason he showers Mercutia Riddle with gifts if because her mother, Valicent Mondegal, is the Queen of all Darkness. She has given him two heirs, and she has a tight hold on him. Don't you see? The only reason Mercutia and Titus are in line for the crown is because their mother is queen. The reason you are in line is because you are powerful. As you grow your father will see this, and then you'll be the ones with many gifts."

Senna's face didn't lose its beaten look. "But she still has more, and she always will because her mother has access to Daddy's funds."

Lady Lyris sighed deeply. "Oh, little one, if it would help then I could ask your mother to push these two up to ladies-in-waiting. And I'll see if I could find you a footman. There's that stable boy, Lucas, who could be of some use." When Senna regained her small smile her grandmother kissed her on the head. "Now, Dearest, you should get something in your stomach. If I'm not mistaken then you have your lessons this afternoon, and right after that you're going on a horseback ride with your cousin Madrid."

Senna nodded and she turned to Ana and Amber-Lyn. "You two know how to ride a horse properly, am I right?" she asked.

Both girls shook their head. "There were no horses where we come from," Ana said softly.

Lady Lyris snorted. "No horses? And you came from the great Pegatha Davies? Well, my Darling, that just goes to show what kind up culture the Queen of all Darkness allows into her home!"

Senna laughed as well, and Ana felt Amber-Lyn tense angrily. "Calm down," she whispered. "We'll be gone soon and on our way to dance lessons."

Amber-Lyn did calm down, much to Ana's relief, and the two waited quietly while Senna and Lady Lyris ate a delicious looking breakfast. After the princess finished eating she stood politely, bid farewell to her grandmother, and led Ana and Amber-Lyn on to her dance lessons. Senna was just beginning to learn courantes and galliards, and she invited Ana and Amber-Lyn to join. Ana was all too willing to learn the dances that her own mother had danced, and she was surprised to find that she excelled at them.

The dance instructor, a man called Monsieur Frisk, was surprised too. Turning to Senna he asked, "Where did you find zis girl? She is almost as good as you!"

Senna smiled at the compliment and shrugged. "A gift from my father," she explained. "Ms. Lowell, where did you learn to dance to well?"

At the name 'Lowell' Ana heard Monsieur Frisk gasp. "Princess, if I might be so bold, may I tutor zis girl in ze way of ze dance? You are my only other talented pupil, and I grow weary teaching your cousins who never learn a zing!"

Senna thought for a moment. "I suppose, Monsieur," she said after a while. "You can have her every two days when I have my private Sorceress lessons. I was wondering where I'd send them."

Monsieur Frisk smiled. "Zank you, Princess Senna. You are most wonderful. Perhaps, when the next gathering of your siblings occur, you will have a proper dance partner."

Senna smiled again, but this was a smile of devious ambition. "I should so like to put shame to the name of Mercutia Riddle," she murmured softly. "Oh, how she would die if a servant girl--my handmaiden, no less!--was to best her at dancing."

Senna wore that smile for the rest of the dancing lesson and all throughout lunch. Her eyes glinted strangely whenever anyone mentioned competition, and Ana was reminded once again that she could not get too close to this girl, this daughter of Voldemort.

That afternoon Senna had French. On the way to Mademoiselle Trialle's study Senna explained that she took three languages: Spanish, Latin, and French. She also explained that servants were not allowed to participate in their mistress's lessons, and so she told them to sit quietly in the corner. Ana remembered most of the class, though, and she resolved to learn the language her mother had spoken, as well as the others.

Who knew? Maybe one of these languages would come in handy someday. All Ana knew was that she had best make lemonade out of the lemons she had been given. If she were confined for a long while inside Blackenvire Castle then she might as well learn as much as she could. Knowledge would better her chances of surviving when Amber-Lyn and she escaped.

After Senna's French lesson she went riding with her cousin Madrid. Madrid was a handsome man in his late teens, the eldest son of Senna's aunt Marisol, and he waited patiently while Senna taught Ana and Amber-Lyn the basics of riding a horse. Still, Ana and Amber-Lyn felt more at ease following the princess and her cousin at their own, leisurely pace. It was best, as well, for it gave them a chance to talk.

"Can we talk of our plans here?" Amber-Lyn asked when she was sure the royals were out of earshot.

Ana looked around the open field they were riding through and nodded. "It's safe," she said.

"Good. How long do you think we'll have to stay here?" Amber-Lyn asked.

"Winter's almost here," Ana observed, eyeing the barren trees in the distance. "We can't go running off to who knows where in the middle of winter. And besides--we'll need time to prepare. I think that it'd be best to run in early spring. How does April sound?"

Amber-Lyn looked horrified. "But it's only late October!" She hissed. "You mean that I have to serve that girl from late October to early April?"

"Unless you want to run now," Ana said, "and be totally unprepared. The nights will be near freezing soon, and we'll have little food to bring along. We don't know the surrounding land too well either, so we'll be caught within a matter of days. And once they catch us..." Ana shivered to emphasize her point. "Do you know what they do to runaway servants?"

Amber-Lyn didn't look very happy, but at least she seemed to understand. "So we'll plan the next few months plotting," she said slowly. "We'll gather materials and things like that."

Ana nodded. "And we'll learn everything we can," she said. "We'll learn who's who in this world, who hates who, who's in trouble, who's in favor--every political mishap, every marital scandal." Ana gave Amber-Lyn a small grin. "We'll listen for stories about the rebels and renegades, too," she said. "And we'll each focus on learning a language. I'll take French, you take Spanish. We'll memorize Latin together, and by then we'll know enough to get by in the world."

Amber-Lyn seemed pleased with this plan. She stared dazedly into the distance, looking at the giant walls surrounding Blackenvire's grounds as if they were nothing but air. "Oh, I like this plan," she purred. "I like this plan very much."

***

The rest of the day went by at a nice, steady pace. Senna had to council with her aunts and mother on some sort of political matter that evening, and that was when Ana and Amber-Lyn went to get their new wands. For a witch of her age Ana knew very little magic. There was the odd occasion when she sneezed and turned something green, but other than that she was clueless. Mrs. Davies had disliked the thought of any of her servants possessing wands, so she had never taken the time to teach any of them any magic. Amber-Lyn, of course, knew a little, but no more than the average eleven year old.

Amber-Lyn found her wand almost immediately--nine and three quarter inches, redwood, containing a phoenix feather and a hair from a unicorn, springy, excellent wand for performing charms --but for Ana it took some time. The woman who had brought her wands was called Cassandra Ollivander, and she had sharp features but a kind manner.

"Take your time, dear," she told Ana. "It's the wand that chooses the wizard--that's what my father always used to say." Finally, however, on what must have been her twentieth wand, blue, gold, and silver sparks shot out of the tip of Ana's wand. Cassandra looked mildly surprised upon seeing the sparks, but Ana couldn't guess why. Instead she took the wand, looked it up and down, and said quietly, "Interesting...Very interesting. Thirteen inches, ebony, contains a unicorn hair and the heartstring of a dragon, good for just about anything..." Cassandra looked Ana straight in the eye. "My father never made one wand the same. Except a few, special ones--ones that were meant to show something."

Amber-Lyn twirled her wand impatiently. "Well, what does this wand show?" she asked.

Cassandra shot Amber-Lyn a look, but she opened her mouth to answer. Just then, though, the door to the room they were in opened and Marie came bustling in. "Have they found their wands, yet?" Marie asked.

"Both of them have," Cassandra said, and she shot a wistful look in Ana's direction before hastily packing up her things.

"Here's the amount promised, Ms. Ollivander," Marie told the woman, handing her a small, velvet green pouch.

"Thank you very much," Cassandra muttered. "As always, it was pleasant doing business here." She left quickly after saying that, and Marie shook her head as she watched her go.

"Strange one, she is," Marie muttered when the clickity-clack of Cassandra's boots had faded. "Has a daughter about your age, a girl named Heather. No husband to speak of, does as she pleases..." The matron of the servants shook her head. "But I'll not be one to gossip. Now, you two should be off to the princess's rooms. She'll be there soon, and she'll be wanting to go to bed. Then you two mosey on back to your own place and bed down for the night. Your things from your old home arrived this morning, and you might want to unpack all that. Tomorrow I'll try and find time to teach you the proper defense spells you'll need to protect the princess." Marie gave a soft smile. "Off with you now," she said.

Ana and Amber-Lyn nodded and took out their maps. Two little dots showed represented them, and they traced their way back to the room entitled 'Princess Senna's chambers'. The two young girls moved quickly and they reached the rooms right as their mistress was. Senna seemed generally pleased to see them.

"There you two are," she said. "I trust that you found your wands?" She nodded approvingly when both girls said yes. "Good. Mama's very paranoid about attacks from that awful rebel group, the Renegades. Have you heard of them?"

"No," Ana told her.

Senna opened the doors to her rooms and inhaled the lavender scent that greeted them. "Well, even though Mama and Grandmother would kill me for telling you about them I suppose I must. It's best you hear the truth about them, instead of some bull concocted by a lowlife servant who'd like to see my family gone." Senna led them up to the room, and she continued speaking. "The Renegades are a group of men and women who've been gaining power for the past two years. They travel all throughout Britain and Ireland and Scotland, causing trouble for my father's men and burning down Death Eater organizations and things of that sort."

Ana's attention perked, and she hoped that her sudden interest in what was being said didn't show on her face. "That's awful!" she said, pretending to be horrified.

"Isn't it?" Senna asked, turning her back to Ana and motioning for her to undress her. "Mama's terribly worried, and she says Daddy is going mad trying to catch them. Their leader is a man they call Rogue, and his right hand person is a woman who has been nicknamed Trouble. They're deadly dangerous, I hear." Senna yawned, and it was obvious that her attention was waning from the Renegades. "But enough about that," she said sleepily as she slipped into her nightgown. "Do either of you know any good bedtime stories?"

Amber-Lyn shook her head and turned to Ana. Ana jerked her head in a 'yes' response and sat down on Senna's bed. "I made this one up myself, you see," she said. "And it begins like most faerie tales does...With a beautiful princess and a handsome prince..."

***

"That was a nice story," Amber-Lyn commented as she opened the door to Ana and hers quarters. "I bet little Mandy liked to hear that one."

"It was her favorite," Ana admitted. "I made up a lot of stories for those girls...My cousins, I guess."

"My cousins too," Amber-Lyn said sulkily.

She was shifting quickly back into her moody stage, so Ana made herself scare by disappearing into her tiny room. Sure enough there was a small trunk there, and when she opened it she found the trunk to be sparsely filled will a few dressed and Ana's favorite book. She was still looking at the dresses when Sugar flitted in and gasped!

"My dear wings!" the faerie cried. "Is that Kate's trunk?" Ana's eyebrows arched, and Sugar began motioning wildly. "Knock on the bottom of it! It should be hollow!"

Ana did as she was told. There was a vacant 'thump, thump' when her knuckles hit the old wood, and it only took a moment's pulling to loosen the bottom board and pull it up. Now what she saw took her breath away. There weren't many things in the trunk, of course, but it was more than she could have hoped for. There was an old photo album, a small, bejeweled box of old, tattered books, and a tiny, miniature chest. Ana's hands went to the photo album first, and the picture that was in the very front took her breath away.

It was of a smiling, laughing young woman. The young woman had reddish-brown hair, dark blue eyes, a pretty face, and she was very much pregnant. Two young girls stood by the woman, one with light, silky blonde hair and the other with bouncy, dark, corkscrew curls. Under the picture was written in a loopy scrawl, 'About to pop, and Jeanette and Keri can't stop cracking jokes about my stomach!' The next picture was filled with a picture of a bunch of freckly red head men and one young woman, probably their sister. 'Ron pinched me a picture of his family! He's the handsome one in the green robe.' Ana traced her fingers over Ron Weasley's laughing, grinning face. He sent her a big wave, and she couldn't help but wave back.

"This is amazing," she told Sugar as she leafed through more pictures.

"It sure is," Sugar agreed. "I guess we got your mum's stuff after all."

Ana didn't hear her, though. She was too busy staring at a picture of a chubby, giggling baby girl. The baby girl had reddish-brown fluff all over her head, and she was held tightly in the arms of the same young woman in the first picture. The caption read 'Ana's first picture, and isn't she beautiful? I didn't ever believe I could love someone so much, especially if I had only just met them...' Sugar looked away as Ana removed the picture from its slot and studied it closely. She pretended that she didn't read that words that Kate had wrote, but Ana found that she didn't care.

"She really loved me, didn't she?" Ana asked.

"Loves you," Sugar corrected. "I believe that she's still alive and kicking."

Ana lifted her 'faerie godmother' gently into her hands. "I'm glad I'm not the only one," she whispered.

Sugar watched Ana from a perch as Ana put away her mother's things and prepared for bed. "I heard some things today that might be of interest to you," she said after a while. "You're not the only new servant here. There's a middle aged woman named Andrea Verlitz, and I listened into a conversation she was having with a friend." Sugar paused and waited until she was sure that she fully had Ana's attention. "She wasn't happy about being transferred. Andrea had been working in the house of a Death Eater named Kylo Nott for the past three decades, and she was suddenly moved here--away from everything she knew--because Nott needed to make room for a new servant, a young girl..."

Ana breathed the name hopefully. "Liza!"

Sugar shrugged. "I didn't catch an actual name, but the girl fits the description. About eleven, Andrea said, rather pretty, and very quiet."

"That would be Liza," Ana said, almost laughing with joy. "Did she say where Nott lived?"

Sugar grinned and nodded. "It's a ways from here, I think, but it's a place called Sairos."

Ana closed her eyes and thought a moment. "Sairos is a small, small town. It's old fashioned, and it's known for its main industry: making beer."

Sugar leapt from her perch and onto the bed. "So we know where Liza is. That's good for now." She curled up on Ana's pillow. "Early to sleep and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. John Clarke said that, little Ana, and he was right. You'll think more clearly in the morning if you get to sleep now. Tomorrow we'll begin to make more detailed plans, and you can't be falling asleep on me."

But it was too late. Ana was already snoozing softly, and soon enough the faerie was too.

***

"You're back."

Ana jumped when she heard the small boy's voice behind her. She had been busy admiring the many books on the shelves of the library she had found herself in, and she hadn't been paying attention to anything--or anyone--else around her. But right away she knew who the boy was.

"Hello, Nicholas," Ana said kindly, dropping to her knees and becoming eye level with the small boy. "It's nice to see you here too."

Nicholas nodded. His arms were wrapped very tightly around the same teddy-bear Ana had seen him with when they first met, and she was beginning to believe it was a security item. "I know who you are," he said.

"Know who I am?" Ana asked, feigning ignorance.

"You're my sister Ana. And you're trying to find me." Nicholas looked at her with a fierce look of hope in his eyes. "Aren't you? Aren't I right?"

Ana thought a moment before nodding. "I am your big sister, and I am looking for you. It might take me a while though. You see, I've been captured by some very bad people, and they won't let me go, so I'll have to wait until spring so I can escape."

Nicholas's look of hope and triumph was replaced with a melancholy frown. "But why?" he asked. "I hate it here. My pretend sisters are mean, and everyone at school calls me a freak, and my pretend parents are always mad at me."

Ana was taken aback by her brother's outburst. "They're mad at you?" she wondered aloud. "Why ever would they be mad at you?"

"Because I make things happen!" Nicholas cried, and tears welled up in his eyes. "I make things happen, Ana! Sometimes I'll be making cookies with Sheryl, and then I'll sneeze, and suddenly there's cookie mix all over the walls and the floor and everything! Sheryl gets mad because she thinks I did it on purpose."

Ana sighed deeply. "Did the letter our mum gave you ever talk about magic?" she asked.

"Magic?" Nicholas asked. He looked skeptical. "Like the Lord of the Rings magic?"

Ana raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of the Lord of the Rings," she told him, "but I'm talking about witches, and wizards, and goblins, and unicorns, and spells, and all that jazz."

Nicholas gave his teddy-bear a squeeze for comfort. "Are we goblins?" he asked.

Ana couldn't help but laugh. "Merlin, no!" she gasped through her giggles. "I'm a witch, and you're a wizard! All those things that happen, the things you can never explain, are just bursts of pent up magic."

Nicholas looked amazed. "Is that how you're here?" he asked. "Through magic?"

Ana nodded. "I'm a Seer," she said. "I can travel to faraway places in my dreams."

"As faraway as Surrey?" Nicholas asked. "That's pretty faraway."

"Surrey?" Ana asked. "Is that where you live?" She realized that her voice was getting faint. Her body was fading, and Nicholas was becoming harder and harder to see.

"Come and fine me, Ana!" the young boy began yelling. "Please, come and find me!"

***

"NICHOLAS!"

Ana's eyes flew open. It was dark, still, but adrenaline was rushing through her veins and she knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep. Thankfully she had not woken Sugar up with her terrified cry, and she slumped against the wall behind her bed. She kept seeing images of Nicholas's frightened face, and she wondered, not for the first time, about his "pretend" parents.

There was something strange about the way Nicholas spoke of them. His eyes would mist over, and Ana resolved to talk to Sugar about it later. She decided to get an early start that morning, and she had eaten and dressed far before the time the buzzer would go off. Instead of pacing around her room or sitting patiently in the kitchen she decided that she would explore the castle, but only a little bit.

Ana slipped out of her quarters undetected, and she slunk down the hallway and in the opposite direction of Senna's chambers. She was rustling around her smock pocket, looking for her map, when she ran right into somebody. The somebody she had collided with had been running very fast, so Ana was thrown off her feet by the force. She landed unpleasantly on her rump and staid there for a moment, piecing together what had just happened.

"Oh, lord, I'm sorry!" A voice broke through her muddled thoughts. "Didn't see you there." Ana was dragged up off the ground roughly and suddenly she found herself staring into a pair of rich, golden eyes. The eyes were set in a young face, strangely pale with high cheekbones and a strong, protruding nose. He couldn't have been much older than Ana herself, and he seemed very gentlemanly.

'That's all right," Ana said. "No harm done." She made a move to leave then, but the boy grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Not so fast," he said. "I didn't catch your name."

Ana smiled tightly. "I didn't give it," she said.

"Well, let my introduce myself as AC. And you are?" AC gave Ana a crooked smile.

"Ana Lowell," Ana said, and her voice was a little more warm this time. She had a feeling that AC had that effect on people.

AC gave Ana a small wink. "Ana...what a pretty name," he told her. "Can I call you Annie?"

"No."

"How about Ann?"

Ana gave him a scathing look that said it all.

"Well, then, I guess I call you Nana. Rhymes with Ana, has the same letters...I just added on an 'n'." AC gave Ana a smile which was, needless to say, not returned.

"I have to go now," Ana said callously. AC's charismatic presence had worn off quickly, and now she longed to return to her room.

"No problem," AC retorted. "No problem at all. I'll see you around later, right?"

"I guess," she replied.

"Bye, Nan!" AC called as he bounded off down the hall. Ana shook her head. Ten to one she'd never see that boy again.

***

It had been a week and a half since Ana had seen AC, and, what with her new and busy schedule, he was just a vague ghost of a memory. She and Amber-Lyn had been studying their maps whenever they were in private, memorizing all the hallways and corridors. They, along with Sugar, had begun to form a plan of escape, and every Wednesday and Sunday Ana would have private dancing lessons with Monsieur Frisk. Marie had also been pounding into their heads a few handy defense spells.

However, one Saturday morning when the Sun had not yet risen, Ana found herself walking down the hallways once again. She had not had any dreams recently, and she was beginning to grown anxious in anticipation. Her nerves were strained, and her shoulders were hunched up tightly, so she jumped nearly a mile when somebody tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Nan! Merlin! I didn't mean to scare you so!"

Ana had to take three deep breaths before whirling around and facing AC. "What in the devil's name are you trying to do?" she asked in a sharp voice. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

AC crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Touchy, touchy!" he laughed. "Where've you been? I never see you in the servants' dining hall."

Ana raised her eyebrows. "Servant's dining hall? Marie never mentioned a servants' dining hall."

"We're even then," AC quipped. "Marie never mentioned you. What do you do around here anyway? You must be pretty high up if Marie doesn't tell you about the servants' dining hall."

"I'm a handmaiden to Princess Senna," Ana told him.

AC didn't hide his shock. "A handmaiden to the princess? No wonder you don't come around! I expect that your mistress is rather snooty."

Ana knew better than to reply. "She's nice enough," she lied. "And you'd best keep your mouth shut about her too. Marie would box your ears, I expect, if she heard you talking about a royal like that."

AC snorted as if he didn't care one bit, but Ana didn't miss the uneasy look in his eyes. "I've got old Marie eating out of the palms of my hands," he chortled jovially. "She's like a mum to me, she is, seeing as how my own mum left me when I was no more than one."

Ana had a strange feeling when he said that. "My mother left me too," she said, though she didn't go into details.

"Well, Nan, it seems as though we have a lot in common," AC concluded. "Why don't you come down the servants' dining hall this evening when you get off. I'll wait there until ten, all right?"

Ana thought briefly about backing out because she had things to do with Amber-Lyn, but then she caught herself. She deserved to have at least one thing separate from her two companions. Let AC be it. "I'll try and be there by nine-thirty," Ana agreed. "See you then." She smiled quickly and then was off to begin her day.

***

It took Ana a while to find the servants' dining hall. It wasn't properly marked on her map, and Ana reached the large door leading down into a dungeon-like room twenty minutes later then she said she would have. Lucky for her AC was still waiting there when she arrived, though the only other person in the room was a hefty, bald, tattooed man. When AC saw her he looked relieved.

"Thought you wouldn't make it!" he called to Ana. "Did the princess give you troubles?"

Ana sighed deeply and sank down into the chair next to him. "I got lost," she admitted.

"It's an easy thing to do," AC assured her. "I've always lived here so I wouldn't know what it's like, though."

"You've always lived here?" Ana asked. Suddenly she found many reasons to befriend AC.

"Yep," AC replied. "Ever since I can remember. Marie has raised me like a son, since she's barren never could have children. Her husband Bart died five years ago, when I was only six, so I don't remember him all that well."

"But this castle hasn't always been inhabited by the Duchess, has it?"

AC shook his head at the question. "Nope. Used to belong to a high-ranking Death Eater family. They moved, though, to make room for the Dark King's new bride. That was when I was about one, though. Princess Senna is about ten, I'd say."

"She looks much older," Ana commented. "Tell me, does the princess ever leave this iron hold?"

AC nodded. "Oh, yeah, every March or in early April she heads down to Mardentine for a month or so. She goes shopping with all the works and everything, too. I expect you'll have to watch over her while she does that." AC gave Ana a stern look. "Just watch over her carefully, Nan. You don't want to end up like the last ones..."

Ana cocked her head in pretend innocence, and she screwed her face up to look confused. "Last ones?" she asked. "What last ones?"

AC was too caught up in his story to be bothered by the content of her questions. "When Princess Senna was eight she had two nannies, Roxanne and Betty. Now, these two were fairly responsible, and they kept an eagle eye on her, but then they all went to Mardentine in the spring. The crowds there are horrible at any time of the year, but especially then. Princess Senna had been shopping in a toy store, but she got caught up in a crowd, and she was swept out of the store."

"But what about the nannies?" Ana asked.

"Even though they found the princess three blocks away at an ice cream parlor the King and the Duchess were furious. They had a public hanging because they claimed that Roxanne and Betty were too lowly to have a decent execution." AC still looked serious. "It's really easy to get lost in those crowds. And there are so many people in Mardentine that it would be murder to track down just two. I don't know why those two didn't just make a break for it. If they had really wanted to they could have been to the coast by dawn..."

***

"I have a plan," Ana said as she walked into her room that night.

"Where were you?" Sugar asked, ignoring Ana's claim.

"I have a darn near surefire plan, Sugar, on escaping this dump!"

"You had me worried sick when you didn't return from the princess's chambers! Amber-Lyn said that you just slipped off without telling her where you were going!" Sugar looked angrier than all get out.

"I was talking to this boy-"

"You were with a boy?"

"-and he's been here forever-"

"What kind of boy is this?"

"-so, naturally, he knows all about the princess's schedule-"

"I think I should meet this boy!"

"-He told me that each year during March or April the princess takes a shopping trip to Mardentine-"

"I don't want him to get the wrong idea about you, you know."

"-and so Amber-Lyn and I will spend a month or so taking her around the city-"

"I mean, you're so young! You're too young to be sneaking off with some boy!"

"-but that's the time when Mardentine's the busiest, so it would be easy to slip off-"

"You're mother wouldn't like it at all!"

"And we could be to the coast by dawn, and no one would want to follow."

That shut Sugar up right away. She sat down slowly and looked slightly dazed. "I told you that you'd find us a way, whether you knew it or not."

Ana blushed at the little bit of praise. "We still have to figure out many things," she reminded her small friend. "We need to work out the details."

Sugar had gotten over the shock, and she was grinning broadly now. "That we will, my dear friend, that we will. Now, I want you to continue to talk with this boy more. Don't tell him about Amber-Lyn or I, but get more information out of him. We can use all we can get, and it sounds as if he'd be a good source."

"Yes ma'am!" Ana giggled. The light was back in Sugar's eyes, and she felt somehow rekindled. They had a plan, they had nothing to lose...

Now all they needed was a little bit of luck.