Kerrie grumbled only a little bit as she walked down the street to the public library. Things were going well in the Freehold since Lady Gwendaline returned. She and Mistral were wed with full pagentry and they truly looked as happy as they deserved to be, for all the grumbles about the "upstart Sluagh" to the contrary. No, Kerrie was grumbling because she was feeling her age more than ever this day, and she didn't like to be reminded of the fact that she was getting older, not that she ever told anyone just how old she really was. No, she was trying to be someone new, someone younger, someone as young as she knew she looked. Sometimes the Fairie blood showed up very strongly in a person, and you got someone like Kerrie.

Today was the day she went to the library and read to the children. Kerrie adored the way they looked up at her and simply drank in the tales she told. She knew full well that for many of them it was the only time anyone ever read to them at all, and that if a love of books and dreams was to be instilled in them at all, it had to be done early. So she volunteered her time at the library, and they were grateful to have her. There simply wasn't enough money to go around for things like reading times at libraries and art teachers and band classes at the younger grades, though bands were a matter of school pride at the High School level. It broke her heart to see the arts pushed out of the elementary schools the way they were.

She reached the library and was surrounded by a horde of eager children, all talking at once. "Mrs. Story-Lady, read this one..." and variations thereof. Her mood brightened considerably once she was with the children. They made life livable. Though she could have handled it if they had dropped the "Mrs." part of their name for her. She knew she didn't look that old, though she figured that anyone early twenties and up was old to children that young, and given her pleasantly plump figure, she could understand being classed in the same group as those decades older than she looked.

Kerrie chose very carefully a brightly illustrated fairie tale and sat down to read it to the eager children. This was one of her favorite times of her week.

With a sigh she finished the story and smiled as the little ones stood and thanked her, each in their own way. She loved the hugs most of all, because a child's hug is such an innocent thing.

As the last one left she saw a little boy standing in a corner, watching her. He was about five or six, and a very good looking child too. He'd be a heart-breaker one day, though his face was rather worried. She walked over to him. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

He looked up at her. "Mrs. Story-Lady, are... can stories be real?"

Kerrie felt her heart jump. He held such hope in his voice, and yet, he didn't really feel hope at all. She had to answer carefully. "Yes, in a way, if you imagine something, that makes it real, if only for a moment. And only if you imagine something can you think to make it real in any form at all."

He considered that. "I've been reading alot about... about fairies, and elves. Are they real?"

Kerrie felt her heart do another double back flip. "Yes, though you may not always see them. I like to think that they watch over children."

Again, he paused to consider her words. "I read that they steal children, and take them away to the fairieland, where they live happily ever after, and no one hurts them again."

"It seems to me that I've heard the same stories. I hear that they leave a changeling in the stolen child's place."

"Mrs. Story-Lady, do you think the fairies would steal me?" That suprised Kerrie to no end.

"Why? Do you want to be stolen?"

"Oh, not for me, but for my sister. Our dad, he's not really a very nice person, and sometimes he hits me, but I can handle it, because I'm big and strong, but he hits Lisa, and she's little. She's really pretty, too. And Dad's been looking at her, and I don't like it one bit, and Lisa's frightened. She's only five, and she looks up to me, because I'm fifteen minutes older than she is, and I have to protect her. So please, Mrs. Story-Lady, do you know any fairies? Could they please steal me and my sister? I have to get her away from Dad somehow."

Kerrie didn't know what to say to the young boy who stood before her. She knew one thing though, she had to help him and his sister, somehow, and she had to do so in a way that would protect his belief in fairies. "Well, you know, the fairies, they have a real hard time helping people nowadays. People don't believe in them anymore, and that hurts them. I'll tell you what, I think I know a way to get in contact with some fairies, though it is by no means certain that I'll get through. I'll do my best, but if they can't get to you very quickly, here's what you do. You bring your sister to reading time with you, and you take care of her like I know you have been, and if things get too intolerable, if your dad hurts her, or you, you come running either to me, or to a teacher you trust, or if there is no other way, then you bring her down to Castles-in-the-Air, the bookstore down the street a couple blocks, and ask for me, and we'll do something at that point. Okay?"

The look of relief on his face was almost heart-breaking. Finally someone older than him was taking matters in hand. It almost killed Kerrie to see how old his face had gotten because he had to be the responsible one. "Thank you, Mrs. Story-Lady. I knew you could help me. Lisa, she's been really frightened. Dad doesn't want her leaving the house much, and she's stopped talking to anyone but me. I have to get her away from him. Lisa believes in fairies, and so do I, so maybe that can help the fairies help us." He hugged her and then ran out the door of the children's section, looking so much more child-like than he had before.

Kerrie sighed. She sincerely hoped this didn't get her into more trouble than she could handle. As she walked back to the Freehold she thought over her options. She could call Children's Services, but they had so much trouble that something like this would get lost in the shuffle, if they could intervene at all. It took definite danger to life or limb to get a child removed from her parents, and it was heck even then. What does it take to show that a child is in danger? she thought, a dead body? The thought made her shiver a moment and she knew that it would take just that before the mortal authorities could intervene, and that was intolerable.

Well, she'd make a report, and make sure that the paperwork was there, so that they knew that something was wrong with that household, and then when the time came, she'd grab both children and hide them away in the Freehold where they'd never face their father again. After a couple of years in the Freehold they'd still look so young that the mortal authorities would never think that they'd be the two missing kids on a list of thousands of other missing kids who are never found.

Kerrie got to the Freehold rather quickly and saw Pete behind the counter of the diner/coffeeshop. "Pete, I gotta talk to you." she said and motioned to a spot where they wouldn't be overheard by the mundane customers. Pete, another Boggan, nodded at his wilder assistant, a troll girl, who then took over watching the counter as he joined Kerrie.

"What is it, Kerrie?"

"There are a couple of kids, real young ones, five-year-old twins, and they're in an abusive situation. I was pulled into this by the little boy, a more responsible young one I've never seen, who came to me after I finished reading to the children at the library. Anyway, he asked me, get this, if stories were real, if fairies were real, if fairies really stole children and if the fairies could please steal him and his sister. I'm going to talk with Leonine right now, but if those two come looking for me, they'll ask for 'Mrs. Story-Lady', hide them, because things got too hot to handle before I could do anything else."

Pete nodded sagely. "I see. I'll keep my eye out for them. Good luck getting them out."

"Thanks. I knew you'd understand. I better go. See ya later, Pete."

"See ya, Kerrie."

Kerrie knocked on the door to Baron Leonine's study, and waited for him to respond before opening the door and entering. Leonine was sitting in a chair reading from a large tome with Lady Gwendaline beside him. "What is it, Kerrie?" he asked.

"My Lord Baron, I was wondering if you would have any problems with my bringing two mortal children into the Freehold. They are in desperate straits and I honestly fear that one would end up dead before the mortal authorities could show up." Again, that strange shivering tingle down her spine.

Lady Gwendaline looked up, concern in her eyes. "What's wrong with them?"

Kerrie had to be honest, she respected Gwendaline too much for anything else. "Their father is an abuser, not only that, but I get the impression that the little girl could..." oh, how to put this, it was such a disgusting facet of human madness, "the child could be facing sexual abuse before too long, and I would rather die than see that happen to another child." That came out a bit more emphatically than she had intended.

Gwendaline nodded. "I, too. Leonine, please?" She put on the most pleading face she could manage and Leonine laughted at her antics, and then became deadly serious. "I would have asked that they be brought here anyway. Kerrie doesn't ask for things like this very often." He turned to Kerrie. "I trust your judgement. Bring them here at the earliest possible opportunity. They will be in your care while they are here. Is that all?"

"Yes, my Lord. I thank you." She bowed and left the room.

Gwendaline and Leonine watched Kerrie leave the room, and Gwendaline sighed. "What's wrong, Gwen?" Leonine asked, concern in his voice.

"I'm just worried about those children. Kerrie'll take very good care of them, if she manages to get them here in time. I wonder what happened in her past to make her so... angry towards abuse. I mean, anyone would be horrified and someone harming a child like that, but there was something in her voice that said she had deeper reasons to hate those kind of madmen." Gwendaline spoke softly, almost to herself.

Leonine placed a comforting hand on hers. "Whatever happened, it's long over with for Kerrie. She's been a fixture here at Castles-in-the-Air for as long as I can remember. Come now, think happier thoughts. Have you and Mistral decided to give me a young one to play Grandpa to?"

Gwendaline smiled and turned back to her friend and Guardian. "You are nowhere near old enough to play Grandfather, Leonine, and no, we haven't come to that decision yet. My mortal parents would have a conniption fit, to say the least. Dad doesn't approve of Mistral, and Mom sort of follows Dad's lead in all things. They can barely cope with Mistral as a boyfriend, much less a husband. They have the best of motives, but I would rather not shock them too badly just now."

Leonine thought about that for a moment. "You never told me... why they are so protective of you. I'm rather curious, if you don't mind telling me." He spoke slowly, weighing every word to avoid upsetting her.

Gwendaline shrugged. "I'm their only surviving child and I nearly died when I was very young. I suppose they are terrified of losing me the way they lost my brother. I barely remember him anymore. He died when I was about six. We were twins." She tried to keep her voice steady, but a quaver broke through at the end and she felt tears rising up in her eyes. Leonine pulled her into a very brotherly embrace.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Gwendaline sniffed. "I didn't expect you to. I'm alright, it's been at least a couple months since I wondered about Andrew. I miss him sometimes, but my memories are so vague. Don't be sorry, I need to talk about these things sometimes. Oh my friend..." She embraced Leonine, thankful for the friendship he offered her when she could not accept another relationship.

"Why don't you go find your husband? I dare say he'd be glad to see you again." Leonine suggested.

Gwendaline laughed as she stepped back from Leonine. "I may do just that. I'll see you later, Leonine. Take care of yourself." He kissed her cheek and she left the room after a parting hug.

Gwendaline walked through the halls of Castles-in-the-Air on her way down to the tunnels below where Mistral still hid, though he could come up to her rooms above any time he wished. He was so kind to her, so gentle, she wondered how she had managed to deserve such a wonderful man, for all that he really didn't like crowds of any sort. She paused to watch a training duel between two of the knights of Leonine's court, Sir Keith, and a younger one, slight, with long flowing black hair. Gwendaline wracked her brain to figure out who Keith was fighting with until the fight ended, with Keith's victory, and the younger knight removed the faceguard, at which point Gwendaline recognized young Sarah, one of the youngest knights in the area at only fifteen. So, Gwen thought Keith has taken on a protege. It's about time he stopped staying by himself so much. With a smile she continued down the hallway and made her way to the caverns where Mistral stayed.

She found him, of all things, playing on a lute, which suprised Gwen while at the same time it made so much sense. Would she never stop finding out new things about him? She smiled at the tune, which was a very old song, and a very sweet song, and very quietly started singing the words to it as she moved closer.

Mistral looked up at her and smiled and she felt surrounded by his love for her. The song ended and he motioned for her to sit next to him. "Did you like it?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, very much. I didn't know you played the lute."

"I sort of picked it up at some point."

Gwen smiled and reached out to touch his face. "You are so wonderful." Then she sighed and turned to other topics. "Leonine is still wondering if we are going to have a child anytime soon. I told him my parents weren't ready yet to deal with my having a baby this young, especially since Dad doesn't like you all that much."

"Why do you still stay with them? I left my parents just after my Chrysalis, I couldn't handle the mundanity." he whispered.

"I stay because I'm all they have left right now. I'll have time enough after I get out of High School next summer to blow their minds. I don't want to hurt them any more than I absolutely have to." She sighed and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"Whate'er you say, my Lady." he whispered into her ear.

She smiled and resumed the kiss. There were other things they could be doing right now than talking.

Sarah took her leave of Keith and headed back to her own room after the workout with the older knight. She managed to contain herself until the door was closed and then she leaned back against it and blew a digusted breath that knocked her bangs around. Would the man never get the hint?!

"Whassamatter?" asked a voice from the other end of the room. Sarah recognized the voice of her friend, Tabby. Tabby was a Pooka, a cat one at that and she and Sarah had been friends since they were childlings. Also, Tabby stuck to questions or opposites of the truth with Sarah, with anyone else, all was fair.

"What do you think is the matter?" she asked back. "That man can't seem to catch a hint even though I know I'm practically screaming it all over the place. Cripe. It's a wonder there isn't talk all over the place the way I've been throwing myself at him."

"Lotsa luck, I presume."

"No luck at all. I'm starting to wonder just what I'll have to do to get his attention."

"Well, it's not as if he's not looking, you know. Would you be looking for a new relationship if you had the track record he does?" Tabby rolled off the divan to sit on the floor, looking at her painted nails. She and Sarah could have been twins, they were so close in age, minutes apart; they'd checked that years ago.

"I don't care about his track record. I don't even care if he can't give me anything stronger than companionship. What I want is to know what sex is like, and the boys my own age are puppies I wouldn't waste my time with even if they were the last males on Earth." She stomped over to the wardrobe and started stowing things away as Tabby looked on.

"Why are you so set on him? I mean, I'm sure he's the only one around who would enjoy that sort of activity with you."

"Tabby, I'm not sure why I'm so interested in Keith. He seems so sad at times, and when he's not mopeing he's fighting, and maybe I can help him. If he can't give me love then I don't want it, but he has to know somehow that he doesn't have to be alone."

Tabby made a noncommittal noise from her place on the carpet.

Keith sat in his room, leaning back on a pillow, and looking out the window at the world outside. He didn't know what to do about young Sarah. He knew she was interested in him, he'd have to be blind and deaf not to tell that much, but she was so very young and he was so very old, well, old as Changelings went. Still young in his Grump years, he suprised a great many that he had lasted this long.

Jennifer, he thought, why can't I forget you? Her face floated before his eyes and he felt tears gathering. It had been three years since she died, three years since he had lost her and their child, their son. The ache was almost more than he could bear at times.

Jennifer had been one of the most beautiful people he had known, mortal though she was, and she had brought such joy into his life. He didn't know how he kept going after her death, why the Mists didn't give him forgetfulness, why he hadn't died and joined her.

Kerrie was heading out the door when Pete stopped her a moment, pressing something into her hand. "Here, take this. It'll help cover your tracks when you get those kids outa there." he murmured.

She looked down at the ring in her palm, a gold band with swords crossing on the top. "What does it do?" she asked.

"Copies things. Heard a nocker made it for Morgan of Eiluned 'bout eleven years ago. She only used it once before it was stolen. Can't tell you how I got it."

Kerrie nodded. "And the flaw..." He whispered something in her ear and she grinned in absolute delight. "Just what I needed. I'll get it back to you when I'm done."

Pete placed his hand over hers, closing her fingers around the ring. "I'd appreciate it if you would keep it, as a token of my esteem." Kerrie looked up into his face in suprise. "Besides, I've had it long enough."

She smiled, a genuine smile of appreciation and gratitude. "Thank you, Pete." And then she left to get young Robbie and his sister, Lisa.

Kerrie found Robbie's home easily enough, it was in a residential area not that far from the old part of the city, where Castles-in-the-Air was located alongside the University and the College. She crept around the house and looked inside a window, and had to crouch down quickly, clenching her teeth to keep her dinner inside her, when she saw what was happening.

Robbie's father was in a rage and he was beating the daylights out of the two children. Robbie lay in a heap on the floor and Lisa huddled in a corner. After a couple minutes he stumbled out of the room and passed out on the couch, dead drunk. Kerrie grabbed her opportunity, quickly climbing into the room through the window, and silently coaxing Lisa over to her.

"I gotta work quickly, little one." she whispered. She looked over the wounds on both children. If she didn't get them to the Freehold very quickly, it was entirely possible that both children would die, and she would never let that happen. She put the ring Pete gave her on her finger and shaped Glamour through it, forming two bodies, two very real bodies that just happened to be exact replicas of Robbie and Lisa, complete with wounds and bruises and scars all over their young bodies. Both forms were also absolutely lifeless.

Lisa gasped in suprise and hesitantly reached out to touch her "otherself", and then looked up at Kerrie. "Surely you've heard about the fairies stealing children and leaving a changeling in the young one's place." Kerrie murmured to her, and Lisa grinned.

Kerrie arranged the two forms where Robbie and Lisa had fallen when their father left the room and then she very carefully picked Robbie up in her arms and took Lisa's hand and the three of them silently left the room, under cover of a Chicanery trick Kerrie had learned a long time ago.

It was all she could do to keep from running all the way to Castles-in-the-Air, but Kerrie knew full well that Lisa would never have been able to keep up with her. They reached the back door quickly enough and were met by Pete, who took in the situation very quickly and sent a childling to get Lord Leonine, and fast.

The two Boggans quickly got the mortal children into another room where Kerrie started casting Heather-Balms on both of them, weaving the Glamour as strongly as she could manage it. Leonine showed up shortly after she had managed to heal the last of the serious wounds on Robbie, Pete having taken Lisa in hand while her brother's more serious injuries were worked on.

"I see you've done well, Kerrie." Leonine said as he knealt next to her. He looked over at Lisa who crept forward to touch his face.

Pete reached a hand out to caress Kerrie's shoulder. "Lemmee get somethin' for the kids." He stood and walked over to a worktable and picked up two little leather bracelets, one with flowers worked around it and the other with leaves. He motioned to Lisa and she came forward to him, hesitantly. "Here, wear this, I made it for you." he said and wrapped the flowered bracelet around her small wrist, feeling the Glamour flow into the child. Her eyes widened as she saw him change before her and she looked over at Kerrie and Leonine.

"Fairies..." she whispered, delight creeping into her voice. "You're fairies." Her voice got stronger as she grew more comfortable. She touched Leonine's face again, in awe almost. "You're beautiful..." and then she blushed and looked back up at Pete. "Is the other one for my brother?"

He nodded and knealt to attach it to Robbie's wrist. The Glamour of the enchantment must have been enough to wake him, for he stirred and looked up at Kerrie. "Mrs. Story- Lady,..." he murmured, sitting up and hugging her neck. "Thank you, Mrs. Story-Lady. I always knew that fairies were real."

Robbie and Lisa were just waking up from a well deserved nap when Kerrie came into their room with a tray piled with food. "I thought you two might be hungry" was her explanation and with large grins the children proceeded to devouer the sandwiches and cookies Kerrie placed before them.

As they ate, Kerrie took the time to explain some of the facts of life around the freehold, primarily that the children needed to stay out of sight of the mundanes, because they were both legally dead to the outside world. She reassured them that their father would not be coming for them here, but that questions might be raised if children were seen running around here during school hours. She also explained that the magic of the freehold would keep them from aging as long as they stayed within the boundaries of Castles-in-the-Air, and that if they were away for too long, the magic that allowed them to see the magic would wear off. After they finished their meal, Kerrie let the two of them wander off to explore, which they did eagerly.

Once down the hall a ways the children split up by unspoken agreement, Lisa looking around the upstairs, and Robbie heading down to the catacombs. Lisa didn't take long to find a door that was cracked open a bit and she peeked in. Lying stretched out on a rug was a girl with ears on the top of her head, and a long, furry cat's tail. Lisa had never seen anyone like her before, and she was very curious. The girl looked up and their eyes met and the twinkle in the girl's hazel eyes told her that this one was friendly. "You wanna come in?" she asked. "There's a magic lock on the door, but it'll let you in, anyone else'll fry." There was a teasing note in her voice.

Lisa smiled and quietly walked into the room, kind of nervously, with her hands clasped behind her back. "I'm Lisa." she said. "What's your name?"

"Tabby, but that's not what I was born. I'm really a gypsy princess stolen at birth because a rival clan wanted to destroy my people, but one day I'll return to them and lead them to glory as the prophecies say I will and we'll take over the whole world and won't that be nice?"

Lisa giggled. Tabby was lying, she could tell that much, but she didn't mind, because sometimes she liked to pretend that she was a stolen princess too, and that Robbie was her knight who swore to protect her, and that's why he became her twin brother, so he could be near her. Sometimes she even told Robbie the stories she made up in her head, and he liked to hear her. She liked Tabby already.

"Tabby," a voice said from the doorway. There was a smile in the voice and Tabby looked up and smiled. Lisa looked around and saw the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen standing in the doorway, with long, silken black hair that she really wanted to play with. Lisa's eyes grew round and the girl smiled at her. "Tabby, you might want to weave your tales a little more obviously, or the child might believe you. Hi, I'm Sarah."

Lisa couldn't say anything to this beautiful fairy princess, she had to be a fairy princess, she had pointed ears and she was so beautiful, and Tabby snickered. "Looks like you didn't strike the poor child dumb, real talker we have here. Her name isn't Lisa, and she isn't one of the two that Kerrie pulled in here. Have you heard about them yet?"

The fairy princess's face turned sad, and Lisa's heart almost broke for the sadness. "Indeed, I have, and I must say, I admire Kerrie more for that than for anything she's done previously, even though she was admirably valiant in keeping Leonine together when Lady Gwendaline was missing." She kneeled and put a hand on Lisa's head, and Lisa had never felt so honored. "Little one, how are you liking it here? I'm very glad that you came to us."

Lisa finally found her voice, and whispered, reverently, "Are you a fairy princess? Like in the stories?"

Tabby started cackling and Sarah smiled and Lisa wondered at their mirth. "I'm not quite a princess," Sarah said, still smiling kindly, "but only a Knight, a Lady. I thank you for the honor, though. Don't ever give up the stories, young one."

"How could I? You're just as real as I am, aren't you?" Lisa asked, boldly reaching out to touch her arm. "But... aren't Knights guys, and girls the ones they protect?"

Tabby cackled even louder in uncontrollable mirth and Sarah chuckled. "Girls can be Knights too, and we can protect guys, we don't always have to be the protected ones."

Lisa smiled. "I like that. I want to be a Knight too, like you. I want to protect my brother like he's protected me."

"Well then," Sarah said, "you'll just have to spend alot of time with us, won't you?" She grinned a wicked grin and started tickling Lisa, who shrieked with laughter, and started tickling back and then Tabby joined in and the three of them wrestled in a three-way tickle fight until they were all exhausted.

Robbie crept along in the catacombs, being very careful to make sure that he could find his way out again. It wouldn't do to get lost when he just got here. He thought he could hear something up ahead and, with a stealth born of hiding from his abusive father, he inched forward to hear the voices more clearly.

There were two of them, one a tall, grey-skinned man with nails in his skin, and the scariest teeth Robbie had ever seen, and the other was a dark man with long dark hair, in bright silken clothing. They were talking about someone called Morgan of Eiluned, and some agreement, and they mentioned Lady Gwendaline, and before they parted, Robbie heard the scariest words he'd ever heard in his life.

The dark man told the other, "By Samhain, Castles-in-the-Air must be mourning the loss of its Lady Heir, or my mistress will feel no need to keep her side of this bargain."

Robbie had a problem, a very big problem and he didn't know what to do about it and he was on the verge of being sick about the whole matter. He knew that those men had been planning to hurt Lady Gwendaline, and from what Kerrie had said, Leonine, who was the lord of the freehold, doted on her and he would be inconsolable if she were hurt, or even... ulp... killed. But who would believe a kid like him? He was very little, though he liked to think he was big enough to protect Lisa, was he big enough to be believed? His father had said that no one ever believed kids if an adult disagreed with them, and he knew beyond anything that those two men, if caught, would deny everything. He needed to talk to Lisa, he had to find his sister.

Lisa giggled at Tabby's story. Tabby was so funny and now that Sarah had explained some things to her, Lisa could understand why Tabby spun such marvalous stories. Sarah had also explained about the different kinds of fairies, the Kiths, and Lisa wanted to be Sidhe, like Sarah, because the Sidhe were beautiful and people followed them, but she wouldn't mind being one of the other ones, if she ever got the chance to be one of the fairies.

There was a knock at the door and Lisa turned to see Robbie standing there, his clothes covered in dirt, like he'd been crawling in something, and a look of absolute worry and sadness in his eyes. "What's wrong, Robbie?" she asked, suddenly worried for him.

Robbie looked at Tabby and Sarah a moment before speaking. "I gotta talk to you, Lisa. I'm scared."

Tabby looked up in suprise, her eyes suddenly not quite as mischievous as they were before, more deadly serious, and Sarah looked serious as well. "Well, don't come in then." Tabby said. "It's not like you can trust us since your sister doesn't seem to."

Robbie looked confused, so Lisa explained it to him. "Tabby's a Pooka, she doesn't always tell the real truth, so she turns it around if she doesn't want you to misunderstand what she says. You can trust her, and Sarah."

He comes in and sits next to Lisa, considering things. "Would you believe me if I told you something terrible?" he asked, his whole body tense. Tabby nodded and Lisa reached a hand out to him. "I was in the tunnels down below, and I heard two men talking. One was all pierced up and he had some awful teeth, and he was the leader of a group or something, and the other was a dark man, and he wore silk stuff and he came from someone named Morgan of Eiluned, and they were talking about Lady Gwendaline, and the dark one said..." he paused, screwing up his face as he tried to remember how the man had said what had caused him so much fear, "that Castles-in-the-Air must be mourning its Lady Heir or his mistress wouldn't keep her side of the deal." His face relaxed suddenly and he looked up at them with worry. "Do you believe me?"

Tabby and Sarah looked at each other, years of friendship making words unnecessary. Sarah turned to the children. "Aye, we believe you. Would you tell that same tale to the Lord Leonine? He must hear this. Any plots against the Heir are also plots against him, and it is our duty to tell him. Don't be afraid of someone not believing you, not here. Just tell the truth and there's nothing to be afraid of."

Robbie sighed in relief. "Thank you." he said.

"Come on, I'll get us to Leonine."

In what seemed like moments Robbie and Lisa stood in Leonine's study, and he sat in his chair to be nearer their height, and Robbie once more told his terrible tale and the look on his face was almost painful. Immediately the Sidhe went into action and Gwendaline promised that she would be very careful, and that she would have a guard wherever possible. They couldn't take on Morgan, however they wanted to, because even this was not enough to try a noble, but they were warned, and if an attempt was made on Gwendaline, then they would be prepared to counter it.

Leonine thanked Robbie, sincerely, for his bravery, and for bringing the news to him. And Lisa was so proud of her brother that she could almost burst. But there were so many worried faces around them, fairies shouldn't have to be afraid. For the first time in their lives, the children felt that maybe they were doing something important, maybe they were helping.

Lisa sat in the room she shared with her brother thinking. Sarah was sad about something and she knew it had to do with Kieth, one of the other knights and she wanted to do something to help her friend. Tabby hadn't told her much that she could understand, since she had such a problem with the mundane truth, so she figured that the only thing she could do was to go find Kieth and talk to him. With that decided she hopped down from her seat and started wandering around the hallways looking for Sir Kieth.

She found him in a sitting room of a sort, his room, she thought. He was sitting in the window sill, looking out the window and he had such a sad look on his face that she wanted to reach out and wipe it off his face and make him smile. Fairies didn't deserve to be sad like that. Maybe if she got him and Sarah together they could make each other happy, and Lisa found that she liked that idea.

He must have heard her enter because he turned his head to look at her. "Hello, little one, are you looking for someone?" he asked, smiling a bit, a sad smile. He really needed Sarah to Lisa's mind.

She smiled, a little girl smile of impishness. "Found 'im." she said and walked over and climbed into his lap, much to his suprise.

"What do you want of me?" he asked.

"Why are you so sad all the time? Sarah likes you, do you like her? She's sad too."

The straightforwardness of the child's questions struck Kieth right in his heart and he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He swallowed rather firmly and started to attempt to answer her questions. "Well, I know that Sarah has an intrest in me, but I'm not sure that I'm what she wants or needs. I lost someone I cared very much for, and I miss her very much."

"You loved her?"

Again he was suprised. "Yes, very much, and we had a baby, a son."

"Where is your son?"

"He's not here, little one. Jennifer and Dallin died about three years ago." His heart felt about to break simply remembering the terrible day he had found her lifeless corpse in the apartment the shared, lying near their tiny child, also dead.

Lisa was silent for a moment. "Three years is a long time. I lost my mommy three years ago, and my daddy still hurts about it. Maybe she watches over you. Robbie and I once talked with a man in a church and he said that those who die go to Heaven and they watch over those they care about. Maybe Jennifer is watching over you like Mommy is watching over me and Robbie. I know Mommy was the one who brought Kerrie to us to save us from Daddy. Maybe Jennifer wants you to be happy again. Maybe Jennifer is trying to bring Sarah to you so you can be happy again. I know that I would want someone to make Robbie happy if I wasn't with him." She leaned against his chest, trustingly. "Maybe she's trying to tell you that three years is enough."

Everything was so simple to a child, he thought, and yet her words struck him in his heart and he found that he had problems breathing, as if there were no air in his lungs. After a moment he saw that Lisa had fallen asleep, and she looked so peaceful lying there, so trusting of the Fae folk who had stolen her away from her mortal father, so like his Jennifer.

A tear crept down his face as he looked down at the child. He missed Jennifer so terribly, and the grief of losing her was always near his heart. He knew the story about this little one, and the man her father had become, and for one terrible moment he feared that his grief might turn him into a man as empty and as cold as the mortal who drowned his grief in alcohol and took out his frustrations on his children.

He very carefully lifted Lisa into his arms and stood. Then he carried her back to Kerrie's rooms and nodded to Robbie as he entered and laid Lisa down on her bed. He knealt next to Robbie and looked at the blocks he was playing with. "You have a special sister, little one, you take very good care of her, and if you ever need any help, call and I'll come running." Robbie looked up at him with his oh-so-serious eyes and nodded in acknowledgement and thanks. Then Kieth stood and left, unshed tears still brimming his eyes.

It was the end of August and Gwendaline gave a sigh of sadness. She looked around at her rooms in Castles-in-the-Air and realized that she had enjoyed her months of freedom from home, for all that she had been kidnapped and held prisoner for a month of it. Now she had to go home and start the school year, her senior year, finally. Unfortunately, this year would be very different from previous years. For one, she was Fae now and the stifling mundanity of the High School would be very difficult to deal with, and two, since young Robbie had warned them of the plots of Morgan, she had to be especially careful. Daniel would be with her at school, it was his senior year, too, but he couldn't be near at all times, and even Mistral couldn't be with her constantly. She would have to be very careful this next year, but she was also determined to enjoy herself.

Away on the other side of town, Baroness Morgan of House Eiluned had taken a new lover, a young, amnesiac Sidhe who had been living elsewhere as part of an agreement between Morgan and a certain Sidhe lord of her acquaintance who was not exactly in the best of odors in Mountainview right now as a result of his involvement in certain recent events. Young Gwynne had his Chrysalis at about six and Morgan had brought him to her Court very secretly and the n sent him away for fosterage and training in a holding elsewhere. He had no memory of who he was before his Chrysalis, and it seemed that his memory was not returning any time soon.

The boy was handsome, very handsome and Morgan was very glad to have him in her court. He was almost ready to be knighted and she wanted to be the one to hold his allegiance, and she would have it.

A wandering minstrel of House Liam stood outside Castles-in-the-Air and checked the address on a piece of paper in his hand. This was the right place. He walked up the steps and entered the diner/coffeeshop, nodding at the Boggan behind the counter. "I'm looking for someone, I don't exactly know what name she'd be using, since she likes to change them every so often, she said it keeps her young, but she's of your Kith, and she's a good friend of mine. Last I heard she was calling herself Kerrie, and I was wondering if you could help me..." he murmured to the Boggan as he sat down at a stool, looking over the menu.

Corin looked up at Pete as he waited for the Boggan's response to his inquiry. He had to find Kerrie soon, before time ran out, and Oathbroken House or not, Corin always kept his promises, and he had promised to deliver this message. After a moment the grump behind the counter nodded slowly.

"I believe I know the one you're talkin' about. Calls herself Kerrie Andaras. Been here ten, fifteen years now."

Corin smiled in relief. "That sounds like her. It was about fifteen years ago that I saw her, and I was a childling then. She was calling herself Meriah Anders. I've got a rather important message for her..." He left it hanging because at that point Kerrie walked into the room and stopped in suprise at seeing Corin. She hadn't changed a bit in fifteen years, but then, nothing ever changed her.

"Corin? What are you doing here, young one? Who's looking after you now?" she asked, turning instantly motherly.

Corin smiled. Yep, this was the Meriah he knew, the one who made herself his self- appointed mother and guardian from the moment of his Chrysalis and who taught him so much about what it meant to love someone. If only he had come with better news for her. He looked down at his hands. "I'm doing alright at the moment. I've actually been on my own for about a decade now, suprisingly enough. I kinda wander around telling stories, but that's not why I'm here..." He had no idea how he was going to deliver this message.

"What is it, Corin?" she asked, eyes turning worried. It near broke his heart to see her eyes like that.

He rummaged in his bag for a moment and pulled out a tube of parchment, carefully sealed with a noble signet. He knew what that message held and the pain of it was almost more than he could bear. "I was sent to find you. Michael made me promise to give this to you." He handed the parchment to her.

Kerrie's face grew pain-filled as she slowly took the message and broke the seal, and then read what had been written for her, tears starting to fill her eyes. Corin felt as if his heart were torn in two, and he wished that he didn't have to be the one to deliver this, while at the same time being grateful that it was he, who had known and loved her all those years ago and not someone who didn't know the whole story, who didn't care.

Pete watched the exchange, his face growing grave with concern.

After a moment, Kerrie looked up at Corin and at Pete. "I gotta go, now. I don't know when I'll be back, but it may be a while. How long, Corin?" she asked.

"About a month, maybe a little bit longer, we don't really know how long, just that it isn't very long any more. I'm sorry that I had to be the one to bring this to you." Corin was aching for her grief.

Pete watched them, and made up his mind in a moment. "If you need to go, then go, and take as long as you need. I'll take care of the twins for you, so don't you worry about those two."

Kerrie looked at him, absolute relief and gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you." she murmured.

"Twins?" Corin asked. "Did you finally go and have children of your own?" He found he liked the idea of Meriah, who had been everyone's mother, with children of her own.

Pete was the one who answered. "You go pack, Kerrie, I'll explain to this young one about Robbie and Lisa." Kerrie took his hand for a moment and then left. "Now, the situation is this, Kerrie reads to the children at the library once a week..." he murmured to Corin, as the Liam Sidhe listened attentively.

By the next morning, Kerrie was ready to go and even through his worries about Gwendaline, Leonine let her leave them to do what she had to, though she didn't explain to anyone what this mysterious mission was, other than that an old friend needed her, and her face always grew very sad when she said that much, so no one pushed her farther. Robbie and Lisa watched her leave with Corin from the front steps, holding onto Pete's hands, and trying not to cry. They were afraid. What could possibly make big, brave, wonderful Kerrie so frightened and sad?

About a week after Kerrie left, mesengers from Countess Estella made the rounds at all the Freeholds in the area, carrying invitations to a party she was going to hold in her Holding, up in the mountains above the city. Among the invited from Castles-in-the-Air are Leonine, of course, Gwendaline, and Mistral. Sarah and Tabby are also invited, and, suprisingly enough, Robbie and Lisa. It would appear that stories of their rescue have reached even Estella, who asked to meet them. The Boggans go into a frenzy of activity, for already the mortal twins are almost theirs.

Across town, Morgan and Gwynne also recieved invitations, and Morgan made plans for this to be Gwynne's presentation, after he has been knighted in her court, and sworn fealty to her. She could not hide her gloating as the oath was made. Perhaps it was her pride and assurance that caused to to fail to notice that something was remiss in the Oath, something was missing, but this was her moment of triumph, and she did not notice the missing quality. Gwynne was now her Heir, and Oathbound to her.

At the party, Gwendaline found herself actually having fun. Estella always came across to her as a person with whom she could be friends. Sarah and Tabby almost had a fight with Pete about who was going to present the twins to the Countess, until the twins took matters into their own hands, and walked up to her themselves, causing a slight laugh. Robbie looked almost noble as he introduced himself to the great Fiona grandame, and then introduced his sister, who gazed at the Countess with unbridled awe. Tabby couldn't stop chuckling about the touching scene for the rest of the night.

Then Morgan brought forward Gwynne, and a brief hardness passed though the Castles folk. Not a word had been said to others about the overheard plans, but everyone knew that there was no love lost between Leonine's Holding and Morgan's. The Countess acknowledged Gwynne as he knealt briefly before her, and then he stood and turned, and his eyes met Gwendaline's where she stood next to her husband and her friend who was almost like a father. Gwndaline felt her knees turn to jelly as she saw a face so much like her own it was uncanny, a face she thought long dead.

"Andrew?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

Gwynne felt eleven years or more of amnesia fall away from his mind like so much dust. He remembered, finally, the night of his Chrysalis, at six years old, and the woman, Morgan, who made an exact copy of him to lay in his bed in his place, except the copy was dead, and then he was taken away by Rhydian, who was with Morgan, and he was unable to say anything, when Rhydian reached out his hand to touch his sister lying in her bed. Something in Rhydian's touch had disturbed him even then, but then he had forgotten, and now everything came crashing down on him as he looked at his sister once more, his beautiful sister.

"Chrysta?" he asked, incredulous. Was this really happening? "My sister? Is it really you?"

Gwendaline nodded through the tears that started flowing down her face, and she reached out to touch his face. "Oh Andrew,..." Joy surrounds them, until Morgan speaks, in her smooth voice.

"You know my Heir?" and the full implications of what has occurred fall on them both. Dearest siblings, twins, and they are opposite sides in a struggle they cannot see the end of.

Kerrie looked out the window as Corin drove up to the house. It was a nice enough house, firmly middle America and all that. It seemed a rather large house for just one man. She briefly wondered why Michael lived in such a large house, all by himself. He had to be all by himself. He wouldn't have sent for her if he had married and had a family. Michael... it had been so many years since they parted, still friends, but not what they once were.

She found herself walking up the steps and Michael was waiting for them. She didn't say anything as he thanked Corin. She wasn't sure what to say, and she had no idea what all those butterflies were doing in her stomach all of a sudden.

Michael asked them to come in and Corin pleaded other places to be, and a reluctance to interfere in the reacquaintance, and he helped bring her few bags in and was gone, the Liam Sidhe was very much like an Eshu in that, he never did stay in one place very long.

She and Michael stood in the hall for a long, silent moment after he left, and Kerrie didn't know what to say. It had been so long.

"Merrie..." he started."

"I'm called Kerrie now, Kerrie Andaras."

"Kerrie then, it's been a long time."

"Fifteen years."

"You don't seem any older."

"I don't get older, not as you and the others do. Haven't since I was a childling."

"I'm glad that you came."

"Couldn't do much of anything else, could I? An old friend writes to say he's sick, what else did you think I was going to do?"

"I'm not just sick, Kerrie."

"Don't talk like that. Soon enough you'll get better and I'll be going back..."

He took her hands in one of his and gently moved her face up to look into his with the other. Even now, old as he was, he was still handsome enough to make her heart leap, and he still loved her, she could see it in those marvelous violet eyes. She found that she still loved him, all the years and all the pain, and she still loved him. "Kerrie, I'm not going to get better. I'm dying, love, and I haven't long. I wanted to see you again so very much..." His voice broke and her eyes filled with tears as he enfolded her in his arms.

After a while she got her things settled in and became took the helpful place she was so used to occupying, and helped him in what was probably his last weeks or months. She told him all about Castles-in-the-Air and the fae there, and about Mistral and Gwendoline, he liked hearing about them especially. The thought that noble and commoner could love and survive with their love was something he liked hearing. Who would have known the Dougal Sidhe to be such a romantic at heart? He also liked hearing about Robbie and Lisa, and carefully noted the soft look in her eyes when Kerrie spoke of them. Finally, one night, he got up the courage to ask her the question he'd hidden in his heart.

"Kerrie, I... have a favor to ask."

Kerrie looked up from a bit of needlework in suprise. "What would that be?"

"Kerrie, I'm dying, and I need your help." His words came faster in his fear that if he didn't push them out they wouldn't come. "I'm afraid of death, and I'm afraid of leaving nothing here to remember me, and the only immortality I have left to me is the very human sort, my love, I'm not like you."

"What are you asking of me?" she asked, speaking slowly, for she thought she knew what he wanted.

"Please, love, I know this is a great deal to ask, but..." His voice failed for a moment, as he looked into her face, tears in his eyes. He, of anyone, knew the pain of what she had suffered. "Will you bear a child for me? Please?"

Kerrie was struck silent for a moment. She knew that he would never ask such a thing of her if it were not very important, but she could never forget... Oh, how to answer him...

Lisa sat with Sarah and Tabby in Sarah's room in the Freehold. The Sidhe knight absolutely captivated her and she spent every chance just watching her.

For her part, Sarah liked having the mortal child around her. Lisa was such an eager person and she was so delightfully child-like despite having spent three very dificult years being abused by a grieving father.

Tabby just liked children of all kinds.

This day they were discussing the events of Estella's ball, and Lisa's talk with Kieth.

"He's so very sad." Lisa said. "It's like it's eating him up inside and he's really so very kind. I like him." She looked up directly into Sarah's face at that. "He needs you, you know. He really needs you to show him that he can be happy again."

Sarah pulled the girl into her arms in a sister-ly hug. "I'm doing my best. He seems so determined to ignore me though."

"You have to be careful." Lisa commented. "He still hurts. Maybe if I talk to him some more. It's like when you're trying to pet a doggie, be slow and careful and let 'im sniff you."

Tabby started cackling at that and Sarah giggled a bit herself. "I must say, you come up with some of the most interesting ways to say things, little Lisa." Sarah said and hugged the child again. "Now, I want to know what you thought of Estella. You and your brother certainly suprised alot of people."

"I think she's beautiful." Lisa murmured worshipfully. "She smiled at me. I've never felt so good before."

Sarah smiled kindly. Tabby moderated her laughter to the point where she could say something. "So I suppose this doesn't change your wanting to be a Knight. After all, a Knight is so much more important than a Countess."

Lisa looked at her a moment before replying. "But you see, I want to be a Knight more than ever now. I could never be good enough to be a Countess or a Baroness or anything like that, but if I could serve someone like Gwendaline or Estella..." Her face takes on a dreamy look, "why, I'd never want anything else in the world. I could rescue people and protect people and I'd be so useful..."

Not even Tabby could laugh at the child. Oh Danaa, she thought, let this child find her dream. I've never met a Sidhe who deserved a title as much as this little one.

Kieth . . .

The ghostly voice reached out to him from somewhere in the distance and he found himself running towards it with all his strength. "Jennifer?" he called, desperately.

Kieth . . .

She was fading away and he was afraid that he was losing her again. "Don't go!" he called.

Let me go . . . Live again, my Love. Live and love again . . .

She was gone and he fell to his knees, sobbing in pain.

Kieth woke up suddenly, tears streaming down his face. His heart felt as if it were breaking in his chest and he could barely breathe as sobs wracked his body.

"I can't believe he's still alive." Gwendaline said. She was sitting in Leonine's study with Leonine and Mistral. "I woke up and thought he was still asleep and so I left him alone. It was a Saturday morning and I knew I was up early. Mom was the one who discovered that he wasn't..." Her voice broke and she pulled Mistral's arms tighter around her as the tears started to flow. "They let me go to the funeral at least, but they became so protective after that..." She couldn't say anything more and her husband and the man who was like a father to her both hugged her close in a three-way embrace.

None of them could speak of the tragic circumstances of Andrew's reappearance. His liege hated Leonine for reasons neither Gwendaline nor Mistral fully understood, and they couldn't bear to ask at the moment. It all seemed so fragile.

Andrew paced through the hallways of Morgan's holding, like some kind of caged animal. Fae seemed to avoid him and he was just as pleased that they did. His sister, his beloved sister whom he could not imagine harming, was now his enemy by an Oath to the woman who claimed to love him, and he didn't know what to do. Chrysta was his twin, and Morgan wouldn't even let him go to Castles-in-the-Air to talk with her, to be near her.

He almost didn't hear the voices before it was too late, but something caught him in time.

"...it is arranged?" That was Morgan's voice.

"Aye, Lady Baroness, Crusher and his gang will be more than pleased to remove Leonine's Heir from Castles permanently in exchange for your assistance." That was Anton, Morgan's Eshu friend. He sometimes acted as Herald when Morgan asked him to. Andrew felt his heart sink into his shoes. Chrysta was Leonine's Heir, he'd been able to learn that much.

Stifling a howl of despair he quickly and quietly ran from that wing of the building and out into the city. He had to get away, but how could you run from responsibilities opposed?

At school the next day, Gwendaline comes across Daniel sitting with a young man she didn't know. The troll knight wasn't usually one to talk easily with people he didn't know, and it seemed to her as if he was comforting the junior, she'd seen him around school, and she thought she'd heard that he was a musician or something. With a mental shrug she walked up.

"Hi, Daniel, what's going on?" she asked.

Daniel looked up at her and motioned for her to sit down. "This is Brandon, Chrysta, he's been having some problems lately." There was a look in his eyes that told her that there was more going on than she knew.

Brandon looked up at her. He was a tall young man, with long, dark hair he had pulled back into a ponytail. There was something to him that reminded her of Mistral. "So you're Chrysta." he said.

"Yes. Has Daniel been telling you about me?" she tried to be lighthearted, something in the air felt like tragedy.

"A little."

Daniel looked at her. "You remember those kids they found dead? The twins who were killed by their father? Brandon was a friend of theirs."

Gwendaline pulled in her breath sharply, so that was what was going on here. Oh, this was going to take a delicate hand indeed. She wondered if Brandon were in a talkative mood or if Daniel was having to pull everything out of him bit by bit. Grief had to be dealt with. She wondered how long they'd been talking.

Brandon sighed. "Robbie and Lisa, two of the most beautiful children I had ever seen, or had the honor of befriending. I had no idea it was that bad. I wish they'd have come to me or something. I'd have gotten them out of there. That's what friends do, help each other." He drew in a shaky breath. "At least, I thought they could trust me."

Chrysta didn't know what to tell him, what she could say without sounding overy harsh, or overly casual, or coarse, or light minded. Grief was a delicate thing indeed.

"They even believed in fairies." Brandon said, in a voice near tears. "I would help them find books and I would read to them about fairies, and changeling children. I wish fairies were real and that they had come for them, to take them away to someplace wonderful." He laughed, mostly at himself, "I believe in fairies, sort of, but it's hard when two beautiful children like that get beaten to death by a grief-stricken father."

Gwendaline reached out to touch his hand, and he looked up into her face with a startled look. "Do you have any creative outlet open to you?" she asked carefully. "Sometimes it helps to put your pain into a story or a poem, or a song, or something."

He nodded slowly. "I've got a band, and sometimes I try my hand at stories. Robbie and Lisa," his voice broke, "Robbie and Lisa liked to hear me read my stories to them."

Daniel looked at her, a hopeful, suprised look on his face. "Well then, maybe you could use music or story to help you..."

"And you could always talk to us, if you need a living person to listen to you." Gwendaline continued. "'Tears in Heaven' was written for the singer's son who had died, and 'Living Years' was for the artist's father."

Brandon grasped her hand almost desperately. "It's so hard to go on day to day with this pain. I tried to talk to the counselors, but it was like I stopped feeling altogether and I couldn't take that. If you two would listen to me..."

"We'd be honored." Daniel said, and Gwendaline smiled at the two of them. Then she heard a soft step behind them as Mistral walked up and placed one hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready to go, dearest?" he asked in his whispered voice.

Gwendaline smiled up at him. "In a moment, unless," she turned to Brandon, "you need to talk some more."

Brandon shook his head and Daniel smiled at her. "I'll see that Brandon's okay. You need to get going."

She nodded. "You can find me at Castles-in-the-Air, downtown, if you ever need me." Brandon nodded and she stood, grabbed her bag, and walked off with Mistral, fighting tears of her own.

Later that night, Gwendaline and Mistral were out walking in the park several blocks from Castles. The park was always a nice place to walk in, even though things weren't exactly safe after dark, but they were already about to head back to the freehold when a gang of punks surrounded them.

The light from the streetlamps was rather faint, but it wasn't long before both lovers realized that the punks were heavily weighted in the Fae side, and were Redcaps to boot. One stepped forward, a particularly pierced individual with metal attached to some of the most strange of places, such as the jawline.

"My Lady," he bowed to her in a crude mockery of a formal bow, "I'm Crusher, and this is my gang. You'll be coming with us now, so I'd suggest that you come quietly, I'd so hate for us to have to harm one hair on your oh-so-noble head."

Mistral calmly stepped between Gwendaline and the Redcap, "I don't think she'll be going anywhere with you." he whispered.

The Redcap laughed at him and some of his punks grabbed Gwendaline from behind and pulled her away while others attacked Mistral. All of her warrior heritage sprung to her mind then and her body was moving almost before she realized what she was doing. Her training hadn't just been with the bow and the sword, but her Fae teachers, all those centuries before, had drilled into her reflexes unarmed combat, and she drew on those instincts now, her only thought being to help Mistral.

For a moment they manage to break away from their attackers and she grabbed Mistral's hand and they took off running, hoping to reach the safety of the freehold before the gang caught them.

The lovers ducked down an alley and Gwendaline collapsed against a wall, wheezing and out of breath. "Damn... asthma..." she managed to wheeze out in a feeble whisper. "Thought... it'd... left... for good." She looked up into Mistral's worried face. "Not... dying... at least."

Without another word Mistral simply picked her up off her feet and carried her into the freehold and safety.

Leonine was furious about the attack, and was very narrowly convinced that a declaration of war against Morgan was not exactly the best move to make. Once Gwendaline managed to get her breath back she asked him what caused the feud between him and Morgan, and Leonine, unable to deny her anything, did his best to explain.

He and Morgan used to be lovers, once, a very long time ago, and he still loved her a bit. But a misunderstanding had arisin, a minor one, that should have been easily corrected, but she declared his love for her false and had sought his destruction ever since.

Funny what love can make people do.

Kerrie Andaras returned to Castles-in-the-Air in late October, and although she held the twins so very close when they ran into her embrace, they could feel that something had changed in the motherly Boggan. It worried them.

For his part, Pete was worried as well, but he was also patient, and knew that sometimes great sadness changed people, and that sometimes the change was difficult to adjust to.

Kerrie presented herself before Leonine and told him that her friend had died, and that she was taking up her former duties again, and Leonine welcomed her back. Everyone could see the weight of grief upon her, but perhaps it was only Kieth who felt the chill of recognition as he saw her grief was so very similar to his own grief at losing Jennifer and their son.

Robbie and Lisa were confused. Something was terribly wrong with Kerrie, and they knew they had to do something, but they did not know what to do. She was so terribly sad...

Late one night Lisa woke Robbie up with frightened whispers. "Robbie, Kerrie's crying. I can hear her through the wall." True enough, both children could hear the heartbroken sobs of their adoptive parent.

"We gotta help her." Robbie whispered back.

"But she won't talk to us. We're too young. She's gotta talk to someone, someone who cares for her." Lisa whispered, an idea dawning. She grinned at her brother and he grinned back after she whispered one name to him. Very quietly they crept out of their room and down through the darkened hallways of the Freehold, to Pete's room in the mundane section of the building.

"Pete," Robbie said when the yawning Boggan Grump came to the door, "you gotta help us. Kerrie needs you."

Lisa reached out to Pete. "Please, Pete, because you love her, help us. She's cryin' and she needs someone to talk to, badly. Please, Pete?"

That woke Pete up. The girl would make a phenomenal Boggan, he thought with a wry smile. She already had some of the instincts. The three of them crept back up to Kerrie's room and the twins slid back into their beds knowing that Kerrie would be alright now. Pete would help her.

Pete carefully walked into Kerrie's room and closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, face tear-stained and grief-stricken.

"The little ones heard you crying and came running to me to help you." he explained. "They said, no, Lisa said that you needed someone to talk to. Will I suffice?" He slowly walked over to stand beside her and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

With a sob, Kerrie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck. He calmly held her close and let her cry, and began to slowly rock her back and forth. Between sobs she managed to get out the whole story, about her relationship with Michael all those years ago and about how they separated still friends, still loving each other, and about his illness, and his final request of her, and of his final weeks and of his death. It all poured forth, the pain, the grief, the fear, and Pete listened to her, never judging, always caring.

"...and so I'm pregnant, and I don't know how I'm going to handle it." she finished.

Pete held her chin in his fingers and gently pulled it up so their eyes met. "If thou wouldst have such a poor one as myself, I would help thee, and I would stand by thee, and I would be a foster father to the child you bear and to the two young ones you rescued from death's grip." He was slightly suprised at himself, such eloquence was not his usual mode of expression, but it seemed to fit the circumstances, and he would not have changed his words for anything.

Kerrie looked into his eyes, suprise dawning in her own, suprise and something else. "You would help me?"

"Aye, through morning sickness, and awkwardness, and labor, and diapers, and midnight feedings, and potty training, and all the joys and sorrows that accompany children. I would help thee, dear beauty, because I love thee, and would give my life simply to stand by your side."

Tears filled her eyes. "I don't know what to say." Her voice came out in a whisper.

"How you answer is up to you." he said, returning to his usual mode of speech, "but I would dearly love to help you."

"And I would dearly love to have your help." she whispered, suprised that the words had come.

His heart overflowing with happiness, Pete softly kissed Kerrie, and held her close, rocking her back and forth.

It was just about Thanksgiving, Gwendaline was looking forward to the long weekend that always accompanied the officially sanctioned harvest festival. Something in the air bothered her, something just out of sight, just out of touch, something was about to happen and it had her nervous.

Sarah sat in her room with Tabby and Lisa. They had been talking for a while and it seemed as if the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"Sarah," Lisa said, "You need to do something about Kieth. He needs you, but he doesn't know what to do. You have to do something."

Sometimes the girl was almost uncanny with her observations. No wonder the Boggans doted on her. Sarah looked at her, her face somber. "You're right. I need to do something, so what do I do?"

Both Lisa and Tabby had several ideas, and the conversation took off from there.

Kieth woke up suddenly, his eyes snapping open. The dream had been so real, so very real. Jennifer had been calling to him, calling from a great distance, telling him that he needed to move on, to love again. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered the dream, and his grief threatened to consume him again.

Kieth heard a sound at the foot of his bed and looked up to see Sarah standing before him in a white nightgown and holding a candle. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I thought that perhaps I had not been direct enough and that my messages had gone astray. Do you understand now, or must I explain it farther?"

"Sarah, I'm not right for you. I can't do anything but hurt you." Even as he said the words he remembered little Lisa, and what she had said.

"I know your grief, and three years is a long time to be mourning this much. If you cannot love me, then I won't ask that of you. But I want to be part of your life, and I want to be with you, and I want to know what it's like to be with someone in that way."

Kieth felt his heart squeeze. Lisa's words rang in his mind, and Jennifer's voice as well, imploring him to move on. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Sarah saw the tears, carefully placed the candlestick and its holder on a table nearby, and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. She reached out and gently wiped the tears off his cheeks. "Well, Kieth?"

He started crying with more force and she held him close to her, letting him cry, laying his head on her shoulder. When his tears subsided he hesitantly reached out to touch her and she silently loosened the strings of her nightgown...

Leonine sat in his office, a stack of papers before him in a file folder. Well, it was done, finally, and something in his heart said not a moment too soon. He had that day finished the process of making Chrysta Richmond his mundane heir in addition to his Fae one. If anything were to happen to him, Castles-in-the-Air, the diner/coffeeshop/bookstore that fronted the Freehold would stay in sympathetic Fae hands, and ones he could trust as well. He felt as if he could finally relax, the job was finished, at last.

He felt a slight chill run through the room. Something was about to happen, and he wasn't sure he was going to like what it was.

Later that night, Leonine and Gwendaline were out for a walk. It was late at night and it was dark, and the two friends had wanted a chance to talk, without others hearing them. Leonine took advantage of the opportunity to attempt, once again, to coax Gwendaline into giving him a grandchild to play with, and once again, Gwendaline dodged the question, saying he was too young for grandparenthood, that he would have many years yet to live, and a shiver ran down both their spines then, though they would have denied it then.

There wasn't much warning for them, just the squeal of tires and the glare of headlights coming towards them much too fast. Leonine reacted before Gwendaline did, pushing her out of the way, and she fell and rolled, and watched in helpless horror as the front end of a truck picked Leonine up off the ground and threw him. He'd been hit right in his back and Gwendaline started screaming then.

Hours later Gwendaline walked up the steps into a very worried Castles-in-the-Air, her face still and emotionless, as if masking some emotion, but her eyes may have well have been the eyes of a corpse. Silence rushed through the Freehold as the inhabitants turned to look at the Heir, in her torn and dirty clothing and pain-filled eyes.

Mistral Wind saw her and knew the look in her eyes, and his heart tore in his breast then. She had looked so when she had thought to throw herself from a parapet to her death in grief and shame. Something held him in his place even though he longed to rush to her side.

Robert Sexton, Satyr wilder, took one hesitant step forward. He was the Court Herald, and bore the Messenger's badge with pride and honor. "My Lady, what is it?" His voice was hushed, frightened.

She looked at him, as if noticing for the first time that there were others in the room. "Robert," she said, "Go to the Countess Estella." she commanded. "Leonine is dead."

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