It was still dark when I opened my eyes again. Though the room that the glow of the fireplace revealed to me seemed completely different all of a sudden. Like it was all blurred before, and now I could see it in full sharpness, or like I was looking at it from some angle I've never tried before.

And the two worried faces that watched me from the side of the huge bed made me feel like two entirely different realities somehow interlaced in space and time.

"Thank heavens, you're alright..." Kristya had tears in her eyes still. "Please tell me that you are..."

"I... think so...?" I gently pressed my wrist to my temple, feeling some weird numbness. There was no headache anymore, just that sense of emptiness that I sometimes got after it, as if my body couldn't decide if it should be relieved or scared of the pain returning. But I didn't care anymore. The mysterious spell was finally dispersed, my thoughts and memories breathtakingly clear for the first time in so long... I shifted my gaze to the azure eyes of Elithia, full of joy, concern and... I wasn't sure what the other thing was... "Hey..." I managed a small smile.

"'Hey...'? After two years you go 'hey'...?" Anger. Yeah, that's what it was. Helpless anger at whoever did this to me. And to her... "We all thought you were killed..."

"No, they just... did something..."

"You can actually remember everything...?" Kristya asked, her voice shaky.

"Yeah... though it feels so unreal..."

"I imagine..."

I carefully sat up, sighing in relief when no pain or nausea stopped me. I then spread my arms. "Elithia..."

She let out a quiet whine and dove right into them, starting to sob. I hugged her tight, the warmth of her small body confirming that it wasn't a dream. She was just as delicate as I remembered, her hair just as golden, only longer, still smelling of flowers which I used to put into those locks...

I didn't find the place I belonged to again... the place I belonged in found me...

"How did you know where to look for me...?" I asked quietly. "And why now, not earlier...?"

"It was Tavris..." she sloppily wiped her tears away. "He had a vision a few weeks ago... No one wanted to believe him when he said that you were actually still alive, and that I should go to the festivities in Ioreth if I want to find you..."

"That's why you appeared there..."

"To be honest, we all lost hope long ago... But I thought I don't have anything to lose, so... I'll have to apologize to him later. We all will have to."

"And I'll have to thank him... But to do that, we have to figure out how to get out of here first." I glanced at Kristya, who was watching us with a sad smile. "You knew all along, didn't you..."

"Yes... I'm so sorry, I..."

"I know," I gently covered her hand with mine. "But now is not the time for explanations. We have to get away. That includes you, because if my father... no, if the king learns about this, you'll be hanged. Maybe literally..." Kristya's face paled, and I felt a stab of guilt for scaring her. I rushed with my next words, trying to sound calm: "Once we're out and safe, you can tell us everything you know, alright?"

Kristya smiled weakly and nodded. She seemed a little stunned by the energy that suddenly started to radiate from me. Sure enough, I don't think I ever showed much of it while living here for the past two years... except for when I was up to no good I guess.

"Well then... the biggest problem are the guards..." I blinked and looked down at Elithia, suddenly realizing something. "Hang on, there are soldiers outside. How in the world did you even get in?"

She wiped her cheeks dry one last time. "You've been living here for so long and you don't know? Your night guard is rubbish, any drunk could get inside and pay you a visit. Besides, the guards themselves seemed like they had some nice fun this evening..."

I laughed silently. She's always been like that, every common sense lost, doing things no one else dared. "They actually might have. Jokes aside, we can probably leave through the balcony, but it would be a problem if you didn't return to the maids rooms, Kristya..."

"I'll go to the kitchen and make sure someone sees me on the way to my room. I share it with old Tairna, and she's always sleeping like a stone at this hour, so she won't be a problem. I'll wait a bit and sneak out into the gardens."

I grinned. She would have been an incredible companion on our childhood escapades. If only I've known her for more than just two years. "Alright, we'll wait for you, let's say... under my willow."

"Got it," she smiled, visibly calmer now, which surprised me. She was about to leave behind everything she knew. Maybe she too never really feeling like her heart belonged to this place...

When she left, I let go of Elithia to look her in the eyes. I had to hold back tears when I saw them shine with the purest of joys. "Thank you..." I whispered. "I mean it, I have no idea what would have happened to me if it weren't for you..."

She gently squeezed my hand. "Let's cuddle later, we don't want to make Kristya wait."

We went out to the balcony and I cautiously leaned over the balustrade. Sure enough, there were plenty of vines and sculptured ornaments on the castle's walls to get a good grip, but still...

"I'll go first. That way I can catch you if something goes wrong."

"No way, I'm going first," Elithia opposed before I even finished the sentence. I raised my eyebrows, noticing a hint of red on her cheeks. My gaze slipped down a little. She was wearing a dress, simple and knee-long...

"Right, you go first..."

I turned my gaze away as she lifted the blue hem slightly and skillfully climbed down. It was like she never stopped practicing that, even after I suddenly disappeared from her life. I soon followed and we plunged into a nearby bush. Slowly moving the twigs to the side, I scanned the surroundings in search for the guards.

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Two of them were warming themselves by a glowing brazier that dimly lit the courtyard by the gate. Another two were patrolling the path that circled the castle around the east side. Though maybe 'patrolling' was not the right word. One of them was sleepily leaning on his halberd and listening to the other, who was expressing his awe for one of today's female guests, using a not very noble tongue.

"Say, Elithia..." I whispered, "how exactly did you get inside? It couldn't have been through the gate."

"Not the gate, the wall."

"Are you kidding me, those walls are almost five meters tall."

"I'll show you, follow me."

We silently slipped out of our hiding and, hugging the wall of the castle, headed towards the back of the gardens. The light of the moon was dimmed, a few days past full, which deepened the shadows and made our unnoticed passage easier. It was rather unlikely that any of the sentries could stop us at the moment, but who knew what drunks were capable of...

"Your guards somehow hardly ever make it to this point," said Elithia when we arrived at the willow. I was surprised that she led me straight to the spot to which I was supposed to lead her to.

I looked up. No silhouette could be seen against the dark sky on the path behind the crenellation. No light was burning in the small corner tower to our right either. I inwardly thanked Orias for being such a grumbler about the noise that armor made. Ironic I guess. "And you just jumped over the wall like that?" despite the emptiness, I didn't see anything that would make that scenario believable. "In that dress?"

"To be precise, I 'jumped' through here," Elithia carefully moved back some juniper branches that looked like black flames in the darkness, revealing a hole in the wall, just big enough for an adult to squeeze through.

I frowned, looking at the crumbled stone and metal rods jutting out of it in a funny way. "But you didn't do that, right?"

"Of course not, it was already there when I looked for a possibility to get in."

"That can't be, I was sitting up on this tree here almost every day, it should be perfectly visible from above. I'm sure it wasn't there."

"Maybe it was, but you mixed something up because of the memory loss?"

"Maybe..."

Stepping closer to the wall, I examined the stone closely, trying to remember if I maybe did see the hole before after all... I involuntarily reached out and touched one of the metal elements at the bending point.

It was warm.

I turned around, wanting to tell Elithia about this, but she spoke first: "Look, I think she's coming."

I followed her gaze. In the western part of the gardens, drowned in the massive shadow of the castle, I spotted a tall figure clad in a long, black robe. The face was covered with a hood, the shoulders not too broad, but definitely not belonging to a girl. A chill run down my spine. That wasn't Kristya.

I glanced back at the breach in the wall and, feeling an unpleasant foreboding, grabbed Elithia's sleeve. When she looked at me, confused by the sudden shift in behavior, I put a finger to my lips and pointed up, to the tree crown. She nodded and we climbed the branches, trying to cause as little rustle of the dry leaves as possible. Hugging the tree's trunk, we started watching.

The stranger crossed the gardens soundlessly. They must have been familiar with the place, they weren't lighting their way with any lantern or anything similar... Then they came to a stop right under the willow. We held our breaths.

The figure looked around, as if it could sense, but was unable to locate us. I still didn't see the face, but the silhouette was definitely masculine. At last, the stranger slipped through the hole and disappeared in the bushes on the other side of the wall, causing but a delicate whisper of the twigs.

We shared a look. Without a word, we agreed that we would stay where we were until Kristya arrived. Each second seemed longer than the last, and I couldn't stop glancing at the breach, fearing that the black figure might return...

Finally, Kristya appeared at the far corner of the castle. This time I was sure it was her, I knew her too well. When she was merely a few meters away from the willow, we jumped down.

She almost jumped too, but up. "Really?" she whispered, trying to hide the alarm in her voice. She held a small bundle in her hands. "I was scared that maybe someone caught you, and you've only got pranks on your mind..."

I didn't want to waste time on explanations. "Let's go, quickly. If someone notices that I'm not there, soon the whole castle will be awake..." That wasn't the only reason I wanted to leave as fast as possible. The appearance of that stranger left me with a cold discomfort. I felt like it was the foreshadow of something bad, and... like this figure was somehow familiar to me...

We slipped through the opening one by one, me shoving Kristya forward, preventing her from asking questions about the state of the wall for now. Already outside of the castle's grounds, I once again touched one of the bars, but it was cold... I shook my head and quickly followed my companions.

When the silent, ghastly looking branches covered the lights of the castle completely, we deemed we reached far enough to be safe, and slowed down a little. We were at the borders of the woods that concealed mine and Elithia's home village.

"The forest is dangerous at night..." I muttered. "I wouldn't want to encounter a wolf or something, less alone a pack. It would be equally bad if one of us slipped and twisted an ankle on some stone or root in the dark, so I think we should wait around here until morning..."

We started looking for a hideout. Upon discovering a small depression in the ground, surrounded by low shrubs, we started to gather lots of fallen leaves and spread them into a makeshift bedding.

"I wish we could make a small campfire, but even if we had the means, it would be too risky..." I muttered when we sat down.

"It's better to not have a fire now, than have a stake later," commented Kristya. I smiled bitterly.

We stayed silent for some time, trying to rest. When the faint whispers of the trees became the only sounds left around us, I didn't manage to hold back anymore:

"Elithia...?"

My friend gave me a questioning hum. Kristya didn't even stir. Was she seriously already asleep?

"What exactly happened back then, when they kidnapped me?"

She stayed silent for a few more moments. "I'm still not entirely sure..." she rolled to her side to face me better. "The last I remember was how they took you away. You looked like you were dead..." her voice trembled a little. "I think they did something to me too because it's all foggy... I was found unconscious by Orrilth, and my uncle said that I was pretty much talking nonsense for a few hours after awakening... I was sure I'd never see you again... we all were..."

"And my parents... how are they?" I reached behind my back to pull out a twig that poked me between the ribs. I started rolling it in my hand.

"They needed quite long to recover. Maybe they never entirely did... They'll be so overjoyed to see you..." she paused briefly, and suddenly smiled. "Your sister will be too."

The bushes echoed with the sound of the twig in my fingers snapping in two. I stared at the two little pieces of wood as if they had just attempted to murder me.

"Come again?" I stammered out. "I'm an only child."

"Not anymore."

"You're kidding..." I couldn't help but smile, feeling a little dizzy from the revelation. "A lot must've changed since I disappeared."

"Not as much as you might think. My uncle is still hunting for everyone with your dad, Zaafiel still smokes his pipe at his porch every morning, and Ivyette still has a hard time keeping the boys away."

"She still didn't make up her mind? What is she waiting for?"

"Maybe you?"

"Yeah, right," a small laugh escaped my lips. "I'd rather let myself get kidnapped again."

She joined me in laughter, but soon had to hide a yawn behind her hand. I smiled softly. "Let's try to get some rest, we've got a hard day behind us... and another before us."

She hummed quietly and closed her eyes. I watched her for a while, delighting in having her at my side again. I suddenly noticed how much she has changed during the last two years. Her cheeks were not that puffy anymore, making the features more mature, her eyelashes became longer, hair smoother, and the curves...

I had to mentally slap myself to prevent having to do that in reality and waking the two beauties. I turned away and closed my eyes. Every now and then, the air came alive with the rustle of leaves and occasional hooting of an owl. My thin, stolen royal outfit didn't do the best job at warming me, and the chaos in my head was settling too slowly for my taste, but it didn't bother me anymore.

I finally knew my place in this world again...