I was awoken by a slight, stinging pain. Opening my eyes, I saw Shia, contently stretching on my chest and digging her claws into the skin of my stomach. It dawned. I smiled sleepily and lifted my hand to stroke her, when suddenly my ears picked up shouting somewhere in the distance. The sound of horns came from the direction of the castle...

"They noticed..." I whispered to myself in terror. "Elithia, Kristya, wake up, we have to get out of here!"

Elithia opened her eyes almost immediately, but Kristya just rolled over to the other side and rubbed her eyes. "Not yet, give me a few minutes..."

"A few minutes could be all that's standing between you and death, get up!"

My silent hisses were panicked enough to finally convey the seriousness of the situation and Kristya quickly sat up. We didn't even bother spreading out the leaves so no one would notice that someone was 'camping' there. The shrubs covered the small depression well enough. We left our hideout and ran deeper into the forest, the sun's first rays illuminating our way. Shia followed, probably thinking we're playing some game.

We had to slow down after a few minutes. Kristya was panting heavily, holding her side, and I couldn't blame her. Being a maid didn't exactly make you a good runner. I myself wasn't in the best shape either, being absent from my adventures with Elithia for quite a while.

It was then that we heard screams and footsteps. Many of them. I looked around frantically, but pines weren't exactly the best trees for climbing, and there was no convenient hole with bushes around it this time.

I crouched, ready to take Kristya piggyback even if it meant spraining something, but then the sounds changed direction and headed south. We stayed put for a while, frozen in place by equal amounts of terror and relief.

"They're not exactly giving it their best, are they?" Elithia tried to hide her nervousness under a pale smile.

I let out a deep, but very silent sigh. "Let's move, but watch your steps," I whispered.

From that moment on we walked slowly, but almost inaudibly. Every now and then we would stop to listen to the sounds of the forest, waiting for other signs of pursuit. None came.

Almost an hour passed before we heard the gentle whisper of a brook ahead of us, melting together with the faint rustle of the trees. I spotted the delicate ribbon of water between the slender trunks, glistening silver in the early morning sun.

I wasn't able to hold back a beaming smile. How many times have I come here to get water when my parents asked me to, how many times me and Elithia or the other boys from the village splashed ourselves like silly kids to make the summer heat more bearable...?

But this wasn't just a simple brook. It was the Grasshopper Creek, the border of my home...

My expression didn't escape Elithia's notice. "Welcome back," she whispered, smiling gently.

I took a short, ragged breath, my vision blurring suddenly. I glanced at Kristya, who just nodded, the same understanding smile on her lips.

We crossed the brook over the flat rocks that the villagers placed in the water long ago, and headed towards the cottages and tiny farms that loomed between the trees.

The first person to cross our path was Zaafiel, the old herbalist. Upon seeing me, he dropped the freshly picked leaves, paling like a ghost. Elithia rushed to explain that I'm not some specter and that there is a reason... It didn't take long for other villagers to notice, and two sons of the lumberjack - Orrilth and Sorilith, ran off to inform the rest of them. In just a few minutes the entire village gathered at its southern border, wanting to see me, the boy they presumed dead two years ago.

At some point Elithia spotted a young man in the crowd, his ash-brown hair clearly visible above the others because of his tall stature. He calmly watched the scene from the side until she came up to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him to the middle of the gathering.

"We owe you an apology, Tavris," she said loudly, so everyone would hear. "We're so sorry that we didn't believe your words..."

The young prophet glanced at me briefly, before giving Elithia a charming smile. "I wouldn't have believed either if someone told me something this absurd. I'm just glad that you took my advice in the end."

Elithia tried to hold him there for a little longer, but he retreated back to the crowd, his strange, dark clothing adorned with leather bands rustling as he walked. Before he could disappear from my sight though, he stopped shortly upon coming face to face with another man, who only just squeezed through the small crowd. The young prophet bowed slightly and moved out of the way, making an inviting gesture towards the centre of the gathering.

I suddenly found myself standing before my father... my real father... He almost hadn't changed at all, just seemed a little shorter than I remembered, a few more wrinkles in his gentle features. It was at that moment that it really hit me how long I've been gone...

When a woman appeared right behind him, holding a small child to her chest, the tears in my eyes blinded me completely. I don't even know when they took me in their arms, and I barely heard the loud cheer of the other villagers. I only felt my body shaking with broken sobs, a big, warm hand stroking my back, a smaller one delicately petting my hair. The only thing I remembered later from that moment was a blurred thought that I've never before seen my dad crying... Yeah... for the first time in so long, I didn't have to say 'father'... it was enough to say 'dad'...

I don't know how long it took until I was able to calm my breath at last. And when I did, my mother was already carefully passing the little girl she was holding to me. "Her name is Lisiel," she told me warmly.

I tried to stop my hands from shaking when I placed the small weight safely on my arm. My little sister smiled happily when I looked her in the eyes, so lively and so like our mother's... She looked only four, maybe five months old... "She's beautiful..." I whispered when she started tugging on the sleeve of my shirt with that tiny hand.

The herbalist's grandson came to the center of the crowd. "We have to celebrate!" he announced. "Let's have a feast tonight, and you'll tell us about everything that happened, Sig."

Nodding shakily, I passed Lisiel back to my mother, fearing that my beautiful shirt could be torn to adorable shreds in a few moments. The younger villagers scattered to start the preparations for the evening, the elders staying at the border of the forest for a bit longer to discuss the joyous phenomenon. Together with my parents, Elithia and Kristya, I headed towards our home, located at the western border of the village.

Nothing has really changed there. The hut wasn't too big, but it was sturdy. Up to one meter from the ground, the walls were made of stone, up above from massive logs. Just as before, my dad's hunting equipment hung above a bench in the first and biggest room. Only the shaft on one of the spears looked like it was replaced recently. On the right there was a smaller room - my parent's bedroom, and on the left the smallest - my own. It seemed like nothing was touched in there. As if I left yesterday and was expected to return this entire time...

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I pulled a chair out from underneath the massive oak table in front of the hearth in the main room and made an inviting gesture for Kristya to sit down. She smiled and gladly rested on it, looking around nervously. Me and Elithia took a seat on the bench by the wall. My mother, still unsuccessfully trying to hush overenthusiastic Lisiel, looked at our guest curiously. "And you are...?"

"This is Kristya mum, she helped me survive the past two years," I explained. "You'll get to know the details in the evening."

My mother smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Kristya. I'm Zaithra, and this is my husband, Ilyas," she gestured towards my dad who just entered the house after a brief conversation with the blacksmith, who intercepted him just outside for a moment. "We're so grateful for taking care of our son. And to you Elithia, for bringing him home."

My friend smiled sweetly. I propped my elbows on my knees, giving Kristya a more serious look. "Now... could you please tell us the reason for all this? Why would anyone feel the need to kidnap me? And if I was in someone's way, why not just kill me, instead of taking this unnecessary trouble?"

"Well..." Kristya fiddled with the knot of her bundle that now rested on her lap, "I don't think I know as much about it as you'd like to hear, but I'll tell you everything I can. Truth is, the order to kidnap you was given by someone even more powerful than the king."

"Eh? There is someone like that?"

"Apparently, but I don't know who exactly that was. I just accidentally eavesdropped on one of the conversations the king had with that person's emissary."

"But why...? I didn't do anything to anyone."

"I really don't know... But for some reason the king didn't want to obey. So in order to hide his insubordination, he decided to let your memory be erased after your capture. He hired some mage to do that... then changed your name and hid you in the castle as his son."

"Right, there are a few things that I don't understand here... I thought the king already had a son, so where in the world was he all this time? And how did the king make everyone in the castle play along without anyone ever slipping anything?"

Kristya's gaze left mine to rest on the floor. I knew this look... I recognized it from all those times I asked her to tell me about my past. "Calthraval... the real Calthraval fled from the castle roughly half a year before you came along..."

I had to blink. "Wha... why?"

Kristya let out a small sigh. "Just like you, he felt like he was suffocating there... He longed for freedom, so when he saw an opportunity, he took it. And never returned... The reason why no one ever gave anything away was because quite a few servants were replaced right after his escape, and the ones who stayed had their memories tampered with after you came, by the same mage who took care of you. There was no need to do more, Calthraval was never allowed to leave the castle. The pneumonia the queen died from... it was suspected she caught it while visiting the capital, so the king became very careful... Only a few, who were considered the most loyal, were allowed to keep their memories, like Orias... And I was supposed to make sure you were fully convinced of your new identity..."

"If you were chosen... that means you truly were Calthraval's best friend..." I said softly.

The sad smile that shone with tears was enough of a confirmation... "They told us that this was all for the sake of keeping the kingdom stable and finding the real Calthraval... The queen was gone, if the people found out the only successor vanished too... or if it would spread to anyone who wished harm to Earlindon..." Kristya shook her head a little. "But... when I heard that you actually started lessons and were about to go to the capital and be presented to the citizen... it made me feel betrayed... They weren't going to wait for Cal to be found... As long as a successor was present, the king didn't care..."

I saw her hand clenching around the fabric of the bundle and gently covered it with mine. It was trembling... They not only caused her best and maybe only friend to run away, but dared to replace him under the fake mantle of the kingdom's wellbeing, using her to sweet-talk a stranger into believing she was his friend... If I was her, I probably would have revealed everything to the false prince the moment I realized I have been used. But she endured it... suffered in silence, and still had the strength to support me when things got harder and harder... She wasn't a maid, she was a heroine...

I gave her and myself a moment to get the anger under control again, before continuing: "But I couldn't have been just a scapegoat for politics. The fact that there was someone above the king who wished me specifically to be captured and brought to them speaks against it, right?"

"I think so..."

Moving away a little, I glanced at the glowing embers in the hearth. There were two directions we could go from here...

"The mage who took care of all the memories and that emissary... Do you know anything else about them? Where they came from, what they looked like?"

"The mage I would probably recognize, but I doubt he can be found anywhere nearby. He visited the castle only this one time two years ago and no one saw him since. The emissary... I never saw his face, he hid it under a hood at all times. I'm pretty sure it was a man though, tall, though rather slender I think... He did come to visit the king recently, just a few weeks back. He might still be near..."

A strange thought suddenly sparkled in my mind... I glanced at Elithia. She answered my stare with the same unease I felt. The description of the emissary roughly fitted the person we saw at night in the gardens...

"So the king wanted to hide me from someone... and it looks like he's still in contact with someone sent by that person..." I summarized silently.

"I really don't know anything else. I was just ordered to watch over you and keep you thinking that you're someone you're not. That's all." Kristya bowed her head and added a bit quieter: "I'm really, really sorry..."

"Don't blame yourself. You have no idea how grateful I am for everything you've done for me. And the rest, we'll figure out from here."

I thought I saw a glint of tears in her eyes again, but she smiled nonetheless. She looked like something very heavy has just been lifted from her shoulders. "It was the only way I could make it easier for you..."

"But... what are you going to do now? You can't return to the castle..." I looked to my father, who leaned on the doorframe of my room, listening. "Think she could stay here, dad?"

"Of course," his eyes briefly followed my mother, who went to the opposite bedroom with the finally sleepy Lisiel. "I'm sure we can find a place for you somewhere, you deserve our eternal gratitude."

"Thank you," Kristya gave him a lovely smile.

My father took out three wooden cups to pour us some milk from the jug on the table, when some sudden noise broke through the walls from the outside. I picked up a few disturbed voices and the neigh of at least two horses. Just as I stood up, the door opened without a knock and one of the lumberjack's sons peeked inside.

"Some soldiers paid us a visit, it's better if you stay here, Sig," he said quickly and disappeared equally abruptly.

My knees decided to refuse keeping me up and I back onto the bench, my knees refusing to. After a few moments, there was a hush outside, and an uncomfortable feeling spread in my chest. Without a word, I grabbed Kristya's hand and gently but resolutely pulled her to my old room. Shoving the bed to the side I prayed that what I remembered was still there... I grabbed the small metal handle attached to one of the floor planks and pulled at the small trapdoor, sighing in relief. My father and Elithia's uncle once came up with that idea for our entertainment. It was a tunnel that connected our homes, and now made a perfect hideout for me and Kristya.

I slid down first so I could safeguard Kristya. Once she landed next to me, my father closed the trapdoor above our heads and I heard him push the bed back into place and leave the house. The voices from outside became muffled, their tense tone mercilessly irritating my curiosity.

When I heard the front door open though, I instantly retreated my ear from the trapdoor. Kristya held her breath. I could practically see a tremendous soldier standing in the threshold, scanning the interior of the house. His heavy boots first made their way to my parent's room, then to mine. Kristya grabbed my sleeve with a trembling hand, and I covered it with my own to calm her down.

Finally, the footsteps made their way towards the exit and vanished in the distance. After a few more minutes, the door opened again, and I heard my father's voice: "They're gone, you can come out."

I pushed the trapdoor up when he shoved the bed to the side again. "They're seriously searching for us even here?" I asked, pulling myself up.

"That's not the craziest thing..." dad helped Kristya get out. "They announced national mourning. Someone assassinated the king."

The bundle in Kristya's hands fell to the floor next to my bed.