She already knew he was scared and completely alone.

Her head her and her stomach ached. At this rate, she was going to give herself ulcers.

Why was she so helpless and useless? Even with a healthy body, she still ended up unable to do much more than ‘accounting’.

She shot a glare at Loki’s basket down on her lap. Loki could probably find out if Prince was alright if he wanted to. She didn’t understand why he refused her so firmly.

They’d only spent two days in the carriage. But by the time Flint help her down at the reeve house, she felt like she had already done the three weeks of travel.

“Marquis!”

Carter approached with an outstretched hand. He was older than Flint by at least ten years. But wore a big, boyish grin as he greeted his cousin, which made him seem younger.

Em distractedly looked around.

If Mister Jay were here, where would he be?

There were a lot of faces milling around. Their escort of six knights, Flint, servants, Tracy… but none of them were Mister Jay or Mister Ben. Though she didn’t know if she’d see Mister Ben here at all, since she didn’t know what his relation to Mister Jay was.

“And you are Emmaline, yes?”

Em snapped her attention back to Carter. Who half crouched to hold out a hand to her. She was almost twelve now, and getting taller, so from that position he was actually crouched shorter than her.

Immediately, she liked him. With a bright smile, she gave him her hand, and he gallantly kissed it like she was a grownup.

“Nice to meet you, Mister Carter.”

“It’s good to see you’re healthy. I was afraid this old boar might’ve forgotten to feed you.”

Flint rolled his eyes at the man’s teasing and strolled past him.

“We’re all tired, Carter,” he said flatly. Without even looking over his shoulder. “Please show us to our rooms. You have a meal prepared?”

“Of course, cousin.” Carter stood up and offered his arm to Em. Em was just tall enough to accept his arm at a slightly awkward angle. “I hope you like stuffed pie,” he told Em in a low voice.

“Stuffed with what?”

“Chicken and our latest batch of seasoned good cheese.”

She beamed. “Sounds amazing!”

Tracy drew a bath for Em. When Em realized the reeve didn’t have running water like the March manor did, she insisted on something closer to a horse bath so Tracy and the other servants didn’t have to carry so much water upstairs.

Then, feeling less dirty, she gladly changed into fresh clothes and escaped to the garden.

Now it was time to get to work.

“Have you seen a man named Jay? He’s a Lycan, has reddish-brown hair-”

It was frustrating at first. The humans didn’t seem to know him and the lycan didn’t want to answer.

“Now, what does my little cousin want with that rascal?”

Em turned in surprise to find Carter watching her with a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile, the lycan servant she’d been questioning scurried away.

“You know him, Mister Carter?”

“He’s one of the shepherds who are supposed to report to me every few weeks. I’ve only seen him once so far, but it was an interesting incident. What do you want with him?”

Em frowned but didn’t ask what he meant. Instead, she answered his question with her prepared answer.

“He has a daughter named Laisha. I promised to come see her when I visited.”

“Ah, I know her, too. I’m afraid they’re probably both at home right now.” He turned and pointed. “You see the village?”

Since there were no walls around the reeve, Em could see as far as the village about half a mile away.

“They live there?”

“No. I believe the live about three miles past the village.”

Three miles?!

Em’s shoulders slumped, and she chewed on her lip. That meant it was at least a seven-mile walk to and from. Flint would never let her go. Especially since it was going to be dark soon, and they needed to leave early in the morning.

“Does he live on the road?”

“I don’t think so… No, wait. I believe he’s a cottage just east of the village.”

Great.

Not only didn’t he live on the road, but if she chose the wrong direction, she could get seriously lost.

Carter patted her head. “If you wish, I’ll make sure she’s here when you come back.”

“No, it’s fine.”

What should she do?...

What else could she do? She had to know if they’d found Prince yet. It made her squirm inside. Mister Jay wouldn’t be happy to see her. And if she got lost, Flint would be angry.

She’d inconvenience a lot of people.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

But… but she had to know.

After dinner and after Tracy put her to bed, Em got up again and got dressed. Then dozed sitting up, so she’d be ready to leave when she was sure most of the building was asleep. A little after midnight, and with Loki’s basket strapped to her arm (where it was supposed to be instead of to her belt), she climbed out her window.

The walk to the village wasn’t that bad.

The moon was almost full tonight, so there was plenty of light. It was getting close to the end of summer but the nights were still warm, so it wasn’t unpleasant. And Loki told her stories about the time he’d pretended to be a rabbit and led a few hunters on a merry chase.

“Carter said it’s three miles east,” she muttered as she skirted the east edge of the village.

“If he comes down often, I’m sure he’s left a trail.”

Em brightened. She hadn’t thought of that.

She found four paths altogether. Two of them led to some pastures, which were being guarded by the night shepherds and their dogs. The dogs growled at her and she hastily retreated from them as soon as she knew it wasn’t a house.

By the time she started up the third trail, it was three in the morning. And she was getting sleepy.

Rubbing her eyes, she grumbled at her child body. Her awareness dimming the more she yawned and stumbled. Too sleepy to even giggle at Loki’s tales and antics.

“Little human?”

Loki interrupted her roaming thoughts, and she stopped walking. Rubbing her eyes again.

“What?”

“I think we better go back.”

Was he… scared? No. Concerned. His voice was concerned.

Suddenly more awake, she stretched and looked around. “Why? There’s nothing here.”

“I don’t know. I just feel that something is… off.”

Off? Em looked around closer. That’s when she realized she was no longer on the path. When had it disappeared?!

Frantically, she turned around. Everything was dark. Someone must’ve snuffed out the last of the lights at both the village and the reeve, so she didn’t even have that to follow.

“Loki,” she whispered urgently. “I don’t see the way back. Do you?”

The slime squirmed his way out of the basket. Falling on the ground, he turned into his human form before landing crouched on the ground. He looked around.

“Dingle!” he swore. Gritting his teeth.

“You can’t see the way?”

“That’s not the problem. Give me your hand.”

He stood up and reached for her. Feeling his urgency, she tried to grab his hand…

And went right through it.

He swore again, words that included “Dingle, blast, horn dance, and tripes!” Again, he tried to grab her, not caring what he grabbed. And for a second he caught her cloak.

Then he was gone.

Completely gone.

But so was everything else. Except for the moon, which was so overcast that it barely gave any light at all.

For a long time, Em stood completely still. No longer sleepy and her insides frozen in terror. She was alone. And everything was dark.

“What do I do? What do I do?! Loki! Loki, help!”

Something… rustled. Then… growled.

In a panic, she started running. Then tripped over something she couldn’t see. The rustling got closer and she crawled, bashing up her knees in her efforts to get away and get to her feet at the same time. Every time she almost got up, she found something else to trip over.

Blood trickled down her legs from a variety of cuts, and her hands stung from catching herself.

The growls turned into demonic laughter, which grew and echoed as more voices joined in. Then, like a cartoon, on all sides eyes began appearing. White, big, glowing, and all watching her.

With a shriek and a sob, she made one last effort to get to her feet…

And this time when she tripped, she rolled.

Down and down.

The laughter followed her. Her shoulders, side, back, legs, everything hit rocks and bushes she couldn’t see. She covered her face, trying to protect herself from the bashing.

Then she landed and everything abruptly went silent.

Sobbing, she curled up and waited. Waited for the things to find her. To eat her.

“Loki? Flint?! Maddie?! Please, Maddie. Please, wake me up!”

Maddie wouldn’t wake her up. Maddie was dead. Just like Em was technically dead. Dead, dead, dead.

“So, you are the one making all the fuss.”

Em froze. Terrified, but more afraid of being attacked by something she couldn’t see, she turned her head. Looking.

It was still dark. But the moon was giving off a smoky glow that somehow filled the void and revealed some of what was in it.

And nearby was a man. A man sitting... on a throne? A tall, dark throne with claws that reached around toward the front. Like it wanted to gobble the sitter up but some invisible force kept it from doing so.

The claws even twitched, making Em scramble to her butt and facing it fully.

And like the bad stereotype of a villain, the man stroked a critter sitting on his lap as he watched Em take in what she was seeing.

“Who-who are you? Wh-what do you w-want?”

The critter moved then. Turning so Em saw that, whatever it was, it had the same big, white eyes as the ones that had tormented her earlier.

The man’s face twisted. Literally. She saw his features move unnaturally around so that they bunched up briefly on one side of his face. It was both disgusting and terrifying.

She covered her mouth as tears of terror fell down her cheeks.

His face relaxed back into something mostly human.

“I just wanted a look at you.”

He stroked the creature and smiled. Em whimpered.

She was too scared to move.

The man laughed at her whimpers and stood up. Not bothering to cushion the creature as it simply tumbled off his lap and dashed into the smoky darkness.

Then he strode to Em and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her hand away from her face to do so.

The man laughed at her whimpers and stood up. Not bothering to cushion the creature as it simply tumbled off his lap and dashed into the smoky darkness.

Then he strode to Em and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her hand away to do so.

The man laughed at her whimpers and stood up. Not bothering to cushion the creature as it simply tumbled off his lap and dashed into the smoky darkness. Then he strode to Em and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her hand away to do so.

“How delicious,” he whispered. Then a long, black tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick her tears.

Em gagged and flinched away, closing her eyes against the dry sensation.

“The tears of the living. The torment of souls.” The tongue ran down her other cheek. “Delicious.”

Is that what you wanted? To torment me?

She wanted to ask but the words wouldn’t come out. Her throat was frozen. The man, creature, monster, whatever it was, didn’t seem to need her to say it for him to hear it. With a laugh, he let go of her chin.

“That is a bonus.”

What do you want!? Go away.

Loki! Please, please help me!

“That buffoon? You call to that as your god?” The man snorted. He held out his arms. “Aren’t I a more powerful god? Aren’t I not more worthy of your worship and pleas?”

The features on his face were twisting again. This time in a swirl of anger she could almost taste. She couldn’t look away. A part of her convinced that if she did, she’d die.