“Honey,” Snowdrop called to Kat, “what you are doing?”

“Packing,” Kat said absentmindedly.

“Again? But you just got back,” Snowdrop protested.

“I know sweetie, but I’ve got to go,” Kat said turning around. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.”

“I love you too; I just wish you were home more. I get so lonely. It’s not like you need a job. I’m a princess! We have all the money we could ever need. We have a beautiful castle. Servants. Cooks. Everything. Why do you have to work? Just stay home with me,” Snowdrop begged.

“I work because I like it.” Kat walked over to Snowdrop and kissed her lips. “I’ll miss you.”

“Then take me with you!” Snowdrop blurted out.

“I can’t do that,” Kat replied.

“Why? Are you hiding something?” Snowdrop asked.

“No,” Kat said shaking her head, “I’m not hiding anything. It’s just a dangerous world out there. Too dangerous for someone as fragile as you my darling.”

“I’m a big girl,” said Snowdrop. “I’d be ok.”

“I don’t want to risk it. Do you know how I’d feel if something happened to you?”

“It wouldn’t. You’d be there. You’d protect me. And Falada and Cherry Blossom would be there too. They’d help,” Snowdrop stated.

“It’s too risky. I can’t lose you,” Kat sighed.

Snowdrop sunk into a chair. “And what if I lose you?” she half whispered.

Kat kneeled in the floor to look her in her eye. “You won’t lose me. Do you hear me? I will always be here. I know what I’m doing. Remember the knights that I competed against at the competition I won? They stood no chance. I won. Because I’m the best. I’m a strong fighter. I’m strong willed. I’m good with a sword. Look at my muscles. My skin is tough. I heal quickly. I know about nature and natural remedies. Falada is magic. I will be fine. I promise.”

Snowdrop smiled. “Someone has a big head.”

“I just know what I’m capable of.” Kat grinned. “Now, I’ve got to go,” she said standing up and throwing her sack over her shoulder. “Be careful while I’m gone. I want you safe when I get back. I already fought one ogre for you.”

“I’ll make sure I’m careful. Don’t forget to get some bread and cheese from the kitchen so you won’t get hungry. I know how much you eat. And don’t take any risks you don’t have to. And check your apples for worms before you eat them. And take good care of Falada so he’ll take good care of you. Anyway, where are you going this time?” Snowdrop asked.

“Into the mountains. There’s a mountain troll up there terrorizing the herders. It keeps taking their goats and sheep. And eventually, that will affect the village,” Kat told her.

“Trolls are vicious. Be careful.”



“I will sweetheart.” Kat kissed her lips again. “Be good.” And with that, Kat was out the door.

A tear ran down Snowdrop’s face; she missed Kat already, and she knew that it’d probably be a couple weeks until she saw her again. A couple lonely weeks. It wasn’t fair. She hated it. It was noon, but Snowdrop didn’t feel like doing anything that day, so she crawled into bed and slept until morning.


“Wake up! You’ve been asleep for hours!” Morgana exclaimed in Snowdrop’s ear.

“I’m awake,” Snowdrop said and sat up.

“Well then why aren’t you out of bed silly goose?” Morgana asked.

“Kat’s gone. And she will be for a while. And I just don’t want to get up. I miss her,” Snowdrop answered.

“Follow her,” Morgana said matter of fact like.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I’m too fragile. I’d get hurt. That’s what Kat says.”

“Who cares what Kat says?” Morgana said. “Geeze. Have some fun! Get out there!”

“I’m kind of scared of what’s out there,” Snowdrop admitted.

“I’ll go with you,” Morgana volunteered. “It’ll be fun. We’ll go on an adventure. Just like we did when we were kids. Except this time it’ll be to somewhere real.”

“Really? You’d come with me?” Snowdrop asked stunned.

“Of course, Snow. So, what do you say? Let’s do this!”

“Ok. Go pack.”


While Snowdrop and Morgana were preparing for their journey, Kat was riding through the woods on Falada. She wasn’t going toward the mountains. You see, Kat had relatives in the deep in the woods. Well, adopted relatives. A fairy mother. She’d been with her since she was 8. That’s as far back as she could remember except for bits and pieces. A beautiful smile, but the face around it was fuzzy. Warm embrace from a man she couldn’t remember. A fire and tears and screams. Wandering through the woods, hungry. Then, she met Elaina. Her savior. She took her in as her own.

Kat had been going back to her lately because it was time she found her past. She was 20 years of age. She’d been remembering more and more lately. She needed to find out if her parents were still alive; she needed to see if she had any family; she needed to know what happened to them. As the memories were growing stronger, so was her worry and stress. She couldn’t let Snowdrop know about this. It would worry her, and Kat didn’t want to do that.


Snowdrop had hounds sniffing out Kat’s scent. They were two days behind her.

“I thought you said she was going to the mountains,” Morgana said puzzled.

“That’s what she told me,” Snowdrop replied, “but these dogs seem to be saying different.”

“So do we follow them, or do we go toward the mountains?” Morgana asked.

“Hm. I say we follow the hounds. At least for now. The forest floor is moist. Falada will’ve left footprints. If we don’t see any, we’ll turn around,” Snowdrop decided. She thought to herself, ‘She lied to me. I can feel it. Why? Why would she do that? How could she do that?’ A thousand “what ifs” were running through Snowdrop’s mind. And the worst ones were the ones that stuck.


“Mom!” Kat exclaimed. It’d been a month since she saw her. She ran toward her mother and embraced her. “It’s been too long. I’ve missed you so much.” She welcomed the scent of the forest her mother carried with her. It comforted her. She’d breathed in the forest most of her life.

Her mother was tall and almost floated when she walked. She had long, blonde, thick hair that fell straight down her back. It shined liked the sun. Her eyes were a piercing blue and sparkled like the stars. Her skin seems to glow. It was cream and smooth. She was dressed in leaves and flowers the fairies grew. Everything they used came from the earth. Any man would’ve swooned in her presence, and women would fall under her charm and do her biddings. She would look young for hundreds of years. She aged so slowly. She still looked as if she was in her twenties even though she was over two hundred years old.

Being raised with the fairies taught Kat many things. How to fight. Some basic magic. How to track. How to hunt. How to defend herself. How to make animals understand her wishes. How to ride horses like a pro. It’s why she was a brilliant knight. She knew what she was doing on the battle field, and she know what she was doing out in the real world.

“Darling, I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed you, too,” Elaine replied.

“Mom, my dreams are getting more vivid. I’ve got to find my past soon, or I’m going to go crazy.”

“I know, honey. I will help you as much as I can. My magic will protect you in your journeys, and it will cover your princess’s castle, so she is safe while you are gone. I’m going to enchant Falada, so he will be able to talk to you. He’ll help you. And I’ll be looking over you from my pool of knowledge. It will show me where you are, so I know you’re safe,” Elaine told her daughter.

“Thank you, mother. It means so much. Where do I begin?” Kat asked.

“I wish I could tell you,” Elaine said, “but that’s something even I don’t know. I would say that your best bet would the villages around here. You were wandering around this forest when I found you after all.”

“Ok. I’ll try that. But mom, can I stay here for a couple days? I’m so tired from my journey,” Kat asked.

“Of course my love,” Elaine said.


“There’s Falada’s tracks,” Morgana said.

“And there’s a trace of fairy dust. She did go this way,” Snowdrop sighed. “Why would she lie to me? I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure she had her reasons. I can’t see her doing anything to hurt you,” Morgana reassured her, but deep inside, she had her doubts. She just wouldn’t let them show.

“I see smoke in the distance,” Snowdrop said. “Ride faster.”


After a couple hours of heavy riding, Snowdrop and Kat came to the entrance the fairy’s village. It was beautifully built, and they were in awe. All of the fairies were beautiful, and they were all busy at work. They were stunned they had made such a find, and they didn’t realize until then how deep into the forest they had gone.

They rode boldly into the village. Most of the fairies paid no attention to them, but one young man came up to them and spoke in a voice like melted chocolate, “Why have you come to our village?”

“We were following my wife’s tracks. I wanted to see her. She went on a knight’s quest,” Snowdrop told him.

Since the fairies were told to protect Kat at all cost, and he had no reason to believe that Snowdrop was telling the truth, the man lied, “We have no knights here and no human women.”

“Have any passed through?”

“None. I’m sorry madam,” the man told her.

That’s when Kat stepped out of a hut on the far in of the village. Just as Snowdrop was about to ride toward her, Elaine stepped out from a hut beside Kat’s and embraced her. Snowdrop didn’t stop to think. Her eyes filled with tears because she assumed the worst - That Kat was cheating on her – and she rode toward home as fast as she could.

Before Morgana turned to follow her, she rode up to Kat and climbed down from her horse. Elaine started to protest, but Kat said, “It’s ok. I know her. She lives in the palace right next to mine.”

Morgana stomped up to Kat and looked her in the eye. “How could you do that to Snowdrop? How? How could you hurt her? How could you make her cry?” Kat started to say something, but she didn’t get one word out before Morgana punched her in her face. Blood gushed out of her nose as Morgana jumped on her horse and followed Kat back into the forest.

Tears ran down Kat’s face as from pain coming from her broken nose. Morgana punched her hard. Really hard. That was going to take forever to heal even with the fairy magic. While these thoughts were running through Kat’s head, she passed out.

“Darling, come on. Wake up now. Your nose is set,” Elaine said in a calming voice. She sat by her daughter’s bed smoothing her hair. She hadn’t left Kat’s side since Morgana punched her.

“Mom?” Kat said dizzily. She lifted herself up and leaned against the back of the bed. “How long was I out? And am I remembering everything correctly? Morgana, she came and broke my nose?”

“Yes, that is what happened. Then she ran off. Our guards wanted to go after her, but I had a feeling you’d want them to stay back, so I restrained them. You were asleep for two days. You were coming to, but the nurses put you back under to set your nose and used a little too much of the willow leaf in their sleeping potion. I told them to let me do it, but you know how it goes,” her mother told her.

“I’ve got to get back to the palace,” Kat said. “Morgana, she said I hurt Snow. How? How did they even find me? I’ve got to get back to the palace.”

“All in good time, young one. You’ll get there, and your Snowdrop will be there when you do. Stay here for a couple of days before you head out. Eat. Drink. Build your strength up. You’ll need it for the journey home.”

“But mom, I’ve got to get there now. Before she decides to tell all the guards not to let me back. I’ve got to get there now. I can’t lose her,” Kat sighed.

“You must do as your heart tells you, but since you wish to venture out without your full strength, I will send you with a protector. One of our kind,” her mother stated.

“Come on. I don’t need a protector! I’m fine all by myself! I’ve got this,” Kat protested.

“Darling, do you want to make it to Snowdrop in one piece or not?”

“Well of course I do, but-“

Elaine cut her off, “Then, you’ll have to take your protector. He will help you in case you get in any trouble, and he’s not horrible with the ladies either – most of the single fairies around here are quite fond of him – he may be able to help you with your current relationship struggles.”

Kat blew her hair out of her eyes. “Fine. Send him in to me, so I can know him before we set out tomorrow.”

“Ok child. I will,” Elaine said as she turned to walk out.

“And mom?” Elaine turned back toward her daughter. “How long do I have to wear this cast? I’m sure I look completely idiotic.”

Elaine chuckled. “At least two weeks. And darling girl, you don’t look completely idiotic,” she said with a smile and a wink as she sauntered out the door.

‘Great,’ Kat thought, ‘While I’m trying to win Snowdrop back and tell her I’m sorry for whatever I did, I’m going to look like a fool. She’s going to take me so seriously.’

After a few minutes of thought, a young man walked in. He was extremely beautiful. Even as fairies go. His dark brown hair was long and shiny, and he wore it in a ponytail, as did most of the fairy men. When the light hit it just right, it looked as if it had streaks of gold in it. His eyes were as green as leaves in spring, and like his hair, in some light, it looked as if they had flecks of gold in them. His smile was perfect. White, shining, dazzling, straight. He was taller than her mother. He stood almost seven feet high. His clothing was made of deer hide, and fitted his muscular body tight. He had a bow and arrows strung around his back, and he looked like a true warrior. His skin sparkled, and it also looked like it was covered in gold. “Hello,” he spoke in a voice like music, “I’m Jude.”

“Well, Jude, I’m Kat,” she told him.

“Kat, I’m here to help you.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“You don’t think you need it? You don’t want me?”

“I’m the best of my kind, and while I may not be able to take on an army of fairies, I could take on an army of humans, and at my best state, I could beat you in any duel. I’m quicker than an average human. I’m light on my feet. I can work a sword. Throw a dagger. Shoot arrows and make bull’s-eyes every time. I’m an amazing hunter and tracker. I’m-“

Jude cut her off, “Full of yourself?”

“Excuse you?” Kat said stunned he would disrespect her.

“I cannot tell a lie.”

“We’re going to have some problems.”

“You’re going to need me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“So we will.”

“Do you have a horse?”

“Have you ever met a fairy who didn’t?”

“I was just checking. Does he get along well with my horse, Falada?”

“She. Gingerbread.”

“I beg your forgiveness. Does Gingerbread get along with my horse?”

“Do you think I ask my horse about her friends and enemies on a regular basis?”

“Well, I kind of figured since you were going with me.”

“Well, please forgive me. I’ll get on that right now, since you apparently don’t need me at all.”

“I don’t.”

“Should I tell your mother this?”

“She knows.”

“Well then why is she sending me with you?”

“She’s overprotective.”

“If I didn’t owe her, I wouldn’t bother with you.”

“Aren’t you pleasant?”

“I don’t like people with big heads.”

“I don’t have a big head.”

“I’m afraid you do. Has anyone told you that you look ridiculous?”

“What?”

“With the cast and the bruises. It amuses me.”

“I have no idea how I’m going to deal with you. I swear, as soon as I get my strength back-“

“You’ll what? Get your wife to chuck a knife at my head?”

“Hey! How do you know about that?”

“Your mother.” Jude smiled. “We’re quite close.”

This banter continued on for a while until Jude finally left to get some sleep, and Kat slipped off into dreamland herself.


Back at the palace, Snowdrop was in her room eating ice cream with Morgana. “Why? Why Morgana? Why would she do this to me? I’m me! People all around want to be with me! And she cheats on me with that, that, ugh! I don’t even have a name bad enough for her!”

“If she doesn’t want to be with you, she’s not worth it because she’s obviously completely stupid. If she wants someone else, she’s downgrading. Completely. That lady wasn’t even half as beautiful as you. I mean, come on,” Morgana said.

Snowdrop stuffed her spoon in her ice cream and threw herself on her bed face down. She muttered something, but it was muffled by the bed.

“What’d you say sweetie?” Morgana asked.

Snowdrop lifted her head just enough to say, “No I’m not, and you know it. That lady was gorgeous.”


“She wasn’t anywhere close to you. I promise.”

Snowdrop rolled over. “Thank you. But even if she was, Kat’s crazy. She can’t do better than me. That woman lived in a hut! I live in a palace with servants and horses and gardeners and chefs. I’m a princess. I’m rich. I’m beautiful. I’m kind and loving and caring!” She sat up. “Morgana, I thought she loved me!” Snowdrop broke in to tears.

Morgana sat down on the bed beside her friend and held her. “It’ll be ok. I promise.”


“Are you ready to ride?” Kat said walking up to Jude and Gingerbread.

“Of course. I always am,” Jude replied.

“Did you pack food?” Kat asked.

“I have enough crackers, bread and cheese to feed both of us for weeks,” he stated.

“I’ve got my own, and we won’t be gone for weeks,” Kat corrected him.

“Well, if she won’t let you back in the palace…” Jude’s voice trailed off.

Kat hit him in the shoulder. “Shut up! I don’t need to hear stuff like that right now!”

“I was just speaking the truth.”

Kat jumped on Falada who was already packed down with all the things Kat needed for her journey. “Come on Falada,” she said, “Let’s go.”

Jude was on Gingerbread and following her in five seconds. He was faster than normal fairies.


At noon, since the horses and riders were tired and sore, they stopped at a small spring for a drink and a snack. Kat climbed off Falada and washed her face off in the water, looking at her reflection. She really did look ridiculous.

Her nose was covered in a sparkling fairy plaster. It was made of plants with healing qualities, and it’d help with the pain, but it wasn’t anything near normal, and that was a downside of being raised by fairies. You were anything but normal. Both of her eyes were black and ached when they were touched. Her whole face was bruised really. Some black and some yellow. “Lovely,” she muttered under her breath.

Jude laughed. “Poor baby. Maybe if you were as great as you say you are, you wouldn’t’ve gotten punched.”

“Hush,” Kat said wincing as she touched her eyes.

“Here,” Jude said holding out a yellow flower petal.

Kat looked at him skeptically. “What’s that?”

“It’s the elven flower. It’s got healing powers stronger than those in nature. They grow them, and they keep them for themselves. They’re very powerful. It’ll help with your pain, and it’ll heal you faster than that silly looking plaster cast you’ve got on your nose,” he answered.

“If they keep it to themselves, why do you have it?” Kat said accepting the gift.

“There are many things you don’t know about me,” he told her. “There are many things that many people don’t know about me, but lots of people wonder.”

“Like what?”

“Well, if you’re as brilliant as you say you are, you’ll figure it out eventually,” he replied. “Bread?” he asked holding out his hand.

Kat took a piece. “You’re being more agreeable today,” she said before she took a bite.

“You haven’t opened your mouth as much today,” he told her.

Kat spit out the bread. “This has enough salt on it to melt Antarctica!” she exclaimed.

“Well, there goes me be agreeable,” he muttered, and the rest of the day, the two of them quarreled until they had nothing left to say.


The next day as they were nearing the edge of the forest, Jude veered to the right.

“That’s not the right way,” Kat told him.

“This isn’t your right way,” he replied looking toward his destination, wherever that was.

“I thought my mom told you to journey with me.”

“She did, but she also knew I’d take this stop. Continue. I’ll meet you by the end of the day.”

Kat looked at him unbelieving. “Fine. Do what you must.”

He rode toward deeper woods, and Kat sat there for a minute wondering what she should do.

“Follow him if you wish,” Falada spoke.

“Oh geez. I forgot you could talk now,” Kat said startled.

“Well, I’ll only speak if I have something to say,” he told her.


“Do you know where he’s going?” Kat asked her horse.

“No. If I did I might not be telling you to follow him,” the horse said.

“So you’re blindly telling me to follow him?”

“Yes. I mean, what could it hurt?”

“It could, and will make my journey longer. It might kill me. It might kill you. But I have a feeling that if I follow him, I’ll learn something important,” she said.

“Then, follow him,” Falada stated.

“You know what? I feel incredibly silly talking to my horse,” Kat said.

“Well, I feel incredibly silly talking to my human,” Falada shot back, and the two of them rode off to follow Jude.


Halfway through the day, Kat lost Jude’s tracks. “How in the world was he going to meet me by the end of the day?” Kat said breathless. She’d been riding full speed.

“Maybe he deceived you,” Falada said.

“He said he owed my mom. He wouldn’t’ve.”

“If you hadn’t followed me, I would have already caught back up with you,” Jude said hopping down from the top of a tree in front of Kat and her horse.

Falada reared back. He hadn’t expected Jude to drop in front of him.

“What in the world are you doing up in the trees?” Kat asked.

“Gingerbread is tied up at a pond a little bit back. I had to leave her there to continue my journey,” he said.

“Where are you going?” Kat demanded.

“It doesn’t concern you,” he told her.

“How am I supposed to trust you if you won’t even tell me where you’re going?” She jumped off Falada. “You come with me to protect me because you owe my mother for something. You don’t even want to be here. How am I supposed to trust you not to bring back an army of angry gnomes to kill me! I can’t! So, I follow you, and you climb in the trees and abandon your horse to go on some secret journey, and you say you’re going to meet me at the end of the day, and I’m just supposed to trust you? I think not!” Kat ranted circling him like she was circling her prey.

“I guess I shouldn’t ask you to trust me like that, but you can’t go where I’m going,” he told her. “I am very sorry.” He sounded sincere.

“If you’re sorry, you’ll tell me where you’re going,” Kat confronted him. “So tell me fairy, where are you going?”

“I told you, there are things that people don’t know about me, Kat. I’m not like other fairies, even though I was raised by them,” he told her.

“But you can’t be a human. You’re definitely a fairy. I can smell it on you,” she told him.

“Oh, I have fairy blood in me, yes. My father’s. He’s dead. That’s why I cling to your mother. She’s the only family I have back there. Although she’s not blood, she treats me like a child. I owe her for taking me in,” he told her.

“But what about your mother?” she asked.

“That’s who I’m going to see,” he said.

“She’s not a fairy? But that’s not allowed.”

“Which is why she doesn’t live with the fairies. Which is why my father is dead. He fell in love with my mother,” Jude sighed. “It wasn’t fair to them.”

“Then how did you end up with the fairies?”

“Mom’s family didn’t want me, and she was young and scared, so she went to journey to find my father, but she couldn’t. He was gone. Dead. That’s when she found your mother. I was five. That’s why I can thrive in either environment.”

“What is your mom?” Kat said touching Jude’s face. As Jude was speaking, she recalled things that made him different than other fairies. Like the glimmer of gold. Like the canines that were too pointed. Like the smell of cinnamon under the smell of the forest. And now that her fingers were on his chin, the feeling of stubble instead of the fairies’ perfectly smooth faces.

Jude turned away. He’d hid his past from everybody. The fairies didn’t know, and his other relatives didn’t really accept him. He’d been rejected and disgraced his whole life.

“She’s an elf, isn’t she?” Kat asked. She thought back to the flower he’d given her. She didn’t know much about elves, but she knew they were an unforgiving race. Brutal. Fierce. She knew that if he was half elf, he was rare. Elves didn’t venture outside of their towns. The fact that his mother was an elf made him incredibly special. The fact that his father was a fairy made him a rare breed. Fairies didn’t mate outside of their kind.

Jude nodded his head. “She’s an elf. It’s why I’m quicker than the fairies. Elves are more agile. I also have a better sense of smell. And that flower, I get them from my mother. Your mother doesn’t even know of those. It’s the elves best kept secret. The reason we live so long. They’re the reason we shimmer gold. They’re our life source. Being half fairy, I can live without them, but my mother’s people cannot. Their lives depend on saving those flowers.”

“I wondered why your whole body glimmered in bright light. And the canines?”

“They’re there because after years and years of fighting and hunting and protecting, they evolved to help us in the wild. We can tear through meat and wood and even smaller rocks.”

“You move like you’re walking on air sometimes.”

“From hunting and tracking. From the time we’re babies, we’re taught to make as little noise as possible.”

“Mom is the only one who knows about you, isn’t she?”

“Out of the fairies, yes. When she met my mom, she knew she couldn’t turn me away, but she taught me to keep that part of me a secret. It wouldn’t turn out good for me. Or her.”

“They accepted me, and I’m a human.”

“You’re a human. I’m an elf. That is completely different. Elves, we’ve never gotten along with the fairies. We’re, well almost barbaric. And it’s not that we mean to be, we just don’t fight by the rules. We protect what we love with everything, even if everything else is the price. When fairies close in on our territory, we rip them down. At any cost. Humans are relatively peaceful.”

“You seem more fairy than elf.”

“I was raised by fairies except for those five years with my mother. And in those five years I learned so much about my elf heritage that I will never forget. I remember every second. Elves don’t forget. Anything. The problem is, I wish I did. Elves aren’t even good to their own kind, but that’s not your problem, and this is far too deep than I wanted to get with you. I’m sorry,” Jude said shaking his head, “I’ve got to go. Wait with Gingerbread or something. Please. I’ve got to go see my mother.”

“Alright,” Kat agreed and turned around. While she was galloping off on Falada, she looked back at who she thought might’ve been just as broken as she was. Maybe they weren’t so different. Maybe he could help her. In more way than one. But could she ask him to help her figure out that she didn’t know if she was really ready to face?

“He’ll help you if you ask for it,” Falada said.

“You have got to stop doing that!” Kat said.

“Stop doing what?” he asked.

“Talking when it’s all quiet and unexpected. Of course, it’s never really expected from a horse, but you know. You startle me every time! I’m not used to the idea yet!” Kat answered.

“Well, I thought it was useful information.”

‘It is. But is it true?’ Kat thought to herself.


A few hours later, Kat was sitting by the pool with Falada and Gingerbread eating some bread and cheese when a breathless Jude called out, “Get on your horse. Now.”

Kat jumped on Falada without stopping to think. Something in Jude’s voice told her he meant business. “What’s wrong?”

“Dragon. In the village.” His words were broken between gulps for breath.

“What?” Kat asked. Both of them were riding by this point, the wind burning their eyes.

“A dragon. Flew down from the mountains I suppose. They’re fighting it, and little by little it’s going down. A dragon knows a lost fight when he sees one, so he’s trying to leave, and he’s not a happy camper. We need to get as far away from here as possible.”

“But what if he crosses our path?”

“We fight, and we pray.”

“That’s your best advice?”

“Don’t get killed.”



About thirty minutes into their ride, Kat heard voices behind them. “Do you hear that or that just me?”

“I was hoping that was just-“ Jude was cut off by an earthshaking roar. “Me,” Jude finished.

“I take it that means we should ride faster?” Kat said.

“Mhmm,” Jude replied, and both sped off in the distance as fast as they could.

A burst of fire ripped through the trees beside them leaving all the trees and plant scarred from fire. “Jude,” Kat said with her voice shaking a little.

“What?” he asked glancing back.

“You neglected to tell me it was a fire breather!”

“Oh. Forgive me. It’s a fire breather.”

“Great!” Kat threw her head back.

Battle cries and shouts of pain were coming from behind the duo. It was their soundtrack along with the steady pounding of their horses’ hooves. Thinking of Snowdrop kept Kat pushing on. She was what pushed her forward. She couldn’t leave her. Even if she never wanted to see her again, she could never stop trying, and losing to this dragon would be to stop trying.


Another hour into their ride, and the dragon and the elves were still following them. “We would’ve been to the edge of the forest by now,” Kat complained, “but we’re stuck, riding in the middle of the forest from a dragon that is being chased by elves, about to get roasted alive, with a forest almost in flames around us and sweat pouring down our backs.”

“You think I don’t know that? Huh? You think I’m not just as angry about this as you are?” Jude ranted. “This is awful. Elves aren’t meant for this!”

“Neither are humans!”

“Neither are horses,” Falada chimed in.

Kat patted his head. “I’m sorry baby. I owe you so much.”

“Kat, you’re the one who talked about how you were ready to face the world. Go take on that dragon!” Jude said.

Kat turned her head toward him, a look of disbelief on her face. “You want me to march to my death?”

“Death? I thought you were the best there was.”

“I didn’t think anyone would be asking me to face a dragon!”

“You’re scared.”

“No. I’d just rather not catch fire before I can make up with my wife.”

“Oh, after that, you’ll face a dragon with no fear?”

“I’m not going to go looking for trouble. I’m not stupid.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Jude told her. “I’m friends with Elaine, remember?”

“I am not stupid!” Kat protested.

“Running into the forest looking for trolls when you’re ten? And when you do find one, you don’t have the heart to kill it, so you catch it and bring it home to mommy?”

“Catching that took a lot of force and power.”

“Kat, it was a baby. And then, its momma came looking for it!”

“How was I supposed to know it was a baby? I was ten!”

“It was small!”

“Not to me!”

“Well, you know what? Normal ten year olds don’t go looking for trolls to slay.”

“I’m not normal.”

“Oh. Trust me. I can tell.”

A burst of fire came to their left and almost came close enough to Jude to burn him. “Alright. That’s it!” Kat said and veered right.

“Where are you going?” Jude called out.


“Just come on!”

He followed her deeper into the woods. “You’re only going farther into these woods.”

“I know,” she muttered.

“Why?”

“We’re going to capture the dragon.”

“How?” Jude asked. “How do you plan on managing that?”

“By using this,” Kat said pulling out a net made of fairy hair. Fairy hair was the strongest substance in the world, only matched by their nails which were the only things that could cut it. It was fireproof, and it was almost weightless.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had this before?” His face was full of wonder.

“I was saving it. To give to Snow. I’ve had this as long as I’ve had Falada. Mother made it for me when she found me. I left it back at the village so nothing happened to it, but I slipped it in my bag this time. I was going to tell her who I really was, and give her this proof, but now we need this to hold this beast back,” Kat stated.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we each just take one end? How will we know which way the dragon is going?”

“I’m going to string this up as far as it can go across two trees. The elves are trying to push the dragon out of the forest. Go to them. Tell them not to. Tell them to drive it here. After, ride back to me.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Climb up in those trees. You with your bow and arrow. Me with my sword and daggers. And well, we shoot. For its eyes. And once it’s below it, we jump on. And cut off its head.”

“You make it sound simple.”

“Well, other than the danger, and the chance the elves might not listen to you, and the fangs, and of course the fire, it is.”

Jude shook his head. “You intrigue me,” he said.

“Go. Ride. Tell the elves,” Kat commanded.

“Alright then Mrs. Bossy Pants,” he said turned.

“Well, I am saving your butt,” she returned as she started stringing the net from one branch to another checking for only the strongest ones.


Jude rode back breathless. “They’re headed this way.” He climbed off his horse. “What do we do with Falada and Gingerbread?”

“Put them behind those hills and trees over there to the right,” Kat said. “Falada will take care of them.”

“Ok. I trust you,” Jude said and set off to do as Kat said.

Kat started climbing up the tree with her knifes and sword close to her side. When Jude came back, he did the same. Kat asked him, “Did you tell them our plan?”

“No. I just told them that I had this covered. They were so desperate, they believed me. If they knew we were using fairy magic or that you were a human raised by fairies, they wouldn’t’ve listened,” he told her.

“Geez, I hope this works. If it doesn’t…” Kat's voice trailed off.

“We’re toast,” Jude finished.

“Pretty much,” Kat said. “You want to know a secret?”


“What?”

“I’m more scared of talking to Snowdrop than facing this dragon,” Kat confessed.

“Seriously? Why?”

“Because I’m afraid she’ll leave me. I’m afraid she’ll never want to talk to me again.”

“But you don’t even know what you did.”

“Which also kind of scares me because what if it’s really bad?”

“How could it be that bad if you don’t even know what you did?”


“I don’t know. I’m just paranoid I guess.”

A roar broke out that sounded close to where Kat and Jude were sitting in the trees. “There they come,” Jude said.

Kat took a deep breath. “No turning back now.”

That’s when a giant, red dragon burst through the trees. Its eyes were filled with rage, and it was bleeding from the wounds the elves had already inflicted with their weapons. It shot out a stream of fire straight toward the net of fairy hair, but it didn’t even singe it. It ran straight forward, thinking it could break through it, but it only got caught and tangled in the web of sparkling material. Kat jumped on the beast before Jude did. She jumped with her sword first, hoping it would pierce through the dragon’s neck where she was aiming, and it did just that.
The dragon let out a roar of pain and whipped its head around to see its attacker, but Kat held on tight to its neck, so it couldn’t see her. Jude shot arrows at its eyes in an attempt to blind it. One hit its target, and blood shot out from the dragon’s eye in a steady stream.

Kat jammed her sword in further, and then she pulled it out only to jab it in in a different spot trying to cause as much damage as possible. The elves kept shooting their arrows trying to help the cause except for a few who stood in stunned silence. They could tell Kat was a human, and they knew the net was made of fairy hair. They couldn’t believe they were fighting like this.

Jude’s arrows finally hit the beast other eye. The dragon started clawing at its face trying to remove the arrows. Kat sliced a vein on its neck open which drenched her in blood along with the ground. Neither Jude nor Kat had seen this much blood in their entire lives. The dragon had to bleed out soon. It was starting to weaken it seemed.
It let out another blow of fire which hit the tree Jude was standing in. He quickly climbed to a higher branch in hopes to escape the fire that had caught below him. He was almost out of arrows which meant he couldn’t help much more. The elves were running out of their arrows too. Kat was almost on her own. She sliced up and down the dragon’s neck hoping to hit another vain.
Some elves had run off to get water so they could try to drench the tree and put out the fire the dragon had started. It would ruin the forest and almost certainly kill Jude if they didn’t fix it soon. Others were shooting their last arrows. Jude aimed his last arrow carefully. Right between the eyes. With every hit the dragon roared in pain. It was still rearing its head around violently, but she still held on tight. She was growing tired though, and soon she’d lose her strength.
She climbed as far up the neck as she could and she sliced as far into the dragon’s fire red flesh as she could. If she could only get its head cut off, it’d be dead for good. Suddenly, she lost her footing and fell to the ground. The dragon, hearing the bang against the ground, turned its head toward Kat howling in pain from moving with the sword stuck its neck. It opened its mouth to breathe out fire, and Kat braced herself for death as best as any human can. Her mind flashed toward Snowdrop, and she thought about how sorry she was for whatever she had done to hurt her.
The dragon’s breath got hotter, and Kat could feel the heat from the ground even though its mouth was at least ten feet above her. Flames started growing in the back of its throat. Everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion. The flames shot toward Kat, and a scream escaped from her throat. The heat grew stronger, and it burned her before the flames reached her, but within that ten seconds, Jude had jumped on the dragon, and finished what Kat had started, and its head, and the sword were plummeting toward earth. Kat knew she should move, roll over, but her strength was gone, and she couldn’t force her body to move. The head landed on her leg, and she screamed out from pain.

The elves worked hard on moving the dragon’s head off Kat’s leg. When they did, they carried her back to their camp. She had saved them, and they owed her. Jude was slightly burned, but he worked to untie the fairy net and fold it back for Kat. She’d want it once they could leave again.

Kat was moving in and out of awareness. She heard voices, but she couldn’t tell what they were saying. All she felt was the pain in her face and arms and legs and the soreness in the rest of her body.

Then, there was a soft bed underneath her, and there was a cold rag on her face which eased the pain a little, and her clothes were being removed, and a comforting voice was speaking to her even if she couldn’t tell what they were saying, and lotion was being rubbed into her arms which stung and then helped. A sudden, sharp pain shot up through her leg, and she knew it had been broken and then set. Finally, she fell into a deep sleep, but through that sleep, she still felt the pain. Her body had been badly injured, and she knew she wasn’t traveling anywhere soon.


“Why hasn’t she come home yet, Morgana?” Snowdrop asked. “If she cared, she’d be here already! She’d be outside the castle, throwing rocks at my window, trying to get me to come down and listen to anything she said! She would. And, Morgana, I miss her. I want her here with me already. I want her to explain herself. What if she has a reason?”

“I don’t know where she is, sweetie. But, Snow, are you saying that you’re going to take her back? That you’ve already decided that? She hurt you so bad. How can you just take her back like that?” Morgana asked her friend.

“But I don’t think I can live without her,” Snowdrop whispered.

“You can do anything. You’re strong.”

“What if something bad happened to her?” Snowdrop almost burst into tears. “I just couldn’t stand it. What if I never see her again?”

“She’ll come back. She will. I can feel it,” Morgana said while thinking, ‘Not that I really want her to.’


Jude finished putting the net away, and then worked on getting the dragon head up. They’d clean it and give it to Kat as a prize for her win. She sure deserved it. Yes, Jude had beheaded it, but Kat had done most of the work. She bled it out and weakened it. She had come up with the brilliant plan. She truly was a terrific warrior. And she was fearless on the battlefield. She didn’t know the elves, but she had helped them in their time of need.

She’d been selfless. She’d been brave. She’d been cunning. The elves would accept her, and they would take care of her and nurse her back to health like she was their own. She’d be alright in the end with the elves’ help.


A week later in the nurse’s hut, Kat’s eyes flickered open. She coughed, and it hurt her face, and moving hurt her sore body. She looked at her arms; her skin was raw, and burned. She felt her leg; it was in a thick cast. She felt her face; it stung; she could tell it was raw like her arms. She’d been burned by the breath of the dragon and closeness of its flames. Her memory of the last part of the battle was a little fuzzy, but she did remember the pain. It was much dulled now, but it was still there.

The nurse heard her cough and walked over. “Oh honey, you’re awake. How wonderful. We’ve been wondering when you were going to come to.”

“How’s Jude?” Kat asked. He had saved her life. She remembered that too.

“He’s fine. He’s been in and out of here trying his best to help you,” the nurse told her. “Would you like me to go get him for you?”

Kat nodded her head but soon realized it would’ve been better if she would’ve said yes because it would’ve hurt a lot less. She laid her head back while she was waiting for Jude.

“Hey,” Jude’s voice rang through the building. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better. What happened? My memory is burry,” Kat asked him.

“You almost cut dragon’s head off, but you fell. Then, I jumped and finished the job before it could roast you alive. The head fell on your leg, and the heat from the breath gave you minor burns all over your body. They got rid of your clothes because they were soaked in blood. You’re not going to be ok for travel for at least another three weeks. Your leg is broken good. The dragon was huge even as far as dragons go. I brought your net back, and the head is preserved, so you can keep it as a prize for your win. Falada is safe. So is Gingerbread. The elves have deemed you their savior, and they are in your debt,” he told her.

“Jude,” Kat said.

“What?”

“Can I meet your mother?” she asked him lightly. She didn’t want to poke him where it hurts.

“You already have,” he spoke softly too.

“The nurse?” Kat asked.

Jude nodded his head. “Yes. She’s the nurse. She’s taken good care of you. Barely left your side. Rubbed healing herbs into your burns. Changed your cast every other day. Sponged you down so you didn’t get dirty.”

“I’ll make sure to thank her. It means a lot that the elves have taken care of me; I know they aren’t always the most accepting people.”

“They’ve welcomed me as well,” Jude said with a smile. “It’s been nice to finally be truly accepted among my people.”

“Well, you saved their lives.”

“You’re the real savior. Without you, none of it would’ve been possible.”

“I only did what I felt in my gut.”

“Well, you have a heck of a gut.”

“Thank you for trusting me. I’ll have to thank your people too.”

“You were our last hope. And you didn’t fail. We’ll get you back to your princess as soon as possible. We know how important it is to you. We’ve also sent word to your mother to tell her what happened. We wanted her to know you were ok,” he said. “She said she’d be coming to visit you.”

“Oh, that was so kind of you. I know how the elves kind of have a thing against fairies,” Kat said. “Jude, there’s one other thing that’s been on my mind. And I really didn’t want to ask, but it’s just, I think you might be my last hope.”

“What is it Kat?” he asked.

“I don’t know anything about my past. I’ve got faint memories of before Elaine found me, but nothing really. The dreams are growing stronger and more vivid, but they aren’t telling me anything new. They’ve been driving me insane. I’ve got to find out what happened soon, or I fear I will go insane. I think you can help me. You’ve proved that you’re useful. And you’ve got abilities that no one else I know has because you’ve got the gifts of a fairy and an elf. I know you probably don’t want to bother, and I know it’s not really fair of me to ask you, but I had to try.”

“Kat, if you need me, I will be there.”

“Really?” she asked stunned.

“Really. After what we’ve been through, I count you as a true friend. And that means I will fight beside you. Elves take their friendships seriously. They are strong bonds between two people. You have proven yourself worthy of that bond. If you need me, I will be there. Bonds cannot be broken,” he told her touching his heart then touching hers. “We will find your past. Now get more rest, and in a few weeks, we will get you to your love, and we will make your relationship happy again.”

“Ok. Thank you,” Kat said laying her head down and closing her eyes. She was asleep before Jude even left the room.


A week later, Kat was still bound to her bed. She only got up to use the restroom and occasionally take a walk to try out her leg. She wanted nothing more than for it to heal faster than expected so she could move on to getting to her princess. Jude helped her around, and his mom, Meredith, treated her the best she knew how. The elves’ cooking was superb, and Kat never went hungry.

The elves were always busy doing something. They thought laziness was a sin. It didn’t get anything productive done. The kids were in training. The boys were always sparring with sticks and the older ones were fighting with swords. They took their military seriously. They wanted to be the best, and they usually were. Next to nothing was a match for them. Kat wanted to learn what they could teach her, but that would have to wait.

Meredith shared the secret of the flower with Kat, not knowing her son had already done so. The elves agreed it was alright, seeing as she had saved their lives. She started getting a golden shimmer about her. Jude told her it might not ever go away. Once the flower is within you, it stays.

In the course of the time Kat was there, her nose healed, and the cast was removed. The bruising around her face had went down. Now it was just raw from the dragon burns. It would be that way for a while. It was very red, and on the right side, where she had turned her cheek toward the dragon, there would be a slight scarring even though Meredith had done her best to prevent it. Her arms had mostly been saved because of the protection of her clothing, and any scarring there would be minor.



At the end of the second week that Kat was there, her cast was removed. The flower had drastically sped up the healing process like the elves said it would. Their remedies were helping the burns get better, and Kat felt hardly any pain. There was numbness occasionally, which scared Kat because she wasn’t used to that feeling, but it always went away.

She moved into Jude’s house with him and his mother so she would be more comfortable. It wasn’t very large, and they had to move a bed into the study so she had a room, but it was cozy and warm and welcoming. It felt like home, and it made Kat feel safe. These elves were becoming like family.

Kat’s mother showed up soon after her cast was removed. She said she would’ve come sooner, but she was on official business. Kat told her it was alright, and that she didn’t have to come at all. She was thankful she did come though because who doesn’t want their mother there when they’re sick?

Kat missed Snowdrop with every bone in her body and constantly wondered if Snowdrop missed her too. Falada was happy in the village. The children loved him, and gave him all the attention in the world. They’d ask Kat if they could feed him his daily fairy dust, and they always seemed to sneak him a little extra. Elaine brought Kat more when she journeyed to see her. She figured she’d be needing it.

The elves welcomed Elaine like one of their own even though she wasn’t an elf; she was a fairy. They owed Kat so much, it was the smallest thing they could do to repay her. And Elaine loved the elves just like they were her people.

Jude was happy to see Elaine too. He had missed her. She was basically his second mother. Jude was also happy to get to be around his first mother so much, and he knew this was the start of something wonderful because now that he was accepted by the elves, he could stay longer. He could really be with his mother.

Girls flocked to Jude. He was a hero in their eyes, and it made them love him. They gave him gifts and told him he was handsome and followed him around and basically threw themselves at him. He didn’t mind the attention. He kind of bathed in it. He really loved it actually.



At the end of the third week, Kat was dying to leave even though she felt like the village could be her third home. She knew she’d always be welcomed there. She knew the elves would be welcoming to all of her friends because since she trusted them, they would trust them.

Kat walked away from the encounter with the dragon with newfound confidence. She had faced a terrible beast, and she had won. She had not done it alone of course, and she knew if she had been alone, she would’ve been dead, but she felt like she was walking on clouds as far as her battling and fighting and knighthood could go.



Snowdrop cried all the time, and she knew she’d put on five pounds at least from all the ice cream she’d downed. She missed Kat with her whole heart, but at the same time, she didn’t want to see her face. She was angry and upset and depressed, and she just couldn’t take it anymore.

Morgana tried her best to comfort her, but there’s only so much a best friend can do when it comes to these things. Wounds have to heal on their own, and this one was healing slow. It was mighty deep. Kat was Snowdrop’s first love, and the first cut on an innocent heart hurts more than anything else in the world.

Snowdrop cursed the day she had met Kat sometimes because if she hadn’t none of this would’ve happened, but as soon as she did, she took it back and cried for even thinking that. If she had never met Kat, her life would’ve been so much worse. Kat had brought her happiness. More joy than anything else. And Kat was the reason Snowdrop spent her days looking out the window for any sign of knights heading toward the palace, or messengers coming to bear bad news. She prayed she wouldn’t see a messenger.

She spent her nights dreaming of Kat’s safe return. She spent them dreaming of their past. Their wedding. Their days and nights together. She spent them dreaming of the times before Kat had hurt her.


“Jude, we have to leave soon,” Kat said.

“I know,” he replied. “Give it another couple days. You can’t push yourself too hard. It’ll only lead to disaster. You just fought a dragon for goodness sake. You fought a dragon and won and saved a population.”

“But Snowdrop-“

Jude cut her off, “Will be there when you get back. And as bad as that sounds, she’d rather have you in one piece than in a body bag.”

Kat sighed. “I know. You’re right. But Jude, I’ve got to see her. I’m dying. Not being with her hurts me more than any physical pain. I’ve got to get back to the palace. Soon.”

“I know. I know. We’ll get there. Falada and Gingerbread are getting restless too. They don’t like being in one place for long. We’ll leave in a couple days, and we’ll pray we don’t run into any more trouble along the way.”


Kat waited impatiently the next couple of days to start her journey. She missed her princess. She missed her home. Her home was wherever Snowdrop was, and she was nowhere close to that castle. Wondering about what her love was doing kept her up at night. She wanted to know if she was safe. If she had forgotten her. If she wished that Kat would never return. There was so many things that Kat wondered, and she had no way of getting answers. Even when their journey started, they’d be traveling for quite a while because Kat’s injuries meant that they’d have to travel slow and take it easy. They didn’t want to run into any trouble on the way.

During the course of their time together, Kat and Jude had grown very close. They considered each other family. Brother and sister. United. It helped that they were getting along now. They still had their moments of course. Jude still thought that Kat was big headed, and she usually was, and Kat still thought that Jude was rude, which he usually was. The two of them were both stubborn, and they always thought their way was best, so bickering was almost nonstop, but they did care about each other, and they had each other’s backs.

One day while Kat was packing up, Jude came in and said, “While we’re on our journey, if something else should happen, leave me. Go to Snowdrop, and leave me. I’ll take care of it.”

Kat was left speechless; such kindness was so rarely exhibited to her, but here he was offering his life to bring her dream to her. Her need. Her love. Her princess. Her Snowdrop. “Thank you,” Kat spoke softly, “but I cannot take that from you.”

“I’ll be ok,” he promised.


Heading out was exciting. They hadn’t been anywhere other than the village in weeks. They were ready to move on.

They started out riding at quite a fast pace, but by midday, they started slowing down. The trees in the forest were bare in most places, and a lot of them were pushed down and shattered from the elves altercation with the dragon. It was a depressing sight.

When they stopped for a meal, they were near the edge of the forest, closer than they had ever been to the palace. They climbed off their horses and sat down. Jude broke off small bites of his bread and cheese.

“Is something wrong?” Kat asked.

“No. I’m fine,” Jude said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fine? As in something is wrong now?”

“I’m just tired is all.”

“Really? Is that really all?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not?”

“You’re not acting like yourself.”

“How?”

“You’re a smart aleck. You’re noisy. You’re always talking. You eat more than that. You’re not yourself today.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you promise on everything you own?”

“I… Listen, I’m just, not in the best mood.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“The last time I went into the kingdom like this, my sister was killed by a band of thieves during the journey.”

“Sister?”

“Yeah. Mom’s kid. A full elf though. She was two years younger than me. Beautiful. Smart. I was ten. She was eight. And it wasn’t her time. And it wasn’t fair. And I suppose I’m just remembering that.”

Kat scooted closer to Jude. “Jude, I’m so sorry,” she said wrapping her arm around his shoulder and hugging him.

“I’ll be fine in the morning by the time we get out of these woods,” he sighed.

“I wish you were fine now,” Kat told him.

Falada neighed in agreement.


The next morning, they were out of the forest. They were into the meadow that lay all around the palace city. The palace and the rest of the village were visible in the distance. Kat’s heart filled with elation at the sight of the palace where her princess was. “Oh, Jude! We’re almost there,” she said and rode Falada faster toward the town. She was almost home. Almost. Just a couple more hours ride.

“Kat, be careful. Don’t ride too fast. You might ride into danger,” he called out after her.

“Jude, don’t be silly. I’ve ridden these paths a thousand times,” Kat told him.

“And you never had to fight a dragon until this trip,” he muttered to himself. “Brilliant girl. Thinks she can do anything and never get hurt.”

Jude looked over to his left and saw black horses in the distance. He knew what they were doing. They were a caravan. And they were thieves. Not very different than the ones he’d encountered on his last journey to the city. “Kat!” he called out as he rode faster to catch up with her. The black horses were growing closer with every pound of his hooves. “Kat!”

She whipped around. “What?” she snapped. How could he be ruining her joy?

“Look,” he said pointing at the black horses in the distance.

Her eyes widened. “They’re coming this way,” she replied.

“I noticed. That’s kind of why I pointed them out.”

“Hush, and tell me what we’re going to do.”

“Ride on, and hopefully we’ll get to the city before they get to us.”

“And if we don’t?”

“We’ll have to fight.”

“Great. Terrific. Another fight. Just what I need.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like I wanted this either,” Jude sighed. “I know how ruthless they can be.”


The ride through the field was long, and the horses grew closer with every second. Kat’s heart pounded faster with every thump of Falada’s feet. Jude grew anxious waiting for what he knew was inevitable. Conflict. Battle. Fighting. Blood. Violence. He’d seen thieves in action before, and he didn’t want to see it again, but it looked like he was going to have to.

“Kat, I told you, if anything happens, ride on and get to Snow,” Jude called out to his friend as he saw the horses closer than ever.

“I’m not leaving you to fight by yourself,” Kat replied. “I’d rather die.”

“You’ve fought bravely all along this journey. You’re weaker than I am. You have to get back to the palace,” Jude replied. “Go.”

“I told you I’m not leaving. I will fight beside you until the end. Now, shut up,” Kat replied.

Jude shook his head. He couldn’t ask Kat to stay for him, and she needed to get back to the castle. She had to. Jude couldn’t take that away from her.

Shouts were coming from the distance as the thieves were growing closer and closer. Each shout scared Kat a little. She didn’t want it to end this way, and she knew the thieves would stop at nothing to take everything Jude and she had. Including their lives.


Within fifteen minutes, the thieves were on their tails. “Pull them over!” a big man shouted. “Knock them off their horses!”

Kat heard a muffled voice that sounded like it was protesting and turned around to see a girl tied on the front of their cart of stolen goods with a gag in her mouth, struggling to get free. That’s when Kat charged them. There were five thieves, each bigger than Kat, but their horses were smaller, and Kat wagered that they were slower. She could beat them. She knew it.

“What in the world are you doing?” Jude yelled.

“I’m saving that poor girl!” Kat replied.

The thieves’ eyes lit up at the sight of this girl running to them instead of away. Jude turned Gingerbread around to help Kat even though he thought she was crazy. She didn’t know what she was facing.

The first thief Kat fought was the biggest. She jabbed him in the side. She was a lot quicker than he was. Blood shot out, and he fell off his horse. Two other thieves closed in on her, and the first thief’s horse charged. She jammed her sword into its neck. It dropped as she slid it out and whipped around to see the two thieves who decided to close in. She whipped her sword around a little trying to get a good feel of where to hit them.

“Awh, the little girl thinks she can take us on and win!” the smaller one said.

“I know I can,” Kat said as she jarred her sword into his neck and twisted. He hadn’t been expecting it, and he had lost his life because of it.

Jude was taking on the other two. They put up more of a fight, and the sound of clashing metal was heavy in the air. Finally, Jude got a good stab at one out of the two and knocked him off his horse. He then trampled over him with Gingerbread. His screams filled the air with an aura of depression and terror and violence.

Kat was facing the third thief now. The second biggest. She prayed under her breath she could beat him. The other two had been just luck really. He charged at her full speed, and she veered to the right, dodging him. He swung around and charged her once again. He pulled a throwing star out of his belt and threw it with accuracy, almost hitting Kat’s head; if she hadn’t ducked just in time, she’d be a goner.

Jude had stabbed the other man he was fighting through the chest and was working on pulling his sword out. Once he did, he pulled out an arrow and shot it at the thief Kat was fighting, the one who kept throwing shooting stars at her, who barely dodged them. The arrow hit him directly in the center of his back. He leaned forward and moaned in pain. He threw one last shooting star, and it grazed Kat’s arm. His aim was off since he was dying.

He fell off his horse and hit the ground with a grunt. Kat rode Falada over to him and had her horse nudge him in the head. He didn’t move. “Are they all dead?” Kat asked Jude.

“I’m pretty sure. Now, let’s loose up this girl over here,” he told her.

The two of them jumped off their horses and walked over to the girl tied on the cart. Kat used her dagger to cut her hands free, and Jude untied her mouth. “What’s your name?” Kat asked.

“Rae. My name is Rae,” she replied.

“What happened to you?” Jude inquired.

“They came and sacked my farm house. They killed my parents, and they took me. I’ve been fearing what they were going to do to me, but now… you’ve saved me. How can I ever repay you?” she said with a voice full of gratitude.

“It’s fine. No need. I’m just glad you’re safe,” Kat told her.

“Kat, she’s got no horse. I say we hook ours up to this cart and take it with us. She can ride in it, so she’ll have a ride to the city,” he stated.

“Would you like that?” Kat asked Rae.

She nodded her head. “But I can’t impose. It wouldn’t be right. I’ll just try to ride one of the thieves’ horses.”

“No,” Jude said. “I won’t have it. They’re dangerous. Climb in the cart. Come on now. We’ll take you back to the palace with us, and the nurse will take fantastic care of you.”

“The palace?” Rae asked with wonder in her voice.

“Mhmm. I’m married to the princess, Snowdrop. I’m her wife,” Kat said.

“Really? Geez, you kind of look beat up for being a princess,” Rae said, and then bit her tongue. “I am so sorry. That was out of line.”

“Well, I like to think of myself as a knight even though I am technically a princess, and I’ve been on this journey because the last time I heard from the palace, Snow’s friend Morgana punched me in the nose and said I’d hurt Snow. I ran home right away of course, and mother sent Jude with me. We stopped along the way and ran into a dragon, and-“

Jude cut Kat off, “And Kat was brilliant. She fought so bravely. I couldn’t’ve done it.”

“Jude. That’s not true,” Kat said. “You helped me so much. You saved my life, but right now, that’s beside the point I suppose. Anyway, we were almost back when we saw the thieves, and we were going to try to outrun them, but then we saw you, and I couldn’t just leave you, so we fought.”

“Once again, thank you. You saved me from so much,” Rae said. “Thank you.” She looked at Kat’s arm. “You need to have that wrapped up,” she told her.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve been cut worse,” Kat replied.

“No. Seriously. You need to bandage it,” Rae protested.

“I’m with Rae on this one, Kat,” Jude said.

“Fine. With what?” Kat asked.

Jude ripped off a piece of his shirt. “This should do for now,” he said.

“Jude, you shouldn’t’ve done that,” Kat told him.

“Don’t worry about it. No big deal,” he told her.

“Let me do it,” Rae said. “I lived on a farm my whole life. I never left. Only dad left. We had to do all this stuff ourselves.” Jude handed her the cloth, and she told Kat to lift her arm. She wrapped the makeshift bandage around tight and tied it. It stung Kat because it was a little dusty from the riding, but it would stop the bleeding, and it would protect it from everything else.

“Thank you,” she told Rae.

“Don’t mention it. I owe you my life,” she said.

They were at the palace by nightfall. Kat walked up to the castle’s gates and called out to the guards, “Hey! Can you open these? It’s Kat.”

“I’m sorry, Kat,” the guard replied, “but I can’t let you in. Snowdrop’s orders, but she told me to get Morgana and send her out if I saw you. I’ll go get her and be right back.”

Kat sighed. “Great. That’s another broken nose.”


Snowdrop was looking through her window when she saw Kat ride up to the castle gates with two strangers. Her heart leapt; she was elated to see her love. Then, she started crying harder than ever. She missed her, but she was terribly hurt. She wouldn’t let her in the castle. She wouldn’t talk to her. But how long could she hold out. She knew she didn’t have to will power to deny her for long. That’s why she’d send Morgana to see what she had to say. Of course, that might not go very well…


“What happened to you? You look awful!” Morgana said to Kat while walking toward her.

“Well, it started when I got punched in the nose-“ Kat started, but Morgana cut her off.

“You deserved it!” she yelled. “How could you hurt Snow? What did she ever do to you? Do you know what she’s been going through? And you weren’t even here to beg her forgiveness! She’s cried nonstop. One, because you hurt her, and two, because she missed you! She’s been crying nonstop! Did you hear me? Did you? Because I don’t think you understand!” As Morgana talked, her voice got louder. “How could you do that, Kat? Because I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all.”

“I don’t even know what I did!” Kat yelled back. “And I got punched in the nose for it! Is it because I left? Because I have a reason for that! Is it because I was in the forest and not the mountains? Because I lied? Because I had a reason for that too! And I got punched in the nose before anyone even listened to me! And whatever I did, I didn’t mean to do it! And whatever it is, I’m sorry I hurt her! And I would’ve been here sooner, but we got attacked by a dragon, and then, we got attacked by thieves, and I’m bloody, and I’m hurt, and I was out for two days after you punched me, and I was out forever after fighting the effing dragon. And I don’t understand why I come to make up with my wife, and I get chewed out for something I didn’t even know I did!”

“I don’t believe a word of that! You know very well what you did. You cheated on that poor girl with that lady out in the forest. You lied. You lied, and you cheated,” Morgana said.

“That lady? That lady is my mother!” Kat threw her arms up. “You punched me in my nose for visiting my mother?”

“I don’t believe you. She was too young to be your mother,” Morgana said.

“She’s a fairy,” Kat told her.

“But you’re not so she can’t be your mother,” Morgana countered.

“It’s complicated,” Kat said.

“Then explain.”

“Then let me in the castle.”

“Not until Snowdrop wants me to.”

“I don’t understand why she won’t just listen to me! It’s not fair!” Kat protested.

“What’s not fair is that you hurt her,” Morgana snapped back.

“I’m through fighting with you,” Kat said. “I’ll prove myself one way or the other.”

“Have fun trying,” Morgana said. She nodded at Jude and Rae. “Nice to meet you two. Would you like to come in?” she asked.

Jude and Rae looked at each other and then at Kat. She told them to go with Morgana and that she’d be fine. She had the cart to sleep in, and she’d slept in rougher conditions. They reluctantly went in after telling Morgana their names. On the way in, they told her a little about their stories. “She really did fight a dragon,” Jude told Morgana. “She’s got the head. The elves she saved it and gave it to her as a prize for her win.”

“Well then I’d like to see it,” Morgana replied. “I’ve always thought she was a little shady.”

“She saved my life,” Rae said.

“Well, I’m glad she helped someone. Knowing her, she’d probably hit on you next and try to get you to get with her,” Morgana said.

“She’s not like that,” Jude said, “and her mother is my mother also.”

“What are you?” she asked Jude.

“It’s complicated,” he said.

“I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.” Morgana sighed. “What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I have no idea. At all. And I almost always have a plan. This is frustrating.”

“What can we do to help?” Rae asked.

“I don’t know. You’re on Kat’s side, and I still don’t know if I believe her. She might be lying through her teeth,” she told her.

“Why would we back her if she was lying?” Jude asked.

“Because you care about her. Duh.” Morgana rolled her eyes.

“I do care about her. That’s why I’m telling you the truth,” Jude replied.

“Hey. I just met her,” Rae said.

“But she did ‘save your life.’” Morgana made air quotes around the last phrase.

“You’re kind of a smart aleck. Has anyone ever told you that?” Jude asked.

“All the time,” Morgana nodded.


The next morning, Jude and Rae asked if they could meet Snowdrop. Morgana took them to her bed chambers, and knocked on the door. “Snow, honey, you have guests. They came with Kat; they’re her friends. They want to talk to you.”

Snow had been crying, so she quickly wiped the tears away from her eyes. “I guess I can see them.” She sniffled.

Morgana opened the door and let the two inside. “Hello,” Jude said.

“Nice to meet you,” Rae spoke.

Snow shifted so she sat up a little straighter. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said. “Well, I guess it is. I don’t really know since I don’t know you.”

“Snow, can I tell you something?” Jude asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess.”

“Kat didn’t cheat on you. That lady is her mother,” he told her. “She’s my mother too. She looks so young because she’s a fairy. Kat’s not a fairy, but her past is more twisted that you know. Mine is also which is why I live with Elaine. She has become my mother too, so she sent me with her daughter to take care of her. We set off weeks ago. Just a few days after she was punched, but we ran into a lot. I went to see my birth mom – she’s an elf – and ran into a dragon. Kat saved us. She’ll deny it, but she did. I helped, but she came up with plan, and she fought bravely. She’s got a scar on her face to prove it. She’s got a scar on her leg from where the bone jutted out when it broke. She’s got the dragon’s head. She does.

“Then, we went on, but right before we got here, we were attacked by thieves. That’s when we met Rae. She was captured, and Kat ran back because she had to save her-“

Snowdrop cut him off, “Great,” she said throwing her head back and starting to cry a new set of tears. “Now she’s saving other girls.” She looked at Rae. “No offense, it’s just, she came back for you, and that’s ok, but I just, I’m jealous is all.”

Rae chuckled a little. “It’s fine,” she said. “I understand.”

“Snow, please hear Kat out,” Jude said.

Silence filled the room. “But Jude, I don’t know if I can believe her; I don’t know if I can trust her.” Tears fell harder. “I’m sorry,” she said through sobs. “You shouldn’t have to see my like this.”

Jude and Rae started to walk to the door. Right before they left, Jude turned around. “Just please promise me you’ll think about it.”

Snowdrop nodded her head. “Jude, can you tell her I love her?”

“Of course. I’d be happy to,” he replied as he walked out her door.


Outside of the palace, Kat waited for any sign of movement. At noon, she saw Jude and Rae coming toward her. “She’s thinking about talking to you,” Jude said. “We talked to her.”

“She looked so sad,” Rae said. “Her eyes were so puffy from crying, and then, she started crying right in front of us, sobbing actually.”

Kat laid back in the grass. “Fantastic,” she sighed. “Wonderful. Great. Brilliant. I’ve hurt her so much, and I didn’t even do what she thinks I did. I love this.”


“Morgana,” Snowdrop whined, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

“Do you believe her?” Morgana asked.

“Do I believe Kat? That’s a good question. I mean, she lied about where she was going, but Morgana, I love her so much. I love her, and it hurts me so much that she would lie to me even if she didn’t cheat, so even if she’s telling the truth there, she lied to me, and I don’t know, and Morgana! Ugh! This is awful. I don’t know what to do!” Snowdrop fell on her bed.

“Talk to her,” Morgana suggested.

“No!” Snow protested.

“Then, don’t talk to her,” Morgana replied.

“But I want to!” Snow sighed.

“Give it a day or two,” Morgana said.

“Ok,” Snow agreed. “I’ll try that.”


“Tonight, I’m going to throw rocks at her window. That’s what I’m going to do. Until she wakes up and talks to me,” Kat told Jude and Rae.

“Is that a good idea?” Jude asked.

“Yeah. Don’t be stupid and get yourself in trouble,” Rae told her.

“I slept out here last night when there is a perfectly warm bed inside that castle where my wife is crying her eyes out because she thinks I cheated on her, and I cannot sit down here another night and do nothing,” Kat ranted.

“Kat, do you want us to sleep with you out here tonight?” Jude asked.

“I’m not sleeping out here,” Kat told him. “I’m sleeping right beside my princess with my arms wrapped around her like the first night I kissed her.”

Rae smiled. “That’s so cute!”

“If she doesn’t get herself killed by the guards,” Jude muttered.

“You are a really big downer,” Rae told him.

“I’m not going to lie to make her feel better,” Jude replied.

“Well, I mean, she could use some support,” Rae said turning to face him.

“She could wait a night or two to see if Snowdrop lets her back in!” Jude protested.

“You know what? You manage to fight with everyone,” Kat told Jude.

“I’m sorry. I just have a… strong personality,” Jude told her.


Around midnight, Kat snuck up to the castle and found some pebbles under Snow’s window. She aimed and tossed them one by one. Soon, she saw a light flick on, and a window opened. Snow stood there with a robe wrapped around her body. “What in the world are you doing?” she yelled. “It is so cold out here!”

“Then let me come up, and I’ll keep you warm,” Kat replied.

“I don’t trust you!” Snowdrop said with pain in her voice.

“I didn’t do it. Snow, please. Just listen to me. I would never ever cheat on you. You are all that I need. All that I want. You’re beautiful and wonderful and sweet and loving. Darling, you are everything to me, and I would never ruin that. I want you to believe me more than I’ve ever wanted anything else. I’m so sick of being away from you,” Kat gushed.

“Then why did you lie?” Snowdrop asked. Kat walked up to the castle where a vine was growing all the way up to Snowdrop’s window. “You can’t climb that,” Snowdrop told her.

“I believe I am,” Kat replied.

“Kat, it’s full of thorns,” Snow said.

“I’ll be ok,” Kat promised. She’d been pricked by more than one already, but a few more wouldn’t hurt. She had to get to Snow. She climbed higher and higher, and finally she was at the window where Snow looked at her with worry in her eyes. “Well are you going to let me in?” Kat questioned.

Snow stepped back from the window and held out her hand for Kat to take. “Come on,” she said, and Kat climbed inside.

“Snow, I beg you. Please listen to me,” Kat pled.

Snowdrop walked to the other side of her room and looked in her mirror. Tears swam around the corners of her eyes. “But Kat,” she said turning around, “how do I know you’re telling the truth? How? You lied even if you didn’t cheat.”

“And I shouldn’t’ve, but I’ve got a reason,” Kat promised.

Snow sunk down in a chair in the corner. “Fine,” she sighed. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know anything that happened to me before I was eight,” Kat started. Then she relayed her past she did know, and she told Snow about her journey, and she told her about Jude and their fights and how much she missed her and everything that had been on her mind.

“Jude and Rae seem nice,” Snowdrop said.

“Is that all? After all that, that’s all you say?” Kat asked stunned.

“I just,” Snowdrop started but shook her head; she didn’t know how to finish.

“Snowdrop, I love you, and I miss you. Please,” Kat whispered kneeling in front of her, “take me back. Snow, I’m sorry I lied. I’m so sorry, but I didn’t want you to worry, and I thought this was the best way, and I was completely wrong, and I am so sorry. Snow, I will never lie to you again, and you can meet my mother, and you can meet my people, and we’ll go see the elves someday. Snow, I will promise you anything. Just, please, I beg you please, let me come back and hold you and kiss you again.”

Snow’s tears finally fell free. She knelt to the ground herself and wrapped her arms around Kat. “I missed you,” she whispered in her ear and kissed her neck. She pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. “I love you Kat.” She kissed her lips and climbed on her lap.

Kat held her body close and told her gently, “I will never hurt you again.” She held her tighter and carried her princess to their bed.

Kat woke up beside a sound asleep Snowdrop. She laid back and sighed. She’d missed this. She’d missed Snowdrop. She’d missed feeling her chest rise and fall in sync with hers. She’d missed waking up to her beautiful face. She’d missed the feeling she got when she wrapped her arms around her princess, protecting her from the world around them.

Kat rolled over to the sound of the door opening, and Morgana burst through it. “What in the world are you doing here?” she asked appalled.

Snowdrop awoke to the shrill sound of her voice. “Huh?” she said groggily.

“I climbed up here last night to be with Snow,” Kat told Morgana.

“And she let you in? Just like that?” Morgana was stunned.

“She… good reason… ugh… need sleep,” Snowdrop said and rolled over.

Kat rolled out of bed, wrapped a blanket around her, and followed Morgana out into the hall. As soon as she shut the door, Morgana pointed her finger in Kat’s face. “You!” she hissed. “You can’t just come back like this! How do I know you won’t hurt her? You’re bad heroin. You know that? You are! She’ll keep letting you in until you destroy her.”

“I am not going to destroy her!” Kat protested.

“You are gone all the dang time! Always. She misses you so much. Her heart is going to be broken just waiting for you, and what if you don’t come back?” she asked Kat. “What then? What if you die? What if you leave her? What if you realize you don’t want this life?”

“I would never realize I didn’t want this life, that I didn’t want Snowdrop. I love her so, so much,” Kat said softly, “but Morgana, what if I don’t come back?”

“Exactly,” she replied. “You would destroy her.” Morgana turned and left Kat standing in the hallway all alone.

Kat sunk to the floor and sat against the wall. She put her head in her hands. Maybe it would be better if she left. Just left. She couldn’t hurt Snow, and if she left now, it’d hurt her less than if she stayed and Snow lost her later.

She walked back into the room, and put her riding clothes on. On the dresser there was a pen and paper. She grabbed some up, and wrote:



Dear Snow,
I cannot stay any longer. I have to leave you. I’m so sorry my darling, but if I stay, I fear I will only hurt you more, and I want to hurt you as little as possible. You are my air and breath, and you mean more than anything to me.
Snow, please forgive me for this. I know I promised I would never hurt you again, and I meant it, but I truly feel this is better for you in the long run.
You will always be first in my heart. Always and forever. I promise you that. You’ve done so much, and you’ve shown me so much. Since the first day I saw you, I knew that I could find no one better in all the world.
I will stay out of your life, so you can forget me completely. That will be the easiest way for both of us I think.
With everything in me, I will miss you.


Love forever and always,



Kat
By the time she was done, the page was tear stained.
She sat the note on the pillow beside Snowdrop, kissed her cheek and walked out the door. She headed down the hallway to the room where Jude and Rae were sleeping. She knocked on the door, and Jude let her in. “What’s up, Kat?” he asked.
“I’m leaving,” she told him.
“Why?” Rae asked. “Did last night go wrong?”
“No. That’s not it. Last night was,” Kat paused, “amazing. The best. I just, I can’t stay here anymore. You can stay if you want to, but if you want to come with me, I will be happy to take you. I’d appreciate the company really.”
“Where are you going?” Rae asked.
“Back to my mother,” Kat said. “I’ll live with her for a couple weeks, and then, I’ll start on my journey to find my past. Once I do, I’ll figure it out from there.”
Rae nodded her head. “I’ll go with you. I have nowhere else to go, and I owe you my life. I’ll gladly accompany you in your journey.”
Jude looked at Kat. “You came all this way to go back? You’re a coward. Do you know that?”
“I can’t stay here, Jude! I’m just going to hurt her, and I can’t…” Kat broke into tears.
Rae walked over and hugged her. “Honey, it’ll all be ok. I promise.”
“How can you promise that?” Kat said looking up.
“Because everything always works out like it’s supposed to. Fate,” she replied smoothing Kat’s hair.
“God,” Jude said, “why do you think you can do this? Why? I don’t understand.” Then, he stormed out of the room.
“Is he right?” Kat asked Rae.
“What does your heart tell you?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It’s clouded right now,” Kat replied.
“Then you have to do what you think is best.”
“Even if it hurts me? Hurts Snow? Hurts everyone who cares for her?”
“Is it worth that?”
Kat cried harder. “I don’t know, but I’ve got to go now before I change my mind.”
“Then we’ll ride out, and if you want to turn back, if your heart tells you it’s best, we will,” Rae told her.
Kat nodded her head and wiped the tears she’s cried away.

Snowdrop woke around noon and rolled over to find her bed empty except for a note on her pillow. She smiled because she thought it would be Kat saying something sweet. She picked it up and read it, and the further down the page she got, the harder she cried. How could she leave her? She’d just returned! She’d just been with her. She’d held her through the night. She’d told her she loved her. She’d promised she’d never leave. She’d promised she’d never hurt her again. And now she left. And now she’d broken all of her promises. And now, crying all by herself, Snowdrop sat in her room without the woman she loved.

Kat, Rae, Falada, and a horse from the stables that Rae was riding named Hans rode down the road as fast as they could toward the outskirts of town.
Kat and Rae had each packed sacks of what they needed. Clothes. Blankets. Food for the horses and themselves. A tent was folded up in Kat’s sack, and the rods were hung on Hans. Swords hung from their belts. Kat had brought a bow and arrows which were strung to Falada.
As they got to the edge of the field, Kat looked at Rae. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? It could be dangerous.”
“I’m sure,” Rae replied without hesitation, determination in her voice.
“Then let’s go.” Kat pushed Falada further, and Rae and Hans caught up.

By nightfall, they were at the edge of the forest. “Where do you want to set up camp?” Rae asked Kat.
“Here’s as good a place as any,” Kat replied.
“We should edge further into the forest,” Falada said.
Rae whipped around. “Did your horse just talk?”
“He was enchanted by my mother,” Kat replied then looked at her horse. “Why do you say that? It will be almost pitch black under the cover of the trees.”
“That’s exactly why. People won’t be able to see us approaching,” Falada told her.
“But why would there be people in the forest at night?” Kat asked.
“Just trust me. I am the magical one. I’ll light our path and turn off my glow if we should hear strangers. We’ll be ok,” Falada told her.
Kat looked at Rae. “Are you ok with this?”
Rae nodded her head. “I’ll go along with anything you think is best. You’re the one with experience in this field.”
“Then we’ll enter the forest and journey until we’re absolutely too tired,” Kat said as the horses eased forward making sure they didn’t go too fast.
Falada sparkled to light the path in front of them as they journeyed deep into the forest. The further they got, the darker their surroundings were. They were running on adrenaline after a while as the time got later and later.
Ten o’clock. Eleven o’clock. Midnight. One a.m. Two a.m.
As three a.m. rolled around, the group heard a rustling in the leaves and faint voices. Falada turned his glow off, and they ventured toward the voices. They wanted to find the source.
Soon, they saw a fire burning bright, and around the fire sat two men and a beautiful woman with a young boy in her lap. They got as close as they could without being noticed, and heard the things they were saying.
“But, honey, if we continue with the spell now, our magic will be weaker. The moon isn’t in the right position,” the woman said.
“I was just thinking,” the younger man said in a timid voice, “that the sooner we continue, the sooner we can take over the camp of the fairies in this forest, and then next the elves.”
“Well you thought wrong,” the older man growled.
“Mommy,” said the boy, “why is daddy mad and Timmy?”
“Hush darling child,” she said. “Everything will be ok.”
“Not if this boy doesn’t listen to me,” the older man spoke again.
“Dad, I was just trying to help,” the younger boy replied.
“Well, you’re doing a terrible job,” the father replied slapping his oldest son across the face.
“Please Judas, don’t do this,” the woman pleaded.
“Edith, do you want to be next?” the man said.
The woman dropped her gaze to the ground. “No honey.”
“Get back in the tent. Timmy take your brother into yours. Your mother and I have some business,” the man said.
“Ok father,” the boy named Timmy replied in submission. He scooped up his younger brother from his mother’s lap and headed inside his tent.
“What business do we have?” the wife named Edith asked her husband.
“The kind that you have no choice in. We go through this every night,” he told her.
“I know,” she submitted too. “Even when I don’t want it. Even when you hurt me,” she added under her breath, but Kat caught it even though it was quiet.
The husband heard it too and whipped around. He grabbed his wife by the shoulders. “What did you say bitch?” he yelled in her face.
“Judas, you’re hurting me,” she cried.
“Maybe you deserve it damnit,” he yelled back.
“Fine. Fine Judas. Do what you want. Just please, don’t hurt me. I’m carrying your baby!” she replied.
“You think I want that thing? We’ve already got two mistakes,” he said and punched her in her stomach. “Now get in the tent. I’m getting what I want. The only reason I took you as my wife was your looks, and they aren’t as good as they used to be, so you can at least please me. Do you want me to make you do it here on the forest floor with the evergreen needles poking your body?”
“Judas! You could’ve just killed the baby!” she shouted.
“Then I’d be happy as could be,” he said and tossed her body onto the ground. She got up and went into the tent. Judas followed her. “That’s right. Now,” he commanded, “get down.” Through the tent, Kat and Rae could see shadows. Judas shoved his wife on the ground and got on top of her. They heard her cries.
Kat ran into the camp. Rae cried out, “What are you doing?”
“I can’t let him do that to her!” she yelled and headed toward the tent where the man and his wife were laying together and burst through the door.

“What the hell are you doing here?” the man asked turning his head toward Kat.
She marched toward him. “Get off of her.”
“You do not control my family matters,” he said defiantly.
“I won’t let you make this woman do something she doesn’t want to. If I did, I would be a terrible person.” She looked at the woman. “Do you want this man to do what he’s doing?” she asked.
The woman shook her head no, and the man slapped her. Now that Kat was closer, she could see the woman had bruises all over her body, and her clothes were torn all over. “She’s staying with me.”
Kat pulled her sword out of her belt. “You might want to think twice about that.”
The man rolled over and pulled a dagger out from under the bed. He charged at Kat, but at the last second, he changed his mind. He backed up and put the dagger and the woman’s throat. “If you don’t leave right now, she’s dead.”
Kat backed up toward the door still facing the man and woman with torn clothes. “Don’t hurt the woman,” Kat told him. “She doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’re right. She deserves a living hell,” the man said. “Good for nothing whore.” He took the dagger and slashed a cut in her arm, and she cried out.
“Please, Judas. Stop,” she pled.
Kat pulled back in disgust. “You are terrible. How could you do this?”
“Simple. I take a knife and cut her arm. I take my hand and slap her face,” Judas replied.
“What has she ever done to you?” Kat asked him.
“She lived, and that’s enough. I have to take care of her every day, and trust me, I don’t want to. The bitch doesn’t deserve it,” he told Kat.
“How could you say that about your wife?” Kat said. Tears were gathering around her eyes for the woman.
The man rose, and that was enough for Kat to lunge at him with her sword. He took a step back and threw his dagger which hit Kat in the arm and stuck. She continued to fight with it in her flesh because she didn’t want to take the time to pull it out. She’d do it after she’d gutted this beast of a man.
He ran out of the tent, and Kat followed him. He was looking at her and backing up. Kat saw that he was about to fall into the fire pit, but said nothing. She thought that he deserved it. Once he got far enough back, he tripped over the rocks around the campfire and fell backward. He yelled out in pain, and Kat ran over and shoved her sword into his stomach. Then she pulled it back out and slit his throat.
She pulled the dagger out of her arm and walked back into the tent and sat down beside Edith, who was pretty shaken up. “Are you ok?” Kat asked.
“Did you kill him?” Edith asked avoiding the question.
“Yeah. I did, and I’m sorry for that if you didn’t want him dead, but it’s just, he was so awful. A beast. I couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s… it’s ok. I’m ok, I guess. I’m in pain, but I’m used to that. It happens a lot.”
“Did he really act that awful on a normal basis?”
“He… hit me… and the boys… and wanted us… to use our magic for bad,” she said through tears that now streamed down her face.
“Magic?” Kat asked.
“I’m a witch. My sons are wizards. We’ve been practicing the art for years. Witches and wizards run back in my family as far as medieval times. We used our magic to help the world, but then people like Judas came along and manipulate and destroy and take over, and they’re just not good at all,” Edith explained.
“I heard something about fairies and elves earlier,” Kat said hoping for an explanation.
“How long were you listening?” Edith asked.
“For a bit,” Kat answered.
“Well, Judas wanted to take control of the fairies and the elves to become all powerful; I went along with it because well, you saw,” she hung her head in shame. “I should’ve protested, I know, but he…” her voice trailed off.
“My mother is a fairy,” Kat told her. She didn’t know if she should, but for some reason, she felt like she could trust her.
“But you’re not. I can tell.”
“I was adopted. So was a, well, a friend named Jude by the same woman. She’s lovely. You’d like her. She raised me well.”
“You’re brave and kind.”
“Thank you. I’d like to think so.”
“Would you like to come with me to check on my sons?” Edith asked.
“I think I’ll get rid of the body; they don’t need to see that. And I’m going to get my friend Rae and my horse from the forest,” Kat replied.
“That might be best,” Edith replied.
Kat nodded and headed out of the tent to the fire pit where Judas’s body was burning. She’d drag it out into the forest and lite it on fire again. It would turn to ash; he’d be no more. She pulled the body from the fire and doused it with water so she could take it out to the forest. As she did, blood was left on the ground. She’d have to clean that up.
A thought popped into her head. ‘I’ve killed a lot of people.’ That thought kind of killed a part of her. She was dangerous. She could hurt the people she loved. She had to do things solo because if she didn’t, she could hurt someone she didn’t want to.
After dragging the body out of the camp, she went back to carry a stick of fire over to the body to burn it. The whole time, that thought echoed in her head. She had done this. Her. She had killed this man along with many more. Of course, they were attacking her. They were dangerous, but she took them on and killed them with no mercy. She was dangerous just like they were.
After the body was turned to ashes, she started to go get Rae who had seen her fight, but she chose not to. She called out for Falada who rode over to her. She mounted her horse, and she rode into the night. The horse didn’t ask questions; he just rode on. Kat couldn’t stay around and hurt those who she cared about. Rae would be ok. She’d go back to the castle. And as for Kat, she couldn’t go back to her mother; she feared she’d hurt her too. She’d find a small town. She’d search for her past. She’d start a new life. She’d keep doing that her whole life so she never had to get close to anyone. She’d never have to hurt anyone like she’d done so far in her life. She’d live a life of solitude.

Rae waited for Kat to return, but she didn’t. She was gone all night. She’d witnessed her kill the man who had abused his family. She’d been impressed. Kat was a brilliant fighter. She wondered why her friend hadn’t come back. Kat had called for Falada once she was done moving the body, and Rae hadn’t seen either of them since.
She finally decided to venture into the camp to see if Kat had found some way to hide from her. All she found was the mother and her two boys.
“Hello,” Rae said and offered her hand. The mother looked at her a little suspiciously, but timidly took Rae’s hand and shook. “I’m Rae. I’m a friend of Kat. The woman that saved you. Have you seen her?”
The woman shook her head. “She told me she was going to find you.”
“She never came back, but she called her horse to her,” Rae told Edith. “I wonder where she would’ve gone,” she added to herself.
“She was very nice to us.” The woman hugged her boys close. “I’m Edith. This is Timmy and Peter.” She pointed to the oldest boy first and then to the younger one.
“Very nice to meet you all,” Rae told them. “I’m so sorry all this has happened to you.”
“We’ll be ok,” Timmy told her.

Kat had ridden all night when she finally stopped to rest by a small spring. She looked at her reflection in the pool. She looked terrible. Her face was covered in dust, and her shirt was blood stained from the wound on her arm. She took her shirt off to get a better look at it.
There was dried blood all over her upper arm. It would scar; she could tell. She washed it off with the water from the spring, and it stung. She needed stiches, but she didn’t have the tools. She’d have to deal with it and take good care of it. ‘What the heck?’ she thought. ‘Just another scar to add to the collection. Attractive.’
She fed Falada some fairy dust and took a bath in the water. The coolness of the water felt good against her hot skin. It calmed her down and settled her thoughts. She’d have to ride to the west if she didn’t want to run into the fairies or the elves. She knew there were small towns all over the outskirts of the forest. She’d find one eventually.
When she climbed out, she patted her horse on the nose. “What am I going to do buddy?” She let out a sigh. Her heart yearned for everything she had left behind, but she knew she could never go back.

Sitting at the top of her castle and looking out, Snowdrop wished she would see Kat coming back, but she knew she wouldn’t. She was gone forever, and Snowdrop would be forever alone. The thought killed her inside. Murdered her. Still every day, Snow wished that her life had become a nightmare that she’d wake up from, but it never changed.
Jude and Morgana came to check on her all the time. They brought her meals and made sure she was comfortable. They’d make sure she went to bed and she was warm. They’d make sure she had enough pillows and that her windows were closed so night breezes wouldn’t get in. They made sure she bathed and changed clothes. They’d bring her the ice cream she always asked for, but they also made sure she was healthy.
Snowdrop read Kat’s note over and over again wondering how she could just leave her like that. Did she mean absolutely nothing to Kat? After all she’d promised her, she just left. Got up and left. She said it would make things better for the both of them, but Snowdrop didn’t see how that could be true. She didn’t understand at all.

Jude was in the kitchen when Morgana came in and sat down with a gallon of strawberry ice cream she had just taken from Snowdrop’s room. “Jude,” she said, “I want to let you know that you’ve been great. Completely great. You’ve helped her so much. You’ve helped me so much. You’re up there comforting her as much as I am. You wipe away her tears. You care.”
“How could I not? She doesn’t deserve what Kat did to her. At all.” Jude paused. “I can tell how much you care for her Morgana. It shows. You’re a great person.”

Morgana sat the ice cream down and walked toward him. “Jude, there’s more to you. I can tell.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Morgana studied his face. “I mean that behind those eyes, there’s a heart that you haven’t shown anyone. There’s pain and heartache, and you didn’t become bitter; you became caring, and I can see that. And Jude, I want to get to know the man behind those eyes. So Jude, when you feel ready to share your past with me, knock on my door because I’ll answer, and I’ll let you in. Not only to my room, but to my heart because I have a past too, and if you share with me, I’ll share with you.”
Jude looked down at her, for she was quite a bit shorter. He looked her over. Her beautiful face. Her shining eyes. Her perfect body. Her soft hair. And for a second he thought of what it would be like to kiss her. Just a little kiss. But he knew he couldn’t be in a relationship; he’d just ruin it. He wasn’t normal, and he was broken. He couldn’t bond with her and then break her. He knew that was what he’d do, but still something in him made his mouth move, made him say, “I’ll trust you if you trust me, but if I open up, you might not like what you find.”
Morgana touched his face and moved a little closer. “Jude, I won’t judge you from your past. Your future is what matters, and from what I see, your future is bright and wonderful.”
“You might not think that after you hear my story,” he almost whispered.
“I will always think you are brilliant,” Morgana told him. She turned to walk away, and when she got to the door, she turned around and added, “And remember, my door is always open to you. Always. Don’t think that I’m kidding.”
Jude stood in the kitchen for a few minutes stunned that he had just had that exchange with Morgana. She wasn’t the girl he’d met when he first got to the castle. She’d softened around him, and he liked it. He wanted to get to know her just like she wanted to get to know him. He wanted to get to know her. He felt like she could mean something special to him, but he knew he couldn’t get involved. Ever. That would be no good for either of them and would only lead to pain. It always did.

Rae was still living at the camp with Edith, Timmy, and Peter. One day, after a couple weeks, she told them that she had shortly lived at the castle. She told them that they should travel there with her. She asked them if they would like that. She told them she knew the princess. They were stunned that a girl who had lived at the palace would care about them, but they took her up on their offer. They were sick of living in the woods. They had for so long.
In two days’ time, they had everything packed and they were on their way to the royal city. It was two more days until they reached it, but this journey had been smooth. Nothing had blocked their path. Rae thanked God for that. She couldn’t take anymore hardships.
When they reached the palace gates, Edith, Timmy, and Peter were stunned at the beauty of the castle. Rae called up to the guard, “Hey can you go get Morgana? I was here a couple weeks ago, remember? I need to talk to her. I have a family with me. They’ve been beat and tortured by the woman’s husband. He’s been killed, but they have nowhere to go.”
“I’ll get Morgana and see what she says,” the guard replied.
A few minutes later, Morgana emerged from the castle. “You’re back,” she said, “and you’ve brought visitors.”
“I’m here because I thought leaving would protect Kat, but all it did was get her to run away from me too, but before that, we found this family, and her husband was a beast, and Kat killed him to protect Edith, and please, let them come in even if you don’t forgive me,” Rae begged.
Morgana circled the family and saw their bruises and saw their tattered clothes and their scars, and she knew Rae was telling the truth. “Come inside,” she told them. “Rae, you come inside too. I think Snowdrop would like to hear your story.”
Rae nodded and they all followed Morgana into the castle. The family had never been anywhere this nice. It was beautiful and covered in gold and silver of all shades. There were portraits and statues and art and flowers of all sorts. Every room was furnished in the finest furs and beds and couches and chairs and Persian rugs and imports from all over the world. There were giant fireplaces burning brightly, and everywhere was warm and toasty.
“Come with me to the tower where Snow spends most of her time these days. All of you. She’ll want to hear everything you know. I don’t know if it’ll make her feel better or worse or both, but I think she needs to know,” Morgana told them. None of them protested, and they all climbed the spiral staircase that led to the room at the top of the tower.
Morgana knocked on the door, and the sound echoed all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. “Snow sweetie, you have visitors.”
“Come in,” she said through tears that she wiped away quickly.

Rae walked in, and the family followed after her. “Snow, I’m so sorry. I should’ve never let her go. I should never have gone with her.” Rae spoke softly with true regret in her voice.
“Rae, how could she do that? Why did she do that?” Snow asked.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. She never explained fully. She left me too. She just ran away in the middle of the night,” Rae replied.
“Who are these three?” Snow asked.
“This is Edith, Timmy, and Peter. Kat saved them all from their evil father and husband. I’ve been living with them ever since, but we had to try to take refuge in the castle or at least the city. The woods were getting dark and damp and dreary,” Rae answered.
“I’m sorry we’ve come if it’s any inconvenience,” Edith spoke softly.
“No. My castle is open to you,” Snowdrop replied. “So she left you too?” Snowdrop directed her question at Rae.
“Yes. She left us all. Rode away in the night, and we haven’t seen her since,” Rae answered.
Snowdrop broke into tears. “I can’t take this. I want her here.”

After a month, Kat’s wounds had healed, but she had scars all over her body from her many battles. She hunted and drank water from springs. She’d stayed in a small town for a while, but no one knew anything of a family with a child named Kat or a raging fire, so she moved on. She knew she would come up on another town soon enough.
Jude and Morgana talked. They still hadn’t shared their past, but they grew close to each other, and it scared Jude because he couldn’t let her in that far, and it scared Morgana because she’d never let anyone in that far except Snow, and that was completely different. The two were scared of each other, but they couldn’t seem to break their bond. It was strong, and they didn’t want it to end. Being scared of each other added to the adrenaline rush they both felt around each other. The rush they became addicted to. They had to be around each other.
Snowdrop was crying less and less each day. She still missed Kat, but she started to believe she could move on. She started to believe that she was strong. She started to be happy again. She started to walk around the castle and walk through the gardens and eat healthy meals and talk to people, and sometimes, she even sang and danced. She even kissed a couple people. It was nothing serious, and she didn’t want it to be, but it made her feel like she could move on, and now that Kat was never returning, that’s what she had to learn to do.
Rae and Edith and Timmy and Peter had bonded. Rae had almost become included in their family. Their wounds had healed, and their bruises had faded, and sometimes, it almost felt like the past had been a nightmare that they could put in the back of their brain. Of course, sometimes it haunted them like nothing else could. They wished it hadn’t happened, but you can’t take back the past, so they prayed to God that they would have a happy future because that was what mattered. That’s what they could control, and they were going to make it as beautiful as possible.
A month had gone by, and so much had changed. For some, it was getting more beautiful, but for Kat, all she felt was pain and heartache, but she couldn’t go home. She just couldn’t.

Jude knocked on Morgana’s door. It was almost nightfall, so Morgana opened it dressed in her robes. “Jude.” She smiled. “What brings you here?”
“I want to talk. Let’s talk about our past. We need to. It’s time,” he told her.
She moved aside. “Come in. Have a seat. On the bed. By the fire. On the couch. I don’t care,” she said a little stunned he’d come to talk.
Jude took a seat on the bed, and Morgana sunk down beside him. He took her hand. “This is hard for me,” he said. “I usually don’t talk about this.”
“I will always be there for you,” Morgana told him. “Always. Know that, ok?”
“You’re wonderful Morgana. Truly wonderful. Never forget that.” He looked her in the eye and started. First he repeated what he’d told Kat. The part about being half elf and fairy and his father dying. Then, he started on the stuff he hadn’t told anyone. The stuff that haunted him. “Morgana, when I first came to Elaine, I stayed for a year, but then I ran away. I couldn’t stand being around the people who had killed my father. I didn’t want to stay there.
“On my way out, a fairy tried to stop me, and…” Jude paused. “I killed him. It wasn’t a quick death; it was slow and painful, and I almost enjoyed the pain in his eyes because the fairies had caused me pain. So much pain. Then, I ran into the forest.
“I ran, and I ran, and I ran. I took my sword, and I killed any animal that got in my way because I was so angry at the world. I just, I was so upset. I cried every night. I slept on the forest floor. It was like camping under the stars for me, and at night was the only time I felt any peace. Laying under the stars made me feel like part of the universe, and dreaming was an escape from the world.
“I forgot what it was to care; I forgot what love was, and I became hard. A shell of a person. I felt nothing but anger and pain and hurt, and I could never get rid of it. I killed, Morgana. And I can’t take that back. Ever.
“Eventually, I got attacked by a bear, and I managed to kill it, but I was injured quite badly. That’s when Elaine found me again, and she nursed me back to heath along with the help of the fairies. She’d forgiven me for everything even though I didn’t deserve it. She’d taken me back in, and that’s when I started feeling again, but I almost didn’t want to because once I started feeling again, I felt regret, and that’s an awful feeling, and now, I don’t let people in because I can’t let people know what I have done. They would shun me. They wouldn’t love me. They wouldn’t care about me. So I live day to day not letting people in and pushing them away and keeping my feelings to myself.” By the time he finished tears were running down his face.
“Jude,” Morgana spoke, “everyone has a past. That is yours, and you can’t change it, but you can change your future. That is what matters. What you do with your life now.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “Jude, I will always care about you. It doesn’t change my opinion of you.”
Jude turned his head and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. “And I will always care about you.”
“Jude, do you want to know my past?” Morgana asked.
“Tell me,” he replied.
“Snow is the only one who has heard this, so Jude, please don’t judge me on this. Please don’t leave me. I beg you.”
“I would never do that to you Morgana.”
“Ok. Then I’ll begin. Ever since I was little, I’ve had this thing for fire. I’ve always played with it. It’s always been one of my favorite things to do. One day, when I was ten, I set the house on fire. My two sisters and brother were inside; I was the only survivor. I always blamed myself, and to this day, I still do. But before now, before I got better, I starved myself. I cut myself. I hit myself. I drank my pain away. I was fifteen when I started that. Fifteen, I ruined my life at fifteen.
“I have scars. I had to go through detox. I had to go through therapy. I still go to therapy. Jude, I’ve done something so awful. I ruined my family. I ruined everything. I’ve got three lives that I have to live with haunting me. I’ve taken three lives that didn’t deserve to be taken.
“I live in this castle because after a while, my parents didn’t know what to do with me, so they sent me a way to a home for girls. Snow met me one day on the street, and we became friends, and before I knew it, I was living with the royal family like I was one of their daughters.” Morgana finished.
“Let me see your scars,” Jude said. Morgana looked at him with fear in her eyes. Jude spoke again, “Morgana, I will never judge you. You are still the Morgana I know. That will never change. It wasn’t your fault. I wish you could see that, and Morgana, the only thing I would change about you is the fact that you feel that way. I want you to see that you’re perfect the way you are, and you shouldn’t feel the way you do; you don’t deserve to. You deserve the best. Please, don’t feel depressed anymore. Please Morgana.”
She looked at him. “You are the sweetest Jude. The sweetest.” She slowly pulled up her sleeves and took off her bracelets, and underneath scars on top of scars filled the skin. Jude put his hand out slowly and felt them. “I shouldn’t’ve shown you. You think they’re ugly. How could you not?”
“No Morgana. They are part of you. Everything about you is beautiful. The only thing that makes me dislike them is the fact that you did this to yourself. The fact that you were hurting that much.”
Morgana wrapped her arms around Jude. “You said you don’t let people in, but Jude, you don’t scare me. You make me happy, and in all reality, you make me feel safe.”
“Every relationship since then has been broken for me. They’ve never lasted, and they’ve ended in heartache. And Morgana, my feelings for you scare me.”
“My feelings scare me, I guess,” she replied, “but that’s only because I can’t control them, and I’ve never felt like this.”
Jude looked at her and kissed her passionately. He needed her. He couldn’t deny that anymore. He couldn’t deny the fact that she made him feel whole. “Morgana,” he sighed as they both laid back. This is where he was supposed to be, and Morgana felt the same. They were meant to be together in this moment in time, and so Morgana gave into him, and he gave into her, and that night, neither of them felt the loneliness they had felt for so long because they knew that when they woke up the next morning, they would still have each other. They knew they wouldn’t be alone anymore.

Kat felt loneliness like she had never felt before. It was so intense that she couldn’t escape it no matter what she did. She thought of Snowdrop every day and what she had thrown away.
But finally, she found a village that knew her name and seemed to know something about her parents and seemed to know something about a fire. They told her to go looking through the newspapers in the town archives in the library, and Kat did just that. After hours of searching, she found an article about a fire seventeen years ago, the year she was eight. It said there were no survivors. In the fire, three people had died. Penelope Monroe, 28. Henry Monroe, 31. Kat Monroe, 8. This had to be it. This had to be her! She smiled, but then she realized she would never know her parents. Never see them again. She read the article and saw that they had just moved to this town. They had grown up in a town a little south of here. Maybe the people there had stories or facts or something like that they could tell Kat. She had to try. She wanted that connection with her parents. She needed it.

Morgana woke up in a haze and found Jude’s arms around her. That’s when she remembered the night before. The night they’d shared. She looked at his sleeping body, and fear filled her mind. She’d never let another person in like this. Ever. But she stayed and laid back down and cuddled into Jude because he had stayed and held her through the night, and for now, that was enough.
Jude woke up with Morgana snuggled into his chest and smiled. She’d heard his story, and yet, she still wanted to be with him. Through everything. He kissed her forehead and held her tighter and watched her chest rise and fall and cherished every minute of it. He felt as if his life had turned into a fairytale. He’d got the girl; he’d helped the princess; he’d trekked far from his home and battled dragons and thieves and won. He was becoming the man he always wanted to be.

Two months into the healing process, Snow was almost better – at least that’s what she fooled herself into thinking. She smiled and laughed and her tears were few and far apart. Sometimes a wave of sadness would hit her, and she’d remember how much she missed Kat, but most of the time, she just continued on with her life as if nothing had happened.

Kat had found her past. People all around the town she’d been born in remembered her parents and welcomed Kat; for they thought she had died long ago. Her parents had been loved and admired. They were scientists. The house had burned down after an experiment gone wrong. That’s how they had died.
Kat’s memories grew stronger. She saw a woman’s face. It was still blurry, but in her dreams, the woman sang to her. A sweet lullaby. The woman told Kat over and over again how much she loved her. Kat looked forward to these dreams of this woman – she knew in her heart it was her mother – because they were better than the reality she was faced with when she woke up. When she woke up, she was alone. All alone. Eternally by herself. It was the only way she would never hurt anyone again.

Months flew by. Kat lived by herself in a humble shack in the village of her parents. Snowdrop finally got her life back to normal and started running the castle like a true princess again. Morgana and Jude fell deeper in love and became attached at the hip; you’d never see one without the other. Rae was always with Edith and her sons. One of those sons, Peter, grew close to Snowdrop. She loved the child. He would always brighten her day with his big, silly grin and innocence. Snow wished she could go back to that time in her life, when things were easy, and with Peter, she was there.

Kat lay in bed awake. It was the fifth night in a row she couldn’t sleep. Tears swam around the edges of her eyes. She had lost everything, hadn’t she? Snow was on her mind. Snow was always on her mind, but it was worse at night when Kat lay alone in darkness. How could she have been so stupid to leave the very thing that was most important to her? She couldn’t go back. She just couldn’t.
The tears broke loose and fell down her cheeks and onto the soft bed beneath her. “Snow,” Kat sighed, “wherever you are, please be thinking of me. Do you miss me as much as I miss you? Do you even care about me anymore? Damnit. I’m talking to myself because I can’t stop thinking about you. Do you see what you do to me? You make me crazy. Maybe that’s why I left. Maybe I’m just crazy. I don’t know, but please Snowdrop, please still care about me because if I ever learned that you stopped caring, my heart would completely break in two, and Snowdrop, it’s almost there. I miss you.”
Kat rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow. ‘Where do I go from here?’ she thought.

Snowdrop awoke from a dream. A dream of Kat saying her name and telling her how much she missed her, telling her she was sorry, telling her she had made a mistake.
Snow climbed out of bed and went to sit window. She looked out her window at the stars and the moon in the night sky. She started counting the stars in her head. Out loud she spoke, “I love you more than there are stars in the sky. I’ll never be able to count that high.”
Her heart thumped in her chest telling her that Kat was missing her at that very moment. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. She held her hand to her chest and whispered, “I miss you too,” as her tears started to fall.

Kat finally drifted to sleep after she heard a voice in the wind. You may call her crazy, but she heard Snow’s voice. She heard Snow tell her she missed her too.

After another month of hardly any sleep, Kat rolled out of bed. “That’s it! I’ve got to go back. I have to! This isn’t fair to me. It’s just not. And I think… I think Snow misses me too.” She started throwing her things into her backpack as quickly as she could. It would be a week’s journey back to the palace, and she wanted to be there as soon as possible. At noon, she jumped on Falada and rode out of town. She was on her way back home. “Morgana,” Snow said quietly, “I’ve been having dreams about Kat.” Morgana looked at her friend. “That’s why you’ve been behaving differently, isn’t it?” Snow nodded her head. “In my dreams, she’s crying and telling me how much she misses me. How much she cares. And Morgana, they seem so real, like I could reach out and touch her and hold her and comfort her, but when I try, I wake up, and after that, I can never get back to sleep. What if they are real? What if I’m really seeing her? What if that’s how she feels?” “Snowdrop, come on. I mean, what are the chances that you’re actually seeing Kat?” Morgana asked her. Snow sunk in her chair. “You’re right, and I know it, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something is different…” her sentence trailed off. There was a knock at the door, and then entered Jude in his robe with a tray of breakfast for the three of them. On the tray were eggs and toast and bacon and sausage. There were hotcakes and syrup and glasses of orange juice and milk and water. “I thought you girls might like some breakfast.” Jude flashed a perfect smile. “Honey, that’s so sweet. Thank you,” Morgana rose to take the tray from her love. “You’re welcome,” he replied handing Snow a plate of food and glass of water. “Thank you Jude. That was incredibly thoughtful,” Snow told him. “What were you two talking about?” he asked. “Nothing really,” Morgana told him. “Just girl stuff.” “Aw, come on. You can tell me,” he said. “I’ve just been having strange dreams lately,” Snow told him. After Snowdrop had described the dreams and the feelings she had to Jude, he looked at her and then at Morgana. “I think I might agree with Snow,” he stated. “What?” Morgana was stunned. “It just seems like, I don’t know, true love has a connection on a deeper level, and I think that it would definitely be possible,” he replied. “Really?” Snow was just as stunned Jude agreed with her as Morgana was. “Yeah. I mean, personally, I think that love is just another form of magic. The strongest kind,” Jude answered. “It could be possible. Don’t rule it out because it seems unlikely.” Morgana glared at Jude. “Step into the hall with me please.” The two of them walked outside of Snow’s room. “What is it?” Jude asked. “Kat is not good for Snow. At all. That’s why I told her to leave, and-“ Jude cut her off. “You what?” “I told Kat that she’d hurt Snow less if she just left now, and it worked, and I thought that I didn’t have to deal with it anymore because Kat is just always going to hurt Snow. Can’t you see that? I can. I can see it clearly. I don’t trust her. At all. So Jude, don’t fill Snow’s head with these fantasies of Kat returning.” “Do you not want me to agree with her because you think I’m wrong and it will only hurt Snow more, or do you think I’m right? Do you think that Kat’s going to come back? Or that Snow will go look for her? Are you scared of that? Is that what it is Morgana?” “You’re wrong,” she answered through gritted teeth. She grabbed up her dress, spun around, and stomped down the hallway. Halfway down, she turned around just long enough to say, “Tell Snow I’m sorry, but something came up.” Jude walked back in Snow’s room. “Snow, Morgana thinks this will only hurt you more that you were before. Don’t be mad at her or anything, ok? Please? She just wants the best for you. I promise. And she thinks she’s doing what’s right even though I disagree.” “Jude,” Snow said, “I heard what she said in the hallway. About telling Kat to leave.” “She wasn’t trying to make anything worse. She was trying to help.” Snow burst out into tears. “But now she has made everything worse.” “It’ll all be ok, Snow darling. I promise.” Spending nights in the forest was hard on Kat. She’d been living inside for so long without going on any kind of journey whatsoever, it felt almost new again, but it was worth it. She was going to see her princess. Her dreams were filled with images of Snow. Her voice. Her eyes. Her scent. She missed her down to the very core of her being. The love she’d tried to run away from, it had only grown stronger. Stronger with every passing day. She needed her princess. She needed her darling. She needed her lover. She needed her wife. She needed her Snowdrop. She’d be at the castle before long. And hopefully, Snow would forgive her for all she did to hurt her. She felt like she couldn’t live if she didn’t. Snowdrop hadn’t left her room. Her depression had returned stronger than ever. She couldn’t have Kat. She couldn’t possibly get Kat back. She couldn’t. She was gone. She was never coming back. And Snow couldn’t take it. She couldn’t possibly take it. Kat had journeyed, and luckily, her journey had been smooth. She hadn’t run into any obstacles that hindered her from proceeding. It made Kat feel like she had the gods on her side. And with the gods on her side, she felt like Snow would take her back. And she needed Snow to take her back. In another day, she’d be at the castle, and hopefully, lady luck would help her get her princess back. Would help her get back in the castle. She had to get back in the castle. It’d been too long since she’d seen Snow’s beautiful face. It’d been way too long. And she couldn’t take it. “Only a little longer,” she spoke to herself, but Falada replied anyway. “She’ll accept you. I can feel it.” “Really?” “Really,” Falada replied. Snow had been sleeping more and more. She’d been staring out her window, hoping, praying that she’d see a glimpse of what she knew she wouldn’t – Kat. If she saw Kat, by some turn of events, some change of heart, she didn’t know how she’d feel. She didn’t know if she could take the overwhelming emotions that would immediately flood her broken heart. She knew they would. She would be angry. Hurt. Upset. Happy. Elated. Excited. Surprised. Confused. And so much more. She didn’t know if she could take it, but she’d still give anything to see her true love ride up on her enchanted horse. Her knight. She hadn’t seen Kat fight in so long. It almost didn’t feel right. Of course, she never liked how nervous she felt the whole time, but when she won, she felt so proud. And it was attractive. And it showed how strong she was, how she could protect her from everything. She’d never experience that feeling again though. Because her knight was never coming back. She was never coming back. And as that sank in, as it completely sank in, Snowdrop fell to floor in tears. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until she had no tears left to cry. Until she couldn’t feel anymore. Until she was numb. She was numb, and as she laid there, her mind drifted to the reasons she shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t care because it was Kat’s fault; she left. She shouldn’t care because there was no reason to care about a lost cause. She shouldn’t care because Kat must’ve never loved her if she could just leave her like that. But none of those reasons mattered to Snow. None of those reasons mattered because she wanted Kat back. She wanted her back more than she’d ever wanted anything. Kat stood across the field that separated her from the city that held the castle that held her princess. She stood petrified that she’d be turned away. Shunned. Rejected. And she couldn’t take that. She couldn’t take that from Snow, her other half. She took slow, cautious steps forward. She preceded thinking back to when she had met and killed the thieves. She didn’t want to cross paths with anymore, but she knew it was possible. Very possible. Her long trek was almost over, and she didn’t want anything to ruin the ease of it. Although, she probably deserved it. She did deserve it. For everything she had done. But there was no turning back now. She’d be at the castle by nightfall. Snow lay in her bed and cried. She’d cried earlier, but these tears were softer. They didn’t come in sobs. They silently ran down her cheeks, little rivers over little hills, and with the salt water, her sorrows escaped her body too. Tomorrow when she woke, she’d be ready to move on again. There was nothing she could do to undo what Morgana had done, and tomorrow, she would accept that. At least that’s what she told herself. But she didn’t know if she’d still think that when tomorrow rolled around. Kat looked up at the castle she’d once lived in. It seemed like so long ago, the last time she’d been there. Of course, the last time had only been for one night after a long journey. It seemed funny to Kat that the last time she had stood like this, looking up at the majesty of her princess’s home, she’d been thinking of a way to beg forgiveness just like she was doing this time. She sat on the grass and thought about what she would say, what would make it better. Nothing would make it better, and Kat knew that. Those wounds she inflicted upon Snowdrop would never completely heal. As that thought crossed her mind, a tear fell. Those wounds she inflicted would never completely heal. But she had to try to make it better, make it less painful. She had to. So she sat in the grass in her armor beside her faithful horse and thought and thought, but her mind was working against her it seemed. The whole night passed this way, and still nothing had come to her. She had no idea what she would do. In the early morning light, she saw the door to the castle swing open and rushed forward hoping it was Snow. She ran to the gates, as close as she could get to the palace without the guard’s permission, and saw Rae. Rae had come out with the woman that they had saved. Her name slipped Kat’s mind. It had been so long ago when she rode into that camp, and Kat had been through so much; now, it felt like an eternity. Rae turned her head and placed her hand over her eyes to block the sun. Her gaze met Kat’s and she ran for the gate. “Kat!” she exclaimed. “We thought you were never coming back. What happened to you? You just left.” “I’m dangerous, Rae,” Kat explained. “I’ve killed. What if I killed someone I cared about?” Rae sighed. “Kat, you kill with reason. You killed to save me; you killed to protect Edith and Timmy and Peter.” As if on cue, the adorable little boy ran out of the castle. “Mommy!” he called, “Mommy!” “What sweetie?” she replied while scooping him into her arms and off the ground. “I had a dream. And it was really…” he paused, “well, I can’t think of a good word. I guess I’m too little.” Kat noticed he said his l’s like w’s. “But, it was you and me and Timmy, and we were all together, but Timmy, Timmy he died mommy. Is Timmy gonna die mommy? Is he? Because it scared me. I thought Timmy was dead. I didn’t like it.” “Timmy’s not going to die,” she replied ruffling her son’s hair. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. I promise.” “But mommy, when I woke up, I tried to wake him up too, and he wouldn’t wake up. I shook him and everything,” the young one replied. Edith’s face went white, and she looked at Rae. Without a word, she sat her youngest son on the ground, and ran into the castle. A thought popped into Kat’s head; when she had met Edith, she had said she was pregnant. She didn’t have a baby belly. She must’ve lost it from the blow to the stomach. How hard did her husband hit her? “Rae,” Peter said tugging at the bottom of Rae’s shirt, “is Timmy gonna die?” “Timmy’s probably just got a cold. It’s not anything serious,” Rae told him kneeling down to look the child in his eyes. Then, she stood back up and faced Kat. “It’s good to see you. You should come inside.” “I don’t think Snow will want me there,” Kat replied. “I can’t just come in. I think I lost those rights after leaving for so long.” Rae looked her dead in the eye. “We’ve all missed you. Especially Snow.” What neither of them knew was that while this was going on, Snow was watching from her window. Tears quickly flooded her eyes like she knew they would if she were to see her knight, her love again. Her heart was filled with love and other emotions she couldn’t pin down. She watched Kat talking to Rae while little Peter stood in the middle looking back and forth. She wondered what they were saying until finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She ran down the stairs and into the front lawn. “You!” she yelled at Kat. “Rae, please take Peter inside. He doesn’t need to hear this.” Kat saw Snow’s eyes were filled with rage. “Snow, I-“ Snow cut her off, “Don’t you begin to say you can explain. You listed to Morgana? You let Morgana give you advice? You listened to her, and you left me? What the hell?” “Snow, please, give me a minute.” “Give you a minute so you can come up with some bullshit reason as to why you broke my heart and left me all alone? Is that why you want me to give you a minute?” Snow’s body shook with rage and sadness, and her voice mimicked that. “Kat, you left. I woke up after finally getting you back for one night, only to find you gone the next morning. I woke up to a note, a note that said you were never coming back, and now, I guess you expect to waltz right back into my life. Is that what you expect? Because it isn’t going to happen. I have been sitting in that castle for months, months, crying my eyes out and trying to move on and feeling all alone and eating gallons of ice cream and sitting all alone in my room and imaging what it would be like if you had never left thinking that was all I’s ever have – my imagination. And now, what are you doing back here?” “I’m back because I missed you and your smell and the way it felt to sleep next to you. I missed sitting by you at dinner, and I missed the way you said my name. I missed your eyes; I missed your smile; I missed your laugh. I missed you Snowdrop. I can’t change what I did. I can’t change how I hurt you, but Snow, I regret it every single day. I regret leaving you. You’re the best thing that’s ever-“ Snow cut Kat off again. “Bull!” she hollered. “If I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you, you wouldn’t’ve left. You wouldn’t’ve lied to me. You wouldn’t’ve hurt me. You would’ve stayed to protect me from the things that scare me. You would’ve had the guts to face the fear of commitment it seems like you have. You would’ve had the guts to stay with the woman you say you’re in love with. I don’t believe any of it. I have no reason to. You’re a lying piece of scum. I don’t understand where you get these messed up ideas that what you do is okay. Because none of it is okay, Kat. None of it. I have faced one pain after another to be with you. One after the other. Since I married you, I thought that everything would be perfect, but you lied to me. You were always gone. And on top of that, of my loneliness and the loss of trust, you left me. You left me for no reason. There wasn’t even another woman. You just left. You left while I was sleeping. You left when I wasn’t expecting it. B**ch. You’re a horrible person. I expected so much more out of you, and you treat me like I’m a toy. You play with my emotions, and now, you’re back, and now, I can’t trust you. And it’s all your fault. Because you’re so stupid. So stupid.” “Snow,” Kat started, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Her mind was blank. “Snow, I love you,” she finally squeaked out. “Sure. Sure you do,” Snow replied, turned on her heels and headed straight back into her castle.

Kat lay on the ground looking up at the stars that had now risen. The sky was sprinkled with them, and on every star, Kat wished for the same thing – that Snow would take her back.

Lying there, Kat’s mind wandered from the happy times with Snow to the times back in the forest where she was so alone. She hated feeling like she’d have to go back to feeling like that, feeling that alone. She couldn’t stand it.

Last time, she’d climbed up the vine, and Snow had let her in. Would it work this time? Kat laid her head back. She didn’t know if she should try. Snow seemed so far away, and yet, she was so close. How could that be possible? Kat couldn’t understand what her heart was telling her. She didn’t know what to do. Her head was spinning. She didn’t know one thought from the next. She was drifting into a dream world where all the words were running together and mushing into one, and she didn’t know what to do to stop it.

Finally, it all ended, and one word stayed. Snowdrop. And Kat fell asleep with that one thing on her mind. Snowdrop.


Snowdrop fell onto her bed. “Kat,” she breathed out. “Ugh. What is she doing back here? I don’t understand. She can’t just leave and come back. She’ll just leave again. I don’t get it. And now, I’m in my room talking to myself because she can’t just make up her mind!”

When her voice faded, the room was dreadfully silent, and Snow walked over to her window. The stars in the sky mesmerized her and put her in a sort of trance. She could hear her heart pounding, and she knew it would never beat for anyone else. It would only ever love Kat. Kat was her soul mate. The one she would be with forever. But Snow couldn’t trust her. She couldn’t just walk back into the arms of someone who had broken her heart. But she stop thinking about her. Her mind was set on saying no, but her heart, the very heart that had been broken, was set on saying yes.

And when Snow climbed back into her bed, she found herself wishing that Kat was lying there beside her, holding her, and kissing her good night.


The sun rose over the castle, and Morgana woke before Jude. She looked at him, the man she loved, and she knew she had upset him. She had upset her best friend. She had made a grave mistake. How could she change it?

She climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She was careful not to wake Jude. He was up late into the night reading. She didn’t want to disturb him, but her stomach was demanding food. Usually, Jude would cook her breakfast, – that’s how things went these days – but of course today was different. Jude and she were fighting. They’d fought before, but never like this. He was truly angry. He was disappointed too. Not just angry. And she couldn’t stand knowing she’d let him down. What if she lost him?

As she made her way down to the kitchen, she ran into Rae. “Good morning,” Rae said smiling with a toothbrush in hand. Her tousled hair shined in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“Good morning,” Morgana replied. “How are you?”

“Good, good. I’m heading into town today. Anything you need while I’m there?”

“Nothing a can think of unless you find some way to make anger go away.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You haven’t noticed Jude and me fighting?” Morgana was shocked.

“I’m wrapped into Edith and Timmy and Peter.”

Morgana nodded. “That’s true. How are they? The castle is so big; I don’t see much of them.”

“Timmy, well, he’s sick. Truthfully, that’s why I’m headed to town. I need to talk to a doctor. Maybe get them to come out here. We don’t know what’s wrong. He’s barely breathing, and he won’t wake up. Peter had a dream, a dream he died. We’re all pretty scared for him. Really scared for him. I know it was just a dream, but dreams can be powerful. We’re so worried he won’t make it,” Rae said in replied.

Morgana drew in her breath. “That’s… that’s awful. What can I do? Anything? There must be something. I can’t… Rae, I’m so sorry. I know how much you love them all.”

Rae dropped her gaze. “He’s like a brother to me. I just lost my family. I can’t bear to lose any one else.”

“Aren’t they magic?” Morgana asked. “Can’t Edith just use her powers to heal him?”

“I wish,” Rae answered, “but magic doesn’t work that way. Witches and wizards can’t just say bipidy bopity boo and make things better. They had to have the right supplies and ingredients. Spells. They take time, and plus, if Edith doesn’t know what’s harming her son, she can’t find the spell to fix it.”

“I see,” Morgana sighed. “So she can’t do anything?”

“She can’t heal him completely, no. She can, however, use her magic to give him more strength. She can whip up potions that will help him keep whatever fight he has left in him.”

Rae followed Morgana down to the kitchen, and together they finished their conversation over a cup of coffee. Morgana hadn’t talked much to Rae, but after today, she made a vow to herself to go out of her way to talk to this girl more. She realized Rae must’ve still been in her late teenage years. She hadn’t even thought about that before. She looked over Rae’s face and saw frown lines starting to form. She studied Rae’s hands and saw rough, farmer’s hands. She looked into Rae’s eyes and saw pain, longing, confusion, and love. How Rae could love after everything she’d been through, Morgana didn’t know, but as Morgana took the time to talk to the castle’s guest, she realized that she only wanted to love; she only wanted to be loved. Morgana didn’t think that was too much to ask, so she took Rae’s hand and told her, “Everything will be okay. I’ll make sure of it. And Rae, if you ever need someone to talk to, someone to cry to, someone to just listen, I’ll be here. Never forget it.”

Rae smiled. “Thank you Morgana.”


Kat woke lying in the grass; morning dew coated her face. She sat up and stretched her muscles. Sleeping on the ground had made her a little stiff. Today, she’d have to try to get in to see her princess again. Last night, just lying there thinking of her mistakes, was torture. She didn’t want to even think the thought that she could lose Snowdrop forever. Snowdrop was her world. Her one constant. Although, their relationship hadn’t been very constant lately.

Kat walked up to the gates, and asked the guard to let her in. She wouldn’t sneak in like last time she came home. This time, she’d properly enter the castle and ask Snow’s forgiveness. The guard told her to wait. He said he’d go get Snow and see what she said. Although he knew Kat, he knew how Kat had hurt Snow, and he didn’t think he should trust her completely.

After waiting around a half hour, Snow came out in a silk pajama set with her hair tied up on the top of her head and fuzzy slippers on her tiny feet. “What do you want?” she demanded.

“I want you to listen to me,” Kat told her.

The gates swung open as Snow made her way toward Kat. “You,” she pointed her finger right in Kat’s face, “obviously didn’t listen to me. I told you how I felt yesterday.”

“But, Snowdrop, you didn’t hear me out. You didn’t listen to what I had to say. Please,” Kat begged.

Snow could hear the desperation in Kat’s voice. The need. The longing. The want. The pain. The loneliness. Snow could hear it because she felt those things too. “Kat,” she whispered. All her anger flew away for a moment as she looked Kat in the eyes and took in the fact that here was her chance to be with her again. This time forever.

“Snow,” Kat said closing her eyes and breathing deeply. She wanted to keep this one moment forever. She wanted the mental picture to stay just as it was. Snow was so close, – she could smell her raspberry shampoo – and she wasn’t yelling. She wasn’t angry. Her eyes told Kat that she wanted to trust her again even though she felt like she couldn’t.

“Kat, listen to me,” Snow said in a tone harsher and more serious than the last. “I know Morgana told you to leave. I know. But listen, that doesn’t mean you aren’t in the wrong. You left me, Kat.” Snow’s voice cracked, and Kat could see the tears well up around the sides of her eyes. “You told me you’d never leave, and you left. I woke up to a note on my pillow after one night with you. I woke up, and my world was turned upside down. I woke up, and I thought I was living in a nightmare. And then, I realized that my reality was one big nightmare that I couldn’t escape; I realized that you were really gone. That you weren’t going to come back. That I wouldn’t walk down into the kitchen and find you making French toast. I realized that things were going to be completely different from then on.

“I cried for hours. I cried for days. Crying was all I could do. It was all I could do. I couldn’t eat. I could barely sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I found myself dreaming one of two dreams: I was in your arms which I’d wake up from and cry because it wasn’t going to happen ever again, or you were leaving me again and again and again, and I couldn’t make it stop. I was messed up.
“And then, after a while, I started picking up the pieces and putting them together and getting over you. I was starting to be happy again. I was laughing and singing and dancing. But then, I started having dreams where you’d whisper my name, and I’d wake up, and I’d cry thinking you were missing me but knowing it couldn’t be true. And then, when I told Morgana, she thought I was crazy to feel we were connected, and then, when I told Jude, he told me that dreams were powerful, and it was very possible we were connected through them. And then, I heard Morgana pretty much shoved you out the door. I found out that because of her, I lost you. You could’ve been there the whole time. So I was so pissed at my best friend because you left, and it was her fault, and I had no one to talk to about that. No one. So I cried by myself.
“And then, I look outside, and who do I see? I see you talking to Rae. And I felt all these different emotions. I felt upset. Happy. Sad. Lonely. Joyful. Longing. I felt angry. I felt like you shouldn’t have the right to just walk back in and mess me up again. And now, at night, I find myself dreaming of being in your arms, and during the day, I find myself wishing that you would leave so I wouldn’t have to feel any of this. And then, I feel myself taking all that back when I look at your face. And I find myself crying and rejoicing at the same time. And I don’t understand how I can want you with me and want you nowhere near me at the same time. I don’t understand how you can be so wonderful and so terrible at the same time. I don’t see how you can break my heart, and then come and put it back together again. I don’t understand why you’re the only thing that’s ever on my mind. I don’t understand it at all. All I know is that I love you.
“Kat, listen to me, and listen to me good and hard, okay? I want you back in my life, but I can’t trust you. You’ve put me through so much pain. How am I supposed to believe that you won’t do it again exactly like you did it this time? How am I supposed to just welcome you with open arms? Kat, I can’t just forgive you and let you back inside and let you back in my heart. I want you to be mine forever. I want to sleep next to you in your arms. I want to feel your chest rise and fall. I want to cry to you about what’s upsetting me. I want you to protect me from the big, bad world. I want you near me. I want you to love me. I want you to always be by my side. I want you to hold me during scary thunderstorms. I want you to cook me breakfast in the morning. I want you to be there when I’m sick. I want you to kiss me. I want you to look at me with that longing you have in your eyes now. I want you to read me bedtime stories. I want you to want to do all that. I want you to be the one who I spend the rest of my life with. But Kat, you hurt me. You hurt me so bad. You messed me up. And I don’t know if I can ever fully trust you again. And I don’t know if my heart will let me give my love to you fully and completely. I don’t know if things will ever be the same. And that hurts me. It hurts me almost as much as you leaving hurt me.
“I’m willing to try and work things out. I am. But Kat, you have to put your whole heart into this. You have to make sure to love me always and let me know that. You have to make sure you don’t break my trust again. Because Kat, if you do, I don’t know if I can take it. I don’t know if I can take feeling like I’m second best.” Snowdrop finished with tears running down her cheeks, staring at Kat like her life depended on her giving the right answer.
Kat’s breath caught in her throat. Tears were so close to falling down her face. Snow had just told her that she’d take her back. Snow had just told her she’d let her hold her and kiss her and protect her again. Kat was stunned. Even though she’d wished more than anything that that was how things would go, she still never really expected it. She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve it at all. And she knew that. And Snow knew that. And everyone else knew that too. “Snow,” Kat sighed, “I don’t deserve you. I really don’t. You’re completely too good to me. Snow, I won’t hurt you again. I won’t. I swear on my life. This time, I won’t leave you. I will be your knight in shining armor, and I will save you from every danger that comes your way, and I will love you through every single thing that happens, and I will be here for you always. No matter what. I tried to live without you, and it didn’t work. It didn’t work at all. I’m not leaving. Not again.”
“Kat, come inside with me. Come eat breakfast with me. Come sit in front of the fire with me. Come inside with me and never leave again. Please. I couldn’t take it.” Snow’s eyes were filled with pain from all the hurt Kat had caused, but there was also something else there. Love.
As the two walked inside, Snowdrop took Kat’s hand and squeezed. “I love you,” Kat whispered in her ear.
“I love you too,” Snow repeated and paused long enough to place a small kiss on Kat’s lips. “I love you too.”