I shot up in bed as a howl tore through the air. Sitting upright I looked around. It was still night time though it must have been getting close to morning. A howl sounded again and I wondered immediately if there were werewolves in faery. That lead to my next thought of a Jacob look alike from Twilight.

Curiosity getting the better of me I went to my window, opening the glass panes wide as I searched in hope for a hot ripped were boy. I didn't see a hot were boy sadly but I did find someone else just as good waiting for me outside my window.

"Alpin!"

The Cu Sith looked up at me from below, tail wagging furiously. I immediately felt guilty because I had forgotten about him in the last couple of days. With everything that had happened, I had forgotten to ask if he could stay with me.

Grabbing a blue dressing gown made of light material I slipped outside, my memory of the twists and turns becoming clearer with each journey. As I got to the entrance Alpin met me, jumping around me as he sniffed my clothes and bumped my hand with his head, desperate for affection.

"Hey buddy,' I whispered. "I missed you too. Do you want to go for a walk?"

He slobbered on my hand and I took that to mean yes please. Walking through the garden at night was like entering another world. Small balls of light and blue and yellow fireflies drifted amongst the flowers and trees giving the garden a supernatural feel. I think I actually preferred the garden at night. It seemed to hold so much more.

Alpin walked slowly by my side, bumping my leg every now and then as his jaws snapped loudly, trying to catch fireflies. With a fond smile I ruffed up his head and he wagged his tail. "I know you're not meant to be here but I'm so glad you snuck in." I whispered.

Alpin continued trying to catch fireflies but I think he got the message. In the dark I managed to find Daphne's Grove, the balls of light floating around her tree and resting in the blossoms giving the area a soft pink glow. The scent of dew and blossoms lingered in the dark smelling more strong at night. Alpin settled at the base of the tree, stretching out as he yawned loudly. Standing beside him, I looked at Daphne, wondering when the last time was someone spoke to her. I could use someone to talk to and I mean she was technically right there.

"Hey Daphne,' I started awkwardly. "Not really sure why I'm talking you, don't even know if you can hear me. I guess it's just easier to talk to someone who will just listen and not judge me you know?"

The tree remained silent.

"I hope you don't mind Alpin being here, he won't hurt your garden I promise. He's a large lug but he's an adorable one. I was actually hoping to ask if he can hide in your garden without the Queen finding out. He's not meant to be here but he's been my friend since I first got to Faery and he's still young. I hope you don't mind?"

Still no response from the tree so I took that as a yes.

"Great thanks. God I'm starting to feel ridiculous," I muttered. "I'm talking to a dog and a tree."

I sat on the bench, quiet as I watched the night begin to fade, a soft hue touching the night sky. Leaning down I held Alpin's head hoping he understood me.

"Hide in here Alpin,' I whispered. "Don't come in the court, stay in the garden and stay hidden. I'll come back tonight to check on you. Can you do that for me boy?"

He licked my hand softly, bumping my other hand and I felt he understood me.

"Good boy." I smiled. Leaving Alpin in Daphne's care, I snuck back through the garden back to my room, hoping a tree had my back and kept Alpin safe.

* * * *

"Lady Evangeline not here, already gone," the brownie that answered her door snapped. "Come back another time."

The door slammed in my face and I felt my teeth grind in frustration. These brownies needed a good kick where the sun don't shine. It had taken me a good hour just to convince the one who brought me breakfast to show me where Eva's room was. After threatening to toss him out a window he finally agreed. It was still early and Eva was already gone. Thinking she might have gone to see her brother for breakfast, I traced my way back through the Court, tapestries and flower arrangements my only map.

After a few wrong turns I found the right corridor, recognising the garden on my right. Walking down to the final door, I looked back at the garden, hoping Alpin was alright. Reaching for Drake's door, I hesitated.

I hadn't seen him since my sorry drunken episode. What if he was disappointed in me? The thought that he might think less of me now unsettled me more than it should. Leaning forward, I listened through the door. There was movement but I couldn't hear any voices.

As my hand moved to connect with the door, said door opened and Drake stood before me grabbing my fist before it connected with his chest.

"Lady Laila." He said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

He still held my hand and I quickly pulled it away, stepping back to put some distance between us.

"Ah, I was looking for Eva, I went to her room but she wasn't there so I just thought she might be here..." My voice trailed off as Drake's face softened.

"She is not here my lady. From my information, I gather she is spending the morning with Lieutenant Woodburn."

His jaw tensed mentioning Woodburn's name and I guessed he wasn't too happy about her spending time with him either.

"Okay then, well I guess I'll catch her later. Sorry to disturb you Captain." I turned away but froze with his voice.

"You haven't disturbed me, Lady Laila. And I thought we agreed that you would call me Drake?"

"Right, sorry Drake. Also sorry about the other night, I'm not usually like that I swear, it was just the effects of the Queen's power."

Drake moved around and stood in front of me again. "Do not apologise Lady, you were right. I misjudged you that night without knowing the facts and in doing so I hurt you. I should be the one apologising."

He stepped closer, our bodies only a hand's space apart. "Are you feeling better now my Lady?"

I nodded, trying to edge away from him a little bit without looking rude. "It's alright, I'm feeling fine now. Eva gave me some special tea yesterday morning which worked wonders."

Drake nodded. "I'm glad the tea worked."

I looked at him in surprise. Had he told Eva to give me that tea? We fell into silence and I quickly tried to fill the void before it got too weird. "Ah, are you going to training this morning?"

"Not this morning, my Lady. I have instructed Sir Ambrus to take some men to investigate an anomaly found in the forest. Those who remain behind have a day of reprieve."

"Oh okay. Well I'll leave you to your reprieve then." I started to leave when he spoke again.

"Wait, Laila I wish to show you something. Do you have time?"

I nodded. "I'm meeting Lady Sorcha at midday but other than that I'm free."

"Excellent." Drake shut his door, already dressed for the day. He still wore his uniform which suited him too well. Offering me his arm, I held it gently as he guided me through the halls. It was hard not to trust him when he kept acting like such a gentlemen. I still couldn't read his emotions though, a wall in his mind seemed to stop my abilities. I quickly stopped trying in case he realised what I was doing.

We passed my room and Drake spoke. "Sir Ambrus tells me you went to visit the children yesterday?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it was a shock to my system."

"How so?"

"Just, well I'd heard the stories about stolen children but seeing them in real life, seeing what they are like; it was very sad."

"You named the children though did you not?"

I smiled at the memory. "Myself and Lady Sorcha did. Apparently the King foresaw it happening or something."

I felt Drake's arm stiffen under my hand. "It would seem Kheelan has chosen the right woman."

His voice was quiet and I wanted to tell him the truth, that it was Lady Sorcha, not I he had chosen but I held my tongue. Instead I opted to change the subject.

"So where are you taking me? Not somewhere isolated to kill me I hope?" I laughed nervously when he didn't respond.

His eyes glanced at me before flicking back to the hall ahead. "If I wished to do that lady I would take you out in the forest. There is more coverage to silence your screams."

My hand stiffened on his arm before I felt his body shaking with silent laughter. Annoyed, I slapped his arm. "Ha ha very funny."

He chuckled deeply, the sound resonating through his body and it sent a tingle through my hand and up my arm. "I apologise Lady, I could not help myself. I promise I shall never let any harm come to you."

"Right," I muttered still a little peeved.

We stopped before a large black door, gold hinges in the shape of leaves adorned the edges. I'd passed it a few times before but just thought it was another bedroom.

Drake turned me so I faced him, eyes serious. "I need you to believe me when I say I shall not harm you Lady. I won't show you what lies beyond this door until you do."

My eyebrows raised. "Why do you need me to believe you?"

His eyes looked troubled as if he didn't quite know himself. "I don't know, my Lady I just don't feel comfortable knowing you don't trust me. Will you trust me Lady?"

Staring into his eyes, my doubts seemed to fade away, the trust and hope in his eyes changing my mind.

I felt my lips of their own accord. "I trust you, Captain Drake."

His posture instantly relaxed, eyes softening. "Good, I am glad I have your trust. Now, for your surprise."

Releasing my arm he pushed the doors wide open and I stepped into my own version of heaven. Before me was the library of my dreams. A room, the size of a large ballroom stood before me, filled with aisles of books. The walls were bookshelves, reaching to the ceiling, tall ladders climbing to the highest points. Overhead a large glass pane covered the ceiling, filling the room with sunlight. I pinched my arm painfully hoping what I saw was real. The pain I felt told me it was.

Drake watched me, eyes uncertain. "Kheelan mentioned you liked books my Lady. Do you like your surprise?"

My eyes moved slowly over to him. "This is the best surprise I've ever had. I don't think I'm ever leaving this room."

Drake smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Body jittering with excitement, I lunged at Drake giving him a quick hug without thinking. "Thank you!"

I moved away, feeling his hands hesitate on my back but I took no notice, rushing into the library with the excitement of a child at Christmas.

Each aisle was filled with different books, history, herbology, mortal culture, creatures of Fae.

"Screw heaven,' I whispered, 'I just found my Nirvana."

I came upon an aisle filled with books about the forest and the dark forest within which caught my attention. Running my hands along the books spines, I let their musty leathery smells fill my senses, my body relaxing at the comforting smell. Pulling a large black bound book from the third shelf I almost dropped it when I heard a small cry of surprise.

"Captain Drake! What a pleasure to see you this morning."

The voice sounded familiar and I crept forward, looking through the shelves to see Lady Isobelle hovering next to Drake. Drake took a step back bowing slightly. "Good morning Lady Isobelle. I trust you are well?"

She stepped closer, closing the distance between them. "Oh yes, quite well, more so now for seeing you."

Her voice purred and I tried not to gag, settling for rolling my eyes instead. Drake seemed at a loss for what to say, his eyes slightly panicked as he looked for a means of escape. I almost laughed out loud, giving myself away at his flustered state.

Isobelle took her chance, edging closer as she laid her hand on his arm. "Would you care to take a walk around the gardens? I'd love to have your company for the rest of the morning."

Her breasts were practically sitting on his arm and his face turned red as he tried to politely step away. Deciding he'd been tortured long enough, I opened my book pretending to look through it as I walked around the corner saying, "Captain are we allowed to take books from the library or do we have to -"

I pretended to look up surprised, grateful for my brief stint of drama classes in high school. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realise you were busy, I'll just -"

As I expected, Drake took his chance of escape. He quickly moved away from Isobelle, hurriedly stating, "You haven't interrupted anything my Lady. Have you met the Lady Isobelle?"

I nodded, offering Isobelle a good will curtsy. "Yes, I have. I hope you and your tongue are much improved today Lady."

Drake looked confused and luckily he stood in front of Isobelle and couldn't see the wrath she was throwing my way with her eyes. Stiffly she curtsied, biting out a formal reply.

"Yes my Lady. Much improved."

Turning to Drake who was staring at me strangely, I motioned to the book. "Are we allowed to take books from the library?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes, there are enchantments on them so they can never leave this Court but you can take as many as you like back to your rooms."

"Awesome! Well I'll just take this one for now. Could you show me back to my room? I'm not sure I remember the way back."

Relief settled in his features as he took my offered hand, resting it on his arm. "Of course my Lady. Excuse us Lady Isobelle, another time I'm afraid."

We bid a fuming Lady Isobelle farewell and took our leave. It wasn't until we were well away from the library did I burst into laughter. Drake looked at me confused.

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "It's just the look on your face when she was practically on top of you, I can't get it out of my head, it was just too damn funny!"

I slid to the floor, my sides hurting as I truly laughed for the first time since I'd been here. I rode it out, rubbing the tears of mirth from my eyes when a handkerchief appeared before me. Drake crouched beside me, looking as if he had never seen me before. It wasn't a bad look though, more a look of wonder.

"Thank you," I said, my laughter fading as I dabbed my eyes.

Drake's next words shocked the remaining laughter out of me. "You have a beautiful laugh my Lady."

I looked at him, still smiling though my body felt frozen as I lost myself in his eyes. "Not really. I don't laugh very often."

"It's a shame,' he murmured. "I would like to hear your laugh more often."

I was pretty sure I wasn't breathing at this point and I'm not sure how long we sat there, looking at each other. It felt like minutes but I know it must have only been seconds before Drake seemed to realise what he was doing. Coughing, he stood up, offering me a hand which I silently accepted. We walked the rest of the journey in silence.

Reaching my room I turned to face him. "Thank you for showing me the library."

He bowed his head stiffly, formality returning. "Thank you for saving me from Lady Isobelle."

I felt a smile break my face. "Anytime."

"Well,' I waved the book in the air, "Guess I've got some reading to do so..."

He nodded bowing once more. "I shall leave you to it then Lady. Good day to you."

"Bye Drake."

He walked away quickly, strides hurried as always. Still smiling I let myself into my room. I only had an hour before I had to meet Lady Sorcha and I planned to read as much as I could in that time. Pushing thoughts of Drake aside, I immersed myself in readings of the dark forest.

* * * *

After an hour of reading I rushed down to Daphne's grove hoping I wasn't keeping Sorcha waiting. After skimming through the first few parts of my book I discovered nothing new from what Kheelan had already told me. Many Fae were victim to the Dark Forest, the trees doing it's bidding as they tricked lost creatures by moving about until they were trapped in the darkness.

Certain landmarks were noted in the book; a group of rocks called Giant's point and a Faery ring known as the Destiny ring. These were thought to be located near the dark forests edge though no one seemed to be sure, after all who would want to get too close and find out?

Racing through the garden, I bowed my head to passing Fae though many chose to ignore me which was fine by me. Turning a now familiar corner I found Lady Sorcha standing under Daphne's tree, looking up at the blossoms. I had to admit the woman was quite beautiful. It was a beauty Sorcha didn't seem to realise herself and I liked that about her. It meant she wasn't self centred like Lady Isobelle.

"Hi, Lady Sorcha!"

She turned at my voice. "Good day, Lady Laila. I thought I would come early to admire the flowers. They always bring me a sense of peace."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, they are beautiful. So where would you like to have lunch?"

"I thought we could have it here." Sorcha suggested. "It's one of my favourite sitting areas and I have brought the food with me."

She held up a picnic basket and I felt my stomach growl. "Here's good for me."

Sitting on the grass we got comfortable and Sorcha handed me a strange looking Quiche. "What's this?"

"It's a vegetable Quiche we used to make at home. It was my mother's recipe, I can never get it right though myself. There's something I'm missing but I can never figure out what it is."

Smiling I took a bite eyes widening in surprise. Forgetting myself I spoke with my mouth full. "This is awesome, Sorcha! I don't know what you mean about it needing something more but this is the stuff right here."

I'm not sure how much she understood but I think she got the message. She looked at me hesitantly as food flew from my mouth and I quickly swallowed it, feeling like an animal. Of course in my haste to swallow it, I started choking as it got lodged in my throat. Sorcha patted my back lightly as I pounded my chest. Once it had gone down she offered me some water.

"Thanks,' I looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's alright,' she said strangely. "I must admit I envy your...appreciation of food."

I laughed at her attempt to be polite. "It's alright, you can call it what it is; bad table manners. Although technically we're not sitting at a table so maybe it's more garden manners in this case."

Sorcha laughed. "I think we can make an exception for garden manners."

"Agreed."

We ate and talked of the ways of the Court for some time even after the food was gone. Sorcha pulled out a pitcher of wine and we slowly started to work our way through that. Our talk soon turned to the mortal world and I told Sorcha about some of the differences between us, technology wise.

"So you have a device which allows you to read books without turning pages?" Sorcha asked.

I nodded, "Yeah it's pretty cool and saves space in my apartment but it's not the same. In the end I still love to have an old fashioned book. I love the smell."

Sorcha nodded then jumped. "Oh! have you been to our library? I should take you there. There is a wonderful collection of books."

I took a sip of wine, waving my hand. "Captain Drake took me there this morning. I may move my bed in there and just live there for the rest of my life."

She giggled. I don't think the Keeper would be happy about that."

"Keeper?"

"Yes, Arthrain. He's a centaur but he's also the keeper of knowledge. He makes sure all the books are looked after and don't degrade with time. He has read every book and knows them word for word."

I just stared at her. "I'm sorry, I stopped listening after you said centaur. How does he reach the books up high?"

Images of this centaur trying to climb ladders flashed through my mind and I snorted. I put my glass down, worried the wine was starting to make me giddy.

"Pixies help him with those books he can't reach." Sorcha explained.

"Right." I made a mental note to find this centaur and ask him about the dark forest. Seemed like he was the guy to talk to.

"Lady Sorcha do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Of course not."

"Do you know much about the dark forest?"

Her head snapped back and her eyes narrowed. "I know only a little bit. Why are you interested in that place?"

"I'm just curious I guess, I mean Kheelan told me about what happened to his sister, so I guess I just wanted to know what kind of place it was."

Sorcha's eyes had turned cold and I wondered if maybe I'd said something wrong. Was the dark forest taboo or something?

"I'm sorry,' she said finally, "I can't help you in this matter. I know very little about the dark forest."

I nodded, a little disappointed. "That's alright, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's fine." she said quietly.

An awkward silence fell between us and I tried to change the subject. "So, uh how long have you been at the Court?"

Sorcha accepted the change of subject, her voice still cold. "A long time now. Too many years to count."

Trying to play it cool, I asked, "Do you think Kheelan will be a good King?"

She looked shocked at this question. "Of course he will. He has a pure heart, there is no one here who would not follow him into battle. He befriends everyone he meets and he has a smile which can light up a darkened room."

I felt a grin threatening to break my face. It took all my self control not to call her on her slip up. Sorcha remained oblivious and I couldn't wait to find Kalen and tell him. I was thinking maybe Sorcha should be let in on this deal. Fair enough I had to make her fall in love Kheelan but it seemed Sorcha already had that part covered. The way her face softened when she spoke of him and how she immediately sprang to his defence; the girl was head over heels for him.

Sorcha's expression changed from serious to curious as she looked over my shoulder.

"What?" I asked. I started to turn and was met with a lick to the face. "Alpin!"

The naughty Cu Sith stood behind me, happy to see me his tail thumping on the ground. Sorcha didn't show any fear at his appearance. "This is the Cu Sith you befriended?"

I nodded as Alpin made himself comfortable, head dropping onto my lap as he sat down. "He snuck in here last night and I was hoping he could hide in here until I can figure out a way to ask the Queen to let him stay."

I watched her nervously, worried she would tell the Queen. "Are you going to tell on me?"

Reaching out, Sorcha touched Alpin's nose. He moved his head into her touch and rolled over so he was on his back. I smiled as she rubbed his belly and his back leg started kicking the air.

"He is adorable," she murmured. She looked to me, "Don't worry Lady Laila, I shall keep your secret."

I hugged her, tripping over my dress as I practically fell on top of her. "Thank you Sorcha. I'll pay you back I promise!"

Like setting you up with a future crown prince. I thought, wickedly as we played with Alpin until the sun began to set.