"Now you believe you are lost?" Marie incredulously questioned.

Jenson gave her a sheepish smile and nodded.

Winter wasn't the best time of year to be lost anywhere in Dirland, let alone Dirland forest. It was cold, even more so at night, Marie wondered how they had managed to even live through it all. She was grateful they had, but that didn't stop her from loudly voicing her complaints. Annoying Jenson in the process of course, she felt he deserved it for making them stay in the harsh conditions for so long.

They hadn't found Nathaniel, nor Winter, they had managed to spend three months without completing anything but arguments, and even most of those were unresolved.

It took the dunder-head Jenson long enough to come to his senses!

"So you will listen to me?" she tested.

Jenson nodded again, slightly this time, he didn't like being wrong or putting aside his pride, typical for the male species.

Marie was going to start ordering the three boys about, but before she could open her mouth, they were set upon by men clad in green. The boys having their hands tied behind their backs and Marie's hands just being held, a whole lot more gentle with her than the men.

Then, stepping out of the mists of green clad men, came a tall man with blonde hair, and a rather handsome face if Marie was honest with herself, and stood before them.

Marie judged that he was trying to look intimidating with his tall posture and inexpressive face, but she just returned it with a hateful glare of her own.

"I want to inquire why you hooligans have been traipsing through my forest." the, who was assumed, the leader said.

"You can want to all you like, but might I point out that neither will we answer, nor is this you forest." Marie quipped, seeing as her bossy companions were now speechless.

Her words accomplished what she had opened her mouth to do, by making this all important leader angry.

Marie could see the rage coming onto his face, smirking in her triumph.

"Take these trespassers back to camp! I'll deal with them there." The leader ordered, all the while glaring at Marie.

She glared right back as the men dragged her off to his 'camp'.

Robert hadn't interacted with many females, but every time he met a new one they tended to glare at him first thing. He might have thought it rather odd, but then again, what interests would he have in girls and what they thought of him?

It will be admitted that when he first met Winter ha might have had some interest in her, but the only reason he pursued, or rather pretended to pursue it was because it made The Prince so angry. And anything to annoy Nathaniel in any way was his friend. The Prince had made sure of that with his annoying ways.

Winter had slept in that day, still in a kind of shock that Nathaniel wasn't there and that now she had no purpose.

After refreshing herself for the day, she went in search of Robert to find out his motives against Nathaniel and what she would do now with The Prince's absence.

"Ahh, Robert. Might I have a word with you?" She asked once she found him.

"Of course, of course. Could it be in a moment? I have some new prisoners to attend to." He answered distractedly.

She nodded her consent, thinking that "Yes, this is precisely what worries me about him. He is all good on the outside, but has a strange affinity to having prisoners." And she went on her way for a walk in the woods, not liking the atmosphere of a capture scene.

"Now I will give you one more chance." Robert threatened a tied up, wild Marie.

He had thought confining her in a tent would have sufficed to detain her so he could have an actual conversation with her. But the moment he was inside the tent after entering, she attacked him! He soon learned that an angry Marie wasn't to be trifled with. At least, not unless you tie her up first.

Which was why Marie was now tied to the post in the middle of the tent, with her hands stretched high above her head, and her ankles tied down as well.

"I don't see why you expect me to talk when I haven't for your last thirteen attempts to get me to. Though I must compliment you on the idea to tie me up, it is awfully original of you." She replied before he could make another threat, her tone as conversational and intelligent as one would use to make an extremely scientific comment on the weather during a light stroll through a well kept garden.

Though Robert tried to the best of his ability to not let the girl's words get a rise out of him, he still got very angry at the compliment.

The men who had come with Marie were of no use, Robert had tried to question them first naturally, but they were scared out of their wits, and as it is known, a man with no wits can hardly be a good interrogating subject.

By this time, since it had been so terribly long since Robert had started questioning the trespassers, Winter arrived in camp back from her walk.

Searching for Robert because he had said later, she went into a tent to find.. Marie!

"What on earth!" She cried, stopping everyone who was in the room in their tracks to look towards her person, who was starting to panic.

"Winter!" Marie cried in recognition of her friend.

While at the same time Robert said, "Winter!" in surprise of her returning so soon and being seemingly angry and feeling a little bit guilty knowing she didn't approve of his habit of capturing people.

But he was the leader! Why should he have to change because of some girl's opinion. It was thoughts like this (and his aggravation with Marie) that caused him to be more harsh with Winter than he normally would have been. "Didn't I tell you I would speak to you later? There was no need to interrupt my interrogation!"

Winter was offended at his words, "Apparently there is a need! Because if you capture my friend and treat her like a common criminal there is something else coming for you!" practically yelling.

At this point Marie interrupted their fight by saying, "Winter? Is that really you?"

"Marie?" Winter asked, reassuring herself that she wasn't seeing things, it had been months!

"It's me," Marie said with a smile, "this lunk-head found me and the dunder-heads in the forest, capturing us on the insane terms of 'trespassing' on his woods."

Winter scowled at Marie's relating her story concerning Robert, "Sounds like him sure enough." She still hadn't gotten over him disregarding his Christmas present.

Their conversation came to a halt while Winter had Robert free Jenson and the men to sit down for a long needed meal.

"You escaped Dirland Castle that easily?" Marie asked, her eyes wide in wonderment.

"You call that easy? Five days in a dank, dark, tunnel is not what I would call easy." Winter exclaimed, her annoyance of Nathaniel's insistence of it being called a tunnel apparent.

"So Nathaniel is gone back to the castle, leaving us with nothing to do." Marie summed up after Winter's narrative.

"It seems so." Winter agreed gloomily, "But I never did ask, where have you spent your time all these months?"

With Winter's question Marie proceeded to tell of getting lost in Dirland, not keeping any of the blame from Jenson.

But Jenson, at this point, didn't care what Marie said of him. He was just happ to have a nice bowl of soup to eat.

"That sounds like quite the adventure." Robert remarked after listening to Marie's story.

"Nobody asked you." Marie said with disdain.

Robert just smiled lazily, he was much more relaxed since Winter had identified his prisoners as not being a threat. And was open, therefore, to do everything in his means to get back at Marie for her less than pleasant behavior she had demonstrated earlier.

"What do you propose we do now?" Marie asked. Without Nathaniel in dire danger their future was rather unclear.

"Well I propose," said Winter, "that we all tuck down for a good nights rest and deliberate in the morning."

Marie agreed to this and sleeping arrangements were made. Marie in Winter's tent and the men in an extra tent of their own. With it being winter sharing a tent was not at all that bad of an idea.

Snuggled up with Marie that night, warmer than she had been in a while, Winter went over the events of that day and couldn't help but wonder that Marie didn't show too much surprise of Nathaniel being Prince of Dirland. "I will have to question her in the morning." She thought as she fell into a peaceful slumber.

Robert was still unsure of what he would do with his trespassers. Winter seemed to trust them enough, but it wasn't in his nature to depend on a friends trust of a stranger as being his own. One thing he knew for sure, was that he would set his men to watching them like hawks continuously. They might think they were free, but he had never given his word to their release. Though lolling them into a false sense of security wouldn't hurt his plans any.

Similar to Nathaniel, Jenson didn't very much like Robert. How he caught glimpses of this leader looking at Marie. He best judged it his imagination, but he would keep his eyes out for the treachery he sensed was hidden in Robert.