As the Queen's guards dragged us back to the ground, Ash looked in my eyes, and the helplessness I felt from him broke my heart.

"I'm so sorry, Jolie. I can't stop this."

Reaching up, I placed my hand on his cheek, "It isn't your fault."

I had a few seconds to feel the love coming from him before he looked away. We were getting close to the ground. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. When they opened, all emotion was gone. He didn't want them to see what they were doing to him.

The Queen said, "Not a word Dream Walker and not a flinch from you," she gave Tate an angry look. "If either of you tries something else, the humans both die."

As soon as we touched the ground we were rushed by guards. We all had our hands tied behind our backs with some kind of long cloth, almost like a scarf. The material was rough against my skin as they wrapped it around and pulled it tight.

On top of being tied up, Ash and Tate each got their own personal guard walking with a hand on their shoulder. Neither of them said anything but the rage coming off of them was palpable. I wanted to fight or run, something; but we were outnumbered.

Ash and Tate were pushed in front of us. Mark walked beside me and nudged my arm with his. When I looked up at him he gave me a tight smile and nod. I wasn't alone, we were in this together. I tried to give him a reassuring look as we followed in silence.

I spent our walk trying not to freak out and staring at Ash's wings. They were a deep chocolate brown trimmed in an emerald green that I knew would match his eyes perfectly.

I wanted to reach out and touch them, they looked like they'd be soft, but my hands were tied. This didn't really seem like the right time for that anyway.

When they finally stopped us, we were in a big grassy field in the middle of a ring of tall trees. There were  flowers growing everywhere, so many that even in the open air it smelled like a flower shop.

There were colorful blankets and pillows spread out around the inside of the tree line forming a circle. It would have been pretty if it wasn't for all the angry guards and the fact that we were tied up.

The old guy brought a lot more help with him than the Queen did. That was good for them because her guards weren't moving too well on their own.

The one Ash took down was being carried, she was still asleep, which was very cool. Our fight didn't last long but we did a lot of damage, I was proud of us.

Two guards stood with their hands on Ash and Tate's shoulders and the other three were standing behind us. They herded us to the middle of the field to stand next to the only plant inside the circle; it was a weird-looking, vaguely familiar bush.

Mark and I were looking around trying to figure out what was going on when we heard a crowd of people coming our way. Walking and flying into the field was what must have been hundreds of faeries.

There were so many vivid colors I couldn't take my eyes off them; their wings and hair were so varied, no two were exactly the same. Their clothes looked like graceful costumes, some of them even sparkled in the light. They were talking to each other excitedly, so many voices you couldn't tell what anyone was saying.

I was so caught up watching them as they settled on the blankets that it took me a minute to wonder why they were here. Looking over to the Queen I saw she'd moved. She was about halfway between our little group and what I realized was her audience.

The Queen was standing on top of a tall tree stump. She must have flown up there because she was at least ten feet off the ground; she had literally put herself on a pedestal.

Dahlia and the guards that needed help walking were arranged on the ground under her. The rest of the guards had the four of us surrounded.

"My faeries! Thank you for coming!" The Queen's high voice pierced through the noise and everyone went quiet.

Apparently, we were brought here for some type of public assembly, that didn't seem like a good thing. I tried to look at Ash to see what he was thinking but he still had his back to me, all I could see was wings.

I hadn't seen his face since that guard pulled me away from him and tied my hands. I did see him peek back at me a couple of times while we were being led here, but that was it. It'd been the same with Tate.

Actually, now that I looked at them both they seemed to be angled in front of us with their wings spread out a little more than they were before. It was like they were trying to block us from the crowd's view. Crap. If they were trying to hide us this was definitely not good.

Mark looked like he was about as nervous as I was. Moving closer, I leaned my shoulder into him. He pressed back against me and I felt a little better just having him here; and then I felt guilty. I shouldn't really want him here, and I didn't. It was just nice not being alone anymore.

The Queen turned on her platform looking at all of the faeries in front of her. When she was sure she had all of their attention she spoke, "Today is a sad day, our laws have been broken. Honorable, strong fae, who tried to protect us and enforce our laws were grievously injured."

She swept her arm in front of her, drawing everyone's attention to the wounded guards lying on the ground. The crowd reacted to her news with the shock she seemed to be expecting.

A man stood and yelled, "Who did this, my Queen?" He was followed by a chorus of faeries behind him all asking, who?

She waited for quiet and nodded her head, "I knew you would all be just as upset as I. Unfortunately, things only get more disappointing from here."

She looked at us with sorrow and if I didn't know better I would have believed her show. This gloomy face was a far cry from the murderous glare she was giving me while I was hanging upside down.

"Our trusted and beloved Dream Walker and his warrior friend are here with these humans!" She pointed at us and the guards shoved us forward, past Ash and Tate.

We were standing in front of them and now that they could see us, the crowd went crazy. Everyone was talking at once, questions overlapping the hateful things they were yelling.

"Why are they here?"

"What do they want from us?"

"Kill the magicless bugs!"

I could feel Ash close behind me, but I was too afraid to look away from the crowd to see him. Some of them looked like they wanted to rush forward and beat us to death.

The Queen didn't wait for them to calm down this time, she just raised her voice over the frenzy. "These humans did not get my permission to cross through the mist! They came here, attacked, and injured our guards!"

She'd dropped the sad act, she was shaking with rage. After each thing she yelled, the crowd gasped. If she was trying to work them into a lynch mob, she was doing a fantastic job. I felt like they should be waving pitchforks at us. My heart was pounding, a drop of sweat ran down my back.

She raised her hands and they went quiet to hear her say, "Perhaps the worst part of this terrible story is that our fellow fae, our Dream Walker, and our former champion didn't stop them! They didn't warn us that they were here! They didn't protect us! They fought against us! They injured their own kind! All to protect humans!"

The crowd exploded; everyone was standing and yelling. You could see them getting angrier and more violent as they started to shove past one another toward us. I felt Ash press against my back. The guards were holding us in place and that was as close as he could get.

I looked at Mark, and Tate was just as close behind him. There was nothing we could do; we were trapped here. Was she just going to let this swarm of raging fae have us?

"Wait!" She yelled and raised her arms. It took a minute this time, but everyone got quiet and looked at her. "None of us is above the law; we must look to the law to handle this."

The crowd glanced at each other and started backing up. They didn't look happy about it, but apparently we weren't going to be given to them.

"We have only two lawful choices here and as they have hurt us all, I will let us all decide their fate."

The crowd looked happier now, they were all nodding at each other like this was a fair way to do things. I wasn't sure working them up to hate us and then asking them to choose our punishment was fair, but they didn't seem interested in my opinion. 

"Will we send them all back through the mist? Lose our Dream Walker and leave them both as magicless as the humans they chose to protect?" the Queen asked.

She was answered with more head nodding from the crowd and some sounds of agreement. Yes! That sounded like a good idea to me. Mark and I looked at each other with big eyes, I think we were too afraid to be relieved yet. 

I looked at Tate and couldn't tell how he felt about it. Apparently, Ash said he wanted to stay with me. I didn't know that meant he'd lose his magic. Was he really alright with that?

"Or" the Queen yelled and my stomach dropped. I forgot there was a second option, crap.

"Do we have them all join in the trials and let their fates be decided there?"

The crowd erupted in a roar of sound. I couldn't tell what was happening until they started chanting, "Trials! Trials! Trials!"

So we were going to get a trial, that wasn't terrible. Being sent straight home would have been better, but at least we'd get to tell our side. I didn't come here on my own, I didn't even know about faeries until I was drugged and kidnapped by one. When they heard the truth, they'd have to let us go.

Mark didn't look convinced this was a good thing. Tate's face had gone cold and hard; I'd never seen him like that. I was afraid to look back at Ash because I had a feeling a trial might not be good.

The Queen looked thrilled. I decided a trial was definitely bad. She lifted her arms to call for silence again and smiling she said, "I hear you my fae, and I agree. Their fate will be decided in the trials!"

Everyone cheered. Well, everyone except the four of us.