Gwaine woke to water being hurled into his face. He spluttered and coughed, running his hand over his face in an attempt to rid his face of the sudden and unexpected moisture. "What the devil?" he yelled between coughs. There was no sign of his attackers.

He nearly died of a heart-attack when Lana blinked into sight, pulling the cloak from her shoulders. "You drank the wine!" she accused him.

Gwaine flushed as the "dinner" with the princesses came rushing back to him. "I didn't want to!" he protested. "It felt like it was making me do it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

For a moment, the bard's face was inscrutable. Then she gave him a smile and extended her hand to him. "It's alright. No harm done. I followed the princesses instead. And you'll never guess who I found!"

"Father?" Gwaine guessed hopefully.

The answer disappointed him. "No," Lana said. "Sorry. But I found Rampion's father—Will Scarlet!"

"Really?" Gwaine grimaced. He remembered all too clearly how Rampion had been willing to exchange her life for her father's. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. "How did he end up here?"

Lana shrugged. "I've no idea, but we need to rescue him. Nimueh's been torturing him."

Gwaine nodded. "And maybe he can lead us to the others," he said. "You should sneak out with the cloak and tell the others what you've found. You should be able to sneak them all in here. I'll try and delay the princesses, make sure they don't close the area to get down the stairs." He'd spotted the steps behind Lana when he'd been searching for the person who'd thrown the water at him.

"It might be better if you go," Lana suggested. She probably had the same plan that he did, Gwaine thought. But he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"No. You move faster, you're quieter and more graceful," Gwaine said. "If I tried sneaking around, I'd be caught for sure. It has to be you."

Looking like a sulking child, Lana made a face but nodded. "Very well. Don't do anything stupid," she added before throwing the cloak over her shoulders again. "I'll be back before you know it."

Gwaine waited, listening as her dull footsteps faded away. Just to make sure, he closed the door behind her before stepping back. "I know you're there, Lana," he tried. When there was no answer, he was satisfied that she had really gone.

Then he went to the stairs and went down—not to distract the princesses, but to free Will Scarlet himself.

. . . . . . . . . .

Lana blew her hair out of her eyes in frustration. Every exit from the castle was blocked by numerous soldiers and the gates and doors were sealed. How could she have gotten herself in such a tight corner? Not only could she not give word to the others about Rampion's father, she had a sneaking suspicion that Gwaine was going to do something idiotic. Mainly, going to rescue him on his own.

The question Gwaine had asked had stuck with her. Why is he here? Why indeed. Unless, of course, Nimueh had been baiting a trap and knew no better bait would be a powerless outlaw related to one of the children. Especially if she knew of the deal Rampion had nearly made with Rumpelstiltskin.

If that were true, Gwaine would be walking right into a trap.

. . . . . . . . . .

Eve and Morph finished eating and sat there in silence. Neither wanted to voice their pessimistic thoughts about Eve's mother's chances, but not speaking didn't help either. She wanted him to say something, but she couldn't bring herself to break the silence.

Oddly enough, Morph chose to break it a moment later. "Something's wrong," he said.

Eve looked up at him, alarmed. "What?" she asked.

Morph stood up. "Get the others," he ordered. "Gwaine's in danger. He's lost consciousness."

It didn't take Eve long to get Emrys and Rampion together. They met outside of the inn and Morph informed them that Gwaine had abruptly lost consciousness. "Are you kidding me?" Emrys complained bitterly. "I feel like he's hopped from one moment of trouble to another! There must be something that can be done."

"We have to go to the castle," Rampion said. "Is Lana alright?"

"She's still conscious, if that's what you mean," Morph replied. "Beyond that, I don't know. I'm a demigod, not a miracle worker."

"We'd better get going, then," Emrys said, anxious to be off after his brother. "I might be able to manage a spell to get us through the walls of the castle. If Gwaine's been caught, Nimueh will be keeping an eye out for the rest of us."

"As long as you don't get us caught in the wall," Eve admonished him.

Emrys sent her a sour look. "I'm not a novice, you know," he answered.

She decided not to answer that as they hurried through the streets toward the castle. Since it was nighttime, there weren't as many people wandering around. That would have been good if it hadn't made them seem far more obvious. There weren't any other groups of four like theirs, and Rampion's massive amount of hair was another attention-getter.

Thankfully, they reached the walls of the brightly lit castle without incident, and Emrys laid his hand on the stone with a thoughtful frown. "Thick," he said, making a face.

"You can't do it, then?" Morph guessed.

Emrys scowled at him. "I didn't say that. But ... no. I can't get us through the stone. I can make the stone disappear, though. The only problem is, I don't know if I can get it back again. There'll be a massive hole in the wall."

"Do it," Eve said. She had a strange prickling feeling on the back of her neck. The less time they were out in the open, the better. "And hurry about it!"

Emrys directed his scowl at her before motioning everyone back. They watched curiously—no matter what they said about his sorcery, it was still greatly fascinating to them—as he stroked the wall carefully. The murmured spell seemed to take immediate effect on the wall, which began to crumble apart. "Em, take a step back!" Eve exclaimed, grabbing his robes and yanking him backwards.

The sorcerer turned and glared at her. "Emrys!" he insisted.

A piece of stone dislodged from the wall behind him and hit him on the back of the head. It wasn't hard enough not to knock him unconscious, but it still looked like it hurt. "Oww," he complained, rubbing the spot the stone had hit.

"It's working!" Morph interrupted, sending Eve a look warning her to keep quiet.

"I think I noticed," Emrys retorted testily, still rubbing his head. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Wisely, nobody chose to answer that. It took only a moment more for the wall to crumble completely, and when it did, a hole had opened for them. Emrys grinned. "Perfect," he said.

Rampion raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit it—I'm impressed," the girl said. "You've got quite the arsenal."

"Let's go," Morph said. He had to duck through the opening in order to fit, and Eve heard a dull thunk. "Drat!"

"Watch out for the ceiling," Emrys told him helpfully.

"Oh, thanks," Morph retorted sarcastically.

Eve went through next, and Rampion trailed after her. Her red hair caught on the pointed edges of the rock, and Emrys had to help her get it off before he went through. Once inside, Emrys considered his hole with a look of displeasure. "If only I could put it back together," he said. "This is rather obvious that there are intruders wandering the premises."

"Don't worry about it," Rampion said, though she eyed it with some anxiety as well. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Fine or not, we need to get moving," Morph put in. "Otherwise, with or without the hole, we're going to get caught."

"Right," Eve said. "We need to find Lana—Rampion?" Rampion looked dazed, her eyes lingering down the hall, looking at ... something. "What is it?"

The girl didn't answer. When Morph touched her arm, she jerked away. "Leave me alone!" she cried. "Don't touch me."

"Rampion, what's wrong with you?" Emrys demanded.

The young woman tugged away from Morph's grasping hand and ran down the hall. When Eve moved to follow her, she used her hair to wrap around Eve's ankle and jerked her to the floor. By the time Emrys had helped Eve to her feet once again, Rampion had disappeared down the hall. "What's wrong with her?" Eve cried.

"I don't know," Morph answered, frowning in concern. "But we don't have time for her. Gwaine's still unconscious."

"We really shouldn't leave her," Eve said uncertainly.

"She didn't seem to want our help," Emrys pointed out. "Listen, we can just find her later. I'll use a tracking spell on her. But if Gwaine's in trouble, I want to find him first."

Eve was forced to admit that it made sense. "Very well," she agreed. "But I still think we should have stopped her."

Emrys closed his eyes and whispered a spell. When he opened them, he pointed and said, "Path." Once again, Eve couldn't see it, but she had more faith in him now than she had before. When he took a step, he nearly tumbled forward and Morph caught him by the shoulders. "Sorry ... the wall cost me a lot of energy."

"Just take it easy," Morph advised him. "No more magic until we need a Story door."

Emrys nodded his agreement. "I can handle that," he agreed. He yawned. "I think ... maybe a nap ..."

"No!" Eve and Morph cried at the same time. His eyes snapped open and he stared at them. Morph said, "Stay awake. We need you for the path to find Gwaine. He's in danger, remember? So hang on for him!"

There was no response, and Eve felt horror course through her. "He didn't," she gasped.

Morph looked perturbed, still holding the sorcerer by the shoulders. "He did," he sighed. "He's completely unconscious. Good gracious, what are we going to do now?" In one swift movement, he'd taken Emrys and slung him over his shoulders. "Good thing he's small," he muttered.

"Are you sure you can carry him like that?" Eve asked.

Morph sent her an exasperated look. "Of course," he said. "What do you take me for? A weak-limbed, helpless individual? Of course I can carry this short, skinny boy!"

Eve grimaced. "Sorry," she muttered. "Of course you can."

He nodded, satisfied with the apology. Then a look of frustration passed over his face. "We haven't even attempted the rescue yet and we've already lost two of our group," he grumbled. "I could wake Emrys, but I don't know what the side-effects would be, and I'm not sure I want to find out. He'll wake when he's good and ready, and there's nothing either of us should do about it."

"Then what are we going to do?" Eve asked, frustrated.

"Eve! Morph!" They swung around as a familiar lanky figure came running up to them.

"Lana!" Eve said, giving her friend a quick hug. "I was worried! Are you alright? What's happening?"

The bard's lip trembled. "He—the fool!" she exploded suddenly. "Gwaine went off to the dungeons alone, when I told him not to! What are we going to do now? He's surely been caught ... I waited an hour for him to come back ... and we can't get out of the castle!"

"So that's what happened," Morph said with distaste. "I'm afraid you're right, Lana. Gwaine's been caught. He's unconscious."

"Where's Rampion?" Lana asked. "What happened to Emrys?"

The other two exchanged glances before Eve answered. "Rampion wandered off. She was ... off. And Emrys tried to cast a spell and ended up knocking himself unconscious."

"What's in the dungeons?" Morph wanted to know.

"Not what," Lana corrected him. "Who. Will Scarlet—Rampion's father."

Eve swallowed past a lump in her throat. "No wonder Rampion ran off alone," she breathed. "She was going to exchange her life for his."

Morph looked grim. "She might still end up doing that, if we let her run off like a lunatic," he said. "But it seems that, at least, we're going in the same direction. Take us to the dungeons, Lana."

The bard nodded and quickly started off down the hall. Nobody bothered them as they ran through the twisting hallways, up the stairs, and to the third floor. Morph muttered, "The prisons are on the bottom level!" but Lana ignored him. She kept ahold of Eve's wrist, giving it a comforting squeeze to tell her that she knew what she was doing.

Before long, Lana had once again broken into the princesses' room and showed them the opened headboard of one of the beds. "Down there," she said, pointing.

Eve grimaced. "My mum read this Story to me when I was a little girl," she said. "I can't believe the princesses would kidnap one of our parents and hold him down there. They're supposed to dance down there, not hold someone prisoner! It's all completely wrong."

"Wrong or not, it falls to us to fix it," Morph answered. "You ready?"

Eve nodded wordlessly. Lana pointed to the side of the headboard. "Look!" she exclaimed. "Rampion must have been through here already."

Eve leaned forward to look at what Lana was seeing.

It was red hair, caught on a nail and torn from its owner's head.