IT FELT statistically impossible that Andorra could be kidnapped twice. Did this happen to other people, or was she just a special case for this type of event?

When it happens twice, it's easy to compare the experiences. First and foremost, there was no big betrayal this time. As Andorra sat, her knees pulled to her chest, she felt empty. Afraid, yes. Annoyed, definitely. But there wasn't this big heartbreak, or tears streaming down her cheeks. And this time, she already knew she was a faerie.

By all accounts, this kidnapping was just a pain in her behind. And the chain around her ankle, nullifying her powers, was completely obnoxious.

And how was she going to travel to the northern mountains now that she was kidnapped and Callum was turned to stone?

Which made her groan into the empty room. Callum was stone. And she wasn't sure he would ever recover, which made her all the more worried and nauseous. If she had just shut up, would Callum still be alive and breathing? Would she be at Hornwell instead of trapped in a random cell?

So much for sticking up for herself.

"Hornwell will be wondering where I am if I miss classes!" She shouted to no one. "Someone will report me missing!"

She hoped it was Coralia. Maybe she would get her mom involved. And Win was bound to realize that Callum didn't return to Hornwell. Someone would put two and two together.

"If you think for one minute that I won't be choosing a different Royal Counsel, then you're wrong!" Still, silence echoed back. "As soon as I can, you'll all be out! You hear me? Out!"

No one was listening, obviously. Andorra yanked against the chain, feeling the cold metal bite into her ankle. No matter how hard she pulled, it was useless. She was useless.

"There's no use in yelling, Princess." Footsteps came out from nowhere, loud on the ground, shocking Andorra into looking up. And there, walking towards her, was Roseria. Relief bloomed inside of Andorra's chest at the sight of the pink haired girl.

"Roseria, thank goodness you're here. They've trapped me down here. Can you believe it?" Andorra let her legs flop down, and she smiled up at the girl. "And this chain is totally cramping my style."

Roseria was quiet for a moment, her head tilted. "What happened?"

"I don't even know. Callum and I were training with Vulara, and suddenly they showed up, turned Callum into stone, and trapped me down here! They said I had no reason to be visiting Vulara!"

Roseria produced a ring of keys, and she slipped the key into the lock of the cell. "Vulara is a dangerous creature."

"I don't think that's true," Andorra protested. "Yes, he can be grumpy. And yes, he is a little scary, but he's not malicious. He never once attempted to hurt me."

Roseria moved towards Andorra once she got the door open. She leaned down, holding the chain in her hand. She looked up at Andorra then, meeting her eyes. "Vulara has killed many fae. He's a ruthless being that has been here since... well, before Cornomus died. He hides himself as a weapons master now, but do not misinterpret the danger that surrounds him."

"So you're saying the Royal Counsel locked me up here because I was in dangerous company? That still doesn't make sense. Why is it that I can't have my own life? Make my own decisions?"

The moment the cuff was unlocked, Andorra stood, rubbing her ankle. Roseria was slow to rise, making sure to move slowly. "The Counsel sees you as a child. It makes sense that they would lock you down here as punishment. As if they were grounding you."

Andorra felt a pinch of anger. Who were they to ground her? For accessing her powers? For finally moving forward with the plan to gather her own personal guards?

Unless... Andorra felt dread wash the anger away. Did they want her powerless? Guardless? Did they want her incapable of protecting herself?

Andorra felt like maybe they did want that.

"How did you find me?"

Roseria was leading her towards the stairs, but she paused when Andorra asked that. She turned, regarding Andorra with those serious eyes. There was something unsettling about them and their blank stare.

"I was in the castle. I felt your... presence. Now, enough of that. If you climb these stairs and exit out the eastside door, you will find a large expanse of forest. There in the forest is someone you may recognize. They will help you from here. I will go distract the others."

Andorra hesitated, looking at Roseria. Her heart throbbed unsteadily in her chest, and she gave a quick nod. "Thank you, Roseria. For everything. You're a good friend."

Roseria didn't respond; she climbed the stairs and pushed through the door, seemingly gone by the time Andorra reached the top. She followed the instructions immediately, heading towards the eastside door down the hallway. When she pushed it open, she stumbled into the side yard.

Roseria was right. There were trees lining the property, delving deeper into a forest, and Andorra didn't think twice as she ran towards them. But now, it was dark out; no sunlight to guide the way.

Andorra wondered how long she'd been in there. Had it just been a day? Two? She wasn't sure as she ducked under the trees.

Roseria said she would recognize the person. "Hello?" She called, looking around, her eyes trying to adjust to the light. She wondered if they were a little deeper in the woods, and she moved further, letting herself glow in the dark. "Who's there?"

As the soft light washed amongst the trees, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Her heart, beating hard enough in her chest to jump start a panic attack, leapt into action as she spun. Fear gripped her throat hard as she watched and waited.

"Who's there?" Her voice shook, and she stretched a hand out in front of her. Her hand tingled in anticipation, flames ready to burst at any moment.

It was then that an animal moved through the trees, peering up at her. It took three beats of her heart for her to realize it was the leopard that had saved her weeks prior. She didn't even think; she threw her arms around the cat, pushing her face in the fur of its neck. "Oh, not a person, but you'll do!"

The largecat let out a purr, then pulled away. Standing there, Andorra was reminded of just how strange Anlithamy really was. She was in a new world, a world that threatened to kill her and trap her and control her.

She needed her guards. She needed back up.

The cat blinked at her, as if it were trying to communicate with Andorra. There were blinks and pauses, some sort of cat morse code, and it let out a long mew as it looked over its shoulder at the woods behind.

Andorra couldn't understand cat, but she could understand the body langauge. Let's get out of here, the white cat seemed to say. It's now or never.

The cat dipped down low, looking at Andorra expectantly. Andorra didn't waste time wrapping her arms around its neck, swinging her leg over its body. Underneath her, the cat was more slick than Viir, almost harder to get a grip on. She fisted her hands into the fur at its neck, and leaned down. "Okay. I trust you, and Roseria, so bring me to where we need to go. Or... maybe you don't know. Maybe I should bring us to the snow clan-"

The cat took off, bounding through the trees. The sudden jolt of movement had Andorra clutching the cat tighter. Wind bit at her cheeks as the cat jumped and dodged folliage, moving with the grace and speed of an animal who lived to be stealthy. And in her head, she knew she needed to make a decision: go find Callum, or go to the Northern Mountains without him.

She hated the thought of leaving him behind, but she didn't have a choice. She needed more than one guard. She needed backup if she was going to save Callum. And, there wasn't anything she could do right now, not without some knowledge of how to turn someone back from being turned to stone.

And, she figured that perhaps it would be easier for her to convince the guards if Callum wasn't there to scare them off. Maybe this was something she had to do on her own.

But, doing it on her own would be much harder if she wasn't prepared and wearing the right clothes. She bent towards the cat's ear. "We need to go to Hornwell, and make a pitstop. I'm going to pull us in the in-between, and I need you to not freak out."

The cat slowed its running, the only sign it understood. Andorra didn't have the luxery of waiting as she focused her mind, pulling open the gate. The cat jumped right into it, like it knew what she was doing, and she closed the gate behind them.

It was one thing to pull herself and her friends into the in-between. It was an entirely different thing to pull an animal through. She had a hard time concentraiting as she opened the next gate door to her bedroom at Hornwell, as the cat continued to move forward, marching them through the woods still, even though they weren't really there.

When she opened the new gate, the cat leapt out, landing softly by the bedroom door. It paced in a circle for a moment, growing accustomed to the new space, and Andorra slid off in a rush. Part of her hoped Coralia would come back, and the other part of her was hoping she wouldn't. It would be easier to explain when she returned, but midway through the mission? When she'd been missing for days already? Andorra knew it would be messy. Perhaps the headmaster would be called in. Perhaps her teachers would catch wind of her return, and demand answers.

No, it would be best to talk to Coralia and Win when she returned and could properly explain.

She moved to her closet, pulling out a jacket and a scarf, tugging them on with surprising speed. She found a pair of warm, corderoy pants that she pulled on next, and finally, she found her warm wool socks.

It was going to be freezing in the Nothern Mountains. She needed to remind herself what it had felt like back home in the human realm. She found a pair of gloves, and a knitted hat, and then she turned towards her dresser.

She grabbed the bag that lay on the top, stuffing it with an extra pair of socks and hand warmers. She looked at her music box, hoping this wasn't the last time she was seeing it. Or the last time she would get to read the letter from her parents.

What else? She looked around her bedroom, as if answers would materialize, but it was useless. This was a trip she'd been planning on taking with Callum, who would have answers. And instead, she was taking the trip on the back of a cat.

Which was surprising; this was twice now that the cat had come to her rescue. Was it possible that this cat could be something more? Something closer to a Rali?

Her Rali? Was it possible she could even have one? She slung the bag onto her back and then approached the cat slowly, watching as it bent low so she could slide back on. "Are you my Rali? Do I... do I get one? Even though I'm not a winter fae?"

The cat made no response. Andorra wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing, so instead she reopened the gate. "I guess I'll never know," she mused to herself. Then, she pulled them both in the in-between, and she pictured the Winter Court.

The Nothern Mountains were butted up against the Snow Clan. Andorra knew this, knew the chance she would have to take, hoping she didn't run into Noah. Praying to Cornomus that he would keep her out of his path.

Because the last thing she needed was Noah finding her. Berating her for going to the Nothern Mountains alone. Arguing with her that the Royal Counsel was right; she should be trapped in the Royal Castle until her coronation.

She didn't like thinking her Noah, the boy she had fallen for, would want her trapped beneath the castle. But, she couldn't refute the fatc that it had been her Noah that had planned on leaving her behind in the human realm, using her and betraying her.

Andorra swallowed the lump that grew in her throat. She had to forget about him. She would forget about him.

Andorra opened the gate back into the Snow Clan, letting the cat jump out and land beside the Truth Pond. And if Callum and Sivelle were right, then Noah would be notified of her entrance into his clan immediately.

Which mean they needed to move quickly. "Okay, to the Northern Mountains. We have to go now." She urged the cat, hoping it could understand her. Hoping it would get the message that she wanted nothing to do with the clan leader that lived there.

It seemed to get the message. The cat surged forward into the trees, forcing Andorra to lean forward and hold onto the cat tightly. The bite of the wind this time was much harsher, slicing into her cheeks and forcing her to duck her head into the cat's neck. Her fingers too, even in gloves, seemed to ache with the cold.

The cold she was not used to. Not since living in Hornwell.

"Do you have a name?" she rambled on to the cat. "If you don't, you definitely should."

The cat didn't respond as it pushed forward. Andorra couldn't tell how fast they were running, only that the white snow beneath them was a blur; the pine trees melting together. "What about... whiskers?"

The sound the cat made was a snort. A definite no. "Okay... not whiskers. What about, Casper? Since you're as white as a ghost?"

Another snort and shake of the head. So, Andorra was naming a cat with clear preferences. A cat that could understand her. "I think Tofu would be kind of cute."

It was a joke, but the cat didn't make a sound. Not a snort, not a shake, nothing.

"Wait," Andorra laughed. "You have a problem with Whiskers and Casper, but not Tofu?" She laughed harder. "Alright, Tofu it is."

She hugged her body tighter to Tofu, hoping she wouldn't fall off. She was growing colder by the moment, hoping her jacket would be enough. Remembering how she had survived this before, and she would survive the cold again.

To save herself. To save Callum. And then, eventually, to save her kingdom.

She could withstand a little bit of cold for that.

* * *