Lorand's POV

As the sun rises, so do I.  I have to make sure everything is perfect for Dane, Harriet, and Aveline.  Harriet lives in a shack near the castle, Dane sleeps in the stables, and Aveline’s already seen the cottage, but I feel the need to make it better anyway.

“Lorand, what are you…” Lilac comes down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.  When she opens them, she sees me standing in the midst of a half-cleaned room.  “Oh my goodness!  It looks amazing in here!”

“It's not good enough,” I reply, kneeling down on the floor and scrubbing it.  “My friends are coming over, and I want everything to look perfect.”

“Oh, it's perfect already.”

“Hardly!”

“Besides, they're your friends.  They're here for you.  I'm sure they wouldn't care if we lived in a hole in the ground as long as they got to be with you for a little while.”

Lilac’s right.  But I must finish what I started.  I keep scrubbing.  She laughs to herself and goes outside.

“I heard there were more children coming over,” Gladys says sourly as I finish cleaning.

“Yes, Aveline and Dane and Harriet, my friends from the castle.”  The castle.  Already it's starting to feel distant.

“Well, don't you want to look nice for them then?”

“What?”

“You look terrible.”

I go upstairs and look at myself in the mirror.  My hair is messy, my clothes are dusty, and there's dirt on my cheek.  I do look terrible!  I brush myself off, comb my hair, and wash my face.  Now I look good, hopefully good enough.  Suddenly there's a knock at the door.  I run downstairs and open it.

“Lorand!” Harriet cries, hugging me tightly.

“Harriet!  Dane!  Come in!”

Harriet releases me, and they step inside.

“We’re so excited to see you again!” Dane says.  “Of course, we wouldn't even know where you were without Lady Aveline.”  He turns to her.  “Thanks again.”

“You're welcome.”  Aveline looks beautiful today.  Her hair is in a braided bun, and she's wearing a silvery blue dress.  I want to kiss her right now!

“So,” I say, trying to distract myself, “what do you want to do?”

“Could we build a fort in the woods?” Dane asks.  “I know it's childish, but…”

“No, that sounds like fun,” I reply.

Harriet and Aveline nod.

“Let's go, then!”

An hour later, I arrange the last few branches of our lean-to.

“You think we’ll all fit?” I ask.

Dane crawls in.  “Yeah.”

Harriet sits next to him.  Aveline enters next, then me.  I can’t describe how happy I am, sitting here with my three best friends, just having fun and enjoying how beautiful the forest is.  Aveline takes my hand and squeezes it.  I squeeze back.

“So, how has your life been?” Harriet asks me.

“I live with seven old women.  They’re all so sweet in their own special ways.  I help with the chores, and in return I get food and shelter.  No one yells at me or hits me.  I haven’t been this happy in years!”

Aveline smiles.

“Lorand!” I hear Charlotte call out.  “It’s time for lunch!”

I slip out of the fort, and my friends follow.  “Coming!”  As we run back to the cottage, I can’t help but wonder if I cleaned well enough.

“Everyone take a seat, take a seat,” Millie says.  “It’s going to be crowded, but it’ll be fine…”

Sure enough, everyone is packed together so tightly that we can barely move our arms.  However, I’m not bothered at all.

Dane and Harriet are introduced to the women, who seem to like them a lot.  I’m so glad!  We spend lunch talking and laughing as always, and I want to hug everyone here.  These are the ten people I love the most.

After a few more hours of talking and playing cards and checkers, Dane says that he and the girls should get going.  He and Harriet have chores to do.

“You must come back soon,” Martha tells them.  “Lorand will get bored out of his mind with only us to talk to!”

“Of course!” Harriet replies enthusiastically, then reddens.  “I meant of course we’ll come back, not…”

Nellie laughs softly.  “We understand.”

“Come on, let’s get the horses saddled up.  We’ll see you soon!” Dane calls out as he leaves.  Harriet waves and follows him.  Aveline turns to the door, but I pull her into a hug.

“Promise you'll come visit me again.”

“I promise.”

“Good.”  Making sure no one is eavesdropping, I whisper in her ear, “I love you, Aveline.”

She holds her breath excitedly before letting it out, something she used to do a lot when we were kids.  It's still so adorable.  “I love you too, Lorand.”

I feel a pang as I release her.  Why does she have to go?  Then I remind myself of King Morden.  He'll get suspicious if she's always gone.  But in two days, she’ll be free from him forever.  Two more days.

“Bye!” she calls out, smiling at me as she mounts the horse she's sharing with Harriet.

“Bye!” Dane and Harriet say in unison.  Realizing what they've done, they look at each other and laugh.

I laugh too.  “Bye, everyone!  See you soon!”

They ride off into the forest.  I'm so lucky to have them.  Only a few days ago, I wouldn't have cared about life or death.  But now that I can see them again, and now that I have a home and seven sweet “grandmothers,” like Aveline had said, I want to live.

There's a knock on the door of the study.

“Who is it and what do you want?” King Morden snaps.

“It's Dane, your majesty.”

The king’s eyes light up deviously.  “Come in, then.”

The boy steps into the room and slowly shuts the door behind him.

“Do you know where he is now?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“In the for…”

The king pounds the table.  Dane jumps.  “Where?” he demands again.

Dane swallows.  “I'll draw a map.”

King Morden gives him the paper and quill.  Although his hand is shaking, the boy is able to draw an accurate route to the cottage.

“Very good!  Especially since you were able to find him quickly.”  The king strokes his knife.  “Otherwise I had been planning to take another life.”

As Dane flees, clutching his chest, the king laughs maniacally.