Will's dreams were troubled. He felt a strange tugging sensation in his heart, and he couldn't decide what it was. Then he heard a woman's voice in his head. "All that has happened is because of you. Had you simply left things alone, nothing would have happened to him."

"To him?" Will said back to the woman, confused and with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "To who? What have you done? Tell me!"

"Tell me!" Will's head shot up, and the camel turned to look at him irritably. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was or what had happened. Then Ali Baba's voice brought everything rushing back.

"It's just a dream, my boy," the little merchant said cheerfully. "And look—there's the city, right on time!"

Will rubbed his bleary eyes, frowning when he felt tears on his cheeks. Something was definitely wrong, but he forced it aside. Right now all he could afford to worry about was Rapunzel. If something happened to her, he'd never be able to live with himself.

"Had you simply left things alone, nothing would have happened to him." To who? What had happened?

Again he forced the terrible thoughts aside. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Ignorance was bliss, after all. Instead, he focused on the stone city he and Ali were approaching. The sun was beginning to rise, lighting the city and giving it a look of shining beauty.

As they got closer, though, Will heard the shouts of merchants and the noise of a crowd, overpowering the sense of beauty from the coming dawn. Gathered just outside the city gates were beggar; they grabbed at the legs of the camel as Will and Ali passed by. Will shuddered as one attempted to pull his boot off, as though he was hoping Will's boot contained some pittance.

The long line of beggars continued even as they entered the city itself. They crowded the streets, grabbing at the merchants' wares and anyone's wallets if they had the misfortune of getting close enough. The poverty in the city was disturbing to Will, and evidently Ali as well, for the cheerful little man was silent as he guided the camel through the crowded city streets.

Ali leaned forward to speak into Will's ear. "So many poor," he whispered. "It is appalling that people live in such poverty. If I had the wealth of the Forty Thieves, I could give them money for food. Alas, as you say, I am but one man against forty. If only..." When Will looked back at Ali, his dark eyes were sad and far away.

The merchant guided the camel to a less-populated area of the city. At least beggars weren't lining the streets in this part of the city, Will thought glumly. At long last, Ali Baba brought the camel to a halt and called out, "Morgiana! Come to me!"

A girl emerged from one of the houses, and Will chewed his lip at her subservience. He was aware of slavery, and he didn't like it one bit. The girl bowed before Ali and said, "Yes, master?"

"Bring Master Will into the house," Ali ordered. "I'll be inside in a moment."

"There's no need for that," Will interrupted. "I can bring myself into the house, thank you very much."

Ali Baba shrugged. It didn't make much of a difference to him. "Very well," the man agreed.

Morgiana nonetheless followed Will into the sparsely furnished home. Her dark eyes followed his every movement as he sat down on one of the two chairs in the room. He looked up at her, frowning. "Why do you obey?" he asked.

"Master Ali Baba is kind to me," Morgiana replied, twirling her dark braid over her shoulder thoughtfully. "Much kinder than his brother Cassim ever was. And so I obey him. It is in my blood to follow orders. What of you? You are a foreigner, are you not?"

"Yes," Will replied. "Ali seems to believe you can think of a plan to help save my friend from the Forty Thieves."

"I may be able to," Morgiana agreed. "My master tells me often that I have the uncanny ability to outthink any man, and I tend to agree with him." She smiled slyly at Will, and Will got the impression beneath that subservient exterior an extremely intellectual girl lay hidden—she knew how to get what she wanted.

Will rubbed his head, feeling that tug in his heart again. He looked away from Morgiana, surprised to feel tears threatening to spill—as though his heart knew something his mind didn't. He quickly swiped at them, not wanting the peculiar slave to see them.

But she did. She knelt beside his chair, gently handing him one of her scarves to wipe his eyes on. "Do not be ashamed to weep," she reprimanded him softly. "There is no shame in crying for the loss of a loved one."

"But I've not lost anybody!" Will exclaimed. "I don't know why I'm crying...I just...I don't know. Something's...off."

Morgiana laid a delicate finger on Will's heart. "If your heart is telling you something, you'd best believe it," she told him gently. "The heart knows best."

"He didn't make it out." The words echoed in Will's head, unspoken by anyone in the room. Startled, he looked around; the voice belonged to Merlin. Will clutched his head. First he heard the voice of a woman, now Merlin. What was going on? What had happened? "The heart knows best," Morgiana had said. Was it possible something had happened to one of his friends?

"Morgiana, I'm terribly afraid something has gone dreadfully wrong," Will admitted.

Before Morgiana could answer, Ali Baba walked in. Morgiana went to the window and watched something out there. "You would think they would try for a little variety," she complained. "He's coming to mark the door."

"Well, I suppose that means you must mark the others," Ali Baba said, puffing up with self-importance.

Morgiana looked at Ali Baba with a barely disguised roll of her eyes. "I suppose it does," she agreed, and went to the door. At the last moment, she turned back to Will. "Remember what I said, Master Will." Then she went out.

Ali turned to Will, frowning. "What did she say to you? Gracious, did she upset you? You're crying!"

Will scratched at his shoulder; he couldn't help but feel ashamed at the tears on his cheeks. "She told me to...to..." He stopped, rubbed his nose, and continued. "She told me, 'the heart knows best'. And my heart is telling me...it's telling me that someone very close to me is dead. Final Death. And I never even got the chance—the chance to say goodbye." He broke off and covered his face to hide his tears.