"The Council has not yet been dismissed!" Xanthos slammed his flat hand on the table, the sound echoing through the hall like a harbinger of doom.

Andor sank back onto his seat even though everything inside him screamed to run. Rakhis sighed audibly, while Marante picked something from between her pointed teeth with her equally pointy fingernail.

Great, now he would be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time while Drakon was already on Rose's heel.

"This is an attack on our people." The king tapped a bony finger on the table, the vein in his temple throbbing precariously. His angry gaze roamed over the council members as if he wished to rip their secrets from them with his eyes alone.

"Amongst our own sits a traitor, someone who not only disrespects our most sacred laws, but also willingly endangers the safety of our people, depriving them of the glorious future I have envisioned for all of us. This will not go unpunished."

Andor's heart thudded painfully loud in his chest. He had to try not to appear too guilty or he wouldn't be able to walk out of this hall alive. He needed to rush to the portal tree close to the Heart of the Forest and then...then, he didn't really have an idea where to start looking for Rose. The only consolation was that Drakon would be as much in the dark about Rose's whereabouts as he. Unless Xanthos had found a way to track her. But no, that was highly unlikely. Xanthos was powerful and cunning but this was surely beyond his abilities. He only hoped he was right about that.

"What will your majesty's plan be?" Eldoran's question brought Andor's straying thoughts back to the council hall.

"You," Xanthos pointed a bejewelled finger at Eldoran, "will have the honour of tracking down the culprit behind all this. Round up the usual suspects, human sympathisers, and make them talk. I don't care what methods you use but get them to spill their secrets. Assemble a force of however many you need.  Drakon will supply them. This is a matter of utmost importance."

Eldoran's hawk-like face revealed nothing behind his stern facade of duty. "I shall see to it," he said with a subtle tilt of his head.

Without sparing Eldoran another glance, Xanthos turned his attention to Serande. "I will leave the investigation of whatever happened in the glade in your capable hands. This can only have been the work of someone with a thorough knowledge of magic. You'd best begin right now or else the trail might run cold."

Serande's face was blank, almost bored, which did nothing to soothe Andor's rickety nerves. Why was she so calm when everything seemed to fall apart right in front of their eyes?

Xanthos rose from his seat, Andor and all the council members quickly following their king's example. The chairs scraping over the stone slabs created a grating sound that made the hair on his neck stand on end.

"One more thing." Xanthos threw an icy glance at no one in particular. "Once Drakon's search party has left Elysse, all portal trees will be sealed."

Serande's eyes widened a fraction, the only hint that she might indeed be more unsettled by Xanthos's plans than what she was openly showing.

A murmur went through the assembled crowd, but Xanthos silenced everyone with a wave of his hand. He narrowed his eyes and for a moment Andor felt the weight of his gaze on him. "Just in case someone thinks of following the human to try and warn her. Let this be very clear. I shall know if anyone tries to leave Elysse."

Andor swallowed, his plans of warning Rose going up in smoke.

Rakhis placed his webbed hands on the table and leaned slightly forward. "Your majesty, whilst I do understand the gravity of this situation, may we not forget that such a drastic measure, like limiting the freedom of movement of Elysse's citizens, requires the Council's unanimous approval."

Lessindra nodded and even the stone-like face of Nuala seemed to display something akin to agreement.

Xanthos drew his eyebrows into an angry thunderhead. "Are you saying that you wish to contend my decision? That you would be willing to risk the glory and future of our people over a simple technicality? This is not the time for your personal interest but a time for us to stand united against our common enemy—the humans. Isn't this just a small sacrifice in comparison with what we stand to gain? Once this human has been caught, power like we used to have in ages long gone, shall be ours again and we will once more be the rightful rulers over the Upper World. Every citizen of Elysse is expected to contribute where the greater good is concerned."

"Of course, your majesty." Rakhis's answer was curt, his turquoise eyes stormy like the raging sea.

Xanthos surveyed him with a piercing glare. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Isn't this a saying belonging to the world of humans?" The rasping voice of Velos cut through the vast hall.

"I do not care where the words come from," Xanthos growled, his voice low and vicious enough to  stifle any rearing dissent. "This meeting is over. We have no more time to waste." Without sparing the council members another glance, Xanthos turned around and swept from the hall, his heavy cloak billowing behind him like a storm cloud.

"We are talking about a veritable hunt then, inside Elysse and into the Upper World. This sounds like fun." A wide grin spread on Marante's face as she eyed her fellow council members who apparently were still too stunned to move, even though the doors had closed behind Xanthos. "I might consider joining Drakon. I don't have much love for you elves, but I hate the humans even more. I bet hunting down this girl is easy. Humans are slow and clumsy. She won't have gotten far," she said casually to Andor, who glared at her with thinly veiled hostility. "Who knows, I might even find a few other humans along the way to bring back with me."

The furry tip of her pointed ears seemed to vibrate in excitement. Andor rubbed his temple. This was getting worse by the minute. As if Drakon and his cronies chasing after Rose wasn't bad enough, now Marante, cunning and bloodthirsty, was planning on joining in.

"I wouldn't get overexcited if I were you," Eldoran stated calmly. "I doubt Drakon is eager to have you in his service."

"Who said anything about offering my services to him?" She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I work alone and I'm going to beat Drakon to it. I'll find the girl and bring her back before he has even set his lazy foot outside the portal tree. I'm an excellent tracker, don't forget that. Then, when I'm back and I'll show Xanthos my prize, he'll reward me generously."

"You're awfully sure of yourself, Marante." Rakhis adjusted the folds of his sparkling ivory tunic with his webbed hand.

"I have all reason to be. I've never failed in a hunt and I'm not about to start tainting my perfect record now, especially not with a silly human." Her smile revealed her razor-sharp teeth and then she sprinted towards the open door.

The race for Rose had begun.

A shiver skittered down Andor's spine, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

This was serious.

They were going to hunt her down and would not rest until they had found her and dragged her back here —and then? Xanthos had made it plain and clear that his deviant mind was a dark and rotten place. He couldn't allow the king to get his filthy hands on her.

There was only one thing for him to do; make sure she kept the life he had given back to her, even if it meant losing his own. It wasn't worth much to begin with anyway. Redemption in death was better than living in eternal guilt. He had but a few precious hours at the most to make his move and slip away through the portal tree before he would be trapped here in Elysse with no way to contact Rose and warn her.

Steeled by his newly found resolve, Andor exited the hall at a steady pace, hoping that he might be able to leave the palace undisturbed, now that everyone was caught up in heated discussions. He thought about trying to talk to Serande, but Eldoran had pulled her into a deep conversation after Marante had left, and appearing too desperate wasn't recommendable at this moment.

Frankly, he didn't really know how he would make it through the rest of the day alive. What if Serande was giving Eldoran information about him? What if she had decided he wasn't trustworthy and was planning on sacrificing him? What if all this had been part of her plan from the very beginning? Maybe Rose wasn't supposed to ever have lived again? Maybe he'd just been too eager to free her and had unknowingly agreed to something that would mean both her death and his.

With a shudder he remembered the disgusting revelations he had found in the Blackthorn vault. Serande might easily just be playing alongside Xanthos and Andor was nothing more than a blind pawn in their distorted version of chess.

He pushed through the throng of servants who scuttled along the hallways, too busy with their current tasks to pay him any heed. The palace doors lay in his line of sight and he hoped that the guards in charge of handing him back his weapons were still unaware of his involvement in all this mess. Slowing down his pace, he pushed his shoulders back, striding towards them with as much determination in his gait as he could muster. Were they eyeing him suspiciously? He couldn't quite tell, so he decided to keep his face blank, which wasn't an easy feat with Rose's blue eyes haunting him like a vengeful ghost every step of the way.

"Here are your arms," the stocky, blonde guard said, handing him his bow, quiver, and knife without Andor having had to ask for them.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise but decided not to press his luck and wordlessly took them from his outstretched hand. Maybe he was just being paranoid and no one was suspecting him of anything—yet. After all, his official status was still the one of a hero of Elysse. Maybe he would be able to hide behind this false facade just a little bit longer.

The guards pulled open the palace doors while Andor slung his quiver around his shoulder and before he could believe his luck, he was through the doors, taking a gulp of fresh air that expanded in his lungs like a precious gift of fate. Fiddling with the straps of his quiver he bounded down the stairs, his tempo increasing with every step, now that he had finally left the confines of Xanthos's lair.

As he was finished tightening the strap, he noticed a small piece of paper that had slid out and fallen to the ground. Before he could think about what he was doing, he picked it up and turned it around between his fingers. He couldn't remember having had a piece of paper in his quiver, so someone must have placed it there while he was attending the council meeting. His heart pounded like a drum in his chest while he forced himself to traverse the royal gardens in the most inconspicuous way. Lucky there were only a few people strolling along, all of them immersed in their own conversations. With trembling fingers, he unfolded it. It was only one sentence, written in neat and loopy handwriting.

Andor,
Come to my house after the council meeting.
Serande

Of course she would have wanted to speak to him and while he would have liked nothing more than to talk to her before the meeting, telling her about what he then still believed to be his successful mission with Rose, now he had no desire whatsoever to delay his new quest—making sure Rose would stay safe and out of Xanthos's reach. He crumpled the paper in his fist and stuffed it into the pocket of his tunic, determined to ignore her request. Nothing and no one would deter him from his most urgent goal. Serande and her hazy machinations could wait. She wasn't the one in immediate danger of being captured and sacrificed.

After leaving the palace grounds, he geared his steps through the winding alleys of Valantes, his mind set on reaching the portal tree leading to the Heart of the Forest as quickly as possible. Every minute lost was one minute of Rose being closer to being captured again.

His thoughts were revolving around how to best engineer his rescue mission, so he did not quite pay as much attention as to where he was walking as he should have. A nearly silent shadow picked up his trail through the narrow alleys, swooping closer until a gentle breeze made Andor aware that he was being followed.

"Don't even think about ignoring her request. Aren't you already in enough trouble as it is?"

Of course it had to be that annoying owl of his.

Without looking up, he shot Nebula an angry answer. "I don't remember asking you for advice."

She flapped her wings, obviously undeterred by his hostile attitude. "I know but I'm giving it to you anyway. You don't want Serande as your enemy."

"What is it to you?" he muttered, his eyes on the path ahead. Soon he would be passing the street that led to Serande's house. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping now? I don't need you nosing around in my affairs."

Nebula hopped onto the ledge of a window on the building beside him, the colour of her feathers oscillating somewhere between granite grey and a deep rich brown. "You can't ignore your destiny forever, you know. Running away won't solve anything."

Andor stopped in his tracks and turned on his heels to face her. "What are you talking about?" He lowered his voice to a whisper, throwing cautious glances at the few passers-by. "For your information, I'm not running away, but there's something important I have to do, but why am I even telling you this?" He threw his hands up in the air when Nebula narrowed her piercing eyes until they were nothing more than a yellow line. "I don't owe you an explanation for what I do and what I don't do."

He was ready to keep on walking, when Nebula clicked her beak impatiently behind him. "And you think you're doing the intelligent thing? Don't you think it would be wiser to discuss your next steps with the person who helped you free—"

Nebula wasn't able to finish her sentence because Andor shoved her more forcefully than intended, knocking her off the ledge in the process.

"Are you insane?" he hissed at her through clenched teeth. "You can't talk about this here in the middle of Valantes, where anyone could overhear us!"

A couple of elves were passing by, eyeing them now with curiosity. Apparently someone having an argument with a chameleon owl wasn't something one saw everyday. Andor straightened himself while Nebula, now hopping on the ground, ruffled her feathers indignantly.

"Sorry." He held out his arm with some reluctance but also just a little bit ashamed at having lost his temper like that. Nebula didn't seem to hold a grudge though and hopped onto his outstretched arm, climbing up until she sat on his shoulder, her claws digging stronger than the usual into his skin. Well, maybe she was a tiny bit pissed at him.

He swiftly moved away from the two elves who were still staring at them, his resolve to ignore meeting Serande slightly shaken. Maybe Nebula was right and he owed Serande a few moments of his time. After all, it was her who had made it possible to free Rose of the enchantment and he had promised to do Serande's bidding if she agreed to help him with Rose.

"Why are you even here?" he spoke in a low voice, now that she was sitting right beside his face.

"I'm just making sure you are following the correct path and you know that I care about you, even though I'm not sure that I can say the same about you." She pinched the tip of his ear with her beak. He didn't pull away even though it felt like she was using more force than necessary. He probably deserved it for lashing out at her like that.

"Fine," he grumbled, gearing his steps towards Serande's house. There were things he'd wanted to ask her anyway, like the gruesome discovery he had made in the Blackthorn vault and maybe she could even help him in his quest to go after Rose. Maybe there was a way to bypass the closing of the portal trees. If she possessed enough magic to free Rose, she surely would be able to find a way to help keeping her safe.

"I knew you'd be reasonable." Nebula gave him another peck on his ear, this time just a tender nibbling, and then she took off, quickly soaring over the rooftops of Valantes and then disappearing into the branches of Atunar, probably still intent on watching his every step.

"Overbearing mother hen," Andor muttered under his breath.

With a tiny grain of hope blooming in his chest, Andor stood in front of Serande's house. He could do this. He could spare a few moments of his time. Be reasonable, not reckless.

He raised his hand to knock, willing his fingers to stop trembling. If this was the last day of his life, he would make it count.

Author's Notes: Yes, I know, it has been awfully long since I last updated this story, but I was working on my modern Hades & Persephone retelling Untie the Knot. Now that I'm more than halfway through with it, I'm finally finding time to return to Andor & Rose.

Stay tuned for the next update!