"Are you all right?" Alec's father asked him.

It was mid-afternoon. They had been driving as close to nonstop as possible, only stopping briefly to change batteries and drivers. They knew they were still at least two or three hours behind the Trackers who had Maren, though. Alec wasn't sure exactly what they were going to do once they arrived at the Capital. He supposed it depended on what had happened to Donovan.

"Is anyone?" Alec asked.

Alec knew he was not all right. He was desperately worried about Maren and Donovan, concerned that Kieran was seizing power, trying to cope with nearly dying, and feeling extremely betrayed by someone who had been his friend. Alec would not be all right for some time.

But, Maren's parents were devastated. Maren's mother slept some after crying herself to the point of exhaustion. Her father was trying to be stoic, but his eyes had been red since they left Worthingham. Alec's father was doing a good job of keeping himself together, but he knew it was a facade. Alec had only seen his father more upset on one occasion: when Alec's stepmother died.

"Fair enough," his father said.

They were all sitting together in one extended speeder driven by one of the soldiers. Conversation had been minimal; no one had much to say. The only thing to talk about was how terrible everything was, or to speculate on what might be happening elsewhere. Neither subject was appealing.

As much as Alec didn't want to, he couldn't stop thinking about Carstairs. Just hours before, Alec had told him that he wanted to be with him. He could hardly believe how quickly everything had changed.

His final conversation with Carstairs had not gone well.

Their group had stopped at the fort to collect supplies and equipment for their trip to the Capital. Alec's father asked him to ensure they got adequate medical supplies. One of the soldiers was a medic, but he wasn't very experienced and neither Alec nor his father trusted him fully.

Unfortunately, Carstairs had cornered Alec in a medical supply room.

"Alec-" Carstairs began.

Alec gritted his teeth as he packed bandages. He didn't even turn to look at Seb.

"I really don't have time to talk, Captain."

"It's my career. I had to," Carstairs said.

He sounded genuinely sorry, and maybe he even was. But that wasn't good enough for Alec. He glared at Carstairs coldly.

"You didn't. You saw more than a dozen men choose otherwise," Alec snapped.

"But she's a witch! You know she is!"

"And?" Alec snarled. "What does it matter?"

"They're dangerous."

Alec wanted to punch him. Instead, he added more morphine to the supplies he was bringing.

"Funny, the only time I ever know of her using her powers was to save people or in self-defense. Doesn't sound particularly dangerous," Alec snapped.

He closed the supply bags.

Carstairs was unconvinced. "Don't you understand? People need someone to hate. If they don't hate witches, they might hate-"

Carstairs stopped, presumably because he saw Alec's rage as he realized what Carstairs was arguing.

"Say it," Alec ordered.

Carstairs sighed. "People might hate us."

Alec growled. He didn't frequently use Donovan's signature expression of rage, but when he did, he was furious.

"So you would condemn women who have no control over what they are to the gallows on the off chance that it might benefit you? You disgust me, and I am ashamed to have ever called you a friend," Alec hissed in a low tone.

"No, that's not... Alec-"

"You don't get to call me that anymore. Now, leave before I punch you. If you ever cared about me in the slightest, you will not push me to an act of violence," Alec snapped.

Carstairs looked surprised but nodded and left.

Alec was shaking with rage. He took several slow and deep breaths to try to calm down. Then he picked up the supply bags and went back to the convoy.

"Carstairs was a friend of yours, wasn't he?" his father asked.

Alec stiffened. Sometimes he wondered if his father could read his mind.

"More of a friendly acquaintance. We met a few years ago in town and would get together for a drink now and then," Alec said. "But, not anymore."

His father nodded.

"It's painful when people let you down like that, even if you weren't particularly close," his father said. "I've known Colonel Flynn for nearly a decade. I never would have thought..."

His father trailed off, not wanting to say what Flynn had done. It was too awful.

"I know Wielders are not popular, but turning over a sleeping woman to the Trackers is a lot farther than most would go," Alec's father said sadly.

"Probably I shouldn't be surprised Carstairs went along with Flynn...but seeing it was still unpleasant," Alec said.

"I hosted him in my home. More than once," Maren's father interjected. "He still backed Flynn."

That turned Alec's stomach. He had forgotten about that.

"Carstairs?" Alec's father asked.

"The Clifton officers come around every few months," Maren's father said. "He saw pictures of Maren and I told him about her. He drank my brandy."

He spoke in a detached voice. Alec could see he was too distraught to react much to anything.

"I hope it wasn't the good brandy," Alec said.

Everyone managed small smiles and silent laughs at that.

Maren's father shook his head. "The swill. Never give an officer the good brandy, or he'll bankrupt you."

"True enough, sir," Alec's father agreed.

On second thought, Alec wished he had punched Carstairs after all.

--

Maren woke up a occasionally, only to be drugged again by the Trackers. She thought very little-she hardly could with the amount of pain she was in. Between the drugs and the pain, the trip was a blur.

They stopped a few times to switch drivers or batteries. Once they let Maren out to relieve herself. It was deeply humiliating, but considering how much pain she was in and that she was very likely to die soon, she didn't care very much.

She had no real sense of how time passed, but she knew she would be turned over to Kieran sometime in the middle of the night. She vaguely wondered what he would do to her. If he didn't know about the baby, he likely would soon and that would be a problem for him since the baby would come before him in the line of succession to the throne. She hoped he didn't know about the baby.

When Maren woke up again, it was very dark. She thought they were near the Capitol, but couldn't tell for sure.

She thought she might like a break from unconsciousness, so she kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be asleep.

Suddenly and without any warning, the speeder came slamming to a halt. Maren was thrown forward into the footwell but decided to stay there for the moment.

The Trackers uttered various curses and exclamations of surprise. It sounded like they had encountered some sort of roadblock.

She heard shouted instructions.

"Hands in the air!"

"Don't move!"

"Turn off the speeder!"

Then she heard the door beside her open.

"We got her!"

Hands pulled her out of the speeder. Bright lights were set up on the road, and she couldn't see much of anything.

"Get the King!"

Maren had very little sense of what was happening. She thought the men with her might be soldiers, but it was difficult to tell.

"Are you injured, Your Majesty?"

"Come this way, Your Majesty."

Were they talking to her? That was odd.

She was in a daze as she walked closer to the lights and away from the speeder. She kept her eyes down because the lights were so bright.

Maren heard footfalls running towards her and her heart leapt into her throat. She wanted to run but was too tired.

Then arms wrapped around her, and she was pulled very tightly into a man's chest.

Donovan's chest.

He was kissing her head and asking if she was alright. He wrapped her in his jacket, which was pleasantly warm. She still felt dazed. She swayed on her feet, not comprehending what was happening.

"Maren! Look at me!"

She did, and something in his eyes steadied her.

"What's wrong?"

"Collar," she gasped. "Get it off. Keeps the Light away."

He started looking urgently at the collar to find some way to take it off. Maren tried to hold still.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you, brother. I'll just put it back on her."

It was Kieran.

He had appeared out of nowhere. Donovan grabbed Maren and pressed her to him.

"Why do you look so surprised, brother? You didn't really think you could set up a roadblock like this without me knowing, did you?"

Donovan just glared.

Kieran shouted, "By the way, in case anyone was wondering, that woman is a witch."

"Get out of here, Kieran, and I'll let you live in exile instead of executing you," Donovan snarled.

Kieran just laughed. Maren felt cold.

"Everyone already thinks you're dead. You don't get to be king. Here's what's going to happen. Give me your whore. Then you disappear. Play dead. Actually die. I don't care. I want the witch, and you're going to give her to me."

Donovan just clutched her tighter.

"I would sooner kill her myself," he said.

Kieran laughed again. "While she's pregnant with your little whelp? I doubt that very much."

Kieran was likely right. Donovan would at least try to get her out before killing her.

"If you don't give her to me, I'll start killing people."

Maren heard choking sounds coming from the soldiers near them. She knew Kieran had filled their throats with Darkness, as he had done once to her. And she knew Kieran would kill every last person there and still take her.

She had no choice.

"STOP!" she shouted and turned to face Kieran. "I'll go."

"Maren, no!" Donovan cried.

She turned to him. His face was a tapestry of terror.

"Either he kills everyone here, and he still takes me, or I go with him and everyone lives. There's no choice."

His eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry. I love you. I want you to run. I want you to live," she breathed.

He shook his head.

"I will come for you."

"I'm waiting, Maren!" Kieran called.

"I love you," Donovan whispered.

Maren turned back to Kieran. "I want your word that everyone here lives."

He waved dismissively. "Fine, fine, I can't go around killing all my subjects. I did already kill the Trackers who brought you here. They should not have driven into this trap. It is so hard to find reliable help!"

Maren nodded and squeezed Donovan's hand and walked to Kieran. She tried not to tremble, but she knew she was walking to a fate worse than death.

"I'll let you go, brother. But I'm trapping you here for a few hours at least, so you can't follow me."

"This isn't over, Kieran!" Donovan shouted.

"I'd be disappointed if it was. You know where you can find us," Kieran said, grabbing Maren by the arm and pulling her close to him. She couldn't feel the buzz she normally felt when he touched her, but he still made her skin crawl.

"But know dear brother, if you try to get her I will capture you and torture her in front of you for years to come. Come to think or it, I hope you do come. It would be nice to have years and years of entertainment," Kieran sneered.

Maren closed her eyes and tried not to think of that horrific future.

"Come on, witch," Kieran said to her and dragged her along with him.

They reached the line of soldiers manning the road block.

"Let me pass, or you all die," he said.

Maren could see the soldiers look at Donovan, who must have nodded in approval because they did let Kieran pass.

That apparently annoyed Kieran, who called, "Let that be the very last order you take from my brother. Next time I see you, I want you to remember I'm the king."

Kieran had concealed a speeder behind the row of military vehicles. It appeared out of thin air with a Tracker sitting patiently in the driver's seat. Kieran dragged her towards it and threw her in the back seat.

Maren just sat there, numb. At least she had gotten to tell Donovan she loved him one more time. And she knew he was alive. That helped.

Kieran came back to the speeder a minute or two later. Maren assumed he had done whatever magic he wanted to do to trap Donovan and his soldiers on the road.

Then Kieran told the driver to go. Maren closed her eyes. She tried not to think about what was happening.

-
A/N: Happy Friday! Don't forget to vote or comment!