The Trackers were back and with more people that time. They set up a barricade blocking the military. The military could send for reinforcements, but for the moment they were trapped.

Maren listened as attentively as she could to the soldier's report. They had gathered in the parlor for bandages and brandy while the military removed the bodies of the dead from the house. In addition to the butler and the Tracker Maren killed, seven other Trackers were killed. A few soldiers were wounded, but none died.

If they were skeptical about either the amount of blood or the fused lock, they did not comment on it. Everyone was too distracted by the presence of the new princess.

Maren sat in the parlor while a soldier bandaged her and tried to look regal. She was so tired, she felt like she might collapse. Adrenaline had been the only thing keeping her conscious after healing Alec, and it was fading rapidly.

Alec was getting a bandage on his forehead but kept glancing back at her. She knew he was worried, but all she needed was sleep.

There was one thing she had to do first.

"Your Grace," she called, once her arm was done. "A word."

"Yes, Your Highness," Jonathan said and came to bend his ear towards her.

"How long does it take to get here from the Capitol if you drive straight through?" she asked quietly.

"About eighteen hours," he said. He was looking at her a bit strangely, possibly because they had discussed that multiple times over the last week.

She looked him dead in the eyes.

"Then that's how long we have to get out of here before Kieran comes."

He nodded.

"Jonathan, I'm no match for him," she said. She held his gaze, desperate for him to understand the severity of the situation.

"I understand. We'll get out. But it will take time. You must sleep," he said.

She nodded. "I will not argue with you on that."

He rose and barked an order, "I want four men to escort the Princess to her room and stand guard there."

He offered a hand to help her up and she took it.

Her mother also rose to walk with her.

When Maren gave her a questioning look, she said, "You'll need help getting cleaned up, and I know you won't want to trouble the staff."

Maren gave her mother a small and tired smile. "Thank you, Mother."

She really did need help. She was so tired she could barely sit up long enough to let her mother clean the blood off her once she reached her room.

Her mother was brushing her hair when she said, "I didn't know you could do all that."

"Mmm? Do what?"

"Your...ah...powers."

"Oh, well, I know you don't like to talk about it," Maren said.

"I think maybe that's been a mistake."

Maren was surprised but too tired to say more than, "Thank you, Mama."

Her mother helped her change into a clean nightgown and get into bed. Maren was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

--

Alec felt like his head had barely touched the pillow when there was an urgent knock on his bedroom door.

"My lord, you're needed in the infirmary. There's been an injury," a woman called through the door.

Alec bolted up immediately and threw on his dressing gown.

"One moment," he called.

He grabbed his medical kit and slippers and was into the hall in less than a minute. Mrs. Bennet was there. She looked tired and frazzled, but otherwise all right. She walked with Alec and gave him what information she had.

"It's one of the soldiers. He's in the infirmary. The medics are with him, but they say it's beyond them. It's a terrible burn, they said."

Alec kept walking, but his heart seemed to stop. A terrible burn. He didn't know that Maren had been involved, but he knew he would have no peace of mind until he confirmed she was all right.

"I'll go to the infirmary, please go to Lady-no, Princess Maren's room and see that she's there. Don't take anyone's word for it, see her yourself. Please," Alec said.

Mrs. Bennet nodded and went off in the other direction, while Alec continued to the infirmary.

It was a small room with only two beds and a large counter and cabinets to provide a workspace and storage area. Alec's father didn't employ a physician or nurse, but it was still a good idea to have a treatment area in case one was sent for from the town. Or if Alec was home.

The hall was very crowded. Soldiers seemed to be everywhere inside and outside the infirmary.

"If you aren't injured or a medic, you need to leave this area right now," Alec shouted.  Fortunately, enough of the crowd dispersed, so he could get into the infirmary.

That's when he heard the yelling.

"Argh! Frigging bitch! Gods damn her, that hurts!"

Inside the infirmary, Alec found Colonel Flynn on a bed with the two of the medics nearby.

"What happened?" he asked the medics.

"That bitch burned me! Frigging witch!"

Then Alec knew something terrible had happened to Maren.

But he also knew his first duty was to his patient. Other people would have to handle the rest.

"Quiet," Alec snapped at Flynn.

His bedside manner was usually much better, but he would rather not hear Flynn curse about Maren. Instead, he motioned for the medics to explain.

"Severe, ah, severe burn on left forearm. It's...well...we covered it and gave him some morphine, but I have no idea what to do with it," one of the medics said.

"I've never seen anything like it," the other said.

Both medics looked rather shocked.

Flynn groaned in pain.

"Give him a bit more, but don't knock him out," Alec said.

He knew there would be questions for him.

Alec washed his hands in the sink and went around to the left side of the bed and delicately lifted the gauze over the man's forearm.

It was a shocking injury. It wasn't so much a burn, but a circular crater spanning the width of his forearm, about an inch deep.  The bones that should have run through the area were completely gone. The edges were blackened, and the wound wasn't bleeding much, as though it had been cauterized. The rest of the arm below the wound seemed to barely be attached.

"See what she did to me! S'good she's getting hanged," Flynn spat.

Alec had to shove aside his rage, which was difficult and made even harder when Mrs. Bennet came in looking grim.

She just shook her head.

Alec had already known Maren would be gone but seeing the confirmation was still awful.

"What did you do with her?" Alec asked Flynn sharply.

"Gave her to the Trackers. Good thing too. My men are not gonna fight for some witch," Flynn snarled.

Alec resisted the urge to strangle Flynn and looked to Mrs. Bennet.

"Go and tell my father. Quickly," he said to her, and she left.

"His Grace will be pleased I got rid of her," Flynn said. "Princess or no, he won't want a witch under his roof."

Alec did not respond. He couldn't. He looked at the man's arm instead, trying to decide what, if anything, he could do.

Alec didn't think he could do anything. The wound was stable, and the man wasn't losing blood, but the damage was so extensive that Alec was not sure the arm could be saved. Even if it could, short of a magical cure, he would probably never have the use of his hand.

Alec was disturbed to find just how unsympathetic he felt. Usually, he was bothered by these sorts of catastrophic injuries, but he knew Maren would not have done it if she had a choice. He thought it likely Flynn deserved it.

"Will he be alright?"

Alec looked up and saw Seb-no, Captain Carstairs. He could only think of him in a professional context at that moment.

"He'll need to go to the hospital. The one in town will do for now, but they may need to send him to the Capital. There's very little I can do here," Alec said, recovering the wound with gauze.

Flynn groaned again. Even with a lot of morphine, he still seemed to be in pain. That was fine.

"You're in charge, Captain. At least until you hear otherwise," Flynn said.

"Yes, sir," Carstairs replied.

He looked at the medics. "Take the Colonel to the hospital. Report back when you're able."

"Not until I have my questions answered," Alec's father said, storming into the infirmary.

His eyes were blazing and his father was angrier than Alec had ever seen.

"What did you do?" his father snarled at Flynn.

"I got rid of the witch for you, Your Grace. I figured it out between the lock and the dead Tracker in your dining room. I know she must've enchanted you. So, I dismissed everyone from the drive and let the Trackers in, so they could take her. I took her from her room and brought her out. She burned me trying to escape," Flynn said.

"You dared to take one of my guests out of my house and turn her over to the people who invaded my house the same day? Nothing gives you that right!" Alec's father shouted.

"But, sir, she was a witch! She burned me!"

Flynn clearly expected congratulations and sympathy, not fury, and was shocked.

"You took a sleeping woman, the wife of the Crown Prince, no less, from her bed, and you're upset that she tried to protect herself from you! She acted in self-defense!" Alec's father shouted.

"You must still be enchanted, sir. She's a witch. She deserves to hang," Flynn spat.

Alec's father narrowed his eyes. It was the first time Alec had ever seen loathing on his father's face.

"You are a fool. A Light Wielder cannot enchant people. What you have done is take a woman who had never harmed anyone and condemned her to a fate worse than death. I doubt you care, but I will leave you with this knowledge: a Light Wielder can use her powers to heal people. You have taken the only person who can save your arm and given her over to the people who would execute her. Well done."

His father turned to the medics and snarled, "Get him out of my house."

Then his father turned to Captain Carstairs. "I want every man assembled in the drive in the next five minutes."

Alec looked at Carstairs for the first time in several minutes. He looked stunned but said, "Yes, Your Grace."

"Alec," his father said, and then motioned that he should come with him.

Alec did not hesitate. He couldn't do anything for Colonel Flynn anyway.

They went down the hall, away from the infirmary, so they could speak in something like privacy.

"Do you think they're taking her to the Capitol?" his father asked.

He couldn't imagine where else they would take her.

Alec nodded. "Kieran will want her brought directly to him."

His father nodded. "I thought so, too. We'll go after them. We're behind, but we may be able to catch up. Either way, it seems Kieran is doing something nefarious in the Capitol and I need to be there," his father said.

Alec nodded.

"I'm going to cull the men. We're only taking the ones who won't be bothered by Maren. We cannot trust the others," his father said.

Alec didn't disagree, he just didn't know how many men would be left.

"Mrs. Bennet is with her parents. We'll leave as soon as we can," his father said.

Alec nodded again.

His father checked his watch. "I'm waiting until they're all out there before I go."

That made sense. It would be a more imposing entrance for him. Not that he needed help; even in a dressing gown, Jonathan Drake was very imposing.

"How did you know he'd lose the arm?" Alec asked.

"Will he? I didn't know. I just wanted to terrify him," his father said.

Alec was slightly shocked. It was the only time he could ever think of his father doing something cruel. Alec did not blame him, though.

"Probably. Even if he doesn't, I doubt he'll ever use his hand again," Alec said.

"Good."

--

When Maren woke up, she found herself in the back of a speeder with a Tracker beside her. She tried very hard not to move.

She was in a great deal of pain, but she couldn't remember why until she turned her head and felt something tug at her neck.

A collar.

Then she remembered. She burned the Colonel and tried to run, but ran straight into a group of Trackers. She tried to fire Light at the two holding her arms, but she was still too tired from healing Alec and burning the Colonel, so she didn't manage much of anything. 

Then one of them fastened something around her neck that turned everything into agony.

She screamed when they put it on her; her throat still felt sore. The collar made It felt like her bones were on fire. She attempted to use her powers, but nothing happened. Instead, she just felt more pain.

The collar seemed to prevent her from being able to touch the Light within her. Instead, there was only pain and a chasm of emptiness. She tried not to think about it.

"Shame we can't have her entertain us on the drive," the Tracker beside her said.

"Prince said not to touch her. Reckon he wants her to himself," one in the front said.

"He'll kill you if he finds out you did. Come to think of it, he'll probably kill all three of us, so you better leave her alone," the driver said.

"Pretty, though, for a witch," the one next to her said.

He must've looked at her and noticed her eyes were open because he said, "She's awake. Get me a syringe."

Maren didn't move. There was some shuffling amongst the men, and then a needle stabbed into her upper arm. Whatever they injected her with burned badly but seemed to be putting her back to sleep.

She welcomed the darkness when it came.

--
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, or at least can forgive me for the cliffhanger. Don't forget to vote and comment!