"What are you reading?" Deva asked as she sat down beside Mitchell.

"It's a letter from my mother." He grimaced as his eyes went over the letter.

"So, tell me what that look is for, is it bad news or is your breakfast not agreeing with you?"

He folded the pages and looked at her. "With the possibility of Morgan resurfacing, my parents have decided to hold a ball. They want to speak with all of our allies and try and make some new connections that may be able to assist us."

"Sounds like a good idea."

He grimaced. "She wants me to attend."

"Why?"

He sighed. "Thanks to her overprotectiveness there aren't many people who know me and she believes it would be good for me to attend so I can meet everyone and help foster good relations. especially with some of the younger royals." He scowled down at the folded sheets of parchment. "She also thinks it would be a good opportunity for me to possibly meet my future bride since many daughters of visiting dignitaries will also be in attendance."

Deva tried to ignore the sharp stab of jealousy at the thought of Mitchell dancing with some princess or diplomat's daughter. "I'm sure it will all work out."

"I hate things like balls. Everyone is so pretentious. How does my mother expect me to find a bride when I have nothing in common with any of those girls?" He groaned and leaned his head back against the tree they sat beside.

She shrugged while trying to ignore the happy little feeling Mitchell's words gave her. He didn't want to dress fancy and dance with a bunch of princesses. "Get through it and then forget it. When your mom asks if you found any of the girls appealing tell her no."

His shoulders slumped. "I'd rather remain here at the Battleschool with people I understand and get along with. I don't know how my dad does it."

She nudged him with her shoulder. "You wanna stay and hang out with us dark and mysterious Rangers?" she asked with a chuckle.

He grinned at her. "Yes, that too. You treat me like I'm normal. Not some royal you need to bow to or try to please with your words."

"Oh, trust me you are far from normal, Mitchell."

He pushed at her shoulder with a grin. "Thanks, it means a lot, even coming from a girl in a cloak carrying a bow."

"I knew what I wanted to do and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from doing it. You need to do the same. It doesn't matter if you're the prince, just figure out how you want to live your life and don't let anyone stand in your way. Even if that person is your mother."

"I wish it was that easy. My mother isn't an easy woman to defy."

"Don't worry, we're here for you."

"You know she wants all of you to attend as well. She wants everyone to feel secure and she figures scattering a few Rangers in the crowd will accomplish that."

Her eyebrows arched. "Perhaps she wants to let everyone know how well protected Araluen is."

He grinned at her. "Perhaps."

"Great, my mom is going to force me to wear a dress, I know it," she grumbled unhappily.

"What's wrong with that? I'm sure you'll look beautiful."

She felt her cheeks heat with a blush. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Yes, of course. You don't? Miss. Confident, I can shoot you from a running horse, Ranger doesn't believe in her ravishing beauty. I'm stunned."

She grinned, knowing her cheeks were probably flaming with embarrassment. "Thank you, Mitchell."

He glanced at her. "Surely I can't be the first person to tell you that you're beautiful."

"Not unless my parents count." She ended with a shrug.

"The boys around here must be blind," he replied with a snort.

"Perhaps they're frightened my father will put an arrow in them if they break my heart."

He laughed loudly. "I suppose that could be part of it." He leaned closer to her. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Not even a tiny bit?"

His grin widened. "Okay, maybe a tiny bit. He is rather good with that bow of his. I doubt he'd shoot me though, it would disappoint my mother and father."

She giggled and leaned her head against his shoulder with a sigh.

He shifted and leaned closer to her and she was quite certain he intended to kiss her.

"Are we interrupting something here?" Holly asked slyly looking between them as Mitchell sat back quickly looking guilty.

Deva sent her best friend a glare. "Yes, now go away."

Holly shrugged and took a seat near them. Logan, who looked slightly put out by the fact they had obviously interrupted something, finally took a seat when it looked like Holly wasn't going to leave as Deva had asked.

Mitchell's eyes were back on the letter from his mother.

Deva sighed heavily. Why couldn't the two of them have waited a few minutes more before barging in? Right now, she really hated her best friend.

"Too bad, we're here to stay. We wanted to see what you were up to without us. I'm fairly certain you shouldn't be left alone." Holly's grin said that she was enjoying the situation immensely.

Mitchell shook his head and looked up. "My mom sent me a letter." He took a few minutes to explain about the ball. "There's a note included for your fathers as well." He held up one of the pieces of paper.

"We all have to go?" Holly asked with a whine.

"Yes, so it seems. She wants us there as soon as possible."

Holly fell back against the grass with a groan. "I'm certain she does because our mothers have probably already engaged the services of several of the best seamstresses and planned our dress fittings for us. If trouble shows up during the ball Deva and I will be doomed to trip and fall on our faces when we get tangled in our skirts! No one will need to kill me because I'll die of embarrassment."

Logan laughed at her dramatics. "I'm sure, knowing you, the two of you will figure something out."

She rolled her head to look at him. "Yeah, I guess. The fittings will still be the worst thing ever."

Mitchell rose and dusted loose bits of grass from his trousers. "We should go find Halt and Will, give them the note from my mother and find out when we're going to leave."

They walked back to the castle and went to find the two senior Rangers.

Logan trailed slightly behind the others, deep in thought. He wasn't certain how he felt about attending a ball. His father would be there, he was certain of that. While he loved any opportunity to see his father, he was tired of hiding the fact that he did have a father. The older he got the more he realized he wanted his father in life on a more permanent basis. The situation was frustrating.

"You all right?" Holly asked when she fell back to walk beside him.

"Yes, fine. I was just thinking about the ball."

"Hmmm, anyone in particular you were thinking about?"

He chuckled. "No, just general thoughts. Why, jealous I might have a girl waiting for me there?"

She snorted. "No, of course not. I was just wondering if you're considering telling me what it is you're hiding. I thought maybe the subject of your deep dark secret might be at the ball."

He stopped and turned to face her. "There is no secret, all right. Why can't you drop it?"

She stood toe to toe with him, hands propped on her hips. "I'm not an idiot, Logan. I did overhear you talking with Crowley, remember? That was not an innocent sounding conversation. You're hiding something!"

"It was nothing. Can you please just stop asking?"

"No, of course not. You don't know me very well, do you? I never give up. I'll put the puzzle together, count on it."

He threw his hands in the air and walked away. There was no talking to her. She was stubborn. Holly wasn't going to drop it. She'd keep poking at him until she caught him in a lie and forced him to tell her what he and Crowley had been discussing. He was going to need to annoy Crowley again and let him know that Holly might become an issue.

***

Alyss embraced Deva tightly, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Hello, sweetheart."

"Hello, Mom." She hugged her mother tightly. Her mother was so busy with her business as a Courier she was rarely home. It was good to see her.

Alyss stood back, smiling. "You look wonderful. Pauline and I need you and Holly upstairs for fittings."

The two girls groaned.

"Mom, please do not make me wear a dress! I hate dresses!" Deva groaned.

Alyss sent her a frown. "Your father and Halt both have formal uniforms for such events. You and Holly need something to wear."

"Why can't we have formal uniforms too? Why do we have to wear dresses?" she whined.

"Because, you're ladies and you will act as such during the ball." The girls groaned again at Alyss' explanation.

Pauline hugged Holly and then gave her a push toward the door. "Go on, we'll be up in a minute."

The girls dragged from the room and upstairs. Their mothers followed and made certain they didn't escape the seamstresses. It wasn't long before they were being poked and prodded.

"I really don't see why we can't have formal uniforms like Dad and Halt," Deva grumbled.

Her mother's brows scrunched together. "We've discussed this. It wouldn't look right. We must make a good impression and the best way to do that is to present you as proper ladies."

"Proper ladies? Mom, we're Rangers! How is a dress proper for a Ranger?"

"Shush, Deva, stand still," her mother admonished.

Holly was sending her mother a mutinous glare while the ladies moved around her pinning and tucking things. "Ow! Watch it with those pins!"

"Sorry, miss," the woman apologized.

Deva continued to voice random arguments against them being forced to wear dresses as the day wore on. After a long day spent being stuck and tucked, they were finally set free.

They went back to Holly's room and collapsed in exhaustion.

"I do not not want to wear a dress," Holly said after she had flopped back across the bed.

"I will second that."

Holly sat up with a grin. "The dresses are going to be done tomorrow afternoon, right?"

Deva nodded. "Yeah and what? We can't burn them, our mothers would kill us."

"No, no what if we fixed them?"

Deva dropped into a chair with a frown. "Fix them how?"

"Get rid of the skirts and make a top sort of like a short jacket with a little poof of a skirt to cover our behinds and wear trousers. Make it like a faux dress. We'll be properly dressed ladies, sort of, and still be Rangers apprentices."

"Oh and we can make little capes too! We'll have plenty of material once we hack off the layers of the skirts!" Deva responded excitedly.

"Exactly! We'll have plenty of time to accomplish it before the ball the following evening. We'll just need to keep what we're doing from our mothers."

Deva leapt to her feet and headed for the door. "Let's go into the village and get the supplies we'll need. We know what the dresses are going to look like when they're completed, it will be easy to get what we need to ... enhance their look." She grinned at Holly.

Holly laughed and they left the room, heading off down the hallway. They rounded a corner and came face to face with Mitchell. They stopped dead, staring at him.

"What in the name of Gorlog's beard are you wearing?" Deva asked, looking him up and down.

He sent her a withering glance. "This is what my mother has chosen for me to wear during the ball."

Holly screwed up her face. "It's hideous and here I thought our dresses were going to be horrible. I feel so much better now!" She slapped Mitchell on the shoulder as she walked past him and down the hallway.

Deva grinned at him. "You look very handsome."

He shook his head. "While I appreciate it, I know I look ridiculous. Who wears something this ... sparkly?"

"Apparently princes do. Probably half the woman who will be in attendance too." She giggled as she eyed the outfit. She had to agree with him, it was a bit heavy on the shimmering gold thread woven through the dark blue fabric.

"Well, I would rather wear my plain trousers and tunic. I can barely move in this. It's constricting and uncomfortable."

She stood on tip toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You look very nice. Try and concentrate on the fact that you probably won't be the only sparkly one at the ball."

He settled his hands on her waist and held her so she couldn't step away. "Would you do me the honor of saving me a dance?"

"I would love to, but I'm not sure if I'll have any time for dancing. We're supposed to be mixing with the crowd and looking for danger."

"Well, we'll try for a dance. Okay?" He grinned at her.

With a nod, she stepped back. "I promise. Now, I have to go catch Holly before she leaves without me." She waved a quick goodbye and left him standing in the corridor sparkling.

"Oh, wow, this is ... I don't think I have any words for that outfit."

Mitchell shook his head and turned to face Logan. "It wasn't my choice, trust me."

"Glad my outfit is much less flashy!" He'd spent his morning being fitted for a formal uniform similar to the ones Halt and Will would wear.

"Don't remind me how horrid it is. I'm going to go change before something happens and I wind up dead and some fool sees fit to bury me in this outfit."

Logan chuckled. "Good luck." He watched Mitchell disappear down the corridor, turned and set off for Crowley's office. He needed to have a word with the Ranger Commandant. It seemed his words were going to have to wait, when he arrived at Crowley's office he was in a meeting with Will and Halt. He supposed he'd go take a walk and come back a little later.

***

Both Holly and Deva were wearing large grins when they returned to the castle after their shopping excursion in the village. They dropped everything off in Holly's room before they went down to join everyone else for dinner.

Everyone was already gathered around the table when they arrived. They took their seats and waited for dinner to begin.

Princess Cassandra rose and signaled for quiet. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming to assist with the coming ball. We appreciate your assistance very much." She raised her glass to the gathered crowd and they reciprocated.

She resumed her seat and signaled for dinner to begin. Servants rushed forward to begin setting trays on the tables. It was a long dinner with boisterous conversation and excited talk about the coming ball.

Once dinner ended everyone began wandering off as conversations trailed away. There was work to be completed before the ball.

Logon moved determinedly across the room, heading for Crowley and cornering him. "Would it be possible to have a private word with you?"

Crowley nodded, though he looked wary of the coming conversation. He excused himself from the conversation he'd been having with Halt and Will and led Logan to his office. "Have a seat, what is it you want to speak to me about?"

With a small sigh, he took a seat before Crowley's desk. "I think you already know what I want to talk about."

Crowley grimaced and sat forward to fold his hands on the surface of his desk. "We've already had this discussion. You can keep bringing it up but my answer won't change."

"Well then, you can figure out how to handle Holly and her curiosity because she won't back down. She overheard us talking and she's convinced I'm hiding some terrible secret. She won't drop it. What should I tell her?"

Crowley dragged a hand over his face. "She's a lot like Halt, he doesn't back down either when's convinced he's right about something."

Logan stared at him steadily. "I'll remind you that I'm like my father as well. I'm rather persistent. You should also consider that the older I get the more my appearance resembles—"

"Yes, I've noticed," Crowley cut in. "I suppose your next argument will be that people are going to begin to take notice of the similarities in your appearance?"

"Holly already has."

Crowley grimaced. "You know why I don't wish to announce this to the world."

Logan jumped up from his seat and slapped at the papers on Crowley's desk. "Why can't we? My mother has been dead as long as I've been alive. How could it possibly affect her at this point?"

Crowley stood, glaring at him across the desk. "I don't want to see her reputation sullied! How will it look if I suddenly annonce to one and all that I have a nearly full grown son? I've never married, everyone knows that!"

Logan dropped into his chair with a scowl. "It would be nice to claim my father, my heritage. To be able to tell people who you are to me. I hate sneaking about to be able to spend time with you. You're my father and I should be able to tell whoever I want!"

"People will talk. Once they begin whispering there's no telling what it will balloon into. If I've lied about this, such an important matter, they may believe I've lied about other things as well. No one will trust me to lead the Ranger Corps any longer."

Though he didn't want to admit it, his father had a point. The situation seemed hopeless. He had no desire to cause his father pain, but he didn't want to keep it in the dark anymore. "Fine, we'll keep going on as we have been. I can't guarantee Holly won't find out eventually."

"Thanks, son." Crowley crossed the room and embraced him tightly. "I want you to know how proud of you I am."

Logan smiled at him. Whenever he saw his father, Crowley told him he was proud of the man he'd become. He had worried over leaving Logan with his grandfather to raise him. The old man has always been a bit of a kook, but he'd raised Logan well. "Thanks, Dad."

Crowley made his way back behind his desk and took a seat. "As for Holly, you may want to have a long talk with her. As long as she can keep this between the two of you then I see no reason why you can't tell her our secret." He cocked his head to one side and grinned. "Right now would be a good time, since I do believe she's lurking outside the door."

Logan heard a loud gasp from the other side of the door and shook his head. He spun and pulled the door open and caught Holly as she was turning to make a dash back down the hallway. "Hold it right there, Holly!"

She froze, one foot raised and looked over her shoulder at him. "Oh, hey ... hi, Logan!"

"Let's go, my room right now, we need to have a talk."

Her shoulders slumped slightly, but she followed him to his room. Once they were inside, he sighed and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Logan, I am. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I swear! I was looking for my cat Charcoal!"

"You have a cat?"

She nodded. "Yes, my mom brought him with when she came for the ball. He likes coming here, he hides in Crowley's desk drawers. I think Crowley feeds him."

He laughed and shook his head. "Okay then. Can you keep this secret?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I promise I won't tell a soul!"

"Not even Deva?" he asked with raised brows.

"I swear on Charcoal's fuzzy little head I won't tell her. I can keep a secret you know!"

He snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it. You tell Deva everything. She's your best friend."

"I do not! I never told her about that time when we were six and I ... um, you know what, never mind."

"Fine, but if I find out you've told anyone you'll regret it."

She placed a hand over her heart. "I swear your secret is safe with me." She sat on the edge of his bed. "All right, so now how do we fix this?"

"Fix it? What are you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes. "We need to find a way for Crowley to claim you that won't upset anyone at the same time!"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's kinda hard to do since my mother is already gone. She and my dad were sweethearts and they intended to get married but the timing was never right. Then he and Halt were busy rebuilding the Corps and there was Morgarath to deal with. It was one thing after another and they kept putting it off. They figured they would have plenty of time."

"Only they didn't," Holly replied.

"No, they didn't. It's quite obvious they ... you know, didn't wait for the wedding night or I wouldn't be here."

"Okay, but what if they were married?"

"But ... they aren't," he said with a frown.

She huffed out a breath. "Yes, but no one knows that. It would be very easy to create false paperwork that says they married before you were born."

"Forgery? Who could we possibly get to accomplish such a task without worrying they'd betray the secret?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "We don't need to get anyone to do it, I can do it."

He chewed his bottom lip. "I don't know. I'll need to think about it. I'm not certain Crowley would go along with such a scheme."

She rose with a smile. "All right. Night, Logan. Let me know what you decide."

He nodded and watched her leave. This was going to require a lot of thought before he agreed. And he knew he was going to agree, but getting his father to go along with the plot would be difficult.

He began getting ready for bed. He'd worry about it in the morning. His mind spun, whirled and tumbled, reeling at the fact he might be able to claim Crowley as his father. A smile lifted his lips. He also had someone he could talk to about his father now.