Holly scooped Charcoal up from the floor where he lounged and flopped down on the bed beside Logan. "They've been gone for hours! Something is wrong, for sure! I'm worried."

"I'm sure they're fine, Holly."

"No, they aren't! I'm worried." She lifted the cat. "Charcoal is worried too."

"He's purring," Logan pointed out.

"He's worried," she replied

"He's purring. Loudly," he again pointed out.

She made a sound of frustration. "He's purring because he's sitting on me and I'm comforting him, it doesn't mean he isn't worried about them! Are you going to admit something is wrong or not?"

"They probably stopped for food."

"For this long?"

"Okay fine, maybe Deva got them lost."

"Seriously?" Her look said he better reconsider that assumption.

"Maybe Mitchell got them lost then," he said.

"Please, as if Deva would let him lead," she replied with a snort. "Come on, Logan, they left at dawn and it's now," she paused and glanced at the window. "Nowhere near dawn."

He looked at the window and noted it was well into the afternoon. "Well, okay I'll have to admit you've got me there. Maybe something has gone awry."

She jumped up, cradling the cat in her arms, his rear slipped slightly due to the fact he was rather larger than average and she hoisted him back up. "Good, glad you're finally coming around! I'm going to go gather my things and head out to look for them!"

"Whoa, wait just a minute, you can't go traipsing through the woods alone."

"I can take care of myself, thank you!"

"Yeah, you can, except for one thing." He waved his injured arm at her. "There's a great honking wolf roaming the woods, in case you've forgotten."

"Pfft, please as if I'd let that beast slip up on me!"

"He slipped up on me!"

She set the cat on the bed beside him. "Charcoal, you stay here and keep an eye on Logan." The cat mewed. "Good kitty!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I'm going with you!" He shoved the cat to the other side of the bed and rolled free of the clinging covers.

"You are not going anywhere. You're injured," she protested as she looked beyond him to Charcoal, who currently had a rear leg in the air and was cleaning himself. "Charcoal, you're doing a horrible job of watching him!"

"I'm going with and there's nothing you can do about it."

"You can't even fight!" She pointed out.

"I may not be able to use a bow, but I can still use my saxe. Besides, who's better at silent movement here, hmm?"

"You are not going and that's final!" She turned toward the door, intent on leaving him behind.

"You know if you leave I'll just follow you."

She spun to face him. "Fine, then I'll just go get Crowley to come keep an eye on you." She glared across the room at the cat. "Since someone isn't taking the job seriously."

"You have a couple of choices here, Holly. 1- you can take me with you. 2- you can leave me here and I'll simply follow you or 3- you can leave me here and get my dad to watch me and I'll tell him what you're up to. Take your pick."

She grumbled several curses under her breath. "Fine, get your things and meet me in my room. I don't want to hear any whining about your wrist."

He chuckled as she spun away and disappeared through the door. He changed as quickly as his injury would allow and rushed down the hallway to her room. He knocked and entered almost immediately.

Holly was scurrying about the room, her cloak flying around her as she packed things. Her bow lay across the bed, the last thing she picked up was a quiver and a handful of arrows. His brows drew together as she stuck the arrows into the quiver.

"What are those, those aren't normal arrows. Why are they wrapped like that near the tip? Holly, please tell me those don't have anything to do with fire."

"Fine, those don't have anything to do with fire."

He groaned. "What is it with you and fire?"

She shrugged and led him out into the corridor. "It solves things so quickly. Need to clear a room, fire. Clear a field, fire. Need to signal someone, fire. Need someone dead, fire. See? Quick and easy."

"It doesn't work that way. Fire doesn't always solve everything. It isn't the answer every time."

"Wanna shut someone up," She glanced at him, looking him up and down and grinning. "Fire."

He rolled his eyes and followed her through the castle gates. "Why do I even bother."

"I honestly don't know," she answered as they crossed toward the forest.

***

Morgana smirked as she lifted the sword from where it lay before her on the desk. "Beautiful piece. Shame it's wasted on a child." She studied the sword, turning it over in her hands. Her men had delivered it to her early this morning, after they captured the prince. It was proof she did indeed have the boy. A wicked little grin quirked up one corner of her lips.

"Time for the show."

She stood, sword in hand, and left her chambers. The sword twirled lazily in her hand, a quick twist of her wrist, as she walked down the corridors toward the throne room. Several servants scurried quickly from her path as she passed, fear widening their eyes as they went.

Anyone who knew the prince would recognize the sword. And they did. What they didn't understand was why she carried it and that caused the fear that shadowed their eyes as they hurried quickly out of her path.

Her smile grew the closer she got to the throne room. When she arrived, she didn't wait to speak to a guard, didn't ask to be announced, she threw the door open and stalked inside.

"Good afternoon, Princess Cassandra, Sir Horace." She noted that Horace half rose from his seat, hand on his sword, before the men along the walls moved forward, drawing their swords. All of them ready to protect their princess to the death. How very honorable and noble of them. Wasted effort, since the kingdom would soon be hers.

The princess waved a hand at them to halt as she stood.

"What is the meaning of this, Lady Monica?"

"Well, I suppose first off I should introduce myself properly. My name is Morgana and I am the daughter of Morgarath. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Highness." She didn't bother with a curtsy.

"I doubt you actually mean that. Why are you here?" Cassandra asked her.

"For your throne, of course. You have twenty-four hours to turn it over to me."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I will kill your precious baby boy." With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent the sword flying. It clattered as it hit the floor, flipped several times, before skittering across the marble and coming to rest before the princess' feet. "Twenty-four hours, Princess, or he dies. Give up your crown, hand over Araluen to me and your son lives. Oh, by the by, you might want to also consider the fact that I'm also holding the Ranger Treaty's daughter. I'll kill her as well. See you tomorrow!"

She strode with purpose from the room, leaving chaos in her wake. It felt damn good to know she was the cause of that uproar.

"Soon, Father, the kingdom will fall. I will take the crown and rule." She would accomplish what her father and brother could not. At long last.

***

Holly gave an exasperated sort of sigh as she slowed and turned to look at Logan. "You are slowing me down."

He batted at a branch with his good arm and glared at her. "It would be a very large help if you did slap me in the face with every branch in the forest. I do only have one good arm at the moment."

"Whine, whine, whine, is that all you do?" She turned and began walking again.

"At least I don't set things on fire to solve my daddy issues," he muttered.

She spun to face him. "I beg your pardon, what was that?"

"Hmm, what? I didn't say a word. Maybe it was a squirrel or a moose."

"Moose? I'm fairly certain there are no moose in Araluen. What did you say about me setting things on fire?"

He blew out a breath and lamely gestured in the air with his good hand. "Just that maybe you set things on fire because, I don't know, possibly, you can't deal with the fact that the famous Ranger Halt is your father." He held up his hand to keep her from interrupting. "And maybe you just want people to pay attention to you instead of the fact that you are Halt's daughter, so you, you know, set things aflame to distinguish yourself from him. Sort of like, I don't know, your signature." He shrugged.

"I should punch you for that, but you are already injured, so I'll let it go. Don't assume you know why I do things, Logan."

She stomped off, making much more noise than a Range ought, as she left him standing there staring after her. He had a feeling he'd done a fine job assessing why she did what she did and she simply didn't want to admit he was correct.

Batting at another branch, he followed after her. Nothing for it, but to continue. He adjusted the sling he'd made in a bit of a rush before they'd left and trudged behind her. After a bit, he got tired of following and quickened his steps until he walked beside her.

"How are we going to find them?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged, concentrating on the ground as they walked.

He sighed and let her concentrate with the tracking. They walked in silence. Holly tracking, while he kept an eye out for anything trying to slip up on them. When Holly's arm came back and she snatched an arrow out of her quiver he snapped his head around and saw the big wolf slinking toward them.

"Holly, no!" Slowly, he reached out and pushed her arm down. "Hey, big guy, remember me? We're good, right?"

The wolf growled from deep in its chest and moved forward.

"Right, not good." He backed up a step.

Holly's bow came up. "If you are done trying to reason with it, light me so I can handle this. You know, unless you think I'm doing it to compensate for something?"

"Not funny," he said as he struggled to light the arrow with his injured wrist, while the wolf continued to advance on them. The flame took just as the wolf leaped. Holly pulled her arm up quickly, but had little time to aim properly, the arrow streaked across the beast's belly, leaving a trail of flame in its fur.

It screamed in pain, landed and ran off into the trees.

Logan winced in sympathetic pain. "Poor pup."

"Poor pup? He was going to eat us!" Holly replied.

"Well yeah, but you burnt his dangly bits. Doggy is never gonna be a daddy now."

She slapped a hand over her eyes. "Sometimes I really hate you."

Without a word, he snatched a handful of her cloak and dragged her behind a tree.

"What are you doing, let go of—"

She was prevented from further complaint when he slapped his good hand over her mouth. "Shh!" He pinned her against the tree with his body and peered around the trunk. "I heard something."

Seconds later, three men streaked past, heading into the forest. "I'm telling you, I heard something. I think it was that damn wolf. Sounded like it caught something." The men vanished into the trees.

Holly shoved him away. "Do not ever do that again!"

"They would have seen us."

"Yeah, well, whatever. At least we know which direction the camp is now."

He nodded. "And it's probably empty or at least mostly empty."

"Good, let's go."

He followed her as she headed in the direction the men had come from. The camp wasn't far and it wasn't empty. Three men remained in the small camp, sitting around a tiny campfire. Deva and Mitchell were tied to a tree a short distance away, looking uncomfortable.

"I'll slip around and cut Mitchell and Deva free, you keep an eye on—" He turned to her and cursed. "No fire dammit! Put the bow down!"

She lowered the bow only slightly and glanced at him. "Come on, there's only three of them, besides, their friends could be back any minute. Go get Deva and Mitchell, I'll handle Morgana's moronic men."

"Just, don't set them on fire! There's no need for that."

She rolled her eyes, while deliberately staring at him, she released the flaming arrow. "Oops, it slipped."

A scream erupted from the camp.

She grinned. "You better get moving."

He turned and hurried away from her and moved off around the perimeter of the camp in the direction of Mitchell and Deva.

Deva sat up straighter when one of the men keeled over clutching at a flaming arrow that stuck awkwardly out of his chest. "Holly!" she yelled.

"Holly? How do you know it's Holly?" Mitchell asked.

Her look said, duh. "Flaming arrows, come on, who else could it be?" They both flinched when there was a tug on the rope binding them to the tree.

"Hold still, guys, I'm working sort of one handed here!" Logan called.

"Logan, what in the hell are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!" Mitchell hissed out.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to let Holly come alone."

Another arrow hissed through the air, striking one of the men dead center in the back as he attempted to make his way over to where Deva and Mitchell were tied. He staggered several steps before dropping face forward to the ground. The third man did the wise thing and remained hidden behind a clump of bushes.

The rope gave and Logan quickly cut Mitchell's writs, he then handed the knife over, Mitchell made much quicker work of freeing them.

"Let's get out of here before the others return," Logan told them as he stepped out of the trees and sprinted directly across the campsite to where Holly stood in the trees on the opposite side. Mitchell and Deva followed behind him a bit more slowly, both slightly cramped from having been sitting tied to the tree for so long.

They sprinted past Holly, who stood with her bow at the ready for a moment, before sending her arrow flying toward the last man and then following the others.

He wouldn't follow for a while, if at all.

***

Morgana rode through the castle gates, her army backing her, ready to claim the throne. It had taken her nearly the entire twenty-four hours to ride to where the army was camped and collect them. A show of force to remind the princess she was serious.

After dismounting, she left her horse with one of her men and entered the castle backed by a contingent of her guard. She wasn't going to confront the royals without her army backing her. She was many things, idiotic wasn't one of them.

No one attempted to stop her as she walked through the castle. Not surprising, after all she was here to claim the throne and no one wanted to see the prince die. Of course, they didn't realize he was already dead. She threw open the doors to the throne room and strode through them without pause, stopping once she'd crossed the room to stand before the princess. Cassandra stood, waiting, before her throne.

The princess didn't look nervous. Hell, she didn't even look upset.

Morgana gave her a small amount of credit for that. "Hello, Princess, I'm here for my kingdom."

"It isn't yours."

Her lips twitched. "As soon as you hand me your crown it will be."

Cassandra shifted slightly and unclasped her hands from behind her back. In one hand, she held her son's sword. "I won't be handing over anything."

She laughed. "Are you planning on using that, Princess? Do you believe you can kill me with that?"

"No, no, of course not. But he can," she said, pointing toward a door to her left as it opened and her son entered the room.

"Impossible! How are you here?"

"We got them back!" Holly yelled as she entered behind Mitchell, turned and looked at Logan briefly before shoving him behind her. "I got them back!"

Logan stepped around her. "We both got them back."

"Hey, sorry for trying to protect you. I mean you were supposed to be in bed recovering. Don't blame me if your dad yells at you."

"Kill them!" Morgana screamed.

"It was him, he got them back!" Holly yelled pointing at Logan.

He scowled. "Funny!"

She grinned as she reached for an arrow.

"Do not use that in here!" Halt shouted while pointing at the arrow she'd nocked in place. It was clearing one of her fire arrows. "You'll burn the entire place to the ground!"

"What? I won't light it in here."

Logan swore he heard her mumble, while you're looking, right before Halt turned away to intercept one of Morgana's men that was rushing toward the princess. The second her father's attention was off her, she lifted the arrow and lit it on a nearby torch. Then she took aim and let it fly, hitting one of the soldiers.

Logan cursed and took off after the man as he began flailing about, his arm just missed setting a tapestry on fire before he spun in a circle away from it. He had this sudden, strange feeling this was going to be his entire future, running after Holly to keep her from setting the entire world on fire. An exhausting future, but not an altogether boring one. He leaped forward and knocked the man to the ground, gave him a shove, and sent him rolling across the floor. Effectively putting him out.

When he turned, he could see Holly taking aim and firing more flaming arrows. He heaved out a long sigh. Halt was going to kill her later. So far, the castle didn't seem to be burning to the ground. Good sign. He craned his neck, looking for Morgana, but couldn't seem to find her in the fray.

Her men were hacking their way through the room, looking to get to Cassandra and Horace.

He jumped up onto a chair to get a better perspective. Deva stood behind the princess and Horace, up on one of the thrones, firing arrows into the melee. While Horace and Mitchell stood in front of the princess, protecting her. Though if her expression said anything about it, she'd rather be fighting than hiding.

Halt and Will, both were in advantageous positions as well, putting their bows to good use. He had to wonder where his father was. More than likely in his office right now. If he could use his wrist he'd be more effective in this battle. All he could do was watch.

"Holly, behind you!" he screamed across the space separating them.

She craned her neck around and spotted the man skirting the main part of the battle to get behind them. With a simple twist of her body, she adjusted and fired. The man went down with an arrow protruding from his back. She inclined her head in his direction before she went back to firing.

A few minutes later, Halt's shrill whistle called an end to the battle. Most of Morgana's men lay dead or dying and the rest surrendered quickly. The Ranger's lowered their bows, Horace and Mitchell both lowered their swords. As did the knights who were still standing.

"Anyone see Morgana?" Logan asked.

Everyone was shaking their heads.

"She must have slipped out as soon as the battle began," Will reasoned.

Halt nodded. "She would have used it as cover to escape."

"Great now what do we do?" Holly asked, while inspecting how many fire arrows she had left.

"We train and prepare. She'll be back, it's just a matter of time."

Holly groaned. "Really, Dad? We should be tracking her down! Following her to wherever she's headed!"

"I think we can all guess where she's headed, Holly."

"Mountains of Rain and Night," Will answered.

Halt only nodded before he turned away to look about the room. "Horace, you're going to want to get some men in here to round up the prisoners and clear out the dead."

"I was just thinking that sounded like a job for a Ranger," he answered with a small grin.

"Oh no, I'm certain it's a job for a knight," Halt retorted.

"Hmm, I don't remember anything about that in Battleschool."

Halt turned to look at Will. "Will, you remember anything about cleaning up gore and guts in Ranger training?"

"No, not a thing. Definitely sounds like something a knight should take on."

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "I think it sounds like a job all of you can handle and that is by order of your Princess." She smirked at all of them before regally sweeping from the room.

"Score one for the girls," Holly told her father with a grin.

"Yes, except that girl is also a princess. And an exceptionally smart one at that."

Horace chuckled. "I'll get some men in here."

Halt nodded and looked about the room at the grim task they had to accomplish. Their jests were made to lighten the mood because of the task ahead of them. Not only to clear the aftermath of battle, but for whatever battles may come before they finally extinguished the hold Morgrarath's legacy had on Araluen.