"Do you know where Thomas is?"

Elizabeth shook her head as she moved the playing cards in her deck around. She looked up at me and smiled sympathetically. "Sorry. Wanna play with us?"

"What are you playing?"

"Sin! It's really fun. I can show you how to—"

"No thanks, I'm good," I interrupted.

Her eyes returned to her deck as she studied the cards. "I'll bet a two."

"Two?" Peggy said, putting on a mock serious tone as she narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am," Elizabeth returned, with just as much playfulness in her voice.

"Alriiiight..."

I plopped down in the softly cushioned seat next to Washington and Elizabeth and tried not to think about Thomas. Of course he would disappear just when I needed his help the most. "Couldn't you guys just... magic the cards?"

James held up his arm from across the table, displaying a metallic, rather dull looking armband wrapped around his wrist. "It's meant to stop someone from using magic."

I stared at it for a while, curious as to how it worked.

"Thomas and James invented them," Washington told me without sparing me a glance as Aaron led the round with a three of hearts. "If you want a more in depth conversation, you should go to Thomas."

"Don't even get him going," Angelica said as she rather angrily threw down a king of hearts. "If he starts talking about something like that, he'll never stop." The anger in her voice seemed to be more directed at Aaron, who was giving her a stupid grin rather than Thomas.

"Does anybody know where he is?"

"I bet I do," Peggy offered. "But I don't think he'd want me to tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's kinda... personal. You know?"

"No."

Peggy shrugged simplistically and played the queen of diamonds, trumping the others and taking the hand for herself, much to Angelica's relief. She led the next deal with an ace of spades.

I crossed my arms and watched the card game, hardly interested. My mind kept flashing back to the dream from a few hours ago. I couldn't shake the thought of the king's all-knowing smirk as he ran his fingers gently across the dragon's scales, as if he and the creature had minds and ideals that were one in the same. His confidence was quite intense.

I had this horrible feeling in my gut like a tightened knot. My fingers drummed against the table as I folded my arms on it and rested my head on them.

"What's wrong?" questioned Hercules. He was sitting by the flickering flame in the fireplace on the opposite wall, his eyes closed as he leaned against the couch. John was laying down next to him on his stomach, and I was fairly sure that the usually cheerful boy was asleep. "You're being very grumpy right now."

"I am not," I returned sharply as I raised my head and glowered over in his direction.

Lafayette looked up from his deck and gave me a very flat, unconvinced look. "You can argue about this all day, Alexander, and I know you well enough to know that you'd take pleasure in doing it. But there's no point." His eyes returned to his hand of cards.

I stared at him for a moment before dropping my gaze to the table and tapping my foot against the wooden floor and trying to ground myself in the rhythm. It didn't work, not when all I could think about was the dream.

And where was Thomas? He just disappeared without bothering to tell me where he was going. A scream of frustration slid up to my lips, and I wanted nothing more than to let it out and make my throat sore from it. I suppressed the urge, because doing that would be stupid.

"Divinity's children!" James cursed as he threw his cards against the table. "How are you so good at this?"

Peggy flashed him a triumphant smile and swept up all the cards on the table with one hand. "Like I've said countless times before, I am a goddess in disguise."

I watched sullenly as they continued their game. Peggy won the round easily, getting exactly what she had betted. Nobody seemed surprised, but everybody seemed upset.

"Can we play something else now?" Elizabeth asked. "I vote for Go Fish."

"Can someone just tell me where Thomas is?"

"What happened to you?" Aaron demanded, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "You're not typically a barrel of sunshine, but today you're a nightmare."

I clenched my jaw in annoyance.

"I thought you would've told them already."

I swirled around in my chair to see Thomas standing in the doorway. He seemed calmer, happier even, which was the exact opposite of how I felt. His posture was far too relaxed.

"Where did you go?" I asked, trying to keep hostility out of my voice.

Thomas shook his head in dismissal, indicating that it didn't matter. "Why haven't you told them yet?"

"Told us what?" Washington asked steadily, looking over at where he was standing.

Thomas joined us at the table and sat down in an empty chair across the table from me. I really hope that he didn't purposefully choose to sit that far away. But when he glanced over at me, his eyes were nothing if not gentle and encouraging, so I dismissed the thought and returned his smile.

"Well, I had a dream a few hours ago that was pretty interesting. I think the king is going to kill all of us with a giant mind-controlled dragon, so..."

"That is not how I would have opened that conversation," Thomas said as a heavy silence landed on the table.

By now, Hercules had come over and placed his hands on the carved wood between Lafayette and Angelica. John, who looked bleary eyed and still sleepy, had followed him.

"Any particular reason why?" Washington asked. He had gone rigidly calm, and it was sort of frightening.

"Umm... so Thomas and I saw the Kingsmen hunting down a dragon and they managed to subdue it. So now the king has a dragon chained up in some sort of maze... thing? I... I don't know why he showed it to me but I don't think it's gonna be good for anyone."

The only noise for a while was that of Thomas's fingers tapping against the table.

"A maze thing?" Hercules asked, repeating my words softly. His question was more directed at Washington than me. "Do you think that's the Labyrinth?"

"Why would the king put a dragon in his Labyrinth?"

"Why would the king do anything?" Lafayette returned with a pointed glance at Angelica. He leaned back in his chair and considered it for a moment.

"I don't think it's a good thing to let him have a dragon in his possession," Elizabeth murmured. Her hands were in front of her face, a small flame moving across her fingertips with all the grace of a ballet dancer.

"Let's kill it!" John said, the tiredness replaced completely by unchecked enthusiasm, which was rather worrying in the moment, especially when you take the gravity of the situation into account.

"We're not going to kill it," Thomas returned, his voice not harsh but firm to the point where there was no argument on the matter. He rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

John glanced over at Washington, seeking confirmation. The General shook his head, and John plopped down in the chair on the other side of Elizabeth.

"What should we do?" I asked after a lull in the conversation. I was puzzled. I just couldn't wrap my head around why the King wanted to show me the dragon, especially if he knew I would tell Washington. It's almost like he wanted us to go see it, to try and set it free. As much as I wanted to voice my concerns, I decided that it would be better to keep quiet for now.

"I think we need to free it," Thomas said after a moment. His voice was unsteady, as if he was grasping for the best solution.

Peggy frowned, seeming dissatisfied with his solution. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"What would the King want a dragon for?" James asked her, the question rhetorical. "Death? Destroying all of the worlds we're working so hard to keep not destroyed? Killing us? I, for one, really don't want to find out."

Thomas nodded his agreement, which made me feel slightly sick in a way I couldn't describe.

"We really shouldn't let him have the chance to play with it," decided Lafayette.

An argument ensued. With everybody yelling and each new point brought up, a developing headache began to get worse and worse. I tapped my foot against the ground and tried to focus on the woodgrains of the table to distract myself from the searing pain.

After a while, I felt a warm hand brush against my shoulder. I jumped at the suddenness of the touch and quickly glanced over my shoulder to see Thomas smiling down at me.

"C'mon," he said quietly with a quick glance up at the argument. "Let's go elsewhere."

I stood up and followed him as he led me upstairs all the way to the highest tower where the library was.

"If King George was able to talk to you in your dream, do you think that could happen again?" Thomas asked as he sat down on the couch and leaned against the back of it.

"I really hope not," I murmured as I sat down on a chair. I drew my knees close to my chest and closed my eyes for a brief moment, listening to the gentle chorus of the crickets chirping.

The night was ominously clear; the stars were twinkling in the inky black sky. The moon was nothing more than a tiny slit in an ocean of dark.

I looked over at Thomas and smiled when I saw him playing with a screech owl. He seemed to be humming something: a soft, pleasing melody. His humming was actually quite sweet to the ears. I wonder if he had a nice singing voice?

"Thomas?"

A beat passed before he responded with a simple, "yeah?"

"Would you be mad at me if I told you that sometimes I think about going back to Earth?" I studied his reaction carefully. My stomach plummeted each second he took in composing his response. I tightened my grip around my legs but didn't look away from him.

To my surprise, Thomas shook his head and smiled sadly. "I think about going back to Earth sometimes too."

"Really?"

"I— well, sometimes— I—" he fumbled, searching for the right words. The atmosphere around us shifted in that moment as his gaze fell to the ground. "After the rebellion, if we win, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're a lord."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be in charge of so many people. I'd rather just... I don't know... travel dimensions." He stood up, glided over to the open wall, and leaned against the railing. "Anything's better than here."

I faltered, unsure of how to respond. I rose to my feet and joined him at the railing, suddenly very conscious of the diminished space between the two of us. If I wanted to, I could easily reach out and place my hand on the back of his.

We sat in a silence that wasn't necessarily uncomfortable and stared out at the world around us.

"I just don't want to go back to Avionerra," Thomas said. It sounded like it was more of a realization he had just made rather than a comment to me.

I looked up at Thomas, the starlight framing his face. He turned to me and smiled easily. I've only just realized how practiced it look.

There was a knock on the door, breaking the moment.

"Are you two in there?" Lafayette's voice drifted through the room. I stared at the door, unable to place the emotion that swept through me. "You better come downstairs. We're leaving in a few minutes."

I let out a sharp curse.