Mable listened to her father's lecture. He was going on about what was best for the kingdom and why she should understand that. She had tried to explain that the two girl-boys were good, needless to say he hadn't listened.

He had stormed out after her lack of response, and she heard the click of the door locking. Sighing Mable sat on her bed and wondered how the twins were. She hoped her father had been nice, but he hadn't been very nice at all before. Humming he counted the seconds until a maid came in to clean her up.

She was a quiet woman, much older than Mable, who had always worked with her. Soon, her slightly wavy hair had been pinned up on top of her head, still damp from her bath.

"Thank you." She said, nodding her head. "You can go now."

The woman curtsied, "Yes Mistress." She said, leaving quickly. Mable heard the door lock again.

Pulling on slippers, she reached for the lamp beside her bed. It was elaborate, and the mirrors inside made the candle seem a lot brighter than it really was. It had been a gift from her mother and she winced as the fang on her necklace hit the metal at the top. Unlocking the base with a small key attached to a chain on her neck alongside it, she pulled out a roll of parchment.

First, she decided, the twins would probably be kept in one of the prison cells, especially if her father had been mean to them, so she would go there. Second, she would have to navigate some of the older, better hidden passageways to get there. Finally, this would only work if no one came into her room for the next ten minutes.

Unfurling the scroll, she traced out a route to the cells with her finger. Satisfied, she pulled a shawl over her shoulders and grabbed a smaller lamp from a shelf, lighting it and setting it on the window sill. Mable then prodded at the base of the seat there. Hearing the catches loosen, she lifted up the top of the seat and peered inside. There were stairs, cut out of the stone which led to the base of the castle. She knew that at one side coming of the stairs, there was a door leading into the court yard. She had barely explored the other way, but because of the map, she knew where it went.

Picking up the candle, she pulled the top of the seat back over as she climbed down. Mable's slippers barely made a noise against the ground, but she kept glancing behind her just in case. It almost felt like a game she used to play with her mother, when they would sneak around the castle looking for secret passageways. Since the sickness, and her mother's death, Mable never could find anyone else to play the game with her, so she played it by herself.

Mable had always looked up to her mother, who was so graceful in everything she did. She accepted the marriage arranged for the sake of alliance, and was a good mother when Mable was born. Young as she was when her mother died, Mable knew that she was at peace with her father, they were good friends and she was not replacing his previous wife.

Even so, she could remember back to when her mother and father would argue. It was always about her, she knew, but she was never sure why. So she'd become a good daughter, and hope that she would never see her mother cry after an argument again. Now she was being a bad daughter, in all her sixteen years, she had never done something so rebellious. Her father would understand again one day, she hoped.

The flickering candle showed only a small part of the space in front of her, but Mable knew when she had to turn to get into the catacombs. The map was harder to read now, with less light and her always moving, but she could easily tell once she lost her way. Despite keeping to the left wall, as had been directed, she was now in a small room, which she imagined to be far underground. It felt like the maze was trying to bury her and her good intentions.

Staying where she was, Mable studied the map, trying to make sense of where she was. Then, she heard voices. Crouching down, Mable listened.

"Now we have the Thread, we can continue with the plans, its directions should lead us to the next exit." This voice rang out clearly, commanding whoever else was there. Mable listened closer as she heard the casual name for the Aurea Filum.

"I still don't like leaving Bren behind."

Mable stood up in a hurry when she heard the name, a stone clattered out from under her feet.

"Who's there?" Asked the commanding voice again.

"Mable." She said softly, in case someone else was listening.

She felt a hand close one hers, and she was spun around, faced with cold eyes.

"This will make our job easier." He said.

"No, I don't think it will, I don't know how to get through here." Mable said. "But I heard you talking about Bren, and I though you could help me there, I know where he is, I think."

"We have no interest in Bren."

But his friend counteracted him, and for a moment they talked in hushed voices. Once done talking, they turned back to her.

"Where is he?" One finally asked.

"In a holding cell, Father was narrow minded when he put him there."

With a sigh, the commander said, "And are you planning on helping them?" He asked.

"Of course, perhaps you should help me also."

"We can't, but at midnight, there will be no one guarding her." Taking the map off Britta, he looked it over and gave her directions. "Tell them Thom and Clyde apologize for not being able to help." He finished.

Mable repeated their names under her breath, before walking away, closely following the directions they gave her. Sunlight hit her not long after, when she was close to the room, coming through a small gap in the ceiling. It was mostly covered, but when Mable pulled herself up to it, she could see it looked out onto a carpet, just outside. The window opposite told her that it was just past midday, and she didn't want to risk going to Britta or Diana in case she was spotted. The news carried around quickly that she was missing, and she wanted to tell the people that hurried past that she was fine. Resisting, she waited.

The moon was up by the time things calmed down, but she knew when it was midnight because the guards were leaving, answering to a call that rung through the castle. Feverishly, she hunted around, looking for the way up. Her hand hit a chain, and she pulled it, and a stone moved. Pulling harder, it suddenly gave way and two pairs of hands pulled at it from the other side. The girl-boys again.

"Hello." Said Mable calmly. "Thom and Clyde said to apologize that they couldn't come. You should probably follow me now, so we can find a place to sleep before the guards come back."

Leaving them, Mable walked back down, and heard one of them pull the stone back down behind her.

"The castle is hundreds of years old, so all of this has been forgotten about, they have only been looking after what's above the ground" She explained, "From here we can get to the horses house, and rest."

"You mean the stables right?" Britta asked from behind her.

"Yes, but it is the horses home. Left now." Said Mable, and heard them hurriedly turn.

She stumbled a bit on some stairs, but knew instantly they were getting close. Finally reaching the end, she felt about for a hidden exit. This time, it was a simple trapdoor, hidden under the floor boards which they pulled up after.

Mable led them to the top floor. "You can rest here." She said, "You will need it, I'm sorry my Father was bad to you."

"So you really just forgot to mention that he was The Emperor?" Asked Britta, Mable wasn't sure, but she thought she could detect a small amount of amusement in her dry tone.

"He's my Father, it doesn't matter if he's the Emperor or not, he could have just been nice."

The twins quickly settled down in a corner of the barn, and Mable joined them before long.

"How old are you?" She asked.

"Seventeen at midsummer." Said Diana.

"You are just over a year older than me." Mable pointed out, "Who is your family?"

"We have each other, we don't know who our parents were." Answered Britta.

"What about you?" Asked Diana politely, "Aside from your father of course."

"My mother died, and a river stole my two sisters. They weren't really my sisters, my half-sisters to be exact. Father doesn't speak about them much, but I think he still imagines they're out there. Do you know, sometimes I pretend they are still here, we play games together all the time. They were twins as well." Mable rambled on.

"You must be lonely." Britta said, shutting her eyes. "And I'm tired and hungry, So let me sleep."

"I could get you food." Mable said suddenly.

"They won't let you out of their sight because you just went missing." Said Diana.

"They're quite accustomed to it really, I can be back by tomorrow I'm sure. But will you be a girl or a boy tomorrow Britta, just so I know who you are." Asked Mable.

"Probably a boy, though there isn't much difference between the two." Said Britta.

"Ok then. See you tomorrow."

Mable scrambled down from the roof and began to follow the walk through the gardens to the castle entrance. There were quicker ways to get back, but she wanted to think. What had father said the names of her sisters were? He hadn't of course, but maybe Mable could ask him one day.

She was almost at the entrance, when she felt a hand grab at hers. She didn't recognize the person.

"Your father wants us to take you to a safe house north of here." He said gruffly.

He walked her back to the stables and flung her onto a horse. Mable was disorientated, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew her father would want to see her before he sent her off. She hadn't been that bad surely.

Opening her eyes she watched the trees rush past and knew she would fall off if there hadn't been a hand gripping her waist. Feeling secure, she felt herself drift off to sleep, only waking the next day when she was lifted off the horse.

"Who are you?" She asked, but was ignored.

Instead, the man shoved her into a small stone hut, and shut the door. Mable knew she was locked in, and, confused, she looked outside. Surrounded by trees, and in the middle of nowhere, she got the feeling that this was not what her Father had wanted.

Sitting down, Mable began to hum. This song reminded her of the one she had sung to Lucky, and it comforted her. But once the thoughts of the twins came back, she stood up again. Surely they would be wondering where she was, perhaps they would even get help.

Leaning out the window, she saw the man nearby, sleeping. Then, a shadow emerged at the edge of his campfire, and Mables soft humming stuck in her throat. Blue eyes looking around at the edge of the clearing, there stood Lucky.

Mable, not wanting to give anything away, started up her song again. The huge dog followed the sound and put his paws up on the window sill. Mable reached through and scratched behind his ears.

"Hello Lucky." She said happily. "How did you find me?" She looked into his ice blue eyes and said, "I guess that's just what you do, friend."

Mable conversed with Lucky, though it was a very one sided conversation. She told him about Britta and Diana and how she needed to help them.

"Perhaps you could bring them food." She finished, "or tell them where I am. Remember that game we used to play, and you had to find me amongst all the passageways? Now, you must follow where I was, all the way back to where I came from, and tell the twins where I am. Britta said she would be a boy today, just remember, Diana will probably be one too, but they're both girls really, so you can just call them Girl-Boys." Mable pulled her mother's wedding ring off her finger and a ribbon from her hair. Tying that and the ring around Lucky's neck, she told him to go, and watched his silvery tail disappear back into the woods.

"Bring me luck." She whispered after him.

***

Did you get the pun in the chapter title??? *Cringe*