'Thanks Matron, you saved our lives from Professor Alastair that night,' said Jake, walking into the hospital wing. 'Honestly, you are wonderful -'

'The best,' agreed Wren. 'Don't know what we'd do without you.'

Matron turned pink. 'Shut it,' she snapped, half-smiling. 'Lucian Ailwood is on the left corner, third bed from the right.'

It was only Wren and Jake who went to see Lucian Ailwood. Ladislaya said she couldn't because she had an appointment with a Professor Alana about some Abilities tips and tricks on how to summon your ability with less effort. Wren and Jake couldn't help feeling pleased, for if Ladislaya weren't there with them, they could ask Lucian anything without limit and probably create an outburst.

Apparently, Duncan had been dismissed from the hospital wing that morning. It was just Lucian Ailwood there.

'Mr Lucian Ailwood, you have visitors!' called Matron. She drew back his curtains and hurried away. Lucian sat up on his bed, a look of eagerness on his face - then it fell when he saw Wren and Jake scowling down at him.

'It's you,' he snarled.

'Yeah, what a wonderful surprise,' said Jake.

Lucian glared at him. His left arm was bandaged like a sling to his shoulder. His right leg was bandaged too - wrapped round firmly. Wren couldn't help but stare at the sharp, angry cuts on his forehead and cheeks.

'What do you want? The last thing I want to do is see you here. It might as well be the last thing I'd ever do.'

'We didn't want to see you out of a pitying heart,' fired Wren angrily, who'd had enough of Lucian's attitude. 'That night you were attacked was the night I wanted to find you and talk to you.'

Lucian looked at her. 'And what gave you the impression that I would talk to you?'

'Oh, I don't know, you've been pretty persistent on talking to me,' said Wren casually. Lucian flushed a bright red and turned away. Wren grabbed a chair, sat down and lowered her voice. 'You know something about Nicaea Valdis.'

'What are you talking about?' said Lucian defensively.

'Don't pretend, Lucian,' said Wren fiercely, clenching her fists. 'I swear, you are the most evil-hearted piece of scum who gives no crap about anything else but yourself -'

Jake cleared his throat.

'Anyway,' said Wren, resuming. 'Have you forgotten our little incident in front of everyone in the hallways not long before you got attacked by the fire? About how she'll stop at nothing to kill me. About how -'

Lucian turned around so his face was inches close to Wren, glaring so fiercely at her.

'And she will kill you, Princess, because that's what's going to happen to you - dead!' he spat spitefully.

'How do you know?' said Wren furiously. 'You don't know anything - anything - about Nicaea and I -'

'You think I don't?' breathed Lucian. 'Everyone does, Princess. The whole of Elryzian knows your story and your destiny. Your fate.'

'I'm the heir to the bloody throne!' yelled Wren.

'You're going to die!' shouted Lucian equally loudly. Jake grabbed him by the collar.

'You know what, Lucian?' he spat fiercely. 'What do you know of Nicaea Valdis so well that Wren doesn't, eh? Come on, tell us!'

'You dare -'

'Yes, I dare, you insolent little twit,' breathed Jake. 'If Nicaea Valdis is going to kill anyone -'

'If? If?' Lucian let out a hearty laugh. 'She's already going to kill our princess sitting here and there's nothing no one can do about it. She's going to kill her! If it's anyone, it's her!'

Wren pulled Lucian away from Jake's grip and levelled her face to Lucian's. 'Listen,' she said forcefully, 'Nicaea's after me, I know. Don't think I don't. But you know something too, don't you, Lucian?'

'So what if I do?' said Lucian roughly, trying to pull away from her but she clung onto his collar tightly, almost suffocating him.

'So I'm the Princess of Argonian, you prat!' hissed Wren. 'I demand you tell me what you know of Nicaea Valdis and that is an order from your princess!'

Lucian guffawed a laugh that made Wren want to smack his pale face directly.

'You think you can order me around like that?' he sneered. 'No, it doesn't work this way, Princess. You may be blood of a royal line, but I'm not revealing anything I shouldn't reveal to you.'

'It seems the other way around whenever you talk to me,' said Wren loftily.

The slightest tint of red appeared on both Lucian's cheeks. He glowered at her with a clenched jaw. 'Let me go.'

'I will, once you've told me about Nicaea.'

There was silence then -

'Get off me!'

'You prat!' roared Jake, almost rushing Lucian's skull. Crashes and a great deal of scuffing scened behind the curtains and apparently, Matron hadn't heard a single sound. Lucian had grabbed Wren's collar with his free hands and throttled her; Wren had banged her head into his and Jake didn't let this slip - he threw himself on the bed and tried to strangle Lucian's neck but instead, Lucian caught hold of his while holding Wren off with his right arm. While doing so, they broke a flowery vase and water spilled all over the floor. Wren smacked Lucian's cheekbone when she got the chance, and suddenly, she noticed a bright, dark blue glowing signet ring shining on his left finger. His hurt arm.

Wren knew she shouldn't damage him more - he was already in a state bad enough but this was the chance. Excitement rose up in her chest; something was calling her from the ring, there was an instinct, she had to snatch, she had to grab it -

She made a lunge, causing Jake to fall from the bed, grabbed Lucian's wrist and forced the ring out. A yelp of pain came out of Lucian as Wren untangled herself from the bed.

'Oi!' bellowed Lucian.

'Shut up!' snarled Jake.

'What's this, Lucian?' cried Wren, holding up the ring.

'It's mine! Give it back!'

Jake held him to his bed.

Wren suddenly felt like her feet were floating off the ground. For a second, she felt she couldn't breathe, she needed air, oxygen, something - anything - then a flash of light slashed through her sight, a victorious laugh and an agonizing scream that burned her head...

Then the sensation went as fast as it came and Wren found the signet ring still on her palm.

'I'll be holding on to this, Lucian,' she said quietly.

Apparently, Jake had sensed something was wrong. He widened his eyes, trying to send her a signal of some sort but she paid no attention.

'Are you crazy?' shouted Lucian. 'Give it back to me, Wren Carezby!'

'I will, once I'm done with it,' said Wren through gritted teeth.

'I'll report you for this!'

Wren hadn't thought about that.

'Alright, alright!' she said hastily. 'On a condition,' she added, 'you tell us everything you know about Nicaea Valdis.'

Lucian's face looked sour and he looked like he wouldn't speak a word. But then Wren swore a look of hesitation crossed his pale face and he began with relucant cooperation:

'Nicaea Valdis's dark and fearsome - she uses any kind of dark magic you can think of ... but you don't know, you just don't know to what extend.'

He spat the last word out, looking quite demented. Wren and Jake leaned in, their mutual animosity towards Lucian momentarily set aside.

Lucian's gaze darted around the room, like what would be coming out of his mouth next was a secret meant to be untold. 'I ... I don't know the details exactly, but ...' his voice trailed on.

'She ... she's wanting to earse this memory of hers,' he said hollowly. 'And she's going to go great lengths to erase this memory of hers.'

'But I thought in order to erase memories, you require an amount of dark magic?' said Jake questioningly. 'What - Professor Alastair said that in class!'

Lucian threw him a deep look of loathing. 'I told you already, maniacs. That's why Professor Alastair Xandon didn't say how you erase a memory - that's just dark magic and it isn't allowed. It's banned. He was just giving us some general knowledge, Jake Gagneus.'

Jake mimed a mocking expression behind his back.

'So ... what will happen if she erases this memory?' said Wren, trying to pull them back into topic.

Lucian shot her a deadly stare. 'No idea.'

Wren pocketed his ring.

'Hold it!' he ordered. 'It's complicated. Her soul ... will be split into two.'

'That's just gross!' said Jake unhelpfully. Both Lucian and Wren stared.

'Can I have my ring back, now?' asked Lucian hopefully.

'In your dreams. What's Nicaea Valdis doing now?'

'Trying to kill you.'

'Where is she?'

'How would I know?'

'Where does she live?'

'I'm not her son!'

'Where does she live?'

'Somewhere you can't find her!' yelled Lucian.

'Where?' hissed Wren.

'I swear, I don't know! I'm betting it's a castle, though ... a tall tower, perhaps, one with lots of slaves ... she probably hangs the people she's killed in her dungeons ...'

Lucian Ailwood seemed to be talking more to himself than to either Wren or Jake. Wren wasn't listening. So Nicaea was trying to erase a part of her memory ... Wren couldn't help feeling thrilled. There was something that made Nicaea vulnerable, so vulnerable she wanted to undo it, wanted to have that nothing to do with her life ...

'She's going after you, Carezby,' said Lucian gleefully. 'She's going after you ...'

'What else do you know about Nicaea Valdis?' the words came out of Wren's mouth before she had time to think what she was saying.

'That's all,' said Lucian stubbornly. 'Now give me my ring.'

'Are you getting married, Lucian?' said Jake loudly. 'Do I have invite to your wedding? I'd like a piece of your wedding cake too...'

Lucian's jaw clenched tightly. Before Wren knew what was going on, he had grabbed Jake by the collar and threw his head down on the bed. Jake tried to get hold of his neck but he successfully grabbed a tuft of Lucian's hair and banged his head against the bed frame. Out of rage, Lucian elbowed him sharply in the ribs and Jake glared at him furiously, apparently trying to twist his arm.

'Boys!' shouted Wren. They ignored him and continued their silent fight which wasn't getting quieter any minute.

'Get off me, you prat!'

'What did you just call me?' yelled Lucian. 'A prat? My goodness, Gagneus, you can't use words what your mother describes you as another person - get off my arm!'

'Don't insult my mother!'

'If you don't insult me!' snarled Lucian.

'I wouldn't insult you - you're already at your worst!' yelled Jake.

'Boys!' thundered Wren, her uneven eyes glowing saturatingly as they did when she was excited or angry. 'Get off - get the hell off - I have questions - Lucian, shut up and listen!' she snarled. Lucian didn't seem to be paying any attention to her.

'Or the ring's mine!' said Wren triumphantly.

'I feel sorry for your fiance, Lucian!' yelled Jake. 'I wonder what she'll do without -'

Wren let out a growl worthy of a tiger and grabbed Lucian's collar, dragging him to the other side of the bed, but he held on to Jake, not showing any sign of letting go. Wren could see Jake had the urge to kick his already injured leg -

'Boys! What is going on here?'

All three of them looked up. Matron was standing at the other end of the bed, looking horrified. Lucian and Jake glared at each other.

'Uh - a little friendly fight here, Matron, nothing to worry about!' said Wren in a voice unlike her own. 'You know, boys ... these two are really good friends ...'

Jake patted Lucian on the shoulder. Lucian's face turned purple; Wren had to fight the greatest desire to not laugh.

'This boy here needs rest,' snapped Matron. 'Look at the state of him! I say, you two better get -'

'No, Matron!' said Wren quickly. 'I mean - we were just telling him about our - our class drama today ... you know teenagers ...'

'Alright, but leave him alone,' said Matron, narrowing her eyes and walking away.

The moment she was out, Wren pulled Jake out of the bed before he had a chance to elbow Lucian or Lucian to him.

'God, what is your problem?' she hissed. 'Lucian!'

'I'm not a dog,' hissed Lucian. 'You can't -'

'The ring's miiiiiine,' sang Wren, putting a dramatic display of storing the ring in her pocket. Lucian's face was contorted with fury. 'What do you want?'

'I want to know how you know all this, Lucian. How do you know so well about Nicaea and what she's doing?'

Lucian's face tightened and looked up at the ceiling.

'Give me back my ring,' he said through clenched teeth.

'I said I'm keeping it if you don't answer my question.'

'Then I'll report you for this!'

'How,' said Wren, trying to contain her anger, 'do. You. Know. This, Lucian?'

'It's not my problem I know things!'

'It jolly well is!' said Jake angrily.

'Shut up, Gagneus!'

'Quiet!' Wren bellowed. 'You -' she hurled on Lucian, 'answer my question!'

'Just give me back my ring!'

'Answer the damn question, Lucian!'

Lucian was breathing in and out so heavily his chest rose and fell. Time ticked by but Wren didn't care, they had nothing but time. Lucian was staring at the ceiling like it had just smacked his face and he could do nothing about it.

'I overheard,' he said finally, in a low voice.

'Overheard all this? From who?'

'In the dungeons!' yelped Lucian.

'Hey, Lucian,' said Wren, 'do you know what's a question and what's an answer?'

Lucian glared at her furiously, his fists clenched tightly. A visible vein was pulsing up and down from his neck.

'I overheard - them,' he glared at the ceiling, 'Father. He - he was talking. To somebody. I don't know who (Wren glared at him and he looked daggers at her furiously) I swear, I don't! Whoever it was my father was talking to - they were in the dungeons.'

'In school?' said Wren disbelievingly.

'At home, you prat,' said Lucian, gritting his teeth. 'In the Mansion. He - they -'

'When did this happen?' growled Wren vehemently.

'Right before Christmas, when I went home,' he said promptly.

Wren and Jake stared.

'Before Christmas? I thought you were in the hospital wing!'

'Father took me home a few days before Christmas,' said Lucian, sneering. 'Had to get me checked. Now I'm back of course. Stupid Matron said I had to get more rest so here I am in the hospital wing again. If it weren't for her, I would still be able to attened the Christmas feast!'

Wren wanted to say, 'It was an even merrier Christmas without you there', but decided the better than to say so. Instead, she said, 'Well, why was your father talking about Nicaea Valdis?'

'No idea. I guess everyone's talking about her, aren't they?'

He sighed and propped himself up on the pillows.

'You've heard what you wanted to. Now I want my ring back.'

'Hang in there. One more question.'

Lucian glared at her furiously. 'One more, and you're out.'

Wren lowered herself onto a chair so her face was level with Lucian's pointed one.

'Do you know Aurora Nightshade from North Tower?' she said. 'Waist-length, honey-coloured hair, bright big eyes, normally wearing a satchel everywhere she goes.'

'That girl with hair long enough to be a horse's tail?' Lucian said, settling back to his pillows. 'Yeah, I've heard of her.'

'Heard of? Are you two close?'

Lucian turned his head slightly to face Wren. 'No.'

Wren nodded. Slowly, she slipped her hand inside her pocket, curled her hand around the ring and produced the shiny blue ring. She dropped it on Lucian's open palm and the second the gem touched his skin, he closed his fist tightly.

'Now get out, both of you.'

Wren made a mocking face behind his back as she and Jake turned to go. Before they left for the door, they heard Lucian yell, 'And hey Gagneus, say hello to that ruddy Duncan Gayeman for me! Poor chap, he was looking rather sick today!'

Jake made a rude hand gesture which Matron most unfortunately saw. She glared at him.

'Out,' she rasped sharply. 'Don't let me catch you doing - whatever you're doing! Next time, I won't spare you, mind.'

'Sorry, sorry!' said Jake hastily. They clambered out of the hospital wing and to the corridors.

'Fishy story he told, didn't he?' said Wren the moment the door closed behind them.

'Fishy? I half-thought he was telling the truth.'

Wren sighed. 'We've no idea if he is. But he looked pretty damn serious though. It's worth a start.'

'Hey Carrots - what was with his ring just now? When you grabbed it you looked - sort of - unwell,' Jake said uncomfortably.

Wren decided to let it drop.

'Well,' she said brightly, 'a little dizzy, that's all! I'm willing to bet on a few fingers that that ring contained some magic, nothing much, really.'

Jake gave an unconvincing nod, looking quite uncertain. 'I dunno, Carrots ... we're talking about the Faerie Queen here -'

'What do you think I know?' wheezed Wren.

'I mean - you heard Lucian - she could go to no extend at killing you.'

Hearing the words from Jake sobered Wren up even more. Jake didn't look like he regretted what he said - instead, he dropped his voice lower, 'Carrots, you're not thinking of ... of finding her, are you?'

Wren didn't say anything. She looked at the ceiling interestingly. Jake didn't seem like he cared about the ceiling; in fact, he seemed like he knew exactly what was going on in Wren's mind.

'You musn't go looking for trouble ... finding the Faerie Queen's mass murder suicide. You ought to know -'

'Jake, everything's alright, OK?' said Wren suddenly in a voice most unlike her own. 'I don't have to keep being reminded that the Faerie Queen's trying to kill me now.'

I'm not -' Jake began to protest but he changed tack at the speed of light. 'No - listen! I'm not fraternising you or anything just so you know, it's just - well, sometimes you tend to forget you're Wren Carezby.' his voice tensed up a little. 'The Wren Carezby. The one -'

'- that the honourable Faerie Queen's trying to kill, yes, I know!' Wren said, firing up, her voice rising. 'I told you Jake, I don't need to be reminded - d'you think it's fun to be me? The one with undefeatable blood ... I've heard what people call me!'

Jake winced. 'I'm not reminding you - it's just - well, maybe I am but only because you forget!'

'So what if I do?' thundered Wren. 'Nicaea Valdis is going to kill me anyway! What's the diff -'

There was a sudden clatter somewhere above them and the both looked up to see a spiral of staircases above them but no one in sight. Jake glared up at the staircases and frog-marched Wren aside.

'The difference is that you've got to know where your place is! It's not everyday a crazy woman wants to kill you -'

Wren had turned a ghostly white. 'Yeah, it's not everyday,' she said. 'It's not everyday I'm not being reminded of that. I can't help but think you think it would be great to be in my place.'

'Wha - I - I didn't say that!' Jake said, flabbergasted.

'You might as well have!' said Wren. 'No one knows what it's like, knowing someone's bound to kill you and I'm just standing here -'

'Wren, remember the fire? Remember it? Yeah, well, that's one of the examples why you shouldn't go running off finding trouble for yourself!'

'I thought we discussed this and we came to a conclusion that it could not be possible that Nicaea was the one who -'

'Yeah, but we haven't talked about the swallowing cupboard,' said Jake. When Wren looked at him, he said, 'the one Ladislaya almost got swallowed in - the one at the back of the Dark Ats classroom.'

'Oh, that.'

'Yes, that. It's a portal.'

'It's a swallowing cupboard!' said Wren in aghast. 'If you're suggesting Nicaea could be using the portal -'

'Yes! Exactly!'

'- it's not possible. Remember, it swallows you. It doesn't transport you.'

'Oh God, Wren. When you're transported, obviously, you've got to be swallowed into a portal to get to somewhere, don't you? And not just anywhere. I'm betting there's another one of those cupboards.'

'I'm lost,' said Wren hopelessly.

'Listen! Ladislaya was almost swallowed into the cupboard, might mean anything - might mean she could've been transported. But here's the catch: how? So it must mean, she must be transported to another one of those portal cupboard thingies - question is, where is it? Wherever the other swallowing cupboard is is where you're going to be transported when you get swallowed in this cupboard - the one in the Dark Arts classroom.'

Wren felt as if he'd just dunked her under a waterfall on knowledge. Possibilities spread in front of her ... flashbacks, voices ... where does she live, Lucian? ... a tall tower, perhaps... coincidences and villains don't work together ... The Perilous, Nicaea, the fire ... it was all a puzzle, she had some of the pieces and some were still lost ... she needed to fix a part of the puzzle first to continue ... the ring, the ring, the ring ... it echoed in her mind like her brain was empty ...

'Wren? I'm talking to you. Can you hear me?'

'Wha - yeah, yeah I can.'

Jake sighed. 'I know what you're thinking. And I know that -'

'I can't just stand here waiting and waiting for something I don't even know what I'm waiting for, Jake,' said Wren.

'Well, what are you going to do?' said Jake impatiently. 'Find the Faerie Queen? That's why you asked Lucian where she lived, didn't you? Point is, Carrots, you're -'

'Going to be dead any second!' yelled Wren.

'Shut up!' bellowed Jake.

Wren stood, glaring at him. He sighed heavily. 'Let's stop yelling and we can go back to the common-room and discuss what Lucian said instead.'

Wren was glad they had dropped the topic about Nicaea and her ... one of her least favourite things to talk about on the planet. The other, of course, was whenever Uncle Hunter used to talk to her about why she should wash the dishes.