Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

Dawn came shortly after their departure. The forest was adorned with hoarfrost; it was magical, truly, with the clear sky and the sparkling snow clinging to every branch and leaf it found as if decorating the forest for some unspoken event. It was cold, however, and Annabella was thankful for the gloves Hannah had given her. The elderly lady had made doubly sure that they all had exactly what they needed to stay warm. Annabella was grateful for her and the risk she and her husband had taken by allowing them in and even more so by keeping Bethany with them. It was terribly hard leaving the child behind, but she knew that bringing her along would have been dangerous. Even so, the Veiled Lady was following them — it was possible she knew about Abby and Bethany's refuge. As they left, Annabella could only pray that the Creator kept those they left behind safe.

And that He kept them safe, too.

By noon, the overhead sun had melted away the frost, leaving the forest floor a slushy, wet mess they were forced to tromp through. Annabella led the way around the mountain, searching for the best places to hike and ignoring the conversations of those behind her. She was lost in her own thoughts as she led her little band of persons — it was strange, truly, to lead such a group. She had always been alone, leader of no one but herself, and suddenly she had four other people looking to her for direction. She maintained an air of leadership, hoping that the subtle limp she found herself walking with didn't make her look weak.

When they stopped for a break, Todd pulled her aside. "What are we going to do about Stephanie?" he asked, his voice low. She could see by the worry in his eyes that the matter had been bothering him for quite some time.

She bit her lips, glancing back at the other three in their group. Jessie sat alone, eating dried meat out of a bag while Stephanie and Matthew sat on a log together, quietly talking. The two seemed nearly inseparable now, though Annabella attributed that to the fact that Stephanie was probably the only member of their group Matthew was comfortable with. Todd had engaged Matthew in conversation, but the other boy seemed quiet and wary, especially after figuring out Todd was the Deliverer. Annabella couldn't read him.

Stephanie, on the other hand, seemed different. The connection she had created with Matthew seemed to make her bolder and firmer — she seemed more than willing to push the boy to act when he didn't want to. From what Annabella had gathered from Stephanie, that's what had started their friendship in the first place. From Stephanie's point of view, Matthew was a boy who needed a push.

A push to do what, though?

"Honestly? I don't know," Annabella finally responded. "What if the Veiled Lady lied to us? To make us wary of Stephanie somehow?"

"Stephanie isn't lying to us," Todd said. "She doesn't know who she is."

"So do we tell her?"

"What will it do to her? It'll change her. She might not even believe us. I don't even know if I believe it myself."

"It would explain why she's an Oddity," Annabella murmured, looking at Todd again. He was watching Matthew and Stephanie, his forehead creased in concern.

"So do we tell her?" He looked at her. "I mean, if it's true, she's a princess. You know what that's like."

"Hardly. Are you telling me to tell her?"

"I don't know what I'm saying. I just don't know how to tell her."

Annabella sighed deeply. "Fine. Fine, I'll tell her. Right now." She marched away from him, approaching the two on the log. They both looked up when she drew near. "Hey, Stephanie, can we talk for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure." Stephanie stood up and followed Annabella, who led her some distance away from the others. Annabella noted Todd slowly wandering over and sitting down on the opposite side of Matthew's log. He wouldn't look at her.

"What's wrong?" Stephanie asked, looking up at Annabella as they stopped beside a rather gnarly-looking tree. Its branches curled in all directions, almost like many arms reaching out to someone — perhaps to stop Annabella from what she was about to do.

She didn't need the tree to assist in that. Looking into Stephanie's face, she couldn't find a way to bring the truth to her lips. Oh, how easy it used to be to slap people with the truth and walk off, leaving them to suffer with it. Annabella couldn't do that this time. Not when the truth was so... life-altering. The girl standing before her — a former soldier, a fellow Oddity and Illegal — was also a fellow Princess. A Princess with a ranking that far surpassed Annabella's. Annabella had no gods in her ancestry. Stephanie had immortal blood in her veins. That fact was almost frightening.

So when Annabella opened her mouth, the truth never did come out. "Um, I..." She took a deep breath and chickened out. "I want to apologize. For the way I acted back at the compound and forcing you to leave with me. That wasn't right." She had meant to apologize for that.

Stephanie studied her for a moment and then tilted her head. "I forgive you. But I don't think you were wrong. I think it needed to happen. If it hadn't, we wouldn't have ever met Matthew or freed everyone in the mountain."

That much was probably true. "I guess. Um... tell me about Matthew. He's rather quiet." Annabella glanced at the boys, who seemed to be making small talk. "I can't read him, but there's something about him..."

Stephanie smiled, and Annabella caught something of a sparkle in it. "He's... I don't even know how to explain it, Annabella. He's powerful. He's got something none of the rest of us have, and I'm glad he came with us. We'll need him, I promise. He's a fellow Oddity too."

"You told me. But why?"

"He survived in the mines for five years. I heard some people call him 'The Boy Who Wouldn't Die'. He and the head slave master seemed to know each other pretty well, but not in a good way. He was a well-kept secret. He was..." Stephanie lowered her voice. "He was tortured a lot. It should have killed him."

Annabella studied Matthew across the distance, trying her best to be subtle about it. He seemed relaxed at the moment, carrying on a decent conversation with Todd and even Jessie, but he had his arms folded across his chest, a defensive gesture — or maybe he was just cold. She had noted different signs that gave away that he wasn't as trusting or as relaxed as he seemed to be, but for having survived years of abuse, he seemed to be held together alright. At least, he didn't seem to be falling apart as many people would be. Something made him different.

"He's unbreakable," Stephanie whispered. She had been watching Matthew as well. She looked back at Annabella. "He had the power within him to free all of those people in minutes. I think he always did. He just didn't know it until he was forced into action."

"Until you forced him into action." Annabella was getting a bit breathless. Unbreakable. Powerful. Everything their saviour was supposed to be. And.. if maybe... Annabella closed her eyes to focus her thoughts. If Stephanie was the Immortal One's daughter... could Matthew be the Immortal One's son? They didn't look like siblings, but looks didn't have to play a huge role. They both possessed dark brown hair, much like the Immortal One's.

Was it possible that Jessie had been right? That the one they had been seeking all along had been in the mountain?

"Stephanie," Annabella began, trying to sound nonchalant. "Do you think...?"

"That he's the son?" Annabella wasn't sure how much she liked Stephanie reading her mind so easily. "No. I don't think so, anyway. I think he's something else entirely."

"But..." Annabella trailed off, glancing at Matthew again. Was it possible that he could be her betrothed? The very thought seemed strange, and she banished it from her mind. It wasn't about her. "How do you know?"

"I don't know. But... he's not. He's something else, I can feel it."

"What is he, then?"

"He doesn't even know, but I think we'll all figure out soon enough. Just, for now... trust him. And if you can't do that, trust me. Please?"

Annabella eyed Stephanie for a moment. Somehow, this girl played a crucial role in the Veiled Lady's plans. Todd still trusted her... but what if that was what the Lady wanted them to do?

"Beware the immortal blood in Stephanie's veins. She will destroy you both before this is over."

She wanted them to be wary of Stephanie. Annabella wouldn't allow the witch the satisfaction. "Okay. Come on, we'd better get going."

When they returned to the boys and Jessie, Annabella found herself avoiding Todd's eyes. When they finally did lock gazes, he lifted his eyebrows and she scowled, jerking on her backpack a bit harder than necessary. She hadn't been able to tell Stephanie the truth. She was glad for his sympathetic smile — at least he understood. How could they tell Stephanie the truth? It wasn't that it was horrible... it just could be.

The rest of the hike through Miinhart Forest was, at the very least, uneventful. It took them several hours to get around the mountain to the edge of the woods, and when they did, they stopped to take in the view before them.

The Rocky Forest was not at all a forest, but a maze of cliffs and caverns rising and falling on the horizon like miniature mountains. Some stubborn trees grew from the rocky ground, raising bare, exasperated branches to heaven — they were few and far between, mere specks amidst the miles and piles of rock. Legend said that hundreds of years before, Englecon Mountain had been a part of an impressive mountain range before the Immortal One had crushed the other mountains in His fury. Annabella couldn't confirm the credibility of those legends — nor could she stop Jessie and Stephanie from telling them — but it did truly look as though a powerful hand had smashed the mountain. Even this side of Englecon looked jagged as if a knife had cut away a piece of it. It was like a graveyard — quiet, desolate, barren. Few had ventured into the Rocky Forest, and even fewer came out to tell the tale of their findings. From what Annabella had heard, what was seen was what was had: jagged, rocky terrain for miles and miles.

She led the others into it with a confidence some might have considered foolish.

It was slow going. There was no trail or path, so she forged one herself. If she had been on her own, she would have been able to go much faster, but her companions were incredibly cautious. Apparently, walking along a three-foot ledge beside a gaping cavern was terrifying for some people.

"Annabella, slow down," Todd called for at least the third time. "Not all of us are as sure-footed as you are."

She slowed to a stop, looking back at him in exasperation. He was many yards behind her, his back against the cliff wall to their left as he shuffled along, overly wary of the cliff's edge just feet away. Jessie was right beside him, looking annoyed — Annabella was glad she wasn't the only one who was irritated with Todd's over-cautiousness. Stephanie was several feet behind Jessie, and Matthew was taking up the rear a few yards behind her. He didn't seem fond of the sheer drop, either.

"The sun is going down, Todd," Annabella replied sharply. "Do you really want to be on this ledge when it gets dark? I don't think so!"

"I also don't want to go too fast and slip and fall and die," he shot back.

Annabella looked to her left, trying to see how much farther their path took them. The ledge went on as far as she could see — which wasn't very far due to the number of jagged edges the cliff-side had. From what she could tell, the ledge was getting smaller.

"You're gonna love this next bit," she called back to the others. "I think we have a foot of walking space from here on out." Hopefully it didn't disappear altogether. She didn't want to have to backtrack.

"Oh, great!" Todd replied in a tone that suggested it actually was not, in fact, great. "I told you we should have turned right at that crossroad!"

"That was, like, two hours ago," Stephanie interjected.

"It feels like we've been on this ledge for two hours!"

"Todd, stop exaggerating and hurry up, you're holding up the line." Annabella pulled off her backpack and crouched down to search through it. Pulling out a rope, she zipped up her pack and pulled it back on, handing the coil of rope to Todd when he reached her. "Tie this around your waist. If we tie ourselves together, then if someone slips, the others will be able to pull them back up."

"Theoretically," Todd mumbled, accepting the rope as Annabella tied the end around her waist.

"Matthew, switch spots with Stephanie. It'll balance out that way," Annabella ordered. "Then if Matthew falls, he'll have both Jessie and Stephanie to pull him back up instead of just Stephanie.”

Jessie's voice was smaller than Annabella had ever heard it — small enough that Annabella was sure neither Stephanie nor Matthew heard her. "I don't want to be beside Matthew."

Annabella stopped, looking down at Jessie with a frown. The girl was serious. There was a sort of fright in her eyes that Annabella found unsettling. She couldn't understand why Jessie was so scared of Matthew.

"Jessie," she said, her voice low. "He's not going to hurt you. I promise."

Jessie shook her head quickly. "You don't understand. Please."

"I'll switch spots with her," Todd said, reversing his efforts in tying himself to the rope. "If Matthew fell, she'd be pulled off right away."

Annabella frowned at him. She wasn't privy to letting kids get their way over petty reasons — but was it as petty as it seemed? Who was she to judge? "And if you fell? No different."

"She's in that position regardless." Todd carefully stepped around Jessie, handing her the rope. "It's not something worth arguing over anyway."

Annabella dropped it, but it made a note to talk to Jessie about it later. Each of them tied the rope around their waists — there was just enough length for all of them to do so. Annabella was wary over how it was getting dark so fast. She had hoped to find a safe place to bunk down for the night before darkness fully hit, but at the pace they were going that seemed impossible. They shuffled along the cliff's edge, the ledge becoming smaller and smaller the farther they went. Stephanie slipped once; Annabella had never seen Matthew move so fast. He caught her with a strong arm, pulling her back onto the ledge. Annabella wondered if he regretted joining their crew yet. He only seemed concentrated, very careful in where he placed his feet.

So it came as a shock when he was the first to fall. Stephanie's yell turned Annabella's head, and by that time Stephanie was already reeling, yanking down off the ledge after Matthew. Todd yelled too, instinctively reaching for Stephanie instead of bracing himself on the ledge — over the side he went, yanked down, down. Jessie shrieked as she was yanked forward. Annabella managed to grab the girl's arm, reaching behind her with a frantic arm for something to grab to keep her balance. Her hand found a tree root. She grabbed it as she felt herself being jerked forward, crying out as the jolt pulled at her arms. She felt each powerful jerk as her companions fell to their rope's limit. Each of them tore at her grip on Jessie and the root. Jessie shrieked again, practically horizontal to the cliff's ledge. Annabella braced herself with her legs, gritting her teeth through the strain.

"Annabella!" Todd's yell was shrill and ragged. He sounded like he had just taken a punch to the gut.

"You were supposed to catch them by staying on the ledge, Smartie!" she yelled back. She cried out as movement on the other end of the rope strained her arms. There was no way she'd be able to pull them up. "Jessie! How strong are you?"

"I can't carry them all!"

Annabella cursed, her hand slipping on the root, her feet sliding closer to the edge. "Stephanie! Matthew! Are you okay?"

"We're still alive if that's what you're asking," Matthew called.

"In theory, this had been a great idea! In actuality, it was really not!" Todd yelled.

"Shut up, Smartie!" she exclaimed, her anger and panic laced together to create a roar that sounded quite unlike her. Her hand was slipping even more. "Stephanie, can you climb up?"

"I can try." The rope jerked. Annabella's muscles screamed. Jessie panted as well, her face terribly pale. The more Stephanie struggled, the more Annabella slipped.

"Wait, wait!" Annabella shrieked. "Don't move! I'm slipping!"

"What do we do then?" Stephanie's voice was high with panic.

Todd suddenly spoke up. "Let go!"

"What?" Annabella's fingers were slipping.

"I said let go!"

"Todd!" Stephanie exclaimed in terror.

"Just trust me!" he yelled.

Annabella squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers slipping on the root. She trusted Todd, but to what end?

To the very end, it seemed. She let go.