I'd always thought I'd be afraid of Death. Afraid of the cold embrace it would surely bring.

But this was different, the embrace was warm, it filled me, mended me. I felt whole again, the pain I was feeling was gone.

Strong hands grabbed me and before I knew it, I was being pushed and pulled up and out of the water. As soon I broke through the waves I gasped air into my lungs then coughed until I thought I'd puke again.

The strong arms didn't let me go as I coughed and when I turned to their owner my blood froze in my veins. He'd been at the party with Robyn. The celebration he was having--he'd spoken to me at the table.

Don't lose hope, Emylin.

"You!"

The man with the wild grey eyes held me, he kept me from going under the water again. I struggled against him as he held me in his iron grip. He didn't seem to be struggling to keep me close, even as he pulled me along and swam to a nearby boat.

I clawed at his hands as I struggled against the current. God, I was going to drown if I let him continued to hold me. "Let go of me!"

He pulled me closer to him. "Stay still or I'll let you drown again."

"I can swim!" I tried to yell over the water that threatened to overcome me again. Most of my struggle came out as garbled yells.

He pulled me closer still as he finally stopped swimming. One hand rested on the small boat as it bobbed in the water the other still held me tightly. As soon as I grabbed the boat too he let me go and watched Blackdown Keep in front of us.

He pressed a finger to his lips as I watched him then pointed to the castle.

Two figures walked around the perimeter of the castle in the dark, each holding what looked to be a torch.

The Royal Guard, I assumed. They'd take me back to where I was before inside and I could find out why Kymra decided to almost kill me.

"Stay quiet," he whispered softly. "You don't want them to find us, trust me."

Another confirmation of the voice. I knew that voice. It was the same one that spoke to me that same night. He had allowed me to relive my memory with Damien just when I thought I'd lose all hope.

Yes, I remembered him.

As soon as the guards disappeared he let out a long breath. "That was risky."

"Is that a joke?" I whispered. "I was just pushed off a balcony!"

He looked up at the castle, the moonlight on his skin stark against the darkness of the night. His grey eyes scanned the large ebony building. "Yes. That was pretty high."

I followed his eyes and tried to find what would be my balcony. I shook my head when I got dizzy following the monstrously high building. "I could have been killed!"

He shrugged. "Had you been human you would have."

"I thought I broke every bone in my body!"

He laughed and pushed his wet hair aside as it stuck to his forehead. "Actually, you did. Luckily, the Ylee healed you."

"Healed me?" I almost screeched.

He nodded as if it were a normal everyday occurrence that a magic river would heal people. "It's protecting your power." He chuckled. "That Kymra, she's so clever. She knew the Ylee would help you-"

I gritted my teeth. "She just pushed me off a balcony."

"Yes, she did. About time too, I was freezing my balls off out here."

I rolled my eyes as he pulled himself up and into the boat. Once in, he extended a hand to me.

I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He shrugged. "Fine, stay in the water, freeze, I don't care."

A large oar moved out from inside the boat and into the water, almost knocking my head over. "Watch it!" I hissed.

"You're in my way," he said with equal bite. "Either get in or move out of the way."

I groaned as I moved to climb inside. He grabbed my arm and with a mighty pull I was on board next to him. I almost fell in the water but managed to regain my balance with his help.

Water sloshed around the small boat as he sat down and started grabbing the oars again.

I sat down in front of him as he started to row. I crossed my arms over my chest, placing my palms under my arms. The water wasn't too cold but as soon as I was out, my teeth chattered. It was freezing. "Care to explain what's going on?"

"That," he huffed as he tugged on the oars. "Was a rescue mission. Successful too. I didn't think she'd pull it off."

"A rescue mission?"

The boat glided quietly down the river away from the castle with every strong stroke he pulled with the oars.

I turned back to Blackdown Keep. "You're going the wrong way."

He scoffed. "Right, Emylin, after what you just learned about Damien, I'm sure you want to stay with that psychopath. I am taking you to safety."

I shook my head. "Wait, how do you know that?"

He huffed from the effort of rowing the boat against the current. "Kymra came to me and told me. She saw that the King was not himself and correctly deduced he was being possessed by Robyn."

My heart sank. "It's true then? He really is possessed."

"You tell me, Lady of Elendil. Is your friend himself?"

Reluctantly, I shook my head. "No." The word stung as I said it out loud. No use in denying it now. I brushed a stray tear away before it could fall. "No, he's not." I let out a long breath. "I wanted to believe it was because he went through his own trauma when he died but - God, his eyes turned blue. All I see is Robyn in him now."

He continued rowing, the shore of the opposite bank closer now. "Fortunately for us, we have a secret weapon."

I sniffled. "Which is?"

"You." He stopped rowing and looked at me intently. "You are going to help us, Emylin. You will need to train, gather your strength away from him in order to do so." He nudged his chin towards the castle behind me. "The only one that will be able to save us is you - your power will help release Robyn's soul from Damien's body. When the time is right we will have our own attack and take back our kingdom."

I shook my head. Dizzy, I was so dizzy. "That's why she pushed me off the balcony?"

"She's going to take your place while you train, she's buying us time until you have enough strength to defeat him. As long as Robyn thinks that he is wooing you, winning you over as Damien, we can delay the attacks and keep you -the real you- and your human parents safe." He shrugged. "The balcony was extreme but if we took you by magic or through the castle we would have been caught."

I shook my head. "It won't work. He'll know. He always knows, he will be in her head - in her dreams - he Marked me. He'll know."

He shook his head. "He's no longer a Dreamwalker - that power died along with him, along with your Mark. Kymra needed your hair to make Dust to harness some of your power to fool him - he'll think he's dampening your power but he is really dampening hers disguised as yours. That's using Damien's power not Robyn's."

Spinning. Everything was spinning again. "This is wrong, I can't let her. I- I can't leave Damien."

He shook his own head. "What are you going to do? If Robyn finds out that you are down here and not up there where Kymra is -where she is pretending to be you- he will kill her, me, your human parents and lock you in a cell until he needs you to invade the other kingdoms."

I looked skyward, that familiar dread in my heart and stomach came back like an old friend. "Jeez."

After a few quiet moments, I spoke again. "Why aren't you using your powers to get us out of here?"

He shook his head. "Can't. Too close to the wards. It'll alert the Guard to our presence and if Robyn finds out you are really down here -" He stopped. "I thought you were smart."

The words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them. "Oh, bite me."

"Where?"

I watched him flabbergasted as he continued to row. "Rule number one of being in a faerie kingdom, other than never make a bargain with a faerie. Never dare one." He sighed deeply and his tone turned serious. "Train with me, Emylin. Allow me to help you help us. Defeat Robyn and you will get to go back to your life - as ordinary as it was. Back to your human existence or as Queen, I don't care."

He gave a mighty pull and the boat touched land. He began to get out of the boat and pull it towards the shore with me still inside.

I shook my head. "I remember you were plotting to help Robyn, how do I know this isn't a trap?"

I heard him scoff as he walked around the boat. "I'd sooner slit my wrists than help him. I refuse to sit idly by and watch the genocide of the Light fae play out again." He looked at me. "Which is what will happen to everyone else once Robyn decides to move on the other kingdoms."

Yes. I believed him. I believed he wanted nothing to do with the horrors that Robyn would unleash. He wanted to stop him. The pure disgust in his voice wasn't fake. "I don't even know your name."

"The name is Julian," he extended his hand to help me out of the small boat. "Will you join me or not?"