I staggered through the portal, pausing long enough to close it behind me before collapsing against the nearest pillar. My back hit the stone, and I sank to the ground, knees pulled to my chest, breathing ragged. I did not know where I was but at the moment I did not care. I was out of the city, and I was alone.

  Well, not entirely alone.

  A cat trotted up to me and started rubbing against my legs in a manner that demanded attention. I reached forward and scratched behind its ears, calming my breathing. It was just the thing to break me out of my spiral long enough for me to take stock of my surroundings.

  I could feel the runes carved into the archway pressed against my back. The stone was worn smooth beneath me, yet the platform was a small one. Beyond the edge of the stone lay tall, golden grass waving in the wind. It was peaceful, save the faint sounds of nature. A small stream trickled by some distance to the left.

  It took me a second to realize part of my relief at being here came from the hum of magic in the air. It was more present here than it had been in the city, which further narrowed down the possibilities for where I could be. I was certainly nowhere the guard would be able to find me.

  Now that I knew more or less where I was, I focused on other things. Where possibly could I have gone wrong…I shook my head. There would be time for that later. First, I needed to find my partner and our handler. They needed to know what happened as soon as possible.

  Rapunzel, are you there?

  “Snow? What is going on? You are back ahead of schedule and reports just came in. Camelot is in lockdown.”

  Things didn’t go according to plan. I’ll explain later.

  “Are you alright?”

  I’m fine.

  The words in my head came out much harsher than I intended, and I quickly regretted it. None of this was her fault and her concern for me was genuine.

  “Where are you?”

  I’m at one of the gateways. I had to deviate slightly to avoid any run-ins with the guards or the town militia. Don’t worry, I made it out clean and thankfully, I’m not too far off course.

  “Do you want me to meet you there?”

  No. Let’s meet where we planned. I’m not too far and I could use the walk to clear my head. Send word to Dina. I wish to speak with her as soon as she can make herself available.

  “I will send for her immediately. Anything else?”

  There is nothing else I require, though I should probably freshen up when I get there.

  “You’re on your own with that one.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her tone.

  Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting help with that. Just send a message to Dina. I will be there soon.

  “I’ve got the kettle on. Want me to catch you up on the latest gossip?”

  I chuckled.

  Sure. Enlighten me.

  She launched into a detailed summary of the latest drama and rumors spreading around the halls of the Table, as well as the surrounding areas. It was all mostly harmless stuff involving people I was only vaguely familiar with. I let her words wash over me, chasing my worries away as I strolled through the field, the grass reaching up to tickle my calves. The sun was warm, and the landscape was familiar and for a moment I could forget about everything.

  Or try to.

  It was hard to suppress the mix of curiosity, irritation, and fear these stories inspired in me. I had no doubt Arthur’s death, and the loss of the pages would be the impetus to get the ball rolling for whatever the real plan was. Soon things would be set in motion, and we were still trying to figure out how…

  “Look out, behind you!”

  Instinct took over and in a second my dagger was embedded in a nearby tree.

  “I knew that would get your attention.”

  I rolled my eyes in response, recalling my blade with a gesture. Turning to continue, I halted just in time to stop myself from walking into a fencepost and proceeded to promptly trip over a rock. Before I could hit the ground a hand grabbed my forearm, stopping my fall and hauling me to my feet. The figure wore a cloak strikingly similar to mine, and even though she was completely covered, I knew exactly who it was. I started to say her name but stopped when she shook her head.

  “We have visiting Statesmen, heightened protocol.”

  I nodded, pulling up a shimmer to disguise my voice while straightening my cloak. Together, we walked side by side at equal pacing until we reached the door. It was not often we had Statesmen, but given the circumstances it made sense Lady Circe had already called them in. I could only hope they would help our endeavor.

  The door opened, and we stepped inside, set off immediately down one of the oh-so familiar hallways, not bothering to stop and talk to the people we passed. They paid us little mind as well, focusing on rushing about their business. Everyone wore a mask denoting their station, which was a practice most often reserved for special occasions. I pulled mine into being instinctively, covering my face in the intricate mask of a Master Ranger, complete with the embellishments of a Master Caster. We were not expected to wear it at all times, but certain occasions required it. Then I began running through the names of people who required such a thing. Dina must have sensed my unasked question.

  “Lady Circe called in one of the generals earlier this week,” she whispered. “Mulan is set to arrive soon to help coordinate the movements of her people with ours. She understands the need for discretion and swift movements in this situation.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  I nodded in response; fears calmed somewhat but not soothed entirely.

  After making a series of quick turns, we came to a stop in front of a door. My door. The door to my sanctum. My friends know me well. With a wave of my hand, I opened the door and entered, only to be nearly tackled to the floor with a hug by the person who had been waiting for me.

  “Easy there, Gothel girl. You have yet to ask me how my mission went,” I chuckled, hugging her back. She pulled back and looked at me, her piercing green eyes examining me closely.

  With her midnight black hair pulled back in a braid, creating a neat contrast to her pale skin, she could have been mistaken for a warrior princess had she been wearing her robes and blades instead of her loose-fitting tunic and trousers. While the first part of that might be right, I knew her better. She was not exactly royalty, but she was one of the single most powerful Rangers currently active, and she did not need a blade to be dangerous.

  Second to me, of course.

  “Explanations can come later. You looked like you needed a hug. Plus, I have been cooped up in my room all day.”

  “I thought you were going to work on one of your rune crafting projects. What happened to that?”

  “The Statesmen had some questions for me on runes and enchantments, mostly clarifying some of the more confusing parts of the arts.” Rapunzel dropped into her usual chair. " Well, they were asking all the masters, and I agreed to help with some of them. I was running out of things to do, and I couldn’t exactly go out on a mission with you gone. I finished compiling their answers a few hours ago. I guess that is around when whatever happened because most of them have withdrawn into a conference room since then.”

  I took a few steps back and sat down harder than I meant to in one of the sitting room chairs. Rapunzel and Dina arranged themselves around me. We sat in silence, taking turns to fix ourselves cups of tea. There was a small platter of pastries which I piled onto a small plate and set on the small table next to me. I was starving.

  “I’m guessing their questions were related to the stories or how the paper works?” I said as I started to pile my plate high with food.

  “Some of them, yes. The rest, I believe, were to find a way to protect people from the stories. Work like that is a bit beyond my skill level, or I would be in there helping them. Instead, I have been reading to see if I catch any inspiration. So far, not much luck.”

  “That’s good. Maybe they can come up with something to stop this,” I commented. I was not sure what to say next or how to start my part of the conversation.

  “Tell me what happened with your mission,” Dina said, eyes fixed on me. I nodded, reaching in my pocket to pull out my reports and pass them to her. She took them but did not look at them. Her attention was focused on me and what I was about to say.

  “All the events occurred as written. The poisonings. The sabotaged carriages. The attempted kidnapping. The nobleman almost unleashing a demon trying to extend his property." It had taken several attempts to convince the man to not doom his entire family to turmoil, but he finally got the point. "I was able to swap out the poisoned goblets and the cufflinks. I had to get creative with one of the carriages, but we were able to avoid that incident. I did have to interact indirectly with some of the household staff, but I made sure no one saw me.”

  “How did it go when you tried to make contact with him?”

  “It went well/ We spoke a few times, usually in a private study or library. Always somewhere no one would see us. He was a little hesitant at first but once I explained who I was and gave him my official reason for being there, he relaxed.” I snuck another bite of food. “I told him nothing of the story, of course. He was an honorable man. Genuinely interested in learning more about the world and how he could better help his people. He may have been young, but he had the making of a truly great king.”

  “Snow, you are talking about him in the past tense. What happened?” Rapunzel asked cautiously, putting her tea down.

  I took a deep breath, steeling myself. “The story asserted itself at his coronation. He died with the blade of his rival buried in his chest, while the rival himself was nowhere to be seen." The words nearly caught in my throat. " There was nothing I could do. I assume word will be spreading soon, once his guard have had time to gain control of the situation.”

  “And you made it out clean?” Dina asked.

  “As clean as I could. The ripple caused by the blade’s appearance caused a lot of chaos, so I used that to escape once I had a chance to secure the contents of the vault.”

  “The pages?” Rapunzel asked softly, though from the look in her eyes I could tell she already knew part of the answer.

  “Gone, along with everything else that had been in the vault. I managed to recover the other treasures, but the pages had been passed along to whoever orchestrated the theft. It must have happened the day of the coronation, but I didn’t have time to investigate.” I relaxed back into the chair, massaging my temples and sipping at my tea. A heavy silence weighed on us all as we waited for someone to break it.

  Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel them looking at me. For a while, no one spoke. They were waiting for me.

  “The last line was never crossed out, was it?” I asked reluctantly. It is a strange sensation to both dread the answer to a question and already know it in your heart.

  “No. All the other alterations appeared as expected, but the last line remained unchanged,” Dina admitted.

  “So after all that work, the story was completed in the end.” I rubbed my forehead. “This is the third time we have failed to prevent a story’s conclusion and the stakes are only getting higher. Soon no one will be able to ignore what is going on.”

  Dina nodded in agreement. " Circe is already in talks with the appropriate individuals, in the Statesmen and the Guard, to bring them up to speed on what is going on. Hopefully what evidence you were able to collect will help us answer some of their questions. To say this situation is complicated would be…”

  “An understatement?” I offered.

  “Yes. It is causing concern among some of the other heads of the Table, and I can’t help but agree with their concern. Someone is messing with dangerous magic.”

  “We have dealt with dangerous magic before,” Rapunzel commented. “What makes this different?”

  “I’m afraid there is not much I can say on this subject as there is still much that has yet to be confirmed.”

  “What can you say?” Rapunzel asked.

  Dina took a second to ponder the question, likely searching out the best way to convey information without causing trouble. Statesmen meant serious business, and with the Guard being involved there was no telling what level of secrecy was being enacted.

  “Things are escalating in an area we thought had long been dealt with,” she spoke with intentionality, “and that has many on alert. Some worry that if word gets out fear will spread, which would only make the problem worse. That means we need to be careful with how we approach things, lest we set the dominoes falling in the wrong direction.”

  My stomach tightened. Things were getting more complicated. Soon I would be forced to make choices that would have far-reaching consequences. Choices I was far too tired and emotional to think about rationally. Before I could formulate a response, Dina stood up and straightened her cloak.

  “It has been good to see you were able to return safely, Snow. I am afraid I must excuse myself for now, but the both of you have earned a break. Take some time to rest and I will send word of your next mission soon.”

  She bowed to both of us and swept out the door with a speed and grace few would expect from looking at her. I sagged back into my chair and Rapunzel groaned slightly at the mention of another mission.

  “Is it just me or has she only gotten more cryptic since this whole mess started?”

  “I honestly don’t know anymore.” I replied. “The only thing I do know is I need rest and I need it now. I haven’t slept well in the past few days and…”

  “No need to explain. You go rest. I will be in my workshop if you need me." Rapunzel paused in the doorway and glanced back at me. "And Snow?”

  “Yes?”

  “We will figure this out, I promise.”

  “Thank you, Rapunzel.”

  “Now go to sleep.”