His body shuts down once his head hits the pillow and I know he won't wake until morning at the earliest.

Any answers about what happened won't be coming from him.

It's a good thing there's someone else I can ask.

I take one last look at his sleeping face before leaving the room to search for Arabella.

When I find her she isn't alone.

As expected, my husband is still with her making sure that she's okay.

The kid's hovering at the ready to use his talents if necessary.

And then there's Larcen.

He's leaning against the wall, obviously impatient.

He probably wants to know what happened as much as I do.

I don't bother asking where Helena went to.

I have a fairly good idea of that.

Instead I get straight to the point.

"Why did you and Kent come here?"

I can practically see Riel's protective big brother instincts rise at that.

"They've obviously been through a trying experience. Let them get some rest first."

"No. It's fine."

Arabella's voice is surprisingly strong.

Perhaps this short period as Lady Auron toughened her.

Or perhaps she's always had mettle but no reason to use it.

She takes a deep breath before starting.

"I was meeting with Lord Ausset when the King's men showed up to arrest me. I don't know why. Kent and I escaped through the back. We kept running but eventually they found us. Kent..."

She hesitates then, obviously fighting with herself over whether to tell the whole truth.

"He managed to get us away from them, but he could barely keep going. That guy -"

"Roderick. He's one of my men. I had him follow you in case something happened."

She takes Riel's admission with surprisingly aplomb.

"Roderick seemed to come out of nowhere and told us that he could get us somewhere safe. We followed him here. That's it."

She glares at Riel then.

"What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you anyway? Faking your death? Going against the king? Not telling me any of this?"

I have to bite the inside of my cheek not to laugh at Riel's flabbergasted expression.

Glancing across the room, I can see that Larcen is just as amused.

"I was trying to protect you."

"What you did didn't protect me. It put me in danger and you intentionally caused me a great deal of pain. I thought you died, Riel. I mourned you. And the same goes for you, Sonia."

"I..."

Riel is at a loss for words.

To be honest so am I.

This is the same sweet meek Arabella?

It's Larcen who breaks the silence.

"If I knew your sister had this much pa.s.sion I might have recruited her instead of you, Riel."

At that Arabella rounded on him.

"So you're the guy who convinced my brother to do all this foolishness?"

"Your brother knew what he was getting into when he joined."

They glared at each other for a while before Arabella looked away in a huff.

"Uh, Miss Ara, please don't be mad at daddy and Riel and Sonia."

Arabella blinked before looking at Adrian in confusion.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because they're only trying to help those like me."

At Adrian's soft sad voice, Arabella seemed to melt.

She bent to look at him at eye level.

"Look, kid… This is a family matter."

I internally winced at her choice of words.

Adrian however squared his shoulders.

"Sonia and Riel are your family. I get that. What you don't get is that they and everyone here? That's my family. We may not all be related by blood and we may not look the same, but… we're one big messed up family. It hurts when you get angry at my family for helping me."

Arabella looks conflicted.

So am I, if I'm honest.

I care about both of them.

"Adrian, why don't you show Arabella around? Introduce her to some people."

It's Larcen who makes the suggestion.

The kid practically lights up at the thought.

He grabs hold of her hand before dropping it as though burned.

"You're not an empath, are you?"

I feel a pang at the question but push it down.

Adrian takes her hand again when she shakes her head and happily leads her out of the room.

Riel watches the door long after she leaves.

"If anyone can turn her around it's Adrian."

For the first time I hear something like paternal pride in Larcen's voice.