"He will give you death, and you will love him for it," is what Cassie said to me last night on the drive home. And I knew, with my head out the window, that she was right. The wind entangled my hair the way Jace entangled my heart. Eyes closed, cheeks numbing, I knew every spoiled gift he gave me would resemble jewels in my eyes. I knew the flowers he would shower me with, dead and crumbling, would smell like life to me. I would see his hatred as love, his negligence as diligenc, his neglect as attention. Rose-colored glasses would hide these lifeless eyes. I would turn the little he gave me into the world, and I was prepared for how it would change me. Or so I thought.

About thirty guards and hundreds of civilians pushed him through the crowd to the king's arena. His followers had fled, fearing capture and imprisonment - possibly death. He was alone. The guards kicked him to the ground and barked at him to kneel before his king. "Is this the man who has been charged with treason?" The king requested, stroking his reddish beard. "Yes, your highness. This is him." The guard who spoke had bitter hatred in his voice. The man remained on his knees, his head bowed, despite the king's signal to rise. "Well," The king cast a sideways glance at the man kneeling before him. "What have you to say for yourself?" There was no answer. "Do you wish to defend yourself?" "It is as you have said." The man raised his head to lock eyes with the king. "You admit then to the charge of treason?" Surprise rang in his voice. Before the man could give an answer, the horde of villagers gathered in the arena began to shout in unison, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" "This man deserves death!" One man howled, his fist pumping the air. "Release to us another prisoner and kill this man instead!" A woman with a child in her arms called out. The king silenced the people with a wave of his hand. He looked again to the man before him, who showed no reaction to the people's cries. "Guards, have this man whipped," The king paused, "and then hanged." The throng of townspeople shrieked and cheered, glad that justice had been served. The man on the ground heaved a deep sigh, his breath shuddering. There had been few occasions on which he had been so certain he was going to die. He knew, as well as he knew anything, that this was the end. For now . . .

Rushing waves crashed at Ammer's feet, spraying drops of water upon his face. The ocean breeze swept through his clothing. Cree and Mae stood solemnly beside him. Ammer gazed across the sea. He was on his own. No Whitlock. No Mother. No one to save him besides his brother and friend. But what could three children do against a dark lord? "Does this adventure feel meaningless to anyone else?" Cree whispered. The howling wind nearly drowned his words. "How can you say that?" Ammer turned his body away from the ocean, but kept his feet in place. "We lost Mother to gain Father. It doesn't seem worth it. Back home, in Epoh, at least Father was alive. He wasn't with us, but he was still alive."
"But," Mae spoke up. "Your father was alive when everyone thought he was dead. Who's to say it's not the same for your mother?" "We saw her die. She was run through by a spear. No one could survive that." Ammer shuddered at the words his brother spoke. _She was run through by a spear. _Those nightmares he had about his father being slayed by a Rogue - those nightmares were real. Only, Ammer had never expected them to happen to his mother. "I guess what they say about happy endings isn't true." Ammer sighed. "In a way, this is a happy ending for us," Mae rested a hand on Ammer's shoulder. "The three of us are still alive to find your father, and we will find him. And then we'll find your mother."

Ammer, Cree, and Mae climbed aboard the tottering carriage. "Everybody set?" The aged coachman whipped the hurried steeds into motion without waiting for the children to respond. "What if I said no?" Cree muttered under his breath. "Quit it, Cree. We have much to discuss." Ammer straightened. He enjoyed being the one in charge. "This is a Delmont carriage. Since the Rogues know we're in Delmont, there's a possibility they're searching the carriages along the way to the sea." "If we get caught, we tell them the truth." Cree stated matter-of-factly. "But we agreed to lie!" Mae threw her hands up in exasperation. "Cree, this is serious. Our lives are in danger, and if we tell them the truth our lives will be over." Sometimes, Ammer wished he had been born with a more sensible twin. "I don't see the point in lying. The Rogues will only believe what they want to believe. They'll question us until we tell them what they want to hear," Cree crossed his arms, satisfied that he had won the argument. "And they know what we look like." "Ammer," Mae began. "I hate to say it, but Cree does have a point. We need a better plan." "There is no other plan. The best we can do is hope we aren't caught." Ammer groaned, annoyed that Mae had taken Cree's side. He was supposed to be in charge, not his careless, savage brother.

If I could count the ways I love you I'd be counting for eternity.

I'd discover numbers that don't yet exist.

Every star would perish, and billions would be born, before I'd finished.

I believe, if I were to measure my love for you, it would outweigh anything else in the universe.

The strongest forces of nature would gaze upon my love with jealousy.

I loved you in secret, grieving the romance "that could have been."

Now that I am loved by you in return, I have nothing else to give but my love.

It's as thundering as the ocean, as immeasurable as the stars, and as determined as a flower in snow.

Numbers and words are not enough to capture the amount of my love for you.

I cannot promise much, but I can promise this:

I will love you, and you alone, until this universe of ours blinks out of existence.

"It's okay, Laura." John's brawny arm nudged Laura's side. Confused, she turned her eyes toward John and swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?" "It's not your fault they're mad at you. You made a mistake, that's all. Everyone makes them. It's not the end of the world because Laura Brown messed up." John's voice was quiet, but his eyes swam through her's like they were attached on a long line. A single line tying John to Laura. One that she hoped would never be broken. "How did you know?" He could see through her, Laura was sure of that. He knew the way she allowed things she shouldn't to get to her. With a grin, John took her hand. "I always know." "Yeah," Laura strengthend her grip on his hand. It was warm and brought untouchable warmth to her body. "You do." John's eyes were still stuck on her. She wasn't sure he remembered how to blink. With the sun glowing above him, his face looked serene and golden, as if the beams of sun were gently kissing his face all over. Laura thought she might like to be the sun. Without thinking, she reached for John's other hand and held it tight. He didn't resist or say anything at all. He took one step closer and Laura's heart began to race so fast she thought she might collapse on the ice. "You're beautiful, Laura Brown." Laura giggled, something she hadn't done since she was a girl. She thought, once she was grown, there wasn't all that much to giggle about. She couldn't believe how wrong she had been. John released one of Laura's hands to caress her cheek, the way the sun caressed his. His lips parted and Laura wondered if he was about to kiss her. When his eyes dipped down to her lips she knew what was about to happen. Giggling again, Laura brought both her hands up to John's face and pulled him closer. Their faces were an inch apart. Unable to withstand the tension for a second more, Laura pushed her lips against John's. She felt his entire body relax in her hands. Her heart threatened to escape her, but she didn't mind. John's lips were on hers and he tasted spectacular. Jealous of the sunlight, Laura began to kiss John's face everywhere the light fell on him. One on his cheek, on his nose, his eyes, his neck, his head, and his lips again and again and again. This time, John giggled. Laura didn't know boys could giggle, but she liked it. Standing there, on the frozen lake, Laura became the sun and John her light.

I knew we were soulmates.

Since the very beginning, there was something different about you.

You made me feel safe.

So safe that I fell in love with you.

What a foolish, but honest, mistake.

How could I have known?

A tragedy had befallen us.

We were two sides of the same coin, always together, yet forever apart.

Doomed to exits in a world with each other.

One where we can never meet.

Once where we're forever connected, but always apart.

What a tragedy, to be forever out of reach.

To find somewhere you belong and then have it torn from your grasp is truly tragic.

As a child, I never belonged anywhere.

I was never very popular; I never stuck out.

I kept to myself because no one was interested in knowing me.

I'd make a friend or two, but they'd never last.

Soon enough, they'd leave me for someone else.

I didn't belong, until one day, I did.

I found a place to call home.

I found people who became my family.

For the first time in my life, I belonged somewhere.

I made memories that will never leave my bones.

I laughed a thousand laughs and cried a hundred tears of joy.

I spent as much time as I could in that place, with those people.

I would rather have been there than anywhere else in the world.

Because there, people saw me.

People noticed me.

People cared about me.

Some people even loved me.

I never wanted to leave.

When I was told I had to go, my heart broke.

I wept and wept, but not from joy this time.

How could I leave a place so dear to me?

How could I say goodbye to the place I belonged in?

I suppose that's the way life is.

We come and go, things change, people change.

Nothing stays the same, not the way we want it to.

Everybody grows up sometime.

The nausea crept up her throat from the pit of her stomach; the realization that yesterday was real. She had done what she needed to, at least, that's what she told herself in attempt to consolate her conscience. Slowly and methodically, she made her way to the bathroom sink and turned on the faucet, letting it run until steam fogged up the mirror. With hesitation and closed eyes, Cass plunged her hands into the scalding water and willed herself to keep them there until every drop of blood was erased. She closed her eyes to forget the crimson on her hands, but all she saw in her mind's eye was a sink full of reddened water. Again, the nausea made its way up her throat, threatening to release itself. Cass focused instead on the burning water that had suddenly become cold. The image in her head changed; her hands were in ocean water now, a water so pristine and deep blue it became red. The ocean had turned to blood. Cass couldn't forget what she had done. Despite what she told herself, she knew she had something terrible. She would have to learn to live with guilt, everyone would - if they wanted to survive.

"Who are you?" - those were the hardest three words to hear in my life. Ellie Hart was, and always will be, the love of my life. Decades ago, I was crazy about her, and she adored me like nothing else on this earth. We were inseparable. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on her at Bremington High School. I knew then, as young as I was, that I had never seen anything on God's green earth so beautiful as her. Ellie was angelic. Whenever she smiled, everything around her was bathed in her ethereal glow. Some, when I tell our story, say it was love at first sight. I tend to disagree; I was never a big believer in that concept. Knowing at first sight, well, that's more like it. When I first saw Ellie standing in our school hallway, I knew I would spend the rest of my life loving her. I don't know how I knew, but the belief was so intense it could have knocked me to the ground. And I was right.

Sixty Years Earlier... __ _ _I take my time walking to class down our school's long hallway. _7:20 A.M. _I still have about ten minutes before class starts. Although it's the second week of school, I still feel funny calling myself a freshman, but I guess that's life. Our titles that we learn to love don't last. Before I know it, I'll be a senior in a dull nursing home wishing I was young again.