The King's voice boomed from his place atop the throne. "Bellas and Toms! Welcome to the feast!"

Every cat at the table cheered. Jadis, in the darkest corner of the room, laughed under her hood.

"As you see, we have a special guest today. Jadis, please, sit wherever you'd like." The King smiled.

Jadis pulled her hood down with a bow. "Of course Your Majesty." She began walking toward the empty seat next to the King's.

"As if she'd actually listen to the King." somecat whispered.

Jadis didn't stop walking, but snapped and magic crawled it's way across the floor over to the cat. It swirled up him and caused him to cough.

Jadis laughed as she sat down. The cat scowled in her direction.

The King signaled to the servants. "Enjoy the feast!"

The servants quickly placed all the food o the long table and left.

Jadis grabbed all she could and shrunk it a little.

"So, Jadis, I was wondering. My son, you know him don't you? Birch?" the King whispered.

"Yes Your Majesty. I remember Birch." Jadis took a quick bite of food.

"Good. Um, it's his birthday soon, and I was hoping you could be there?" the King asked, a little too loudly.

"Why are you inviting _her_?!" A cat stood and slammed his hands against the table.

"Now, Newt, please," the King said. "It's just for this once."

"No!" Newt shouted. "The Prince deserves more then some sorceress visiting his party! Who knows what she could do! Everycat could be dead by the end!"

Jadis slid her chair back and got up. The King suddenly looked frightened. She looked over at Newt.

"Newt, dear, respect the King's decisions. Who knows what might happen if you don't." She made a slitting motion at her throat and sat back down.

Newt made grumbling noises sat back down too.

The King breathed a sigh of relief. "Everything is okay. Return to your food."

Everycat quickly continued their conversations. The King sat down and picked his fork up. "Thank you, Jadis."

"My pleasure, Your Majesty." Jadis whispered.

"Sorry I'm late, Dad." Birch's voice came breathlessly. He stumbled out from the garden exit and slipped into his labeled seat.

"I'm just glad you're here son." The King smiled at hi then turned to Jadis. "Now, as I was saying..."

"I would love to come." Jadis smiled. "Tomorrow correct?"

"Oh...yes yes it is tomorrow! I'll be awaiting your arrival." The King whispered.

"I can't wait to come. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe it's time for me to leave." Jadis slowly stood up and went toward the entrance.

"Dad, I still don't think we can trust her." Birch whispered urgently.

"Oh son, she's fine. I can guarantee if she wanted to do something, she would've done something already."

-----

Jadis opened her door and ducked into the house.

Cobweb floated up to her. "There you are! Where were you?"

"The King's feast. I apologize for leaving on such short notice, but it was urgent." Jadis went into her room and hung her cloak up.

"You're back now, that's all that matters. I fixed your staff while you were gone like you asked." Cobweb stated.

"Very good. Thank you Cobweb." Jadis took the staff in her hand and the top glowed purple.

The door to the small house creaked. Jadis and Cobweb looked toward it. Jadis glanced at Cobweb before heading over to inspect it. Cobweb stayed behind and looked around the rest of the house.

Jadis crouched and spotted muddy footprints right inside the door.

Cobweb gave a sudden shriek. Jadis spun around and stood up. Cobweb was gone.

"Oh petty Prince. Hand over Cobweb and nothing will go wrong." Jadis stated.

A crash sounded from downstairs. Jadis spun around and flung herself through the door and the stairs. Birch stood by a shelf with Cobweb in his arm.

"What are you doing?!" Jadis rushed toward him and fixed all the potions.

Birch backed away into the table in the center of the room.

Jadis finished fixing the potions and grabbed the Prince by the shirt. "You little...why are you even here?"

"I-I um...I don't know, I just thought I'd follow you or something..." Birch stammerered.

"And touch _my_ stuff?!" Jadis snapped. "You have no idea what I could do to you do you?"

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have touched anything, but I was curious." Birch whispered.

"Being curious is no excuse. Let Cobweb go." Jadis growled.

"Is that this guy's name? Cobweb?" Birch asked.

Jadis rubbed the sides of her nose with her fingers. "Yes Prince Ignorant. His name is Cobweb. Now would you kindly let him go?"

Birch pulled his hands back when Jadis tried grabbing Cobweb. "Take back that insult first and call me Your Majesty."

"You royals are so stubborn! Ugh! Please just let him go!" Jadis shouted.

"Not before you call me Your Majesty." Birch pointedly turned his head away.

"Okay, Your Majesty...hand him over." Jadis folded her arms.

"Bow." Birch commanded.

Jadis slowly bowed and stood back up. "Now please..."

Birch released Cobweb and he instantly flew behind Jadis.

"How come you're so...calm around my father but not anywhere else?" Birch asked.

"Because he knows something about me no one else does. And that I don't want anyone else to know." Jadis whispered.

"Really?" Birch ran his hand along her books' spines.

"Yes. He-_I_..." Jadis trailed off. A knock came from her door upstairs. "Oh no."

"What's the 'oh no' about?" Birch asked.

Jadis ran over to an open bit of wall and pressed a brick. A large stone door opened and she shoved him inside.

"Stay in there and don't touch anything!" Jadis shouted, shutting the door.

Birch tried to protest, but she had closed the door already. He turned around and looked around the room. Paintings, books, and potions were everywhere. Birch walked slowly over to one of the paintings and read the golden plaque beneath it.

"Darlia, the dearest mother of mine. Rest in peace..." Birch moved to the next painting and read it too. "The best brother anyone could wish for. I love and miss you still Bee."

Birch stood upright and turned around. Four more paintings like th others sat there, covered in a thin layer of dust. He walked around the table in the middle of the room and took each painting one by one and put them on the table. Birch rubbed the dust off and read each of the plaques. One said grandmother, father, grandfather, and the last one was...

Jadis opened the door. She took quick breaths and laughed. She looked up and almost stumbled. Birch was leaned over the fourth painting.

"No! I told you not to touch _anything_!" Jadis tore the painting from his grasp and put it back in its place with the rest.

Birch backed away and said nothing.

Jadis sighed and turned to him. "What did you see?"

"I know you shouldn't be here. All sorcerers and sorceresses left years ago after they defeated the evil that entered our lands..." Birch trailed off.

"But one didn't." Jadis continued. "One sorceress didn't leave. She said she wouldn't leave everything she loved behind. Your mother, Prince."

Birch stared at her stunned. "My mother...? But she's..."

"Dead, yes I know. Your father taught me all the sorcery she knew after she died." Jadis whispered.

Birch's face became hard and he went out of the room and up the stairs.

Jadis panicked and rushed after him. "Where are you going now?"

"To confront my father on why he didn't tell me this." Birch growled.

"No, please Birch, he can't know I told you!" Jadis shouted, pulling him back.

"Why not?" Birch wondered.

"Because he-he'll..._kill_ me." Jadis whispered.

"Okay? Why should I care about that? It's not like you're meant to be here. You should've died like all the rest years ago." Birch tried turning around.

"Birch, please. You have to listen to me! You, your father, and I are the only ones who know about how I got this way! If everyone finds out, the evil might come back and destroy the kingdom again. After going for me first. I'm the only one who can destroy it." Jadis pleaded.

Birch stopped tugging and sighed. "Fine. I suppose you're right."

Jadis sighed and smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Birch stared into Jadis's deep blue eyes. He slowly and cautiously brought his face down. She closed her eyes and brought her face up to meet his. Right before they kissed, Jadis pulled away and went back into her home.

"Bye..." Jadis closed the door slowly.

Birch turned around and left. He kept looking back just in case until he was back at the castle.

-----

Jadis rumaged through the potions on the shelf. Cobweb floated beside her on the desk.

"Uh, Jadis?" Cobweb nervously asked.

Jadis backed away from the shelf and turned to Cobweb. "Yes?"

"You seem...worried about something." Cobweb whispered.

Jadis sighed. "To be honest, it's Birch." she turned back to searching through the potions.

"Why would you have to worry about him? He'll be fine, it's not like his dad will kill him or something." Cobweb flew over to the potions with her.

"He almost _kissed_ me, Cobweb! Imagine how his dad will feel then! The King might as well burn this place down or force me to leave." Jadis shouted.

Cobweb placed a ghostly hand on his friend's back. "Nothing like will happen, Jadis. If you love him too, then say something. I promise, you won't regret it."

Jadis backed away from the potions again and went into her room, shutting the door.

"Need time alone?" Cobweb asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes please." Jadis whispered.

"Okay. I'll be out here if you need me." Cobweb replied.

Jadis walked slowly over to the bookshelf by the window and reached up to grab one when crashing noises came from outside. She cautiously peeked out her window. Jadis widened her eyes and ducked down just as a small bomb flew into the room and exploded.

Jadis stumbled up and grabbed her cloak off the bed before heading into the main room of the house quickly. She grabbed the stunned Cobweb and sprinted out the back door.

Unfortunately, two masked cats waited for her.

"Cobweb, snap out of it, please!" Jadis screamed. The cats got closer. "Go and tell someone about this, I beg you!" she tossed Cobweb into the air and he shook his head before flying directly to the castle.

The masked cats reached Jadis and grabbed her. They bound her hands and forced her to watch as they threw more and more explosives into her home.

"No, please, I'll do anything! Stop!" Jadis cried.

"Then don't move." One cat growled.

Jadis swallowed hard and the toms stopped. They dragged her around the side of the house and shoved her into the back of a strange wagon.

Jadis felt more and more tears run down her face. Whoever these strange cats are, they sure don't want her alive.

"Do you want some water?" a kind voice asked.

Jadis slowly turned her head toward it. A light brown male cat sat across from her.

"N-no thanks." Jadis whispered, turning back the other way.

"Oh, okay. You know...theyre not really going to do anything to you. They just run different strange tests then let you go." the tom said.

"How do you know?" Jadis tried to keep from sobbing.

"Because they did it to me once. I still remember it; I was in a room hiding and the cats came in and took me away. I had been so scared then. I didn't know if they would let me come back. I was forced to leave my sister behi-"

Jadis cut him off and quickly turned to him. She wiped a tear away. "You had a sister? What was her...nevermind. It's probably personal."

"What's her name? You were going to ask what her name was? Right?" he asked.

"Yes...yes I was..." Jadis stammered.

"I can barely remember, but I think it started with a J..." he paused.

"Jadis. Her name was Jadis wasn't it?" It felt weird saying her own name.

"Now that you've said it, I remember it was. But how did you...?" he broke off.

Jadis stared deep into his eyes, begging him to remember her.

"You know because...you are Jadis. You are my sister..." he sat stunned.

The wagon hit a bump and knocked Jadis off her seat and her hood off her head. Then the wagon stopped and the back doors open. Birch stands there with a scar running through his right eye.

"Birch! I'm so glad Cobweb got to you! Where is he?" Jadis exclaimed.

Birch didn't say anything. Jadis's heart dropped like a Boulder in her chest.

"Cobweb didn't give me any message..." Birch whispered.

"W-what do you mean? Who told you?" Jadis demanded.

"The King told me. He said Cobweb had come to him and told him to tell me that you were taken." Birch explained.

Jadis stared straight ahead and whimpered. "Cobweb was all I had." Her face hardened. "The King did something, I know it. Bee, go and try to get us back to the village."

Bee nodded and leaped from the back. Jadis grabbed Birch's hand and pulled him into the back with her. He closed the doors.

"Your brother's alive?" Birch whispered. "Didn't you say he died?"

"I _thought_ he died. Apparently, he was stolen and run tests on. Like I was about to be" Jadis explained.

Birch moved to Jadis's side and wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay."

Jadis leaned her head on his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure..." Birch smiled.

-----

Once the trio arrived back at the castle, the King's guards awaited them. Two of them scanned the wagon and one other asked Bee questions.

Then the wagon began moving again.

"We're close to the castle." Birch whispered.

Jadis raised her head and peeked out the window. Villagers were shouting and screaming. A few held signs with her face on it.

Jadis shrunk down and cried. "The villagers..."

Birch growled and looked out the window too. Then he looked at Jadis and softly kissed her head. "Everything's going to be alright. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Ever. And that's a promise."

Jadis smiled slightly. The wagon came to another stop and villagers began banging the back door. Birch put Jadis's hood up and let her hide the rest of her face in his shirt as they stepped out of the back.

"I'm scared." Jadis whispered.

"Don't be." Birch replied.

They walked through the crowd. Bee soon joined them right as they reached the castle.

Guards swung the doors open.

The villagers behind continued shouting and chanting and advancing. One of them managed to grab the back of Jadis's hood and remove it.

Everyone gasped. Jadis widened her eyes. The guards shook themselves out of shock and pulled Jadis away.

"No!" Birch growled. "Let her go!"

Bee tried tearing his way through the growing crowd around his sister, but it was no use.

"I said let her go!" Birch shouted again.

"Please your Majesty, stay back! This monster could do anything!" a guard shouted.

"Monster..." Birch stammered. "She's no monster!"

"Your Majesty, stay back!" the guard shouted.

Jadis took a deep breath. "Go Birch."

"What?" Birch looked worried. "But they'll..."

"Do as he says." Jadis spat.

Birch allowed himself to be pushed away.

"No!" Bee shouted.

More guards closed the doors behind them.

-----

Jadis tugged at her chains again, desperately trying to get her hands free.

"It's no use." she whimpered. "The story ends how it began, lost and alone."

She looked around, but all there was to see was plain gray stone walls and the outside prison.

"Let me go!" someone screamed.

Four guards carried a kicking Bee down steps and tossed him in the cell with Jadis.

Jadis hung her head and the chains clinked.

Bee rushed to her side as soon as the guards disappeared. "Did they hurt you?" he demanded.

"No..." Jadis whispered.

Bee lifted her head up. "Don't be like that Jadis. I may not have been there to know you all these years, but when I did, you were the most brave sister I knew. Can you try to be that again? For me?"

Jadis took a deep breath. "You're right, Bee. But not about this."

"Look at me, Jadis. I didn't get myself thrown down here for nothing. I need you to be strong. Birch and Cobweb need you to be strong." Birch snapped.

"All these years I thought you were dead. Then you show up and..." Jadis paused. "I cant be strong anymore. Everycat in town is against me and there's no way to use magic to get myself out of here."

Bee sat straight up. He removed a shiny silver key from his pocket and unlocked her chains.

"What are you doing?" Jadis asked.

"You're coming with me to go to Birch and that's final." he stood and held out his hand.

Jadis sighed. "I don't get why you don't give up on me. I've done nothing to deserve this."

Bee leaned down. "You're my sister, Jadis. There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do to save you no matter where you were. Now, it's time to go get Birch."

Jadis took his hand. He pulled her up and she nodded confidently.

-----

Jadis sprinted the rest of the way and burst into the King's throne room.

"Oh, there's my beloved Jadis! You finally made it! A little too late though, unfortunately. Guards!" the King shouted.

Jadis's eyes flashed purple. She waved her hand and sent a purple wave straight into the guards. The King barely looked worried.

He signaled with his hand and more guards came forward. Not to attack her, but instead they were carrying something. They dropped it in between Jadis and the King before tearing off the black covering.

Jadis gasped and backed away. Birch's face was barely recognizable.

"No no no!" She cried. "How could you! Where's Cobweb!"

"Oh, the pesky little ghost? I don't know. He disappeared after I trapped him." the King replied. "And as for Birch, he was never my real son. I just called him that to throw you off."

Jadis's eyes burned the deepest purple. She fell to the ground and stared death at the King. She screamed and sent a larger purple wave of magic toward him.

"Obviously that isn't going to work. After all, I'm the true evil." the King's body began shifting. He laughed as it did. His face became black, then the rest of his body.

Jadis could only watch. The King glanced down at Birch.

"Now, I will destroy everything you once loved." the King growled.

"No!" Jadis dived for Birch and covered him. The darkness shrouded them both.

That's when she realized there was a barrier around them. When the darkness subsided, the barrier became a tiny orb of magic.

The orb flew right into Jadis's chest. She gasped and felt magic wrench itself from her hands and go straight for the King.

"No!" He shouted. "Do something, you idiots!"

The magic had already hit him before the guards could do anything to stop it. It curled around him and the darkness started disappearing.

"Get back! Stop that!" the King tried shooing the purple magic away. "This is all your fault...!" the King disappeared with the rest of the darkness.

The purple magic became an orb again. It shuddered and poofed.

Cobweb blinked his eyes. "I'm alive! I'm alive I'm alive in alive!" he exclaimed.

"Cobweb!" Jadis cried.

He spun around and flew down to her.

"I missed you." Jadis whispered.

"Me too." Cobweb replied. "Now what about your one true love?"

Bee walked up beside Jadis and put a hand on her shoulder. "Do it." he whispered.

Jadis took a deep breath and twirled her finger. A thin cloud of magic appeared. Jadis pointed the magic down at Birch.

It laid itself on him like a blanket. The scars on his face and body closed slowly. He blinked open his eyes and looked up at everyone.

Jadis wiped a small tear away. "Welcome back, dearest Birch."

Birch stood up and pulled Jadis close. "You saved me, Jadis. But why?"

She buried her head in his clothes. "Because I love you."

Birch smiled and lifted her head up to face him. "That's what I thought." he leaned down slowly and kissed her.

-----

"And do you, Lady Jadis, take King Birch to be your husband?" the priest asked.

"I do." Jadis said confidently.

"Then by my power, I pronounce you husband and lady. You may now kiss the bride." the priest whispered.

Birch scooped Jadis up and kissed her. Everycat cheered. They backed away a bit and Jadis lifted her hand up, blasting purple explosions like fireworks into the sky.

Cobweb wiped an invisible tear away. Bee gently pat his head. A female cat approached Jadis and Birch.

"Your Majesties?" she whispered.

Birch put Jadis back on her feet and faced her. "Yes, ma'am?"

"I would like to say congratulations. And give you this." the cat handed Jadis a sparkling blue jewel necklace.

Jadis took and turned it over in her hands. "I really appreciate this, thank you."

"My pleasure." the cat winked and disappeared into the crowd.

Jadis leaned her head against Birch's shoulder and smiled out. "Time we head back to the castle?"

"I believe it is. And when we get there, I have a surprise for you." Birch smiled mischievously.

Jadis slipped her hand under Birch's and the duo made their way through the crowd all the way to the castle. Many villagers congratulated them along the way.

Cobweb and Bee greeted them happily. "This way, Majesties." they opened the doors together.

Jadis and Birch continued down the hallway. When they reached the throneroom, he released her hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small book. He flipped through the pages and finally stopped at one. He waved his hand around a bit until the tiniest blue spark of magic appeared.

"You've been learning magic?" Jadis wondered.

"I've been trying..." Birch smiled. "And I was wondering if the most beautiful sorceress in all the land...would mind teaching me?"

Jadis laughed. "I wouldn't say the most beautiful, but...yes. Yes I will teach you. But don't think that just because I love you...I won't go hard on you."

"I didn't think for a second." Birch whispered.