Eve sat in the corner of the bedroom, her knees curled to her chest, trying not to cry. Almost immediately after her capture, Nimueh had moved her and Elisa from the tower prison to a normal bedroom. Presumably, it was because she feared that Merlin would locate her two prisoners. Whatever the reason, Eve's wrists and ankles were manacled together in an uncomfortable way.

Her mute companion barely even looked her way. The young woman seemed entirely focused on the work before her, no matter how many wounds it inflicted on her gentle, ministering hands. After a while, the fascination of seeing someone from a tale Eve's mother had read to her when she was little went away. It seemed like the whole world had forgotten her and Elisa.

The door slammed open and Eve jumped as two familiar figures were thrown in. The door was swiftly shut behind them, and Emrys stood up, brushing his robes off, obviously attempting to regain some of his dignity. His indignant face softened a little when he saw Eve. "It seems our rescue could be going better," he said ruefully.

"Must you joke even at this horrible time?" Eve cried. She recognized the other young man as Gwaine, who was also attempting to regain some of his pride, apparently. "I'm to be burned at the stake!"

Emrys shrugged. "So are we," he answered, motioning to his brother. "That doesn't mean I can't think about anything else."

"I'm hungry," Gwaine offered.

Eve covered her face in frustration. When Emrys spoke, it was in a significantly softer tone. "I'm sorry, Eve. I didn't intend to make it seem like this was nothing, but I have complete faith that Father will rescue us."

"This was supposed to be a rescue for her, not us!" Eve protested. "If we can't even save her without half of us getting captured, how are we supposed to save our parents?" That was the crux of the matter. Whether Merlin was going to rescue them or not was a moot point. They couldn't even find a girl without getting half of them captured.

Without looking up, Eve knew that Emrys had sat down beside her. She didn't say anything, not even when he rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I didn't think of that. We're just learning what we're supposed to be doing. And it's not like it's our fault that we got captured. Rampion seems to have turned on us."

Eve looked up at him. "Turned on us?" she parroted.

"Oh, I'm certain there was a good reason for her to be wrapping us in her hair and dragging us off to prison," Gwaine said casually. He was attempting to scratch his ear with his hands cuffed together.

"The world is being turned upside down," Eve groaned, covering her face again.

Emrys sighed. "It's not so bad. Yet. I'm sure Father has everything well in hand." He stretched his legs out. "It's only a matter of time before he gets here. I'm sure of it."

. . . . . . . . . .

Even if Emrys was sure that his father would come to his aid, Merlin was not. He had sent the unconscious Lana off with the swans, telling them aloofly that something had gone wrong. They hadn't been able to answer him, obviously, but from their body language, Merlin knew they weren't pleased. They could join the club, he thought furiously. It seemed that since Aphrodite's death, nothing had been going right in The Story.

Rampion had apologized infinite times for what she'd done to his sons. To be honest, he couldn't lay any of the blame on her, no matter how much he wanted to. It was all Nimueh's fault, and he knew that his troubles with her were far from over. For now, though, he couldn't think about her. He needed to focus on what to do about Elisa, Eve, Emrys, and Gwaine.

The two sat in Lana's room—well, more appropriately, Rampion sat while Merlin paced anxiously. Try as he might, he couldn't think of any way to spare them from going to the stake. Any rescue attempt he could think of had to be enacted when the four prisoners would be bound to the stake. Finally, Rampion asked him the question he'd been dreading. "What are we going to do now?"

Merlin sat down on the bed beside her. She was twisting one of her long curls of hair around, looking at him for guidance and reassurance. Unfortunately, he had little to give her. "We have to wait," he said, hating himself for telling her yet knowing he needed her and her magic hair. "We have to wait until they bring them out to be executed."

For a moment, Merlin saw horror battle understanding on Rampion's face. Then she composed her features, took a deep breath, and said, "Then what?"

It was astonishing how quickly she recovered herself. Merlin watched her, seeing Will's innocence on her face as well as Rapunzel's unpredictability. It was truly remarkable how much his friends' children resembled both of their parents. He shook of the moment of thoughtfulness and said, "Then, my child, I do a wonderful thing called improvise. It's highly effective with magic, you know."

"So you don't have a plan," Rampion concluded.

"Not yet. But it will come to me, I'm sure. And if it doesn't, lobbing fireballs at everything that moves isn't out," he said with the ghost of a smile. "If it comes between saving Elisa and saving the other three, I will choose the other three. Nothing matters more to me at the moment." He stood up. "Come with me. There will probably be a crowd gathering already. We may as well take stock of the situation."

. . . . . . . . . .

Promptly an hour later, Elisa, Eve, Gwaine, and Emrys were brought out from the castle to the stakes set up in front of the castle gates. In the crowd, Rampion clung to Merlin's hand, trying desperately not to lose him. Her massive hair was wrapped around her body beneath her cloak, well-concealed. But it still made her nervous. If they were spotted, Nimueh had likely warned Hans to get eliminate them if he were to see them. They were the prisoners' last hope. If they were to get caught before they could save them ...

Merlin was watching impassively as Elisa was tied onto one stake. When the other three were placed on separate stakes, though, Rampion, looking at him carefully, saw his face contort with pain as the ropes were tightened painfully around their wrists. Emrys had a frown of concentration on his face, probably attempting to cast a spell. His magic appeared to elude him. "He needs to calm his emotions," Merlin whispered. "He'll never be able to cast any spells with his emotions in such a bind."

"Can you blame him?" Rampion asked in the same tone. "He keeps looking at Eve and Gwaine. He must know their lives are at risk." It was easy to speak of it so easily, for some reason. But if she thought about it too much, if she thought about all the things that could go wrong ...

King Hans emerged, and the people around them went deathly quiet. Elisa was still working on her shirts with her feet. Her dedication was enormously admirable, and her talent was actually surprising. But her gaze was firmly on Hans, the look on her face heartbroken pain. It had been easy to forget that Elisa and Hans were engaged to be married. It made Rampion feel even more terrible about betraying the others—even if she hadn't intended to.

Then an outcry was yelled by the townspeople. "Witch! Witch!" they shouted.

With each shout, Eve flinched, obviously wondering if it was her they were talking about. But from her place in the crowd, Rampion could see that they were clearly talking about Elisa. The young woman continued working on her shirts, ignoring the crowd's yells and even the occasional piece of garbage they hurled at her. A particularly rotten apple sailed past Elisa and struck Emrys's shoulder. That only seemed to upset the young sorcerer even more, and his efforts to cast a spell got more frantic.

The six swans gathered around Elisa protectively. When the executioner approached with his flaming torch, one of them spat at him, momentarily driving him back. "That won't work forever," Merlin muttered. He turned to Rampion. "Here. Take this." He pressed a knife into her hand. "Once it starts, go and cut the others loose. Start with Arthur."

"Once what starts?" Rampion asked, but Merlin had already started shoving his way through the crowd, running towards the stakes. She started grumbling under her breath as she moved to follow him.

Merlin reached the front of the crowd in a surprisingly short amount of time. Rampion was still far behind him. "King Hans!" he bellowed, a loud noise from such a small frame. It took Rampion by surprise.

It apparently took Hans by surprise as well. "You!" he said. "You're the minstrel's assistant! What is it?"

"I am not just a minstrel's assistant," Merlin replied. He lit up the entirety of his arms with fire, and the crowd screamed in one voice, hastily moving away from him. Merlin's voice carried over their shrieks. "I am Merlin Emrys of Camelot, Guardian of The Story! Whether you know it or not, killing Elisa will end your Story and doom you all to Final Death."

Hans recoiled. "I don't—you can't ..."

"You've been controlled by Nimueh," Merlin interrupted him. "Elisa is not your enemy. And neither are we. But I will fight you if necessary."

Rampion reached Elisa and started sawing at the ropes around her wrists with the little knife. All attention was on Merlin and Hans, and she went unnoticed. She nervously eyed the torch the executioner held, not five paces away from the stake she was standing on. If he spotted her and simply threw it, she and Elisa would both go up in flames.

Hans straightened, a look of defiance coming over his face. "You are attempting to fool me," he snapped. "And I will not be tricked by you, sorcerer. Men! Kill him."

"Stop her!" the crowd yelled, and Rampion realized with horror that they were pointing at her.

Elisa slapped her curls across Rampion's face and when she caught the other girl's eyes, she indicated the shirts at her feet. She had run out of brambles, and most of them looked completed. It took Rampion only seconds to remember how Elisa's Story went. She pressed the knife into Elisa's hand to let her finish cutting herself loose before grabbing the shirts.

Rampion flung them over the swans, and in an instant they were morphed from swans to the handsome young men they really were. Eli grabbed his newly-freed sister's hand and said to Rampion, "Come! Quickly!"

Rampion let the former swan lead her down from the stake, noticing his arm was still a swan wing. "Your arm!" she exclaimed.

Eli didn't seem concerned. "The shirt was unfinished," he said. "It matters little. Elisa, are you alright?"

Elisa nodded then laughed. It was an unusual reaction and both Eli and Rampion swung to stare at her. "What?" she asked when she saw them looking at her. "It is so strange, to be able to speak again! Oh, Eli, I'm so sorry about the wing," she added. "I ran out of time."

"It is nothing," Eli repeated. "I would gladly trade any number of my limbs to have you safe."

"There's something I must do," Elisa said, and she pulled away from him. The other two stared after her as she pushed her way through the crowd.

"What in the world is she thinking?" Rampion asked after a moment.

Eli sighed. "True love makes people do the strangest things," he said, indicating Elisa as she picked her way through the crowd toward Hans.

Rampion grimaced in annoyance. "She still has the knife!" she said. "And the others are still tied up."

The former swan mirrored Rampion's grimace. "That is bad," he agreed, running a hand through his curls in frustration. "Kommen sie. We have to get it back before the executioner sets them aflame!"

. . . . . . . . . .

Emrys squirmed desperately, trying to free himself from the ropes. On either side of him, Eve and Gwaine were attempting the same thing. None of them were having any sort of luck. "Emrys!" Eve yelled. "Aren't you a sorcerer? Do something useful!"

"I've been trying!" Emrys shouted back. "My magic isn't working!"

He heard Eve mutter something about him being entirely useless, and if it hadn't been so true, he might have been offended. What kind of a sorcerer was he, letting himself get dragged off by hair? Not to mention getting tied to the stake and having the threat of getting burned alive. There was that, too.

Eve let out a piercing shriek that fairly stopped Emrys's heart. He looked up, seeing the executioner approaching them, a wicked grin on his face, the torch in his hand. The former swan brothers were attempting to drive the soldiers away from their sister, and Merlin was trying to protect Rampion and Eli, caught in the middle. There was no one to help Emrys, he saw. The executioner had clearly singled Emrys out. Perhaps he'd seen the family resemblance between Merlin and Emrys. Or maybe he had something against short people. Whatever the reason, he stopped in front of Emrys's stake, raising the torch to light the wood on fire.

"I don't think so!" The yell made Emrys's head jerk up. A red-haired young woman had a bow in her hand and a quiver on her back. The executioner swung to face her and her arrow caught him in the leg. The torch fell from his grasp as he toppled over with a strangled cry of pain, the flames narrowly avoiding the wood of Emrys's pyre.

Gwaine had somehow managed to manhandle himself to freedom. "Lana, you're amazing!" he shouted to the archer as he sprinted forward. The executioner was attempting to get to his feet, but Gwaine made short work of him by bringing his boot swinging into the side of his head. The man slumped over, unconscious. For good measure, Gwaine grabbed the torch and tossed it away.

Lana joined them, the bow still in hand. "My father wasn't the greatest archer in Sherwood Forest for nothing," she said with a grin. She handed Gwaine a hunting knife. "Here. Get to work on the others."

Merlin had managed to climb on to the King's podium while Emrys had been distracted. The King's five guards blocked his path, though even from where he was, Emrys could see their pale faces and the sweat on their brows. Nobody wanted to face an angry sorcerer, particularly not Merlin. But Merlin didn't even seem to be angry. "We need to end this before somebody's hurt," he chided Hans. "Don't you see that we're not your enemies? Lana had a clear shot at your executioner, but she chose to wound him, not kill him. We're not the ones you should be fighting."

Hans drew his sword, pushing past his guards. "We will end this between us," he said decisively. "Just you and me, Merlin of Camelot."

Merlin made a face. "That's not what I meant," he answered. "I meant that you need to think about your true feelings, not the feelings Nimueh put into your head."

Before Hans could answer—judging from his rapidly reddening face, it wasn't going to be a good response—Elisa reached the podium and climbed up beside Merlin. Silence fell over the crowd. Everybody knew that Elisa was Hans's fiancée before she'd been threatened with execution. "Hans," she whispered.

Hans stood tense, though the tip of his sword wavered from where he'd leveled it at Merlin. "You ... you're a witch," he stammered. He didn't sound convinced.

Elisa approached him, and the guards didn't move to bar her way. As she got closer, Hans lowered his sword, apparently unable to point it at her. Standing an arm's length from him, Elisa gently reached up and laid her hand on his cheek. "Meine geliebte," she said.

Hans's hand hovered over hers, but he didn't touch her. The look on his face were too many expressions clashing to even be able to tell what he was thinking. Standing on her tiptoes, the much-shorter Elisa put her lips to Hans's and kissed him. Emrys could have heard a pin drop. He was a little disgusted—honestly? She was kissing the man who had put her on a stake to be burned?—but everyone else seemed to be holding their breath, their eyes on Elisa and Hans.

After what felt like an eternity, Elisa took a step back. When she moved toward Merlin, Hans grabbed her arm. "No," he said. "Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me." And he kissed her again.

Merlin turned from them and motioned to Emrys, Eve, Rampion, Lana, and Gwaine. "Come here," he told them. Obediently, they joined him on the podium. He smiled at Lana. "I'm pleased that you're well again," he told her.

"Was I ill?" was the bard's confused response.

Before Merlin could say anything, Eli scrambled up to the platform. There were tears in his eyes. "Elisa," he said. "Elisa, he's dead."

Elisa turned to her younger brother, her eyes narrowing a little. "Who?"

"Evan!"

Merlin cursed violently. The eyes of everyone on the podium swung to him. "I failed," he bit off. "I'm sorry, Elisa. Your brother was killed because he was a Guardian."

Tears were streaming down Elisa's cheeks. She pointed, and a Story door appeared behind Merlin. "Go," she ordered. "And never return. This is your fault. He wouldn't be dead without you."

Emrys wanted to argue, he wanted to insist on their innocence, but Merlin overrode him. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I wish I could have prevented this."

Elisa's hand shook, but she didn't move her finger from the door. "Go," she repeated.

Merlin nodded, his hand on Emrys's shoulder. "Very well. Come along, children. And well done," he added. Then they all went through the Story door.