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Rhea giggled at Kara and darted forward to the playroom, spinning in a little circle ,arms outstretched, once she was in there. She was so excited to meet other children, she was giddy! Adonijah was the one in the Borderlands that was closest to her age, and he was a whole nine years older than her!

"Saki!" she called out, looking around for the cat. "The children are here!"




Timaeus swallowed hard and closed his eyes tightly, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Help?" he said through clenched teeth. "How do you plan on helping? No one can help ... no matter what, that girl is dead! How are you going to bring her back?" An innocent girl lost her life! ... and it was all because of me ..."

He lowered his head, hitting his head against his knee over and over again.

Rhea giggled at Saki and ran to scoop her up into her arms. "We can meet the children together!" she beamed. "It will be fun!"

She grinned up at Kara. "What do we do while we wait for them?" she asked eagerly. "There something we have to get? Or prepare? Oh, I know! Blankets! Because they'll be cold from the snow!"

And without waiting for Kara's reply, she ran towards the bookshelves, Saki still in her arms, and reached for the blankets that were folded on the upper shelves.


Timaeus glared at Lin, his eyes red and swollen now. His violet eyes seemed to be burning with anger and fear.

"Help me?" He laughed, but there was no mirth in his laughter. "Help me with what? I screwed up, Lin, there's no help for that. Help me ... right. Help me so I don't get another child killed!"

He rose from the bed suddenly and strode to the other side of the room, putting his hands against the wall and lowering his head in shame.

"I keep seeing it," he whispered, his fingers closing into fists. "Over and over ... him ... the girl ... and I still don't know if it was me or him ... He told me ... leave him alone and the girl would be safe ... I didn't trust him ... I shot him ..."

But had the man's knife split the girl's throat before or after the arrow had hit? Either way, it was Timaeus's fault: had he lowered his weapon, the man would have let her alone.

Rhea skipped after Kara, still holding Saki carefully. "Do you need some help?" she asked, eying the large box full of clothes of just about every size imaginable. "There's a lot in there ..."

At that moment, the front door opened once again and a mass of children's footsteps could be heard. For the first time in the decades since the ranch had begun, however, the children were silent. When they all began trailing into the play room, shivering and wet, Haradhel's own face was grim, though she was trying not to let it show.


Timaeus lowered his head to the wall and closed his eyes, his fists clenching tightly. It didn't matter what Lin said, he knew the truth. A child was dead, and it had been his fault. How was he supposed to deal with it? He had tried not to think about it until now, but now that he was home again, there wasn't much else to do.

"Twenty five years this ranch has been running," he choked, struggling to control his emotions, "and I caused the first and only death ..."

Rhea nodded. "Upstairs," she confirmed. "I'll go get them!"

She set Saki on the floor and ran out of the playroom and towards the stairs. She was so excited about having a job to do to help with the children that had been rescued that there was a bright blue glow and her wings sprouted from her back once more, narrowly missing some of the children as she ran past them.

The children gasped in surprise and amazement, and some of them pointed after Rhea as she ran, and most of them began to murmur to each other.

Haradhel met Kara's gaze and smiled faintly. There was hope for these children ... they were still mourning the loss of their fellow captive, but it seemed there was a chance that they could be healed, even inwardly.



"I'm not going to cry," Timaeus swallowed, even as a tear escaped from his eye and fell to the floor below him.

but how could he not? He was familiar with death, yes, and death in itself did not bother him - but it was the first time that he had seen the death of an innocent, someone who did not deserve it. Someone who had been counting on him to keep her safe.

His shoulders began to shake, and he turned and put his back to the wall, slowly sliding down the wall to bury his face in his hands.

The child whose leg Saki had brushed up against jumped and squealed with surprise, then looked down to see what it was that had touched her. When she saw Saki, her eyes grew warm, and she crouched down to get a closer look at the strange winged cat.

"Kitty?" she asked in Common Elvish, holding out one hand for Saki to sniff, assuming that she was like normal cats.



Timaeus clenched his jaw tightly and closed his eyes even more tightly. Lin's arm around his shoulder reminded him of his mother ... she had done the same thing ... innumerable times over the years ... comforting him when he was troubled ...

He choked on the lump in his throat again, and another tear slipped from his eye. What semblance he had of control was crumbling, and within moments it dissolved entirely, leaving him hugging his knees to himself, crying harder than he had ever cried before, his entire body shaking with guilt-driven sobs.

The little girl squealed and fell backwards with surprise when Saki spoke to her, but the next moment she was right back there, kneeling down and putting her face near Saki's.

"Did you talk?" she asked in amazement, eyes wide. "How did you talk?"


Timaeus gave in completely, finally allowing Lin to comfort him as she so desired, his head still buried in his arms as he grieved for the life he had caused to be lost.

The little girl looked around at the other children who were around her, then looked over them trying to find Haradhel.

"How does she talk?" she asked, her tone filled with awe.

Haradhel laughed softly. "That's just the type of cat she is," she smiled warmly. "Now why don't you all play with her, and we'll get you all washed up and dressed in some nice, warm clothes, what do you say to that?"

There was a general cheer, and Haradhel looked over to Kara and nodded. Yes, these children would be just fine.