The longer she was on this journey, the less she trusted anybody.

It was a difficult decision. Though Tolliver scared her more than anyone else ever had, he was here, in the same house, and he knew where Thomas was. If he would just let one thing slip...

Regardless of her suspicions about Ellen, though, Quinn knew she was right about one thing. If Tolliver were to discover that she and William were here... her last two encounters with him left her with no doubt about what would happen if he ever got his hands on her. And if he was bold enough to kidnap and hold one prince of Eirentheos as soon as an image of William being held by Tolliver flitted across her mind, she lifted the trapdoor.

The heavy wood had barely fallen closed when there was a muffled moan from somewhere below her, and then the distinct, quiet cry of an infant. Quinn ran down the stairs as quickly as she could, carefully keeping her hand to the stone wall in the blackness, as she didn't have a candle.

By the time she stepped into the pale, flickering light of the basement room, it was silent again, except for the labored breathing of those who had been working to deliver the baby, and the even softer sounds of the little person lying in Natalie's arms, suckling for the first time.

Although Quinn tried not to make any noise, William's head still snapped around in her direction as soon as she stepped off the stairs.

"What's going on?" he whispered. "Where did you go?"

She crossed the floor and knelt down beside Natalie, who looked sweaty and exhausted, but stared, enraptured at the tiny face nestled against her chest. Andrew looked nearly as tired, but he, too, was fascinated by the baby, a little girl, still naked and streaked with blood. William unfolded a large, heavy, quilt and laid it over mother and baby. Quinn helped tuck the edges around them.

"I told Ellen what was going on," she said. "She's going to do what she can to keep Tolliver away from where he'll easily hear us."

William nodded, relief evident on his face.

"Of course, that means we won't be able to hear him, either."

Andrew looked over at her, scrutinizing her face. "We can trust Ellen to tell us what we need to know. I know you're not convinced of that, but she wants Prince Thomas back safe, too."

Quinn wasn't convinced, but she gave him a half-smile anyway. Then she and William turned their attention to silently cleaning up the mess and getting the new family comfortably settled.

When, at last, they'd done as much as they could with their limited resources in the dim space, and Natalie and the baby both slept, wrapped in Andrew's arms, Quinn and William retreated to the opposite wall of the basement. They laid out several blankets and pillows to distance themselves from the cold, hard floor, and then simultaneously collapsed.

"Thank you," William whispered, after several minutes.

She lifted her head from the pillow she had buried it in, and looked up at him. A question about why he was thanking her rested on the tip of her tongue, but when she saw the sincerity in his eyes, she bit it back, and nodded instead.

Suddenly, his hand reached for hers, his warm fingers nestling next to her palm, and warmth flooded through her as she grabbed onto it, twining their fingers together. She didn't know what it meant, or even how things would be between the two of them tomorrow, but for that moment, she didn't care.

Tolliver was upstairs, and Thomas was still missing. Her mother was surely in a panic, and Zander was probably never going to talk to her again. The only thing in her world that felt right just then was her hand in William's.

* 24 *.

The Friends of Philip

"QUINN!"

The frightened whisper roused her instantly from sleep, although she could tell she'd been deeply under. She blinked several times, trying to focus on William's face in the candlelight, while also attempting to shake off the vivid dream she'd been having and decide if this was real or yet another vision.

"What's going on?" she whispered back. William didn't look fully awake, either. She wondered what time it was.

He didn't answer, but a second later she didn't need him to. The sound of heavy footsteps on the wooden floor above them reverberated through her body, speeding her pulse. There were no voices, but at least three different people were walking across the kitchen. Her breath caught when all three reached the back of the kitchen, paused, and then the steps moved inside the pantry.

It wasn't a conscious decision by the time the first foot touched the top wooden step, all but one of the candles had been extinguished, and William and Quinn were crouched on either side of Andrew and Natalie, both of them awake and wide-eyed in the faint glow from the single flame that William held close to his face, one hand cupped around the light, ready to extinguish it instantly. The tiny girl in her mother's arms let out a quiet grunt as she shifted in her sleep.

The footsteps slowed and softened as they came down the stairs; the sound was almost cautious. Only one person was actually coming down. Quinn frowned at William, and he nodded. Her breathing calmed.

"Hello?" the soft, familiar voice called from the bottom step.

William held the candle out in front of him, casting a small circle of light over their huddled group. "We're over here, Nathaniel."

"Is everyone all right?" Nathaniel asked, his eyes surveying the disarray.

William stood. "Yes, everyone's fine," he whispered.

"Tolliver is gone now," Nathaniel said, speaking in a low, but normal voice. "Ben and Marcus followed him for quite a while. He isn't coming back, at least not tonight."

Quinn hadn't realized just how tight the muscles in her chest had been until they suddenly released the tension they'd held the whole time she'd been down in the basement.

"Did he ... do we know where Thomas is?" she asked.

Nathaniel shook his head, his eyes on the floor. "Marcus and I were able to come up with a few leads today, but we don't have anything solid yet."

"What kind of leads?" Quinn pressed, a growing sense of urgency rising within her as images from the dream she'd been having assaulted her.

"We..." Nathaniel looked around, studying the little family on the floor, the massive pile of dirty linens. "It looks like it's been a long night for everyone. It's very late, or rather, it's very early. We can talk about this in the morning, upstairs in the light, when we've all had some rest."

"Thomas is hurt."

The lines around Nathaniel's eyes grew tighter, but he didn't look surprised. "That's possible."

"We need to find him. Now."

"Yes, Quinn, we do. But not in the middle of the night with Tolliver still out and about not far from here."

She jumped when William's hand found her shoulder. He was trembling, but his squeeze was reassuring. "Tomorrow. We'll find out where he is tomorrow, no matter what we have to do." His voice was determined, fiercer than she'd ever heard him, and his words were just enough to get her through the next half hour as they worked to get everyone upstairs and settled.

There was no discussion of William or Quinn heading for their separate rooms this evening. William pulled blankets and pillows from the linen closet, and they lay down on couches opposite each other in the sitting room. Nathaniel told William that he would take over the nighttime care of Natalie and the new baby, after congratulating him on a job well done.

Quiet voices and low clinking sounds coming from the kitchen woke William from his light sleep. He glanced over at the windows only the barest hint of light came through the cracks in the curtains. It was still before dawn.

He looked over at Quinn, asleep on the couch across from him. She appeared to be soundly asleep, which relieved him. Her dreams during the night had been vivid, making her restless. He worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep, and even more he worried about how much more often her dreams had been coming, and the way she often woke disoriented and frightened. He was afraid that their increasing intensity didn't bode well for any of them, Thomas in particular.

He made his way into the kitchen, and was surprised to find Ellen, Henry, Marcus, and Ben gathered around the table, fully dressed and awake, finishing breakfast. Nathaniel sat by himself at the long counter, bleary-eyed over a large mug of tea.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Ellen stood, and began carrying dishes to the sink. William walked over to the table and started gathering up the serving dishes.

"We're getting ready to leave," Marcus said, his deep voice still thick with exhaustion. "We're going to try to get in touch with some contacts who might have an idea of where Thomas is being held."

"We're?" William raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Ellen interrupted. "The four of us. You, Nathaniel, and Quinn are going to stay here with the Grambles."

"What? No! I want to go Quinn will want to go."

"What you want is not the issue here," Ellen said, meeting his gaze squarely. "Nor is what Quinn wants. It is too dangerous. You're a prince of Eirentheos, William. We can't risk having you out on the roads, or in the villages, exposed. Putting you or Quinn, or even Nathaniel at any more risk of being discovered here could jeopardize everything, and none of it will bring Thomas home safely."

"But..."

"It doesn't matter. The decision has been made. Nathaniel wasn't happy, but he has agreed. The dreams that Quinn has been having... We will find your brother William, and we will do it today. But you must stay here. My home is the safest in Philotheum, and it's close enough to the border to get you all out quickly. I know you don't trust me; I can see it in your eyes. But for right now, it's a chance you need to take."

He sucked in a breath, and looked over at his uncle. Nathaniel stared back, a pleading expression on his face, and finally, William nodded.

Quinn awoke just after everyone had departed. He was sitting on the couch across from her, watching and waiting.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Strands of her auburn hair had come loose from her braid while she slept. The sight of her caused a strange, warm feeling in William's chest.

"Nathaniel is back with Natalie. Everyone else left."

"What? Where did they go?" In an instant, she looked wide awake.

"Ellen said they are going to try and find some contacts that might help them find out where Thomas is being held. I got the feeling they weren't all going to the same place."

"And what are we supposed to do? Just sit around and wait all day here again?"

Her frustration matched his. It was all he could do to sit there and not take her hand and go flying out the door, but he knew they couldn't. Instead, he shrugged.

"That's all we really can do right this second." Nathaniel said, appearing at the end of the hallway. "It's safest for the three of us to be here, rather than out where we might be seen, or worse."

His irritation with Nathaniel came flooding back.

"What exactly are we doing here? Why didn't I know any of this, Nathaniel? How could you have brought us to the home of Tolliver's half-sister without telling us? Does my father know?"

Nathaniel was silent for a long time as he studied both William's and Quinn's faces. William was beginning to grow impatient when he finally began speaking. "I'm very sorry for not telling you about this, I really am. I've never made a habit of keeping things from you, William. It's been my privilege and joy to watch you grow and help raise you, and to share with you the things that I know. Keeping these secrets has been very difficult for me."

"Then why, Nathaniel?" Quinn asked. "Why bring us all the way here without telling us?"

"There are reasons. Maintaining the privacy and anonymity of the Friends of Philip is of utmost importance. Before we arrived, and I was able to communicate with Ellen, I wasn't sure what I was going to be able to share with the two of you. And yes, William, your father knows. He knows everything."

"Is Ellen someone we can trust?" Again, Quinn beat him to the question he'd been about to ask.

"I would trust Ellen with my very life. Her goals are the same as ours, I promise."

"Ours? William and I are here for one reason Nathaniel. To bring Thomas safely home. What are your goals?"

Quinn's question startled William, but he realized that he wondered the same thing. He scrutinized Nathaniel's face as he answered the question, but his uncle met Quinn's gaze flatly, his tone steady.

"My number one priority is the safety of Thomas as well as protecting William, and you, Quinn. There is nothing more important to me than returning the three of you safely back to Eirentheos and returning you home to your mother. Nothing takes precedence over that nothing."

William could see in Nathaniel's eyes that he was telling the truth. He hadn't realized how rigidly he'd been standing until that realization relaxed him a little. He glanced over at Quinn. Her tight fists and shallow breathing told him that she wasn't as convinced.

"You are right, though, Quinn, that I have other goals." He reached up to the collar of his shirt and pulled it aside. William gasped when he saw the joined circles the symbol of Eirentheos melded with the circle that represented Philotheum, inked in an odd shade of blue.

"I don't think I understand. Why are you... How long have you been in the Friends of Philip?" Though William had no experience with these things, nothing about the tattoo looked new.

"From the beginning of the movement, or at least from very early on. I have always been involved in the effort to oust Hector and now Tolliver, and restore the crown to its rightful place to restore the full connection between Eirentheos and Philotheum."

"Restore it to whom?" Quinn asked. "Who should actually be the king of Philotheum?"

"When the rightful heir to the throne dies in this case, King Jonathan's firstborn son, it passes to the heir's firstborn, naturally. In the absence of the heir's firstborn, it passes directly to the next firstborn in line. For example, if something happened to Simon before he produced an heir, the crown would pass naturally to Maxwell's first child, or then to Rebecca's, if Maxwell didn't have a child either. Jonathan fathered five children before he died. With no heir from Samuel, the crown should belong to the child of Ellen, who is the second-born. As she has no children, the next heir in line is Charles' first-born daughter, Gianna."

"Can a girl really have the crown?" Quinn asked.

Nathaniel shrugged. "There is nothing in our history, in the original edict from the prophet of the Maker that prohibits it. In fact, the only stipulation is that the heir must be the first-born; there is no mention of gender. Through whatever accident of nature is at work, the first-borns of first-borns in both Philotheum and Eirentheos have been born male going back many generations. We've never had to deal with the question until now."

"So where is Charles' heir Gianna, now?" Quinn spouted forth her questions without hesitation all of the things William wanted to know, as well, but he couldn't seem to make his mind work fast enough to form the questions. He felt another wave of gratefulness for the girl's presence. Without her, he'd probably have made it all the way back to Eirentheos not understanding half of this.

"Gianna and all of Charles and Thea's children," these words sent an electric shock through William, "reside most of the time in an undisclosed location with relatives in Eirentheos. For their safety and the protection of the Friends of Philip their identities are kept secret. Gianna is only ten cycles of age."

William swallowed hard. "So what is your plan? A child can't take the throne."

"Our hope was to stave off Tolliver's actually assuming the throne for as long as possible, while we worked on those challenges. We hoped to avoid war. Nobody in the Friends of Philip or in your kingdom, William, wishes to fight. Even one casualty would be too much. Now, though, with Tolliver's increasing impatience, and with what Thomas has done..."

William nodded.

"So it sounds like we need to just get Thomas, right now, and worry about this other stuff once he's safe." Quinn said.

He could see, in the change of the girl's posture, and the look in her eyes, that her concern had shifted. The anxious tapping of her foot, the twisting and untwisting of her sleeve these were over Thomas. A different expression had appeared in her eyes, though, a new question. Something Nathaniel had said had put a new question in her mind. Perhaps it was the same thing that had put a new, niggling worry in William's thoughts, though he wasn't sure exactly what it had been.

The rest of the day, alone in the house with little to do, the three of them were at loose ends. Quinn felt the nerve-wracking anxiety starting to take over again. The small Gramble family stayed secluded in the back bedroom, sleeping and caring for the new baby. Nathaniel had gone in a few times, Quinn and William only once.

Out in the sitting room, every second dragged by. William's face was ashen, and the circles under his eyes seemed darker every time Quinn looked over at him. Nathaniel didn't look much better. Every time there was the slightest noise outside, one of them would jump.

She could tell that she was on the verge of losing her composure again, but she was determined not to this time, so when Nathaniel, after the fifth time he'd paced back to the guest bedrooms, returned with a deck of strange-looking cards, she agreed that having a distraction seemed like a good idea.

"How do you play?" she asked.