Den gulped. His heart rose up in his throat. Every ounce of blood rushed to his face, then drained away, leaving him trembling and soaked with clammy sweat. With swift desperation, he muttered the spell word Master Nour had given him for just such an occasion.

An instant later, the memories of Den Brodson were gone, locked deep away where they could not be retrieved until the spell wore off, and the man who remembered nothing beyond being Lord Darramon's frightened cook was falling over himself to offer his apologies. "Forgive me, sers. I meant no harm. The children came to pet the kittens. I saw no harm in allowing it."

The girls rose to their feet, each clutching a tiny, squirming kitten and one of the woven jingle balls. One of the girls looked stricken, the other sullen. The stricken one turned eyes big as saucers upon a brown-haired, blue-eyed Fey. "We just wanted to pet the kittens, Kieran."

"You promised we could have another kitten, since we had to leave Love behind," the sullen girl added. She tilted her chin up. "We came so we could tell you which ones we wanted."

"You promised you would not leave the safety of Teleon. If you do not honor your word, why should I honor mine?" The blue-eyed Fey, who appeared to be the leader of the group despite the deceptively youthful look of his face, pinned the girls with such a hard, cold look that the stricken one burst into tears.

"The young ladies would like a kitten?" the cook asked quickly. "Please, take them. Whichever ones you like. Consider it my gift. I'll even throw in these little jingling balls for the kittens to play with. They do love them so." He offered up a handful of the little woven balls.

"There!" the bold child proclaimed. "You see? He doesn't mind."

The blue-eyed Fey gritted his teeth and said, "Put. The kittens. Down. And go with Kiel this instant. This instant!" he snapped when the foolish, headstrong girl opened her mouth again.

The child glared, but set the kitten down. It began mewing and rubbing against her ankle. "You see? It wants to come with me."

"Please, Kieran?" the sweet child begged. "Please, please? We'll be good forever, I promise. You won't even have to watch us. Please, can't we keep them?" She cuddled the fluffy black-and-white kitten to her cheek, her big, wet eyes filled with such longing, any man with half a heart would find it difficult to refuse her. "Please?"

The blue-eyed Fey, Kieran, exchanged a brief look with another Fey who had long blond hair. When he turned back, Kieran fixed the cook with a piercing gaze that made the man's brain buzz woozily. A moment later, the cook was blinking and holding his head, and the Fey was weaving greenish magic over one of the toy balls, disassembling it and crushing the white stone inside to dust.

"What was this?" The Fey held out the white dust that remained.

The cook bit his lip. "Just a pretty stone, ser. It makes the bells ring better when the ball rolls." He held out the pouch of stones and poured several more into his palm. "Here, you see?" The Fey picked up one of the white rocks and examined it closely. "Pretty as moonstone, but not half so dear. If the children play Stones, I'm happy to let them have these, too."

"Oooh, Lillis and I love Stones." The bold child peered over the Fey's arm.

The Fey named Kieran snapped to attention and scowled at the child. "You have a cat and a toy for it—be grateful for that. Now get back to Teleon. You are in serious trouble."

The bold child snatched up her kitten and one of the jingle bells and beamed. "Thank you, Kieran! You won't be sorry!"

He pointed. "Go."

With a grin for her sister, she went.

When the girls were gone, the Fey nodded to his companions. Their swords slid back into their sheaths. Kieran bowed to the cook. "Good day to you, Goodman. Thank you for your generosity. The girls will not bother you again."

"Oh, 'tweren't no bother, ser," the cook assured him. "And here, do take these." He put the remaining jingle balls inside the pouch with the rest of the stones. "They're bound to lose the ones they have. And there's enough of the stones in here for a game."

"Beylah vo. Your generosity does you credit."

"You're more than welcome. The children are welcome to come play with the other kittens whenever they—" He gulped. With a shimmer of magic, the Fey had simply…disappeared.

Leaving Lord Darramon's bewildered cook turning in confused circles, Kieran raced after Kiel and the girls. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the Spirit weave, he dropped his invisibility weave and stormed towards the girls.

They were cuddling their new kittens happily, but their pleased expressions faded when he drew close. They had never seen him angry, and at the moment, he was as furious as he'd ever been in his life. Anything could have happened to them. Anything!

"Get upstairs to the manor. Your father is going to hear about this."

Now they looked worried. As well they should.

Though Kieran had never in his life laid a harsh hand on any female, the mortal idea of a swift, hard paddling was sounding more appealing by the moment! He marched the girls up the long, winding roads of Teleon and into the manor house.

Sol met them at the front entrance, his face creased with worry. "What is it? What's happened?"

"The girls decided this was a good day to take a walk in the fields beside the outpost."

Sol's brows climbed up to his hairline. "They…what?