Once on the other side of the portal, I composed a quick message to Dina. Rapunzel and Morpheus watched over my shoulder as I wrote.

  Dearest Dina, it has been some time since we last spoke. Things have been rather busy here, and I am afraid I have not the time to journey home to visit. I was hoping perhaps you would be able to come and meet us for tea tomorrow. There is much I wish to share with you about our recent journeys.

  Safe travels. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

  Snow

  Satisfied, I folded the paper and bound it with a thin piece of twine. Magic began to furl around the pages. Closing my eyes, I held in my mind an image of where I wanted the paper to go. There was a faint thrum in the air as the paper began to float. I made a motion with my hands as if I was holding an invisible ball and twisted, focusing on the image. The power built and built, thrumming through the air, encircling the note, encasing it in ethereal energy.

  Once the energy hit its peak, I gave the imaginary ball a swift twist, bringing my fingers together. The magic snapped, and the paper winked out of existence. I opened my eyes to see Morpheus staring at me, absolutely dumbfounded.

  “Showoff,” Rapunzel scoffed playfully.

  I smirked. “Just because you’re too scared to try it…”

  “That is not true, I just find runes more reliable.”

  “Runes are great, Gothel, but we can both agree my way is faster. Also, didn’t one of your runic transports send a tome into the back of a farmer’s wagon instead of the library?”

  She glowered at me, sticking out her tongue like a petulant child. I tried to keep a serious face but one look at Morpheus’s bewilderment sent me into peals of laughter. This set Rapunzel off, and Morpheus followed soon after. We laughed long and hard, reaching the border of hysterical. The ridiculousness of it all coupled with the stress had us primed for this. I didn't even try to control myself.

  By the time we were all able to breathe again, I found much of the stress had melted away. There was still a lurking sense of doom, but I pushed that into the back of my mind. All thinking about it would do is cause unnecessary distress, which would help no one. We needed more information and hopefully, we would be getting that soon.

  “So, what now?” Morpheus asked.

  “There is a little inn not far from here. They will have a place for us to stay while we wait for Dina to arrive.”

  “It is an off-the-books safe house of sorts,” Rapunzel explained. “We can’t be running back to the compound every time we need to have a private conversation.”

  “Does the Table know about this?”

  “All of them?" I replied. "No. Just those who need to.”

  “I thought I was the one who gave the vague answers.”

  “Maybe you need to find better questions.”

  “Come on now, no point in standing here. I don’t know about you, but I could use a hot meal and a nap,” Rapunzel said emphatically.

  She set off down the dirt road and I nodded for Morpheus to follow before falling into step with him. We had a few minutes before we would arrive at the inn, and I wanted to check in on him.

  “So, what’s your read on this?”

  “I had my suspicions about the book, but I was missing a few key pieces of that picture. Now we know the how and perhaps a bit of the why. But we are missing the who.”

  “I don’t know if the who is missing so much as the who is…hidden,” I admitted. I could see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but I did not meet his gaze.

  “Not hidden for much longer, by the rate at which things are coming back. Just don't think directly, think around it.”

  “I just want to remember already.”

  “And you will. Start with the memory just to the left and the rest will fall in alongside it.”

  I sighed, more than a little frustrated, and tried to do as Morpheus said. I reached for a memory that was not the one I wanted but was on the same metaphorical shelf.

  There I found flashes of memories of a place I could not quite picture, as well as a young boy who helped me find my way to the orphanage. I knew this boy with his bright green eyes and…

  “You are the one who took me to the orphanage,” I stated. Morpheus looked surprised by this statement.

  “Yes. I am impressed that you remember.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you would be safe there, among the other lost children.” He chose his words carefully, dancing around whatever he wanted to say. I knew better than to push, so I sidestepped into the next logical conclusion.

  “We grew up together.”

  “Indeed we did, if only for a short time. And what trouble we would get into.”

  “Remember the time we accidentally set free that pack of squirrels?” I asked, pieces of memories starting to slide into place. “It took us days to round them all up and even then, I think we missed one.”

  “I do remember that. I took a lot of the blame even though the whole thing was your idea.”

  “There was absolutely no proof either of us had anything to do with it. The Rabbit was just upset about the prank before that and decided to blame us.”

  “Glad to see you remember him as well. That’s good. My presence is having the effect I hoped it would.”

  “Who were we to each other?” I asked.

  “We were the best of friends. Inseparable.”

  “So much so that even after we were separated you could not stay away.” It was subtle, but something shifted in his eyes.

  “I had to make sure you were safe.”

  “Had to or wanted to?”

  He gave me one of his patented looks that said a lot of things while giving away nothing. There was a conversation we needed to have, and as much as I wanted to have it now, this was not the time. It needed to be private, and it needed to not be rushed, neither of which was possible right now.

  “Fair enough,” I shrugged. " Let’s talk more later. We should hurry before Rapunzel decides to leave us.”

  As if on cue, Rapunzel shouted at us from up the road.

  “Are you all coming?”

  “No, we are going to camp here in the middle of the road,” I snarked. “Of course, we are coming.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  It took us a few minutes to catch up but thankfully she had not gotten too far before noticing we had stopped. She heaved an overly dramatic sigh as we approached, and I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Come on now, it’s not far.”

  Indeed, the roof was visible over the trees from where we were standing. It would take several minutes to get there, but the weather was perfect, so I did not mind the walk.

  “Have you heard back from Dina yet?” Rapunzel asked. I tucked my hand into my pocket and was pleasantly surprised to see it was not empty.

  “It would appear so,” I replied, opening the letter.

  Dearest Snow, I believe you may have your dates mixed up. Today is the day we are to meet for tea! I will be arriving early, but do not worry. I have the entire evening free. I very much look forward to hearing how you have been doing, as well as meeting this new friend of yours.

  I will also remind you that some of our friends have invited us to dinner tonight. We can discuss that over tea.

  See you soon,

  Dina

  “Well, Rapunzel, it seems there is not a nap in your future.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Our friend is already at the inn, and it seems we have other plans to attend to this evening.”

  “Of course, we do.”

  Once inside the inn we were ushered into the private room where Dina sat waiting for us. She stood to greet us, a warm smile covering her face.

  “Snow, Rapunzel, how wonderful to see you looking so well. And who is this young gentleman?”

  “Dina, this is Morpheus. Morpheus, this is Counselor Dina of the Table.”

  “A pleasure to meet you,” Morpheus said, bowing low. Dina’s eyes flicked to mine when I said his name and I nodded, resisting the urge to blush.

  “The pleasure is mine. Any friend of Snow’s is a friend of mine. Now, let’s get down to business. It sounds like you have a lot to tell me.”

  There was a pot of tea and a pitcher of ale on the table, along with drinkware and a variety of treats to snack on. Everything we would need for the long, undoubtedly complicated conversation we were about to have. It took a few seconds to get drinks distributed but once everyone was settled, I started talking.

  “Has anyone noticed our absence yet?”

  “Not that I am aware of but perhaps I am less aware than I realized.” She indicated Morpheus, who flashed a dazzling smile.

  “I assure you, my presence here has nothing to do with the Table and everything to do with something I can’t quite talk about that I am sure you are well aware of,” he explained. She nodded, more satisfied with the answer than I was.

  “I have been able to cover you so far, claiming you are taking some time to yourself to gain control of your emotions and pursue some personal investigations. I can buy you another day before people start asking questions. After that, I make no guarantees.”

  “Good to know. We will be careful to remain in the shadows as much as possible." I glanced at Morpheus, who wasn’t bothering to hide his smirk. "Morpheus only found us because he knew where to look and…well, he’s Morpheus. He plays by a different set of rules. Otherwise, the only people we have seen are of the ask no questions say nothing variety.”

  “Oh good, I had hoped I remembered their location correctly,” Dina said.

  “You did.” I explained our journey so far, from entering Neverland to speaking with Pan.

  “While we were in the camp,” Rapunzel continued, “Tinkerbelle told us a story of the old king I had never heard before.”

  “Did she now?”

  “Yes. She told us of the Seer's book and how it fell into the hands of the king,” I said, each word increasing the heaviness in my chest.

  A silence fell over the room. It was certainly a lot to take in at one time, even for someone who knew the story leading up to our mission. Pieces were starting to move faster. I could only hope Dina would have some insight on how to keep things from spinning out of control.

  “So, it looks like you have learned a lot in a short period of time,” she started. “That is good.”

  “We did not have much choice. Things are beginning to escalate." My mind flashed back to the death of Arthur, and I shook my head. "With how events have unfolded within the last week, I have no doubt there is someone behind this. The moves are far too calculated to be happenstance.”

  “I agree. There is something bigger operating from the shadows, but I am afraid I know not who or why." She spoke with deliberate care. "With the message from our friend in Neverland, however, certain things have been made clearer. You are all aware of the story of the old king, of course. He used something we sometimes call story magic, for lack of a better term, to control his people." Her gaze grew distant. "Few still alive remember the tale and the fall of the old king, and even they can speak little of it.”

  “Most in Wonderland knew little to nothing of what was going on, save the royal families,” Morpheus commented. “It wasn’t until I was older that mother ensured I understood what was going on." He looked at Dina. "You were alive and active in the rebellion during that time, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, Morpheus, I was," she admitted. "Some of the old magic continues in my family. It gives us longer lives, though not without cost. The others who were alive during the time of the old king have similar situations." Once again, she paused to consider her words. "Being of the old magic means we are bound by the old magic.”

  “Like Tinkerbelle…” I murmured.

  “It is remarkably similar to the Fae rules, though not of the same source.”

  I leaned back, pondering the many things that made more sense now.

  Dina rarely spoke of her family. The older generations were dangerous, but those who were still alive went to great lengths to isolate themselves. She claimed they had no interest in the world. Her brother was into some rather odd magical studies, but she insisted he was mostly harmless.

  I believed her on that.

  “I am afraid while I understand how magic works in this world now, I am rather unfamiliar with the old magic of this place. What makes it special?” Morpheus asked hesitantly.

  “You don’t ask easy questions, do you?” I asked.

  “Apparently not, though I don’t know if there are any easy questions with this situation.”

  “Fair point,” I conceded. “There isn’t really a specific definition for ‘old magic.’ Back when the world was new, those with the ability to interact with magic were few. Like everything else, it was fluid and impressionable. It was also not understood by those who wielded it." Granted, this was still a problem, but the repercussions I had to deal with were different from the ones Dina faced when she was my age. "Some were afraid but others sought to test the boundaries of what it could do. Through focus and force of will, some communities and even individuals were able to craft certain...patterns into the fabric of its existence. At least that is how I understand it. Some of those patterns have faded from existence but others still exist.”

  “I heard it described as different practices causing something akin to ripples in a pond," Rapunzel offered. "Magic got used to behaving in certain ways and the more people continued the practice, the longer the effect lasted. Some practices were lost to time, so the remnants have disappeared. Meanwhile others, such as runes, continue to be practiced widely." I could tell from the look on her face that she was resisting the temptation to launch into a lecture about the history of rune crafting. "There may be some variations to how people craft their runes, but the core principles remain and so magic still follows that pattern.”

  Morpheus nodded, eyes calculating something in the middle distance. I took a sip of my tea and waited patiently for him to finish processing. It was a rather vague answer, but there was not much known for sure. Even after countless individuals devoting years to study, we had nothing but well-researched theories. Old magic was likely a mystery we would never solve.

  “So, it’s like molten metal. When it’s heated, it is smooth and fluid and can be shaped into things through repeated formation,” he said. “How interesting.”

  “That...is actually a good comparison,” Rapunzel admitted.

  “Indeed. For one who does not know much of magic, you have a remarkable knack for grasping some of the more complex concepts. Then again, I would expect nothing less coming from someone trained by your mother,” Dina said.

  I made a note to ask him about his mother later, though it was highly likely the attempt would yield nothing useful.

  “Another common belief about old magic is that it is more powerful," I said. "The constant repetition and re-formation of the patterns combined with the beliefs of the people at the time of its creation can make certain objects borderline dangerous.”

  “That’s what happened with the book, isn’t it?”

  The thought had been tugging at the back of my mind as well, ever since Tinkerbelle told us the story.

  I had always been more in tune with magic than most and something of that tale rang true with me. Something was tugging at the fabric, unlike anything I had felt before, and it was getting stronger. Dina paused to carefully consider her words before answering.

  “A book crafted by a master enchanter, carried by a powerful Seer, then twisted by someone knowledgeable in the old magics could become incredibly powerful." She studied the wall behind my head like it held the words that she could say. "Over time, the power would only grow. Belief and perception would further shape it, perhaps binding it to an individual or a bloodline. I am afraid this speculation is all I have to offer,” she said slowly, wincing. Her face paled and her voice was faint as she spoke. Even if she knew more, she would not be able to say it. Not without paying a heavy toll.

  Something I would never ask her to do.

  Rapunzel and I exchanged looks. This was far more than we ever expected, but we needed more answers.

  “You cannot speak of the old king’s book, can you?” Rapunzel asked.

  There was no answer, save a vehement shake of the head. I sighed.

  “What of the Seer’s book?” Morpheus asked. “Is there anything of that part of the tale you can talk about?”

  “You surprise us once again.” There was a touch of pride in Dina’s voice as she visibly started to relax.

  My breathing eased as the magic dispersed. The others could sense it too, even if they did not realize what it was.

  Perhaps we would be able to get some answers.