"Oh, of course, I remember Fern and Rook! I loved them. How are they?" I ask, hungry to know every detail about everything. "Oh, you are their daughter! That must be why they named you after me, they were close to me. Are they happy? Do you have siblings?"

"I do. Two little brothers," she laughs. "Atlas is nine and annoying as bik. Leith it's only six, he's still cute."

"That's great! How is your uncle?" I ask. I'm afraid of everything that's happening and everything I know will happen. Maybe my legs aren't shaking from lack of use, maybe they're shaking in fear, or maybe I'm just trying to slow down the journey back home. I look at Rooks daughter, Rowan and her large blue eyes flicker to the side. "Rowan, how's your uncle Lachlan?"

She stiffens as she takes a deep breath, refusing to meet my eye. "My uncle is a very good man, truly he is. He taught me how to hunt and how to paint. He's my best friend but..." She finally meets my eye and I think I see tears in her eyes. "He's a troubled man, I won't deny it and it might be because of you. Actually, it's mostly because of you. Leith and Atlas are close to Lachlan too but not as close as us. Lachlan's great with kids, especially us three because he's like a second father to us, he's around us all the time. But it's different with me and everyone knows it. I think it's because when I was born everything with you was still so fresh. All I know is that he helped my dad a lot with me when I was young, and quite honestly my dad wasn't complaining, being a new parent and all. Uncle Lachlan is like another father to me. He's my best friend, and although he would never admit it, I'm his favorite." I want to smile, but somehow I can't. This just reminds me of all I have missed. "But I think you should know as a fair warning, he developed a taste for whiskey while you were away."

"He's an alcoholic?" I gasp and I feel sick. There are many worse things to be in this world than an alcoholic but it's what being an alcoholic means that sends horror through me. It means that there were times in Lachlan's lifethat he felt helpless like he had no way out. It means that for a moment in his life he must have been like my father. He must have been drunk and full of regret. Being an alcoholic wouldn't even mean anything bad if it weren't for the fact that it hurts you and the people around you. I know that Lachlan has gone through hell, and then more hell, and then more, then so much more, and now that he's finally broken it's my fault.

"I'm not sure, " Rowan admits, looking up at the canopy of the trees above us. "I know that he drinks a lot. I know it hasn't stopped him from being a good person. I know that he's hurt a few people once, but I know they deserved it. I have faith that no matter what Lachlan does, he has a reason. He still a good person, I promise."

"Funnily, I believe you. Lachlan's a hard person not to trust," I say. She nods with a smile. "Luckily for us, he's actually very trustworthy."

"Oh, look!" She exclaims, pointing straight ahead. "That's home!" I mostly see huts ahead. They look like some kind of stone structure with dry mud filling in the cracks. Some of the stones look natural and others look ground down, either way, it looks like they're truly functioning without any technology. Or at least what I consider technology. I look down at Rowan and see that she's wearing echo friendly cloth. It looks like thin, layered fabric dyed brown for camouflage. What catches my attention the most is a huge building pushed to the right. It's the most obvious part of the whole civilization. The huge structure is made from sharply cut stone to make bricks and it goes four stories tall and I can't tell how wide.

"What is that place?" I ask breathlessly. Even after everything I've been through I still find this huge marshal building intimidating and out of place in the beautiful town. We're still a good few minutes away but I can look over the town well from here.

"Do you mean the castle? "She asks in amazement. "Yeah, it's crazy, right? My dad works there so I've been a few times but my mom tries to keep us far away from there. She sells pottery and my dad is in charge of overviewing the hunting here. Do you want to know what Lachlan does? He's our ambassador. He's basically our president. Everyone knows who he is. He goes to important meetings and fancy dinners and gets a room on the top floor."

"That can't be very comfortable," I say, handing her back the empty canteen. She stuffs it in her bag with bows and arrows sticking out of it. She's taking after her father's footsteps I suppose. "That place looks so lonely compared to the village."

"It's a lonely place," she admits sadly. "Ambassadors and politicians from other villages stay there as guests for the meetings. It's a place of politics and I don't think it was meant to be anyone's home, still it's Lachlan's. I suppose it's a lonely place for him. I think all the politics and backstabbing is why mom doesn't want me there."

"How are the others?" I ask but we're getting close to the village and I'm losing my voice again. My hands shake and my knees go weak as I smell freshly cooked bread. I'm nervous.

"It's okay Rowan. You can take your time," she reassures me. "Who do you want to know about first?"

"Umm, Ash," I say and she opens her mouth to say something but we're interrupted.

"Row, who is that?" A young man around eight or nine with auburn hair yells at us from a few yards away. "Moms going to kill you for staying out hunting so long. Did you catch anything?"

"No, I visited the garden, Atlas." Rowan rolls her eyes. "And I suggest you take a closer look at this woman here."

The young man, I now realize is her little brother, squints his eyes as me, looking me up and down. It takes him a second but he suddenly gasps, gaping at his sister. "Is that--did you bring-"

"Yes!" She exclaims. "Now go get Ma. She'll know what to do." The boy runs off in a hurry to get Fern and I try to shake myself awake. My whole body starts to shake and my vision starts to fade. "Are you okay?"

"No, I don't think I am. I'm feeling sort of dizzy," I whisper.

"Well, here sit down," she says, helping me to the ground. I start to lower myself but as soon as I do I lose total control and I fall to the ground. I try to gain the strength to stand again but I can't and I feel my consciousness slipping away for me.

***

I wake up and to my surprise the first thing I do is smile. I'm actually oddly comfortable until I realize where I am. Harmonia. I open my eyes and look at my surroundings. I'm in a cold, stone room but I'm under plenty of blankets. There's nothing else in the room except a door, a bed, a mirror, shutters, and a furnace. I sit up slowly, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I stand up and find I'm much less awkward than before. Every muscle in my body tingles for activity like I just ate that combination of a roots Mira give Lachlan just a few days ago. Bik! I forgot it was twelve years ago. I walk to the full body mirror and look in. My face is the same young, beautiful face it was before, somehow I didn't expect that. I'm still a seventeen-year-old girl, yet I feel like a...a computer. No, I feel like a teenage girl again and that feeling has somehow become foreign to me. I look at my body and realize that I'm wearing a gauzy black robe with nothing but my undergarments underneath. I turn to my left and push the shutters open. I look outside and see that the ground is only a few feet down. I crane my head outside to look for the castle Rowan talked about. Where is she? Where is everybody? I'm surprisingly unaffected by the absence of action so far. This is how I rather it be.

"What are you looking for?" A voice asks from behind and I whip around. I look into the eyes of a woman who might be in her fifteen or sixties. It takes me a moment to recognize her but when I do, I can't be happier to see a familiar face like hers.

"Oh, Iris!" I cry, throwing my arms around her. I let her maternal presence surround me and calm all the worry inside of me. It makes me wonder where my own mother is. "Oh, how are you? How is everyone? How are the children?"

"Oh, sweet child I'm afraid the children you're thinking of are all grown up now. Most of them are sixteen at the very least, but I keep touch with them all, and I'm lovely." She sits down on the bed with me and gives me a serious look as she takes my hand. "Rowan, how are you is the question everyone has been dying to ask."

"I'm doing how I always am. No time has passed for me," I say with a giggle and she doesn't laugh at all. I suppose is the reality that things will be different from now on with them. "Who knows that I'm back?"

"My child, everyone knows you're back. It's the biggest news any of us have ever heard!"

"Even more surprising than finding out there was a forest beyond Eden?" I ask and she sightly flinches at the sound of that place.

"Quite honestly, it's no surprise that were being lied to. But it is a surprise that you're back. Why are you back? Are you staying?" She asks.

"Hopefully I'm staying at least another fifty years." I laugh because the thought of that is so foreign to me. I can hardly believe it myself. "I never wanted to leave in the first place but I had some business to take care of, it's really nothing interesting. Just EcoPan stuff. What's important is that I'm back now and I won't be leaving until I'm old and gray." Iris gives me a warm smile and I'm glad at least one person is excited to have you back. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About a day," she replies and she looks at me like she examining me. "I gave you some medicine to help keep you strong, you seemed weak."

"You're a doctor?" I ask. She nods.

"The children all have parents that can take care of them now, they won't be hunted, they don't need a governess. I run a daycare but the kids just mostly play tag, it isn't the same. I thought I would learn how to do something where I can still take care of people," she says and I slightly pity her. I know she loved her position in the rebellion. "Anyway, I brought you some tea with healing herbs." She stands up and takes a tray of tea off of a table outside the room. "It'll make you tired."

"Hold on. I saw a big building the children called the castle when I walked here. Where did it go or did I dream the whole thing?" I ask, looking out the window again. Iris gives me a look.

"Look up," she urges me. I crane my neck to look above me and realize I am on the lowest floor of the castle! "It's nothing compared to Eden but the children think this is as good as it gets. The infirmary is on the lowest floor, that's where we're at. Well, now I suppose it's time for you to sleep and when you wake up you'll be in your new room."

The thought of living in this castle makes me squirm in discomfort. I'm fully awake and I still have millions of questions to ask but sleep still sounds heavenly. I lay down and gulp the tea gratefully. I ask, "what happened to the others?"

"Shh, we'll talk about it when you wake up. I can tell you that they're all alive and mostly happy, and I'm sure they'll except you again with open arms," she reassures me, taking the empty teacup. I know that's unrealistic and unlikely, yet I refuse to imagine anything else and let her with comfort me. My head is already feeling heavy and my eyes start to flutter shut. "Good night. May earth have mercy on your soul when you wake, you poor child."

"What will happen when I wake up?" I mumble in confusion, unable to say anymore.

"It'll be horrible, and it'll hurt for a while, but there's one thing you must remember. He loves you. He still does. They all do." I'm no longer able to hold back the weight of my eyelids and I reluctantly drift to sleep.

Who is she talking about? Who is he?