Elayra’s brows rose as Ghent, turning into a bumbling idiot, tripped over the slide and fell. At least he missed the mud puddle this time. She glanced to Drust, questioning him with her gaze if he was [i]sure[/i] this boy was related to Hatter, though she unfortunately knew the answer. Drust’s expression was even more unimpressed than hers.
	“And I was beginning to worry you didn’t have a plan,” Drust said softly with a snort, sparing Elayra a quick look.
	She shrugged, unwilling to admit that, really, she had [i]not[/i] had one.
	The two shared another look when they picked out being “sent to detention” amidst Ghent’s ramblings, the same questions passing over their faces: were they somehow better known here than the whispers Wonderland knew of the world? Could they be in more danger here than they initially feared?
	“They detained you here for speaking of us?” Drust asked slowly as if addressing an ignorant child unaware of a ravenous wolf lurking behind it. “Why? To what purpose?”
	Before Ghent had a chance at answering, two brilliant lights swept over the group for a second as a car neared.
	With a surprised snarl as two successive honks shattered the night, Elayra nimbly leapt out of reach of the light, simultaneously drawing the saber hanging at her belt as Drust drew his own weapon. The metal of her sword glinted in the light as, realizing Ghent had not had as quick or startled of a reaction, she moved closer to him in the event he needed protecting.
	Elayra looked to Ghent as he spoke, Drust lowering his weapon a few inches as the boy stood. 
	The two watched him hurry to the waiting car, the lights turning his form into a silhouette with a long shadow cast beside it.
	Drust reluctantly returned his weapon to its sheath.
	Elayra looked to him with only her eyes, her sword lowered but still in hand. “You know we’re doomed, right?”
	Drust snorted. “We’ll make do,” he growled, his neck twitching. “If I recall correctly,” he turned back toward the tree where their things waited, and started toward them, “you weren’t the most skilled when I began training [i]you.[/i]”
	“Because I was a toddler,” she muttered under her breath, not daring to say it so he would hear. At least they had scratched the stress of finding the Madrail boy off the list.
	[i]Only to add five more,[/i] she thought bitterly, scowling.
	She glanced after Drust, hoping he would be okay and praying he would not snap again tonight. Ghent was an unknown variable, a wrench oblivious to what it could do if thrust carelessly into the unstable gears of Drust’s overloaded mental state. And since Ghent could scarcely best the slide, she was certain he would not be capable of holding his own against the White Knight even if the odds were in his favor.
	She returned her attention to observing the exchange between Ghent and the woman in the car as well as she could, watching for any signs of trouble. She listened to Drust’s quiet footsteps when they approached just before Ghent turned from the car.
	Drust glanced to Elayra’s necklace, its glow fainter with Ghent’s distance. “Let it know you no longer need it.”
	“What?” She looked to him.
	He nodded to the pendant.
	“Oh.” She gripped it with her free hand, the light again intensifying as Ghent grew nearer. She tried concentrating on it without closing her eyes, not wanting to lose even temporary use of any of her senses.
	The glow dimmed, then vanished altogether as Ghent rejoined them, now cat-free and the whitest envelope Elayra had ever seen in hand. 
	She nodded in relief when he offered them his trust. Now they just had to convince him to return with them to Wonderland without scaring him off.
 	Elayra took her pack and bow from Drust as he handed it to her, sheathed her sword, then put them in their proper place over chest and back.
	Drust flipped her dagger in the air, caught it by the tip of the blade, and offered it to her as Ghent stated he knew a place to talk.
	“Good.” She placed the dagger in its sheath near her quiver of arrows. “Lead the way, Ghent. We will follow.”