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"No I’m on your side"

"You lie" She pressed the point of her sword against his jacket

The queen was going to be hard to convince Zoltan decided it was time to pull out a trump card "You can trust asp, the queen sturound with a thud

Winifred and Freya exchanged shocked looks, then turned back to stare at hi Oh, no! You got caught? I told you not to get caught Why are you covered with blood?

Zoltan gritted his teeth I got shot

What can we do? Zhan ran in a circle around him I know! I’ll bite the queen on the ankle Then you make a run for it Neona can live with us in the forest, and we’ll go hunting for rabbit every day! It’ll be great!

Cat, I’m tied to a frickin’ pole

Oh That’s a problem Zhan atteround Don’t worry! I’ll get you loose He attacked the pole, clawing furiously

Zoltan snorted At this rate, the cat ht have him free in twelve hours He’d have to teleport before then to avoid the sun And if he didn’t eat soon--

"You lie!" Queen Nied from her shock to yell at him

"It is the truth," Zoltan said "My father was the Count of Czakvar in Transylvania He brought home a neife frools invaded in 1241, htered Those who survived blamed Donna Maria and declared her a witch My father had just lost his eldest son in battle, and in his despair--"

"Are you excusing hie

Zoltan sed hard He had a sick feeling in his gut that Neona’s ht hundred years of wanting to know the truth, he now found himself reluctant to ask the question

"Your majesty" Winifred pulled the queen back "Don’t let hireed "How could he be alive in 1241?"

The three wo furtively at hi? Zoltan asked

Zhan stopped clawing to listen They wonder how you could be centuries old The queen is very upset She thinks Dohna iven it to you It’s not supposed to be given to aWater? So that was their fountain of youth Zoltan looked around Is it the streah the valley?

No, it’s the pool inside the cave Never go inside there If they catch you, they’ll kill you for sure

Neona e, her ar" She hurried toward Zoltan "I had to es We used up o after the battle"

Zhan trotted up to her and rubbed against her legs "Good kitty," she whispered as she set down a bowl and pitcher of water near Zoltan’s feet Inside a basket, there were torn strips of white linen and a pottery jar She reh the ropes tying his hands together

"Neona," he whispered "Thank you"

She ignored hi, Neona?" The queen grabbed the sword she’d dropped earlier

"I need his hands free so I can take off his jacket" Neona sheathed her knife, then removed his jacket and tossed it aside The leopard ran over to sniff at it

The queen sheathed her sword "You missed his latest lie He claiasped and her eyes ," Ni back at Winifred and Freya "How could he have lived so long?"

Neona’s face turned pale

Was she res she’d seen? Zoltan watched her intently, wondering if she was going to tell everyone he was a va hands, she cut his T-shirt and ripped it open "We don’t know if Dohna had a son"

"So you agree he is lying?" Nima asked

"I don’t knohat to think of him," Neona said softly She poured water into the bowl, then wet a cloth and wiped the blood from the small stab wound on his ribs

"I anored him and opened the pottery jar to smear some salve on the small wound

"Hoould he even know about Dohna?" the queen demanded "Did you tell him about her?"

Neona winced

The queen scoffed "You see how he twists your words to deceive us"

Neona didn’t answer She grabbed a strip of linen and wrapped it around his torso to cover up the s the truth," Zoltan said "How else would I know that my mother could coht she was a witch and that she had caused the Mongols to attack us"

"And then your so-called father let them kill her?" Nima shouted "If you are who you claim to be, then you are the son of the ave hie

"I blame my father, too," Zoltan said "I tried to savestones at her, and I blocked the to keep it fro fire It burned my back--"

Neona cried out and stumbled back "You--oh my God, you’re the boy?"

"You were there?" Zoltan asked It seemed clear now that the woe, but his sto rahter

"When we arrived, the villagers had just set fire to the kindling Dohna was already dead, and there was a boy on the ground in front of her" Neona’s eyes widened as she turned back to Zoltan "It’s you That’s why I started having the dream"

She pulled his ripped T-shirt off as she circled behind him, then used it to wipe the blood off his back "Oh God It’s really you"

She stumbled in front of him, and the bloody T-shirt slipped fronize you Orthe drea?"

"No" He shook his head "I woke up the next day a few e"

"So he speaks the truth?" Ni in her eyes "I remember the burn mark And the scars on his back and shoulders I touched them all and felt the pain"