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Dawn and Dusk were complete opposites. Dawn was the daughter of a Nightwanderer and Dusk was the daughter of a Daydweller. Though they were cousins, they were quite different. Dawn was a natural-born prankster, and Dusk was always gentle and kind. Dawn, only twelve hours older than her cousin, took advantage of her, though Dusk was not easily susceptible. Dawn was of a poor family, while Dusk's father was King and she was Princess. Dawn relied on elaborate jewelry for beauty, yet Dusk was naturally beautiful.

One day, late in the night, Dawn nearly ran into an old woman. The woman took a long look at Dawn before finally saying in a scratchy voice, "I will need your help, Dawn."

She didn't even wonder how this person knew her name. "What do you need?"

"The Princess. The Daydweller Princess. She is a danger to all Nightwanderers, so the sooner we get rid of her, the better. We figured that as her cousin, you would be able to capture her and bring her back here."

Dawn took a step backward. "No. I can't."

The woman whipped out five crisp, green bills, waving them contemptuously. Dawn noticed that each had the number "100" printed on them. "You can't...or you won't?"

Dawn stared at the $500 hungrily. With that type of money, her family could live well again - she could even replace her cousin as Princess! She took a slow, deep breath and snatched the bills away. "I'll do it tonight," she declared, her voice wavering slightly.

The old woman smiled. "I knew you would."

* * *

Dawn and her best friend Midnight crept into Dusk's room a few hours later, Dawn holding a length of rope. All the Daydwellers were asleep, which made their job easier. "I'm sorry, Dusk," Dawn whispered.

Their sleeping victim lay unsuspecting in her bed. Midnight reached over to rip the covers off.

"No."

Midnight paused. "Dawn, are you-"

"I'm sure." She let the rope fall out of her hands. "This is my family we're talking about. It's not her fault she's a Princess. It's not her fault all the Nightwanderers want her dead. And it shouldn't be our fault if she ends up that way."

With that, she left the room.

* * *

Dawn held the money out to the old woman, forcing herself to keep her face expressionless. "I do not want this."

"But you succeeded! Surely you want-"

"I do not want it."

"I'll triple it. Fifteen hundred dollars. Fifteen hundred! Think what you could-"

"I will not take it. I did not succeed."

"What...but...THEN WHY DID YOU COME BACK HERE?!?"

"My family is more important than any amount of money," Dawn said. As if to prove her point, she released the bills and let them flutter down into the mud. She stepped on them, spun around, and stalked off. "Dusk is my cousin, after all, and you are not. I cannot harm her."

The old woman said nothing more, for Dusk was already gone.

CHAPTER ONE


Fern was a mere six years old when the new baby was born, but she should have been old enough to realize that he wasn't normal. He was considerably smaller, than most nymphs, and louder, too. And apparently, the elders noticed this as well. After all, he wasn't even assigned a plant to watch.

They named him Thorn.

* * *

"Elm! Grandpa Elm!"

"Fern!"

Her grandfather, the oldest of all the elders, was hobbling toward her. "Grandpa Elm!" she cried again.

"Fern! How's the...OOF! Come on, Fern, you're twelve now, you've got to stop running into me like that!"

Fern stepped back, a huge smile on her face. "What were you going to ask, Grandpa?"

"How's the babysitting job coming along?"

Her expression darkened and she snorted. "Thorn is a handful, all right. I wish someone else could watch him! But I have to. After all, the elders are making me do - oops!" She glanced at her grandfather to see if he had noticed. He had, a secretive smile crossing his face. She sighed in relief. "Hey, where's Granny Rose? Didn't she come with you?"

"Rose wasn't feeling her greatest, so she decided not to come."

"Oh. All right."

"Listen, Fern, I have to go speak to the other elders, all right?"

"Okay."

"Behave yourself."

"I will. Bye."

* * *

"Thorn! Where are you?" Fern shouted to the seemingly empty house, her voice ringing throughout the hall. "THORN! This isn't funny anymore. You win! Now come out!"

She received no response.

"THORN!"

Angered now, Fern proceeded to hunt for Thorn. Suddenly something heavy descended upon her head. She collapsed to her knees with an exclamation of surprise.

And then all was black for several minutes.

* * *

When Fern awoke at last, she was on the ground with her wrists and ankles bound with thick, coarse rope. Three figures, two large and one small, hovered above her.

The taller ones gripped her shoulders and hauled her unceremoniously to her feet. She fought fruitlessly as she was dragged over to a large iron ring embedded in the wall with a chain and a shackle dangling off of it. Her hands were released from their bonds for a brief moment before one of her captors held her fast while the other locked her right wrist into the shackle. They sliced the rope connecting her ankles in two and freed her from their iron grip.

As Fern recognized the smaller figure, she fell to her knees in despair. "How could you?" she wailed, resulting in a large, beefy hand smothering the rest of her words as its owner clapped it across her mouth.

"Stand up," said the short figure.

Fern seemed to be frozen, and her two taller captors had to force her onto her feet again. She screamed into the hand that covered her mouth and started to sob.

The smaller one spoke again. "I am your master now."

It was Thorn.