"WHAT?!" Timothy asked, shocked and appalled, his voice too loud for my comfort. "J-"

"Shut up," I hissed and narrowed my eyes, baring my teeth in annoyance while I interrupted his loud mouth. I grabbed my gun tighter, and the urge to smack him with it grew strong, but I held back because I knew that there would be questions after all of this was done as to why he was injured, too. "Shut up, Copeland. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"B-"

"Timothy Hayes Copeand, I swear to the members of the Committee, I will smack you with my gun until you are knocked out cold if you don't shut the fuck up," I said, interrupting him again and using his full name because I knew that it would shut him up because he knew how serious I was when I said it. "So shut up before you get us all in trouble."

Timothy opened his mouth to say something but stopped talking as soon as I held my gun higher than I had it in my hand and gave him a pointed look. He blinked and blinked a second time before he looked between the two of us, and then he focused his gaze on me without saying a word.

"Did anyone hear that?" I asked Freyin in our tongue while I grabbed my gun tighter, and Timothy scowled and narrowed his eyes while he looked at me. I ignored the jealous look he sent my way because he didn't like it that I was able to speak this tongue when he couldn't. "Or are we still safe?"

Freyin cleared his throat to hide a chuckle while he bowed, biting back a small, amused smile. "We are as safe as we can be, Your Highness," Freyin said in our tongue while bowing his head lower. "No one has said anything over the airways that there was a disturbance caused by someone yelling if that is what you are worried about."

I breathed a small sigh of relief and slowly nodded, and I relaxed my grip on my dagger. "Good." I cleared my throat and scowled while I narrowed my eyes and turned to look at Timothy, who's eyes grew wider because of the look on my face. "We have sensitive hearing, so you could have gotten us killed with that, Copeland," I warned while I bared my teeth in warning and switched back to English so that he could understand us. "Yes, the Prince knows that I am here, but that does not mean you have to yell it out to the whole world."

Timothy hesitated before he bowed his head, pressing his lips into a thin line, and realization dawned in his eyes. "Sorry," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't mean for it to be that loud. I-" He bit back a tired sigh and shook his head, and he moved a hand through his hair and across his face, pursing his lips in annoyance. "I was just shocked that the Prince knew that you were here." He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet while he looked between the two of us. "How?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "How does he know that you are back?"

"Familial bonds, Young One," Freyin said and looked between the two of us when I hesitated and shrugged with a small grimace on my face. "We all know when someone of our blood is near us. Sometimes it is easier for others to know faster than those that haven't been in contact with them."

The King doesn't know, the voice said. He knows that members of the Committee are here, but the King doesn't know that one of them is of his own flesh and blood.

I set my jaw and narrowed my eyes just a tad while I looked at Freyin. "And can they contact their offspring through some sort of mindlink?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "If they crossed paths with them?"

Freyin nodded in confirmation while the voice, my father, chuckled sadly. "Yes, Your Highness," he said before he bowed and then stood, placing his hands behind his back. "You still have a lot to learn about your heritage and such, and I hope that we will be able to teach you when everything has settled."

"She is staying here, with us," Timothy said, growing defensive and more protective of me. He moved closer to me and narrowed his eyes while he scowled at the Addisan in front of him. "I do not know why you think it is a good idea to take her away from the Committee when that is all she knew and has known."

"Copeland," I said with a small hiss in my voice. I nudged him just a tad and set my jaw tighter until it was quivering. "Not now. We'll discuss this later. Right now, we have a job to do, and we are running out of time doing it."

Timothy looked between the two of us before he looked at me. Something like shock and fear filled his eyes, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head. "Bu-"

"No," I said and shook my head. "Drop it." I turned my attention back to Freyin as soon as I said that, growing serious. "What was the thing that you were wanting us to use?" I asked. "And how many people have agreed to work for my father and not the king?"

"There have been a few people, Your Highness," Freyin said. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet while he looked around before he looked at me. "Has His Highness contacted you, yet? I know that he said he would as soon as he had been in contact with you, but I do not know if he has or not."

I set my jaw and hesitated, not saying a word. I knew that the voice that I was hearing inside of my head was my father, but I didn't know if I wanted Timothy to know or how he would react to know that our conversation with Freyin wasn't as private as he hoped.

The voice, my father, sighed in sadness and guilt. Tell him the truth, Joy, he said, his voice barely above a whisper with a twinge of guilt in it. Let him know that you have been in contact with me, even though you don't want your friend to know. He deserves to know, too.

I set my jaw tighter and narrowed my eyes even further when my father told me to do that, and my heart ached. You have a lot of explaining to do, Your Highness, I said, speaking to the voice for the first time but didn't call him any title that would symbolize him being my father just yet. I hope you know that.

There was a sting of pain and guilt that flashed through my heart when I called my father "Your Highness" and not some sort of title like "Dad" or something else, and I had a feeling that the emotion came from him and I was somehow feeling it.

I know, he said and mentally bowed his head, and I hope that I will be able to tell you everything, but unfortunately, you do not have time right now. He paused and cleared his throat.

So please, answer Freyin's question so that you both can get to work. He paused and cleared his throat again, and he mentally bowed while he set his jaw. I am afraid that you two are running out of time if you want to get all of the children out here safely before anything bad happens to them.

With a mental nod to my father, I turned my attention and looked at Freyin with a cold and calculative look in my eyes, and Freyin bowed, not able to meet my gaze any longer.

"Yes."