Flame found herself pacing back and forth in the little clearing where she waited. It had been far too long. Had something gone wrong? What should she do if he didn't come back by morning? She looked up at the sky, and at the looming castle, but there was no sign of life in either place. She looked back down again and paced some more. She was wearing a flat track in the grass. Then she heard a soft whoosh overhead and looked up to see Aidan diving down out of the sky. She wanted to run up and hug him, but she was acutely aware of the fact that this might not actually be her husband.

"Aidan! What happened?"

"Nothing. I searched the whole place, top to bottom. There's nobody living there. We must have gotten the wrong information from somebody."

Flame had a hard time not showing her disappointment. He hadn't said the password, so this was not her Aidan, it was the other, the killer. That was an eerie thought, because she could see literally no difference at all between them. But if this was the evil version of her husband, then she knew what she had to do. She only hoped that her real Aidan was all right.

"Well..." she pretended to be a little uncertain. "I suppose we could go back to the monastery and get fresh directions. Radu might know somewhere else we could look. Or maybe something else we could try."

He flashed her a sharp, bright smile. "Sounds like a plan. Lead on then."

She had an irrational surge of anger at that, which she quickly stifled. Here was this murderer, pretending to be her husband, and grinning happily as though it were all a game! Maybe to him it was.

"Right," was all she said, and she spread her wings and took to the sky. She was happy enough to fly in the lead, it meant she wouldn't have to look at him.

They flew in silence for most of the night. As dawn approached Aidan said, sounding a little nervous, "Shouldn't we be looking for a place to stop?"

Flame glanced back at him, a little puzzled. Then she realized that his sun medallion must have been taken from her husband, just so she wouldn't notice the difference, and that he didn't actually have any idea what it did. She had a momentary desire to just insist on flying on without any explanation, but that was all too likely to give her away, so instead she said, "You're tired then? I suppose we could stop. It would be nice to sit and watch the sunrise. That always makes me rather glad that you have that protective amulet. It would be pretty sad to have to hide from the sunlight all the time."

She looked forward again, so she didn't see the expression that crossed his face at that. It was shocked disbelief mingled with hope. To see sunlight again after so long... he hadn't thought it possible. Could it truly be? After a few moments he recovered and said, "Yes, I think I am tired, and I would like to watch the sunrise."

Flame circled down to land on an open hilltop. Aidan followed her, still not quite able to believe what she had said. It was still dark when they landed, but the first hints of the coming dawn were starting to show over the eastern mountains. As the sky lightened Aidan started looking nervous. What if it wasn't true? What if she knew who she was and just wanted to kill him with sunlight? He looked around. There were a few trees sharing the hilltop with them. He went over, trying to seem casual, and leaned against the tree trunk where at least he could quickly be out of direct sunlight.

Flame hid a smile, guessing exactly what was behind that move. But she was happy enough to sit at a distance from him.

Slowly the light to the east grew. Colors started to show, faint purples blending into lighter pinks, and a hint of gold touched the clouds that hung over the mountains. As he realized that this early light, which ought to have been profoundly uncomfortable, wasn't hurting him at all, something like wonder crossed Aidan's face. He stepped away from the tree and looked directly at the spot where the sun's rays were spilling around the distant peaks. Soon the sun itself edged above the mountains. Aidan squinted, then closed his eyes against the brightness, but he lifted his face to the light, feeling its warmth against his skin for the first time in almost a decade.

"Sunlight," he whispered softly to himself. It had been so long... Had it really been worth it, to deny himself this for so many years?

Flame Song found herself watching him rather than the sun. The expression of awe and wonder on his face was one she'd seen before. It was the same expression that her Aidan had had the first time he'd worn the sun medallion. Perhaps he wasn't entirely a monster. Perhaps he had more in common with her husband than just his face. But she knew that Radu wouldn't lie, she knew that this man had tortured and killed people. How could he be standing here, looking as he did, and have done such things?

When the sun had been fully up for several minutes, she said, "I'm feeling fairly rested, really. How about you? Shall we go on?"

He started. He'd been so lost in the sunlight that he'd forgotten she was there. "Yes, of course. Let's go on."

She led the way once again through the brilliant blue sky. It was probably good that she was taking the lead, because if Aidan had been in front they'd probably have ended up just wandering aimlessly. Every time she looked back at him he had a dreamy sort of expression on his face, and he didn't seem to be paying the least bit of attention to their course or the scenery below. Eventually, however, he started yawning. Even with sun protection, vampires weren't meant to be awake during daylight.

"Time to stop, I think," said Flame. "We can have a good nap and go on after dark."

"Sure," he said absently.

When they landed he laid back in the open meadow and looked up at the blue sky, dotted here and there with clouds. That dreamy expression was still on his face, even after he drifted off to sleep. She looked at him for a while. She wished she could talk to him, ask him why he'd done the things he'd done, find out if he really was as much like her husband as he seemed. But any of those questions would give away that she knew who he was. So she simply sighed and curled up to sleep a few yards away.