"Don't thank me, dear little Princess," he says, voice pitched low and soothing, like he did when Pretzel was worried. "I would never bring harm to you. Never."

And he didn't know what to do with that. This beautiful little child probably already had more noble a heart than he had at her age. Then again, he did remember wanting to forgive those who had kidnapped him.

"Sometimes people are mean to people of our station, because they think when we are little, we can be used against the people who love us. Or they can gain power from us. And it's not true. In the end, we're people too, just as scared as anyone else."