The rain had been the kind that normally Ian would have enjoyed riding through: hard driven, the forest roaring like a river about him as countless raindrops struck thirsty leaves. But this night was different. For one thing, he was already soaked from his walk to Annalise's special place, the glen where she played with the fae. There hadn't been any of the wee folk there on the previous night, and Bayla had said there was some sort of fae gathering to the north. Endymion's dire words about retaliation against the common folk of Camelot as revenge for the failure to protect Anna had prompted Ian, however, to go there and attempt to take the blame. It was, he reflected sourly as he urged Horse on, an exercise in futility. The fae were not there. Of course, it could be that the fae saw his being soaked while kneeling in the rain as a sort of punishment. They, if they were even there, most like were under shelter and discussing the spectacle with glee.

The other reason Ian was in no fit frame of mind to savor the rain this night was Annalise herself. The child was missing. In fact, Ian himself was the last person to see or speak with her before she went into the chapel off the firehall. He hadn't seen her come out before he'd left for patrol. There had been a crew of gardeners near the rear door of the chapel and they had not seen a small girl leave by that means, either. After the lecture he had just given her, Ian was certain she had not run off on her own again. There was only one possible conclusion. The Devon woman had somehow managed to take Annalise.

Drawing rein on his big bay, Ian took out the map of the roads towards Suffolk, sheltering it from the downpour with his cloak as he called up enough coldlight to illuminate the parchment. He had visited most of the border over the years, and would use the Road to cut the time to these. But there were three places he had never visited, and so must ride there because he had no image of them to use for a reference along the Road. He cursed in Sithryn, summoned an entrance to the Road, and began his search.

By daybreak, he'd visited all the guardposts along this part of Camelot's territory. None had seen a woman matching Moire's description, nor a child matching Annalise's. Ian Mindspoke with Skye, asking his wife to lead a search of the waterfront. The weather last night had forced the ships in port to ride out the storm at anchor, but the dawn had brought clear skies, and if Annalise was held captive on a ship, they would sail with the tides in a few more hours. If anyone could find Anna on the waterfront, it would be a member of the O'Malley clan.

Ian spent the next few hours gathering men to begin searching the forests between Camelot and the border, working their way back towards the castle. Then, knowing there was not much else he could do for the moment, he returned home. He wanted a closer look at the chapel.

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