"Are you all right, Will?" Tamara asked in a hush.

"When we've got ourselves out of this forest, I shall be very fine, thank you," he replied.

Tamara put a hand across her chest, idly, as though she was unaware of the gesture. "It is a bit unnerving, isn't it? I don't like this place, either. Not at all. But it's for the babies, Will. Just keep reminding yourself of that. It's for the children."

He frowned, thinking not only of the human babies that were missing, but also of the poor, wretched changeling children who had not asked to be abandoned with human mothers who would greet them with terror and confusion. William had never been comfortable with normal, human children, and yet the changelings had taken to him. Though they were unnatural things that made his skin crawl, still he was pleased that he had been able to give them some comfort.