- Chapter One
- Carter and Felix are collecting sticks and branches for the fire at their family cabin. Felix went with him to see the beginnings of Spring. He admires the flowers.
- Felix's sleep condition catches up to him, and Carter has to take him back. He leaves behind their baskets of sticks to take him home.
- Carter's father warns him of the "knights" that have been showing up in their local village lately. His mother dismisses his concerns as conspiracies, and tells Carter to leave.
- Carter goes back to retrieve his baskets and finds a note from his friend, Leo, who says he has them, so nobody would steal their finely crafted baskets.
- Carter makes it to the village, and to Leo's family's flower shop. It is swamped with customers because flower season just started. Carter signals Leo to come out of the shop so they can hang out for a bit.
- Leo and Carter observe the lively streets, and Carter notes that it is also Salvation day, which may be another reason for the business. They spot some uniformed men across the street at the local blacksmith's shop. Leo realizes that they are the 'knights' and wants to go wish them a Happy Salvation Day.
- Carter expresses his doubts about them to Leo, and almost immediately dismisses them, because the Crusaders have helped the town for a few years and it would be rude to disrespect them.
- Leo and Carter approach the most decorated of the bunch, and wishes him a happy salvation day. Leo introduces them both to him as from the flower shop across the street, and Carter as the basket maker's son from up the road.
- The man inquires about the baskets and offers to buy Carter's mother's entire inventory to supply the Crusaders, and pays Carter a hefty sum in advance. He says that he pop in sometime soon to pick them up on their way out.
- They say their thanks and goodbyes before Leo has to return to work. Carter offers to retrieve the baskets, but Leo says he will drop them off after the shop closes so he can justify visiting them.
- Chapter Two
- Leo had been held up by the onslaught of customers near the end of the business day at the flower shop, so the sun had already gone down by the time he got out. He went to the Smith's residence.
- Leo noted that it was very cold out still, and was excited to get into their warm cabin. As he approaches, he notices the cabin is dim, and realizes they needed the wood to keep the house warm, and quickens his pace.
- Upon his arrival, he notices that the door was left open, but is not concerned. However, upon entry, he finds that Carter was tied up and muzzled with rope. He was initially confused, but when he saw the disembodied hand of one of Carter's parents, he immediately panicked and froze up, despite Carter trying to signal him to run away and escape. He dropped the wood-baskets, making his presence known to the intruders.
- One of the intruders approaches Leo, scaring him and causing him to try to flee, but the intruder grabbed him by his leg, sealing his fate. Leo pleaded with him that he wouldn't tell anyone if he let him go.
- Leo looks at him and realizes he is the Crusader from the blacksmith shop earlier that day. He realizes that this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't told a stranger where his friend lived. This spiritually breaks him, and he gives in.
- The other intruder makes himself known by inquiring about Felix, who had slept through all of the racket caused by them. He walks into the living room, carrying him. He nicknames him "Sleeping Beauty." Carter begins struggling again, trying to yell at the man through his mouth bindings. This annoyed the second intruder, so they tranquilized them. As Carter slipped from consciousness, he saw his brother begin to violently shake.
- Carter wakes up in a sectioned off area of a carriage. His tranquilizer dose was not enough to keep him down for long. He notices he has burns all over his arms and face, and could smell smoke. He listened in on the conversation on the other side of the divider, between the two intruders. The short-tempered one is named Natz. Natz leaves the carriage to steal a horse, as the carriage is a slow mode of transport.
- After a moment, the man spoke to Carter because he heard him shuffle when he woke. He tells Carter that he only wants to talk, because he knows he is a smart kid. Carter agrees to, and they ask each other a series of questions. Carter asks about the man and their intentions. He learns his name is Marx, but not much else, other than that his father's hunch was correct about them. Marx mainly asks a bunch of strange questions about Felix that imply that he was the cause for the fire that apparently occurred after they were put out by the tranquilizers. Marx opens the divider and sees that Felix was tied up much more carefully, with more ropes, and was even blindfolded. They were genuinely afraid of him.
- Before Carter could inquire any more, he was tranquilized again.