“What happened–” he repeated blankly, unable to discern quite what she meant. Maybe he was in shock from her appearance. Hearing about it was different than seeing, he’d been told. Maybe his malnourished state didn’t leave him enough energy to figure it out for himself, but he had been in this position before and he ended up fine .... well .... if this was fine.

But then his mind found itself again. He leaned against the wall of the nursery to steady his dizziness. “Oh, this? Just another day in prison, honestly I look better than half of the hunters,” he assured with a nod. “Better than you, I think. Always knew I trained you wrong, but I don’t think it was my fault.” He had avoided her as much as possible, but she was too insistent. She would never take this lazy lifestyle.

“Believe me, I know,” Sparrow huffed. The gesture didn’t bother him like it used to: not because he had grown used to her, but because she was older now, and it was less strange than having a kit near him. “You were the most stubborn, insistent cat I’ve ever met. Do keep in mind I’ve known several leaders and deputies very intimately. At least you’ve outgrown that,” he mused calmly. She was being fairly normal now.

Wait wait wait. What in StarClan?

“My what now?”

Sparrow gaped at her wordlessly. Now he absolutely regretted coming here. This whole thing was a mistake, she had deserved some of what happened to her, he was horrified by the idea.

“Of course they aren’t mine,” he yipped indignantly, “You think I don’t know that?! I’ve had a lot of kits, I know how it works! But what do you mean they’re ALL named after me?! You only know one, maybe two of my names.” His head was spinning. Had Misty Rose told her secrets behind his back??

Sparrow considered a funny quip, something like ‘I have more than five kittens?’ but he wasn’t quite confident enough in the truth to make that joke. But he was pretty sure he has more than five kids by now.

“Ha-ha,” Sparrow began with a slow exhale, thinking this was not very funny at all, and far from pleased. He was honestly freaked. Especially after that wink...

“Did you even think when you chose those names? Did you ever consider a crown isn’t secret if you put it in a name and TELL EVERYONE THE KIT IS NAMED AFTER ME? I’m going to have to move again,” he groaned. “Misty Rose will kill me.”

“A happier time?” Sparrow snarled, a hard edge to his voice. “What about my happiness? You can’t go around sharing secrets like that, Jetfire, you’re going to get me killed!”

For the first time in a long time, Sparrow was upset. Angry. Scared.

“It was a happier time for me too, and now I can never go back because of you.”

“I’m not asking you to change the past. I’m making you change the future.” Her coldness didn’t shake him. The frozen hills of WinterClan had raised him and a violent cannibal stalked his mate’s paw.

“When Secretkit becomes a warrior, you’re going to change their name. I don’t care what you make it; call them Secrethatred if you’re angry with me. But you are not going to call them Secretcrown.”

Sparrow growled, furious with her resistance. His skinny neck arched as he prepared to threaten her, but then...

“What is a Ghostcrown and why would it ask me to change the name?” he echoed, confused. “You... you really didn’t name that one after me?” He say back heavily on his haunches as he considered the implications. If she told everyone the kit was named after someone else and not him, maybe this wasn’t the disaster he expected.

More stubborn than she was?— well, that was a cat he was determined to never meet.

“Ha ha ha,” he laughed, “very funny. Me, a forgotten prince? Yeah right. What kind of prince gets thrown in prison all their life? Don’t be silly. Do I look like a prince to you? No, no, I definitely do not.”

Sparrow scowled. She didn't leave him much of a choice. Jetfire was certainly annoying enough to risk his life like that if he didn't tell her the truth, but it was a story he didn't want anyone to know. His old fears ran deep, even all these moons later, when his enemies were dead and buried.

"Yeah, okay," he muttered, staring at her hard, wishing the ground would swallow her up or claw out her tongue. "When I came to WinterClan all those moons ago, I was just an apprentice, I was nearly dead at that, but they threw me in prison anyway. Left me to rot there, even when I proved myself. At first, they knew why, but as leaders came and went, they forgot who I was. Probably helped that I changed my name a few times, but really, they just knew it was best to leave me. Then it was just tradition, I suppose. It was safer there, I didn't mind." The mottled brown tabby shrugged his shoulders, casual, though there was an edge to his voice.

"It was safer for me to keep who I was a secret because they had already hunted down my father and killed him in his own territory. Took my mentor eventually, and my sister; never did hear what happened to my father's new chick, but they probably got her too. And yeah," Sparrow sighed, "it was 'cuz my father was a leader. So if you tell anyone who I am, they'll try and kill me too, so you better keep your mouth shut and tell everyone that kit has nothing to do with me."