Cateline was walking through the city of Daggernest with Varin after Thaddius parted ways. She wasn’t sure why he joined her, as he held so much disdain toward her, but she welcomed the company—albeit, uncomfortable company.

It was a silent stroll as they walked along the edge, nearing the lake that led to an uninhabited island. The water splashed onto the shore in gentle waves as the wind picked up, the outskirts of the town otherwise silent. There were a few farmers cleaning up their land and raking their leaves, but that was it.

“Cateline,” Varin said after a moment. “You said you could see your family in that vision, that was not a lie?”

She nodded, keeping her eyes set on the water to distract herself from the aching memories of her brother being injured. “Clear as day, unfortunately. It was like I was there… I could feel everything, but I affected nothing. I was a ghost.”

Varin nodded. “Was it nice seeing your family again?”

A sad smile crept onto her lips before nodding. “Of course, though I would call it bittersweet. My younger brother, Gawain, was crying. Couldn’t tell what about, but it hurt when I couldn’t hug him. I saw my father, too, with my elder brother Terrence… That was when it grew bitter.”

Varin hummed. “Your father… I’m sure he is as nasty as the rumors say.”

“Undoubtedly. He kept me sheltered from any politics, most notably due to my magic, but I think it was because he was ashamed of me. That shouldn’t be a surprise, sure, but it stung. If he was so cruel to his own flesh and blood, I can only imagine what he did to the surrounding nations.”

Varin shook his head. “You surely cannot be so naive, Cateline.”

“You know, Varin, if I wanted your judgement, I would have stayed in that tavern longer with you two.”

“Fair, and perhaps I am being a tad harsh, but what I say is genuine. How could you grow up in that environment and not be utterly ashamed?”

Cateline smiled sadly, folding her arms over her chest before shrugging. “Call me an optimist, I don’t know. It is difficult to see the world in any other light when you are held prisoner for your growing years. If it wasn’t for my mentor, I would know nothing.”

“That is your excuse, really? Blame it on daddy?”

Cateline snapped her head in his direction, eyes narrow and full of scorn. “Varin, what is the matter with you? I have done nothing to you, to Aiora, or to Thaddius. I came to heed warning about the vision I saw. Clearly, if I had my wits about me I would have left on the next ship out of Traburg and let whatever hellfire is coming rain down.”

Varin took a step back and gazed at Cateline in disappointment. “You had everything at your disposal. So much could have been changed if you had been upfront about your identity. And now, when you see your family falling apart at the seams in some feverdream, you come asking for our help?”

“Have you ever stopped and realized that this entire thing is bigger than you, bigger than me? Of course seeing my family’s woes broke my heart, as I am sure yours would too. You had family in your homelands, right? How am I the fool? Regardless, this goes beyond my father planning some ridiculous siege that won’t make it past the perimeter guard towers. This involves Seraphine, somebody I have seen in real time, and, apparently you have too. What do you have to say about that?”

“Seraphine is nothing,” Varin spat. “She’s a heretic.”

“And, what am I?” another voice chimed from behind. They both turned toward the noise, catching sight of Aiora. She stood there, just in front of the treeline, with a dagger and a trembling hand at her side.

“Aiora, what are you doing with that dagger? Where did you come from?” Varin asked.

Although Varin was speaking to her, Aiora did not take her focus off of Cateline. There was this rage behind those stormy eyes, strands of silver hair falling in front of her face crazily. She had stains down her cheeks from crying and a quivering frown.

“You’re a liar, Cateline.”

“I beg your pardon?” Cateline asked and took a step backward, eyes flickering between her chaotic stare and the dagger.

“You heard me. You had the headmistress fooled, sure, but not me.” Aiora said, eyes lighting up crazily before covering her mouth in laughter. “Cateline, Princess of Axulran. Is that what you tell yourself? You’re a bastard child!”

Cateline scoffed, her jaw clenching as rage onset in her core. It was a familiar feeling, one that terrified her. “Are you calling me illegitimate? How long have you known who I was?”

“Oh, long enough. Seems that I knew who you were before you did. Fancy those odds?”

Taking a daring step toward Aiora, she clenched her hands into fists in an attempt to ground herself. “And what are the odds that I don’t burn you to a crisp?”

Aiora took another step, matching her energy. “With what magic, bastard child?”

“What are you saying?” Cateline asked again, her low voice wavering at this accusation.

Aiora’s judgemental eyes trailed over Cateline’s face before shrugging. “Illegitimacy is a difficult thing to swallow. You are no Princess, but you are Axulran scum.”

With this, she felt that energy inside her explode. Cateline screamed, the vitality of her mana knocking Aiora back toward the treeline. “The only scum here is you, holding that dagger as if you were to use it. If you are so mighty, Aiora, stand up and fight!”

This was when Varin stepped in, grabbing hold of Cateline’s wrist. Looking at him simply, she flicked her other hand and he, too, went backward. Only this time, he smashed into the brick perimeter of a well and groaned.

“And you, the strong warrior… What were you telling me about my naivety?”

Varin sat up, holding the side that had smashed into the brick. “Stop this, Cateline, you cannot control yourself during Lunarseve. You will kill everybody, if not just yourself!”

With glistening eyes, Cateline ignored this warning and faced Aiora who had stood back to her feet. The elf smirked and ran toward Cateline, holding the dagger out as she took the first swing. Cateline, with nothing but her intuition guiding her, grabbed the attacking wrist and twisted it, the skin freezing at her grasp. Aiora cried out and dropped the dagger, falling limp to ease the pain. Cateline let her fall and stepped on the daggers handle so it could not be grabbed.

Snatching a fistful of hair, Cateline leaned down to stare her in the eyes. “What was this about illegitimacy?”

Aiora laughed at her, flinching when Cateline’s grip harshened. “Cateline, your eyes are glowing… maybe you’re an elf afterall! Your father would call you rotten.”

Cateline released her grasp and let Aiora fall to the ground. Her hands glowed blue vibrantly, shards of ice extending where her fingernails should be. “You’re insane, Aiora. You are nothing.”

Without intending to, shards of ice spewed from her fingers and surrounded the two of them. They were encompassed in a shield of ice, leaving nothing but the two of them to fight.

Aiora wiped the blood from her nose after standing, her tattoos shining into the shadows of the temporary cave. Aiora stood with one foot in front, a hand extended with the other held at her chest. A bolt of electricity shot from her extremities, only missing when Cateline jumped out of the way. As a response, Cateline grabbed at the dirt beneath her hands and the land froze. Aiora’s feet were cemented into the ground now, but this did not faze her.

The elven girl breathed heavily, a ribbon of smoke escaping from her mouth and snaked toward Cateline. Before she knew what to do, the smoke slithered around her and held her in place. The ice melted at her feet in the same moment, the only prisoner now Cateline.

“Don’t believe me, Cateline?” asked Aiora. “Why don’t you ask Alleyn.”

This was when her heart sank. And, with this aching feeling, the ice fell too. “But, Alleyn is dead. There is no way—”

“—that he would leave you alone? Poor, precious Cateline… Turns out he was a liar to both of us.”

Cateline shook her head, the smoke beginning to fill her airways and suffocating her at an agonizingly slow pace. She pleaded for Aiora to stop, tears falling from her eyes.

She had no clue how she got here, or how she managed to use her magic like that, but the thought of dying before saving her brother sickened her.

Selfish, she told herself. Terrence will die because you.

A trio of voices called out for them as her senses grew weak. Aiora stared through the entire thing—like she was to watch all life slip from her eyes. A confirmed kill.

Without another passing second, a huge gust of wind blew both of them down. The smoke that had been suffocating her vanished, her body sent flying to the shoreline. Water rose to her hair before falling back to the bay, the gentle waves reminding her that she was conscious.

She saw Varin in the distance tending to Aiora, rolling her on her back and snapping in her face frantically in an attempt to wake her. He was hollering something, but she could not decipher what it was through the ringing in her ears.

A far gentler hand grabbed onto her shoulder, the murmur of a voice greeting her. It was so foreign, but felt so familiar. She could feel it in her heart. Turning her head, she met such kind, concerned eyes that looked down on her.

“Cateline...” a voice faded in and out. “Cateline, are you with me? My god—what are you doing in Traburg? Why did you fight Aiora?”

So many questions swallowed her brain, but only one could escape from her lips. “Where is Alleyn?”