Kat rubbed her thumb over the surface of the polished black mask in her hand. The only openings in the large oval obsidian stone were two eye holes. No other markings or designs covered its glassy surface. It was so polished that she could see her own dirt-smeared face reflected on it.

Cassius had explained that while he wore the mask, he had been instructed to always keep it polished so that their enemies would see their own reflection in the mask. It was a form of mental warfare.

She still wore the black uniform of the royal guard. Kat had been unwilling to try and remove it while her shoulder was still injured. Carefully, she took a seat on a log before a crackling fire. No smoke billowed up from the flames, and no logs fueled them. It was fire magic. Someone in the camp had come forward offering their magic flames to keep the camp warm.

It reminded her of the Ameronian Palace in Nava. So many smokeless flames lit the palace. No fuel kept them burning. It was an ancient and permanent magic that powered each of those tiny flames. That same magic warmed the baths and boiled water for cooking in the Summer Kingdom’s Palace. Magic that had been rumored to be infused into the walls of the Palace by King Oberon himself.

Kat adjusted the strip of cloth that held her injured arm to her body as she surveyed the makeshift camp around her. It had taken so little time to erect it. Tents and fires littered the small clearing as children ran through, weaving between people as they worked.

Kat could not help but smile at the children’s constant laughter and giggling as they played. Her heart ached a bit as she wondered just how long it had been since those children had laughed, or been able to play. The thought of the unspeakable horrors that happened in that prison made Kat want to crawl out of her own skin. Yet, watching the youngest of their kind play with such joy on their faces, lessened the pain in her heart. Tears lined her eyes as she looked at all the people in the camp. The horrors they had seen and felt did not darken their faces. So, Kat would not let the knowledge of what happened to them darken her own face.

From the corner of Kat’s eye, she saw a blur of motion. Her instincts kicking in before she even had time to process what was happening. Kat whirled to face the threat her fae instincts had sensed. Her arm spasmed at the abrupt motion. Pain shot through her shoulder but she ignored it, readying to defend herself and those around her. A soft hissing laugh came from beside her as Valen took a seat on the log next to her.

Kat’s hand braced the side of her arm, in an attempt to ease the pain from her wound. “That hurt,” she grumbled, more to herself than to the witch.

“You should be more careful,” Valen gave a faint smile of amusement that had Kat glaring at her.

She suppressed the snarl in her throat. Kat was not surprised that Valen was unbothered by her glare. The witch was far older and far more powerful than Kat would ever be.

The witch smoothed the corner of her cloak on her leg. The delicate way she crossed her legs was at complete odds with the feeling of danger and power that radiated from Valen’s entire being.

Kat had never been close with Valen. The witch did not seem to enjoy anyone’s company. But she knew Valen would kill for her, as she would kill for Valen. If not for Valen’s healing abilities, she knew she would be in far more pain than she currently was.

The witch was content to sit in silence beside Kat as they watched the camp spring to life. Kat had little doubt that Valen’s glamour was at work, hiding the camp from sight and sound. Valen’s eyes had that eerie glow to them, that they always had when she used her magic.

Music began to play from the other side of the small encampment. Kat leaned her head back, soaking in the joyful sounds around her. She needed this after experiencing that horrible prison for only a few hours.

“That is a new record,” Valen chuckled. Kat opened her eyes to see Cassius and Callum striding towards them. Cassius’s swagger was undiminished by the brooding shadow of a brother that followed him where ever he went. However even Callum seemed up to no good, a silent smile across his face. They each held two cups of what Kat presumed was ale or alcohol of some kind.

“We brought wine!” Cassius announced a triumphant cocky grin on his face. Kat rolled her eyes but could not hold back the small smile on her face.

“What?” Cassius asked in his most innocent voice, “I brought you some too,” he said as if that was why she would be disappointed in him.

Cassius slid onto the wooden log on Kat’s other side. Handing her the cup of wine. Despite the ample amount of room on the log, Cassius chose to sit so close beside her that his shoulder was lightly pressing against her own.

“Where is Seth?” Kat asked looking around the campground shrugging off his all too casual pass at her. She knew she had seen their leader just a moment before, but now he was nowhere to be seen. Kat made a move to get up, but Cassius stopped her with a gentle touch.

“Worry about yourself first,” he said giving a pointed look to her shoulder where a piece of torn cloth held her arm to her body to support her injury. “I will find the Commander,” he offered, before getting to his feet.

Kat gave him an appreciative smile but said nothing.

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Cassius did not leave the encampment empty-handed. A canteen, now filled with wine, hung from his side. It sloshed quietly with each step he took, bouncing against his side just a bit. The moment Cassius’s foot stepped over the invisible border of the camp, the sound of music stopped. He turned and looked behind him. What a moment ago had been a clearing filled with wagons and people now looked like a densely treed area of forest. The sounds of the forest filled the air around him. Birds were singing their morning songs as the rising sun chased the darkness from the sky. He wondered how long it would be before Valen’s magic would be hiding them from Kilian soldiers.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Cassius shook off the thought of another bloody fight like the one last night. He was sad to admit it had been hard for him to kill the members of the Prince’s personal guard. They had become his friends in the last month. He wondered if they knew it was him they were fighting. He wondered if it would have made a difference if they knew.

Cassius breathed in the crisp morning air and soaked in the cold. It was almost peaceful here. Snow crunched underfoot as he walked. He knew from the wind quickly concealing his footprints behind him, that Seth was nearby. His magic working to hide all trace of which way they had gone.

These days, it seemed the Commander never stopped working. Never relaxed or laughed as he once had. Cassius had not seen his friend truly smile since the Princess of Ameron had been taken.

He supposed it was good that one of them was constantly on alert. He knew that Kilian would be coming to reclaim the prison soon and they needed to be long gone before that happened. Well they would reclaim it if Seth decided to leave anything to be reclaimed. He would not put it past his Commander to reduce the compound to rubble.

Cassius found his friend standing on a small outcropping looking out at the walls of the prison. Quietly he came to stand beside Seth. Pulling the canteen from his waist strap, uncorking it, he took a swallow of wine. The warm liquid danced on his tongue and burned his throat. It was strong compared to the wine the guards drank. This bottle had been brought specifically for the Prince.

“How is she?” Seth asked his friend as Cassius passed Seth the canteen. Seth took a long swallow of the wine.

“Who, the female or Kat?” Cassius asked in reply.

“Both, I suppose,” Seth shrugged. The sorrow in his eyes as he continued to stare at the walls of that prison made Cassius want to do something to make it stop.

“Valen is attending to them both, with her healing them, I am sure they will be fine,” Cassius smiled slightly. “Kat is already back to her usual bossy self,” he added.

That comment got a small smile from Seth in response.

“And the girl?” He asked, finally turning to look at Cassius.

“Asleep still,” Cassius sighed.

“I see,” Seth answered staring down at the canteen in his hand. Anger boiled inside of him at what the humans had done. What they had done to the girl… done to Ellinna…

Seth ran his hand through his messy hair. He could not keep his mind from wandering back to Ellinna. Making comparisons between the girl he had saved and his Princess. The two females were around the same age.

He knew she was no longer alive. It was impossible for her to have survived this long. Yet he could not bring himself to say it out loud. She had been so innocent, and this coming war had taken her as its victim.

That faraway look in the female’s eyes when he first saw her. There was a wildness about her, more so than even the shifters he had met.

"We did good today," Cassius said, interrupting Seth’s thoughts. Cassius gave him a reassuring smile as he took the canteen of wine from Seth’s hand and took a swig.

“It is actually pretty good,” Seth chuckled half-heartedly. He took the canteen from Cassius’s outstretched hand and took a drink.

“From the Prince’s personal stash,” Cassius wiggled his eyebrows that made Seth nearly spit out the wine he just drank in laughter.

“Callum said there are three more barrels on the wagons,” Cassius offered as he got to his feet. The twins had once been strong psychics, born to one of the noble houses of Ameron.

They had not only the ability to communicate telepathically with one another and read minds, but they had visions of both the past and future. It was said that Callum had once been the strongest seer in centuries. He had been able to see someone’s darkest secrets with only one touch.

That had all changed when they were captured by slavers in Echad. The twins had not even been two decades old when they lost their magic. They had only been imprisoned for a month, but it had been long enough. They had lost almost all their magic to the iron poisoning. The others, that had been rescued with them, had not faired as well. Most had gone mad from the loss of their magic. That was the danger of iron poisoning. When the pain from the iron faded, you knew the end was near.

Cassius had been the smaller of the twins then. Callum had protected him from the slavers. Cassius had lost most of his magic, but Callum had lost almost all of it. He had lost his eye, his magic, and his ability to speak — or at least his will to.

"Today was a win," Cassius looked off into the distance and smiled to himself.

“You should go see her,” His friend smiled at Seth.

Seth knew he meant the female he had saved. He gave Cassius a knowing smile and replied, “You should take your own advice.”

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Long after Cassius had left him to his thoughts, Seth continued to stare into nothing. He slowly ran his thumb across the damp opening of the canteen as his thoughts ran rampant in his mind. Though he tried not to look at it, his gaze continued to drift back to that prison camp on the hill. Thunder rumbled off in the distance. Seth forced himself to look away from the prison walls.

Seth flexed his fingers, as he worked the cold from his joints. He had stopped shielding himself from the freezing wind shortly after Cassius left. He let the cold air burn through him. His lungs were tight, but it felt good.

If only Cassius had realized just how true his words had been. Seth knew better than to think Cassius was referring to Kat or Valen. His best friend had already seen how much that female had shaken him. She had forced him to face the horror that his Princess was living. Even as he stood here, Ellinna was… He could not lie to himself. There was no way the Princess was still alive.

Seth hung his head before turning back towards the camp. His feet were heavy as he walked. Valen’s glamour shield hummed in the air before him. He could feel it singing on the wind around him.

Seth reached out a hand as he stepped through the shield. Its magic hummed as it moved around him. As he stepped into the campground, the music hit him first. It was happy and joyful. Seth quickly took a step back as two faun children raced past him. Their laughter and giggles floated around them as they played.

It should have made him happy, to see these people free. Instead, it twisted his gut in anger. Seth had once proudly called Ameron his home. He had fought for the whims of that greedy and narrow-minded King. He felt nothing but rage towards that male now. All of this, the prisoners, the fall of Leona, the capture of Princess Ellinna, it could have all been avoided. But King Lan refused to come to Leona’s aid when Kilian attacked.

Seth clenched his jaw as he worked through his thoughts. How could King Lan have not realized that some things were more important than an ancient grudge? The knowledge that Lan had not even warned Leona of the attack made him sick.