Exasperated with how things were turning out, Ailith stalked out the door and into the hallway, where Alex had been awaiting her.

“You done?”

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?”

“She said she’d kill me.”

Alex chuckled and she glared daggers at him. “What?”

He gave a teasing shrug, “eh, nothing.”

Ailith sighed and shoved him aside as she started roaming the halls. “How long is the process going to take?”

Ales walked alongside her. “Give or take, around 2 weeks. We have to forge several documents and I’ll have to get in touch with...- but it’s not very difficult to send someone to a mental facility.”

“And you’re sure it's secure. She won’t escape?”

“Not unless she has the strength to beat up all the guards there-It’s a secure facility.”

“Right. I was thinking we could send a letter to her family from ‘her’ saying that she won some sort of scholarship or pri-”

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Alex cut her off mid sentence. “That won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Multiple reasons. I did a quick background check on her. 1. I don’t think she studies much, so if you send a scholarship letter, it might raise suspicion. 2. Her family would expect a visit from her before her departure, 3. You don’t know her well enough to mimic her tone of speaking. Etcetera, etcetera.”

“Alright then, what do YOU think we should do Mr. Know it all.”

He smirked. “Convince her family that she died.”

Ailith raised a brow. “How, exactly?”

“Get ahold of a dead body similar to hers and burn it beyond recognition. A fire of some sort.”

She sniggered, “Quite the violent person.”

“I like to think so.”

“So what, are you going to rob a graveyard or something?”

“No, I have to forge the documents, remember? It’d be a more practical use of time if you did.”

Ailith stopped in her tracks. “I can’t. I’m stuck in a castle, remember?”

He snorted, “As if you couldn’t sneak out.”

She moved to elbow him but he sidestepped. “Plus,” she said, dragging a hand through her hair. “If both of us are busy, there would be no-one to watch over the girl. You can’t seriously plan on keeping her in that guest room until the documents are made.”

“Why not, it’s unoccupied. The maids don’t even clean it.”

“The trials. Once all the selectants are chosen, they're going to move into the castle, and if they just so happen to see a girl tied up in their room...well, that would be bad.”

“It’ll be settled by then.”

“Sounds like a pretty close cut.”

“No,” Alex said with assurity, “It’ll be settled by then.”