Wolf is not so easily fooled by my trick.

As he and Seir prepare to leave, he takes my hand and stares into my eyes, saying, “Don’t do anything yet. Wait for me.”

I stare at him and nod with all the earnestness I can manage. “Of course.”

He doesn’t look like he believes me. He can probably smell the lie in my voice, and a struggle takes place in his features. To stay or go. To stay would mean to miss another chance to find his mother. To go would mean allowing me to potentially endanger myself.

I almost regret putting him in the conundrum

“I’ll be safe,” I tell him. “I promise. I have a plan. And powers.”

His eyes widen. “You do?”

I nod. I didn’t lie. According to Lo, I do have magic. I just don’t know what it is yet.

He sighs and drags me to him pressing my lips against his in a kiss that is full of bitter-sweet desperation.

“Stay alive,” he orders me when he’s done. "Go to Stone and ask him to call Savannah. She'll help you."

I nod.

“I plan on it.” The staying alive part, not the calling Savannah bit.

After he leaves, I wait for the Raven messenger to deliver the invisibility sphere as I go over my plan.

I have to get into the castle and discover where the King is keeping the boar. And then I need to steal it.

Simple plan. But easy? Not likely.

What if the boar isn't at the castle? What then?

Then I'll go to the Ravens and convince them to let me use one of their portable portals. They probably have a few on hand, in case they need to quickly escape. Portable portals are very expensive but I doubt a man like Lord Raven would come into enemy territory without them. I could use one them to go to wherever the boar is and get it.

Then I'll explain my theory to Seir and have him make the antidote.

Again, simple plan but not at all easy.

I briefly consider calling Tia or Savannah to help me but then I think of Jace and my chest tightens to point where I can barely breathe. Jace is dead, partially because of me. I can’t risk anyone else getting hurt because of my stupidity.

I’ll do this on my own, so that live or die, it will only be my neck on the line.

“You said you're using me as a pawn in your game, right?" I speak out loud to the voice in my head which I now know as Lo. “Then you better make sure I live.”

The voice is silent.

Ah, that’s right, he did say I wouldn’t be hearing from him for a while due to his deal with the Forest.

I’m truly on my own in this.

The idea scares me.

You’re worthless, I remember my mother saying. I haven’t thought of her abuse in months, but now it returns to me in full force. You've never been good at anything. Everyone who ever loved you has abandoned you or died. Just like your father.

You’re a bad omen.

The funny thing is that despite how many times she's said it, I've never truly believed I was worthless. There's always been something, deep inside telling me I was meant to do...something.

I suppose we'll find out what that is today.

It's terrifying to be working on my own again, but at the same time, it’s freeing.

I don't have to worry about anyone else but me.

And I can finally know for sure, what I’m capable of on my own.

I swallow back the anxiety and rise at the knock on the door.

To my surprise, it's the blonde knight who is sent to deliver the invisibility orb, a sphere encased in metal.

“You activate and deactivate it by tapping twice on this button,” he directs and I watch him do it, turning himself invisible and then visible once more. "There's only about five minutes of coverage before it gets glitchy. Don't drop it, or it will probably deactivate."

I take it from him. “Thank you.”

He nods and then hesitates for a second. “Be careful.”

I meet his eyes, surprised.

That warning sounds ominous. Did he say it because he knows something I don’t or is he simply worried about me?

Or more likely, he's worried that my actions will implicate the ravens in a crime.

"Don't worry," I say. "I'll make sure none of this leads back to the Ravens."

The Knight snorts. "Do you think any of us are worried about your crazy King? Please. I'm just telling you to be careful because our lady seemed very fond of you. It would be a shame if you were to die without saying goodbye."

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Before I can respond to that, he leaves. I watch him go noting that his words sounded almost like he was worried about me. Odd. The man doesn't even like me.

Who would have thought? The Ravens, my enemies, worry about me when the Elite Guards, my supposed allies, abandoned me in a forest to die. They almost didn't treat Tia after what she went through because she wasn't a 'true Northerner'.

Maybe I am on the wrong side of this war.

But then recalling Pearl's staunch defense of the Empress reminds me of why I can't ally myself with the Pangeans. They won't protect me from her and I can't fall into that woman's clutches again. I'd rather die.

The old Elite Guards are standing at the castle gates, and the one on the left cracks a smile as I approach. “You’re alive.”

I smile back. “Indeed. I’ve come to report myself to the King and Sir Tyne.”

“Unfortunately, both the King and Tyne are away on important business.”

"Oh." Well, that throws one wrench in my plan.

But actually, this might work in my favor.

“In which case, can I possibly meet the Prince? I need him to get a message to the King that is of the utmost importance.”

They share a look and the one on the left nods.

He leaves to fetch the prince.

A few seconds after he’s gone the one on the right says, “I’m glad you survived.”

I blink. “You are?”

He nods. “I didn’t think you would. The Elite Guards took bets and I bet on you, fully expecting to lose my money. But now I make money.”

I smile amused. "Well, I’m glad I was part of your good fortune. But why would you bet on me?"

He shrugs. “I just have a feeling about people. And I have a feeling you’re someone who is frequently underestimated. I know what that’s like. So I'm happy you proved them wrong."

I’m stunned. This is the longest and most expository conversation that I’ve had with any of the Elite Guards. I never thought one of them thought such things about me. I never considered that they thought about me much at all.

But then Tia did tell me that people talk about me. I assumed it was the same gossip about being the Prince's fiancee and a muzungu. I never thought it was beyond that.

“Thank you," I tell him. “I appreciate that. I'm sorry, I've never asked your name."

“It's Mort."

"Thank you, Mort."

He nods and we hear footsteps approaching.

We turn in time to see the other guard reappear with Prince Caster.

“Adria?” Relief shines in his gaze. “You’re alive, thank God.”

I allow him to hug me and make a show of hugging him back.

When I pull back I say, “I’m sorry for causing you trouble. I wasn’t thinking…”

“No, I understand. You just lost your friend and Wolf. It was understandable you would be devastated.”

“Thank you. And thank you for defending me against that Guard. You’ve been very kind to me despite everything.”

“Adria...” His hand brushes against my cheek and I resist the urge to recoil. “Of course.”

“Can I talk to you about something? It’s very important and quite private.”

He nods and says. “Follow me.”

I obey, sticking close to him as he leads me through the corridor. My heart is racing as I consider how to do this. The invisibility cloak only has a five-minute or so guarantee, so I can't just turn it on and traipse about the castle endlessly. I have to get as close to my target as possible, so I need to know where the target is.

Do I just ask Caster? No that would raise too much suspicion. I need to be smarter about what I say.

But most of all, I need to foster all the good feelings I can.

“So," he asks as we climb the stone staircase. “What did you want to talk about?”

I swallow. “I want to clarify something first. What you saw between me and Wolf…”

I don't see his face but his shoulders stiffen.

“You’re marrying Genya,” I say. “I thought you had moved on. It was a moment of weakness . I thought you–"

"You thought I didn't didn’t love you again,” he says and while his voice is harsh, his eyes are emotional when they spin around to me. If I didn’t know better I would think he was truly heartbroken. “I told you my marriage to Genya isn’t by choice. The village needs her powers and the King needs her father's support. He's our envoy to the West and their allyship is needed in case the Pangeans attack again.

“Right. I know that...it's just knowing and accepting it are two different things. I thought that, deep down, you truly loved her. Or at least cared for her.”

His face tightens with emotion.

“I don't have a problem with Genya," he says. "But I never moved on from you. Never. I had a plan on how to end our betrothal. That’s what I wanted to tell you that day at the castle when you were with Wolf outside the dungeon."

"You had a plan?"

"Yes. I'll tell it to you once we're in my private."

He starts walking back up the stairs and I follow him.

“I’m sorry I didn't listen,” I say and he nods.

“It’s alright. I understand.”

“Where are we going?”

I thought we could talk in my bedroom.

I almost freeze. His bedroom? Just why on earth would we need to talk there?

But I keep my feet moving. I need his help and perhaps his bedroom is the best place for us to talk. I learned from scaling the castle in my first life that I could easily climb from there to the King’s chambers and perhaps squeeze through the bars into his room.

Yes, that might be best. That way I can avoid the guards altogether, assuming they're standing outside the door.

It beats my previous plan of knocking on the door and pretending I was a ghost.

We end up in the prince’s room, on an empty floor save for one guard. It's spartan as the rest of the castle, but as though a mark of rebellion he has a golden sash around his bed.

Gold was his mother’s favorite color.

“What did you need to tell me?” He’s standing way too close to me, his eyes glittering in the moonlight.

I step back.

“It's about the boar you caught for your father. He needs to protect it. Someone is going to try and steal it tonight."

His eyebrow furrowed. “That’s impossible. No one but the King knows where it is.”

“You don’t have an idea?”

He shakes his head. “I haven't seen the thing since I delivered it into his study."

Darn, that's what I was afraid of.

"Well, maybe alert the guards to be extra vigilant. I'll stay here and see if I can remember anything else."

He nods, and says, "I'll be right back."

Then he leaves as I think, Hopefully, so will I.

I move to the window, unlatching, then opening it, shivering against the draft.

I'm not sure where the orb is, but my best guess is that it's in the King's study. What Caster says all but confirms it because someone would have noticed the soldiers carrying a large beast somewhere else.

But one might ask, how the King is keeping it in his study.

Simple, magic.

In my past life, Wolf and Savannah delivered the beast to the Empress by imprisoning it into a magic stone, the same color as it's gem-like eyes. I'm not sure of the mechanics behind such a thing but I saw it with my eyes, the giant animal transforming into the smoke that flowed into a miniature gem. The King is paranoid and gets more so the closer he gets to his goal. He wouldn't keep it anywhere else but in his room.

I activating the invisibility orb. I hear a little whizz and then look down at myself, watching my limbs and body disappear.

How unsettling. But useful.

I climb out the window and then close it, eyeing the distance to the King's window. It's a little above and to the right of the Prince's. I dig my toes into the ridges of the stone wall, gripping each indent by the tips of my fingers and slowly make my way there.

I try not to think about how high I am from the ground and how precariously balanced I am.

Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall. I repeat the mantra in my head and remind myself that I did this once with no training. I can do it again.

Not too soon, I arrive at the King's window and open it from the outside. Luckily, the room is empty and by my estimation, I have about three minutes to search. I hop in through the windows, walk over to the desk. The drawers are unlocked so I pull them open, looking through the pages there.

No gem.

Come on. Please. I need a little bit more luck here.

But just as I think that, I hear a sound that has me seizing and has my heart jumping into my throat.

The sound of an opening door.

And then a very familiar heavy gait.

The King is here.