It took ten seconds for the panic to set in among the Mages in the tavern.

Soldiers, they whispered.

Arrest, they murmured.

Enemy. Trap.

Run.

A hundred feet moved at once toward the second-floor exits, leaving behind screams of separation and cries of pain as the Devalokan soldiers hacked through the crowd, wrenching away any Mage they could grasp in their hands. Luca and Jack spared not one second as they grabbed their bags and followed the others into the chilling night air of the tavern's roof, flying past crying children and frightened elders, barely registering the sight of soldiers raiding homes and tearing families apart as they traveled across the city on rooftop.

We need to get to the safe-house, Luca signed to Jack as they jumped down onto a silent street whose houses were locked shut. Luca's boots crunched down on broken bangles as she landed, and Jack gasped out loud as he noticed the bloody handprints streaking the walls, illuminated eerily by the dim street lamps.

There had been a raid here already.

What safe-house? Jack asked, trying to distract himself as they hurried past the bone-chilling sights around them. He could hardly believe that just fifteen minutes ago, he had been dancing happily, ignorant to the violence outside of the Turmeric Tavern.

There's only one safe-house I know of— the one Saara and I usually stay at when we come here for missions, Luca explained before they ducked into a dark alleyway.

"Oh," was all Jack said in response. He could barely see in front of him, and just as he began to wonder if he should light his finger with a flame, Luca clamped down on his hand.

No, she unmistakably finger spelled onto his palm. No flame.

Jack begrudgingly obliged as he followed Luca down the alley, knowing that she was right. It would not be wise to use their Magic and risk selling themselves out, even if they were most likely alone right now. When the pair reached the end of the alleyway, Luca peeped from behind the adobe walls to ensure there wasn't anyone else on the street.

"Where are we?" Jack whispered, his eyes flicking about left and right in an attempt to make sense of his surroundings. He hated the feeling of being lost.

The outer districts of Teja. This place was abandoned a while ago after a family was murdered in their sleep in one of these houses. No one wanted to live here after that, Luca explained as they walked through the shadowy streets illuminated by nothing more than the light of the twin moons in the sky. Jack had to squint to make out Luca's signing.

"And this is where the safe-house is?" Jack asked as his eyes roved across the crumbling adobe homes covered in cobwebs and peeling paint.

Luca nodded as she came to a small shack-like building nestled inside the dead-end of the street onto which they had just turned. She pushed open the rickety door to reveal a small room with two cots on either side, a bookshelf lining the back wall, a small corner stove, and a door leading to what was probably a bathing room.

Sit, she signed to Jack, lighting the lamps on the walls one by one with her Magical flames.

Jack obeyed, setting his pack down as he huffed, leaning against the wall. What an eventful evening they'd had. He could already feel the adrenaline leaving his body, replaced with an aching hunger. They had never gotten to eating anything at the tavern, he realized.

Luca handed her friend a cup filled with water as she plopped down next to him on the bed, slumping against the pillow. Jack downed most of the water quickly, wiping his mouth.

"Well, that was quite the adventure," he said to no one in particular.

Luca nodded. Quite the adventure indeed.

Jack murmured something incoherent, continuing to sip on his water as his stomach growled.

Luca tilted her head, amused. You're hungry.

We never ate anything, and after all that running—yeah, I'm hungry, Jack replied, smiling sheepishly as his friend rose from the cot and moved toward a small cabinet.

"Wait, no you should rest—" he started, but Luca held a hand up, silencing him.

Jack rolled his eyes, relenting as he watched his friend open the cabinet and rummag through, searching for something. "What are you looking for?"

This, she signed, pointing to something lumpy that she had just drawn from inside the cabinet.

What's that? Jack frowned.

Luca strode toward him, saying nothing as she plopped down on the cot again and tore a chunk of the doughy food to hand to him.

When Jack shook his head, refusing to eat something that looked so ridiculously gooey, Luca rolled her eyes and shoved it into his mouth.

"Mffmhmm!" he cried as his teeth struggled to work through the sticky substance. He shot Luca a murderous glare as his jaw kneaded through the food, but his expression quickly changed to one of gratitude as the flavors began flooding his tongue.

Mmm...nutty...and sweet...with a hint of spice...how did it taste so good?

"Mmm, sho fooood," he garbled as Luca laughed silently, her eyes glittering with mischievousness.

It's something the Devalokan's call 'kikradhi,' she explained, and it's one of the few foods that doesn't go bad for months in the hot weather. Saara and I always make sure to keep some in our safe-house.

Well, it's delicious, Jack signed, closing his eyes with satisfaction as he swallowed another mouthful of the kikradhi. He grabbed more from Luca's hands, shoveling that, too, into his mouth.

Indeed, Luca agreed as she, too, began to devour the food in her hands.

The kikradhi didn't last for long, and as the Mages licked their fingers clean, a pleasant sleepiness began to tease their drooping eyelids.

"I'm so tired," Jack slurred, slumping against his pillows. "So much has happened."

Yeah, Luca agreed. After days of travel and a rather "exciting" night, tired didn't even begin to explain how she was feeling. She was exhausted to the bone, yet their list of problems was only growing.

Tired as we are, we can't forget that things have just gotten more complicated, she reminded her friend.

"What do you mean?" Jack said, drowsiness beginning to dull his senses and thoughts. The crankiness in him didn't appreciate Luca bringing problems to their table this late...when he was this tired...

I mean, Luca said, her toes tapping against the floor, the Crown Princess was almost assassinated.

"And?" Jack said, sinking into his pillows as he put his arms back. Skies, why did they have to do this now...couldn't he rest...just rest...rest...

Luca elbowed his legs fiercely, her icy eyes sharp with irritation as her friend shot up. The assassination attempt changes everything.

Jack rubbed his leg, shooting Luca a glare as the weight of their situation came crashing through his veil of drowsiness. What do you mean it changes everything?

Our plans for saving Saara, Jack, Luca reminded him exasperatedly. There are going to be more soldiers crawling about the candium prisons now that they're hunting more Mages down to throw in there.

Jack scratched his head, his mind sifting through possible solutions to their predicament. Luca was right that their job would be more difficult. Devaloka's candium prisons had always been difficult to penetrate because of their unique layout— a dense grove of trees and bushes clustered around cells dug into the ground, shrouded by shrubbery and guarded by the fiercest soldiers of the Devalokan king. There was a reason it was known as the "Garden of Death" among Mages.

But if there were to be an influx of soldiers guarding the prisons and more Mages inhabiting the cells—it would be virtually impossible to search for Saara's cell between the thick foliage without attracting unwanted attention.

We'll figure it out, Jack signed finally, frustrated by their problem and his foggy, tired mind. Tomorrow. We need to sleep if we're going to think.

But Luca was not as easily satisfied by the possibility of tomorrow's solutions as she chewed on her thumb. When a problem was on her mind, she would stop at nothing until she solved it. And, there was more than one thing about this entire situation bothering her.

Jack could tell this much.

"What else is on your mind?" he asked. Even if he didn't want to think about their situation with Saara, he was still curious to know what his friend was thinking.

Luca glanced up from the spot on the floor she had been mindlessly staring at, her pale skin illuminated softly by the lamplight, the smattering of freckles on her nose appearing like little stars. Doesn't it seem strange that someone would try to assassinate the princess now? What could they possibly gain from it? The King has no other heir, and the monarchy would go into disarray without her...

Jack furrowed his dark eyebrows, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe creating chaos is their aim. I mean, from the graffiti we saw earlier in the city, I wouldn't be surprised. People were threatening Raina with death after all. Maybe their goal is to destabilize the monarchy entirely."

Stolen story; please report.

Fair, Luca acknowledged, tilting her head as she ran a hand through her ember-colored hair. But it still bothers me...it was so random...and there's so much that could go wrong...

Well, don't let it bother you too much, Jack signed back, catching Luca's puzzled blue eyes with his words. Nothing life-altering has happened yet. The princess is still alive and kicking and causing a hell of a lot of problems for the Mages in the city—and for us.

Luca stopped chewing on her lips long enough to give Jack an irritated look. Oh, yes, blame our problems on the person who almost got murdered.

"I was just joking," Jack defended, suddenly feeling annoyed by Luca's behavior. Why did she have to take everything so seriously? Couldn't they have a moment of respite?

A joke is supposed to be funny, Luca snapped, her thin lips pulled into a frown. Jack was ticking her off with his drowsy nonchalance. Why wasn't he remotely bothered by any of this?

"Oh, it wasn't funny?" Jack gritted out, his dark eyes glittering with a tired venom. Something about Luca's self-righteous tone had clipped something inside, and before he could stop himself, the words he had locked in his heart for the past week came tumbling out. "Well, forgive me for trying to make light of a shitty situation that you put us in."

Luca's face drained of any remaining color, her freckles now wilted stars on the canvas of dying galaxy.

And there it was.

The anger Luca had been waiting for. The anger she had wanted Jack to throw at her all week.

You're not being fair, she told him, ice eyes melting into watery sadness, because even if his rage was justified, it still hurt to hear him say it.

Jack wasn't listening now as hours of sleeplessness, days of grueling travel, and a narrow escape from deadly soldiers finally caught up to him, impairing his judgment and allowing his frustrations to run rampant.

Not being fair? he seethed, his copper-tan skin glistening with sweat. I'll tell you what's not fair.

He rose to his feet, picking at the curls on his head as he paced back and forth across the room. He turned to Luca's hunched form, shoulders drooping as she cowered on the bed, waiting in anxious anticipation for his next words.

What's not fair, he signed as his friend's pale face lifted to meet his churning, dark eyes, is having only one of your friends return from a mission because she abandoned the other. What's not fair is for that friend to then refuse to tell me the truth while I join her on a deadly mission to save her life. What's not fair, Luca, is that you— my best friend who I would do anything for, renounce anything for— can't even give up one secret for me.

Luca lowered her eyes to the ground, unable to meet her friend's fierce gaze and wide, wild eyes, his words poking holes in her lungs. She couldn't help as the tears began to escape their prison and roll freely down her pale cheeks.

But I'm doing this to protect you, her mind cried as her head sank into her hands. I wish you could understand.

But Jack had no way of understanding. Not when he didn't know the truth. What he did understand, however, was that Luca was as upset as him, and it pained him to see her this way, no matter how angry he was, so he knelt beside her, placing a gentle hand of comfort on her shoulder.

"I've been trying so, so hard to be kind to you, to be patient, to not doubt you," he whispered between Luca's jagged breaths and silent tears. "Please. I'm only going to ask you one more time— tell me the truth. I just want to know what really happened, Luca. I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."

Luca couldn't help the wave of nausea that swept over her body as she gazed through swirling tears to Jack's earnest, pleading eyes. She felt cornered, like her friend was holding a knife to her throat rather than a comforting hand on her shoulder. Why, why, why?

Why couldn't Jack stop asking her for the truth?

Why couldn't he just buy her lie like everyone else had?

The secret was becoming unbearable to hold now. It weighed on Luca like the weight of the world.

She couldn't do this anymore. She wouldn't. She wouldn't. She wouldn't.

She must.

You promised, Saara's sweet voice echoed in her mind.

Luca shut her eyes from the world for a moment as a thousand thoughts crowded and careened around her.

"Luca?"

The Elementalist opened her eyes, face-to-face with Jack's expectant gaze. Gone was the youthful glow that had brightened his tan skin just hours ago in the tavern. His lips were pursed tightly, brown eyes swimming in doubt, dark brows furrowed, and curls manically disheveled from running his hands through it so many times.

Luca wiped the tears from her face, steadying herself as she decided on her next words with strict finality. She knew what she had to do, even if it would break everything— break her, break Jack, break their friendship.

Because breaking all three was exactly what she needed to do.

I am a coward, Jack, she signed, schooling her features into soldier-like neutrality even as her heart splintered in a million places.

Jack's warm hand slackened on her shoulder, unmistakable doubt and hurt cracking open like burnt almonds in his eyes. His mouth opened slightly as he tried to search for the right words, gaze flickering between his friend and the floor.

I left Saara behind of my own volition, Luca continued without waiting for him to respond, because if she waited, she was afraid that she would crack, too, and then the truth would spill out— and that could not happen.

Not when it would risk everything she and Saara had suffered through to protect.

And, you can hate me for leaving her all you want, she told her friend as his eyes spiraled further and further into uncertainty, and you should hate me because I didn't protect our friend. I abandoned her in her moment of need.

Jack swallowed hard, making a suffocated noise despite himself as he blinked away stunned tears, watching as Luca barreled forward with one last sentence. Luca...Luca...no...no...no...

Hate me, Jack, she commanded, eyes ablaze with rough self-loathing.

Hate me. Because I deserve it, she signed, her hands falling to her sides, numb from the lies that they had told. She hoped he truly did hate her now for it was far easier to deal with his loathing than his misplaced belief in her.

Jack said nothing for a moment, taking in Luca's confession, taking in the sight of her teary blue eyes.

Please believe my sweet, little lies, they implored him.

And he wanted to— because it would be far simpler if he did.

Yet, the problem was, he couldn't—because if he was sure of anything now, it was that Luca was lying. She was only insisting on such a ridiculous betrayal of their friend because she had something to hide. After all, if she could have compassion for a pampered princess she didn't even know, then there was no way that she had truly betrayed Saara. Something— or someone—critical had come in between Luca and her loyalty to her friend.

This didn't make Jack feel any better, though. If anything, it only made him more angry because now Luca was putting her secrets above their friendship.

She was refusing to trust him by not telling the truth, and this hurt him more than he cared to admit.

"I see," was all he said in response to her terrible confession, pausing for a shaking breath. "I'm disappointed, Luca."

I'm disappointed you won't let me share your burden, his heart echoed against his ribcage as he watched Luca lower her head again, tears plopping into her open hands as her flaming-red hair formed a curtain around her face.

"How could you leave Saara behind?" his voice trembled, raw and angry because what he really wanted to ask was how could you not trust me?

"She's your best friend," he said, furiously wiping the tears from his cheeks. And so was I, he cried inside.

I'm s-sorry, Luca signed with trembling hands, sniffling as she raised her eyes to meet Jack's, her whole body shaking with the secrets she carried inside.

I'm sorry for the pain, sorry for not being able to tell you the truth, she wanted to tell him.

Jack remained silent for a moment, the roiling anguish in his eyes words enough as his gaze bore into Luca's quiet, defiant wall of secrets.

"I'm sorry, too, Luca. I'm so, so sorry," he finally said, his bitter voice cracking.

I'm sorry that you lied, sorry that you can't tell me the truth, he wanted to shout as he ground his teeth in silent, seething anger.

Luca let out a choked cough upon hearing Jack's last words, her hands falling limply into her lap again as she folded in on herself.

It was over. It was over. It was over.

She had gone too far—

And there was no going back now as she drifted further and further into the dull void encasing her heart.

Jack, too, felt an emptiness envelop him as he moved across the room to his cot and leaned back against the wall, letting the tears slide down his cold, clenched jaw like drizzling rain before a storm.

For minutes, then hours, the Mages sat in a miserable, numb silence, turmoil churning their minds and hearts. Neither could say what they wanted for one was weighed down by a twisted promise and the other by his silent anger.

So they sat on opposite sides of the room and shed their silent tears for one truth was clear—

There could be no friendship with heavy secrets breaking the bond between them.

***

The next morning the Mages woke up to sharp sunlight and the sound of a clanging bell. Neither Luca nor Jack had slept properly after their terribly hollowing conversation the previous night. Still, they stumbled about the room groggily, pulling on tunics and pants and avoiding each other's gazes before rushing out the door to see what the clamor was all about.

They soon found themselves in a crowded street, standing behind citizens craning their necks to see the royal messenger who was announcing something important.

Can you hear the messenger? Luca signed to Jack, noticing the tension in his jaw, the dark circles under his brown eyes. Even his copper skin was paler than usual, leeched of its vibrant color.

Jack, who was still bitter from the events of last night, shook his head, refusing to meet Luca's ice-blue eyes. Instead he tapped on the shoulder of a woman standing next to him and asked her in the common tongue, "What's going on?"

The woman responded to his question in a mixture of Devalokan and the common language. "Announcement...Princess Raina...continue celebration...schedule."

Jack thanked the woman though he only understood half of what she had said. He glanced sideways at Luca, hoping she had comprehended some of it, though he could barely bring himself to acknowledge her.

She said that Princess Raina will continue with the Moon Harvest Festival celebrations despite recent events, Luca translated, understanding his minimal glances in her direction. She pursed her lips, her face slightly relieved yet still dull despite the bright news. Jack... her heart whispered behind the unspoken words between them.

Then we have a better opening into the prisons than we thought, yes? Jack signed back, his face devoid of its usual animatedness, avoiding the distress in Luca's eyes.

Luca nodded in response, wiping her face blank of emotion. Much better opening than we would have even had before. The third day of the Moon Harvest Festival is the most important one for the relationship between the royals and the citizens.

Oh, is that so? Jack responded listlessly, pretending not to care—because he didn't. Care. About Luca, that is. Why should he, when she didn't care for him? For Saara?

The third day is indeed pivotal for the royals, Luca confirmed, paying no heed to his bitterness as she explained the tradition. If she ignored his jabs, then they didn't exist. Right?

On the third day, she signed, the citizens of each district in Teja pool together old scraps and items they feel are no longer necessary to their lives and give it to the head of their district. Then, in the evening, the eldest princess in the royal family, who the Devalokans believe to be the embodiment of the agricultural goddess Themitra, tours the city, stopping at each district to collect the old scraps and items. At the end of the tour, she takes the items to a large pit in front of the palace and lights the whole thing on fire, burning the old and ushering in the new. A purification and rebirth for the people of Devaloka.

Usually, there is a large celebration at the palace following the lighting of the fire— open to all regardless of social status, but I don't see that happening given recent events. I'm surprised the Crown Princess is even risking doing the usual tour, Luca finished.

Jack was surprised, too. It was a bold move on the princess's part, clearly done to show the attackers, whoever they were, that she would not be knocked down easily.

Princess Raina would make a formidable queen.

Jack also now understood why Luca had looked more relieved after hearing the woman's translation of the royal messenger's announcement. Princess Raina's tour of the city meant that the most skilled guards at the palace— the ones guarding the Garden of Death— would have to leave their posts to be part of the royal entourage. After all, the royal family's safety was of utmost importance, especially after the assassination attempt.

Since the prisons, even without the presence of highly specialized guards, were still extremely well-fortified, soldiers who were normally stationed outside of the city would temporarily guard the prisons— a disadvantage for the royals that Jack and Luca could exploit.

All they had to do was wait one more day before they broke their friend out.

Jack turned to Luca, his face expressionless, even if his heart held a dull sort of hope. "Let's make a plan then, shall we?"