Iree’s squad was currently moving out for an attack on Ghurian territory. Dorothea was filled with dread and hope in equal measure, and ready to give it her best shot regardless.

“Where’s Rhys?” she asked from her place behind Ariana on horseback. After he’d supposedly demonstrated his loyalty at Izozkia, she’d expected Iree to have him along for sure.

“Resting, apparently,” Ariana replied. “Iree said he got sick.”

Sick, huh? It sounded more like Iree might have finally noticed what a bad place Rhys was in and given him some time away from battle. At least she was enough of a friend to do that much.

“As long as he’s okay…” Dorothea’s hand went to the pin secured at her neck.

But she needed to focus. Her plans for that day relied entirely on chance. Gren Fall had to show up and be willing to listen to her. She had to find a way to have a discussion with him without anyone getting killed but also without any on the Sacerian side noticing her intentions. Granted, Ariana already knew something was going on, but she’d made it clear that Dorothea couldn’t rely on her for help. She was alone here.

She measured her breath as they approached the invisible divide between lands. The lush forests of Sacer had faded, leaving a stark, exposed land. The place Iree had pinpointed as the Ghurian base looked abandoned—it was an exposed and crumbling barracks of stone, certainly not what Dorothea would have thought to be a stronghold.

But there they were. As the Sacerian invaders approached, defenders emerged, all familiar faces. The soldier she had healed after the Izozkia conflict—Pearlie, Ariana’s sister—Wesley the wind-and-ice-user, the needle-wielding woman Johanna, and… She bit back a sigh of relief at the sight of Gren.

Ariana found what she was looking for too; she unsheathed blades from both hands, gaze honing in on her sister.

“You gonna let her get the best of you this time too?” Shark teased as they cracked their knuckles and stepped to her side to make sure that didn’t happen.

“With your help, no.”

“Aw. Nice to be needed.”

“Atlin, stay back and intervene as ordered or at your own discretion,” Iree said. “Everyone else, aim for the kill.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Ariana muttered as she jetted forward.

“Wait up!” Shark gasped, leaping after her with Iree and Cerid on their heels.

Dorothea watched with bated breath. Her plan was to wait for someone on her side to get hurt. Then she could fake panic, rush in and get Gren’s attention.

The two groups met in the middle and started clashing. Ariana and Shark faced off against Pearlie and Johanna, Ariana deflecting needles with her blades and Shark creating pillars of earth to slowly separate the two Ghurian women, obscuring them from each other’s vision while not getting the Sacerians caught up in the shifting of the earth.

Meanwhile, Cerid and Iree were up against Wesley and Gren. Iree’s intense flames blasted apart the ice that was shot at them even while Cerid was caught in the crossfire of those explosions. Cerid fought through it all, not giving Gren even a split second to collect himself as he punched relentlessly, getting in close quarters despite the risk.

Even from where she stood, Dorothea could see it: Cerid’s hands were being dyed red. She could see how absolutely shocked the Ghurians looked, how it threw their entire strategy off to have Gren losing. Cerid was fast enough to dodge every knife attack, and his magic made sure that even glancing blows had destructive power.

Cerid was going to beat Gren to death. Why wasn’t Gren fighting harder? Where had his determination gone?

“Please don’t…” Dorothea begged under her breath, putting her hands together.

But Cerid had Gren pinned to the ground now. He reared back for a finishing blow, flecks of blood flying from his split knuckles and a pained expression twisting his face.

“Gren!” Wesley, rashly and foolishly and very luckily for Dorothea, took his attention away from Iree to aid his comrade. She seized his arm by the elbow and in a great bloody instant blew it off in a miniscule volcanic eruption.

But Wesley didn’t stop. He screamed through gritted teeth and kept going without missing a beat, barrelling into Cerid to throw him off. Gren scrambled, dragging himself to his feet just in time to dodge a blow from Iree that would have melted half his face off.

“Sorry, Cerid,” Dorothea whispered. She hadn’t wanted him to get hurt, but Wesley attacking him was what gave her an in. She took a deep breath, swallowed down an onset of terrified nausea, and ran into the fray.

“Thea, don’t!” Shark screamed. She heard a yell of protest from Iree too, but she ignored them for her single-minded goal.

She tackled Wesley under a pretense of helping Cerid, meager strength meaning she more just bounced off him and threw herself to the ground, dazed, as a result of her efforts. She opened her instinctively closed eyes to find Wesley moving towards her, only for him to receive a blow to the underside of his chin from Cerid that made a sickening crack resound through her ears. Wesley’s feet left the ground; he flew up and flopped back down with a breathless gasp, then started writhing and coughing.

“Dorothea, get back!” Cerid pulled her to her feet and froze as Gren, having snuck up behind him, put a hand on his back. “Commander…” he whispered, turning his head to find that Iree had been blocked from the encounter with a wall of ice that kept growing even as she tried to burn through it. Wesley was lying limp near them, weakly chuckling while streams of frigidity trailed from his feet to keep the commander at bay.

Gren spat out blood and a tooth before speaking. “Stand down. No need for you to die here.”

Cerid glowered at him. “Dorothea, run and—”

“Cerid,” she interrupted. “I need you to let us go. Please.”

He shook his head. “I knew… Part of me knew you were planning something. But no matter who you are, I cannot allow this.” Still, he didn’t move to restrain her as she backed up to Gren’s side.

“What happens now?” she asked Cerid. It was almost pitiful how deeply he was caught between his soldierly duty and his desire not to harm her for Shark’s sake.

“I—” He cut off with a gasp as Gren rushed him, landing a kick to Cerid’s knee to knock him off balance before swinging an uppercut to his jaw. Gren waited to be sure he was unconscious before turning to Dorothea.

She put her hands up in surrender. “I, um…!” Oh Gods, she was too frantic to speak, but he might just kill her if she didn’t say anything, but maybe he wouldn’t, she sure hoped not but either way the words just weren’t coming out—

He studied her. “Hi.”

“H-Hello…” Okay, she needed to hurry. She rushed to Wesley and healed his wounds to leave him behind as an obstacle to Iree. Then she darted back to Gren. “I need to talk to you. Somewhere we can discuss things calmly,” she said in a rush, looking around to make sure that Iree, Shark and Ariana couldn’t see what was happening between all the blocks of earth and ice that had been raised.

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He nodded. “Wes? Don't kill them, but…”

Wesley smirked. “Leave it to me. No one will follow you.” He hauled Cerid over his shoulder, surely intending to use him as a distraction or bargaining chip, and slipped around to face Iree.

“Thanks.” Gren turned back to her. “Are you fast?”

“Uh, no?”

“Okay.” He scooped her up into his arms, staggering a moment, and started running. Dorothea covered her mouth to stifle a yelp, barely resisting the impulse to cling to his neck in shock. The sounds of battle became distant as they dove into the forests of Sacerian territory, taking a long way around to avoid being visible from the battlefield the Sacerian had created. Thin shafts of sunlight dappled the space around them once he slowed to a stop.

Dorothea leapt from his hold the moment he started moving to put her down. “Um…”

He glanced at his hands. “Sorry. I wanted to get us out as quickly as possible.”

“No, it’s not you, I…” Why, in this moment, was she worried about how heavy she was? “Thank you. F-For bringing me here to talk! At least I’m presuming that’s what this is for, you’d have probably killed me by now if that was what you’d decided to do, goodness did Cerid do a number on you, here…” She moved to put a hand to his cheek to heal him, and he stood perfectly still.

He smiled faintly when she stepped back. “Better than a slap.”

She heated with shame. “I’m sorry. I was cruel to you. Beyond cruel.”

“Well.” He shrugged and leaned against a tree.

She liked that he didn’t deny it; her faults didn’t deserve excuses. Still, his quietness was unnerving. “I, I needed to see you. To talk to you.”

“As established, yes.”

“Sorry, I’m a little frazzled. Okay. Deep breath.” She did so and continued. “I’ve learned since our last meeting that it was the Sacerians who attacked Sirpo. They blamed Ghuria to get me to join their war efforts.”

She waited, but he'd known already of course. He’d tried to convince her of the truth from their first meeting. “Um, Mister Fall, I… I know you’d be better off with me dead, so I just wanted to say thank you for bearing with me.”

“With or without you, our position would be just as dire.”

True. It was a conceited thing for her to think. “Sorry. You’re right. If you’d let me, I’d like… I have a plan. I hoped you’d hear me out.”

“I’m listening.”

She braced herself. “I want to heal your land. I can use my magic to restore it to a more fertile state, how it was hundreds of years ago.” He narrowed his eyes, so she continued in rush. “Not that healing the land fully fixes things. We can’t heal the pain of the past but, for the future, I don’t see any other choice but to come to terms with it. But I also don’t know how to convince others. Gods, you probably want to throttle me right now, approaching you and being so presumptuous, but well, I…”

Her words were coming out faster than her head could keep up with. “Don’t we have to at least try? My understanding is that the War of Seasons resulted in a lot of damage to Ghuria’s lands, which is why the territories were divided like they were in the first place, and the epidemic exacerbated that damage. I’ll take it all the way back.” With all the time she had remaining, she'd give them means to survive. “That doesn’t treat the root problems of hatred and historical injustice, but it will eliminate the need for raider attacks. With no need to attack, we can freely negotiate with Sacer for a total ceasefire. At least, that’s my idea… What do you think?”

“And you’re sure this is what you want to do?”

“Yes. More than anything. If you’ll have me.” She bowed deeply, displaying her vulnerabilities and respect to him in a gesture of his culture.

“Okay. If you’re prepared, then let’s try it.”

“Oh. Okay. Okay! Thank you!” That was strangely easy.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he took in her befuddlement. “What else would I say to the only chance at salvation we’ve ever gotten?”

Point. Still, she wanted to throw her arms around him, her gratefulness and relief were so intense. It would be difficult, but it was the only acceptable way ahead she could see. “Really… Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re only going to suffer more through this.”

“No. I mean it. I…” She couldn’t stop getting tongue-tied; there was so much to say. “It was easier to blame you and Ghuria for my own inadequacies and fears than it was to face the truth. I’m sorry. I was a hypocrite, and I just wanted to thank you. Above all, thank you for opening my eyes.”

“Hm.” His brows were knit, and she couldn’t tell what he was feeling at all.

“I want to ask you some questions if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.”

“I hate to ask this, but… In your mind, what was the cause of the epidemic?”

“My memories are foggy,” he stated. “I remember a woman with red hair. She touched me, and my mind was…warped, I suppose. When I came to, it had happened and she was gone.” He paused. “She looked a lot like that commander of yours, I think.”

Nondescript as it was, he was still saying something of vital importance. Though of course he wouldn’t have been able to convince anyone else of his version of events with such little detail or corroborating evidence. “Either way, you’re confirming that the epidemic was a manipulated event.”

“Yes.”

“I might have some supporting evidence of that fact. I think… Based on what you’ve said combined with what little information I’ve gathered, I think Sacer’s current council leader, Cinder Creed, helped to orchestrate it all.” It was the only way to make sense of why he had approached Ophelia Atlin for help in a war before it had even started. “So if we can figure out how the woman you saw was able to force your hand, we'll have a better picture of the truth.” Even assuming her theory was correct, how had Cinder kept the truth hidden? Surely someone else knew…

Now there was a thought. “I think I need to go back to Udara,” Dorothea stated. “There’s someone I need to talk to.”

“Are you really fine with this?” Gren asked suddenly. “Allying with someone who’s killed so many people. Proving that person’s innocence despite the fact that what’s done is done.”

“I just want to end this war.” If there was anything that had ever been worth fighting and dying for, this was it for her. She wanted to protect what she loved, and she wanted to do it in a way that let her treat others with kindness, even if it was futile. It was an ideal worth sticking to. “And I suppose… A person can be innocent even if there’s blood on their hands. A new friend of mine taught me that. There are things we can’t take back, but redemption just has to be possible, right?” She laughed lightly, unable to fathom how much her worldview had changed in less than a month.

Gren blinked a few times. Surprise, maybe? He ducked his head, hiding behind a curtain of black hair, then straightened just as quickly. “Let’s go.”

“You’re coming too?”

“Yes. I need to be there.”

Well, having him as an ally certainly did make her feel safer. “Then…” She held out her hands towards him. “May I?”

“Oh.” He averted his eyes, looking off to the side as he lifted a hand and put it between hers. Why was it shocking that he was warm?

“I really am sorry. For everything I thought, said and did.” She hadn’t seen him as human. It wasn't something she could apologize enough for.

Gren shook his head as if to say it was no big deal. Because he was used to it, she realized. So used to it that he didn’t find perspectives like hers surprising at all.

“Gren?”

“Hm? Uh…” His eyes widened, mouth falling open with that small utterance of shock as she pressed a clumsy kiss to his cheek, pushing too hard and almost losing balance.

“You’re a kind person,” she said quietly. “Thank you for everything you’ve helped me see.” Embarrassment washed over her after those sincere words were spoken. “Um, also, I’ve never actually tried this before, but I’m sure we’ll be fine! Haha…”

“Okay…?”

In preparation for today, she’d gone into the library before dawn and just stood at the back table. It was in service of a technique that she had thought of for this specific ploy. Could a person go back in time, she had wondered, to a point where they had been standing earlier in the day without having to turn back time on the whole world? Like how using their magic to heal a person’s wound was an isolated event within the timeline, could she also perform an isolated event to change location?

Teleportation, in short. Normally Dorothea would never consider it, as the time it would cost her was always more than it would take to just get somewhere normally, but right now there wasn’t a second to spare.

She hadn’t hoped to have to do this today, but she’d created the option of a quick escape.

She’d memorized as much as she could about the library over the past few days, including what times Cadby Creed would normally be there. At this point in the day, he would be sitting in his chair.

She closed her eyes and focused on that morning, how the room had smelled and felt, what she had seen, the exact location she had stood. Then she and Gren were there in the library, standing in front of the wall of windows in the pale light. He stumbled, grabbing onto her back for support as she did the same to him against a rush of nausea, then looked around in shock.

“Wow, I did it?” She smiled apologetically as Gren gave her a look. “I mean, of course I did.” But she wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

“Oh my,” Cadby said, dazed. “This is new.”