“Will you be okay?” Shark asked, frowning. Ariana also looked concerned, which let Cerid know he really did have a lot to worry about.

“It will be fine. If either of you comes with me, my father will surely find a way to steer the conversation from where it needs to go.” He managed a small smile. “I shall do my best.”

The three of them were sitting on the creaking front porch of Ariana’s house, the relative coolness of night transitioning into muggy heat as dawn crept in. After yesterday’s battle, they had little choice but to aim for Cerid replacing Iree as commander to stall the army’s movements. Most of the night had been spent trying to figure out how to do that.

Now, Cinder had called Cerid in for an emergency meeting. All he knew was that he somehow had to use this opportunity to take Iree down.

Not just her. His father too. Cerid had worked so hard all this time to meet Cinder’s expectations. He’d aimed to be the perfect son and heir so he could liberate Sacerians like him from the shackles of convention. Now that his world and goals had changed, his relationship with his father was irreparable.

Cinder Creed had done the unconscionable in orchestrating the epidemic. He was the enemy. It was now the responsibility of Cinder’s child to make things right.

“I must go.” He’d had time to grab an hour of sleep on Shark’s lap that only made him feel more tired, and it would have to do. Cinder would be settling into his study right about now.

“We’ll wait right here for you,” Shark reassured him. “My arms’ll be open and waiting, love.”

Ariana offered a slight smile. “You can do this.”

“Thank you… Truly.” He embraced them both and gave Shark a quick kiss before going on his way, shoulders back and mind clear.

He made it to his father’s study and rapped on the door, keeping himself in a state of calm concentration and determined focus. Cinder and Iree were both waiting for him, the commander sitting on the corner of his desk and waving her legs playfully.

It did a number on Cerid’s nerves to see her so confident. “You called for me, Father, and here I am,” he said. “What do you need?”

Cinder didn’t dance around anything. “Tell me honestly, son. Are you symathizing with the enemy?”

He forced his expression to be untroubled. “Of course not. What gave you that impression?”

Cinder gravely closed his eyes for a moment. “I see.” When he opened them, there was something new flickering there. It was grief, but a cold kind, one that shut everything out with an underlying rage.

Cerid took a step back at the sight, unable to stop himself. “Father? Are you well?”

“Cerid. My son.” Cinder gazed at him, and Cerid felt both love and ruthless dissection crushing him. People had always told him he was the spitting image of his father when he was younger. He didn’t know why that occurred to him now.

Cinder looked at Iree. She had crossed her legs now and was leaning back with her hands splayed on the desk behind her, completely relaxed and wearing a triumphant smile. “Told you so,” she said with a soft laugh.

“Yes.” Cinder smiled, but the reason was unreadable. “Cerid. I’m sorry to say that you’ve failed the test.”

“What?” So they were playing with him? Just as they always had, laughing behind his back as he unwittingly carried out their warped aims. More than anything now, Cerid was… He was utterly infuriated.

Cinder chuckled. “You are a terrible liar, Cerid. Everything you have ever tried to hide, I’ve been able to see through to it with ease. Miss Nobelis here advised me well when when she said to confront you and watch for two things: your expression and your tone. Now, Cerid… How do you think a loyal soldier would react when they were accused of treason?”

“I just showed you that,” Cerid insisted calmly.

“See? There. Your face didn’t change. Your tone was almost flat. Cerid…” Cinder chuckled again. “If you were intending to go against me, you should have worked on your acting skills.”

They were mocking him yet again. He knew the risks, but Cerid just couldn’t hold it together anymore. Everything Cinder and Iree had done, the way he and so many others had been manipulated and overlooked… He couldn’t tolerate being looked down on by these horrid people anymore.

“I am sympathizing with the people you engaged with Sharee Nobelis to senselessly kill,” he stated icily. “And what will you do about it? Kill me like you killed my mother, my brothers and sisters, you damned monster?”

For the first time in his life, Cerid saw shock on his father’s face. But it settled quickly, leaving him with the sickening sense that no matter what happened here, he would never be the one in control. “How long have you known? And how at all, for that matter?”

“That is none of your concern.” Cerid swallowed down his anger and sadness. “The lives you have taken deserve recognition.”

“You’re too soft, Cerid,” Cinder commented. “Always have been.” A corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “But you’re here lecturing me when you’re just as shortsighted.”

“Do not try to turn this on me,” Cerid snapped. “I will never allow you or anyone else to goad me into believing I must hurt others to live authentically, not ever again.”

“You wanted to know why…” Cinder wore a faint smile as he reflected on his actions. “My desires were and are the same as yours. I wanted things to change.”

“There are other ways!”

“Stop pretending you’re so righteous and worldly.” Cinder sighed as he stood and approached to put a hand on Cerid’s shoulder; he flinched and found his feet rooted. “Miss Nobelis, give us a moment alone.”

She shrugged. “Whatever you say.” Cerid would feel her smile sticking to his back as she left.

Cinder continued. “When I looked towards the future, all I saw was more war. Someday, my legacy would fade just like all other Creeds before me, generations having led this nation into either conflict or a temporary, weak peace. What does it matter to win one victory when the pattern will repeat itself until the end of time?”

His eyes flashed with conviction, and Cerid felt all the strength leave his body. What was he supposed to do with this? How could he end this without sinking down to the level of those who could only seem to commit to change through bloodshed? And his father was right, after all. He was in no place to judge. Maybe he wasn’t the right person to change the world either.

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“When Sharee Nobelis came to me, I took the opportunity. That’s what designates a true leader, Cerid. Someone who is willing to create and take opportunity as it stands before them.” Both of his hands were squeezing Cerid’s shoulders, and the grip got tighter, harsher. “In order to safeguard Sacer’s future, I was willing to make the necessary sacrifices.” He paused, gazing at Cerid again. Memorizing him as if it would be the last time.

One of Cinder’s hands cupped the side of Cerid’s head in an almost tender gesture. His other hand came up in a fist, and Cerid could perfectly visualize the blow that would come within the very next second, a punch to the other side of his head to crush his skull.

His father was about to kill him, all for his ambitions. Because they both knew that Cerid would no longer let those ambitions stand, because Cerid…

He had ambitions of his own, and he couldn’t die here. Yes. No matter what it took, there were people he still wanted to stand beside, and there was a world he wanted to try helping to make. No matter what kind of person he was now, had been, or would be, he would seize that.

So his body unfroze, and as his father’s killing blow swung towards him, he leaped back, ducked onto one knee and, in one smooth motion, threw a punch to shatter Cinder’s knee. Then he stood and stomped on the other. Cinder’s screams resounded in his head like an alarm. Sacer’s leader fell back with a crash, sending papers fluttering to the floor.

Cerid could have stopped there. The thought distinctly occurred to him.

He could have stopped.

But he didn’t.

He straddled his father and seized his neck, choking off the screams. Bone crunched under his fist as he hit Cinder in his face, breaking his nose. Cinder coughed and spat up teeth, writhing the desperate writhe of a trapped man who knew he was about to die.

“You’re no different from us!” Cinder howled his last words.

His skull caved in to pierce his brain with the next and final blow.

Cerid trembled against the adrenaline and anguish pumping through his body. His knuckles were split, hands covered with the mixed blood of father and son.

He stood only to fall to his knees after taking a few steps back. “I know, Father,” he whispered. Soft light from the polished windows gave Cinder's still, battered body an heavenly glow.

Shouting from outside. The door to the office flew open, and Iree, Cerid’s stepmother and Calla were there.

“Cerid…” Iree sounded horrified, but she wore a smile as her back was to the others. “How could you? I heard what you were saying to your father, but this…”

Whatever story she’d spun, his family clearly believed it. Why wouldn’t they when faced with this scene? And had Iree and Cinder planned this, or was Iree just taking the opportunity like Cinder had said?

Regardless, maybe that was why people like her won and were able to use people like him. Life was probably easier when you didn’t care who you trampled.

But he’d done the same. He could call it self-defense, but couldn’t he have dodged or run away? The door was right there. Hadn’t a part of him taken the chance to rid the world of his father and his twisted ideals when it presented itself?

Everything… The world was blurring. Iree had grabbed ahold of him, pinning his arms behind his back. Heat from her palms that blistered his skin warned him of what would happen if he tried to escape. Not that he was sure his limbs would carry him if he tried.

You’re no different from us.

His stepmother was sobbing while trying to calm a screeching Calla. Iree leaned forward from behind him to whisper in his ear while they gathered around Cinder and wailed out their grief.

“You’re off to the Catacombs. I’ll deliver the news of Olyen and Kingfisher’s deaths to you soon.”

“When did you…?” Meaning when had she figured out the three’s alliance, especially Ariana’s involvement?

“Yesterday showed me everything I needed to know. Seriously, it’s hilarious when idiots like you think you're being sly.” Iree laughed as she led him away. “I’m nothing if not adaptable, Creed. You should’ve thought it through before standing against forces much higher than you. Damn. You had a cushy life waiting for you if you’d just stayed the course.” She chuckled. “Too bad.”

She was going to make him watch as everything he loved, everything he’d hoped for, was annihilated. With Ghuria’s sparse forces and her internal opposition rooted out before it could even properly begin…

She’d won, hadn't she?

“Run, Shark, Ariana… Please…” Cerid whispered to the cold stone walls of the Catacombs.

*

Ariana felt the trouble coming seconds before she heard it. Shark stared at her as she leaped up and unsheathed a blade, and then her door was knocked from its hinges as two soldiers barrelled into her home.

One of them started to speak but fell short with a squeak when his throat was centimeters away from being skewered. “Let me guess. I’m under arrest?” she drawled.

The soldier nodded, their companion tied up as a spike of earth from a potted plant shot up to nearly pierce the underside of their jaw.

“On what charges?”

“T-Treason…”

“On whose authority?”

“Commander Iree Nobelis.”

Dread sank into Ariana’s gut. If Iree had managed to set all this in motion…

Shark realized it too. “Where’s Cerid?” they demanded.

“I’ll have you know that your home is surrounded, Miss Kingfisher,” the other intruder explained. “Cerid Creed has been arrested for the murder of Cinder Creed, and the two of you are to come with us for questioning.”

“Thanks for the info, and the warning.” Ariana flicked her wrist to slit both their throats. “Please. We’d be as good as dead the second we went with them.” She shook herself and ordered, “Shark, make a bridge from here to the top of the fort wall, then another to the bottom from there for us to escape. With luck no one will pursue, but we need to get out of here right now.”

“No.” They were trembling. “I’m not leaving him here to suffer alone at her hands. You can turn tail if you want, but you’ll be doing it alone.”

“Shark. Listen to me.” She sheathed her weapon and put her bloodied hand to their cheek to make them look at her. “I’m saying that you overcome with emotion and me with one arm are not enough to save him.” She hesitated. “Cerid gave me a chance. So I’m telling you as someone who hopes to truly be his friend that we are not abandoning him. We’re going to go get help, and then we’re going to save him and take Iree’s head for everything she’s done, pacifism be damned.”

Shark’s breathing calmed, and their eyes and heart opened up to her at the same time. “Okay… I hear you.” They closed their eyes for a brief moment, nodded and whispered, “Thank you.” Then they grabbed onto her waist, holding her steady. “This is gonna be a bumpy ride.”

“Oh please, be gentle with me,” Ariana said dryly.

Shark wasn’t in the mood to be amused. “Save that energy for what’ll come.”

*

After Gren Fall had issued directives, Ariana was ready for action, especially after Dorothea healed her arm.

“Let’s go, everyone,” Ghuria’s leader said.

Ariana held up a finger. “One last thing before we go. Cerid had an idea right after the three of us joined together. It was a last resort, I guess. The fort… No, all of Sacer is gonna be in chaos. I’ll tell you all about it on the way, but know we’re in for a total shitshow.”

“As if it wouldn’t be in the first place,” Shark muttered.

Pearlie held on to her sister’s arm like she’d disappear if released. “I’ll watch your back, Ana.”

Johanna yawned. “Think of it as sisterly bonding between you and me, hm?” she said with a lazy smile at Ariana.

“That's all appreciated, but the crazy one’s right,” Ariana said with a wave towards Wesley. “Iree and her subordinates will be out for blood, no questions asked. We won’t survive without responding in kind.” She looked at Dorothea. “But it seems like everyone already understands that.”

Dorothea gave her a small smile. “Ariana, Shark… We’ve all come this far, haven’t we?”

“Damn straight.” Shark looked focused now, fury blazing just beneath the skin. “Now. Let’s go get my man.”