"Son of a bitch!" I hiss, my hands immediately going for the drain as I yank it by its chain to release it.

I fumble for a position over Eadric's pulse point, sliding my free hand between the back of his neck to spare it from the unforgiving metal just beneath it and use tight pressure so as to momentarily halt the bleeding. Shit, his pulse is thready once I have located it, no, it is weak, slightly improved when I apply a bit more pleasure, but the volume is still arguably low.

"Shit. Eadric? Eadric, can you hear me?" I call distractedly as I pull back his eyelids. I watch as the pupils immediately start to contract again the candle light, releasing a sharp exhale of relief when a cough suddenly draws my attention back to him. "Eadric?"

He begins blinking against the harsh lighting of the candle chandelier above him, his lips eventually coming to part as he takes a deep breath. "What just happened?" He groans, his teeth gritting with a wince towards the pain at the back of his neck. He begins to pull his hand back towards the injury still seeping crimson liquid between the seams of my fingers when I remove my hand from over his pulse point to catch his wrist.

"Don't do that. You just suffered an episode of Hypotension. It occurs from low blood pressure that could result from a range of enormities." I conclude as I observe his drowsy state and clammy skin, pale from where his blood must have pooled to his feet. "But I'll admit I'm a little confused as to the why you did, and how you managed to take down this much shit on your way out." I note as my eyes scan the broken glass bottles once filled with various soaps and oils and such littering the smooth floor.

"Wait, what did you say happened to me?" He questions impatiently, his brows furrowing as he tries to grasp an understanding over my elaborate vocabulary.

"You passed out." I tell him bluntly. "And managed to bust up the back of your neck pretty bad in the process." I tighten my hand beneath his head as he sighs, letting his head fall. My face twitches in displeasure as my hand abruptly comes into contact with the copper surface, but luckily my gloves absorb the majority of the impact, only my knuckles getting slightly cut up due to their positioning. I look to the water level in the tub to see there's barely half a foot left in there. "Here, put your feet up against the other side of the tub and bend your knees."

"Why would I do that?" Eadric asks stupidly.

"Because you need to get blood and oxygen back to your brain. This quickens the process." I tell him easily enough.

"The tub's too big even for me to reach the end of it with bent legs." He retorts as he motions to the other side of the large surface.

"That's fine considering I need your head flat against the floor of the tub. Your feet need to be above your head for this to work. Just take it slow, I'll follow you."

"What about the wound?" He asks as his eyes flit to my arm still bracing his head.

"Getting you fully conscious is my top priority right now. I'll bandage up the wound immediately after, alright?"

Eadric studies me closely for a moment, as though doubting the truth behind my words as he glances back warily to my arm once again.

I raise my eyebrows challengingly towards him by the time his eyes meet my own because seriously, is he really doing this right now?

He releases a heavy exhale at my condescending expression. "Alright." He relents, and proceeds to follow my instructions until he is in the exact position I direct him to move to. Soon enough a deep flush rushes back to his cheeks, his pale lips finally retaining their usual baby pink shade. His under eye circles and discolored skin surrounding them still alarms me, though, and there appears to be a sunken in quality to his cheeks despite his heavier mass.

But, ultimately, "you look better." I tell him as I press the backs of my fingers to his cheek. "Your body temp is returning to normal."

Eadric nods. "Can I stand now?" He tries.

I move my hand back down to his pulse point. It is definitely less thready now. "Well, normally I wouldn't advice this for usual patients, but I can help you stand for a moment as we make our way over to the bed, and once you're comfortable, you can tell me how this happened."

Eadric scoffs, and proceeds to rise without warning. His footing wavers some by the time he has fully stood and attempted to exit to tub, and I am forced to bend my arm into an incredibly awkward position in order to keep it over his wound as he slumps against my side.

"Jesus, Eadric, you couldn't have taken this a little slower?" I grunt as I try to direct him over to his sink with his shorts there.

"I'm fine." He mutters, and yet even after he manages to dress and resume his position next to my side, he continues to sway under his own weight until I finally manage to get him into the damn bed.

"Alright," I breathe as I position the covers to his waist, my other hand still locked behind his neck, "I'm gonna need you to sit up for a moment with you head between your knees so a I can dress that wound. Just hold your hand where mine is for a moment while I grab my medkit."

Eadric follows my instructions simply enough, and after I've wiped off the excess blood from his skin, I see that while harsh bruising has already begun forming due to the impact, the cut is not really all that deep. In fact, I think a majority of bleeding I was worried about was merely due to delusion by the water from the bath and I might just be able to get away without any stitches for this one. It is after I am finished applying the final bandage over the medicine covered wound and helping Eadric lie back when he finally speaks again.

"What's going through your head right now?" He asks, watching me closely.

"I'm trying to decide if this is just Neurally Mediated Syncope, or if it's something worse." I respond easily enough as I study his face closely for revealing symptoms.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it." I mutter when I finally pull back and take a seat at the edge of the bed. A thought crosses my mind as I look over his eyes again. "Actually, scratch that. I got something else. Are you ever gonna tell me how the hell this happened or are you planning on saving it until sunrise?"

"I don't think it'll come to that considering you're one of the few who won't flip out with worry once I tell you." He says.

It takes me a moment to nod.

"I haven't been eating properly lately." Eadric reveals, his low tone gravely.

I raise my head in understanding. He passed out because of Malnutrition.

He clears his throat before continuing. "Ever since I was poisoned, it's like I am unable to stomach half as much as I used to. I know I can and I know it's all in my head, but lately the stress of all of this has gotten to me." His eyes begin to glaze over as he sighs. "It's been years since I've felt this powerless, and it's taking a toll on me, I'll admit that. But that... that's all it is."

I smile ruefully. "That's all?"

Eadric attempts to hide his unwelcomed grin by turning his head away from me. He raises his hands to scrub some of the exhaustion from his features.

"If this is because you're worried about what might happen to me," I begin, keeping my head down and voice small as I talk, "you need to realize there's some truth to Vlasta's words. Neither of us asked for this... marriage, if we can even call it that. We wanted to protect our people, and if that took giving away our futures in order to so, we would give away our futures."

I press my lips into a hard line as my eyes start burning with what I can only describe as regret. Eadric's unreadable expression is back on my own as I recall Baako's words to me. You, my child, are the head, Eadric is the heart. You two cannot, and will not survive without the other. I glance over to Eadric's hand closest to mine, my own still stained with his blood. Slowly, hesitantly I raise my hand tentatively towards his, and brush the tips of my fingers over his calloused knuckles. His lips part.

"But even if I don't survive this, even if I lose, you will always have the heart of a leader, Eadric, and you will be able to choose your own Queen, someone who can better you instead of drag you down with her. You deserve that, after everything you've sacrificed. You deserve better."

Eadric studies my fingers over his own before he gently takes my hand in both of his. His eyes meet mine as soon as I have looked over to him.

"I don't want anyone else as my Queen," he tells me, honest, "and I will always be your King. Your King."

"My King," I echo, my voice barely above that of a whisper, and he swallows thickly before nodding.

"You challenged me constantly when you came here," he begins, looking back to our entwined hands, "disobeyed a direct order of mine that nearly got you killed only for you to run as soon as I had found you again, and even when I finally managed to get you back, our minds continued to push one another away. All we did was push each other away."

"I know."

"But I... I'm so tired. I'm so tired of running from you." He exhales, pure exhaustion anchoring him to his confession. "I don't know if I can forgive what you did to my family in abandoning them, to my clan, to the Coalition for leaving them without a Queen for so long. But I need you by my side, Aurora, I knew it since the day my Watchers first told me of you, and I cannot lose you. I won't lose you."

I bite my lip so hard I taste metallic. "It might not be your choice." I remind him grimly.

Eadric abruptly sits up then, his face hovering mere inches from my own by the time a tear escapes from its confines, cutting a trail through the sweat and dirt still marring my skin. Eadric shuffles closer, his arms caged along either side of me. They are closing me in as he leans forward, as though he is trying to surround me in his presence. I close my eyes by the time his lips graze my cheek, just over the tear, and, after a moment of consideration, he presses a light but lingering kiss there. His hand in front of me comes up to hold my head in place as he does so, his fingertips pressing firmly into the axis of my neck as he squeezes lightly, only releasing the pressure once he has pulled back. However, even after having moved away slightly, he does not even spare a moment before allowing his lips to trail to my jawline, pressing another kiss there before his thumb forces my neck up slightly.

My lips part on their own accord as he drops his hand, his head still nestled in the crook of my neck as I feel the pressure of his fingertips just over my thighs. He mouth is still moving, his breath still hot against my skin as his palms travel languidly down my legs to my knees before circling under them, one great tug forcing me around to face him completely. He sets my legs over his own before pulling me up onto his lap entirely, and I brace my hands over his biceps as his hands travel up to my hips, his grip tight once his hands have encircled them.

Slowly Eadric works his way down the juncture in my neck, but instead of my mind traveling a million miles as I would have expected it to in this kind of a situation, I find a calm has ironically washed over me, waves of vulnerability and adrenaline lurching my chest against his own each time he tightens his grip or repositions his lips over a new space of soft flesh, his hair tickling my chin and nose pressing into my skin as he breathes in my scent.

By the time he reaches the hollow of my throat, his hands lift from my hips, their presence soon over my wrists as he raises my arms to rest over his shoulders. Once I have laced my hands behind his head, he releases my wrists to take the zipper over the guards uniform before pulling it down in one swift motion to the bottom of the jacket. The motion reveals that stupid white sports bra I have held onto for all this time, but another tug towards him forces me to push the terrifying memories of Trident from my mind as he continues to pull despite my legs getting in the way of the space he continuously tries to close. I have no choice but to separate my legs so my knees dig into the soft mattress on either side of him in order to maintain any type of balance. His large, calloused hands begin to tug the bulky fabric from my shoulders, and I take the cue to momentarily drop my arms so he can yank the jacket the rest of the way off before he tosses it to the other side of the room. I just manage to lace my arms back around his neck by the time his rough hands find new purchase over my neck and shoulders. His mouth begins working up from the other side of my neck, and I breath in his heady scent, the terrestrial essence laced with mint from his breath and pine from the oil with that aroma that has clinged to him since the first moment I met him.

My senses are on high alert by the time his teeth scrape over the length of my collarbone, and I release a sharp exhale against my control. If Eadric thinks anything of it, he says nothing but merely acknowledges it through the pace of his movements increasing. He continues pressing open mouthed kisses up my throat until I find myself actually clutching his neck for purchase once his teeth take my earlobe between them. He has wrapped his arms securely around my waist in immediate response my accidental reaction, holding my body taut to his as he works his way over to my cheek, and it is not until he kisses the contour, the side of my chin, the corner of my lips and is hovering just over them until we both halt, and our darkened eyes open.

All that fills the dense silence of the room is our heavy breathing, and slowly our bodies untense, his arms gradually releasing the severity of their hold on me as I sit back into Eadric's lap, his hands coming to rest at my sides.

Our eyes stay locked on one another for what feels like an eternity.

"I'm sorry." Eadric eventually mutters, breaking the silence. His voice is raspy and tone unsure until he abruptly clears his throat in attempt at hiding it.

I furrow my brows, willing the deep flush of my cheeks to dissipate sometime. "For what?"

"You were in a vulnerable place." He replies, curt. "I shouldn't have pushed so hard, I-"

I shake my head, hands still lingering over his bare shoulders. "You didn't. This made me realize something, actually."

"What's that?" Eadric asks, his tone a little more sure as he tightens his grip at my sides.

"I've been pretty isolated ever since Trident." I tell him, and he swallows before nodding for me to continue. "I've been isolating myself from my friends and family, informally forgiving my mother for the sake of avoiding facing the questions I don't want answered as I throw away relationships developed in the most crucial moments of my life. I've been prioritizing the wrong matters and the wrong people when in reality I have a lot to make up for before this fight."

Eadric tenses then, his jaw working and breathing intensifying as he suddenly wraps an arm completely around my waist, forcing my torso against his own. His other hand takes my chin, directing my gaze to his glare. "You didn't have to accept." He suddenly declares, his tone shaken with desperation. "We could've found a way out of this, I would've found you a way out of this."

"It's not your job to save me, Eadric." I urge solemnly, placing a hand over his still holding my chin in place.

"Why did you accept? Why did you put your life on the line for this clan? How could you do that?" He mutters, his breathless tone causing my chest to ache as I force my eyes from his helpless expression.

"Because all I've done up until getting to the ground was run. I ran from my family, I ran from my responsibilities when my father was floated right before my eyes, and even after I found a purpose to lead my people, one war was all it took to return me back to the pathetic coward I've always been. I figure now since I can't seem to shake off this streak, I might as well run from all of this for the right reasons."

Eadric grits his teeth, clearly struggling to contain his rage as his shoulders hitch up towards his neck. His whole body has crouched forward defensively, and he momentarily hangs his head low. When he does finally raise his eyes, they linger on the thick fabric over my chest. He takes his hand not holding me to him, runs his rough palm down my neck to the top of the off white fabric, then travels back up into my scalp as he takes a fistfull of my hair, tugging so my head is forced back. He leans forward then, resulting in my body flinching by the time his face finds the crook of my neck.

My skin burns where his lips graze my neck. "I never asked you to give up your life for me."

"I know." I tell him, my heart practically dropping at his quiet, broken tone.

"I need you." He follows, and my lips part as my eyes close, releasing more tears to fall over his ashy blonde waves.

I clench my jaw, willing myself not to start goddamn sobbing at a time like this despite the dampness I feel when Eadric's eyelashes brush my skin. For once, I have nothing to say to him.

We sort of fumble into some kind of rough embrace after that, Eadric's arms wrapped tight over and around me with my arms splayed over his broad back as we continue silently releasing tears into each others chests and necks. For the first time, the true weight of what I have done buries my will to fight feelings of longing under all the tainted rubble that seeps through my pores every available moment it can, and I let it sink me further into Eadric's chest. My face burns with regret and despair and no matter how hard I grit my teeth and wish desperately for the storm to pass, the rough waves do nothing to lift this heaviness in my heart. When we do finally lay back and somehow stumble under the covers, me ditching my boots as I do so, I pull Eadric on top of me that night, selfishly allowing his steady presence to cage me in and protect me from the nightmares that would otherwise haunt me. I begin to fade from consciousness just as he adjusts himself so his ear is pressed over my chest, just over where he can hear my steadying heartbeat.

"Praece," I hear a voice whisper what feels like minutes later. "Praece-"

I hear Eadric grunt as he slowly lifts his head from my chest, his body heat immediately seeping from my skin as he slowly turns his head towards the noise. His arms from either side of me adjust as be props himself up on his elbows, still over top of me. I keep my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

"Who dare disturbs me in my chambers?" Eadric practically growls, ready to snap until the person responds.

"It is just me, Your Highness, Apache."

Eadric releases his tensed muscles then, a sharp sigh accompanying the motion. "What time is it?" He grumbles like a remarkably normal young adult.

"Early, My King. Your presence is required in the Court Hall."

"You couldn't have rung the bell?" He grumbles, lifting a hand to, I suspect, scrub the sleepiness from his face.

"I figured you'd want to let her rest while she can." Apache whispers, his tone soft as though suddenly aware of this tragedy we have been forced to become partied to.

I sense Eadric's eyes on me as he turns, and soon enough the tips of his fingers are gently brushing off some of the strands of ebony hair off of my forehead.

Eadric sighs again, letting his hand drop. "Right. Thank you, Apache."

"Of course, Sire. I'll wait for you outside the Lift." He mutters before walking off as quietly as he had come in. Hunters tread.

Eadric grunts as soon as Apache has left bedroom, the mattress groaning under his body as he positions himself to face me once again. Without word his hand brushes up my neck so his thumb settles in the hollow of my cheek. Unlike the night prior, his touch is unbelievably gentle as he leans forward to press a feather light kiss to my temple. Another follows, between my brows, then the tip of my nose, and he pulls back soon after that, his thumb having traveled to softly brush my lower lip.

"That'll definitely wake her." I hear him mutter by the time he removes his hand, then, with extreme caution that coincides with that of an experienced warrior, Eadric slowly rises from the bed, carefully removing himself from his position over top of me before laying the covers over to take his place.

I reposition myself once he has entered the washroom, intent on finding sleep again as I see the sun has not even ascended past the horizon yet. I may have a big day ahead of me, but this is one I am not all that anxious to start before I have to.

Moments later Eadric is strapping on the last of his gear from what I can hear through the thick, oak doors, and it is after they part that Eadric resumes his quiet gate again. I hear him approach the edge of the bed. He kneels, his gloved hand grazing my bare arm until he gently takes my hand in his own before pressing his forehead to my bruised knuckles. He takes a deep breath, his exhale wavering before he finally speaks. "I'm not losing you." He says low, a promise. "You'll see, no matter how this battle ends, I will never leave your side."

It takes him a beat to rise, and when he finally releases my hand and resumes walking out the doors into the chilly dawn air, I find I am unable to release the breath I had been subconsciously holding until well after the door has shut behind him.

By the time bold pinks muted by soft oranges have emerged into the sky, I am ready to rise and begin the day. I pull the top half of my hair back into its signature ponytail near the nape of my neck, opening Eadric's drawer over his night stand to pop in a couple mint leaves before making my way into the washroom. I find myself immediately walking to the pump, insistent on scraping the dirt and grime left on my face as I get the sink filled a decent amount before quickly scrubbing all the ice cold water over my face. Immediately after I am finished in there, my guards uniform follows. My hair remains in its half updo behind my head, and once my boots are tied and gloves secured and blades adjusted with my pistol contained in the holster strapped to my thigh, I head out for the day with a new sense of determination edging me onward.

As soon as my feet contact the pavement beneath me, I turn my gaze to a town still waking. Shopkeepers are stocking their shelves and setting up for the day as I travel through the market district of the village, packs of warriors marching through the streets by the dozens. I follow the path near the masons shops and weaponry repair areas. Jackie should be stationed somewhere around here if I am remembering correctly... Ah! Perfect. I see a small, makeshift tent made of similar red material as the covering to the top of medbay and so I make my way over to what I assume is the front to pull apart the covers that reveal Jackie sat amidst all the technology surrounding her.

She is tinkering with a gadget I struggle to recognise. Must be something she invented. Her thin brows are arched downwards in concentration, her face illuminated by the artificial light surrounding her with some strands framing her face from having fallen out of her twisted ponytail, a sign she must have been working here for a while already. Her gaze is focused, her sleeveless, army green muscle tee revealing her toned bronze arms despite the fingerless, fabric gloves she wears covering the majority of her forearms. She must have been training a lot while I was away. "Jackie."

I watch closely as she tenses, slowly pulling back from her kneeled position over the device before her until she lifts her bright green eyes to meet mine. Her glare is unmistakable. "What're you doing here, Aurora?"

"I need your help." I tell her, straight up.

"You... you need my help?" She asks, her tone already astounded by my brashness.

"There's a weapon I need to create, I need someone from Sky Crew to do it."

"Well, I won't be able to help you. I only worked in electronic power and hydraulics divisions on Superior." She dismisses before turning back to the screen. Her hands are back to her tools and the device in an instant.

"Fine. You know where I can find Alice then?" I question, wanting more than a simple no to leave with.

"She worked in the factory and mechanical units. Like I just said, she can help you. Not me."

I study Jackie closely as she continues tinkering away. Her usually dark lips are an even deeper maroon shade from where she has bitten down on them out of concentration, but I can tell by the twitch her brows that she knows I am still here. I have to at least try to talk to her.

"Jackie-"

"Don't, Aurora. Don't even bother pretending you suddenly care about all of us again. I won't hear it." She declares, not even having lifted her head to tell me off.

"Alright," I agree, my eyes still on her, "then you talk to me."

She drops her arms exasperatedly, letting the device fall to her lap as she looks me dead in the eye now. "Excuse me?"

"You're clearly still pissed at me for all the reasons everyone else is. You're mad that I abandoned Sky Crew so soon after Trident, you're pissed that me leaving could have potentially destroyed all the relationships our people had begun making with the Grounders, but there's something else that's bothering you, Jackie. I can see it."

"Fuck you." She snaps, her eyes tinged red as the surface becomes glassy. "You have no idea what I've been going through, you don't know what I've seen."

"I know that," I insist, my eyes widened in urgency as I quickly grab a seat to face her, "and that's why I'm here now, to tell you that I want to listen."

Jackie stays silent, her rage slowly fading into despair as her lips begin to tremble.

"What happened back at Mount Trident, Jackie?" I press.

She releases a shaky exhale, looking to the pistol holstered at my thigh. "I was forced to shoot a Reaver, square in the face."

My lips part as the full realization of what she had to do in there sinks in. To shoot someone right before you, to pull the trigger after having set up a kill shot on a human being, or at least on someone who was human, that is personal. The only person I have had to kill pointblank like that was Alastor from Trident, but I have tried to convince myself from that scarring day on that I had no choice. Alastor had a twisted mind, willing to turn innocent, terrified children into bone marrow banks while Jackie... she may have killed an innocent from a tribe she not only respects and cares about, but from a tribe she is now a part of. I sigh, letting my head drop and eyes close. "I'm so sorry, Jackie."

She just shakes her head, her expression dark. "At least you're not trying to tell me that it's all okay, that it wasn't my fault. Jesus, I may have killed a father, Aurora, a brother, a person who may have been family to someone within this goddamn clan for fuck sakes." She abruptly stands once the tears that had been pooling up for so long finally fall, quickly turning her back on me. She is already in the process of wiping them away by the time I have stood to match her.

A heavy silence lingers, but I let the moment come and go as it pleases, allowing Jackie some time to gather her bearings.

"I hate it," she begins once the moment has gone, "I hate not knowing who that man was, who his family is, if he even has any family still wasting away on this stupid rock. It's all that consumes my thoughts nowadays." She sits back down, her head in her hands.

My heart aches for my old friend. "Jackie-" I begin tentatively, a hand reached out to brush her shoulder.

She flinches away from my touch, turning back to the counter with the device on it. "Don't, Aurora. You said it yourself you have shit to do. No matter how badly you want to convince yourself otherwise, you can't fix this, you can't fix Lakote's leg, you can't fix all those people Eadric killed in your name. It's too late for you to change anything, so just go."

The comment stings, and as much as I want to say something to her, to at the very least try, I know Jackie is truly right about this. There is nothing I can do to change what happened to her, to undo any of the sins she was forced to commit in order to keep to the plan, so instead I take her advice, and go.

Once I have exited the tent, I turn to the masons shop just ahead of me where I can faintly hear the pounding of metal on metal coming from. "Well, it's worth a shot."

I walk to the front of the large, wooden shop, ascend the steep steps that leads to its entrance before trying the entrance. It's unlocked.

"Clausus est." I hear someone mutter absentmindedly, then look over to the large counter at my left to see a hunched over blacksmith dressed in a light brown faded tunic with a leather apron over top of it. The sleeves of the worn top are rolled just past the elbows of the man currently wiping the surface down with an equally soiled rag, the ash and grime coating his skin already despite the early hours of the morning. His greying, blonde hair is pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck, stubble covering the lower half of his aged face as he slowly begins to turn from his task towards me. "Si vis et telum reparetur, relinquam illam ad fragmentum acervum-"

The man cuts himself off as soon as he sees who has entered his shop.

"Your Majesty," he greets, bowing his head respectfully as he raises a fist over his heart. "I must apologize. I had no knowledge it was you-"

"No need to apologize," I assure him as I survey the large, open space, "I'm here solely to seek Alice out. You have any idea where she's at?"

"She is at the fire pit below this level, melting down some metals for me so can tend the shop." He walks me over to a wooden trap door that he opens to reveal a ladder leading down to a well lit space below. "Do you need her?"

"I might, we'll see." I mutter in answer before nodding to the smith. "Gratias tibi."

"Voluntas mea fiet." He props up the hatch so it stays open before walking back to the front counter at the shop to resume wiping it down. I descend the steps.

I am greeted by Alice's bold red hair as she holds a metal colander between her hands covered in clumsy, large brown gloves. The fiery strands have been pulled into an intricate dutch braid that wraps around her head so the length of the braid rests over her shoulder. She is in a long sleeve, cotton shirt in a similar shade to the blacksmith currently working above, and while her hands shake at the weight of the colander, she handles it well enough as she carefully pours the metal into molds before setting the colander back over the frame holding it up and over the open flames.

I knock the side of the stone wall to announce my presence.

Alice startles, rapidly turning to face me with panic written all over her face until she realizes it is me. "Oh my god," she manages with a hand clutched over her heart, "Aurora, you scared me."

"I'm sorry." I tell her, taking a couple steps towards her. "I know you probably don't wanna see me given Brian's not so secret opinion on my actions. I know you two are like that." I comment, raising a hand as I cross my index and middle finger over one another.

She hesitates some at the truth behind my words, but ultimately shakes her head as she sets the large gloves aside. "No, it's okay. I told you that you could come to me anytime you need something, and I keep my promises. What do you need?"

"I need a weapon, a very specific weapon, and it'll require materials from Superior to get it built just how I want it. Do you think you're up for the task?"

Alice purses her lips, unsure. "Could you maybe be a bit more specific as to what this weapon would need to do, or maybe what would be so special about it? Why do you even need such a weapon in the first place, Aurora?"

I furrow my brows at her exceeding amount of questions until I realize; she doesn't know. All of them, Jackie, Alice, Brian, and Carter have no idea that my life is on the line now, that I was challenged by the Queen of Lux Cantavit, Vlasta, in a duel to the death. I would do best to keep it that way, for now. I am not exactly good with goodbyes.

"Aurora?" Alice echoes once the pause has lingered for too long.

"Oh, right. Apache just said it was tradition for royals to get their own custom weapon or something. You ready to hear the design for it? Eerika's the one who came up with it."

"Oh, uh, sure. Let's hear it." Alice responds, slowly letting her suspicion drop into her usual enthusiastic tone.

"Alright. I'll start at the beginning..."

I slowly describe the weapon to Alice, and bless her soul she does not further question a single word that comes out of my mouth for the remainder of that morning. With a promise by her to have the weapon finished within the week, I bid her farewell for the day. On my way to the training center, I spend my time imagining my goodbyes to everyone once I have to leave for the fight. They will probably be vague in person as I am still unsure of whether or not I will even reveal my fate to them, no, I will have to be the one to tell them. But I already know I will not be able to do so in person, not when my instinct has been honed to protect them from both physical and emotional turmoil. I will want to spare them, those I care about, or even those who are just owed an explanation, until the very end. It may very well take paper and charcoal to get my true thoughts down, but I do not want to be there when the letters are opened. I have never been good with goodbyes.