The ship railing creaked as Linden slammed into it, followed shortly by Willow. Linden bit out a curse.

"We can't just let him run off on his own, can we?" Ash asked, looking to the siblings. They had a deeper understanding of Caspian, that she knew, so if she had to guess, they knew why Lorica had required he stay aboard the ship.

"No, we can't. That sodding fool." Linden shook his before taking off toward the hatch. "I'm grabbing cloaks, but Ash, do your... your thing just in case." With that, he threw the hatch open and disappeared below deck.

Her thing. The glamour. Ash's stomach pitched at the thought, especially with the Roan nightmares so fresh. A horrible realization hit her that she'd somehow avoided. Or maybe, deep down, it had been intentional.

Wolfbane and Callum were not the only ones on this island. The very Scion making her flinch away from the magic would be here, too. And here she was, planning to step forth on Astamare. To later on face him to save Callum.

If she had recoiled from the magic before, now she couldn't bring herself to draw close. The crashing emotions of fury and pain erected a barrier that snapped at her if she even dared reach out. The cloaks and hope that the pirates weren't in this part of the forest would have to do for protection.

"He couldn't be this dumb." Willow's hand hovered in front of her lips as if she'd been nibbling on her nails. "He knows he can't take Wolfbane on alone, but he wouldn't dare go on this land with how he's feeling. Ugh, what is he doing?" She bit the tip of her thumb as she continued to stare at the place Caspian had vanished.

Ash almost asked what she meant, Caspian's privacy tossed overboard, but the pounding of footsteps stopped her. She turned just as a cloak flew at her face.

Linden didn't address her lack of glamour, instead focusing on tossing his own cloak over his shoulders. "Put those on and let's go."

They forced themselves to move slowly down the gang plank and off the docks to avoid suspicion, but the moment they were out of the dock workers' sight, they took off at a sprint. They clambered over the short wall separating the town from the forest, and the trees swallowed them almost instantly.

"He went that way," Ash said, pointing in the right direction. She appreciated the stamina she'd gained from all the work aboard the Nightwrath ship as she managed to keep up with Willow and Linden.

If Caspian diverged at all from the direction Ash saw him go off in, they'd be in trouble. For now, they caught signs of someone else's recent hurried travel through the forest. Caspian had been too busy rushing to mask his tracks.

Ash didn't know how long they'd been running before they came across a dirt trail. The right looked like it would take them back to Astamare, but she had no idea where the left would go. Not another town, so what hid out here in the forest?

"What do you think?" Willow asked, a slight hitch of exhaustion in her voice. Ash was glad she wasn't the only one feeling the effects of their run.

Linden squinted at the tree line across the trail. "I don't see any signs he stuck to the trees, so..." He glanced between the trees and the trail before releasing a frustrated groan and hitting a nearby tree. "Great gales, this idiot. Stick to the trail, and if we never find him, he can deal with his own drowning fate."

With nothing better to go by, they went with Linden's decision and followed the dirt road. They found both where it led and a familiar cloaked figure mere minutes later.

Caspian leaned against a tree a few lines back from where the forest ended and a circular clearing began. The trail continued onward, leading up to a thin, two-story wooden building. An older woman and man watched as children of various ages utilized the large yard and a mish-mash of playing equipment.

"Just five minutes," Caspian said at their quiet approach. "Give me five more minutes, and I'll return without a fuss. I couldn't be here and not make sure this place was alright."

"And what exactly is 'this place?'" Ash asked her question in a quiet voice, Caspian's own avoidance of drawing attention rubbing off on her.

"Oakhill Orphanage," he answered, still not looking at them, but Ash had drawn close enough to glimpse his face. His expression wasn't quite a mirror of the dark hours of that morning. It was more like a fractured reflection, approaching a peaceful melancholy if not for the twist of anguish at its core.

A piece of the puzzle that made up Caspian fell into place. It should have been obvious, but Ash spent so much time trying to avoid him that she hadn't realized. Astamare was his home. But why had he exploded with such fury at the mention of it? She might dismiss it at anger of Wolfbane dragging his home into this, but that wouldn't explain the anguish that seemed to fuel the rageful flames.

"Were you an orphan?" Ash chanced to ask.

Something about the question brought a wry smile to his face, and she expected him to bite out with snark. Instead, it seemed as if his tantrum before had drained the fight out of him. "No, but my parents were busy often, so I and... I would come up here to play with kids my age."

"Caspian." Willow stepped closer, concern turning her brows into two downward slashes. "You shouldn't do this to yourself."

"I owe this to them. You get that, I know you do. You both do." He finally tore his eyes from the orphanage, turning a pleading gaze to Willow and Linden. "Don't pretend you don't look to each other and mourn, yet you don't separate yourselves. So, please, I know Lorica's orders, but give me this."

Linden and Willow looked to each other, stricken. Linden's hand lifted, as if to reach for her, but then he furled his fingers into a fist. "Caspian, we aren't only following Lorica's orders. Maybe we get it, but that's why we also get why you shouldn't be tormenting yourself like this."

The three before her had spoken of being friends before, and she'd caught glimpses of it through their interactions, but before this, Ash hadn't truly understood. Caspian had no right to accuse her of being a barrier between him and the others, yet still, in that moment, she felt guilty, because these three knew each other. The Nightwraths had been around for five sols, and from what Willow had told her, she and Linden had been with them for three of those. They'd crafted bonds, learned the fragile and guarded truths of the others, and perhaps built each other up in those uncertain times.

She felt like an intruder, but when she took the smallest step back, Willow met her eyes and smiled. There was understanding and invitation in that gesture, and somehow, when Willow dipped her head, Ash had the impression she was promising to explain, but later.

"I'll be tormented if I don't," Caspian argued, dragging Ash from her thoughts. "If you don't wish to watch it, feel free to return, and I'll be back soon."

Before anyone could argue, an unfamiliar voice called, "You, in the trees! Can we help you with something?"

Caspian went rigid. Where seconds before he'd been trying to convince them to let him stay, now he looked ready to bolt.

Ash wasn't sure what made her act. Perhaps it was knowing that if they left, it would leave the caretakers and curious children unsettled. Or maybe it was the flash of panic and desperation in Caspian's features. They'd been too loud or too obvious, and now that the people of the orphanage had noticed them, there would be no way he could do this. To watch, to seek whatever solace he desired so much he'd defied Lorica.

Whatever the reason might be, she stepped forward, drew her hood back, and smiled. "Sorry for the interruption. My friends and I had followed this trail to see where it led. We never expected to come across your beautiful establishment!"

"Cinders," Caspian hissed.

Ash had a spiteful moment of thinking she may have retreated if he'd deigned to use her actual name, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She'd already stepped out into the clearing. What did he expect her to do instead of continuing to smile at the caretakers?

The woman stood straighter, as if bolstered by Ash's compliment. "Thank you! Us and the kids tend to everything here ourselves. Well, enjoy your—Litani!"

Sometime during the short, hollered discussion, one of the younger children detached from the group and bounded straight for Ash. Ignoring the caretaker, the young girl supposedly named Litani beamed. A dark hole flashed where she was missing one of her teeth.

"Are you here to be a new momma?"

Ash's heart shattered as the girl's large dark eyes stared up at her. "Sorry, sweetie, but we were just walking by."

The light of hope dimmed, and her smile faltered, but then something occurred to her and she leaped forward, taking Ash's hand in her own. "Friend, then? Will you play?"

"Tani," the older man scolded as he approached. "We do not accost kind wanderers when they go past. Now, come along so that they can—"

"No, wait." Ash glanced between Tani and the caretaker. Every word he'd spoken had further dimmed the girl's light, and it twisted the knife in Ash's chest to watch that happen again. She glanced at her companions. "What do you say? Think we can make it back in time if we play with some children for a bit?"

Linden's and Willow's lips twitched with repressed smiles. "I suppose we can spare a few minutes," Willow said.

That was how, somehow, Ash found herself racing around to avoid little hands desperate to tag her. Her laughter intwined with the children's as she hopped over a tree stump and barely avoided one of the young boy's outstretched hands. She put enough distance between her and the few small children chasing her to take a moment and catch her breath.

Linden sat in a box of sand with a few others, and they crafted a castle. Willow sat with some of the older ones, twining together flowers and vines to create crowns. One of the boys had asked if she could do it with only one arm, earning a scolding from both caretakers at once and a wicked grin from Willow. From the small pile beside her, Willow had managed to craft quite the bundle of crowns.

Caspian, who had been observing from the trees minutes ago, had vanished.

Ash craned her head, searching for his cloaked figure. Had he run away from them again? She didn't get the chance to find him before a body slammed into her and cried out "Ouch!" a moment later.

Tani, the object that had crashed into Ash, lay on the ground, eyes teary as she cradled her knee. "You pushed me," she accused Aral, another of the children playing.

"I was just trying to tag her, and you were in my way!" Aral argued. Emotion colored his cheeks a deep red, though it was hard to tell if it was anger or embarrassment.

Ash sent one last sweeping glance across the clearing, still finding no sign of Caspian, before crouching down beside Tani and smiling. "Here, let me see it."

The young girl hesitated a moment before allowing Ash access. A handful of bruises spotted her legs from other tumbles and rough play, but they were nothing unusual for an outdoorsy youth. A new bruise joined the others on her knee, though it was hard to see beneath the grass stain across her skin.

Making sure she had Tani's attention, Ash winked before saying, "Oh no."

Aral reacted first, rushing to Ash's shoulder to peer down at Tani's leg. "What is it?"

Ash leveled him with as serious a gaze as she could manage while repressing laughter. "I'm sorry to say, but with this kind of injury, I don't think she'll be able to walk again."

All color drained out of Aral's face, and panic rushed forth to replace it. "Gales, Litani, I'm so sorry! I... I didn't... I shouldn't have been so reckless. I'm so—why are you guys laughing?"

Tani had cracked first, a few snickers escaping, but then Ash started to laugh in full. After that, both were chuckling like mischievous pixies.

"I'm okay, Aral. See?" Tani sprang up, flashing him her missing-tooth grin. "It did hurt, but I can walk!"

Aral gawked at her for a moment before realization set in, and he dropped his eyes. "I really am sorry, though, Tani. I should have been more careful."

"Accidents can happen when you're having a lot of fun, so stay aware and cautious, alright?" Ash said, patting Aral's shoulder. "That goes for both of you. Now, if you'll excuse me for just a moment..."

The children's whines almost drew her back, but she peeled herself away and searched the grounds again. They'd been there longer than she thought, with the sun already dipping toward the horizon. Had Caspian left for the ship then?

She didn't get very far before the woman caretaker appeared before her. Halawa, if Ash remembered correctly. Halawa smiled, but Ash got the impression something weighed it down.

"Are you looking for the other young man who was with you?" she asked.

"Yes, I am. Did you see where he went?"

Halawa didn't answer immediately. She took Ash in. Another question lingered in her black eyes and the twitch of her lips. Rather than voicing it, though, she pointed toward the orphanage.

"I saw him go to the back. I'm sure he's still there."

There was more, but Halawa didn't add it. She simply smiled again before wondering off to sooth a sniffling Tani.

Ash felt a pang of guilt, and she wondered if she should return to the children. She could point Willow or Linden in Caspian's direction, or maybe they could leave him to his own devices. As long as he wasn't causing trouble or running off, they had no reason to worry.

But curiosity hooked itself into her belly and dragged her toward the orphanage and around its side.

The clearing continued behind the building, but then another path led up a cleared hill. In the distance, she spotted a tall, rounded silhouette. Gulping, Ash spared Willow and Linden another glance before following the tug up the hill.

It wasn't a hill, but a cliff. The piece of land jutted out over the sea, but it was large enough to feel safe. It had to be large, or it couldn't have held the arched monument stone rising near the end.

Caspian stood before it, his hood thrown down and hands tucked into his pockets. He bore the same expression as when he faced the orphanage, except there was now an exhaustion to it. His shoulders stooped as if a ginormous weight that nobody else could see rested there.

It was this Caspian, the one so different from the one she saw every day, that had drawn her out here instead of waiting back at the orphanage. Only now, seeing him this deep in himself, did she realize why.

She had seen that same kind of world-weary, exhaustion-crushed expression one other place: in the mirror, worsening every day of the lune while she waited for a miracle that would restore her sister.

She hated that this brash man dared to display the same emotions she had buried every day because she had to be strong for Odella, for her mother, for her father, and could only dare allow when alone.

But she ached for him, because she'd endured that, and she knew nobody should have to handle it alone.

Not like she had, with her sister cursed and her parents too consumed with their own struggles.

Caspian turned his head enough to catch her in his periphery before facing the stone again. "That was kind of you."

"What?"

He tilted his head back down the hill. "The children. They appreciate that more than they know, and so do Halawa and Muli, even if they claimed we didn't need to bother."

"Ah. Well, we had the time, and it was nice. A moment of levity before, well..." Ash fiddled with her ring. She didn't need to speak about their approaching battle. "What is this?" she asked, approaching the wall. Hundreds of lines formed indentions in the stone. Even if she couldn't read well, she figured out what the lines were before Caspian spoke, and the realization swallowed her warmth.

Names.

"Wolfbane attacked Astamare once. It was almost six sols ago now."

Aras, Saron, Mari.

Caspian reached a hand out to rest on a different section of the names from where she read. His fingers trembled.

Urma, Adria, Kanza, Darras.

"He was here for me. I should have just let him take me, but instead, I ran away. I was too weak to do anything. And because of that..." His fingers trailed down, caressing the names, jittering across some because of his shakes, before finally falling back to his side. His eyes flashed amber with his magic. He squeezed his eyes shut, took three deep breaths, and then opened them again. The light was gone. "Because of that, all of these lives... They're gone."

Ash only partially heard the last part. A single name near the ones he'd touched snatched away her attention. There was a simple excuse for why it was there. People could share names, but something about the sheer force it exuded over her convinced her otherwise.

"They can't all be dead," she whispered, forcing herself to face him. "That's your name, isn't it?"

His silence spoke for him.

"But Caspian... You're not dead."

The bitter sound that clawed free from his lips was an icy prick to her heart. He faced her as well now, giving her the full view of his blank eyes. Something so unexpressive, yet it screamed of the torment hidden by their reflective shield. "That's where you're wrong, Cinders. I did die that day."

Thunder cracked far in the distance, but neither of them turned toward the sound. The longer they stared at each other, the more convinced Ash became that he believed what he said. He stood before her, but as a spirit made flesh.

"Caspian," she began, but nothing else came out.

He didn't give her a chance to find the strength to speak. "We should get back to the ship." He spun on his heel and, without a backwards glance, left her alone with his ghosts.

*****

Woot, bits of backstory!  For Caspian, at least.  Still trying to figure out when to mix things in for the others xD Book 2 problem, perhaps.  Well, for now, time to return to the ship, and definitely not see the orphanage ever again :D 

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!