Surrounded by Bren, Tesha, Akeno, and an entire group of rebels, I feel completely outnumbered. My power, slumbering deep beneath my skin, would feel outnumbered as well. They're strapped with weapons ranging from bows to mace to spears and swords. That doesn't begin to explain the daggers and knives in their boots or hidden on other parts of their bodies.

Bren really made sure this group was ready for any attack by the king's guards or by the overseers in Fosux. No matter what, these rebels were getting out alive. Not the crown.

I sit on a stump in front of them all as night casts a shield over our heads. The dimming fire is our only source of light near the middle of the group and Tesha warms her hands to the exposed flame, lit by Bren's power. He stands at my side, stiffly watching his crew as they mumble to each other about the sudden gathering.

Making eye contact with a rebel is not something I want to do often. Once I slipped the gold band onto my finger with Renit's initials, I became the opposite side of what they're fighting for. I became their enemy and in war, enemies are to be hated. Without knowing me, they've already made up their minds about who I am to them.

I wonder how many nightmares I'll have tonight about each of them taking their time killing me, over and over again.

Waiting for Bren, I keep my mouth shut. Keeping in mind how much these rebels hate me, if I talk first, they might scream at me to shut my mouth and let Bren do all the talking. He is the leader and with that, I have to wait for him to start any discussion. That's the least I can do, figuring our argument earlier.

He's jealous of Renit, although nothing has happened between us. We've gone as far as an embrace and have to listen while the other relieves themselves in a rusted bucket so to say we're far from romance is an understatement.

The Grounding blocks the truth from my mind. If I cared about Renit, I wouldn't know. Our powers are intertwined, as loved as a married couple, so any feeling I might have for him is blinded and lost behind a witch's bond as old as the breed itself.

One of the rebels trudges through the woods, ducking underneath a branch, and stops next to Bren. "We're in the clear," he confirms.

Bren nods. Through the fear of this turning into a scene, an argument or a full out brawl between Tesha and another rebel, they checked Fosux before doing anything. In the late hours of the night, the overseers are sometimes caught stumbling around the trees, close enough to be a threat. Bren doesn't want to kill anyone if he doesn't have to.

"Listen up," Bren orders sternly. In response, the rebels straighten and all murmuring stops. I'm still not used to the idea of Bren being a leader here, he's never shown that part of him before—I didn't believe him to have that strength. "Roux is going to share with us the plan she has to further our cause. Must I warn you, this is not to be repeated to anyone outside of this group." He lowers his voice. "Including the prince."

I freeze at the sound of that. Although that was what I wanted at the beginning, had told Bren as such, I don't like going behind Renit's back. But this is the only way I can get him back home without any more pain. He doesn't deserve another lick of it. And with him likely sleeping in the dungeons where I left him, we won't have a problem with explaining the plan later.

All eyes turn to me as Bren takes a seat on the log next to my own. My words are trapped in my throat, my tongue tied into a knot. Tesha snorts and shakes her head, giving up on me already. Some of the other rebels follow suit, shifting back and forth impatiently for me to say something, anything.

I'll be a princess someday. If I can't handle this type of confrontation around a smaller group of people, how will I ever be able to handle the castle celebrations, the public address speeches with Renit at my side, the possible visits to the capital to celebrate our children? There's a long list of responsibilities I need to face and, on that list, not one is crossed off.

I clear my throat and Bren's presence is surprisingly comforting next to me, despite the dilemma building a wall between us at the moment. "I have a plan," I begin carefully. Again, Tesha snorts and Bren gives her a look of warning. One more and she'll be sitting in a tree, on watch for the rest of the night. "You have to let us go free."

Tesha groans. "See? This is why I didn't want to sit here and listen to this!" She tosses her hands into the air and slaps them against her knees. "She doesn't have a plan, she's just pleading for freedom."

The anger inside takes over. "The plan requires letting us go free," I growl. She arches a brow, waiting for more with that mocking smirk on her face. One quick pounce from this log and my hands will be around her throat in a second.

"Continue on, princess," Tesha muses. She leans back on her palms and winks. My cheeks blossom an embarrassing shade of red but with a blink, that humiliation is gone.

"You'll let us go back to the capital, alone. Just the two of us. We'll say there's a group of rebels that found us on the trail and took us back to your hideout in the flower meadows. Does...does anyone know of a place there?" I ask carefully.

One of the rebels in the rear of the group raises a hand. "I know of an abandoned farm there," he says.

"Great," I respond quickly. Tesha's still not convinced and the same goes for the rest of the rebels. "I'll relay that information to the king, telling him your forces are not that strong, and he'll come to take you down himself—with a group of guards. You'll be waiting at that abandoned farm in the flower meadows and when he arrives, that will be your chance to take down the king."

Tesha knocks her boots together, her legs outstretched. "What will the prince say when you start spewing lies to his father?"

"I'll find a way to share this information with the king, alone. Renit won't be there. I'll claim he's injured and the healers will whisk him away."

Rolling her neck, Tesha observes the plan in the stars. "What's to say the king will waste his time coming to the flower meadows?"

"You're the only threat to the throne, he wants to end you before you make it to his castle. I'll make the truth convincing enough so he'll think the only way you'll ever be brought down is if he does the job himself." My voice is swift, easy, and through the hard thinking in some of their faces, I can tell the rebels are starting to come around.

My firmest critic remains to be Tesha. "We still need a leader on the throne. I want the Marron bloodline off of it," the sniper protests.

"Akeno can attest, Silas is your best answer." I don't bother telling them about his condition, forgotten at the moment. In response, Akeno nods towards his fellow rebel and she rolls her eyes in disgust. Betrayal, she must be feeling.

Her eyes turn cold as she looks to Bren instead of me. These next words are going to hurt. "I like our original plan much better. Let's take the prince to the gates, bound in chains, beaten and bruised. That'll show the king to listen to us."

A few of the rebels agree. Shouts and hollers break through the crowd and she winks, not only at me but at Bren.

An act of defiance. I expected it from no one other than her. I stand from my seat on the stump, towering over her until she stands as well, chin high. The dark strands of her silken hair flow in the night breeze and the moonlight reflects off her scalp. Her matching shadowy eyes twinkle with a challenge. "Have you ever met a witch of ground?" I ask coldly.

"No, I can't say that I have." The rest of the rebels silence themselves.

"Then you don't know the hell I can unleash." Bren clears his throat but I ignore him. He knows what I mean, he's aware of the strength inside. "You may be begging to break one of Renit's bones, to hear the crack of it snapping, but if you touch him, I will snap every single bone in your body."

Tesha scoffs and looks me up and down. "How do you suppose to do that? I don't recall giving you the authority to touch me." One of the rebels laughs—at me—and I force down my rage. But I'm a boiling pot and any second now, I'll overflow.

Examining my nails, I meet her eye in one quick dart. "I won't need to touch you. Witches of ground don't need to. But there's something always at our reach." I tap my boot on the ground below, stirring up dust. Tesha's eyes go there. "I'll crush you underneath the ground you walk on if you touch him."

Tesha's smirk grows with every passing word. She's enjoying this, she's relishing in my need to protect. Someone in her life, she wasn't able to do the same for. Now Tesha is making up for it. "You don't decide who touches your little prince. I think Bren does," she retorts.

I feel it when those words leave her lips. A kernel of what I've spent so many years hiding, shoved down in my magic reserve. There's only a whisper of it there, like the scent of rain in the breeze before the storm passes through and it's gone until the next cloud hovers. I smell dust and dirt, can taste it in my teeth when I grind them together.

The titanium can hold any power but with those that are strong, sometimes one band isn't enough. For now, my power is not strong enough to break through fully. But the power of ground calls to me and it begs for the smallest bit of release underneath my skin.

So I allow it. The ground rumbles underneath my boots and as quickly as Tesha's smile grew, it fades when she rocks back and forth. Even Bren is shocked and he grips a hand against my shoulder to keep me from going any farther. But my power is gone and I cannot crush her yet. Now it's my turn to flash a toothy grin, one wicked enough to unsettle even her.

"Clock's ticking, Tesha. You can only hold me for so long," I warn. I've never seen the color drain so fast from someone's face.

Bren grabs my arm and tugs me forward, directly through that group of stirring rebels. Instead of them glowering at me and hating my very existence, they wisely part to let me pass.