I cough as dust furls into the air from the leather-bound book tearing at the seams. Renit takes the book from me, frowning, and begins flipping through the pages. With night cast over us, our only source of light are the candles he lit around the room, but the large stack of books on his desk will span much farther than those candles will allow. Until all the wax is burnt and there is nothing left but a puddle.

Renit walks back and forth in his chambers with the book in his hand, fingers sliding across the rough parchment as he reads through word after word. He wears nothing but a pair of cinch-waist pants and wool socks because he can't stand to keep his feet bare in this castle or anywhere else. The summer nights are becoming too warm for even a shirt so he flaunts what he has.

"There are four crystals my father is looking for," he mumbles to himself. "These crystals were created at the beginning of this kingdom, when the land was conquered by one of my ancestors."

"He wanted to help the future," I finish for him. I paid attention when my parents told me the history of this kingdom.

Renit nods, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck. I sit in his chair, my legs dangling over the armrest with a pillow against my back. A feather twists back and forth between my fingers, one with shades of glittered purple and green that glows in the candlelight. "The boxes containing the crystals can only be sought after by a witch of the Marron bloodline. They are to help in case of a threat."

"I think your father is overreacting. The rebellion isn't that much of a threat."

"He's scared." Renit chews on his lip. "He's scared because the last time someone said that, they stormed his castle and killed an heir to the throne. We don't know how strong their forces are and neither does my father. He doesn't want to take those chances again."

"And the crystals will...help with that?" I question. I've heard little about the crystals, other than they belong to the royal bloodline and if anyone is to touch them or find them, their punishment is death. Few have managed to gather the materials in the past to find these crystals, there are numbers of them throughout the kingdom.

Renit shuts the book and places it back on the top of the stack with the rest of the dusted editions. "There are different combinations for different crystals. Combining certain crystals together creates potions that can help with whatever my father is looking for."

"So we can find what he's looking for?" I take the book from the top of the stack and take my turn reading through the yellowed pages. The ink is smudged and faded but if I squint hard enough, I can make out some of the words. Locations of the crystals and the different types, all meant to help the king decide what he needs to do.

Along with those locations are possible threats along the way. But those words are too smudged to make out. That doesn't make me feel any better about this mission.

I already warned Celestine, who put up a fit and said I shouldn't have to risk my life again. After what happened with the rebels and the close call, she doesn't trust these missions. But Dalis was there to calm her down and promise that nothing was going to happen. There was something soothing in her voice that I couldn't place, something that reminded me of my mother and all those days she used to comfort us about the possible threats we could face in Arego.

As we got older, Celestine and I stopped worrying about those threats because we knew Arego could combat them. With the entire kingdom stretched out before me, she doesn't trust this mission and I don't blame her. This is much different than the threats Arego could face.

"No, only the king has access to the combinations. We won't know what he's trying to make until he makes it," Renit proclaims. "We're simply the mules that retrieve what he needs. What he does with it...neither of us will know."

"He won't do anything...terrible, will he?" I scrunch up my nose and Renit studies my face as if weighing the answer.

With a sigh, he concludes, "He is the king. There's no telling what he'll do with those crystals." The prince takes the book from my hands and examines the ancient text once more. He's trying to pass the time, not looking for any solid piece of information. "This could merely be a trial period for what he's trying to accomplish or he knows exactly what will work. I don't know."

I drag a hand through my hair and twist the ends through my fingers. It's late at night and the longer we take on this, the less sleep either of us will get. We have to leave early, the king ordered that, and we can't stick around any longer in this capital. None of the crystals are here or anywhere nearby for that matter. Judging on their locations, we'll be gone for weeks.

"We know he needs four crystals. Red Jasper, Moldavite, Obsidian, and Black Tourmaline," Renit goes on to say.

"And we know where they're located," I add with a point of my feather towards him. He moves back and forth from one end of his chambers to the other. I've been doing my best not to stare below his face at the powerful body he keeps hidden every single day but now, I let myself slip.

In the week we waited for his father to arrive back, he went into Mailan and filled in the missing spots of his tattoo from the injury. Now the ink is whole again and the three connecting lines of his family are back together. I follow the middle line, Oisin's, all the way across Renit's abdomen until I blink myself back to reality.

"Flitsea, the Blood Desert, Ducoria, and Lona." Renit counts them off his fingers.

I scrunch up nose at Lona and Ducoria. None of these places are convenient, they're spaced throughout the entire kingdom, but if I had to choose...I would never travel to those places. Those cities are dangerous, they hold some of the most threatening witches in the kingdom. Renit and I could find ourselves in a situation we didn't ask for.

He slouches onto his chaise and crosses his ankles together. "It's going to be a long journey, spitfire." His throat bobs as he swallows.

"Then I suggest you get some sleep, prince." I wink at him, moving myself from the chair to collapse onto his bed. We have a long journey ahead of us and if we wait any longer to give ourselves one second of a break from this madness, we'll never make it out alive.