My hands are shaking so hard I drop the cloth back to the floor and whirl to Renit. "You need to leave," I order. "You need to leave before your father figures out the truth." I move to grip his hand but the prince slides out of my reach.

Akeno is here, a witch of all-seeing and one with the ability to expose our entire operation to the king. We had been in the clear for so long, for weeks, and now that is about to come to an end. I can barely see straight as I grip onto Renit's arms and force him to look at me.

"I'm not leaving," he snaps. He squeezes my hands tight to stop them from shaking.

They beat Akeno. That was clear in those few seconds I saw him pass through with the guards—they did not understand I would take any recognition with him at all, a random man with blood-stained clothes and such a severe limp that I wonder if his leg is broken. Something has to be, his torture went on for long enough. Akeno wouldn't crack underneath the pressure of a simple beating, it had to be so long and thorough that he finally spilled the truth to the king and ruined our future completely.

He knows what we've done.

"We'll figure this out," Renit whispers. But all hope is gone. I shake my head in denial, I will not let him believe that I am all right with this.

Shuffling feet sound outside the archway and I turn to see Hallie and Silas watching us, their eyes clouded with not only alcohol but confusion and a faint tint of fear. Whether they can see it in Renit's face or not, mine is enough to draw their attention.

"Tell Dalis to keep an eye on Celestine," I whisper so only they can hear. "Let no one near the throne room."

Because that's where they're taking him. That's where the king will be.

"What the hell is going on?" Hallie hisses. She looks back to the dining area as laughter erupts from one of Darius's well thought out stories that are likely filled with fibs to make it interesting. He's spent most of his time at this castle and nothing interesting happens here, not when there's an entire kingdom he has yet to explore like his cousins.

I step close to the princess who grips on Silas's forearm to yank him away if need be. She's always looking to protect him. "I can't explain it to you right now," I say. "But I need someone to keep Celestine safe. Take her somewhere else if you have to but don't leave her here. If something goes wrong—"

"Nothing will happen," Renit interrupts. "Akeno wouldn't spill that information."

Silas crosses his arms over his chest. "Who's Akeno?"

Renit forces himself to meet his brother's eye, lying through his teeth. "No one."

Boots scuffle behind us and I turn to find two guards standing to attention, their chests puffed out and their spines straight. They lazily place their hands on the pommels of their swords and their helms are neatly polished and ready for blood splatter.

I exchange a wary look with Renit. They're here to summon us to the throne room, not just the two of us but the others behind as well. Both princesses, both princes. I cannot fathom putting Silas in danger again and all Hallie ever wanted was to protect him but here we are, faced with a wall of guards in a hallway that is already closing in. If we fight, we'll automatically be guilty and Renit will never forgive me for not listening.

"Play it normal," Renit whispers in my ear. He jerks his chin towards his brother and Hallie, silently ordering them to come along even if they didn't have any part in this. I have a feeling they would have come anyway, they already caught a whiff of the fear I'm experiencing and wouldn't dare stay behind.

I don't have time to say goodbye to Celestine but Hallie does me a favor and whispers to Dalis the instructions meant to protect my sister at all costs. I take one final look at her, laughing with a chalice close to her mouth as she relishes in another story being shared, and turn to face the rest of my group. This is it. I can feel it. I know this is the end.

Renit's hand on my back is the only thing that comforts me on the way to the throne room. And that touch narrowly misses registering at all, I can barely think straight let alone remember he's there with me during this time.

When we arrive at the throne room, I slow my steps upon seeing the heap of a man in the middle of the room, on his knees over the royal emblem. Blood drips from so many places on his body it's hard to register where the wounds are and how many—which are serious and which will need less attention.

Akeno's hands are cuffed behind his back with titanium bands and chains keeping him from healing himself or using his power. His strength is too drained anyway to do either, only a kernel of what he has is left—considering a witch's body can only go through so much before giving out entirely.

The king is already on his throne, tapping his fingers on the armrest as we enter. The other three thrones are unoccupied, the queen's being the coldest of them all. No one has sat in that chair for over a hundred years and it's not likely the king will take another, not when he resents being shackled in any way of life.

Those two presences are not the only in the room, there are many others in the form of guards standing on either side of the space and more posted outside the pointed archway leading in here. My stomach sinks; as does my confidence. One of us isn't getting out of here alive and I fail to think it's Akeno; no, it will be me. I'll make sure Renit's life isn't taken over mine.

Renit steps forward first, bowing to his father.

Someone nudges my arm and I look over to see Hallie, eyes darting subtly between me and the man kneeling in the center of the room. The witch, rather. His shoulders are slumped, his breathing is ragged, and there's no familiarity past the bruises and swelling in his face.

I shake my head at Hallie but barely register the movement as I don't want to set any alarms for the king. One wrong move and this will be over before it's started.

"We've been summoned?" Renit asks in the evenest tone possible.

Skipping the formalities, the king asks, "Do you know this man?"

Renit turns slowly and when he looks at Akeno, there's not a single bit of care left in his eyes. Not the sense of softness he's shown me these past weeks, he's back to being the cruel prince his father believes him to be. The king's weapon. That's the disguise he will put on to get us out of here alive and breathing. Bleeding, but breathing.

"I can't say that I do." Renit doesn't even offer a shrug of his shoulders, pinned tight. It's as if he doesn't have a single kernel of care at all.

The king smiles down at his son but there's nothing kind in his eyes. His mouth twitches back and forth as if he's trying desperately to keep from screaming for the truth we're hiding. Not only Akeno but Renit and myself, who have orchestrated a plan to figure a way in getting another ruler on the throne.

Before another word can escape into the room, Binx appears out of the corner of my eye and takes up his post at the side of the king's dais. He needs no introduction, doesn't have to bow as he turns to face us all, eyes drifting to me first and then Akeno, kneeling as weakly as a beaten dog on the marble floors.

My eyes go immediately to the dried bloodstains on Binx's tabard, pale enough to reveal such a dark color against the front and leaking into the back, some splatters still on his cheeks and neck. I didn't believe such a gentle man could do such terrible things to another, not after Binx had been so nice in the few times we've spoken. As our eyes meet, I offer no smile. I stare him down and hope he realizes that instead of being on the list of people I want to protect, he's quickly moved to the other side of people I won't reach for when they're falling.

"I've learned one very important piece of information," the king muses. No. "Akeno Omori is a witch of all-seeing." He purses his lips, eyes never once leaving his son. He thinks Renit is responsible for whatever truth has been laid out. When the king doesn't get a response or a chance in Renit's expression, he decides to continue. "You see, Akeno has been down in my dungeons for the past few weeks. We picked him up while you were away and brought him here for answers. It's too bad his fellow rebels left him on watch for the night."

That means Bren has the chance to be alive. But this could also mean he is closer than I've allowed myself to believe—Bren wouldn't leave one of his fellow rebels behind and definitely not someone as important as Akeno. He's one of their toughest fighters and the one who carries a substantial amount of knowledge.

"Besides that, we've been asking information of Akeno. What involvement he has, where the rebels are located, what eyes he has in the castle to help him with necessary information." As the king looks down to his armrest, he laughs through his nose—one quick huff of his shoulders. "At first, he said nothing. The only thing he did was scream. Binx came to the realization he's a witch of all-seeing because, well, as we all know, witches of all-seeing can't bear to lie."

Silas shifts uncomfortably on his feet next to me but he doesn't dare say a word. Not as the king stands from his throne and reveals what I hadn't noticed in the palm of his hand. A small glass bottle in the shape of a diamond; topped with a cork and swirling with a dark green liquid. The king holds it up to the light that the stain-glass windows provide, showing it to the room.

I hold my breath.

"Once Akeno was speaking, we changed our tactic," the king says. He makes his way down the dais steps. "He revealed a plan, one that seemed very familiar once his words were shed through tears. A diversion to the flower meadows, away from Fosux where an entire legion of guards and soldiers and slaves would make killing a king too difficult." The lowered brows of his gaze quickly turn to an angered sneer.

My blood runs cold. The king stops in front of his son, frowning at what he's become. But for some reason, my feet are planted so hard onto the marble floors that I can't move forward. Renit wouldn't want me to, we don't know what information Akeno revealed and if there's a way we can slither from the complete truth, there's a way we can still make it out.

The king shifts away from his son, instead moving to stand in front of Akeno and hover over him. Broken and crumbled, he doesn't meet the king's eye but his shoulders shake with fear, along with the rest of his body. The wounds leaking blood quickly begin their pace once more.

"If you're wondering what I have here in my hand, it's those crystals you retrieved for me." The king holds up the small vial. "I broke them down and used a spell to create this beautiful piece of artwork that holds much more than what the eye can see." He runs his fingers along the glass. "Upon ingestion, the potion will take hold of the victim and then that person is bound to me. My blood is in here, the final step of the spell." His rings clink against the side.

"I don't know what this has to do with us," Renit says. His first words in what seems like too long. I can't see his face so I can't tell what fear he might experience, if any at all. He trained himself for moments like this when his father decided he was no longer useful. At least, that is what I believe to be happening now.

The king steps in front of his son once more, this time a little farther to keep a respectful distance. Binx's eyes never leave the broad, muscular back of the king. "The reason I'm telling you this is that Akeno revealed they involved you in this plan, my son. A prince trying to kill his own father to better the kingdom." He scoffs. "Lesser things have been punishable by death, as you well know. You've delivered those punishments for me on many occasions." My throat tightens. He knows. The king knows.

He steps away, one foot in front of the other towards the dais. Each step is unhurried but with each inch he separates himself from Renit, the calmer I feel. The king need not be anywhere near him, he'll cause more pain than what is necessary.

This wasn't Renit's plan, this was my plan. And in result, I might get him killed. But I'm not restrained yet.

"I've had the urge to test this potion." He swirls the contents on the inside, the forest green rising against the glass and sliding until whole again. "With this, I can win the war and end the rebels right here and now. All it takes is half of this bottle and I have much more waiting for use. Through the ways of ancient spells, of course." The king's smile is nothing short of wicked. "All I need now is to test this on someone. If that person lives, I'm free to use them as I please and they'll be completely lost to the person they were before."

That's why Renit is up front, all alone. His father wants to use him as a test for this potion that might kill him. And I promised myself that I wouldn't let Renit die, not when he has a wonderful life left to live.

So, as the king smiles at his son with no love behind his eyes, I step forward and clench my hands into fists. Silas and Hallie don't tug me back, instead, they stand as still as statues in a room clouded with blood and death. If I'm the one that doesn't get out of here alive then so be it, at least Renit won't have to go through that pain.

I've had the chance to experience love with him and although we didn't go as far as we might have wanted to, the time we spent believing we had the chance to wait was enough happiness for me. Enough for satisfaction but not complete. Sometimes we have to settle for a shorter reach than what we've extended for.

"Use me," I growl through clenched teeth.