It takes a healthy amount of convincing, but we finally get Silas to stand and walk with us. Not in the direction of the castle, the direction he wants to go, but towards Arego. Now that we have him, there's nowhere else we can go without risking our lives and the woods are crawling with guards. How they haven't found us yet is beyond me, I've looked around every corner and listened to every noise. They're not here.

I have every right to assume they're close by. The king's men will not allow themselves difficult access to the crown prince; they'll stay as hidden as long as it takes for them to jump from the trees and land on our heads. Due to that, Bren and Tesha are remaining towards the back of the group and monitoring our backs, and their own.

Silas isn't speaking much. Every few minutes, he mutters something about another death, likely one he's remembering. They're coming back to him, slowly, and I know it's only a matter of time before Celestine's terror-stricken face pops into his head and all hell breaks loose. He'll crumble again and after it took so long to get him to stand, long enough for the entire army to find us, I don't want to go through that again.

I hold my breath every time he releases a shaken gasp, only to slouch his shoulder and continue walking forward. He hasn't spoken to Renit or Binx; they sandwich him in while I walk ahead and survey the area before stepping into it. We'll follow the river as closely as we can until Arego comes into view, but that won't be for another three to four days, depending on how fast we have to travel.

Running to get away from something will make for faster travel, but it also risks the chance that Silas allows himself to fall back into their capture so he can go see Avalie again. A churning in my gut tells me there's nothing to save. She wouldn't disappear without Silas, and it's likely he either killed her or turned her into one of the king's men after revealing who she was and the power she held.

I remembered Citlali even after our brief meeting in Lona and I revealed that to the king. Silas, slipping farther into the dark of his father's control, could've pointed out several people, including Avalie. I wouldn't be surprised to see her wearing that black and red armor, her innocent face unrecognizable, and clutching a weapon of the king's make.

Any importance to his sons, like he did to Renit with me, is one more advantage he gains. I hope my gut isn't right and I hope Avalie is still alive, but optimism, as I've dealt with before, can only stretch so far. And half the time, it's not right, to begin with. This is something my mind tells me not to be optimistic about—no one gets out of the king's castle without facing their troubles and dues.

We walk for hours like this and no one speaks a word. There isn't anything to talk about, we managed to get this done but we're not out of the woods yet. Literally, and figuratively. The sun has risen; it casts a sheen of morning dew over the branches, flowers, and grass underneath our toes. I wonder if this will remind him of Celestine, but Silas says nothing.

He stares at the ground and calculates every step before he takes it. All of us are forced to match his pace, slow and considerate, and we can't walk any faster in case we accidentally leave him behind. I've already heart Tesha huff impatience more than once, and every time, she's received a warning glare from Renit. A tempting offer for a battle in the woods; Tesha never backs down from a challenge or the banished prince's stare.

They still don't care for each other very much, to say the least.

As it turns out, the fire around my shield had been Bren's only way of protecting us. The king's men were coming quick, yet he hadn't sent out his entire army to find us. There were enough to kill with fire, and after a witch of deflection revealed himself, it was quick to end his life with an arrow to the heart.

After that, Bren had burned them to a crisp after putting himself under the illusion again. With no witch of deflection, the king's army had no way to turn, and I'm glad for it. All that time, they could've died and I never would've heard a single thing about it until I dropped my shield to see they hadn't returned.

Every chance at losing someone else I care about makes me flinch. My gut unsettles, and the last thing I want to do is think about it any further. I can't stand the thought of Bren dying, or Binx and Tesha. Too many have died already, and I want to make it stop before this becomes a trend. If we took Silas out of the castle without losing a single life, that means we can do this. We can go up against the king under the right circumstances.

Our first day of travel back to Arego is uneventful. Our scouts catch up with us, nearly earning themselves arrows in the throat after they ran up without warning from behind. Tesha was the quickest and therefore, the deadliest. But we're back together now. Everything is as it should be.

We choose to camp for the night, but instead of lighting a fire, we nestle under the stars and ration our food between the group. I'm uncertain what Silas has eaten over recent weeks, whether bread and cheese or human brains...I don't want to ask. The king of Esaria would not stop his son from reaching the lowest of lows, and by the way Silas acted when he saw our faces, I can understand if he became more animal than witch.

I watch him warily until he slowly brings the bread to his mouth and tears off a bite. He doesn't look at any of us; I wonder if he's hardly breathing, and as slowly as he did before, he chews and lowers the bread back into his lap. Staring into the grass, eyes glazed over, is the most we will get from him tonight.

Renit shares a tree trunk with me and watches his brother the same way I am. Farther east, and far enough away that they don't hear the impending conversation, is Tesha, Bren, Binx, and the scouts. They're explaining what took place in the castle and everything that happened afterward, but I try to block out their words with a wince. This is nothing Silas wants to hear.

"Have you made any progress?"

I look up from the cheese and bread in my lap and exchange a look with Renit. He's not looking at me, he's staring at the source of the voice. Silas hasn't spoken the entire day, but he chooses to now. Grey eyes dart between the two figures sitting before him, our faces shadowed by the dark, and Renit and I have a silent battle over who would speak first.

"We've made...a little progress," Renit says. "We're still looking to strengthen our forces."

Silas nods. That's the answer he was hoping for. "You'll need it. His army is expanding, and he's recruiting only the strongest witches."

Recruiting. The word is spoken like the king is offering this position to the soldiers willingly. In reality, he's forcing them to do these things. I've heard he's offering things, yes, but all of that is taken away once the men and women are under his control and can't do anything about it. No gold, no land—nothing they can benefit from.

I wonder if Silas was promised anything before the king recruited him.

"We don't have much of a plan yet," Renit goes on to say. "We're still trying to put the pieces together. The first step was getting you out of the castle and...we didn't think we'd make it that far."

It's an effort for Silas to huff a laugh through his nose, the smallest bit of emotion, but he does it. The bags under his eyes are still heavy and when he makes a smile, I wince. It's too forced, and not at all like what I'm used to seeing him express.

As quickly as the smile appears, it's gone again. Silas deadpans, "Yee of little faith."

Renit, tipping the flask back in his brother's direction, says, "That, at least, hasn't changed since we last saw each other on good terms."

"I assume there are some familiar faces in Arego." Silas's sigh matches his words. "Piper and Darius, I assume. And Dalis. I haven't seen them around the castle."

I cough around the bread in my mouth, Renit and I sharing a silent glance. Another battle over who will tell him. Through the Grounding bond, I remind him I still have to tell Silas about Celestine—Renit gets to handle telling him about everyone else.

"This probably isn't the best time, but do you remember anything about Darius and Piper within the last few days?" Renit asks carefully. Like an adult speaking to a child and asking whether or not they stole something from the market.

Silas considers, then shakes his head.

"They were..." I begin, my voice trailing off. "When we were on our way to get you out, we saw them. But their heads...they were spiked on the castle gates."

All chewing stops and Silas's attempt at tearing off a chunk of bread is quickly forgotten. His hands go limp around the food and his shoulders slump once more. Now he's really thinking about whether he killed them, along with the other two victims staked to that gate. I have to tell him about Celestine; I have to tell Dalis about Mills. The thought of this responsibility is exhausting.

When Silas comes to the conclusion, he says, "I didn't do it. I don't remember them at all. It must've been my father."

"That's what we assumed." Although that isn't the case, I nod along with Renit's telling. The lie. But Silas doesn't have to know it's a lie. We're doing whatever it takes to chip away the layers of thick stone and uncover the crown prince underneath.

"Were there any others?"

"Yes, there were two more," I say before Renit can. "Mills and Mani. They didn't make it. I assume it was your father's way of sending a signal to us. Anyone involved with us was to die, eventually."

Slower than I thought eyes could travel, Silas looks to the grass. It makes me cringe to see how hollow he is, how lost within his mind he is, how his heart is broken and leaking over Avalie and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't fix it, I can't go back to the castle and try to find her. That would require a death sentence, and I'm not willing to sign off on one.

I look behind me to Binx. He might be willing. After all, he's still looking to pay his dues after everything that happened with me and controlling someone that never belonged to him in the first place. No, I can't risk sending one of our strongest assets in there. Binx knows the king's ways more than anyone, possibly even more than Silas over these recent months.

Not only that, but he's our only witch of illusion. We may need that again in case Silas makes a grand escape and tries to rescue Avalie from death. I have to remind myself she might still be alive.

"What about Dalis?" Silas inquires. "Is Dalis still alive after going to Lona?"

We're dancing around the subject of Celestine, and suddenly, the food in my hands is no longer appetizing. I swallow down the bread after chewing for too long. "Yes, Dalis is still alive, and she's currently in Arego, awaiting our return," I promise.

Silas is slightly relieved by that. At least, I believe that to be what helps him take another bite of bread. If he hears of one more death, he might swear off eating for the next few days. Weakness will make this worse; this journey is already difficult enough. I'm keeping one ear on this conversation and the other in the surrounding woods in case the king's men find us.

Before putting the bread in his mouth, Silas says, "At least most of us are still alive."

Most. Celestine is not. I want to tell him; I want so desperately to get that weight off my shoulders, but there's too much death Silas is trying to comprehend right now. Renit would tell me to wait until he figures it out himself. The memory of him plunging the knife into Celestine's chest will be stark, and it'll be brutal, but I'll help him through it.

They once cared for each other so much that I thought they'd make it work. I was wrong. They both chose different paths leading in two directions. They weren't nearly close to each other, not within fingers' reach, and to me, it's not fair to assume they lost their way. What is fair is believing they had their chance, realized it wouldn't work, and moved on.

Celestine found happiness before she died. With Bren. I dare another glance back but Bren is staring at the ground—his shoulders are slumped and he's picking at the grass in front of his crossed legs. Since Celestine died, I've noticed the small expressions that mean he's thinking of her. This is one of them. The down-turned lips, the lack of care for the hair hanging in his face, the total distancing from the conversation being had around him.

It comes clear to me just how sad this group is. Silas is dealing with Avalie's loss and will come face to face with Celestine's death, too. I'm trying to overcome the king's control and deal with the losses of people I care about, and Bren, he's in the same boat. Tesha, Binx, and Renit don't have anything to droop their shoulders to yet, and I hope that day doesn't come. For those back at Arego, for Dalis, she isn't aware of the news coming for her.

"He made me convert them," Silas says.

I look up from where I had allowed my stare to lower. "The innocent witches?" I ask.

"No...Piper and Darius." His grey eyes bore into my own. "He made me convert them, and then he told them to kill each other. Piper won and...she killed Darius, but then the king told her to stick a knife in her own heart."

I'm no longer hungry. I don't see myself eating anything soon.

"He...they fought to the death?" Renit's voice is more shaken than I'd like it to be.

"Yes, Piper won the fight and killed Darius." I squeeze my eyes shut. Already, my mind is attempting to manage the scene but I block it off for my own sake. He could've made me do that with Binx if he discovered the witch of illusion wasn't completely on his side. "It didn't matter who won; they both died."

"That's terrible," I mutter.

They nod in unison.

It occurs to me then just how little time we have. I knew it in Arego when he trained and learned our powers in the short span of availability we had before the king sent an attack, but the blood-covered truth is coming to life now. The king has reached a new low by converting witches, only to make them kill each other in the end.

He has nothing left to lose and everything to gain.