It was only when the first rays of dawn had streamed through the window overlooking the lake that Trevet finally came to terms with Caspian's plan. Somewhat. It was flawed, impractical, stupidly dangerous – another favourite word of he liked to repeat, Iris had discovered – but in the end, Trevet had given in, on the condition that as soon as they rescued him, the three of them would meet at the rendezvous point – that which being the hollow tree Iris had followed Trevet through. Caspian insisted it wasn't necessary worrying to such lengths about rendezvous points and backup plans, but Trevet refused to listen otherwise.

"Even if they don't catch you out straight away," Trevet explained, "they'll know that there's a traitor amongst their midst that helped Sage escape. It won't be long before they point the finger at you. We need a backup plan in case it's just not safe for you to return."

Caspian was silent for a moment before replying, "Well, our plan has always been to make a run for it together."

Trevet rolled his eyes but didn't mask the grin on his face. "That was more of a fantasy than an actual plan. And in that fantasy, it seemed a little more romantic."

Caspian laughed. "What's more romantic than two runaways wanting solely to be together? I reckon we would put even Sorbus and Gemma to shame. Except of course, our play would be titled Sorbus & Gemma and the Runaway Revolutionaries."

Trevet snorted and Iris smiled at the star-crossed lovers. She wondered when they had met, how their relationship had kindled, but wasn't sure if she were overstepping an intimate question, if she had a right to ask yet.

She oddly found herself trying to compare their relationship to hers with Mason, but couldn't. The hard truth was that it had kind of happened out of... boredom, she supposed. The two had been in each other's lives from the start, since Tyrone found her abandoned on the streets. Iris didn't even remember what had shifted between them or when. They had grown up together and after a while, it had only seemed to make sense for them to become more than friends. It was never that they had heaps in common, or that opposites had attracted. It just... was. But these two... Iris watched as Caspian cracked a joke that made Trevet laugh, the two standing close together, by the doorway. There seemed to be this spark between the two of them. And she sighed through her nose as she wondered if that invisible electricity between them was their elements, or if she were seeing two people actually in love. The thought only made her sink further into her melancholic thoughts and she swallowed the lump in her throat as it dawned on her. She never loved Mason. And she doubted he really loved her. That protectiveness, the safety net he provided for her... it was an illusion, and something any naturally jealous male could conjure up when the moment called for it. For the first time, Iris wondered if all her time on Earth was just a delusional lie.

She turned her attention back to the couple, who were murmuring their 'see you soons'.

They had agreed that Trevet had to return to the Terra District so as not to raise Jasper's suspicions. Nevertheless, Trevet had proposed that three days from now, when the sun set, Caspian's plan would be set in motion. All Caspian had to do in the meantime was convince someone to swap shifts with him, which wouldn't be all that hard. On the day of the rescue, they planned that Iris and Caspian would have an hour to infiltrate the warehouse and get Sage out of there. Meanwhile, Trevet would use his time in the Terra District to catch Braedon and Raena up on their plan, and also so that they would at least not be worried about Iris having gone missing. He promised Iris that in that time, if anything appeared to go sideways between Jasper and the Lymphan princess or even Braedon, that he would help them escape the Terra District and bring them to the rendezvous point to meet up with their grandpa. From there, the plan went a little iffy, and the variables depended entirely on if Caspian could use these few days effectively to gather up the Lymphans willing to make a change under a new leader, as well as if all of them actually got away with this rescue plan, alive. But if Caspian could convince his revolutionaries to help with this cause, it would at least leave them with some allies if things were to go south during the infiltration, people who were willing to fight for them – maybe even die for them, was Iris's morbid afterthought. The three had agreed that if they didn't make it to the rendezvous point by approximately in the decided time they had set, Trevet would know not to wait – and that something had most likely gone terribly wrong.

"And if something does go wrong?" Trevet asked for about the millionth time. "What will I do?"

Caspian pecked his cheek with a soft kiss. "Nothing will. Now go."

Trevet hesitated. "But if..." Caspian began to close the door slowly.

"Bye Trev!" he said in a sing-song voice.

Trevet blocked the door with his foot. "I'm serious, Casp."

"You always are," Caspian grinned, then opened the door enough to pull Trevet closer and plant a kiss on his lips.

Iris had the decency to give them a moment of privacy, and she shifted in her seat slightly, looking away as the two held each other for a moment longer.

"Don't do anything stupid," Trevet warned.

"Trev," Caspian frowned. "That's like telling me not to breathe."

Trevet hit his arm and Caspian laughed before playfully shoving him out the door. "I'll see you soon. Then we'll have our runaway romance, I promise." He winked, waving a final time. Caspian shut the door and then turned, for a brief moment looking just slightly startled, as if he had forgotten Iris was even there.

Iris couldn't help herself as she tentatively asked, "So, you and Trev... Trevet. How long have you two been together?"

Caspian smiled. "If you ask Trevet, technically, we're not really together. Not publicly."

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is he..." she paused, uncertain as to how to phrase what she meant. "Is he like, not openly..."

"Gay?" Caspian looked genuinely confused. "Nobody really cares about that kind of thing, to be frank."

"Oh?" Iris was impressed. "So, there isn't like... a queer community here that fights for equal rights and all that?"

"Why? There's one on Earth?" Caspian took the seat across from her, leaning back in a relaxed manner and looking genuinely intrigued.

"Well, yeah. On Earth, they're kind of marginalised."

"Really?" Caspian lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "That's fascinating. Huh..." he shook his head. "I can't say it's an issue here. We kind of have bigger things to worry about."

"That's..." Iris nodded, digesting this information. "Well, good in one sense."

He shrugged. "The rich versus the poor has always been a massive debate though. Kind of the reason each war started. It's all about who's got power, who wants power, and who has none."

Iris nodded. "I guess that part hasn't changed much then. Earth has the same kind of issue. Just with less, um, magic involved."

Caspian tilted his head to one side, intrigued. "You also had a queen that favoured one population over another?"

"Um," Iris scratched her head, trying to recall the scraps of history she had learned through Tyrone. "I'm not sure. Maybe not where I lived in America but... we had... have other issues. Always people who want to be in power, that are in power and probably shouldn't be."

Caspian was silent, and Iris took the opportunity to ask what she'd been wondering for a while now but never quite had the nerve to ask after everything she had already been told about her.

"What was she like?" Iris glanced down at her hands. "My... mother."

Caspian drew in a long breath, weighting his next words carefully. "That depends on who you ask."

"I'm asking you."

Caspian's turquoise eyes met her with a look of both pity and sorrow. "Then, as a Lymphan answering your question... Queen Freya was difficult, to say the least. Certainly not in our favour, for one thing."

"Was she cruel?"

Caspian shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Everyone has a different standard of cruel."

"But by your standard?"

Caspian scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Not to me directly."

"So... yes." It wasn't a question, but the slight lilt at the end of her sentence made it appear so.

He shrugged. "Look, the past is the past. And how she ruled as queen doesn't necessarily reflect how she was as a mother."

Iris nodded, but she couldn't help wondering what kind of a mother would abandon their child, let alone leave them on a whole different planet. Which led to her next question...

"How did we all get separated? Do you know?" Iris questioned.

Caspian hesitated. "I'm not too sure. All I know is that the prophecy was predicted a few months before the kingdom fell. I think it was Queen Freya's safety plan. Perhaps she thought separating the four of you would give you all more of a chance at escape so that the prophecy could later be fulfilled. She was a big believer in predictions and things like that."

"The day the kingdom fell..." Iris licked her dry lips, dreading the answer to the question she was about to ask. "How many were slaughtered?"

Caspian's turquoise eyes seemed to turn a shade darker. "Too many."

Iris debated asking for more information, but the decision was made for her when Caspian continued.

"When the Lymphans rose to power, they had with them the might and force of the Ignisians as well."

"Water and Fire were allies?" Iris wondered aloud.

"Whilst Lymphans were serfs and peasants, Ignisians were also declining in social status under her rule. They were transformed from middle class to lower middle to... well, beggars and gypsies, I suppose." He inhaled, shrugging. "Caedus's history is... complicated. If our libraries hadn't been burnt down two years ago, I could have grabbed you a history book but..."

"Burnt?" Iris knitted her eyebrows together. "By the Ignisians?"

Caspian grimaced. "I told you it was complicated. But if you want to know the basic war fares of current times, all you need to keep in mind is that it's every elemental for themselves."

Iris nodded slowly, biting her inner cheek. "One thing I don't get is this whole magic business thing... you all have magic but from what I've gathered it's... limited? I guess my question is, why is it limited and why haven't you all, I don't know, banned together to overpower other districts with your elements? Individually I get you may not have as much strength, but together..." She trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

Caspian cast his eyes up to the ceiling, as if hoping the answer might somehow be written up there. "Well, elementals... it's like this." He sighed and crossed an ankle over his thigh, leaning back into his chair. "All four elements are in very little supply at the moment because during the first few waves of attack, fifteen years ago, everyone had done exactly that: banned together. And there was chaos everywhere. And I mean everywhere, princess." He shook his head. "Magic... it's meant to be something harmonious. It's meant to balance our world, not destroy it. The elements pulse through Caedus, and it is as necessary to this planet as oxygen. It vitalised the earth, replenishes the water, feeds the warmth of our sun, and so all four put together... they control the temperature, the seasons, everything." Caspian paused, his gaze travelling to the opposite side of the wall as if in deep thought. "Abusing the elements the way we did when war initiated, so abruptly like that – such large amounts and for years on end... not only did we manage to wipe out the Kingdom, but we destroyed the surrounding area. That's we have a lot of barren wastes left behind. The dried-up rivers. The burnt-down forests. All areas that have been affected by the Elemental War. And as the years went on, we managed to upset the balance of Caedus itself. Suddenly the temperatures began changing randomly, without warning. Seasons were shorter or longer. We lost sense of time as day and night shifted drastically within hours."

Iris didn't say anything, taking everything Caspian said onboard and connecting it with what she had already discovered about this planet. It was true. The end of the day here was signalled by a horn in the Terra District, and some days seemed shorter or longer than others. There were no clocks inside the mansion, or anywhere else, for that matter. As for the temperature... she hadn't been above ground enough to make a judgement call on that one.

Caspian cleared his throat before continuing, "Then one day, it looked like the elements had just stopped synching or something. It was still here but... sparks of it. It's as if we drained the planet of its own essence. We had used it up, and in turn, used up our own element. We couldn't control when we could summon our element anymore. Some days, it was just like hearing – like feeling the echo of Caedus's stricken silence within your own body."

Iris marvelled, "That's possible?"

He grimaced. "Apparently, and it's not a nice feeling, either."

Iris was mesmerised. "But..." she chewed on her bottom lip. "How am I able to draw power without draining the planet? All those earthquakes..."

"Ah," Caspian clicked his tongue. "Perks of being a royal, princess. Your type are the only elementals who don't need to draw upon the planet's elements. You have that element bred into you, from the Ancient Ones. At least, that's how rumour has it."

Iris raised an eyebrow. "What now?"

Caspian chortled. "The Ancient Ones. The Gods, princess. They say that the whole royal bloodline has been gifted with the pure element. You draw upon your energy and yours alone."

Iris blinked several times. No wonder everyone seemed to either fear royals or want them on their side of the war. "And so, you guys... like, non-royals or whatever, you just don't have magic anymore now or... how does that work?"

Caspian shook his head. "We do, we do. It's just limited, as you said. See, several months after we had sapped the world of its energy, the elements returned. Magic seems to appear in bursts, though. Here and there. It's like the planet was trying to recharge itself, but we just kept sapping it down to nil. Every time one of the districts used large amounts of it up, it gets reduced to mere sparks once again. That's why all the districts have been a lot more cautious since. It's as if this war has pressed pause, and it's been like this now for about a year. No one really has enough element to retaliate or even start up any battles. And without our elements... well, no one sees a point in actively engaging. People feel insecure without their elements at full potential. But no one wants to stand down or come to an agreement, either."

"So, the war has kind of ended then?"

Caspian shook his head solemnly. "No one wants to give in. Six months ago, the Terrans had figured out that magic had replenished enough to muster enough of an earthquake that it would hit us. Geographically, we're closest to their territory."

Iris winced. "And is everyone...?"

Caspian frowned, eyes cast downwards. "The earthquake killed seventy-six and physically injured twenty-three."

Although Iris didn't consider herself as a part of their people yet, despite her title, she felt shame and guilt stir in the pit of her stomach. "I'm so sorry."

Caspian inhaled through his nose. "There are always casualties in war."

"How did the Terrans even know to strike?" Iris asked in bewilderment.

"There are signs. Maybe you can't feel it yet because you haven't lived here long enough but it feels like there's a rise of static in the air."

Iris recalled the static between her encounter with both her sisters. Right before they had made contact, there was something electrical in the air. And both times, there had been a magical reaction. "I think I know what you mean."

"Well," Caspian uncrossed his legs. "It's depleted severely since then. We can only summon our own element for simple tasks. Even in attacks, one would have to focus solely on a single person at a time, whereas at the beginning of the war, whole armies were being wiped out."

"So..." Iris considered. "In a way, I guess that's a good thing?"

Caspian shrugged. "I don't know. Now everyone's moved on to making weaponry. It's why we have people patrolling both our own territories, and the borders of other districts'. Just in case they're planning a surprise attack or collecting an army or... well, yeah. People are getting desperate, and it's becoming harder and harder to trust anyone these days. It's every elemental for themselves, princess." He swallowed, lips twitching into a frown. "Everyone is in a state of paranoia, especially us Lymphans. We're running out of supplies, fast. We never had much to begin with. But when the Ignisians revealed their true colours and turned on us, they not only managed to wipe out a third of our population, but half of our rations as well. We've been surviving on very little since."

Iris's chest felt heavy, as if a weight were being pressed against it and she couldn't quite breathe. How in hell was she supposed to fix this? They were all so... divided. "So, each to their own?" Her words were quiet, hardly a whisper.

Caspian nodded. "The Ignisians used us for as long as they needed, to give themselves time to regroup, rebuild their own rebellion, appoint someone as leader... once they had themselves sorted, they remained our allies for as long as it was convenient for them. They learned about our strengths, our weaknesses, then basically stripped us of everything when the tables turned, and they heard that the Terrans were preparing to attack. We took the brunt of that as well while the Ignisians fled."

Iris swallowed the lump in her throat, rubbing the sweat from her palms onto her dress. Her dress. She looked down at the golden garment. It felt so... wrong. Everything about the Terra District now just felt so... repulsive. She felt tainted, and ashamed. She had allowed herself to get caught up in their nonsensical world, where they pretended everything was okay. This was exactly what Tyrone had always warned her about. When you get swept up with powerful people and are blinded by precious possessions, you forget what really matter. The other people. Everyone else. The other ninety-nine percent. And while she was having a ball – literally – there were people here who needed help. Real help. Not just fake hope and frilly words. People in need of dire action, now.

Iris clutched her stomach as it churned, and the lump in her throat tightened. "I'm sorry," she said again, quietly. Then another question popped into her mind, and she dared to ask, "What about... the Air people?"

"The Caelians?" Caspian lifted two broad shoulders up and dropped them, letting out a small sigh through his nose. "Who knows? For a good ten years, they were switching sides between us all. They were as flighty in their war strategies as they are a people. Then when the Ignisians took their leave, and everyone sided with their own element alone, the Caelians disappeared off the radar. For five years, they've been in hiding. No district has managed to find them so far. It's as if they've vanished without a trace. People have ideas of where they might be, but no one knows for sure because no one has managed to actually hunt them down. All we know for certain is that your sister is currently ruling over them."

Iris blinked. She had forgotten about the fourth sister. "What's her name?"

"I don't know if she still goes by this name, but her royal-born name is Caeli."

"Caeli," Iris tested the foreign name on her tongue. "And she's... the oldest?"

"Yes. Twenty-three now, I believe."

Iris calculated it in her head. When the Elemental War had begun fifteen years ago, Caeli would have been eight. She would have been young, but old enough to remember the events of the war when it first began, when it had wiped out the Kingdom. Iris couldn't imagine the trauma she would have had to deal with, and all by herself, too. "And..." Iris swallowed. "Freya, my mother? What happened to her?"

Caspian shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her gaze. "When the Kingdom was wiped out... so was she."

Iris blinked several times. She wasn't about to cry over someone she had never met but... the idea of having the opportunity to meet her birth-mother and discovering that she was no longer alive... it hurt more than she would have liked to admit. Despite what she might have done as Queen. She would never know what she would have been like as a mother.

"Iris?"

Iris blinked again, realising she had tuned out, staring at her own hands.

"I'm fine," she reassured, though her voice was slightly coarse. "It's just... a lot to process. I think I've heard enough for one day." And despite having been knocked out for half the night, sleepiness was beginning to cloud her mind. This overload of information made her head feel heavy and her eyelids droop.

Caspian stood, stretching. "I should get back to my district. My shift should be up by about now, and if I don't return, they'll get suspicious. Plus, there's a lot to get done."

"The guy that spotted me last night..." Iris suddenly thought aloud.

"All taken care of already. He only spotted Trevet last night. Not me. And I've made him believe that while he was knocked out, I killed Trevet and saved his life. So he kind of owes me one," he winked mischievously.

Iris nodded in relief, and Caspian waved a hand down the corridor. "You know your way to the bedroom. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll need to check-in and then they might get me to do some duties before I can come back here."

"This place..." Iris placed a gentle hand against the smooth wall. "How have you kept it safe and hidden?"

"It's a safehouse that belonged to my parents," Caspian's smile was distant, and Iris could feel more than see the morbid sadness in his eyes. He didn't say anything more, and Iris didn't pry.

Caspian yawned, shaking off whatever thoughts he had on his mind. "I'll also do some digging around, too. See what I can discover about Sage and the warehouse."

"Caspian," Iris met his gaze with sincerity. "Thank you."

He winked and gave her a playful, mock bow in return. "It should be me thanking you. It's an honour being able to meet you, princess."

Iris grinned, her cheeks flushing slightly. "You really don't need to call me that."

Caspian beamed, half-chuckling as he strode towards the door and said, "Well, if it embarrasses you so much... I'll make sure to always call you that, just so I can see that priceless look on your face. Persistently annoying people is my specialty, you know. It's how I won my Trev's heart."

Iris groaned, shaking her head but still smiling, and Caspian gave a wave over one shoulder. "See you in a bit, princess."