Song: Shadows by Sabrina Carpenter
I don't mind your shadows
Cause they disappear in the light
I don't mind your shadows
Cause they look a lot like mine
And listen to me, it's okay to be afraid
Just walk like you're never alone
I don't mind your shadows, your shadows

When they entered the Realm of the Royalliers, there were many Healing Regiis waiting below. Some were treating the other Royalliers that had flown in. Others were taking the cuffed Rogues inside, against their protests.

As soon as Glacia and Asher stepped out, they rushed to Asher's side, only for him to swat them away briefly. His face was blank. "I'm fine. Take care of the girl instead."

He was fine? Take care of me instead? Glacia eyed the bloom of red on the back on his shirt. During the trip here, when she was trying to figure him out, she had witnessed the stains and slashes on his hands. Even though she had some cuts, he took so much more damage.

A Healing Regiis kept an arm around her as she brought her into the palace and into the infirmary, but all the time she was watching the blankness on Asher's face, how he seemed to be taking in the pain, and brushed off all concern for him. It was confusing to her -- he had probably wanted her dead at first, but now he was revealing a gentler side of him. It made no sense.

At the infirmary, the Healing Regiis patched Glacia up, but explained that they couldn't relieve most of the pain, because her virtus was too powerful. Only Asher would be able to do it. Glacia told them not to fetch him, and that was a right call. Only minutes after they put the bandages on, she had lifted them to see that the marks were gone and the skin looked brand new.

The Healing Regiis asked Glacia curiously, "How's Asher? Apparently he wound up many Rogues today, but called off the mission and ordered them unharmed because he managed to get information from one of them."

Glacia's lips were dry at the sound of his name. "I thought you have him in the infirmary too, go ask him."

"His Highness never ever lets us lay a finger to heal him. Saying something about how he might scald us accidentally. Kind of like how your virtus acts up sometimes."

All of a sudden, the door swung open. A distressed Luke burst in, his hair in a mess, and concern written all over his face. Following behind was an equally worried Rose. They rushed to the side of Glacia's cot as she sat up and assured them hastily that she was fine.

"A Rogue attacked you?" Luke's voice was frenzied.

"Yes, but I'm okay now." She reached for his outstretched hand, trying to ease the frenzy in him. She ushered them both to sit down before speaking. "Luke, the King sent the Rogue to attack me. Asher was going to let him at first, but changed his mind and came back to save me."

Luke looked ready to attack someone. "It's true, then. I overhead the conversation between Asher and King Orion."

Glacia gaped. "What? When was this?"

"On the ride to Germany..." He stopped short, then realised what he said. She didn't understand: he heard the King say that, when Luke was sitting on the plane?

Luke's eyes widened, but then he took a breath and caved, pulling out a earpiece. "Some of the walls are tapped. I can hear some things being said, sometimes." He said.

"And who transmits these messages to you?" She skimmed her eyes over the earpiece.

His voice sounded a little strangled. "The Insurgents."

My eyes widened. "The Insurgents? You're one of them?" Even though she knew Luke had a distaste for Asher, she always thought of Luke as a goody two shoes. Since young, he was always in charge, always obedient, never going against the rules.

Glacia turned to Rose, who was holding her hand quietly. "You too?"

"Don't be shocked, Glacia. We simply want change." Rose spoke firmly, taking her other hand. "And see how the King wanted you dead? He wants you gone because he believes you'll be an instrumental fighter for the Insurgents. If you rose to lead them, and you manage to kill Asher, you can have the throne. You should stand with us..."

Glacia thought about how Asher had protected her from the Rogue, about how that perplexing boy had shown brief but meaningful moments of despair when he came in, and worry at her — one who has never seen a death — witness such brutality. There was some kindness buried in him, perhaps.

"That's why you turned back from your trip to Germany. Do you have the recording of the exchange between Orion and Asher? What did they say?"

He handed over the earpiece to Glacia, who received it and stuck it in her ear. It played immediately, she heard the voice of King Orion booming. She could hear from the sounds of the flight that this exchange occurred while they were on the plane.

"Asher, I've sent Rogues to follow the girl and kill her. You must bring her to the Ley Meadow, my men are situated there."

Glacia heard the deep breath of Asher. "How many did you send?"

"Five. You'll make sure she's dead, right? We'll blame it on the Rogues afterward, and she'll be out of the way."

"I will make sure she's there." His voice sounded convincing, but Glacia knew for a fact that Asher hadn't done as he asked.

She turned to Luke, not understanding. Why didn't he explain himself properly? "But this recording... it suggests that Asher was trying to protect me by keeping me on the plane."

"Maybe, but you still shouldn't trust him."

"I need to see him then. I need to ask him, and know if he's on my side or not."

Luke tensed. "If he stabs your shoulder, the wound may not be major, but if he chooses to stab your heart, he can still kill you here, you know? Socius can heal each other, may not hurt each other much, but can still kill each other if their willpower is strong enough."

Glacia swung herself off the cot. Luke was adamant, but she could not be stopped. Eventually, he reached to his pocket and unfolded something in her palm.

"Do you know what this is?" He spoke. Glacia looked down at the chain with a red ruby as it's pendant. The ruby was broken in half, but other than that it was a stunning beauty. It bore resemblance to the bracelet around Rose's hand. And of course she would remember what it was...

"Your mother's necklace." Glacia answered, recalling that years ago, Luke would never part with this. He wore it under his shirt wherever he went. She remembered one time, he had dropped it into the sea when we were crossing a bridge on a school trip. He climbed over and dived in immediately to fetch it, paying no heed to everyone else. Her heart had stopped for painful moments until his head broke the surface and bobbed up, clutching his necklace proudly.

He folded my fingers around it. "I have another one. Sometimes, people who are socius can feel each other's feelings." He explained. "This necklace does a similar thing. The person who has the other one can feel the other's emotions." He held up the matching necklace. "My mother would have the other half, but now that I'm back, she gave me both halves. I'm giving you one half. If anything happens, I'll know."

"Thank you." I whispered. "You're too kind to me."

Luke gave a soft smile, one that made Rose look to them both as if she suddenly felt that she was meant to disappear and leave them alone.

***

The following night, after a recharged rest, Glacia followed directions given by Luke to a place called the Night Garden. When she pushed away the bushes and stepped in through the crystal gate, she gasped at the unreal feel of this place. It was dimly illuminated by a dark blue light cascading all around the garden that grew flowers that lit up in an array of colours. There was the gentle sing-song of birds in the breeze, and a cool wind lifted her hair gently. Butterflies in varying shades of blue fluttered around the blooms, and she could smell the fragrance of the fresh flowers that lay across the spread of luscious grass.

Glacia marvelled at the beauty of the garden, but also at the figure sitting in the middle of the grass under a tree. He had his back pressed against the oak, his eyes closed in peace, chest rising and falling. The light had fallen all around him, seeming to form a golden halo. Angelic.

She walked up gingerly, unsure if she should really be disturbing him. But surely he sensed her aura upon her entry, as she had sensed his. She was beginning to grasp how to tell when he was near her -- her heartbeat would quicken ever so slightly, and she would feel a cord surrecting between the two of them.

When closer, she huffed a little, making her presence known.

"I will ask you a final time, Asher. Did you bring me to the mortal world with the intention to kill me?"

His eyes slowly fluttered open, the grey irises that bore ever so slightly the surreal colour of sea-glass blue. There was no more intensity in them, all the heat and anger that he would normally radiate was gone. She thought back to his look of concern in the plane, and the blankness in his face at times where he seemed tired of showing hatred. She was beginning to realise that there were times that his smirk would falter like this, as if he had taken off a mask and revealed the bits of himself within.

Asher replied earnestly, looking straight at her. "I suspected that my father was up to something when he asked me to bring you outside the Realm."

Glacia felt her hands tighten around the balisong. The balisong he had given her, she thought with a sinking of heart. "And you did as he asked?"

If Asher was aware of the weapon she held, he didn't show it. "I know some things you don't, Glacia. I know that if not now, in the future, you'll be enemies with me."

Glacia held back a snort, folding her arms. "At the rate we are going, I am already enemies with you."

"I foresaw something bad, and that made me want you gone. I didn't know what I wanted, so I let him decide what to do about it. But when I was on the plane, I felt the final sense of finality that I didn't want you harmed. I thought then, if I kept flying and made you stay in the plane, you'd be safe. It was a bad call, I should have turned back then. I was about to return to bring you back first, but I realised it was too late, he acted way too quickly..."

"You had to think about it. There was a part of you that wants me dead."

"I know I cannot make you believe me easily, but I will tell you that I don't think I do. It's not fair to blame you for something that has not happened, and not fair for my father to hurt you as how he has hurt me before."

Glacia's lips parted at this. He had admitted this with some raw emotion. It was almost as if he was drugged to speak nothing but the truth and everything had poured out of him all at once. Surely he had not meant to reveal this to someone who was barely knew him? Moreover, he was always so guarded against anyone else. She never expected Asher Conen to spill the beans on touchy issues like this.

"Your father, the King, he hurts you? I thought he'd treasure you, given you're his heir."

Asher laughed with an unspeakable sadness. He looked at his hands, and Glacia saw scars on them. Asher could never be injured easily, given his virtus was strong. Those wounds had to be inflicted by someone of almost the same virtus...

"I will not burden with you with the knowledge. Anyway, I never expected him to guess my moves, and send someone to attack you in the plane lest I didn't do as he asked." He folded his fingers in and balled it into a fist, as if punishing himself for what he had done. "He told me once that I was foolish for being weak. I think he could guess that I'd make you stay inside, I thought it'd be safe there. I... I can't stand the thought of him hurting someone else."

There was a part of Glacia that wanted to comfort him, even if she was still wary of the boy. She sat down gingerly, a distance apart. He sounded like a broken boy, worlds apart from the haughty and cocky Crown Prince she knew.

"You're very different now. You've taken off your mask."

"My... what?"

She looked to the distance. "It's crazy, but I actually believe you."

Asher nodded with full honesty, "You are crazy to believe me." He had said it naively, like a child who just told someone he had broken a vase, and not known about the punishment he'd get from saying it. It nearly made Glacia laugh.

She stopped short. Asher Conen would make her laugh? The genuine kind, not the sarcastic one normally reserved for him?

"If what you said was true, thank you for saving me back there. I'll take it that you had hesitated because there was a part of you that stood with your father. But understand that I'll never forgive the King, or the Comrades under him, for what he has plotted."

"The Comrades don't follow the King."

Glacia raised an eyebrow, and Asher explained plainly. "They follow me."

There wasn't a pride when he said this, he was speaking as if he just felt compelled to utter the truth. She couldn't guess why he was being like this, and looked at where she had seen wounds on him previously. The blood was dried up now, but surely he still felt at least a little pain after the ordeal.

"Does it still hurt?"

"I'm used to the pain." His voice was quiet and calm.

"Why did you push away the Healing Regiis? They can't heal much, but at least they would do a proper job of bandaging your wounds." She pointed to his right hand, where he carelessly tied a cloth around his knuckles that had split. It was already falling apart, clearly doing nothing useful.

"I cannot allow the Healing Regiis to touch me. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Why? Are you afraid that you might burn them?" Glacia asked, but knew that it made sense. She had frozen anyone who touched her when her powers surged. They had pulled away from her, but out of service to the royals, she doubted they'd be able to reject Asher. Even if he had burned them, they would have to do their job, and Asher wouldn't want that.

She saw Asher turn red during the fight and afterward, realised now that it wasn't out of the adrenaline only, but the injuries and fighting instincts had morphed to make his virtus prominent. He was burning up.

Asher gave a slow nod again. "I did it before. I once set a fire to a bird by accident, all because I was holding it when my father struck me. I was in rage and in pain, and it cried out as I did when I had seen what I did, what I could do..." His voice broke, the sea in his eyes glimmering.

Those words strangely made her feel as if she wanted to take his hand. Many a time she would be powered by an instinct to shield, to protect the vulnerable. People had always said that it was in her to feel this way. She wanted to ignore all the unkind demeanour he has shown so far, and see him as he was now.

His voice was a broken croak, one that didn't sound like it would belong to the prince that Glacia knew. She took a small blue bottle that was beside Asher, one that had a neon blue liquid in it. "What's this?"

"A calming concoction." He answered, still not looking directly at her. "I thought it'd calm my pain, but it's not doing anything, honestly."

Honestly. That word repeated in Glacia's mind. Maybe something about the potion made him honest. One day in the Royallier library, she had read about it. She took a double-take and was sure the color had matched the one Asher was taking a swig out of.

Glacia sighed, she preferred this honest version of him, so much more than the one who would chase everyone away.

Asher continued, "He never liked me, he was grooming Atlas to be the real leader. I was just a child that was never meant to be born..."

Glacia realised with a start that Asher indeed looked very different from his brothers. He was on a whole different level from everyone else, but there also could be a possibility that they were only half-brothers. She had only seen a portrait of the Queen so far, but no one -- not her or even the King, seemed to bear the surreal features that Asher did.

Nonetheless, she didn't ask. She took up the bottle and swirled its contents around. "Does this thing make you tell the truth too?"

"The pill calms my soul. I think, in some cases, it calms a person to the extent that he lets go of what he's been wanting to say for a long time. I don't really know what I'm saying Glacia, but I feel free from saying it..."

Glacia slowly got to her feet. She didn't feel like she should be here and letting him unravel his secrets while he was under the influence of the concoction.

That wouldn't be very fair to him.