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Will seemed confused as she led him toward the town, their wet boots hitting the cobblestones. The town was mostly empty since it was too early in the morning for business, the windows shuttered and the lights mostly off. The only sound around them was their own breathing and the calling of owls.

"Did Luella really...?" Audrey began quietly, unable to help herself.

"Yes," Will replied curtly. From his tone of voice, he was not willing to talk about it, so she did not press him further.

"I had someone like that."

Will turned to her. "Who?"

"Aldric. I didn't think that I would ever care about him, but I did. Everyone I have ever cared for are gone."

His fingers reached for her hand without looking at her and she took it, weaving their fingers together. It felt comforting after so long without human touch except for Landon's cold hands and Alika's care.

She hoped Landon wouldn't punish Alika or Chege for not being able to stop her. She already regretted leaving her fox behind too, but knew that it would have been dangerous to bring Autumn. They had no time to get a fox out, and it would have been too suspicious.

Before she had jumped, she had met eyes with Landon.

"When they betray and discard you, come back to me," he had told her as Will fell below them.

"I will not rule next to a Shadowhart," Audrey had replied before jumping.

She pulled her hood up higher before hurrying down the street, Will behind her with his quiver slung across his back, his bow in his right hand and her hand in his left.

"Where are we going?" Will asked.

"To see an old friend of my brother." Audrey reached the fountain and turned to find a small building labelled: "CALLISTA'S FUTURE FORETELLING".

Audrey knocked and a red-haired figure came to the door. Her red eyes flickered slightly when she saw Will before she reached forward to hug Audrey and kiss her on the cheek.

"Audrey! It's so good to see you again. Come in," the woman said.

"Callista, this is my companion, Will," Audrey acknowledged.

"Welcome, Will." Callista nodded at him.

Audrey had to push him in so that Callista could shut the door and start pulling the curtains closed.

"This is your old friend?" Will asked under his breath when Callista was across the room doing the last few curtains, too far away to hear them.

"My brother's friend," Audrey corrected quietly. Thomas had found Callista fascinating, and would often sneak away from the castle to have tea with the strange fortune teller. "Now shut up."

Will obliged but didn't take his eyes off Callista as she walked over to them.

"So, Audrey, why are you here?" Callista asked.

"We need your help. To get to the South and to my cousins," Audrey explained.

"Ah." Callista nodded. "Come with me."

She led them to the back of the building where there was a small stable with two horses. One was a rich auburn, and the other was a shade of gold.

"This is Bronze and Bolt," Callista introduced. "I can give you one. They are of fine breeding and have been specially trained for speed and stamina."

"Thank you, Callista. But they are beautiful. Are you sure about this?" Audrey asked.

"Of course. Anything to keep an Everwood on the Northern throne. Come with me."

Will frowned at Callista. Audrey shot him a warning look as she followed her out of the stables. Callista held out a hand to tell her to wait before entering a room and coming back holding a simple dress and a battered cloak.

"These used to be mine, and I think you should have them. You can't walk around in such rich material." Callista gestured at her attire. "You'd be robbed by highwaymen and identified too quickly."

"Thank you," Audrey nodded. She was eager to have dry clothes, even if the plainness of the garments were a bit off-putting.

Callista gestured for Audrey to sit down and began to rub dye into her hair. Callista offered her a basin of water for her to rinse her hair in, and, after drying it, she tied it into a tail to keep away from her characteristic braid.

Callista dyed Will's hair brown in another room while Audrey dressed, putting her stolen bow and quiver to the side. To the side, there was a mirror, and she looked at it to assess her clothes. The princess was gone, replaced by a dull peasant with brown hair and blonde tips. Her blue eyes were still remarkable, but Audrey frowned—she hadn't realised that, stripped from wealth, dirty and ragged, she could look like such a peasant, and it secretly wounded her pride. She had never been a great beauty, and, without her status, she was just another commoner; pleasant-faced but plain, nothing special. Only her blue eyes stood out, sharp against her austere clothing.

Will soon exited the room. He had dyed hair the same brown as hers and with their blue eyes they could almost be mistaken as siblings, despite Will's angular eyes and darker skin.

"Audrey, can you pass me your palm please?" Callista asked Audrey.

Audrey frowned. "Why?"

"I would like to see something. Count it as payment for what I have offered you."

Audrey held out her palm. Callista took it and she felt a coldness wash over her. Like her mind was heavy and weighed down, being shared with someone else's. She shuddered and tried to pull away, but Callista had a firm grip.

"Your future has many possibilities," Callista said.

And then she was gone, floating away from her body, dancing through darkness.

Images flashed behind her eyes. A blurry silhouette of a boy, turning to face her. Screaming in anguish, kneeling on the floor in a pool of blood. A desperate kiss in darkness and then running, weeping as she went and tripping over branches, a cloak brushing her ankles. Standing alone on a bloody battlefield, dead bodies littered all around her.

"Please stop," Audrey said, yanking on her hand as the chill blanketed her, wrapping her in its icy grip.

"You will love, but it will be cruel," Callista muttered. "You will betray the people you love. You live in fear."

An army massed in front of her. A crown of sharp metal thorns. Thomas embracing her, then smiling before he left her forever. A dead field, a withering rose. And an owl, soaring in the sky despite the arrow in its chest.

Feel No Cold, an ancient voice whispered in her head, the Everwood motto.

"Stop. Please," Audrey begged as Callista's eyes flashed black. Then red. Then black. The pain of the cold was excruciating now. Will's eyes were snake green, no longer a soft blue.

"Hate. Do not love him and try healing what is already broken beyond repair. You want to fix it all," Callista's speech became more rapid. "But to gain, you will have to lose everything. You have to forget everything you think you know about justice."

More images. Ethelind calling her name across a battlefield, covered in blood and terrified. A clear blue sky twinkling down at her. Landon's inscrutable gaze, a discarded lute leaning on a bookshelf.

"Almost everyone you love will die."

An axe, cutting into someone's neck and severing their head from their body. Ravens flew overhead, squawking.

She realised that she was screaming when Will ran at Callista, throwing her to the floor. The pain instantly ended, and her vision cleared. Audrey stumbled, dazed, only to realise that the pain in her hands had disappeared. She looked down for bruises to probe at, only to find that they were all gone. The scar remained, however, from where she had tried to kill Landon.

What happens if he catches Will? She couldn't stand the thought of Landon toying with his emotions, using him against her. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with them.

No. You can do this, something else told her.

You ran, you coward, the other voice said. You selfish twit.

To protect the Everwood line. I cannot become a Shadowhart and disgrace my lineage.

"You healed me," Audrey said, mystified. "How? What... what just happened?"

Will moved off Callista, and Callista stood.

"You'll want to go soon before Landon regains his wits," she noted.

"Can you... tell me how it will go?" Audrey asked

"No." Callista shrugged. "And even if I did, I would not tell you."

Audrey nodded. There was little time to pester her. "Thank you so much. I do not know how I will ever repay you."

"You won't." Callista smiled.

Audrey turned to Will. "Are you still sure that you're coming?"

Will raised his eyebrows. "Audrey, I am going with you no matter what you say."

"Then head down and take a horse. And go. Go before they can catch you." Callista held out a hand and touched it against Audrey's cheek. It was surprisingly warm. "Listen. I want you on that throne, and so do many of your people. Never forget that. I owe your brother a lot, and I see a lot of his strength in you, too. You have potential to grow, to be who you are meant to be, if only you would let go of your fear and face the darkness. Do not be afraid, child; fear no cold." The Everwood motto again.

Audrey nodded, then turned and walked out to where the two horses were.

The Southern War had killed her brother. The mischievous teenager who deserved nothing he endured. Who yearned to be a knight and was killed when his dream finally came true. Audrey fought back tears. The dead were dead and the more time she spent grieving for them, the worse it would become. Someday, she would be dead too.

Not yet. Not until Landon is gone, unable to hurt anyone else.

She heard some voices coming from afar. Will was saying something angrily that she couldn't hear properly.

"You are being absurd," Callista's calm response came.

Then footsteps as Will came to the stables. His eyes seemed hollow, and Audrey was half tempted to hug him. Try anything to bring his usual vibrancy back into those eyes.

She did nothing.

"Which horse then?" Will finally asked.

"I like this one." Audrey gestured at the auburn horse.

"Bronze," Callista said, gliding into the stables.

"Are you sure?" Audrey asked.

"Of course. Good luck on your trip," Callista said. "I also packed you something." She held up a pouch, which Audrey slung next to her bow.

"I will come back for you when I can," Audrey promised.

"I'm sure you will." Callista kissed Audrey on the cheek, then Will, who flinched away.

"Thanks," Will said stiffly as Audrey swung onto the horse and offered him a hand up. He took it and jumped in front of her.

"I know how to ride a horse." Audrey frowned as he took the reins.

"So do I."

"Girls can ride, and I want to. I don't understand the preconceived notion that we can't—"

"I'm doing this because you are very bruised now from your time under the Shadowhart's rule and should probably rest yourself. Not because I think your gender means you can't ride a horse." Will turned and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." Her cheeks turned pink. "Okay."

Will shrugged as Audrey wrapped her arms around his waist. Callista opened a back door, leading to a view of woodland.

"Turn right after some time and you'll be on the Main Road," Callista said. "And good luck."

Audrey waved to Callista before Will spurred on the horse and led them outside. The cool air hit them straight away and Audrey felt herself yearning for the warm comfort of Callista's house. She turned back to find that the door had been shut, leaving them out in the cold, just the two of them.

The building soon was gone from their view, and they were on the Main Road. Audrey held onto Will tighter as they passed a group of Landon's guards, all riding down together with their familiar dark blue uniforms. None blinked an eye at the two of them as they rode.

They rode until their bodies were sore and full of blisters from the horse.

"We need to take a break," Will said.

"In the forest," Audrey added.

Will steered the horse into the forest and tied it to a branch before sitting down next to Audrey on a fallen log. She offered him some stale bread from the pouch Callista had given her, which he took and ate in silence. When their portions of food were gone and they had washed it down with some water from a nearby spring, Will finally spoke. They were seated side by side on the log, trying to rest as well as they could without being able to sleep.

"I'm surprised you trusted a random trainer you met, like, twice," Will said.

"I don't know." Audrey tossed a stone at the spring. "You seem very lost. Lost people do anything to find themselves. I figured you were alone and looking for some purpose, so I took the opportunity to run from what was hard. I need to stop running, but I'm afraid, and I just want some place where I can find myself again."

"You're regretting running away with the handsome stranger?"

Audrey shoved him, and he laughed.

"Idiot," she muttered.

"Sorry, milady." He held up a hand. "But, seriously, stop regretting choosing yourself. I chose myself when I ran away from Ardensford."

"Luella Hill... she came with you. Why?"

"Because rich ladies like running away with handsome white-haired archers."

Audrey knew he was trying to evade the question. "Will."

"Fine." He shrugged. "She wanted freedom, and she wanted to come with me, to find a place where she was no longer just the bastard of her mother. But... she was killed on the road. I... I killed her by letting her come." He dropped his head, and she saw the tears in his eyes. "She was so innocent, so full of life, and I killed her."

"You will soon be a person,

I can no longer hold,

When the light leaves your eyes,

And your skin will turn cold.

Drifting into sleep,

To the sound of the shore,

All sounds will become lost,

When you sleep nevermore," Audrey sang softly. "Do you know the words? It's an old song from the Development Years."

The song was not meant as a cruel one—it showed how death was meant to be peaceful, a lullaby to a dead one. When Thomas had died, Adina had sung it to her.

"I didn't know you sang," Will said. "You're not a bad singer."

"I am," Audrey replied, but she couldn't help the small smile as she felt her cheeks burning. She had never been good at singing, but she didn't have an awful voice. "Do you know the rest of the song?"

Will paused.

"In a safe place you will be,

This beautiful palace residing by the sea,

No one will ever find you here,

Alone with the shore, sun and sky,

You can completely disappear," Will muttered, his voice soft but soothing.

"Watch the sun,

Her warm rays will soothe you,

In this paradise far from everyone,

Alone with absolutely no fear,

You can completely disappear," Audrey sang, joining in with the last verse. Will smiled at her and she returned it.

"You remind me of my little sister," Will said, turning away and plucking his bow string in a rhythm.

"How so?"

"For one, she had a lovely heart, and, despite all the hardship we went through, it showed. And she had the most beautiful smile. It could brighten up any day."

Audrey blinked, staring at his back. "I am not used to such kind words."

"I don't suppose you are, my lady," Will said. "But you deserve to hear them."

She found herself wordless in surprise. He turned to find her wordless in her surprise. He had changed a lot since she had last seen him: his hair curled to the nape of his neck, he had become taller and seemed to have lost some of his optimism. But it was still Will, and, gods know why, he had saved her.

For a moment, it felt as if some invisible string was pulling her closer to him and she wanted to lean into him and...

Will blinked, breaking the spell, and gave her a small grin as he stood and walked over to untie the horse.

"We better get you back to the South. Your cousin is waiting."

Audrey nodded. She opened her mouth to ask him what he had shouted to Callista about, but she quickly decided against it. She wanted to treasure that moment. Just the two of them, a perfect portrait of the blue sky and a forest transformed red with autumn. She wished they could stay frozen that way forever.

But the story had to go on.

Credits to my friend Yumi for writing the first verse of the song :)

Love you all

Shelly M x