Autumn managed to convince both Blaise and Felix to join her for dinner at the inn. They were serving multiple dishes for dinner. Salads, soups, and a nice lemon roasted chicken with rosemary to finish it off.

The inn had announced to the people staying there that they were making a special dinner for all of the guests. They weren't charging anyone anything, and while this baffled Felix, Autumn was grateful for how kind the inn owners were.

The three of them sat down together at the table, trying their best to avoid eye contact with other guests of the inn. Not causing a scene was in their best interest. The lemon roasted chicken was sitting in front of them, and Autumn sliced it for both her and Felix while Blaise tucked into her small salad.

"It's great isn't it? They're so kind for doing this," Autumn chirped, taking a bite of the chicken. "And the chicken is superb."

Felix had that same look on his face that he had when Autumn offered him a pastry in Dara's stall.

"What?" Autumn asked. "What's wrong?"

Felix leaned back in his chair. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't make any sense?"

"Why they would give all of their food away for free. With the Red Cloaks at large like this, those people need all the help they can get, and giving away their food means they're losing coins."

Autumn put her fork down. "Felix, maybe these people are doing what they think is the right thing to do. Maybe it's all they can do. Did it ever occur to you that there are other ways to support one another?"

Felix didn't answer her, but instead tucked into the slice of chicken Autumn cut for him earlier. Autumn wasn't sure if this was a silent agreement from him or if he was just mad, but either way, at least he was eating.

Dinner soon ended, and the trio made their way back to their room.

"Autumn?" Felix began.

Autumn turned to Felix. "What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. It wasn't kind of me to assume the inn keeper is careless," he said. "I'm just concerned about all of the people out there. I didn't mean to word it the way I did. It's just, people need to take of themselves too. Everyone needs to stay safe."

Autumn shrugged. "It's okay Felix. I understand. You and I have had different experiences. I shouldn't have snapped at you either."

The three of them yawned.

"I guess it's time we get some rest, right?" Blaise asked, fluttering down until she softly landed on one of the pillows on Autumn's bed.

"Right," Autumn said. "I will be back in just a moment."

She closed the door to the bathroom to get ready for bed. That left Felix and Blaise together.

"Blaise's your name, correct?" Felix asked.

Blaise slowly nodded.

"I know you don't like humans. I get it. But I just wanted to say thank you for being such a great friend to Autumn."

Blaise blinked, surprised by the words coming out of Felix's mouth. He was thanking her? She wasn't expecting that at all.

"You're welcome," she muttered, settling into the soft pillow and slowly dozing off.

Autumn came back in, face washed and hair up in a bun. She raised her eyebrows at Felix.

"You two get along okay?" she asked.

"Just fine," Felix replied.

Autumn gently moved the pillow with Blaise on it and she climbed into bed. Felix got into his bed on the opposite side of the room.

"I'm glad you're back Felix. It's been nice, really nice. Blaise takes a little while to warm up to people. She's—been through a lot. But I'm sure you two will get along soon enough. We'll have lots of time on our journey," she said.

"Of course," Felix replied, stacking two pillows on top of each other.

He shifted just enough for Autumn to notice a scar on his neck.

"Felix...what—what's that from?"

His hand absentmindedly went for the scar.

"Fight at the fortress."

Autumn's eyebrows furrowed. "A fight? With another Red Cloak?"

Felix reluctantly nodded. "Someone from my group."

"Did they happen a lot?"

"Frequently. They happen in most groups, for one reason or another."

Autumn lowered her voice as Blaise shifted. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your reason?"

Felix's eyes seemed to turn a shade darker. "Simple disagreements in the fortress can turn into fights in mere seconds. Mine had to do with another group member."

"I see," Autumn said. "I know I have nothing to go off, and really have never been through all of that, but I am so sorry that you had to. If I could have been the one captured instead...I would have—"

"No, please don't say that. You're who they want. There's no way that I would ever want you going instead of me. Please don't say that."

Autumn shot him a sad smile.

"Well, I suppose we should go to sleep. We're heading out tomorrow, right?" Autumn replied.

"Correct. See you tomorrow, Autumn."

"Goodnight Felix."

"Goodnight Autumn."  

  As a little boy, Felix had never struggled falling asleep. His mom used to sing this particular song to him, which he always hummed along with her until he would eventually doze off. It worked every time. When he grew older, he still hummed this tune until he fell asleep. Once he was taken by the Red Cloaks, the tune began to leave his mind. He couldn't remember it. This is when he struggled to fall asleep. Not only that, but each night he laid awake in fear that if he fell asleep, then he wouldn't wake up the next day. Between Wells and Sage, he had made more enemies than friends.

Now he was here with Autumn and Blaise. They slept soundly as the moon began to climb over the treetops. Blaise was curled on top of Autumn's head and Autumn was tightly clinging to one of her pillows. Felix desperately wished he could feel at peace like they seemed to be, but he was anything but peaceful at this hour.

He turned over, him being in the bed closest to the window. He had noticed a dull flicker from outside, like light from a fire. Felix stretched his arm toward the window to the pull the curtain open. Still unable to see anything, he finally sat up and peered outside. His stomach lurched when the first thing he saw was Wells, illuminated by the fire light. The other people from the group sat near him.

Now he glanced back at Autumn, who was completely unaware of all of this. His heart sank when he realized what he had to do. If all three of them remained here in the inn, then the Red Cloaks would easily find them by morning. If Felix went tonight and turned himself in, then it was only him who would be caught. It was almost sort of foolish of him to throw himself back in the fire from whence he came. It's like touching a hot stove, not learning from that mistake, and then touching the stove again. Of course, the first time Felix had been with the Red Cloaks, it had not been his decision. This time it was.

Felix would be dragging all three of them down though if he didn't go. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Felix crept to the door of the inn room. He left his new coat on the bed. He turned around, taking one last look at his friend.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, closing the door behind him. The inn itself was now lacking its previous activity. Everyone had gone to bed at this point. Even the innkeeper himself wasn't there anymore.

The open air was like a slap to the face when Felix first opened the door. He could barely make out the sound of chatter from the fire, but he knew one of the voices had to be Wells. He could finally see Wells fully, who was currently nursing his bandaged hand.

"Well, well, well. Look at who decided to show up," Wells taunted. Felix saw him protectively holding the hand Felix had stabbed.

"Bring with the other ones with you?" Sage piped up.

"We decided to part ways actually. Much earlier today," Felix replied. His tilted his head at Wells, expression deadpan. "Oh, what happened to your hand? Did you have a bit of an accident?"

Wells went red in the face and abruptly stood to his feet. "Why you—"

"Someone should grab him," Violet suggested dryly.

Felix caught a glimpse of Finley's face, and she only seemed disappointed. Shouldn't she of all of people understand what he was doing? She too had sacrificed her freedom and her life to protect the people she cared about.

His hands were soon bound, and Sage kept a tight grip on him as they put out the fire. Felix tried to shove Sage away, but he only held on tighter. Violet snatched his dagger from him. She gazed at it.

"The dagger?"

With his other hand, Sage snatched the dagger from her and held it up to Wells. It was the same dagger Felix had used to stab his hand with.

"Toss it," Wells scoffed and threw the dagger aside. "That thing's done more damage than needed." 

Violet looked slightly disappointed about not being able to keep the dagger, but something sparked behind her eyes. A flame of some sort. As the rest of the group drifted away from the dying embers, Violet took her chance to reach back into the thorn bush and grab the dagger.

Frankly, she had always wanted one that looked similar to Felix's, and she had looked up to him until he had run off and abandoned them. But now it would be hers instead, and she would actually put it to good use someday. When? She didn't know.

Violet was in fact, similar to Felix. They had about a foot difference in height, but both shared the same lanky build as each other. Her hair, unlike Felix's, was light. It was a platinum blonde, with a touch of a lavender purple to it when the sun was shining.

Her parents had agreed on the name Violet. They lived in the Mountain of Rain, and Violet at this point could hardly recall what they looked like. Rather, she only remembered the day they sent her to the fortress, and even that memory was hazy.

Finley had shown more qualities of being her mother than her actual mother. Now, Wells on the other hand, Violet wouldn't even begin to delve in his characteristics. No matter what way you looked at it, Wells had terrible qualities. He was only loved by many of the Red Cloaks because of his unquenchable thirst for blood. Violet found him classless, and she observed Sage parade around like a mini version of Wells.

He was toned down, yes, but he was narcissistic and spent most of his time spewing absolute nonsense. He despised her too, but she couldn't say much, given that the feeling was oh so completely mutual.

She picked the seven thorns out of her hand, making sure to stick the dagger in her cloak as she caught up with the rest of them. Violet had still been at the meeting when Felix had helped Autumn escape, so she only heard the story of Wells' point of view.

She knew the dagger she now possessed was responsible for giving Wells that wound, the one with the bandage wrapped around his hand. After learning Felix had been practically dangling on the edge of death, Violet refused to deny that she wouldn't have done the same thing that Felix had done. In fact, if it had been Wells or Sage, she definitely would have.

It didn't matter if she was part of the Red Cloaks. She still disliked the two of them. Most people would most likely agree with her on that matter. She could tell Finley and Felix were both in agreement on that. Even before she found out Felix was a traitor, she knew he wasn't a fan of Wells or Sage.

Wells treated Felix horribly. There was only so much Finley could do to keep Wells toned down. Each day, Felix had received constant threats from Wells, some even regarding his life. And that, didn't sit well with Violet.

No, it didn't sit well at all.

Despite the reputation the Red Cloaks had, Celosia had always reiterated that they respected the idea of rules and expectations, that they didn't need to cause violence within the groups. That wasn't how unity worked.

So, Wells knew that he shouldn't be acting like that, and yet he still did. That didn't sit well either.

Violet finally tuned back into the conversation.

"What a shame your friends aren't here. They would have made great company," Wells said. "And Celosia sure would have paid a pretty price for all three of you."

"I'm sure she would have," Felix sniped, earning a smack to the back of his head from Wells.

"Would both of you just be quiet?" Finley hissed. "Everyone will know we've been here if we keep it up."

Felix this time whipped his head toward Finley. "Good. Let them know we've been here. After all, everyone's too afraid to stand up to all of you! All of you, monsters."

Felix only felt guilty when he saw hurt flash across Finley's eyes. He was just furious, absolutely livid that the Red Cloaks always succeeded with what they did because no one ever dared to do anything about it. Felix was technically in no place to talk though, as he had been trapped there for three years and had not done anything about it.

Finley had been the one to initiate the escape of him and Autumn in the first place. Felix had always wanted to do something. He had always wanted to escape, but it seemed fate had a different plan for him.

"You're just lucky we didn't find your friends," Wells sneered. "Very lucky."

"BLAISE!"

Blaise jolted awake at the sound of Autumn's yelling.

"BLAISE!"

The sun's rays poured through the window.

"BLAISE!"

"WHAT?" Blaise shouted back this time.

"Felix is gone," Autumn gasped, holding up the coat she had bought him the previous day. She had already put on her coat and was about to open the inn room door.

"Autumn, wait," Blaise said as she followed her and barely managed to cling to her coat.

Autumn was still holding Felix's coat as she rushed down the hallway and outside of the inn. The grass was covered in layers of frost and Autumn's blood ran cold in the windy weather. Her eyes watered each time another gust of wind blew by. To make matters even worse, clouds began to cover the sun, and it became dark once again.

  For some reason, her heart told her to go to the woods. She had no idea why, but she still went in that direction anyway. The first thing she spotted at the edge of the forest was pile of wood and ash, most likely from a fire the night before.

"Autumn, I'm sure Felix is still in the inn. He's probably just—"

Autumn shook her head. "Gone. He's gone Blaise. I should have known he was going to leave if something happened. And of course, something must have happened."

"Autumn—"

  "I'm an idiot! An absolute idiot. He told us they would catch up quickly if we stayed at the inn, and look," Autumn panted, kicking at the wood and ash. "They obviously caught up last night and Felix decided to go back with them."

Her heart hurt. No, it was on fire. She hadn't listened to him. For once, she was hoping she would be right, but now he was gone, again.

"All I want is for the three of us to be peaceful, but if we continue to stay here, then they will eventually find us."

Felix had been right all along, and she hadn't listened to him. She hadn't listened to him.

She hadn't listened.

She hadn't...

A sickening sensation washed over her body and she suddenly felt the urge to scream. Autumn hated that feeling. She hated feeling this way. She hated feeling like she could only scream and do nothing else.

What else could she do? She had lost Felix after all; for the second time.

How could she lose someone for a second time?

It was only when Blaise snapped her back to reality, she realized she must have gone into a state of shock. Tears bunched at the corner of her eyes and ran down her face.

"Autumn," she began.

"It's happening—all over again," she sobbed. "And once again—I didn't do anything."

Blaise's eyes widened. "What do you mean by again?"

Autumn took a deep breath as her sobbing slowed down, eyelashes wet and eyes shiny.

"I've lost him before. I hate that I didn't tell you everything before."

"Then tell me now."

"I have known Felix since I was six-years old. I met him in the marketplace one day," she explained. "We had been friends for six more years before the Red Cloaks attacked again."

Blaise began fitting the missing puzzle pieces together.

Autumn's eyes met Blaise's. "The day I met you, was the same day I lost Felix. The day you lost your family, was the day I lost Felix. You and I both understood. I thought he was dead, and I spent three years thinking he was, until you and I found him in the fortress." She took another deep breath. "I promised myself I wouldn't lose him again."

"And you haven't yet," Blaise replied. "The Red Cloaks want you, not Felix. We'll figure something out together, right? Like we always do? We're going to get Felix back."

"You're right, you're right," Autumn said. "But first, I think I owe you the story of what happened during the Wildfire."

"Very well then, what happened during the Wildfire?"

And with that, Autumn began the story.

-------------------------------------------------

Note: So, that was Chapter Eleven! I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. Thank you!