A cheeky grin spread across Emily's face as she grabbed a pile of snow, forming a snowball between her mittens.

Samson had his back turned, clearly not thrilled at the thick layers of snow that covered Brookbridge. But as someone rarely experienced the joys of snow, Emily was overjoyed, and feeling a tad mischievous.

With Samson's back still turned, Emily hurled a snowball at him, some of the snow managing to slip down his coat.

Samson hissed, sounding quite similar to a teapot boiling. He whirled around to Emily, who was doubled over, laughing hysterically, and letting out an occasional snort.

"Come on," she said, hiccupping. "Throw one at me. Let's have a little snowball fight."

"A snowball fight?" Samson asked.

After a moment, Emily realized her friend was genuinely perplexed.

"A snowball fight, like—" she paused, making a snowball, and gently placing it in Samson's hands. "Like this. Now throw it at me."

She could see the hesitation in Samson's eyes, but he finally tossed the snowball, hitting her in the chest.

"Have you never had a snowball fight before?" she asked.

"Snowball fights aren't exactly something the Red Cloaks have, Emily," he said in response.

"Just this once then," Emily said, throwing another snowball at Samson.

And then she saw it, a sudden spark behind his eyes. As she dashed off, he followed closely, chasing her with a snowball.

Emily darted through the town, feeling a cold thump to the back. She laughed, turning to see Samson making another snowball. She did the same.

What she didn't notice, was the boy, Hayes, watching the two of them from one of the windows of the inn. After a moment, he closed the curtains.

Emily tripped over a rock buried under the snow, and landed face first in the snow below her.

"Are you alright?" Samson asked, watching as Emily rolled over, cheeks red from the cold.

"I'm wonderful," she replied, hopping up and looking up as more snowflakes twirled down from the sky. "I suppose it's time to return to the Fortress."

  The fortress Emily had almost become accustomed to now no longer felt familiar, and they had only been gone for a day. She gazed at it like she was an outsider. She and Samson both stood next to their horses as snowflakes fell from the sky and to the ground. She had almost been tempted an hour earlier to convince Samson that should simply just run away. They could run away and conjure up a new plan. Alas, she couldn't do that. Samson, even if he had agreed with her the day prior, still had priorities which lied within the Red Cloaks and the fortress. His parents had sent him here, and he was simply trapped. There was no other way to phrase it really. She would be overstepping her boundaries if she did that.

Both of them would have looked like outsiders if they hadn't been wearing their red cloaks. After all, both of their faces were plastered with a fearful expression. Emily inched forward and glanced back at Samson. His eyes were glued to the fortress. She had worn that similar expression when she first arrived at the fortress. When they first brought them to the fortress days before the Placement.

They had been camping out not too far from the fortress before actually being taken there. They had spent most of their time training outside. Emily had kept to herself, lying quiet in the dark every night, trying to fall asleep, shivering every time a gust of wind blew by. Multiple attempts were made to become friends, or at least acquaintances with some of the other recruits, but day by day Emily found herself being shunned even more.

One night she had spent crying herself to sleep, missing her aunt dearly. She truly had nowhere else to go. She and her aunt could barely keep up when it was both of them, but now her aunt was gone too. That had been her only choice. To stand up to the Red Cloaks.

Her aunt never wanted that, but Emily had to make the decision herself.

There had been countless hours of training, days where Emily struggled to get up instead of continuing to sleep. The instructor had been loud, impatient. This was the least surprising thing though. Emily had had her fair share of harassment from Sylvia even before they competed in the Placement.

Attempted murder, sadly, shouldn't have been surprising. Emily had experienced that scare multiple times too. The one thing she did not know of was the fact that Wells was Sylvia's father. Other than that, everything was fairly predictable.

The actual day of arriving was the part where the real fear had set in, similar to the feeling that Samson was feeling right now.

This was him seeing it from her perspective now, not from his parents. This time he was seeing it in a new light. It was clear. The wheels were turning in his head, an unsure fog clouding his head.

He frowned. "Never really noticed how dark it looks from here."

Nevertheless, he still took Olly and guided her back to the stables. He realized Emily still hadn't budged and wasn't following him. She and Clover were still at the edge of the forest. They made eye contact. It was almost like he knew she wanted to run away.

She did.

But then she thought of Hayes, the timid stable boy, and even Samson, who was never given a choice on joining the Red Cloaks. She thought about Felix, and Finley. If she gave up and ran away, then she would be letting all of those people down. She couldn't leave now. She had decided to come here for a reason and giving up like this was far too easy. She needed to stay.

So, she swallowed the scream bubbling in the pit of her stomach and continued to follow Samson toward the stables.

She made sure Olly and Clover had enough food and water before following Samson into the fortress. When they returned to the front doors, they were greeted with one of the guards.

"Celosia ordered me to tell both of you she's waiting for you in her office," the guard said. "Immediately."

Samson and Emily glanced at each other, shrugged, and made their way to Celosia's room.

"Why do you think she wants to talk with us?" Emily questioned, adjusting her cloak.

"I have no idea. Most likely it's something to do with you in particular, but I couldn't be too sure," Samson answered. "Only one way to find out."

Emily lightly tapped on Celosia's door.

"Name and business."

"It's Samson."

"And Emily. We were told you wanted to see us?"

In less than ten seconds, Celosia was standing on the other side of the door. She let them in. A wall with maps and sketches caught Emily's attention, but Celosia drew a curtain over it before she could see it in greater detail.

Celosia still didn't say anything and only gestured for Samson and Emily to sit down across from her.

"Phoenix, do you remember when I told you, you would be required to work with Samson? Before becoming my right-hand man. Do you recall that?" Celosia asked.

Emily fixed her posture. "Oh, um, yes, I believe so."

"Well, I have been keeping close tabs on you this past month, and I will admit I had my doubts at first."

Emily and Samson stiffened.

"And now?" Emily asked hesitantly.

"My doubts," Celosia began. "You proved me wrong, Phoenix. You and Samson proved me wrong."

A wave of relief washed over Emily, but she resisted to urge to smile about it.

"From now on, you are no longer Samson's apprentice. From now on, you are my right-hand man," Celosia said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you so much!" Emily exclaimed, but couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Would this mean her and Samson's friendship would end?

"That being said, I need you to do something for me. As you know, Wells and Finley's group brought Felix back two days ago. He is currently in a prison cell, and I need you to talk to him."

Emily frowned. "Talk to him?"

"Yes, talk to him. Ask him questions. See if he will tell you anything, anything at all," Celosia explained.

"I can do that. I'll go right now," Emily said, abruptly standing up.

Samson stood up.

"Perfect. Please return afterwards if you find out anything," Celosia said before escorting them out of the room.

Once the door closed behind them, Emily and Samson awkwardly stood in the hallway.

"Congratulations Emily, really," Samson said, holding out a hand.

Emily shook it. "Thanks, Samson. I know we'll both be sort of busy now, but we're still friends, so I hope we'll still be able to hang out sometimes."

"Me too," Samson said.

Emily suddenly remembered she needed to talk to Felix. It was something she had been wanting to do anyway.

"I guess it's time I go talk to Felix. Maybe I'll see you at dinner?" Emily said.

"Maybe," replied Samson, waving as he headed in the opposite direction. "I'll see you later Emily."

"See you later," she said, heading toward the prison.

Felix stirred from his sleep when he heard the prison door creak open. He wasn't able to see who had entered the prison though, so he remained against the side wall.

Emily peered around the cell, probably coming off creepier than she thought she was. Felix barely flinched when he saw her.

"Did Celosia send you here?" he asked.

Emily froze. "H-How did you know—"

"I saw you in the dining hall."

"Oh," Emily said, crouching in front of the prison cell. "Well, I'm here to ask a couple of questions."

"Oh, are you?" Felix asked. "What exactly are those questions?

Emily's brain suddenly went fuzzy and she couldn't seem to form any words. She thought for a moment.

Meanwhile, Samson had planned on going to take a shower before he went to supervise the barracks. But on his way to his room, he saw Wells heading in the opposite direction, looking like the usual suspicious weasel he always was. Today he looked more suspicious than usual, which gave Samson an unusual, unsettling feeling. He decided the shower could wait and he followed Wells.

"What questions do you want to ask exactly?" Felix asked. "Make it quick."

Emily sat down outside of the cell.

"Would you relax? Believe it or not, I am on your side," Emily said.

Felix shook his head, letting out a snort. "You're the Phoenix, aren't you? And you think I'm going to believe you're going to be on my side?"

"I suppose you have a point, so I won't push the matter right now. Celosia wanted to know why you helped Autumn escape," Emily said.

"You're friends with Samson, aren't you?" Felix asked.

"Why does that matter?"

Felix sighed. "Known him since I came here when I was thirteen. Not my favorite person."

"Well, the filter has certainly come off," Emily muttered.

"I'm set to die soon, why should I care as to what I say?" Felix said, voice gruff. "So, what do you want from me again?"

"I want to know why you helped Autumn escape," Emily answered.

"Something tells me you're the one who really wants to know, not Celosia," Felix said.

"Well, aren't you perceptive," Emily said, clicking her tongue. "Can you answer the question though?"

"Autumn and I knew each other since she was six and I was seven. I was friends with her for six years before I was taken here. One thing I learned whilst being here was that a lot of you don't seem to think things through very well," Felix said.

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked.

"Let me answer both questions. What about Samson being your friend? I would assume you of all people would understand how important friendship is with someone. Of course, I was willing to risk my life to rescue Autumn and her friend. What kind of friend of almost nine years would I be if I didn't? Secondly, what I mean by not thinking things through very well is that all of you kidnap children solely, so they are easy to brainwash," Felix explained. "However, they kidnapped me when I was thirteen, and so I don't understand how it couldn't possibly had occurred to them that I wasn't going to be brainwashed."

Emily's jaw fell open.

"My reaction precisely," Felix snorted, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, the answer to your question is so obvious. If Celosia had a soul, then she would be perfectly capable of answering the question on her own."

"Bit harsh, isn't it?" Emily answered.

"Aren't you the one who chose to participate in the Placement?"

"That's enough!" Emily snapped.

Felix quickly changed the subject. "So, what's this whole deal with you claiming to be on my side?"

That's when Wells made it to the prison. He pressed his ear against the door and listened.

"That's why I came here. That's why I participated in the Placement. My plan was to infiltrate this place. Find all of its weak points," Emily started.

Felix tilted his head. "You expect to believe that?"

A wave of anger surged through her body and Emily got close to the cell.

"Do you know how many speeches I had to give? How many times I had to talk about how much I loved the Red Cloaks? Do you know what happened at the Placement?" Emily hissed.

Felix shook his head.

"No, I didn't think so," Emily said.

Felix narrowed his eyes, looking closely at Emily.

"You don't seem like a Red Cloak to me," Felix said.

"Because I'm not!" Emily replied in a hushed voice. "I need to know why Autumn's such threat to these people. There are a lot of things I need to know. I need to know so I can help people get out of this place. I need to know so I can defeat the Red Cloaks. I'm like Finley, and you."

Wells couldn't help but smile when he heard those words. He had known all along. All he had needed was for Emily to say it. And now she had.

But he didn't have time to listen to anymore, because a hand yanked him away from the door. Samson pulled him back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Samson asked, expression darkening.

"Nothing," Wells answered, smiling. "Nothing."

"You shouldn't be snooping," Samson said. "I could report you for that."

Wells' smile only grew wider. "Oh, could you? Well, there multiple things I could report the Phoenix for."

Samson's blood ran cold.

"Of course, she mentioned someone else. I wasn't able to hear that part. But, maybe you know who it is? Tell me who has been helping her, train my daughter, and I will consider sparing your friend."

Samson felt sick. He couldn't tell Wells that Finley had been planning this as well, could he? He could always say he was part of the plan, but he realized that Wells wouldn't buy that story. If he didn't tell Wells that it was also Finley, then Emily was in trouble, real trouble.

"Emily, I mean, the Phoenix, told me Finley was also part of this," Samson said, immediately regretting saying it afterwards.

"Is that so?" Wells asked.

"We made a deal," Samson began. "If you break it and put Emily in danger, or even Finley in danger I swear—"

"Oh, don't worry. The secret is safe with me," Wells said, but the fingers crossed behind his back said otherwise.

Samson didn't notice though. Instead, he pulled Wells away from the prison and nudged him down the stairs.

"I better not see you there again," Samson growled.

"You won't," Wells replied, almost too casually.

Samson glared at him one more before heading off to take a shower. It seems Samson was almost too trusting of his deal with Wells, for the first thing Wells did after Samson disappeared was to head to Celosia's room.

"Name and business," Celosia said after hearing knocking at her door.

"Wells. I have news."

"Come in."

Wells entered Celosia's room, to see Celosia sitting at her desk.

"Wells, why exactly are you here?" she asked. "Whatever news you have, you better make it quick. The Shadow will be arriving soon, and I have too much going on to talk for long."

Wells pulled a chair near Celosia's desk and sat down.

"If I am correct, you sent the Phoenix to question Felix, right?" Wells questioned.

Celosia sighed and stopped writing. "What of it?"

"Samson revealed to me that the Phoenix is conspiring with the enemy, with Felix," Wells answered.

He was expecting her to be angry, but instead, Celosia erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Wells, really, that was a great joke! When did you come up with that?" she asked, eyes becoming teary from laughing.

"I'm not joking. Finley is also a threat. Both of them are. I heard it and Samson told me as well. I am only telling you this to warn you."

  Celosia stopped laughing and she whipped around to face Wells, eyes narrowed.

"Personally, I liked it better as a joke," she hissed. "You're really deciding to tell me all of this now?"

"I deemed it wise considering the Shadow will be arriving," Wells replied. "You would be able to inform him on this."

Celosia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll consider it, but please go help the others prepare for the Shadow's arrival. Go, now."

"Of course," Wells replied, leaving the room.

For the first time in a while, Wells felt victorious.

Celosia stayed still in her room after Wells left, eyes glued to the wall. This was the last thing she needed before the Shadow arrived. Her already believed and told her she was basically a failure whenever they had a meeting. Him allowing her to lead the fortress was her chance to prove that she was fit as a leader and wasn't a failure, but if what Wells said about the Phoenix was true, then she wasn't fit to lead.

The Shadow would waste no time in revoking her leadership and putting someone else in charge, taking her back to the Mountain of Rain once again to be under his supervision.

Meanwhile, Emily continued talking to Felix.

"It sounds like Autumn is a close friend of yours," she said.

"She is."

"She'll come, you know," Emily said.

"What do you mean?" Felix asked.

"She'll come to the execution. If you and she are best friends. She'll come to save you."

Felix shook his head. "I don't want that. You don't understand. I left her so she'd be safe. I left so she wouldn't be in danger."

"Felix, believe me. She's going to show up. I would help all of you escape now, but it's just not that simple."

"I understand," Felix said.

"Anyway, I told Samson I would meet him for dinner, so I better get going," Emily said, standing up. "I'm glad I got to meet you though. Don't worry. We'll figure everything out. Everything's going to work out."

"I sure hope so," Felix said, leaning against the wall. "See you later Emily. And tell Samson thank you for the food."

"See you later," Emily said. "And okay, I will."

The door shut, and Felix was once again by himself.

Emily went back down the stairs and toward her dorm room. At first she was going to see if Samson wanted to go eat dinner with her. They typically did. But at this point she could feel her eyes start to droop and her body was turning to jelly. It was time to get ready for bed. She would grab a bite to eat and head up. After all, she hadn't seen Samson at all since they had talked to Celosia.

The dining hall that evening wasn't terribly crowded when Emily went inside, and once again, there was no sight of Samson anywhere. So naturally, she took a bowl of soup and went upstairs, not wanting to see what might be in it. As long as it didn't poison her, then it was enough nutrients.

She made sure to leave a bowl of soup outside of Samson's room as well, just in case he hadn't gone to dinner yet. And then she sat, eating a spoonful of soup, and then another.

Samson was right.

Being a Red Cloak truly was a lonely experience.

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Note: So, that was Chapter Fifteen! That is all I have to say. If you like the book so far, I would love to hear any feedback you have (respectful of course) and I will take it into account. Thank you!

-IML