Emily turned the knob on the faucet and the water shut off. She watched the water run down the drain before there were only a few droplets left in the sink. She was Celosia's right-hand man. She had done it. So, what was this emptiness swirling around in her stomach?

She pulled her cloak back on after splashing some water on her face. The bathroom door creaked open. Emily jumped and turned around. No one was there. Eyes, eyes were watching her though. Emily was almost certain of it. She searched every space of the bathroom, but nothing was there. She ripped the shower curtain aside, but nothing was there. She finally slammed the bathroom door behind her.

Her bare feet dragged on the red carpet as she trudged to her bedroom mirror. It was a long, rectangular mirror that hung on the wall. She moved closer to the mirror, and then her heart dropped to her toes. Instead of seeing her own reflection, Sylvia's was staring back at her. Beads of sweat began to form on Emily's forehead. Sylvia's gaze was sinister, and a grin slowly crept onto her face.

Emily was frozen to the spot.

What was Sylvia doing in her mirror?

It had been almost more than two months since the Placement.

Why was Emily remembering all of this now?

But it didn't end there.

That chill. It was back. Every time Sylvia came to her mind, every time she saw her, Emily felt the same chill.

Sylvia's hand burst out of the mirror and yanked the collar of Emily's cloak.

"Well, well, well," she hummed.

Emily's breath hitched.

"What an ugly color on you," she hissed, still tightly gripping Emily's collar. "You should have thought out your plan a bit more, don't you think? You're not a Red Cloak."

Emily tried pulling away.

"This color belongs on me. Get out of here!" she yelled, her reflection turning into Finley.

"Emily! Get out of here NOW!" Finley yelled, and let go of her collar.

Emily collapsed on the floor, shallow breathing filling the room. She looked back at the mirror, and it was her own reflection again, staring back at her in horror. She ripped her red cloak off of her body, and the button on the collar flew across the room.

She would leave. She would leave now. She would have to take Samson and go. He didn't want to be here either. It didn't matter anymore, whether the Shadow was here or not. She would take Felix too, take him to Autumn. She was cracking. This place was doing this to her, the acting she did to stay alive here. It wasn't worth it. She could have easily done this differently, but she hadn't been thinking with a clear head.

She went to open the door, but she was greeted by the sight of two Red Cloaks towering over her.

"Can I help you?" she asked, not planning on sticking around to hear the answer.

"We were informed by Celosia, that you are guilty of treason. We were sent to bring you to the arena for your verdict," the tallest one said dryly.

Emily glanced between the two of them and scoffed.

"Me? You're accusing me of treason? I am Celosia's right-hand man. How dare you accuse me of something of the sort!"

"Can't fool us sweetheart."

What morons, I already fooled them for the past two months!

"We're going now," the other Red Cloak said and dragged Emily out of the room.

She kicked and shouted, trying whatever she could to break free. Red Cloaks began to notice the racket coming from Emily and trailed behind as she was taken to the arena.

Samson had been dead asleep when Emily taken, and he had just woken up, unaware of the commotion. An odd feeling trailed down his spine on this particular morning. This certain feeling was unfamiliar to him, but the first thing he thought to do was check on Emily. He finally pulled himself to his feet and left the room to knock on Emily's door. He heard the chatter of people from downstairs, but he didn't think much of it. He knocked on Emily's door.

No answer.

He tried once again.

Still no answer.

Now Samson was beginning to worry. Emily normally spent the mornings in her room, but if she decided to leave, then she would leave a note to tell him where she went. It was just a normal thing she did. Alarm bells immediately went off when he was unable to find a note.

The commotion began to grow much louder, prompting Samson to peer over the railing. Hordes of Red Cloaks were walking down the halls. For what reason, Samson didn't know, but he was going to find out. One of the Red Cloaks pulled him into the crowd by his arm.

"Well, look who finally decided to join the party," the boy said.

Samson shoved his arm away. "What party?"

"The Phoenix, your ex-apprentice, went rogue," the boy answered. "Someone must've reported her."

Samson's blood ran cold.

"Man, you look awfully pale," the boy noted.

"Where exactly are we heading now?" Samson asked.

"To the arena to find out what the girl's verdict is."

Samson didn't waste a second and started pushing through the crowd, leaving the shocked boy behind him. Red Cloaks shot him questioning glances as he continued to push past people. As soon as the boy mentioned "an apprentice going rogue", he knew what had happened. Like the rat Wells was, he had not only told Celosia about Finley, but about Emily as well. No wonder he did. It benefitted him and his daughter to have Emily and Finley out of the way. After all, Sylvia would most likely take Emily's spot, which was what she wanted from the beginning. Samson couldn't believe at how stupid he had been.

"Samson, what are you—"

"Out of my way," he interrupted, finally making it to the front of the arena.

Down in the center, they tossed Emily at the feet of the Shadow and Celosia. She lunged at the two of them, but the Shadow pushed her back to the floor.

"How dare you lunge at ME!" the Shadow roared.

  The crowd gasped when Emily spit on the Shadow's boots. She glared up at the two of them and then at the crowd watching her.

"Who are you people?" she asked, grinding her teeth together. "What gives any of you the right to do anything you do? Snatching children from their homes? Threatening families! Destruction! Lying snakes!"

Samson and the rest of the Red Cloaks went completely silent.

"Do any of you know why you're even here?" Emily asked. She turned to Celosia. "Celosia, do you know why you're here?"

Celosia froze. The Shadow noticed she wasn't going to say anything and continued on to discuss matters with the rest of the Red Cloaks.

"First Felix, and now the Phoenix," the Shadow began, voice laced with venom. "Felix's little rebellion allowed our biggest enemy to escape. We can fix that one, that one is not completely detrimental to the Red Cloaks. But then this one came along." The Shadow gestured to Emily.

"She won all of your hearts in the Placement, even surviving a stab wound in the process. She manipulated the minds of all you, and if someone hadn't overheard her, she may have continued this. While Felix's can be completely solved—THIS GIRL COULD HAVE STARTED AN ACTUAL REBELLION!" the Shadow thundered. "It starts with small things like these to prompt others to start a real rebellion. Small acts such as this show others they're capable of standing up to us."

Emily's eyes widened. It was then when the Shadow lost his composure in which she realized he was threatened by people like her and Felix.

The Shadow was threatened by her.

Samson was quite startled by the Shadow's outburst.

"Now I believe it's time to recognize the person who reported the Phoenix to us," the Shadow continued. "Wells, come down here."

Wells shoved a few onlooking Red Cloaks out of the way to make his way down the arena steps. The whole exchange was awkward to say the least. He stood between Celosia and the Shadow.

"This man reported suspicious activity as soon as he saw it. It was an act of loyalty beyond compare," the Shadow said.

"With all due respect, I can't accept all of the credit," Wells replied, eyes meeting Samson's in the crowd. Samson shot him a warning glare. "Samson helped me as well, gaining the Phoenix's trust in order to reveal her secret, although it seems he is too humble to admit it."

Samson's blood boiled. Emily's mind went blank, but her expression immediately darkened when she found Samson watching up above with the rest of the spectators. He seemed to be staring back at her, mouthing something.

"Samson come down here too," the Shadow ordered.

For the first time in a long time, Samson was afraid. Not only afraid, but furious too. His palms were sweating, and his legs turned to jelly. As he approached the Shadow, he could barely make out the Shadow ever so slightly shaking his head.

He knew.

The Shadow knew.

He knew all along.

Emily couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"It seems there will be a change of plans for the execution," the Shadow announced. "The Phoenix will be joining Felix tomorrow as well."

A wave of nausea washed over Samson.

"Samson take your ex-apprentice to the cells. Felix is due for some company," the Shadow spat.

Emily went limp as Samson lifted her up from the ground. Emily noticed his hands were trembling, but she didn't care. He took her out of the arena and toward the prison.

"I can't believe you," Emily whispered. "I befriended you because I genuinely cared. I thought our conversation at Brookbridge was genuine. You only befriended me to turn me in. And you of all people, were helping Wells. This entire time...you were helping Wells, from the very beginning. Is that why you were assigned to me? Is that why I was your apprentice? Because I couldn't be trusted?"

They continued up the prison stairs.

"Emily, you have to understand—"

"I DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!" she yelled.

Samson flinched. "Emily, Wells found out on his own about you. He overheard you talking to Felix. I didn't tell him about you!"

"But you still don't deny that you've been gaining my trust from the beginning? Is that right?"

"That's completely absurd. Wells was lying about that. I promise that much to you, Emily. But—"

"But what, Samson?

Samson didn't reply.

"You need to tell me the truth Samson," Emily warned.

"I..." Samson paused. "I told him about Finley. And I, I never told him you were putting on an act to gain Felix's trust."

Emily stiffened. "I can't believe you did that. I can't believe..."

Samson put her in the cell across from Felix, and Felix was startled awake by their arguing.

As the cell door closed, Emily locked eyes with Samson.

"You're-You're telling me, that you lied a couple of days ago?"

Samson paled.

Emily gripped the cell bars. "So, not only did you lie to me about exposing Finley, but you also lied about telling Wells, at least trying to convince him that what I was doing was an act? Both of those seem like important pieces of information to leave out."

"Yes, yes I lied. I didn't try. But please, understand that seconds later I regretted telling him about Finley. I regret not trying to convince him. It's complicated. My parents...I can't just—I can't—"

Emily scoffed. "Don't you think I understand? I understand how complicated this whole situation is, believe me. But if I remember correctly, I gave you an out. I made sure you had the choice to stay. So, don't go and tell me it's complicated when I offered to leave without you!"

"But Emily, I care about you. You see that, right? That's why it's so complicated. You showed me a different side to all of this. It's something I've struggled with for so long. And you, as annoying as you were at the beginning, there's this kindness about you. I don't feel so lonely when you're around, you're the first friend I've ever had, and I didn't want to be alone again either," he explained.

Emily's expression softened for a brief moment, but it only lasted for a second before it melted back to anger.

"But you told him about Finley. After all of—after all of that."

She could feel the warmth again coursing through her body, the anger again.

"See, I would understand you doing it if you had no other choice, but it's like you didn't even try," Emily snapped. "Maybe I could have been a little more careful, I'll admit that, but you could have at least covered up why I told Felix all of that information! I mean, let's face it, you've spent most of your life pretending to be something you're not! I'm sure you're better at acting than that!"

"I've spent most of life pretending? Come on, let's be reasonable," Samson hissed, voice low. "Who came in here pretending to be a Red Cloak in the first place?"

  "Whose been pretending to be one their entire life!" Emily shouted, throwing her hands up. "You said it yourself. It was never your choice to come here."

Samson didn't respond.

"You know, I'm not even mostly angry with you," Emily said, voice dropping to a whisper. "I'm angry with myself." Her eyes lowered to the floor. "I was so stupid for even thinking I could trust you with a secret like that. I was stupid for thinking I could trust you in the first place. I just, I just thought—with everything you said about being my right-hand man, us becoming friends, and you saying you wouldn't turn me in...that you actually meant it. You sounded so sincere."

"I was being sincere. How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't tell Wells because I want something bad to happen to you or Finley. He said if I told him about Finley as well then he wouldn't turn you in. We've already talked about this."

"And you trusted him? You trusted Wells? Of all people?" Emily sniped.

Samson's face turned red, ashamed he had even attempted to use that as an excuse, especially after already having this discussion with her.

"Samson, I really thought I could trust you. I really did."

"Emily, I'm so sorry," Samson said.

"Are you really?" she asked. "I don't think you are."

"Yes, Emily. I am sorry. I'm truly sorry," Samson answered. "I'm terrible, and I screwed up. I completely screwed up. But we can fix this."

"How exactly? How do you figure we'll fix this? I'll be killed in a couple of days, but it's not like I have anyone to return to anyway. Meanwhile, Finley has a whole family waiting for her," Emily said, slumping against the cell. "This is my fault."

"No, Emily. It's my fault. All of this is my fault."

Emily locked eyes with Samson again. "It's my fault for ever thinking you and I could be friends. I made a fool of myself with the whole truce thing. It's my fault for thinking you're any different from the rest of the Red Cloaks. It's my fault for ever telling you about my secret. You're just like Wells, you're just like Sylvia."

Samson took a step back. "Emily, I—"

  Emily shook her head and turned to Samson; a pained expression plastered on her face. "I-I hate you. I hate everything about this place. I hate what you did."

"Oh, come on Emily, you don't mean that," Samson responded, but the sinking feeling in his stomach said otherwise.

"But I do mean it. You've done enough, okay? Please just go," Emily pleaded.

The prison became eerily silent. Samson opened his mouth to say something else, but he stopped. His heart burned, as if he had eaten too much food. Emily turned her back to him and was silent. He stumbled out of the prison, feeling utterly alone, for the first time in a while. He had been unaware to the fact that the Shadow and Wells had been listening in on he and Emily's conversation. 

"And now he is all alone," Wells hummed.

"Indeed, but I am afraid it does not end there," the Shadow replied. "Wells, go tell Celosia that Samson will not be allowed to attend the execution. We don't need any more little, unwanted surprises, now do we?"

"Of course not, sir," Wells agreed.

"One more thing..."

"Sir?"

"Tell your daughter, when you have the chance, congratulations on becoming Celosia's new right-hand man. I am sure she will be delighted to hear it," the Shadow said.

"By all means, thank you sir," Wells replied and bowed. 

Wells was absolutely elated. All of his ducks, very screwed up ducks, were in a row. He made his way down the hall to Celosia's room once again to inform her. He would tell his daughter later. It could wait.

Celosia on the other hand, was not up to anything in particular. She sat at her desk and stared down at her hands. Emily's words continued to echo in her head, her eyes staring daggers into her own. "Celosia, do you know why you're here?"

"Celosia?"

"Celosiaaa?" the voice taunted.

She was startled by knocking at her door. She didn't even think to ask who was on the other side of the door. Wells, once again, stood at the other side, his hand raised to knock on the door again.

"You're back," Celosia stated dryly.

"The Shadow ordered me to bring you some news from him himself," Wells replied.

"If the Shadow has news, he should be the one delivering it," Celosia snapped, but her demeanor immediately changed, her lips turning up into a forced smile. "But of course, that's not your fault. What exactly is the information he needed to tell me?"

"Sylvia will be replacing the Phoenix as your right-hand man," Wells answered.

Celosia held back a grimace.

"And the second piece of information he wanted to tell you was Samson is not permitted to attend the execution tomorrow. He will be staying here," Wells then explained.

"So, the obvious news then," Celosia muttering, not realizing she had said her last statement out loud. "Well, thank you for letting me know. I'm sure you have news to tell your daughter, so you better go do that now."

"What of Finley?" Wells questioned.

"What of her? If you want more information, I suggest you take that up with the Shadow. Now, with preparations for tomorrow, I am quite busy. Now move along," Celosia replied, ushering Wells out of the door. She slammed it shut afterwards.

This job was a never-ending cycle of nothing. These people drove Celosia to the brink of craziness. She would have enjoyed it a little more if at least half of them showed some intelligence. Truth be told; the Shadow was much conniving and crafty than she was. He planned most things down the last detail, he barely had to make any effort with scaring people.

She froze when Emily asked her that particular question, but the Shadow immediately brushed her aside and continued his speech. Sure, he lost his temper more times than Celosia could count, and she quite possibly hated him at this point, but he was at least smart.

Why did she quite possibly hate him? The answer to this question was simple; he took credit for a lot of her ideas. Celosia was only twenty years of age. She could only try her best with handling people of all ages. At Emily's Placement, she already had her doubts regarding Emily, and she had tried to express that with him. Of course, once again, he completely disregarded and placed all of the blame on her.

Everything really was unraveling.

Emily and Felix would be taken to the execution soon.

Samson was cut off from the world once again.

Sylvia was now the right-hand man.

Celosia's pride and power were destroyed.

The Shadow would be staying for good.

Finley's life was on the line.

Autumn and Blaise were desperately trying to clear people from the marketplace.

A once peaceful world had turned into something of unrest and uncertainty. Children couldn't run around without having to peer over their shoulders, making sure no one was after them. Winter even made the days darker, more eerie, devoid of most life.

Sylvia was elated to hear she was now the right-hand man. She could almost whatever she wanted at this point, but she knew where she wanted to start.

"You were friends with him?"

"I don't want to talk to you right now," Emily whispered, back turned to Felix.

"Well, I want to talk to you. You and I both are about to face the same fate," Felix began.

"No, we're not. I didn't accomplish anything. I only led others and myself into further danger. You saved your best friend and stared the Red Cloaks in the face and defied them."

"Didn't you save your best friend too?" Felix asked. "Aren't you the one who continued to fight Sylvia even with a knife sticking out of your back?"

Emily finally glanced in Felix's direction, sapphire eyes widening.

"Emily, I knew Samson before you knew him. He's been here for a while. He's a lonely person," Felix said. "I don't mean lonely like brooding in the corner kind of lonely, but more like Finley lonely."

This caught Emily's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Look, am I completely defending the guy? No, no I'm not. Even if he did give me the ham and biscuits. But that doesn't mean I don't notice how lonely he is. People like Finley and I were never supposed to be in a place like this. I have never felt lonelier than when I was here. Someone like Samson is a unique case. Although he was raised here, he obviously doesn't belong here."

Emily frowned. "He doesn't?"

"Hear me out," Felix said. "I'm certainly not trying to speak on Samson's behalf, don't get me wrong. But you know the difference between me, you, Finley, Samson, and people like Wells?"

"What?"

Felix leaned against the cell. "We never saw the good side of the Red Cloaks. Something tells me Samson was never under the illusion everyone else was."

"So, what you're saying is people like Wells are under the impression that the Red Cloaks are good?" Emily questioned.

"That they're good? No, I wouldn't say that."

"Then what are you saying?"

Felix took a deep breath. "I'm saying it's complicated. Wells has always been out to get me, and I've always wondered why. What is his reasoning? Does Wells truly believe he's fighting for a better world, or is he just purely evil? It's questions like that which I ask myself." Felix thought for a moment. "People like Wells, Sylvia, Sage, and so many others saw some sort of appeal to the Red Cloaks. I on the other hand was kidnapped during a forest fire. The Red Cloaks have always been a nightmare to me."

Emily continued to listen.

"Finley made the decision to protect her family and leave them. Her sons would have been here instead if she hadn't gone. You chose to come here as an act of a secret rebellion. Samson didn't have a choice. I don't know enough about him to tell you anything else, but he seems awfully different than the person I used to see."

Emily fully turned this time to look at Felix.

"You did that Emily. You helped him see beyond the Red Cloaks."

For a second, there was this warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of Emily's stomach, but it soon faded away.

"Except I didn't," she sighed. "Samson still betrayed me. He still sold out Finley."

"He did WHAT!" Felix exclaimed.

Emily frowned. "Did you not hear him and I arguing earlier? In an attempt to also save me, Samson told Wells that you and I were also talking about Finley."

Felix was about to say something else, but the prison door slammed open. Felix and Emily turned their attention to the front, trying to see if they could spot who had come through the door.

It was Sylvia.

Emily felt yet another chill run down her spine, but she swallowed her fear, more warmth coursing through her body as her eyes locked with Sylvia's.

"I see why you so desperately wanted the job," Sylvia drawled. "Even if you were faking it all along."

Emily snorted. "I'm sure you are really happy to have the job. You were pretty desperate for it too. Enough to cheat during the Placement and stab one of your opponents."

Sylvia turned beet-red and kneeled next to Emily's cell.

"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it? I'm out here and you're in there."

"Maybe," Emily said, twirling a strand of hair. "Say, Sylvia. Something pretty interesting happened today. Want to hear it?"

Sylvia didn't reply.

"Since you're not yelling in my face, I'll take that as a yes," Emily continued. "I was getting dressed this morning, you know, when I used to be the right-hand man? I was fixing my hair in the mirror in my bedroom, and you know who I saw? I saw you Sylvia. You told me I didn't belong here, that I needed to get out. And I thank you for saying that. After all, I clearly don't belong here."

Sylvia bowed. "Glad I could assist you. Shame you won't live long enough to see me flourish in this role."

"Flourish? That's rich."

Emily and Sylvia turned in shock, realizing it was Felix who had said that.

"I think flourish is a bit of an overstatement," he added.

"Who do you think you are? Talking to me in that tone. You weren't even here during the Placement," Sylvia scoffed.

Felix stood up, slightly taller than Sylvia.

"I think I've seen enough to know what kind of person you are," he said. "Let me see if I'm right. Unless it's done your way, it's wrong. You like to rule with intimidation, not caring if a child has nightmares every night, hoping he'll still be alive the next day. You would even cheat to get what you want, and you have the personality of a literal dung beetle. I see. So, I guess I was wrong. I guess you would flourish in a place like this."

Emily covered her mouth to keep from smiling as she watched Sylvia's eye twitch. She originally was going to interrogate them, but they had ticked her off so much that she needed to leave, needed to leave before she exploded.

"Well, at least people will remember me in my role," she snarled, heading towards the door. "When both of you are gone, no one will remember who you are."

She stormed out of the prison, once again slamming the door behind her.

Emily and Felix burst into fits of laugher when she left. Emily even felt a couple of tears run down her face from laughing so much.

"I can't believe you said that," Emily giggled, watching as Felix wiped his eyes as well.

"Did you see her face? Man, I wish I had said something like that to Wells when I had the chance to," Felix murmured.

"Well, you said it to his daughter."

Felix's eyes widened. "That's his daughter? That explains a lot."

  The two of them grew silent for a moment.

"Did Wells give you nightmares?" Emily suddenly questioned. "I mean, you don't have to tell me. It's just, the way you said all of that, it just made me think that's what happened."

"Well, since we might die soon, I might as well talk about it a little," Felix began. "Wells always went out of his way to scare me. Ever since twelve-year old me ended up at the fortress. I rarely had nightmares before coming here."

"Felix, when you see Wells, or hear his name, do you get chills down your spine? Lots of chills?" Emily asked.

  Felix pondered for a moment. "I suppose so. Why do you ask?"

"Whenever I see Sylvia or hear her name, I get chills. I guess it's the same with Wells," Emily said.

"It's a shame it ended like this."

Emily shrugged. "Maybe it doesn't have to end this way. But at least I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"When the Shadow decided my fate, he lost his temper with the rest of the Red Cloaks watching—"

"Seriously, he lost his temper? The Shadow has always been pretty level-headed though from what I've heard."

Emily nodded. "He lost his temper because of us. Felix, he's intimidated by us. He thinks we are capable of starting a rebellion." She leaned back, a sudden wave of peace washing over her. "So, Sylvia was wrong. Something tells me the Shadow will never forget us."