Alex held Sarayna closer with each tremor that rumbled through the palace, body aching with each eruption. She awoke to a missing husband, a lost son, and a crumbling palace. The longer Treyan was gone, the more morbid her thoughts became, and the panic began setting in.

Now she was torn. Before she would have carelessly rushed into the middle of a firefight to save the one she loved, but now her love belonged to others who depended on her and putting herself at risk was no longer an option.

She clung to her daughter. The small bundle was snug against her chest in a post- milk haze. She wondered if her son felt as safe.

She closed her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears for her lost son.

No, not lost.

There was still time.

There was still the Councillor.

"I need your assistance," she summoned, and handed Sara over to him upon his approach while she prepared herself. Placing a hand on either side of her, she tried to stand, but gasped as a surge of pain seared through her lower extremities.

"Empress, please," the Councillor insisted, but she waved him off as she braced herself to try again. "The healing magic worked better than I imagined, but you still need to rest."

She quickly determined getting out of the bed was the hardest part, but once she began to move, she soon began to feel human again. She changed her clothes in front of the Councillor with little shame—he had just assisted in the birthing of her children, modesty was the least of her concerns. She found a loose-fitting blouse and a skirt she was able to hike above her boots. She had just finished tying her hair into a low ponytail when the Councillor approached.

"Empress, I must insist."

"Councillor I'm fine," she claimed as another tremor rocked the palace, and she braced herself against her dresser to avoid further injury.

"Be that as it may, the palace is not," he reminded her from his secure place against the wall. "I cannot allow you to run through the palace looking for Prince Treyan, should he come looking for you. It is counter-productive, not to mention dangerous in your current condition, especially if we need to evacuate at a moment's notice..."

"Evacuate?" She turned to look at him. "What are you talking about? Evacuate to where?"

He looked at her for a moment before he turned on his heel, still with Sarayna in his arms, and walked to the fireplace along the far wall of her room. "Empress, rarely has it occurred, but there have been a few instances in our history when it was required for the Empire's royal line to evacuate during times of dire need. This, I fear, may be one of them."

"We can't just leave," she insisted. "Not with Treyan and Lexan unaccounted for, not to mention the fate of the Empire itself. No, we can't abandon them to fend for themselves!"

"You can, Empress, and you must."

"Councillor—"

He cut her off. "The prince himself asked me to keep you safe. You must be ready to leave at a moment's notice!"

Now it started to make sense. "Why that stubborn... I'm not leaving without him, Councillor!"

"Empress."

"No! It's out of the question."

As though in response, the palace shook violently, throwing Alex to the floor. From her position, she immediately looked up to see the Councillor struggling to maintain his own balance with her baby in his arms. Wincing as she placed her weight on her hands, she carefully pushed herself to her feet and approached him, protectively taking Sara back to her chest. The infant had woken from the commotion, looking at her mother with her father's blue eyes before emitting a whimper of confusion. Alex bounced her gently as she stood by the empty fireplace. If this was to be their escape route, she hoped it was sturdy enough to withstand whatever damage was to be done while she waited for her husband.

Treyan needed to get back to her soon, and with their son.

She couldn't stand the thought of having to leave either of them behind.

The library's windows shattered as the power within grew to dangerous levels. Between Reylor throwing everything he had toward destroying the Annals, and Treyan using all of his might to protect it, the battle between the brothers would inevitably destroy everything they knew and loved until one, or both of them, died in the process.

It appeared as though Reylor cared not for the consequences of his actions, his attention was only on the Annals. And while Reylor's obsession continued to cloud his senses, Treyan's only focus was on his brother.

Thus, neither of them saw the intruder enter the library, nor the stolen knife she held in her hand. It was not until she brought it down across Treyan's back that his scream of agony caused his protection spell to dissipate as he fell to the floor in pain.

Chaos immediately exploded around them.

Reylor's intense magic overpowered the Annals, tearing the book asunder in a blast of flame and fury. Each fiery fragment engulfed the library where it landed, and soon the tomes and their cases were up in smoke.

The pain in Treyan's back hurt like nothing he felt before. It was as though he was numb or paralyzed from the pain. He could barely see through the stars and smoke, but he heard a woman exclaim through the commotion.

"My lord, we must go!"

"I told you to leave!" he heard his brother exclaim as he walked in Treyan's direction.

"It's a good thing I didn't, apparently," she retorted smugly.

"Enough. Where is the child?"

Lexan. He was still here.

Bracing his arms to hold his weight, Treyan put all his might into getting up, but was stopped by a boot grinding into his fresh wound, crumpling him to the ground.

"I wouldn't do that, brother," Reylor said with a sneer from above.

Treyan screamed as the torment ran through his body, and Reylor stepped firmer upon his back.

"Though killing you now would be too easy."

"My lord!" the woman again screamed as the ceiling began to give way, falling around them in a fiery mass of plaster and glass.

Reylor rolled away from the rubble, leaving Treyan to suffer the onslaught alone. Debris filled the air amid the smoke, creating a dark cloud that quickly covered the library.

"If only I had the time to say goodbye to your wife." Reylor's taunt was cut short as another collapse of the library's infrastructure trapped Treyan within the blazing inferno.

The smell of burning made Alex the most nervous, and the Councillor's look of concern told her there wasn't much time remaining. She glanced to the door of her room, and already the hallways nearby were filling with smoke.

"Empress."

Alex looked between the Councillor and the sleeping princess in her arms. How her daughter could sleep at a time like this, she had no idea. Perhaps it was for the best—the less she was subjected to the better.

Her fears were confirmed upon another tremor shaking her walls, accompanied by the sound of a collapsing structure. She would have run for the door, yelling for Treyan, if the Councillor hadn't grabbed her arm to save her from damning her and her daughter to certain death.

"Empress—Alexstrayna—enough! It is time to leave! You must consider your well- being, at least for your daughter's sake!"

"What about my son?" she snapped. "What about Treyan? They are still out there."

"Treyan will see to it that Prince Lexan is brought back to us, but there will not be a place to come back to if we do not escape now."

Another rumble and bits of the ceiling began to fall in on them as they shrugged away at the onslaught.

"You have my word, once you and the princess are safe from the palace, I will do all in my power to search them out and return them to you."

Another explosion.

"Empress, please," the Councillor pleaded.

Enough was enough and she nodded reluctantly. She grabbed the satchel Treyan readied for them and stood with the Councillor near the fireplace while he prepared the Key. In a moment it erupted into a swirl of blue flames, ready for her departure.

"You promise to send Treyan to us? And continue the search for Lexan until we return?"

"As soon as—"

He was cut off by another explosion that ruptured the beams of the ceiling, the structure collapsing around them. Alex was thrown back by the impact, protecting Sara with her body while she was flung to the floor. She lost sight of her bearings as she attempted to dodge debris, wood, and plaster, but soon the magic of the Key called to her like a beacon in the night. She crawled to the portal, giving one final glance behind her, but the Councillor was nowhere to be seen in the mess.

She was about to call out to him when another explosion within the room unceremoniously threw her and Sarayna into the welcoming vortex of the Key, giving Alex little choice but to leave her husband, her son, and her Empire behind.