There is a knock on my door. I don't move from behind my desk as I say, "come in." Maryanne walks into the room timidly.

"You summoned me?" she asks. I nod my head and signal for her to take a seat. I can hear her racing heart and see a small bead of sweat on her forehead. She is nervous.

"There is something I wish to discuss with you," I say to her. She gulps and sits, though I don't miss her shaking hands as she pulls out the chair.

"What can I help you with?" she asks.

"There is something that Daniel said to me which isn't sitting right with me,"  I begin. "It is almost like she knew that she was going to die," I quote what he had said to me before the battle. "It does seem odd, that Serenity started enchanting seeds that will grow enough food for our people's survival only a few days before her death." Maryanne says nothing. "It has been playing on my mind a lot recently actually." I stop for a few seconds and take a long slow breath.
"Then I remembered something that happened a while ago now. You had a particularly nasty vision of the future. You said that if you told us what would happen, then Shadow would be destroyed. So you kept it to yourself," I snarl. "Did you see Serenity's death?" I ask. Maryanne has tears running down her face as she slowly nods her head. I feel a rage burn inside of me and I glare at her.

"I'm so sorry, Isla," she whispers. "We saw her die but we didn't see how or when. We also saw what would happen if we told you. You would have left, taken her and you siblings away to safety and Shadow would have been destroyed. I had to make a choice and now that is a choice I have to live with for the rest of my life," she cries. I don't say anything for a few moments as I let it sink in. Both her, her father and aunt knew. They knew that Serenity was going to die and they kept it from us.

"My father told me not to tell anyone, but I felt so guilty!" she cries. "So I told Serenity." My eyes widen. "She said she understood why we couldn't tell any of you and that if she could help save Shadow she would. That was when she started making preparations. Of things that could save our people in case she was killed." I stay silent for a few more seconds.

"Get out," I say, my voice dark and cold.

"Isla, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I had to do what I thought was best. Have mercy, please," she pleads.

"Mercy?" I ask, standing up slowly. "Oh, I am showing you mercy right now!" I shout. "By not telling Tanya or Toryn of what you and your family have done. If they were to find out, they would kill you!" I shout and she cowers away from me. "But I want you out!" I scream in rage. My hands grab hold of the desk and I launch it across the room. It goes flying over her head and she only just manages to get out of the way in time. It slams into the opposite wall and smashes into pieces, making a mess of my room.

"That is mercy," I spit as I walk toward her as she cowers on the floor. "But I want you out of this palace," I snarl. "And out of my life. I don't want to look at you ever again!" I scream.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

"Out," I reply as I stand above her. She stands quickly and rushes out of the room. I go and sit back on the chair that used to be behind my desk. Tears run down my face. Serenity's death could have been prevented. She could be with us now. I stand up again, rage coursing through me. I walk through the corridors and head down to where we keep the prisoners.

Harrison  Moore has been healed up. He lies against the stone floor with chains around his neck, wrists and ankles. His face is covered in mud and grime, his hair greasy. Sorcha stripped away all his magic. He looks so weak and pathetic now. He looks up at me with pleading eyes.

"Your majesty, please. You have to believe me!" he shouts. I just stare at him. I am not sure why I cam down here. Perhaps I needed to see the man who had given Aspen the means to kill Serenity. To target my rage onto him. He has taken so much from us.

"The power I used to overthrow the priestesses wasn't my own," he says. "It was given to me so I could complete this task. Now that I have failed then the person who gave me the magic will be coming to finish the job," he begs. I still don't say anything as I look at the pathetic man.

"You have to believe me!" he shouts again.

"I'm sure our new alliance with the NightShades will help us greatly if this threat is real," I state.

"No, it really won't. Nothing can stop them," he whispers with fear in his voice. I shake my head.

"Your people have left you for us to deal with. An execution has been arranged," I tell him, changing the subject. He shakes his head in denial. "In two weeks, you die."

"No!" He runs and slams into the bars of the cell. "You need me! I know the enemy! I can help you stop them!" he shouts.

"I don't think you are in any state to help anyone," I taunt and walk away. His screams of madness echo behind me as I leave the dungeons.

When I get back to my room I head to the balcony. I look out at the lake and sigh. Something catches my eye. On top of the mountains stands a small figure. With a frown, I zoom in.

Lorenzo.

My heart picks up speed and I jump from the balcony and race across the lake, ice forming below my feet as I run across the water. It takes less than a minute to get to him.

He sits on a rock, overlooking the palace and the beautiful mountains surrounding it. I approach slowly.

"Enzo?" I ask, looking at him. He is just as beautiful as I remember. The dark black hair which is slightly scruffier than it used to be. His angular features and sparkling electric eyes. He doesn't look up at me.

"I saw your speech yesterday," he finally says. "What are you going to do to me? I am a traitor," he sighs. I walk over to him.

"You are not a traitor," I tell him. He stands angrily.

"I helped the enemy!" he shouts. "I tried to kill you!"

"But you didn't and you never even hurt a shifter. You weren't part of any of the attacks," I explain to him.

"But I was still on their side. I could have done so much worse," he looks at me with a pained expression.

"Enzo," I whisper and place my palm on his cheek. He leans into me without even realising.

"You were a little boy who was stolen from his home. Whose memories were wiped and mind manipulated. You were trained into a cold, merciless monster. Taught to kill without a second thought," I explain. "Yet, you managed to fight it. To overcome it," I tell him. "You knew what was right and wrong. You even betrayed the man who raised you to fight by my side. That is not the actions of a traitor." He looks into my eyes and I smile.

"Isla," he says softly.

"You belong with us. We are your people and this is your home," I tell him. "You belong by my side which is where you would have been had all this have never happened," my voice breaks as I think of the years we could have had together. I think back to when we were little. How we always spent so much time playing and training together. 

"So what are you going to do?" I ask. I want him to choose us. I want him to choose me.

"Isla, my memories have been returning over the past week. There are so many and they are so confusing," he frowns. "I have all these memories of you and Zola and our families. But I also have the memories of what Harrison taught me. His manipulations are still there and I don't know if I'll ever be free from them," he tells me.

"We can help you," I say. "But you have to choose," I tell him. "So what shall it be?" I ask and feel tears fall over my cheeks. "Because I can't have you running around trying to help the King. I can't have another person betray me." He has seen what I do to people who betray me, even those who were my friends. "So," I say as my eyes are drawn down to his hand. A hand that still holds the black Skeleton mask. My eyes look back up at him.

"Who are you going to pick?" I ask.  I gulp as I look into his eyes. He stays silent for a few moments before smiling. He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and I shiver from his touch. He chuckles.

"My Isla, of course," he grin. Happiness fills me as he throws the mask off the mountain and pulls me closer to him, pressing his lips to mine. I smile against his kiss as I wrap my hands around his neck. We break away, pressing our foreheads together and looking into each other's eyes.

"It has always been you," he says and we embrace once more.