He hadn't expected to see anyone when he'd decided to stand out on the balcony again. He'd just needed some fresh air and a moment away from everything. Harudan had tried to force him to come down to the courtyard and watch the execution, but he'd feigned sickness. He didn't want to watch Rina die before him, hopeless and helpless.

But there she was, running into the forest with Isiah and Emrick. She was alive and as well as could be expected. He couldn't see any real detail from the distance, but at least she was able to walk on her own. Isiah, on the other hand, was being half-carried by an armour-clad Emrick, who was completely alive.

Nerin had thought him dead, but he was standing in the trees as if nothing had happened. They were running away. Emrick had come to save them, but he hadn't come to save him. It was to be expected after how well they had treated each other in the past, but it still hurt. Surely either Isiah or Rina would want to come back for him. They were friends, weren't they?

Then Emrick stopped and turned and their eyes met. For a second, Nerin was sure that if he jumped off the ledge, Emrick would catch him, but he wasn't that stupid. He wasn't going to injure them both in his desperation. He had no way off the balcony without passing guards that would grab him and take him back in an instant. There was no way he could get to them.

The sound of Emrick speaking was faint, almost indiscernible, but still, Nerin was sure he heard the words "I'm sorry," float through the air towards him. Then the three of them were gone, disappearing into the trees as if they had never been there in the first place. With his fists clenched against the stone railing, a single tear ran down Nerin's cheek.

Time passed at a slow crawl, half of Nerin waiting for his friends to come back and get him, but the other half already knew that they never would. The guards and Harudan would already know that they had escaped and Harudan would take him back to Ishmar straight away. He'd never have a chance to escape and catch up to them, but he knew where they would be.

The book. He still had it. How were Isiah and the others supposed to find the other Sanctums without the book? They could get the strength stone easily, but after that, what would they do? They needed him, but they'd left him behind. Surely even they knew that they needed his help.

It sat on the desk behind him. Maybe if he yelled loud enough and threw it over the edge, they would come back for it. But he hadn't translated everything, not even he knew where to go next, so the book would be useless without him if they didn't find someone else who could translate High Visheran.

He had only just made it to the desk when the door burst open. At first, he thought that maybe he'd been wrong and the people in the trees hadn't been Isiah and the others, but then he caught a glimpse of Harudan's panicking face and he wanted to throw up. He didn't dare check over his shoulder for any sign of his friends, lest Harudan find out what he knew.

"Oh, thank the Gods," Harudan gasped. Behind him trailed a pair of guards, their hands tight on their sword. Jonin was nowhere to be seen and Nerin didn't know what that meant. "You're alright."

Nerin said nothing as his brother crouched down and wrapped his arms around him. Instead, tears flowed down his cheeks, tears for his injured friends and the fact that they had left him behind with his maniac of a brother. He couldn't stand to look at him and yet, he had no other choice.

When the first sobs escaped his lips, Harudan pulled back and stared at him in confusion. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked.

Nerin needed a reason and he couldn't tell the truth, couldn't tell him that he was crying because he'd been left behind. But Harudan had given him a perfect reason and he shouldn't know yet that Rina was still alive. What he should be thinking was that if Harudan was back, then the Princess was dead.

"Rina," he whispered and wiped at his cheeks. It wasn't the best acting, but at least the tears were real.

"Rina?" Harudan repeated, confusion lacing his voice. "Oh! Princess Sharina, of course. Nerin, you know that it was the only suitable punishment for her crimes."

He glared at his brother. "But she hasn't-"

"She's a murderer, Nerin, so is the monk, that is a crime punishable by death in both countries," Harudan interrupted. He was lying and Nerin knew it. He wanted him to believe that Rina was dead and for what? So that he wouldn't go running off with them again? It wasn't as if he could. Or did he not want Nerin to find out how incompetent he was?

He pulled away from Harudan and sat on the bed. The book sat on the desk nearby and he couldn't take his eyes away from it. He needed to keep up his act, but he didn't know how. It wasn't as if he could tell him that he had killed too and that he should also be punished. He knew without a doubt that Harudan wouldn't punish him.

And then, like a candle lighting in the dark, he knew what to say. "But you've killed too, at the Sanctum of Ishin, shouldn't you also be punished?" he asked, remembering to keep his voice weak and watery.

The look on Harudan's face almost made him wince and attempt to take but his words, but he wasn't given a chance. "What I did at the Sanctum was an execution, Nerin," he said and crossed his arms over his chest. "The followers of the Old Gods committed treason against me, another crime punishable by death."

Nerin froze, watching his brother's face. He couldn't tell if the words were a lie or the truth, he looked far too serious for it to be a lie, but Nerin had read Turian's note. His uncle had said Harudan had butchered them because they wouldn't give him answers. Could that even be considered treason? In some backwards way, Nerin knew the truth. It could be, if Harudan twisted it around enough. And that was exactly what he had done.

Harudan sighed and moved to sit next to him. He wanted to jump away, but he knew it would only raise more questions that he couldn't answer. "I know you thought they were your friends, and I'm sorry that this is hurting you, but it must be done," he said and Nerin resisted the urge to call him out on his lies. "We'll go home before the monk's execution so you won't have to see that either. Jonin will deal with things here."

He wouldn't have to see because there wouldn't be one. Isiah was gone and if they were lucky, he wouldn't be caught again. They'd come so close to losing him and dooming Vishera, but Emrick, somehow, had been able to get them out. At least they were safe, even if he wasn't. Isiah was the most important person.

But he didn't want to go back to Ishmar. Going back to the palace meant that he was stuck with his brother for the foreseeable future. He already knew it was the truth, but actually going to Ishmar made it real. He didn't want it to be real, but it was a childish wish, he would go whether he wanted to or not.

"What will we do... In Ishmar?" he asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper. It wasn't faked, not anymore, he truly couldn't push the words out properly.

"There's lots that need to be sorted out. Fentir says the people aren't faring well. He thinks you might be better at calming them than me. You're kind and you're young," Harudan explained, his eyes on Nerin, but the boy kept his gaze on the floor. "I have a job for you as well. I've discovered some things, but I'm struggling with the research. I need your help."

"Things to do with the war?" he asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harudan nodded. "I hope so. We'll see what happens."

He didn't want to help with the war, not when he was friends with people directly affected by it, friends with people trying to stop it. "But they're innocent," he muttered, his mind flashing to Isiah.

"Are they? Nerin, they've attacked us and killed us for years," Harudan said and placed a hand on his shoulder. Finally, Nerin looked at him and hated the sincerity in his eyes, unable to figure out what it meant. "The Princess took you so that she could use you as a bargaining chip against me. She didn't care for you, she kidnapped you and killed people in order to keep you.

"Her father ignores his people, especially down here. They're all starving because he doesn't know how to look after them. He left them to rot in the snow. I won't take you to see it, but trust me-"

"I've already seen it," he said and shrugged away the hand on his shoulder. Back in the forest, on the hills that surrounded Huton, he'd found the field of dead bodies left behind by Harudan's brutal war. But they weren't his soldiers, they were Askari. King Ouron had left them behind. Not even Nerin could deny that.

It took a moment for Harudan to say anything and the silence was suffocating. "I'm sorry. I wish you hadn't. And I'm sorry you had to see the treaty as well, you weren't supposed to," he said and he sounded so genuine. Nerin didn't know what to think.

His mind flashed back to the time they spent together before the treaty, before their father died, when everything was good. The gap in the ages may have been big, but Harudan still took time out of his day to play with him. In the summer, he would chase him around the gardens outside Turian's laboratory and when he'd been younger, he would read him stories until he fell asleep. Harudan had always been good to him.

"Why did you do it?" he asked. "It makes no sense. If you wanted war, you should have just declared it, not... Not faked peace. That wasn't fair."

Harudan made a noise that sounded almost like a laugh. "It was supposed to be King Ouron who came, but he sent his daughter instead. I wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible so that I could take over Minisia," he said and sighed. "Nerin, I want to make Minisia a better place. We fare well in Brenmar, but the Askari struggle. I don't want them to anymore. Under Ouron, they always will, even you can see that, but under my rule, they won't."

"Then why still attack Ri- The Princess?"

"In the hopes that King Ouron would surrender after hearing the news of his daughter's death. But your little monk friend put a stop to that and here we are, with massive battles and death tolls," Harudan said, shrugging as if it were so simple. He didn't care about the dying people, he just wanted Minisia's throne.

Nerin stood from the bed and whirled towards him. "You would blame Isiah when it was you who declared war?" he exclaimed and glared at his older brother. "Isiah, who-"

"Who, what?"

"Who... Who... I don't know." He could tell him that he was the Beast, destined to stop him, that would only get him killed. Harudan might believe that Nerin thought they were dead, but that wasn't going to stop him from searching for them. Or maybe he would leave them alone, now that Nerin was back with him. That was all he had wanted, wasn't it? For Nerin to be back with him?

Perhaps, then, it was safer for Nerin to go back to Ishmar. If he continued with Isiah and the others, he would only be putting them in more danger. Harudan would never stop going after him, so he had no choice but to stay, even if it meant that Isiah would struggle to find where he needed to go. He had to trust that the Beast that was Promised could find his own way.

Harudan went to say something, his mouth open and his eyebrows furrowed, but a knock at the door stopped him. It creaked open and Jonin's angry face peeked in through the crack. In an instant, Harudan was on his feet and out the door, barely sparing Nerin a glance as he went. But he didn't leave the room empty, the two guards that had escorted him in stayed on either side of the door, watching Nerin in silence.

The minutes passed by slowly as Nerin passed in front of the desk. He wanted to go back to the balcony and check to make sure that no one had followed his friends into the forest, but he couldn't do that without arousing suspicion. Harudan would never tell him if they were found. He'd never know if they were dead or alive until the end of the war.

The door creaked open again and Harudan gave him a small smile. "The execution is over, Nerin. I'm sorry you lost someone you thought was a friend," he said, sincerity in his voice but nonchalance in his eyes. "Jonin has secured us a carriage. In the morning, we leave for Ishmar."