A.N: So I really want to get to some of the things in this book because oh boy, it's a wild ride, so I decided to release it earlier than planned. Next chapter will be up Sunday. Patreon is also really ahead if anyone is interested. Check the external link or on my profile.

For days, Nerin had been locked away in the tiny bedroom of Huton's small stronghold. The first few days, he had tried to escape, but whoever had captured him kept guards stationed outside the room that were more than ready to be rough with him when he didn't do as he was told. The bruises on his arms were more than enough warning to keep him where he was.

Sometimes, when people came by to give him food, he asked about his friends, but he was never given an answer. Some would tell him to be quiet, others wouldn't even acknowledge his presence and he knew that if he tried to pull the prince card, he still wouldn't learn anything.

And so, as the days bled together, he sat on the rickety bed and watched the world outside the window. He was only on the second story, but the stronghold was built on the top of a hill, so he was a lot higher up than he would have liked. If he tried to jump, he would injure himself and be caught. And he couldn't climb, he'd slip and fall in an instant. He was stuck, something he had come to terms with early on in his confinement.

The only thing he wanted to know was what had happened to his friends. When they'd been captured, he was the only one awake, screaming and struggling as they carried him down the hill until his throat and limbs gave out. After that, he'd let them take him. There was nothing he could do. He was small and weak.

The second they'd waltzed him into the stronghold in Huton, he'd lost sight of Rina and Isiah, both unconscious. Their attackers had left Emrick in the snow and the last time Nerin had seen him, he hadn't been moving. There'd been blood everywhere, staining the snow and mixing with the dirt underneath. Emrick had curled up in a ball as if it would protect him from the attacks of an angry group of people, his head buried in his arms.

He was dead. Of that much, Nerin was certain. He didn't know all that much about how the body worked, but from that much blood and that many people, there was no way Emrick could have survived. Nerin hadn't even gotten a chance to try and help him, none of them had. It had come out of nowhere and been over in an instant.

It wasn't fair, Emrick dying. Nerin had seen his fear, seen how close he had come to death in Askarune's Sanctum. It wasn't fair that he would die so soon afterwards. Even if he had faced his fear, it wasn't as if he would be over it. It was death, no one was completely ready for it. Nerin wasn't even ready to face the death of someone he had once hated, but he had no choice in the matter. Emrick was dead and soon enough, Rina and Isiah would be too.

He had no doubt about it. Rina was a foreign Princess and Isiah was the Beast that was Promised. Someone sent by Harudan would arrive within the next few days and when that happened, they would be killed. Harudan wanted them dead, Nerin knew that without even being told. But there was nothing he could do about it. Not even being the Prince of Brenmar would get him what he wanted.

Sitting against the headboard of the bed, Nerin dropped his head into his hands. Tears pricked in his eyes and he didn't bother to stop them falling. A sob pushed its way from his throat, loud and painful, but there was no point in smothering it. He had cried a lot over the last few days and no one seemed to care. If only tears had any real impact.

His mind was flooded with half-baked ideas on how to get out of Huton with Rina and Isiah, but all of them were impossible. His searches around the room showed no secret passages, there were too many guards, the drop was too high, he couldn't fight well enough to save them all. There was nothing he could do but sit and wait.

When he'd arrived, his belongings had been taken from him, including his book and Isiah's stones. He didn't know where they were, but if he could find them and get them to Isiah then maybe they could escape. But the issue with that plan was that he couldn't get to Isiah. The stronghold was unfamiliar to him and for all he knew, they weren't even there, but locked up somewhere else, somewhere he couldn't get to.

He wiped away his tears and stood from the bed. The room was barely furnished, filled only with a bed and a small desk. On the opposite wall from him was a second room for bathing. Behind the desk was the place he spent all of his time when he wasn't in bed, the balcony that faced Minisia.

It didn't look any different from Brenmar, but he still knew what it was. As he walked over to it, his eyes unconsciously looked for the field of dead bodies that he had seen from the hills, but he'd discovered on his first day of captivity that he couldn't see it from the valley. He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

He stood there for what felt like hours and the thing to finally pull him away from the scene of never-ending snow was the sound of the door clicking open. With a gulp, he turned, expecting someone with a plate of disgusting food or a maid come to run him another bath, but the person who strode into the room made him blanch.

Of course, Harudan would send Jonin to get him. Who else would have come? Harudan didn't trust anyone as much as he trusted the Captain of his Guard. As per usual, he towered over Nerin, his red eyes piercing into his soul. It had been a long time since they'd stood so close together. The last time had been back at Turian's laboratory when Jonin had murdered his uncle in cold blood.

After that, Nerin had seen him with Harudan in Reed, but they had no idea he'd been there. Even so, Nerin had been just as terrified then as he was standing right before the man. His hands shook and he bunched them in his shirt so that Jonin wouldn't see, taking tentative steps towards him.

Jonin said nothing, just watched him. His helmet sat in his hands, shining in the orange light of the candles on the desk. As Nerin stood there, his bottom lip between his teeth, Jonin let out a shaky sigh that made his eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "You're alright," Jonin said in a quiet voice.

As if that were a signal, the door opened again, creaking loudly in the silence. There was a blur of red skin and dark fabric and before Nerin could register what was going on, arms wrapped around him, squeezing him tight. He did nothing in response, just gasped and struggled against the tight grip.

"Nerin," a familiar voice whispered and he let out a choked gasp. Harudan pulled away from him, his hands still on his shoulders and smiled at him. His long black hair was tied back so that it spilt down his shoulders, neat and straight. The relief in his yellow eyes almost made Nerin gag.

He shouldn't be there. It should have just been Jonin or someone else from the Guard come to take him home. He wasn't ready to face his brother and the atrocities he had committed, but there he was, standing before him with a smile on his face as if nothing was wrong. Everything was wrong, he shouldn't be there.

"Nerin? What's wrong?" Harudan asked, but he couldn't get a word out. Something stopped him, blocked him from forcing even a noise out. Instead, he stood there in silence, staring at his brother with wide eyes. Jonin stood behind him, straight-faced, but Nerin knew he was watching everything that happened. "Are you alright?"

Despite everything in his mind that told him not to, he nodded and held back a wince when Harudan sighed in relief and pulled him for another hug. But he had to keep up appearances, didn't he? He didn't know why, but something told him that it was what he should do. He wrapped his arms around Harudan's middle and squeezed as tightly as he could, closing his eyes to hide the tears that welled in them.

It didn't work. A hand brushed at his cheeks and he jolted away, frowning at the offended look on Harudan's face. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to bring you a cloth?" he asked. Nerin shook his head and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. "I'm so glad you're alright, Nerin, I was so worried about you."

Was he? He'd lied about so much that Nerin couldn't tell what the truth was. But from the teeth worrying into his lip, the furrow of his brow, the sadness and relief in his eyes, Nerin wanted to believe him, wanted to think that his brother was still the same person he remembered, even though he knew that wasn't the truth.

Still, he said nothing and the longer he stayed silent, the deeper Harudan's frown got. He looked over his shoulder at Jonin, who shrugged and set his steely gaze onto Nerin. Finally, Harudan straightened but didn't take his hands from his shoulders. "What happened to you?" he asked.

So many things, Nerin wanted to answer, he'd seen people die, killed someone himself, watched a friend die and seen an army of men slaughtered in the snow, all of it at Harudan's hands, his brother's hands. And that brother stood before him, acting as if nothing had happened, that he had no right to be upset. But still, he couldn't force the words out.

Jonin cleared his throat and Harudan turned to acknowledge him. "Did you want me to deal with the other two?" he asked and Nerin made a noise in the back of his throat, ignored by the two men.

"No," Harundan answered. "It can wait a while. They aren't going anywhere." At least they were still alive, it was better than nothing. Even with Harudan there, surely he could figure out some way to get them all out. But he was only a child, what could he possibly do to go against his older brother?

For the first time, Nerin noticed the bag that sat in the middle of the room, worn and familiar. It was the one he carried with him during his travels, the one that held the book in it. Harudan noticed him staring and bent down to grab it, a smile pulling at his lips once again. With a shaking hand, Nerin snatched it from him and dug through the contents.

All it held were the clothes for the four of them. Isiah and the others had carried the food and medical supplies, believing that he was better off carrying something lighter. Tucked in the middle of it all was the small leather-bound book. With a sigh of relief, he pulled it from the bag and flipped through the pages to make sure it hadn't been damaged.

"I was wondering what that was," Harudan said, once again reminding him of his presence. "It's written in High Visheran, right?"

Nerin nodded and shoved the book back into the bag. Harudan couldn't know what it said, couldn't know that Isiah was the Beast, the only person that would stop him. But what did it matter, truly? With or without that knowledge, Harudan would kill him. That was the real reason he had come, not to reunite with him, but to deal with Rina and Isiah.

Harudan's hands were on his shoulders again, forcing him to look at him. "Nerin, say something, please," he whispered. "What's going on?"

Nerin swallowed and the lump in his throat plummeted into his stomach. "My friends," he gasped and glared at Harudan and Jonin in turn.

Harudan made a noise in the back of his throat that Nerin couldn't decipher. "Your... Friends?" he said and raised an eyebrow at him. "Nerin... They aren't any friends of yours. They're dangerous."

He wanted to argue, wanted to scream that he was wrong, that Isiah was a peaceful person and Rina only wanted what was best for her country. He had no idea what Emrick wanted, but he was kinder than Nerin had ever thought possible. They were in danger, one was dead, but they were still his friends.

"We aren't leaving until they're dealt with," Jonin answered, a sneer curling at him lips.

"Jonin's right. I can't take you home until I know for certain that the threat is gone. I can't have you being taken from me again," Harudan added. There was something in his eyes that Nerin couldn't read and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach.

He would have to watch Isiah and Rina be killed, executed for crimes they didn't commit. And there was nothing he could do about it. Harudan and Jonin would brush away his protests because they didn't care what he thought. It was their way or it was nothing at all.

"But-" Nerin said in a croaky voice, only to be cut off by a hand over his mouth.

"No, Nerin, this is final. They kidnapped you, killed people, this is the punishment they deserve. Don't try to defend them, you know it's the truth," Harudan told him, his face straight and his voice commanding.

"You've killed people too," he whispered and stared down at the floor. He had to think of something to fix it, some way to stop more of his friends from being murdered. Isiah was the Beast that was Promised, he couldn't just die. Harudan couldn't win. But he couldn't stop the hopelessness that flooded his veins.

Harudan let out a chuckle Nerin didn't expect. "You're right, but mine was necessary," he replied and ran a hand through his hair. "We can talk about this later. This isn't what I expected when I heard you were safe. I was so worried about you, about what they would do to you. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Nerin shook his head. They'd never hurt him. They cared about him, even Emrick. "I'm alright," he said, finally meeting his brother's eyes.

"I'm glad. You're safe now, Nerin," he said and placed a hand on his shoulder. With a slight nudge, they were walking towards the door of the bedroom, Jonin trailing behind them. "We'll get something to eat and talk some more, alright? There are some things you need to know." As the door closed behind them and Harudan's hand tightened on his shoulder, Nerin felt as though he was in the most dangerous place possible, at his brother's side.