Rina was exhausted. She had injured herself more in the battle than she had originally thought and not even the supplies Benj had given her helped completely. She should have been more careful when she was fighting, but she'd been so high on adrenaline that she hadn't even noticed.

It wasn't just physical exhaustion, but mental as well. She hadn't been able to wrap her mind around anything since they left Maeve, which had been roughly two days beforehand. Most of the time, she kept her mind blank, focused only on where her next steps would be and if they were in any danger.

Sleep came to her easily. The moment she lay down in the sleeping rolls Benj gave them, she was out like a light. But she was still tired when she awoke and it only got worse as she walked. Isiah and Emrick occasionally checked on her and she was able to force enough words out that they didn't notice anything was wrong.

They were only a few days from the fake Sanctum of Askarune if Emrick was reading the map right. When they got there, she wasn't completely sure what they would do. Knowing their luck, the monks there would have the same reaction to Isiah being Ishini as Benj had, but they would be more willing to believe that he was the Beast that was Promised.

For all she knew, going there could be completely pointless, but they had no other choice. Nerin and the book were gone, with no possibility of sending them a translation to tell them where to go. All they could do was hope that the monks knew of a sacred place that might possibly hold a stone. She had no doubt that the Mother there did, but if she would tell them, Rina had no idea.

If they didn't know, then she had no idea where to go. They could head for Ziya and hopefully make it before the army did, but Isiah wouldn't be the full Beast so who knew if he would actually be able to stop Harudan. All she could do was hope and pray that everything went the right way for them.

One of the few things she was able to register in her exhaustion was her surroundings. She was finally home, had finally reunited with her family, but it wasn't as happy as she had wished it to be. She never should have expected it to be, they were at war, nothing was going to be happy.

Her home was in ruins, her whole country scared for their lives. The army might have left Maeve in one piece, but the other smaller towns the three of them had passed were gone. She didn't see any more bodies, but the ruins of buildings still told her what had happened. The army would have gone through only a few days beforehand, but there was already a thick layer of snow on the ruins.

Two days after they left Maeve, they were walking through one of many destroyed towns, searching for any survivors. Hopefully, most of them had run away to a safer place or were still hiding, even from the three of them. As per her request, Isiah had his face hidden so that if anyone did look out, all they saw was her and Emrick.

Occasionally, a body poked out from underneath the rubble, covered in blood. She had to look away. They were her people and she'd been unable to save them. They needed to move faster, to get ahead of the army before they reached Ziya, otherwise, it would be too late and Harudan would rule her country.

She couldn't tell what had destroyed the town. Some of it was charred black, reminding her of the camp they had just ruined but most of it had fallen as if a harsh wind had come through. "What did this?" she asked herself and rubbed at her sore eyes.

"Siege weaponry," Emrick answered behind her. "I don't know why they would use it on a small town like this though. Target practice perhaps? Maybe fun? Who knows."

Both answers made her sick to her stomach and she didn't want to think about them. It was almost impossible when they were walking through the direct effect of Emrick's suggestions, but she would still try. All around her, her people were dying and there was nothing she could do about it until they got to Ziya with all the stones.

"Gods," Emrick muttered and she stopped. Behind her, he and Isiah were staring off into the distance and when she followed their gaze, her heart plummeted into her stomach.

Off to the north was a field much like the one they had seen near Huton, except the bodies were treated with far more respect. The remains of pyres dotted the field, the faint stream of smoke still rising into the sky. Surrounding them was the remains of armour and weapons, a single ruined trebuchet the one landmark in the snow.

"Gods," she agreed and held a hand against her stomach as if it would stop her from expelling the little food she had eaten. Isiah was silent at her side, but he reached over and squeezed her hand. She wiped at her eyes before the tears could fall and turned away.

There was nothing she could do about it, standing there and staring at it. She had to keep moving, all three of them did, but it still hurt to look at. If only she hadn't been so weak back in the treaty. She'd run like a terrified little girl instead of trying to fight back, not that she was able to, but if she had been, Jonin and Harudan would have died long ago.

And then what? Nerin would have been made a puppet King, the war would have been declared and maybe her father would have won. Deep down, in the back of her mind, she knew that her father ruling both countries was just as bad as Harudan ruling them if Emrick's words were anything to go by.

That was why she'd been so exhausted. She was still trying to come to terms with the fact that her father was a bad ruler, almost as bad as Harudan and his father before him. It was because her people were suffering that the Frost happened and the ten years of threats and assassinations began. And her people only suffered because their King didn't know how to look after them.

Emrick didn't want either man to be King, that much was obvious. He would wipe them out along with the army if he was given the chance. She found that a small part of her was ready to fight him if he tried it and he probably knew that. It wouldn't stop him from having opinions on her family or voicing them.

But it had opened her eyes to the truth. For years, she had believed that the Oshana's were the true enemy, the ones who started everything, but in reality, it was her family, her father. Even so, they didn't deserve what they were getting from Harudan, but she still knew that her father was not a good ruler.

"Rina?" Isiah said and she blinked, her mind drifting back to reality. He and Emrick had started down the path, walking hand in hand, and had stopped to wait for her. There was a worried frown on both of their faces and she shot them a small smile to ease their worries.

She rushed down the snowy path towards them. "Sorry," she said and stretched her arms wide. "I'm coming."

They left the town far behind them, trudging through the deep snow towards the southern border, where the Sanctum sat. She had been there once, when she was a lot younger and she barely remembered it. She'd spent most of her time by the waterfall, which housed the source of the crystal pillars in Ziya. It had been beautiful, but it was a distant memory.

Even when she was thinking of something nice, in the back of her mind, she questioned every choice her father had made. The vacation had been before the Frost, but surely her father should have been worrying about the welfare of the people instead of taking a vacation to a waterfall with his children. Maybe he had been, maybe that was why they were at the Sanctum, but she would never know.

Her mind instead drifted to all the parties that had been thrown in Ziya. The city was home to the rich and successful, which meant every week there was a party to attend. As a Princess, Rina only went to the ones in the palace or in the biggest strongholds in the city, but there was always one to prepare for.

How could her father allow so many parties when the rest of Minisia was struggling? Parties and festivals cost money and food that could have easily been given to those who had nothing, but instead, her father wasted them on frivolous things and allowed the rich to do as they liked. How many of them were fighting now? How many of them were hiding in their homes with their money and their food, waiting for a barely trained army to save them?

Because they were barely trained. The only people who got proper training were the Warriors of Ziya and they were only noble-born people. After the Frost, her father had given more money to those who joined the army and so many people had enlisted that there weren't enough Warriors to train them all. No wonder they were losing the war.

If only she had realised sooner. She'd been so oblivious, doing her training and going to parties as if nothing was wrong with her father or her country. She had believed that Brenmar was in the wrong, that they were the ones who had started everything and had distrusted the Ishini because of it. Ever since Harudan had sent the letter asking for a treaty, her opinions on everything had changed.

Nerin and Isiah were two of her closest friends, people she trusted with her life, and they were Ishini. Because of Emrick, a halfling with far more experience than she would ever have, she knew the truth of her family. She should have opened her eyes ages ago, told her father what he was doing. If he hadn't been so stupid with the Kingdom's money, they wouldn't be at war.

She would have to do something once the war was over, convince her father to look after the country better. When he passed, she would be a far better ruler than he ever was. As Queen of Minisia, she would look after her people, make sure they were all fed and healthy. She'd change the rules regarding the Warriors of Ziya too so that even someone like Emrick could have a ceremony.

For hours, similar thoughts ran through her mind. She hadn't thought about what she would do as Queen for years, since she was a child and filled with strange hopes and dreams, but in the light of everything, it was something she truly needed to think about. It would be a long time before she was crowned. She still had to wait for her father to either abdicate or die and she wasn't letting the latter happen any time soon.

But she was so angry with him. For years she had convinced herself that it was the Oshana family that had started everything, but in reality, it was both of them. Her father's inability to look after his people led him to beg Brenmar for help and when they couldn't give it, he was angry. Was the anger at his own incompetence, aimed at Brenmar? Or did he truly think that King Iunis wanted some kind of war?

By the time the sun had set that night, her anger had only gotten worse. Over the last few days since Emrick told her what he thought, it had been slowly growing and it had finally come to a head. Once, she had wanted a happy reunion with her parents, but she knew that the first she would do when she saw her father was yell at him for what he had started.

Isiah lit a fire for them and Emrick cooked up some of the food Benj had given them. Rina sat in silence, eating the sandwich he made for her slowly. The other two didn't seem all that bothered by her silence, they were talking to each other and laughing occasionally. They seemed happy, which was all she wanted for them.

When they weren't talking to each other, it affected all three of them. They seemed better together, which was what they deserved. All of them needed something to make them happy while they were travelling with immense pressure on their shoulders. She hadn't found any kind of happiness yet aside from her friendship with them, but at least they had each other.

They didn't seem all that different from before Huton, aside from the fact that they held hands while they walked. Ever since they'd met, they'd walked together, talked together. Their affection for each other had been obvious from the moment they'd met. Rina had known from the start that something would happen between them, she just hadn't expected them to be so dumb about it.

As she watched, their conversation turned serious and Isiah dropped his gaze towards the ground. Using the strength stone, he'd set up seating using fallen trees, one for him and Emrick, the other for her. With an anxious frown, he kicked at the snow at his feet and said something back to Emrick.

She was curious about what was going on, but had the feeling that it might be private. The one irritating thing about the two of them doing whatever it was they were doing, was that they didn't talk to her as much. Granted, she wasn't talking to them, lost in her thoughts and trying to figure things out, but it was still strange. There was an odd sense of loneliness somewhere within her.

Emrick pulled out the fear stone, it's blue glow filling the forest they had wandered into as the sun set. "What are you doing?" she asked before she could stop herself.

He glanced up at her almost as if he had forgotten she was there. "I was going to see if Isiah could use the fear stone yet," he said and shrugged. "It's been a while since he tried. Maybe he's ready for it."

Isiah looked like he'd rather do anything else, but before she got a chance to say so, the stone was in his hands. It didn't take long for him to shake his head, staring down at the stone in confusion. "It doesn't feel any stronger or weaker than before," he said. "Just the same. It's still yours for now."

There was something in Emrick's eyes when he took the stone back, something like happiness. "I still don't understand it," he whispered as he put it back in his pocket. "I'll keep it safe for now though." Rina didn't bother telling him that she thought the stone might permanently be his, she could see in his eyes that he'd thought about it.

It made no sense, Isiah was the Beast, but there was nothing they could do about it. They just had to go along with it until they stopped Harudan and whatever came after him. Maybe after that, they could figure it out, but until then, there was nothing they could do. It was the same with her father, there was nothing she could do about that until after.

She had to focus on getting Isiah and Emrick where they needed to go and after that, getting them to Ziya to stop Harudan's army. Her father knew she was coming thanks to Benj and hopefully knew who she was bringing with her. With Isiah and Emrick's help, she would save her country, save her father, and after that, make Minisia a better place.