"She needs to know that they're peaceful, that the only reason they fight is to take back what they had thought was there's from people they don't understand," Spencer said as they walked back through the trees towards Riuta.

Vincent stumbled as he pulled along, trying to keep up with what was going on. "Spencer, that's not going to work," he replied. Charlotte didn't want to see the truth and Spencer being the one to say it was only going to get him fired. It might even get him executed, if Nicholas was so serious about not wanting them there.

"It will! It has to!" he yelled, far too loud. "They are peaceful, aren't they? They're harmless. They-" He cut himself off, wide eyed and confused as he ran a hand through his dark mop of hair.

"I don't know," Vincent replied, resisting the urge to squeeze the hand he held. "But I know that they don't deserve this. I doubt they know what's going on, not completely. They're trying to stop their land from being taken, destroyed, in any way possible. That might mean they're not peaceful. I... I really don't know, Spencer, but I'll help you and them."

There was something in the way Spencer stared at him, the raw emotion in his eyes, that Vincent couldn't decipher. Once, he never would have expected to see such an expression on his face, far too used to the cheeky grins and raised eyebrows. He hated the way Spencer looked at him, hated how desperate he seemed.

"What's going on?" a voice behind him asked. Mira stood there, hands on her hips and the other guard lagging behind her. "I saw you go up to them. What were you thinking?"

If Vincent had guessed correctly, Spencer hadn't been thinking about anything. "Doesn't matter," Spencer spat, not looking anywhere except at Vincent. "We're going to go tell Charlotte what we saw."

He didn't give Mira a chance to say anything else before he was pulling Vincent back towards the town again. "Wait!" she yelled, but they didn't stop, even though a part of Vincent wanted to. "Bowers! Explain yourself!"

They were back through the trees in seconds, stumbling over roots and twigs as they burst onto the grassy plain before Riuta. "Spencer," he said, finally squeezing the other man's hand. "This isn't going to work."

But he wasn't going to listen to him, no matter how right he was. Together, they burst through the front door of Mayor Truman's brick home, startling the maid that was walking down the main hall. They pushed past her without a word of apology, dread washing over Vincent when there was no one there to stop them.

Charlotte's room was easy to find. It was the only one that had guards standing outside of it. One took a step forward as Spencer and Vincent raced towards them. "What are you doing?" they asked, holding out a hand to stop them. "Governor Thompson is trying to rest."

"Don't care," Spencer said and shoved the door open. It didn't slam against the wall, but it still startled Charlotte enough to jump from the bed.

She stared at them both with wide eyes, her hand moving towards something hidden under the mattress. "Oh, it's you," she said and sagged in relief, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What's going on? What happened with the tribe?"

"They're innocent!" Spencer cried, louder than he should have. It was probably the most idiotic thing Spencer could have chosen to do, and Vincent thought he was impulsive when he was angry. "They don't understand who we are or what we're doing. They're just trying to survive. You don't need to kill them."

Charlotte had the gall to look sympathetic. She stood from the bed and walked over to them, grabbing Spencer's hand in the much the same way the native woman had earlier. "I believed the same as you once. I wouldn't let anyone do anything to them," she whispered, eyes downcast. "But then they started burning down buildings in New Feridian and attacking me while I slept. Nicholas got to the bottom of it easily, but he's right when he says that they need to be dealt with. Then the Queen's orders came and I didn't have much choice."

"How did they get to your home without being spotted?" Vincent asked before he could stop himself, wincing when Charlotte shot him a confused look. "How did they get all the way through the city without anyone recognising them? They aren't known for their stealth."

"What? I-" she cut herself off, frowning down at the cream rug at her feet.

"You saw them back at that last town," he said, pushing his messy hair from his face. "You saw how they were working together with people like us. They had more food there, they weren't starving. And you brushed that away as if it were nothing. A solution right in front of your eyes."

Spencer didn't give her a chance to say anything, despite Vincent's attempts to say more than him. It was easier if it looked like it was all his idea, Spencer would get in less trouble that way, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. "They're not even given a chance to defend themselves, shot at from a distance because they're in the way," he said, his teeth bared. "Find new land, leave them alone or work with them, but stop killing them. Please."

There was something in her eyes, something that said that maybe, just maybe, what they had said had reached her. They had to keep pushing, keep going. "The only reason they attack is because they're being taken over. Wouldn't you try to fight back?" he asked. He was finally saying things that had been sitting in the back of his mind for years, ever since he had been saved by them.

"Boys," Charlotte said, quiet and sad. But she didn't get to say anything else. Someone cleared their throat, drawing three sets of eyes towards them. Nicholas leaned against the door frame, eyebrows raised and an angry frown on his face. He strode into the room and stopped next to Charlotte, giving them both a quick once over.

"You two couldn't make it more obvious that you know nothing of how a province is to be run," he said, his arms crossed over his chest again. "Governor Thompson knows how important it is to do as the Queen asks, and she wants Ilsania. The natives are getting in the way and will be dealt with accordingly. Any attempt at swaying your Governor will be treated as treason."

Vincent let out a choked breath and tried to speak, but Charlotte beat him to it. "We don't need to be that extreme, Nicholas," she scolded. "I understand where they're coming from, but you know where I stand on things now. Their attempts on my life have changed things. If they wanted peace, they shouldn't have attacked."

Spencer took a step forward before Vincent could stop him. "What is wrong-"

"Keep your mouth shut if you want to keep your head, boy," Nicholas growled, pushing him back harshly. "You've tried to assure us that your background isn't going to affect how you do your job, but obviously it is. Last warning, Mister Bowers. Cross me again and you're gone, understand? As for you, Mister Mortimer, I expected better."

Neither of them said anything, but Charlotte placed a hand on Nicholas's arm to pull him back. Her eyes were kind, a lie that both of them had gotten sucked into. "We shouldn't have sent you out there. I think you two should have the day off," she said, smiling sadly at them. "Your rooms are in the inn across the road. I'll send someone to come and get you when we leave tomorrow. I'm sorry what I sent you to do upset you, but it's all been dealt with, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Vincent hissed. He turned away and pulled Spencer along with him before he could say anything else. He'd known it was a mistake as it was happening, but it was too late to take it back.

Once again, he had the urge to pack up his things and go. It would be so easy. Someone would come to get him in the morning and he wouldn't be there. No one would ever know where he was. Maybe he'd take Spencer with him, it would be safer. Taking the job for the Governor had been a huge mistake, but there was still a part of him that didn't want to leave, not yet.

It wasn't supposed to be any of his business, but he wanted to know what was going on with the vireen, where it came from and what it was going to be used for. Then there were the tribes. Spencer wanted the murders to stop and Vincent couldn't help but agree with him. And to think he had once been a criminal riding on the back of his horse, stealing from the rich and powerful to keep himself safe. There he was, considering working for a woman, an authority, so he could save someone else. The strange thing was, it only seemed right.

"Spencer," he whispered as they walked across the road, the other man stomping ahead of him. "We need to figure out what the vireen does."

"No," Spencer said, not looking at him. "I need have a fucking rest and then I need to get out of here."

"You can't," he said before he could stop himself. "What about the tribes? The vireen?"

They were standing in the middle of the street, people passing them with wary looks, but when Spencer spoke again, he didn't seem to care. "I can't do anything for them!" he yelled, glaring at Vincent. "They're my- I can't-"

"They're your what?" he asked.

It had been the wrong question. Spencer's face seemed to flatten, all emotion gone in the space of a few seconds. "Nothing. I have to get out of here," he said.

A rock landed in his stomach. "Where will you go?" he asked. There were people everywhere, watching them with mixed expressions of confusion and curiosity.

He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, away from here, away from Morgot," he said. "I think you had the right idea to head to North Ilsania."

At any other time, he probably would have agreed, but not anymore. For the first time in weeks, he wanted to stay in the province, only so he could figure out what was going on. "I want to stay for a little while longer. I want to try again, she seemed willing to listen to us until Nicholas walked in. He seems to hate them more than her," he said and even though there were people watching, reached out to grab his wrist. "We can't just run from this. Stay a little while longer, we'll do what we can, alright?"

Spencer pulled his hand away, but there wasn't any harshness to it. "I'll think about it," he said and walked into the inn before Vincent could say or do anything else. With a sigh, he turned away to grab his things from the bags on Sparks' side. Looking at her was enough to make him want to go, but he had to stay.

The inn was a generic wooden building with even more generic rooms. It wasn't like it mattered, with the day off, he could focus on the one thing he had been wanting to learn about for days. Nicholas and the Governor weren't the only ones to use the rock, the woman back at the tribe had as well. He had no idea where she had gotten it from, but that wasn't the most important thing.

Part of him wanted to find Spencer's room and talk him out of leaving, but for all his talk about the two of them being friends, he doubted he would ever actually listen to anything Vincent said. He wanted Spencer to stay, to help him, but he doubted it would happen. Whatever had happened to Spencer back at the tribe, it had changed something in him.

With a sigh, he focused back on his bag. Gingerly, he pulled it from the bag and hissed in a breath at the power that raced through him. If the old woman could control it without getting overwhelmed, then he could too. That, of course, was far easier said than done. It didn't feel as bad as it had the last two times he had held it, but bad enough. Taking deep breaths helped, as well as remembering how he had learned to control vireen in the first place.

It was all about putting the power into certain places, but it was hard when there was much of it. When he forced it up to his ears, he was scared that they would burst, but for once, instead of all of his senses behind heightened at once, it was just his hearing. There was still the tingle of power in his fingers, his muscles, his sight, but it felt like nothing in comparison to what he had pushed towards his ears.

When he smoked vireen, it was fine to let it all sit inside him, forcing it to places only when he needed to. But with the rock, it seemed better to make it focus on one particular thing. He could hear conversations that were happening out on the street, people asking each other what they had planned for the day, others muttering about the Governor's arrival and how she wasn't there to help them.

That must have been what the old woman had done to heal the wounded man, focusing all her energy into the healing aspect of vireen. It was just supposed to speed up the body's natural healing process, not heal someone else, but the vireen he held was so much different to anything he had felt before. It would have been an amazing medicine, but Vincent had the feeling that wasn't what Charlotte was going to use it for.

Somewhere in the inn, he heard the sound of shuffling, of someone groaning in frustration. There was no one it could be except Spencer, but from the squeak of the bed frame and the silence that followed, it didn't sound like he was packing up to leave. There was a lot to hear and it was hard to handle, but it was also fascinating at the same time.

He spent hours sitting alone in his room, forcing the power of vireen into different senses. He healed the little cuts and scratches he had gotten from trekking through the bush in seconds, faster than anything he had seen before. Expanding his vision was unusual. More details popped out to him and he could see further into the trees surrounding Riuta, but there was no sign of the camp even with the power.

Forcing it to amplify his sense of touch made his skin crawl and he only did it for a few minutes, cringing at the feeling of the wood under his fingers. He didn't dare grab his gun or his knife, no matter how tempted he was. Who knew what he could do with that kind of power. Luckily for him, he didn't pass out once, not even when it was far too overwhelming.

By the time the sun was starting its slow arc back down to the horizon, he was far too tired to keep focusing on the magic. He wrapped the stone back up in the cloth he kept for it and put it in the bag. He pushed the power back towards his hearing to check on Spencer and, satisfied that the man had actually gone to sleep, shuffled towards his bed.

Sleeping in the middle of the day wasn't something he usually did, but he was so exhausted. After what he had seen at the tribe, after spending too much time learning about the vireen, a rest was just what he needed. It would also stop the worry he had about Spencer from trickling in.

But he wasn't given a chance to close his eyes. The vireen in his system made the scream that rang out from the street hurt his ears. Groaning in pain, he got up as fast as he could, stumbling towards the door of his room. Cries for help echoed around him, blurring into one another as he ran for the door.

There was no controlling the magic within him as people ran, panicked and yelling, heading for the one place he hoped they wouldn't. It raged through his veins, as confused as he was and leaving him stumbling. He burst through the doors of the inn and froze, watching the thick cloud of black smoke rise from Mayor Truman's brick home.