Both refused. April left it to the gods to figure out why.

They agreed to spend another day in the forest to gather their strength for the journey back to wherever they each came from. Marin was able to kill a wild animal that foolishly hadn't migrated when the forest was being erratic with its resources. Kymalin proved adept with her dagger as she skinned the animal as if she was peeling fruits.

April had never had a more filling meal. Compared to the scrumptious meals she'd had at the palace where she'd eaten alone most of the time, this simple meat stew with nothing but a few edible leaves for spice tasted a lot better. She also left it to the gods to figure out why.

Now, as they ate from their bowls made from some hollowed-out fruit husk, scooping the sauce using hastily-carved spoons from the branches around them, April's thoughts ran ahead of her. Did the world have other things in store for the three of them had they not been born in the wrong place at the wrong time? Would they have been friends, just exploring the forests and eating raksela stew?

April shook her head. She brought the bowl to her mouth and tipped it to send a few droplets of the sauce to her lips. She resisted the urge to ask for seconds. It was a small animal.

Kymalin smacked her lips. "That was one excellent stew, don't you think?"

April had noticed that the banshee had strangely turned jovial the past day while Marin lost her bravado and remained mostly silent. Apparently, the half-blood was still adamant about not having the armies march into Penleth and wage a battle. Well, let them be. It's not wise to meddle in their business. When April gets back, she's going to borrow a few of the Sovereign's men and take Penleth until they give him June bound in chains. Perhaps, Kymalin and Marin could have the Virtakios to do as they please.

After that, she would drag June into Edgerift, slaughter him in front of the whole of Seelie Court, and finally take the crown that was meant to be hers. Nothing could stop her. Nothing should stop her.

"Why are you all doing what you're doing?" Marin's head snapped up from her bowl to meet their eyes. The air had never felt this thick. "What made you so motivated to do anything even if it's against common morals just to make something happen?"

Kymalin chuckled. "Do you mean that you don't have a wish that you want to be fulfilled?" She tilted her head to one side. "Why did you approach the Heiress, then?"

Marin cast her eyes to the ground and seemed to find the dry ground interesting. Silence reigned in the space between them. Oh, April wished she could make it rain so that she could finally take a bath. She had been smelling of smoke, sweat, and blood lately. The wound on her neck still throbbed but she'd live.

The memory of June strangling her and slashing his dagger down still made April shake in her place, in all honesty. He wasn't the Death Knight for no reason. He's as dangerous as her if she let him get too close. Then again, she saw the look in his eyes when he realized what he had done. He was traumatized by something and slashing throats seemed to trigger it. Could it be that he has decided to change and escape the life of an assassin?

A grin crept to April's lips. Well, if he couldn't wield a weapon as masterfully as before, perhaps April would really succeed this time. Perhaps.

A deep sigh tore April's attention away from her thoughts. "I approached the Heiress because I want to see my father one last time," Marin's eyes hardened as she stared at the ground harder. Was she aiming to bore a hole into it? "I tried to steal the Carleon throne because I thought I could use it to bring him back to life. I have so much I wanted to say to him and now, I won't even get to," the half-blood hugged herself, having set her bowl down by her feet. "I just miss him so much. But I know he wouldn't want me to spill blood just for him. He will be horrified if I do."

"Welcome to life, then, kid," Kymalin chuckled, leaning back against the upturned trunk she used as a bench. "The Heiress promised me she could make one wish of mine come true if we ever emerge from this chaos alive and victorious."

April raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she said, drawing the banshee's attention to her. Kymalin's eyes had never looked so yellow in the dark. They're almost glowing. "Do tell."

Kymalin's eyes softened as she withdrew it from April and flicked towards the fire. Her irises only burned brighter. "My brother," she said in a tone rivaling a whisper. "I want the pain to end for him."

Marin whirled to Kymalin. "Brother?"

The banshee nodded. "He is younger than me. I was supposed to be there, taking care of him, but instead I'm out here, trying to find something to make him feel better."

"What happened?" April looked down at the hands folded atop her lap.

"Sickness," Kymalin pursed her lips. April had never seen the banshee look so resigned. "No one could decipher where it came from or what it is. It just showed up and swallowed up my brother's life, little by little. I prayed to all the gods I knew. We called all the physicians available on this island. No one could tell what was wrong with him. All they could tell us was that he would eventually die. It doesn't matter how long, be it days, months, years, but he will get there."

"Aren't we all going there someday?" Marin turned to the banshee.

Kymalin chuckled despite the topic at hand. "My brother had pain as a companion since he could think. I want it to end for him so that he could live a normal life. I want to give him another chance that the world didn't give him," she stared up at the stars, her eyes the softest ember April had ever seen them to be. "Even if I condemn my soul to eternal torment in the afterlife, I will do everything to make sure he has a future ahead of him."

Marin licked her lips. "The world is rarely a beautiful place after a war."

Kymalin regarded April then. April's spine turned rigid. "Then it's up to Miss High Queen to right that, won't it?" the banshee said. "Well, will you fix it?"

April swallowed a bitter taste growing in her mouth. It still tasted a bit like the meat she just ate. It wasn't fair for all of them. Kymalin made it sound like she knew she wasn't even walking out of this war alive.

It's so unfair.

In a different world, in a different time, if they were not given what they're given right now, they wouldn't choose to go down this path they couldn't escape now. Blood was already in their hands and they would have to carry that to their graves. April, if she ever does succeed in killing June, would she be able to make a beautiful world for everyone? Would she be able to rally the fairies into war and defeat the very people she used to get to the top?

She had seen how Cardovia and Synketros operate. They destroy lives, cities, and dreams to get what they want. They wouldn't stop to consider the ethics of their ways. If April wasn't going to be like that, then how could she ever hope to defeat them?

"How about you?" Marin's eyes flicked to April. "Why do you do what you do?"

April's answer came out of her lips before she could even analyze how true it was. "I want to be everything my mother was not."

The silence that enveloped them later was suffocating. Well, that's it, then. Time to retire for the night. April stood up and stretched, a yawn already building at the back of her throat.

Then, from her seat, Marin flinched. In a flash, all three of them dropped into a stance, hands on weapons concealed under layers of cloth. April scanned the silhouettes of trees. Under the moons' rays, she couldn't make anything out besides a few trees and the occasional critter that announces its arrival with rickety clicks and shuffling claws.

April squinted. Nothing was out of place. She relaxed and the others did too. "What was that?" she turned to the half-blood who sheathed her dagger by her belt.

Marin regarded the shadows once more before shrugging. "I thought I heard something crunch."

"We should all go to sleep," Kymalin threw her hair behind her and propped herself up. "We've got an early day tomorrow."

"See you at the siege?" April said.

Kymalin smirked. "Definitely."

Marin didn't reply but plopped into the ground, curled up, and closed her eyes. April stayed up a little bit even as Kymalin imitated Marin and was soon snoring softly. She flapped her wings and carried herself up a tree. The stars had never looked so enticing, even from the world below Falkirta. She stretched her arm as if attempting to reach them. She could barely remember the last thing her mother said to her before she became the High Queen. Reach for the stars but don't forget who you are while doing it.

April closed her eyes and sighed. She rested her head against the trunk and let the hum of the night wind lull her to a stupor. In the silence around her, a set of thoughts flared in and out of her consciousness, fueled by the conversation she had with Kymalin and Marin earlier.

She was April Sylkara. She would right this world that has fallen to shambles.

She would not become her mother.

She would not give up.