Coleck was rather underwhelming. It was a small settlement surrounded by a barrier of twisted tree bark, reinforced by metal rods that punctured the wood through and through, spiking into the sky. Considering that within its walls was one of the greatest secrets known to the Fae and human race, I expected more. A metal gate maybe, much like the one in Gri'ah, reinforced by one of fire, then one of air, making it damn impossible to get inside. Then again, the lack made sense. It would look very suspicious for a small village to have such boundaries. Anything more would be a red flare on a clear winter night.

We encountered a barn-like edifice first, a large crowd gathered outside in a mass of disarray. Unease pricked my skin at the sight. With all the people that wanted me dead, everyone looked suspect. When we got closer I noticed the multitude was being sectioned off into separate lines, each one to a guard that stood at an arched stable. At this, my prior nervousness morphed to a tidal wave of anxiety that seeped from my pores as cold sweat. A checkpoint. I'd never set foot outside of Shongopovi, so I can't exactly say it was like crossing customs into another country. I'm fairly sure this held the same essence. Only here, bags weren't being checked, and definitely not passports.A sentry simply raised a hand to hover over the visitor's heart and after a moment, either waved them through or denied access. If the latter, they were escorted through double doors at the rear of the building. I didn't want to think of what happened through those doors, and even less if I was going to have to go through them.

"They are reading intentions," Kheelan spoke into my ear, clearly noting my apprehension. "As healers, they have right of entry to that part of the psyche, and you must allow them access if you wish to continue into Coleck. Many poachers come here only to try and lure freed Domis out of the gates, using glamour or whatever other method. Once outside of these gates, they are no longer protected by Coleck law. They're then sold back to their masters or to the trade."

 I swallowed, suddenly not feeling so bad for those being carried off through the backdoor.

 "We should be fine. Our intentions are honorable enough..." Kheelan grinned. "Well, maybe just a slight mischievous."

 I know he was trying to make light of things, but I looked to the guards and restlessness practically suffocated me. Things were never easy with authority... with anything really, and I was certain this was no different. I had asked why we hadn't gone straight to the resistance camps. Aeval only revealed we had to make sure we weren't being tracked somehow. The Great Mother was also wanted by Xanthus desperately. The only thing that would bring him as much pleasure as seeing the veil fall would be to see her dead. I pushed that to the back of my mind, lest paranoia devour me whole. Maris was already doing that.

 Still, I shook with unease, and quiet tremors rumbled beneath us. Horses neighed in protest, sensing the vibrations that pulsed to my heartbeats. I was quick to haul in a breath and settle my rising pulse before anyone else noticed that the ground was shaking.

 Exhaling my fear, a cool wind gust past, brushing a veil of gold and red leaves over our heads. With the passing breeze, Kheelan's hand crept onto my back, rubbing in rhythmic circles that waved over me like continuous tidal waves of comfort and coolness.

 "Relax," he smiled gently and jerked his head over my shoulder. Turning, I saw the guard reach his hand over Aeval's heart while Kheelan said into my thoughts, "The guards are Resistance members. They will read Aeval first, and then we should be fine. They'll read you to keep up appearances, but won't dig too far. Only to the surface of your thoughts. If you're worried, just think of something you'd like to do here, and you should be fine."

 Kheelans lips so close, I labored through a breath, my mind spitting back exactly what I wanted to do in Coleck. But most of all, the things I stood to gain within its gates. Looking back to the line, it was Vurim's turn to face the guard. My face flushed while tears pricked my eyes. We were almost there, and past that-destiny. It was almost over. Hope was dangerous territory for me, but then and there, it roared relentlessly through my body and into my heart, overpowering all logic.

 A small smile played at my lips, and was I the sun, I'd have erupted into a dance of flares and explosions. Hope was indeed dangerous, but I'd never felt so free as I did there, letting it course through me, blinding me, hypnotizing me with thoughts of a normal life... or as normal a life I'd have. But I'd have Kheelan.

 I closed my eyes against his chest and centered myself on this feeling, around the freeing sensation only his scent produced, around the feel of his hair billowing around me like soft kisses at my skin. It was too much to contain and my smile only widened. Worry was there, yes. But so was life. If I made it out alive, the man that stood beside me would be an integral part of it.

 All disorder around us suddenly withered to murmurs and quiet gasps. Feeling Kheelan shift slightly, I opened my eyes to see a sliver of sunlight had broken through the black density above. It stretched slowly across the field like a dawning sun. At this my smile grew, as did the parting in the sky that mimicked my emotions.

 Around me, many lowered their hoods and turned their faces toward the sky. Hands rose into the air, as if wishing to catch just a slight of this natural warmth that radiated from above us, that coursed within me. I held the clouds apart effortlessly for just a slight longer, hoping that somehow I could infect them with the hope I felt. I'd brought enough agony into the world. A little light seemed a fitting enough way to start my new life.

 Kheelan looked down from the sky and line of suspicion marked his brow. He scrutinized my face for a moment when his eyes washed over in a lighter blue, matching the sky.

"Cold?" he whispered teasingly, tracing the curved line of my mouth.

 I kissed his fingertips and shook my head, confessing for the first time ever, "I'm happy."

 The words struck him and a mossy green I'd never seen before washed over his eyes. It was a quiet pain, and for a moment it was perhaps even guilt. I stifled that thought. Pessimism had no place there. Especially when he drew closer and I tasted his breath before our lips met. For once, I let my heart soar. Of all the countless times I'd kissed Kheelan or Ivan, if anyone were to ever ask me, I would say that my kiss there with Kheelan was my first kiss.

 Our horse nudged Kheelan forward with his head. We stumbled sideways, our kiss broken with embarrassed laughs.

 "You want some love too, huh?" Kheelan laughed, roughing its snowy mane with his trademark gentleness. He met my eyes and then flicked them over my shoulder. "Are you ready?"

 I turned to find we were next to face the guards. With Kheelan's hand in mine, I reinforced my thoughts and moved forward, while closing the skies behind me.

The two patrols towered well above Kheelan, their dark angular faces expressionless, save for the fire flickering in their eyes. It was a black look that said don't cross me, and any normal Fae-or person-with the desire to see another day wouldn't dare. 

"Your business in Coleck?" the guard asked in bored tones. His whitish hair was tied back in a taut ponytail which only accentuated his gray eyes that bore into me.

 "We seek refuge," Kheelan said and nothing more.

 The guard looked to me, and I peeked out from under my hood. He drew closer to where I could see the flecks of gold in the silvery irises. Without another word, he held an open palm over my chest. My heart hitched upon feeling him and rose steadily as the familiar coolness trickled down my spine. I couldn't help but lean into Kheelan and think of the only impenetrable thought I had: love. 

I'm sure others had tried using the same excuse-refuge for purposes of love, but what was happening between Kheelan and I was unmistakable. Just being near him, and the air around us sweltered. We couldn't be more than a breath away from one another without it garnering a look, a touch. With each passing second my need for him grew more untamed, wilder... it was possessing me. Just the thought of him not being there, and my chest tightened. I clutched tighter onto his side. What I felt for him, I don't remember feeling for Ivan. It frightened me, and threatened to consume me. That was what the guard saw when he held his hand over my heart and read me. 

Seeing this, the guard looked down at Kheelan and my entwined hands. He nodded once, respectfully. He then turned and read Kheelan. I squeezed his hands, hope and fret warring in our mutual grasp. 

A second later, then, "May you find happiness and safety within our walls," the guard told us, and stepped aside. "Welcome to Coleck." 

And just like that, it felt as if I'd gotten my life back.

I considered it a small victory that we made it through and was grateful to have a small reprieve from trouble. I tried to remain as neutral as possible, but encountering the white cobblestone streets of Coleck, it became very obvious that Coleck was nothing like Gri'ah. Human and Fae coexisted in the most natural of ways as they strolled this main street that ran as a main artery through to another gate and into an unforeseen distance.

I looked around to the various store fronts, to families sitting together enjoying steaming beverages while the children played around their tables. Shop owners tidied up while greeting passing shoppers. Above, many just watched life play out before their eyes as they looked out of their windows. Coleck was very much a bubble of perfection... or yet, I was the bubble containing all the perils in my little invisible barrier. I quietly vowed I'd try my best not to burst. If Coleck was all dream, I didn't want to be the one to wake anyone up.

We travelled straight through and after weaving through various streets and alleys, we stopped at a small log cabin. Like the gates outside, the house was rather small with its brown façade/facade and unadorned windows. It could have been invisible, and I'm sure that was the point.

Following Aeval's lead, we all dismounted and walked toward the wooden door just as it opened. A robust woman-human woman, came out to greet us. Her brown hair was pinned up, curls erupting in disarray as if she'd been running around in frenzy for days on end. The look on her pale face complemented it, a mix of solemnness and agony. She took Aeval into a strong embrace and stroked Aeval's blond locks as if comforting a crying child. 

"Something has happened..." Vurim said with a dreaded certainty that made my blood run cold. I knew things couldn't stay peaceful for more than seconds. Vurim walked to the woman and placed a hand on her shoulder. She pulled away from Aeval reluctantly, and turned to Vurim. He nodded once, "Tell us, Yvette." 

She nodded weakly, stormy gray eyes brimming with tears as she broke free from a now pale Aeval. She simply turned and walked into the house. We all followed. The room we encountered was homey, and against everything going on, I ran my fingers along the foyer table with a faint recollection of the one I had back home. It occurred to me then that it was easier to remember things when I touched something tangible, when I was assaulted with it suddenly. In the forest, all I could rely on was my mind, and so far, that had failed me terribly. 

"So..." Aeval drilled as soon as Kheelan closed the door behind us. Yvette looked to Kheelan and I warily, obviously afraid to speak in our presence..

"It's okay, Yve," Aeval said, gripping the woman's shoulder reassuringly. "They are friends of the Resistance, here to see the Great Mother."

"This is his Grace's brother, Kheelan of the Water Realms of the North," Vurim added. At this, Yvette's eyes widened slightly, and she dropped a curtsey. "It is a pleasure, sir, though I wish our introduction would have been under better circumstances." She swallowed and inclined her head respectfully. She then turned to Aeval and reached for her hands. Bad news was coming. Of that we were all sure.

She said, "The convoy returned this morning from Tarshish, bringing news of His Grace." 

"Is Ivan well?" Vurim asked, grave concern voiding all formalities of a title. 

Holding onto that foyer table, to the tangibility of it all-the reality of it all, I split in two. The sound of Ivan's name coming from someone not a part of my bubble, not from Kheelan or Elena, breathed life back into something I was starting to believe had never happened-that he'd never happened to me, and that we'd never happened to each other. 

Ivan-not His Grace, but Ivan...Ivan... it tore through me with a vengeance that sliced down my head in cold fire. These flames engulfed my mind, melting the memories that evaded me days-hours before. My skin burned remembering him, feeling him, his silvery eyes, his kiss, his manic devotion-it slammed into me, and I stumbled back onto Kheelan feeling deprived of something as essential as air. 

"Ivan," I breathed instinctively, needy, from somewhere deep as if emerging from a deep sleep to find him gone. Fingers flinched over my lips. Of a sudden I felt...unstable, bereft, how someone would feel after walking through a dark tunnel, only to emerge on the other side alone. I looked down at my hand within Kheelan's and realized I'd lost him. Somewhere along the way, I'd lost Ivan. One half remembered how and why my hand had gotten there within Kheelan's, and why I was angry at Ivan. I could remember every kiss I'd shared with Kheelan, and my feelings for him. Only thing, and scariest of all, I could not for the life of me remember how I'd drifted so far without stopping. All the blood drained from my face, and meeting Kheelan's stare, my hand slipped out of his. 

"I suppose his Grace is well enough..." Yvette lowered her head to her hands that twined relentlessly.

Aeval rolled her eyes. "Out with it Yve! We must see the Grand Mother immediately." 

"The Great Mother is in mourning Aeval, as we all are! Gwin is dead," Yvonne revealed suddenly, exploding in a sob. She lifted her head and shook it solemnly. "Vlane is unconsolable. He escorted the girl you sent-Elena? When the convoy arrived, he saw Gwin's body being brought in, and the Domis marks--" 

Aeval flinched back. "Domis marks?" she asked, horrified and pale. "What Domis marks?" 

"I don't know any details," Yvette said through hollow sobs. "Agents were able to smuggle her body out before it was burned, so she would at least get a proper burial. Only Vlane was told who branded her, and he hasn't spoken a word since he saw her body. The Great Mother has forbidden anyone to cast blame until she is sure of who is responsible for Gwin's death. It's all so terrible...." Yvette broke off and sobbed freely now. Her cries pained me. The way humans were used and disposed of by Fae was disgusting, and I wished whoever branded this girl suffered equal pain.

Aeval grew paler by the minute. Guilt, worry, and desperation flashed across her eyes. "The only reason Vlane and the Great Mother let her go was because I guaranteed them no harm would befall her," Aeval said, breathless. She leaned back against the wall as if the news had knocked her behind the knees. She then turned her redeened eyes to Vurim, looking very much like a child. "How can I face him now? And the Great Mother?"

"Vlane does not need your guilt now, only your support," Vurim tried to coax her, though his tone of assurance seemed strained. He gripped her shoulders and drew her away from the wall. "You had no idea this would happen. You love him, and would never do anything to purposely hurt him."

"Yet now his sister is dead," Aeval murmurred. 

"She is, and that is why you must be strong, for the both of you," Vurim replied. 

Aeval cupped her mouth and took a moment. Regaining a slight of her confidence, she shifted her shoulders back and wiped her eyes roughly before any tears had a chance to fall. "Send word to the Great Mother that we have arrived, but I must see Vlane right away." 

"Yes, yes, of course," Yvonne said weakly. Turning on her heels, she vanished into the living area. Vurim waved for us to follow. Yvonne stalked to the fireplace and tapped on an oval mirror above the hearth. She stepped back and at once the wall rumbled slightly, and the fireplace creaked open like a door. Without any hesitation, Aeval vanished to the darkness behind the fireplace. Kheelan and I went next. Out of everything I'd experienced, going into this fireplace frightened me the most. Not because of the darkness, or of the guards we encountered within. Deep down, I had no doubt this Gwin person had something to do with me.

We went down a flight of stairs and through a labyrinth of tunnels lined with guards both human and Fae every few yards. In all, we trekked about a mile underground, weaving in and out of tunnels. After a few more turns and another flight of stairs, we emerged in a dimly lit room. Kegs lined the wall, stacked one cradled upon the other. Above them were shelves with glasses, and many crates. Clearly it was the stockroom of a bar. A guard greeted Aeval and Vurim. He might have greeted me as well, but I was taken in by the sight when he opened the door to notice. The bar was packed. Every table was occupied, a body in every available space. Fae and human stood side by side, and though different, they all wore the same glum expression.

Aeval scanned the room desperately. When her eyes stopped, I trailed her gaze to the opposite side of the room and recognized her Domis immediately. Shoulders slumped, his head was lowered onto the stained glass. Midnight black hair shielded his face, but I knew by his posture alone that tears flowed beneath his veil of hair, and he was utterly defeated.

Aeval brushed through the crowd, whisking directly to him with Vurim in tow. Kheelan and I remained invisible by the stockroom door. Many inclined their heads respectfully to Kheelan, but did not approach. I was regarded briefly, but didn't mind not being the center of attention for once. When Vlane saw Aeval, he simply dropped his head on her shoulder and nothing more. She held him in silence, the flush from her hurried approach abandoning her cheeks.

 A young girl neared Kheelan and I, holding out a tray to us. I followed Kheelan's lead and accepted the glass that was filled to the brim with a dark brown liquid. Her expression was solemn, as if she were handing us a pitcher of her tears. I attempted a smile with my quiet thank you, but it felt so out of place in the face of her agony that I just looked down into my black drink. Once she was out of sight, I moved closer to Kheelan. He stood close, but that was the furthest we'd been in days. Through our entire journey, he'd take any opportunity to touch me. Then and there, my hand for his taking, he simply cradled his glass.

"What's going on?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't elaborate. It was an open ended question on purpose. I hoped he would tell me what was going on with him, though I knew my outburst earlier was the root of it all.

 He said, "They make a point of it to celebrate the life of those who have died, and so we have a drink in their honor."

I looked back to Aeval who was now in an earnest discussion with Vlane. Vurim appeared beside us. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Vlane though, and watched him closely as I sipped my ale with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

On the heels of that thought, Vlane broke free of Aeval's hands with a roar. He thrust his glass into the fire, and the flames in the hearth exploding to life for a fleeting moment. The fire in Vlane's eyes remained however as turned and stared at Kheelan.

I spun to Kheelan, but he was in a deep discussion with Vurim a few feet away and didn't notice Vlane who now approached him with murder in his eyes. He reached into his vest, and it was then I saw the edge of a blade glint in the lamplight. Screaming would have been futile. Vlane was close enough and would have stabbed Kheelan as soon as he turned. None of my powers would have reached him in time. In a feral way, I dissected the situation into small pieces, much like a hunter would do. I saw every angle, every slight change in every gesture in the room. In a primal thirst for survival-for Kheelan's survival, the most direct way to intercept illuminated. At once, I sliced through time, weaving through this parting in the crowd until reaching Vlane just as he reached Kheelan. Bending time had never come so easily before, but in that instant I was able to keep the seconds apart as if parting the seas. And only when I reached Vlane did the world start its normal rotation and time drifted back to one ocean.

Surprise flashed across Vlane's wintery eyes as I gripped his wrist, returning his murderous gaze dagger for dagger. A loud gasp swept over the crowd and everything went quiet. Aeval brushed up behind Vlane and gripped his arm. She didn't say anything, but her widened eyes turned to me and begged for me not to hurt him. She knew I could. Vlane didn't.

"What's the meaning of this!" Vurim swept up between us. He looked to Vlane, and then to me. Seeing the knife in Vlane's hand, he let out a weighty breath. "This isn't the way, Vlane! Gwin's death- 

"Is none of your concern!" Vlane growled and turned to me. "And it doesn't concern you either!"

 Focusing part of my anger on the knife in his hand, I called it from his fingers, levitating it out and dropping it at our feet. I squeezed his wrist and said, "If it concerns Kheelan, it concerns me. And if you touch him," I yanked his hand closer and his wrist crunched under my hold. "I will kill you."

 Kheelan's hand on my shoulders brought me back to present. I blinked, realizing how close to breaking Vlane's hand I truly was. I jerked his hand out of my hold, but didn't move.

"Charlotte," Kheelan whispered in my ear. "Let's go." The urgency in his voice bothered me. It was him trying to protect me from something, again. I let him pull me away, when Vlane's voice lassoed me in. 

"Gwin is dead, and his brother killed her!" he yelled to the gathered crowd. Murmurs rumbled throughout as he added, "Someone will answer for her death!" 

I spun. "Ivan would never kill a human, unless she deserved it!" I was shaking again, and the windows quivering. 

Vurim held his hands at surrender, obviously trying to diffuse the situation."No one knows what happened! Until we do, we must remain calm!" 

"Calm! What's there to know? My sister went to gather information when she was forced to become His Grace's Domis! Then he killed her! Other agents saw her body being dragged from his rooms, bearing his marks! His Grace," Vlane said mockingly. "His magnificent Grace branded my sister!" 

I gasped. I didn't want to, but the intensity of the words struck me like a slap in the face, as if they were true.

Kheelan cursed under his breath, and gave my doubt life. He took my hand. "Charlotte, you don't need to hear this now. I'll explain everything to you. Let's go-" 

I snatched my hand back with a ferocity that roared in the flames at the fireplace. Containing the worse of me, I turned to Vlane. "You're lying. Ivan would never brand a human! I know him. He didn't brand me and I'm his...was his common. You're a liar, and a coward who tries to kill a defenseless man while his back is turned!"

 Vlane held my stare for a moment. It was a strange gray look, as if he knew he alone had the power to take my dreams, my sad naïve beliefs, and shatter them into unfixable fragments thus destroying me. A cold smirk curved his lips then. It branded me, and my heart sunk. A part of me felt he told the truth, I just couldn't believe it. Not then. Not when I had just remembered Ivan again. Not when I actually remembered that I loved him, and at some point he was due to return. Not when I couldn't take another blow from him.

Vlane said, "Why don't we go and view my sister's body, at his filthy marks defiling her, at the puncture marks on her neck! Then you can tell me how well you know your common...."

"Charlotte," Kheelan's hand suddenly on my shoulder stayed me. I looked to it, but didn't look at him. I couldn't. I'd know everything I needed to know in his eyes. I needed to see things for myself. So I turned back and kept my gaze steady on a waiting Vlane. Vurim and Aeval beside us, and the rest of the room around us faded to specks of light and shadow beneath the tears that sprung into my eyes. The crowds quieted and parted, like a glittering ocean suddenly split.

I squeezed Kheelan's hand tenderly, and outside rain began to grate steadily against the windows as I slid it from my shoulder.

With Kheelan, Vurim and Aeval in tow, Vlane led us up the stairs and to the second floor of the inn. In the midst of all the stares, all I could see was the back of Vlane's head, at his black hair curling over his collar much like Ivan's hair used to do.

We reached a closed door. Vlane curled his hand around the doorknob, and my hand shot to his shoulder stopping him. Images flashed before my eyes of the moment I first bumped into Ivan at school, at how utterly annoyed he'd been. Memories unfurled of how worried he'd been when Maris sought to destroy me from inside, how he defended me at the hospital from Elena. In a wave of crimson before my eyes, I recalled our fusion, our promise to share one life... 

I swallowed and let my hand fall away from Vlane's shoulder as I remembered the last time I saw Ivan. He confessed his love, told me how he'd almost killed for me, how he'd die for me... 

Vlane turned the doorknob. The slight scrape burned me slowly. And as the door opened slowly, and light poured out from within, I was blinded by the sight of a blond girl lying lifeless upon a bed. Her dress was white, rendering her a sleeping angel. The daisy chain around her head made her out to be a child. My heart ached.

Like a moth to a flame, my steps were taken from me. I neared her, my eyes imprisoned by the intricate black vines upon her pale blue skin. Pain gathered in my chest. I knew those marks. I'd spent hours staring at them when they twisted around my arms. I wanted to doubt, to believe that Ivan would never brand another, especially after he'd denied me the right.

 But all doubt shattered alongside my breaking heart when I hauled in a deep breath to keep from collapsing, and my first tear fell.

 I could smell Ivan all over her. 

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