Everything was happening at once. Louis was sprawled on the ground, moaning, scarlet liquid seeping into the forest floor. Kari dove forward just as Asher reached for me, knocking his hand away, sending him sprawling. She shrieked, and fire erupted under her fingers, blackening the front of Asher’s shirt.

Adrenalin finally kicked in, and I started towards her, finger crooked into claws – I was ready to pull her off and scratch her eyes out. Something rammed into me, hitting me in the side so hard it knocked the breath out of my lungs.

I found myself on the ground, rocks and twigs digging into my arms, Trent looming over me. His knee was digging into my gut, pinning me down. “Stay out of it,” he grunted.

Wheezing, trying to catch my breath, I spat at him, “You really are her lap dog, aren’t you?”

Trent leaned down on his knee more heavily, making me thrash around to try to get out from under him. A strangled cry made me jerk in terror. That was Asher.

I heard Kari laughing, and it made my blood go cold. What had she done to him?

A sharp scream made Trent jerk up, freeing me for a minute, and I rolled to the left. Rocks dug into my skin and scratched through my clothes but I ignored the pain, jumping to my feet.

Kari was sprawled out on the ground, obviously unconscious. Maria was leaning over her and holding her head in her lap. Asher was a few feet away, on his knees. His face was twisted in pain and he held one hand to his side, blood leaking through his fingers.

“Asher!” I scrambled towards him. Fear and shock made my knees feel watery, and I dropped down beside him and grabbed his other arm. “Asher!”

His face was white, and he grabbed my hand so tightly it hurt. “Jess…run.”

“No!” I growled. “Get up. We’re leaving.” His broadsword was lying on the ground, and I grabbed the handle, pointing the tip of the sword toward the rebels, who were crowding around the still form of their leader.

“You can’t leave.” Trent moved toward me, one hand raised, and I leveled the sword at his head.

“Don’t,” I gritted the word out between my teeth. “Don’t try to stop us, or I’ll run you through.” I shifted the sword toward Kari’s unconscious form. “And then I swear to god I’ll chop her head off and sing the wicked witch is dead…”

“You’re getting too confident.” Trent took another step in my direction, and panic flared in my chest. There was a hissing sound, and fire flared along my arm, traveling down the length of the sword. The orange flames lit up the forest, illuminating the rebels: clearly showing the red spot of blood blooming in Kari’s hair, the furious look on Maria’s face, Trent’s wide eyes. He looked alarmed.

I took one hesitant step towards him, and my heart leapt when he backed away. “Take my mother and leave. You obviously need to regroup, you’re weak without her.”

A flicker of doubt passed over his face. “This isn’t over. She isn’t going to give up.”

I pretended to pause. “Wait, you’re right.” Raising the sword higher I said thoughtfully, “Maybe I should chop her head off right now.”

Trent whirled around and barked at the other two. “Get her back to base.”

I watched them drag her away through the trees. My body was still tense, waiting for them to be gone. Trent began to back away. “This will never be over.”

I began to back up in the opposite direction, sword wavering in my hands. It was getting really heavy. I turned to see Asher climbing slowly to his feet. He had a knife clutched in one hand, the one Kari had dropped.

“Lean on my shoulder,” I told him. “And we back up slowly.”

It took us what seemed like hours to move out of the forest, one backwards step at a time. I kept an eye on the forms of the rebels while we went, watching them flicker through the trees and disappear one by one. It occurred to me that I should watch where they were going, try to figure out their hiding place or wherever they were staying. But I was more concerned with Asher, how heavily he was leaning on me, and the wet warmth that was soaking into the side of my sweatshirt.

“You’re bleeding a lot.” I panted. Glancing at Asher’s face gave me an unpleasant shock. He was pale as freshly driven snow. “Are you…”

“I’m fine,” he wheezed. “I’ll be fine. Keep…going.”

Glancing over my shoulder I tried to quicken our pace,dragging him as much as I could. It wasn’t likely they would come after us. Kari had been out cold. “You gave her a nasty head wound.” I tried to sound cheerful. “I hope she gets brain damage and doesn’t want to fight anymore.”

Asher’s laugh was shaky. “Hit her with the hilt of the sword…” He glanced around suddenly, noticed that I was dragging the sword behind us with one hand, and his shoulders slumped in relief.

“I got it.” I didn’t mention that the blade was dragging over the rocks and dirt, and that he would probably need to sharpen it when we got back. That hardly mattered right now.

“Are you okay…Jess?” His voice was concerned, and it almost made me laugh.

“Am I okay? Asher, you got stabbed.”

“Yes,” he wheezed. “And when I get my breath again I’m going to give you a long lecture about coming out here by yourself.”

My stomach sank. “They had…they said they’d kill Kloe…” my voice hitched, and we both went silent. Obviously we were thinking the same thing. Nothing we had done stopped them from killing Kloe. Asher hadn’t had time to react yet, we’d been too busy fighting and then running away, but he must have seen her body…

When I glanced over at him his face was pale and blank, like he was saving his emotions for later.

My voice cracked. “I thought…”

“It doesn’t matter,” he rasped. “She made her own choices.”

I looked at him, startled. “How did you know? I mean…I didn’t even tell you she was on their side.”

“We had a spy in the palace, and seeing her body…I figured it out fast.”

Neither of us spoke again. There was only the sound of our shuffling feet as we limped uphill, and the eerie hoot and squawk of night life in the forest around us. I wasn’t on fire anymore, so obviously my eyes had finally adjusted…

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the stone towers of the castle rising up over the tree tops. “Almost there.”

Asher just grunted. We took another step and he stumbled, nearly bringing us both to the ground. I did my best to brace us, gritting my teeth with the effort, and the sword fell to the earth, blade ringing against the rocks.

The lights of the castle shone through the forest, just out of reach. We were so close.

“Asher.” My eyes were watering with the effort of keeping him upright. “Asher!”

He hung limp in my arms, eyes closed, and his hand dropped away from his side. The entire side of his shirt was soaked deep red, and I sucked in a breath through my teeth. I couldn’t hold him up all by myself, and we sank slowly to the ground. It was frustrating to be so close and feel so helpless. We were nearly there. Glancing over my shoulder once, I decided to risk it.

I paused, filled my lungs and then yelled as loudly as I could, “Help!”

Asher jerked a little bit, raising his head, blinking blearily. I strained my voice, yelling over and over, “Help! Someone help us!” The thought occurred to me that I might be giving away our position to them, but Asher’s condition was making me desperate

Another minute of yelling and my voice was ragged, but when I paused I could hear rustling in the bushes, the crack of branches breaking as someone made their way toward us.

A deep voice called through the trees, “Hello?”

            “Here!” I called. “It’s Jess, and Asher. He’s hurt! He needs help.” Oh god, I hope that’s not a rebel.

“Your highness?” Someone broke through the underbrush, a tall man, dressed in the gear of the palace guards. He was followed by another, sword drawn. Fire jotun from the castle.

Thank God.

When they saw Asher they flinched, then ran to him, kneeling down beside him. “Your highness!” The first guard’s hand fluttered over Asher’s wound, as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

“Get him inside,” barked the other man. “He needs to see the healer immediately.”

Together they picked him up gently, and he hung between them as they walked, heading drooping forward. I picked up his sword and trailed behind them, wincing every time I heard him groan.

My hands were shaking, so I wrapped them around the hilt of his heavy broadsword. He had to be alright. The healer could heal him, right? It wasn’t too late, it couldn’t be that bad. They had magic, so he’d be fine.

I repeated this in my head the entire way to the castle. When we finally got in the door the guard called out in a voice that echoed to the stone ceiling, “Get the healer! Get Lady Charlotte! The prince is wounded!”

I don’t even know who responded to his cry, but there were shuffling footsteps and the slapping sound of feet running down the hallway. The first guard dashed into the great hall, presumably to get the King and Queen. The other soldier still had Asher in his arms, and he gestured at me to pull out the couch that was sitting against the wall. Then he laid Asher down gently on the velvet cushions.

I chewed my nails anxiously, watching Asher's eyelids flutter open and then shut again. His face was bloodless, his lips held no color. He looked like a dying man.

My eyes were clouded with tears when Megan and Loki rushed in. The Queen flung herself down by his side, and Loki turned on the guard, his face twisted with emotion. “What happened?”

The guard only turned to look at me, and I almost withered under Loki's fierce stare. My fingers gripped the hilt of Asher’s sword so tightly they went numb. “I…the rebels sent me a note. I had to go into the forest…” my voice caught and trembled, and I had to take a giant, shaky breath to keep going. Loki’s face was like a storm cloud, and I found myself trembling from head to toe. “They said they’d kill Kloe if I didn’t come to them. I tried to go alone…” here my voice cracked, and when I looked at Asher a flood of hot tears came without warning. “I didn’t realize he followed me…”

A flurry of movement from the hallway, and Charlotte was suddenly there, blue skirts swirling around her as she came. Lettisha was at her side, her bow-shaped mouth puckered in concern.

Megan moved aside, still clutching Asher’s hand. Her face was nearly as pale as her son’s. “Can you heal him?”

Charlotte didn’t answer. She moved her hands over Asher’s chest and side, shutting her eyes tightly. Her hands stopped over the patch of blood, pale brows furrowing in concentration.

We held our breath, and at last Charlotte sighed. “Yes. It was a small blade, and hit nothing vital. It will take some time though. Several hours. Move him some place more comfortable and I’ll get started.”

The guards began the careful process of moving Asher to his room, and Lettisha slipped her hand into mine as we followed the procession down the hallway. “It will be okay,” she whispered. “He’ll be fine. Charlotte will make it like it never happened.”

Not trusting myself to speak, I just nodded. I hoped she was right.

We stood in the doorway as the guards lowered Asher onto his bedspread, the King and Queen hovering nearby as they did so. As soon as they set him down, Charlotte motioned them away with a sweep of her hand. “Everyone go, please. This is a long, intense process. I need quiet.”

Megan turned, ringing her hands together, but she nodded. “Let’s go. Let her do her job.”

I badly wanted to go to Asher, seeing him like this made me feel like I had a knife in the chest, but if his mother could do it, so could I. Lettisha linked her arm into mine and we stepped aside to let the others pass through.

Loki snapped at the guards. “Go into the woods, find them. If you find the leader, you have permission to kill her on sight.”

I blinked. Loki wasn’t playing around anymore, and when Megan spoke her voice was ice. “If you can take her alive, bring her to me.”

The guards left, and the royal couple both turned to me, making me wish I could sink into the stones.

But all Megan said was, “Kloe?”

Tears sprang to my eyes again, and I shook my head.

“She was a traitor?” Loki asked, his voice sober.

“She said she wanted me gone. I guess…I guess she left the note all along.” I squeezed my eyes shut, and more tears poured down my cheeks. I was so stupid.

“You couldn’t have known.” Loki said, and my eyes popped open. Here I’d been thinking he was about to kick me out of the kingdom or something. I had nearly gotten his son killed.

Loki bit his lower lip. “I know you think it’s your fault, but…Asher is strong and stubborn. He would have gone after you no matter what you’d done. You did what you thought was right.”

I sagged against the wall. “I’m so sorry.”

Lettisha squeezed my shoulder. Just as I was starting to feel better, there was the dry rustle of robes from down the hallway, and the advisors loomed out of the darkness, faces taunt with disapproval. My stomach tightened at the sight of them. What were their names again? I couldn’t remember, but I did remember the way they’d looked at me.

Loki greeted them wearily. “Ondrea… Harkin…”

“What has happened? We heard the prince has been gravely wounded.”

“Not gravely,” Megan put in. “Charlotte says she can heal him.”

Ondrea, the woman with long silver hair directed a black look at me. “I somehow get the feeling you have something to do with this.”

“I didn’t…”

Megan put one hand in the air, stopping me mid protest. “Don’t bother, Jess. Ondrea, thank you for your concern, but everything turned out fine. My son is being healed as we speak.”

I couldn’t help admire the fire in Megan’s eyes, even as they were filled with tears. She held herself tall, shoulders square.

Harken smoothed his hands over his silver robes, eyes scanning me. “So you don’t deny it then. He was almost killed over this…girl.”

Hot anger surged through me, and I pressed my lips together tightly in order to avoid saying anything back to him.

He wasn’t done talking. “You insist she isn’t a danger to anyone, and yet your son lies on the brink of death because of her.”

Ondrea’s delicate features took on a sly cast. “A young man acting out foolishly over adolescent emotions?”

“Exactly,” Harken folded his arms over his chest and eyes me pointedly. “Young men are very susceptible to suggestions at such a foolish young age. They’ll do ridiculous, dangerous things.”

This time I couldn’t help it. I sputtered, “I didn’t ask him to come with me! He just…”

“Why should we believe anything you have to say? Clearly you’ve manipulated the young prince quite effortlessly so far.”

Loki raised his hands, about to say something, and Harken turned his glare on the king, “Your majesty I must protest. She’s just put the only heir to this kingdom in unspeakable danger. Danger caused by her mother. Clearly things cannot go on as they are.”

My hands were curled into fists at my sides, and I was shaking with barely concealed rage. I badly wanted to knock the smug looks off both of the advisor’s faces.

Loki hesitated, and my stomach dropped. Was he starting to believe them?

He folded his arms over his chest and frowned. “Yes. Well, it’s clear that something must be done.”