The upper city marketplace was crowded.

It was their first time going to the upper city since the last time they had gone with Finn. The upper city excursions had always been Finn's idea. Without him it didn't feel right.

But Baisan knew, as he had known for months, that he had to witness Finn's execution. He had to be there. Castin had agreed, and the two of them had made the precarious climb over the dividing wall. Baisan had left the others with instructions to go to the temple and pray for Finn. Neither of the girls had wanted to come anyway, and Baisan didn't want the younger boys to have to watch Finn die.

Being in the upper city without Finn didn't feel right. But being with Castin in that moment did. Baisan, Castin and Finn had led their little family together. It felt right that the three of them would have one last moment together. Baisan just hoped Finn would see them, so he would know he wasn't alone.

It was easy to work their way through the crowds to get closer to the gallows. Half of the people in the marketplace were still shopping, wandering between the stalls as if the wooden gallows weren't even there. They found a place nearby, but also a little out of the way, and waited.

The crowds were loud, but Baisan paid them so little attention they might as well have been silent. Which was how he heard Castin's voice clearly, even though Castin was whispering.

"Maybe I could climb up and free him. We could lose the guards in the crowds."

The urge to do something, anything, to save Finn was nearly overwhelming. It almost hurt Baisan to shake his head. "He won't be any condition to run. Or climb."

"So we'll find a place to hide."

"Cast..."

Castin refused to look at him. Baisan felt tears prickling at his eyes and could see them welling in Castin's as well.

"Castin, we can't. If something happens to us, what will the others do? Finn wouldn't want us to risk it."

"He doesn't want to die, either."

Baisan couldn't argue with that, so he didn't try. Charged silence fell between them. Neither of them said anything, and soon there was a change in the crowd. Cheering and taunting replaced the usual marketplace discussions and haggling. Baisan almost had to force himself to turn towards the gallows.

A line of four prisoners were being led up the stairs to the gallows. They were each wearing hoods, but it wasn't hard to make out which one was Finn. All four of the prisoners were thin and dirty, but the fourth was smaller. Compared to Baisan and Castin, Finn had never seemed that small. Maybe his personality had made up for it.

When the hood was pulled off of Finn's head, Baisan grabbed Castin's arm. Finn blinked against the bright light, and when his eyes raked the crowd, it was blindly. He didn't see Baisan and Castin.

Baisan swallowed past the lump in his throat. "We have to get closer. He has to know we're here."

Castin said nothing, but he did start to move forward. Pulling Baisan along with him, he moved through the crowd until they were even closer to the base of the gallows.

The man dressed in black stepped onto a raised part of the platform. The crowd quieted down, just slightly, as the man started to speak. Baisan didn't listen, he didn't care about what the man was saying. One of the executioners was walking down the line placing nooses around the prisoners' necks. When he reached Finn, Finn closed his eyes.

"He didn't see us." Reassuring Finn was the only thing Baisan could think to do, and the opportunity was slipping away. "Finn!" he tried calling out, but he knew Finn wouldn't hear him. There was too much going on. And Finn, in an attempt to comfort himself, was probably ignoring it all.

This time it was Castin who tugged him back. "Careful."

Baisan followed Castin's gaze to see that a nearby guard was eyeing them.

Then one of the trapdoors opened, and the first man in line dropped through. The fall must have broken his neck, killing him instantly. His body swung limply.

Baisan flinched and almost lost any control he had over his emotions. Without meaning to, he tightened his grip on Castin's wrist.

Without faltering, the executioner had moved on to describe the crimes of the second man. The second man fell through just as heavily and hung just as limply as the first. The woman beside Finn was sobbing, and Finn was standing perfectly still.

When the trapdoor under the woman opened, she didn't die as quickly as the men had. She squirmed and struggled, and then her air finally ran out and she went limp.

Baisan couldn't breathe. He couldn't watch Finn suffer like the woman had. Castin's presence at his side was the only thing stopping him from dropping to his knees.

The executioner, seeing that the woman was finally still, moved on to listing Finn's crimes. "Arrested for countless crimes across Zianna. Theft, breaking and entering, trespassing, evading arrest, prisonbreak, assisting enemies of Zianna, involvement in attempted regi—"

Castin pulled his hand from Baisan. "I'm sorry."

Baisan saw the look in his eyes, and if it was even possible, his panic and fear increased twofold. "Castin, no."

"I can't stand here and do nothing." Castin's knife appeared in his hand, and he disappeared into the crowd.

Before Baisan could even think about going after him, a new voice cut across the executioner.

"Stop."

Baisan watched, as if in a dream, as Lord Tandrix appeared. He climbed onto the platform, and his authority couldn't be denied. The guards and the executioner just looked at him. Some with wide eyes, some with their jaws dropped. None of them knew what to do, and how could they?

Lord Tandrix looked like he had been sent by Zianesa herself. The wind caught his cloak as he turned to face the crowd. It was almost hard to see the friendly lord who had visited them in the lower city twelve months earlier. This Lord Tandrix was someone with boundless power. Someone who could control men with just his words.

"My King," Lord Tandrix called across the crowd, and bowed.

Finn suddenly went limp. Without the drop, the noose couldn't break his neck. He hung, choking.

Lord Tandrix was there in an instant, scooping Finn into his arms, his speech apparently forgotten. Nobody knew what to make of the display. People around Baisan started muttering to each other. The guards on the gallows eyed each other and tried to communicate with nods, shrugs and gestures without breaking rank. Finally one, slightly braver than the others, stepped forward.

Lord Tandrix growled something too quiet for Baisan to hear, and the guard backed away warily. Then another soldier, wearing blue underneath his armour, climbed onto the gallows. When he moved to take Finn, Tandrix let him. As Lord Tandrix stepped to the front of the platform, the braver guard stepped forward again to cut Finn's noose. The blue soldier glared at him the entire time.

"My King," Lord Tandrix called again, and the crowd quieted down. "I request an audience to discuss the unjust sentence of the thief Finagale."

Baisan couldn't see the king, but he must have indicated that he agreed, because Tandrix smiled and the crowd erupted again. Then Tandrix gestured to the blue solider, and they wasted no time carrying Finn away.

All around Baisan, people started moving. It was time to go back home, Baisan couldn't wait to tell the others the good news. But when he looked around for Castin, he realized that Castin hadn't come back. He pushed through people, heading in the direction Castin had gone. When he kicked something and heard it skittering across the cobblestones, he crouched to see that it was Castin's knife. All of his relief for Finn was suddenly replaced, once again, with fear. Baisan picked up the knife and looked around.

He saw Castin, behind the gallows, being yanked to his feet. His hands were tied back, and half of his face was covered with a red bruise. Castin looked up and for a moment their gazes caught each other. He saw Castin's mouth say "run".

Then one of the guards surrounding Castin pointed at Baisan. "That's one of them!"

Baisan looked around frantically. If he had seen Lord Tandrix in that moment, he would have thrown himself at the Lord's feet. But there was no flash of a blue cloak, no sign of the large blue soldier. They had whisked Finn away as quickly as they had arrived. With no other choice, Baisan turned and ran.

As he dodged between people and market stalls, he tried not to think about how he was going to explain what had happened to his family. One brother had been saved, but one had been lost.

No, not lost. Baisan was abandoning Castin, and Castin was being taken away from him. The person he needed most.

Baisan kept running.