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The deep lines on King Dalgorel's forehead engaged in perfect formation to create the irate facial expression trained on Seth. Veins rippled on the king's forearms as he held his embellished sword to Seth's neck.

Out of the corner of Seth's eye, he tracked Garreth's movement as the prince took a step forward. He froze when his father cast a glance backward. No, come on, Garreth. Seth's plan had quite literally fizzled to a swordpoint.

"Father." The prince took a deep breath and straightened his posture. "This isn't right."

Oh, so Garreth was on the right side? Good job, Kendra. Now, if only Eve would come save him from this sword.

"Silence, Garreth." The king eyed Seth up and down. Every time Seth inhaled, the sword scratched his skin.

"Please, King Dalgorel." Kendra twisted in the guards' grasp. "I promise, we will–"

"For the love of everything sacred, properly muffle the witch!"

Seth slightly tilted his head to the right to see more behind him. The sword scraped his neck. At the king's command, one of the guards wrapped his hand around Kendra's mouth. She thrashed and the guard adjusted his stance to accommodate. She slipped through his hand's grasp, but the other guard silenced her with a backhand and grabbed her. The muffling guard removed his hand for a moment so she could spit out the blood running down her face, before replacing it over her mouth.

The prince flinched—a mortal sin. Garreth's eyes were locked onto Kendra, but hers were blinking heavily and unfocused. It was shock, and, possibly, side effects of the crystals. Ronodin, the traitorous bastard, had told Seth anecdotal tales of sickness due to suppressed magic.

"Father, please—"

"Garreth, that...is...enough!" Dalgorel's voice reverberated throughout the high walls. "If you are too weak, too enamored with the witch to see that the right decision is execution, you will never be king."

"It is not weakness to be humane, you are being cruel."

The king lowered his sword and just for a moment, Seth believed Garreth was going to save him with his words, but then the king raised the sword higher until it rested above Seth's head and swung down. Garreth lunged, and the background blurred.

The blade gleamed in the stained glass colors of blue, purple, green, and yellow and all Seth could imagine was how red, how bloody, it was about to be.

The guard's gloved hand muffled Kendra's sob.

The stained glass reflections coalesced into cold steel as the sword rushed towards Seth's eyes only to stop to hover above his nose. If he stuck his tongue out, he could taste it. During an unseasonably cold winter in Fablehaven, the court was able to acquire the novelty of an ice statue for a festival. Unfortunately, due to the satyrs' dare, the statue had to be wheeled out with Seth stuck to it into his bedroom until it melted. The same childish urge rose for a split second in Seth before panic took over.

His terror-filled tunnel vision widened just enough to catalogue the blockade impeding his imminent death—Garreth and the prince's blade flush against the king's neck. Yes! Garreth wasn't a prick! Good. That was good. What was also insane is that that could have just been the end of Seth's entire life. But, that was okay, it was probably only a slight delay.

Glancing between the royals at hand, Seth steadfastly refused to move an inch.

So, this was how it was going to end. King Dalgorel's sword at his throat, and Garreth's at his father's.

The guards shuffled nervously. They were sworn to the royal family. What to do when the regicide also happened to be patricide? The taste of metallic was a forewarning of what was to come. The King's royal guard against the Prince's.

"Garreth, what, in the world, are you doing?" The words crawled out of the king's throat like a bear approaching its prey.

"Father, this isn't right. We've offered these people protection. You can't execute them. Seth's innocent." The prince's arm quivered.

Seth could almost laugh. Yes, Seth was the innocent one out of him and his sister. He was the prim and proper and rule-following sibling.

"But, what of the witch? She is not innocent. Would that be better for your morals? If she took the sword instead?"

Garreth's breath caught, and he cleared his throat. "I do not truly believe she's guilty."

The king lowered his sword from Seth's neck. Once again, Seth relished his ability to take a deep breath but had learned from the past and stayed tense as the king twisted to face Garreth. The prince's sword didn't move but hovered just outside of the king's skin so as to not slice the king on his turn.

Dalgorel scanned Garreth and guffawed. It was a bold move for someone at swordpoint, and his laughter ricocheted across the courtroom. Courtiers backed towards the doors, but couldn't abandon the crime scene. A mad king was certainly not someone you'd want to be around, but no noble would abandon the makings of a regicide. They'd lose any upward mobility they'd gain from being witnesses.

"Garreth, look at you. This is proof of her sorcery. You are obviously under her spell and that is why you are acting this way. By god, boy. I can't believe I didn't see it sooner."

"No, father. I am not under any spells." Garreth glanced at Kendra and Seth before returning his father's gaze. "Now, tell me this. Why would an evil sorcerer attend court meetings, sift through paperwork, and generally do mundane things for the sake of Terrabelle's crown like Kendra did? Kendra organized charity for our lower town, attended events in the town proper, and settled disputes in the castle day in and day out. If she was truly evil, wouldn't she have sown chaos?"

Wow, Kendra's work was so much more than Seth had been doing. But, Kendra had told him that was okay because he was still spending his time getting to know Eve. Which was perfect because if Seth had been put in charge of settling disputes, mere verbal arguments would have turned into brawls.

"Look around you, child!" Dalgorel growled and gestured at his son with his free hand. "This chaos is her fault."

Garreth shook his head. "No, it is not. It is mine and yours. If anyone is shaking the foundation of Terrabelle right now, it is me. So, execute me."

"Garreth! Stop this nonsense!"

"I have a sword to your neck. That is worse than anything Kendra has ever done to you." Garreth lowered his head slightly. "Bring your sword upon my head."

Seth's feet scuffed the carpet as he twitched. Braziers popped and candles withered.

Dalgorel seemed to consider it. His sword faltered in front of Seth. The king glanced at the empty throne of a long-gone queen and solidified his stance.

"I will not tolerate this. Guards, seize—"

Garreth wrenched a knife from his belt and threw it at an approaching guard. "I may not have enjoyed squiring, but I am still a knight. I will best all of you if you even try."

The king straightened. The knife had been stopped by the guard's chainmail, but the guard wrenched it out and cast it aside. The knife skittered towards Kendra's feet. "Fine. Put your sword down, Garreth."

Garreth narrowed his eyes. "No."

The king lowered his voice to a furious whisper. "Garreth, this ends now. Put down your sword or face my wrath. You would forfeit your crown over these people? Forfeit your life?"

Kendra's muffled words carried across the silence. Garreth remained silent and merely pressed into his sword. The king readjusted his grip on his weapon. The guard holding Seth exhaled slowly, the breath fanning his ear.

"Very well." The king raised his sword perpendicular to Garreth's, parried it away, and lunged.

Garreth skidded backward and raised his sword in a defensive position against the ruthless onslaught of slashes and jabs. He ducked where he could and tried to thrust in the few openings the king gave, but the prince wouldn't last much longer. He may have been a skilled swordsman but he was nothing against the king.

The guards stood dumbstruck by the duel, and Seth took the opening to throw himself onto the guard to his left and roll off their holds.

Kendra took notice and threw herself forward, breaking the guards' muffle as they utilized both hands to restrain her. She began chanting magical nonsense while thrashing in the cuffs, but no one else put two and two together that she couldn't perform any magic right now and panicked. The noble crowd created a stampede as they rushed towards the doors.

Weaving in and out of nobles to their horror and exclamations, Seth ran to the farthest wall, his personal guard maintaining chase, as he physically felt his magic reignite. As soon as the familiar coursing energy returned back to full force, Seth curled his fingers around his steel cuffs and lowered its temperature until it cracked and fell to the floor. He stopped running, turned to face his former captors, and spread his hands wide. This was his dominion now. Magic coursed through his veins, and contrary to Kendra, he didn't grow flowers or hold back for any sort of propriety.

They had been worried about the wrong sibling.

The stampede had lessened with only a few stragglers still elbowing their way out the door. Now, the field had become open. However, the guards' uncertainty seemed to suggest they were close to deserting the fight. That wouldn't do.

"Guys, don't stress. There's only one of me and I don't even have a weapon." Seth grinned. In the far distance of the hall, Kendra yelled and swords clashed. "It will definitely be a fair fight."

They looked at each other and shuffled backwards. Their swords faltered, and Seth's excitement released in the form of maniacal laughter. At this point, he might just sound crazy, but just wait until he had begun his attack. Then, it could be certain.

Seth darted for one guard and grabbed his arm, ice bursting from his touch and creeping across the guard's armour, and then threw both himself and the guard into the nearby wall. The ice cast crystalized onto the wall, and the man yelled. The ice must have been cooling the chainmail fast. He wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

After long summers in Fablehaven's humidity, Seth had learned how to cool the moisture in the air into eager, needy ice crystals very willing to latch onto people. It was very useful in times like these. Kendra often used that discovery when she tried to push for magical education. Just imagine the additional discoveries that could be found through the scientific method!

Vanessa was rubbing off on her.

The remaining guard shivered as if he was the one on the wall and ran. The man on the wall seethed through his teeth and gripped the ice on his other hand, but, rookie mistake, he now had just trapped both hands.

Seth pouted in disappointment at the cowardice of his opponents. It had been so long since he had been able to use his powers, he felt like he had an untapped reservoir.

Oh, well.

With his own guards disposed of, Seth sprinted to aid Kendra. She struggled in the guards' holds as, with no magic, it will often be the two heavily armored guards that attain the upper hand.

Seth's magic retreated from his use as he came closer to the crystal cuffs. Not a pleasant feeling.

Kendra's dress was ripped down the side, and blood oozed from a laceration following the fabric tear. However, the guards wrestling her did sport bloody noses, and their helmets were dented and discarded on the ground.

Upon seeing Seth's approach, one of the guards shifted to hold both of her upper arms while the other drew his sword. Please, one guard? This was about to be absolute cake.

Although, now that he was now back in the radius of Kendra's crystals, he could no longer manipulate the heat in the environment. He had to rely on good old-fashioned non-magical violence. Ah, just what Grandpa thought kids these days should be doing.

Now, Seth had no real weapon, but he did have his belt—a solid length of leather stopped only by a heavy iron buckle. He quickly unlooped it. Once, Patton had broken up a fervent bar fight using only his belt.

Granted, this was not a bar fight, but Seth mimicked his memories of Patton anyway and wrapped the belt around his hand several times, leaving a good length with the buckle to swing with. It cut through the air with a crack, but the opposing guard didn't flinch. It probably stood to reason that Kendra had been assigned the most adept guards.

Still, even as Seth swung the belt in a figure eight, the guard did not engage. He seemed content to just keep Seth away from Kendra.

The other guard holding her did not seem content at all as Kendra flailed in his grip. His heavy armour dealt out bruises to match her blows, but her thrashing allowed her to adjust her position. Her cuffed hands swept low to the floor, and with herself facing the guard, she grasped blindly on the floor until she wrapped her hand around Garreth's discarded knife. Only problem was that she had grabbed it by the blade.

Seth glanced back at the dais. Garreth backed up three steps from the wall of the courtroom and his father continued an onslaught of vicious jabs. It was a fight to the death, and with time, the winner would be clear. Oh man, just hold out, Garreth, and they could get out of here. So close.

In his own standoff, Seth desperately tried to bait the guard. With the belt, he couldn't exactly dart in and begin parrying the man's sword. He needed him to be weaponless.

Oh! An idea from back when he would try to distract Grandpa to allow him to sneak the satyrs out of his room. He glanced above the guard's shoulder and smiled subtly before extinguishing it like he was caught. The guard took a risk and briefly glanced back, but at that time Seth swung the belt to wrap the guard's sword hand and wrench the belt towards Seth. The sword clattered to the ground.

Now, Seth has gotten the upper hand. He continued his attack.

On his periphery, he could see that his determined sister had merely shuffled the blade until she gripped its handle. With a kick to the guard's knee, he fell back and she used the momentum to spin herself within the guard's grip so she was back to normal—her face facing outward, her hands behind her back—and thrust the knife backward into his navel. In much closer proximity than when Garreth had thrown it, the blade was able to breach the chain mail and lodge into the guard.

Seth waited until the guard in front of him dropped his head-protecting hands in fatigue. With one solid blow to the head, the guard slumped to the ground.

His thump was accompanied by his partner's as Kendra twisted hard to the right, raising her shackled hands to the sky, and broke out of his now weak hold. Both guards laid limp on the ground.

The siblings gulped in breaths. The guard's hand twitched toward the knife in his stomach, but Kendra merely kicked his leg to get him to stop.

"Nice job," Kendra panted.

"You too," Seth spun his impromptu weapon. "Patton was definitely onto something with these belts."

Kendra blew air out of her nostrils as his words gave her a slight humor.

But the quick reprieve soon came to an end as Garreth's and Dalgorel's grunts marred the temporary peace. Even with the break, the cold air and exertion made Seth feel like with every breath, knives sliced down his throat.

Both siblings' heads snapped back as a thump resounded across the hall. Garreth's sword had missed his father and had swung into the wall's wood. Panic overtook his face as his father took the opportunity to stalk towards him. The prince cut his losses and sprinted from the sword, drawing a knife from his belt. The king quickened his step to catch up and swung. The stained glass windows framed the father and son as the prince barely caught the bite of the blade with the side of his knife.

"Seth," Kendra stressed. "We need to break these."

Seth nodded and ran about thirty feet until the latch of the crystals had fully abated. Reaching into his reservoir, he stuck his hands to the floorboards and pulled. Ice formed in the cracks of the wood, but Seth didn't know how cold the crystals needed to be to crack, so he kept pulling. When he felt on the verge of fainting, Seth fell backwards, fully exhausted.

Kendra dashed to his side and pushed her crystals to the wood. The proximity had cooled the air and surrounding floor, and she gasped. Within seconds, she was shivering and Seth almost felt bad but then the first crack appeared in the crystals and they shattered.

Seth pushed up to a sitting position and waited as Kendra shook out her arms and locked her eyes on the king.

Dalgorel was winning. Multiple new slashes had appeared on Garreth, and the prince's steps were faltering. This was his end. So close.

Kendra twisted her hand and muttered some words under her breath. Seth glanced around for the effect but saw nothing.

"Uh, Kendra? Our guy is about to get impaled by his father. Tell me you're doing something that will help."

Kendra didn't even pause to send him a glare, so Seth knew she was seriously focused. He slowly convalesced enough to stand, and he was glad he did, because just as soon, he understood what Kendra had been reaching for.

Knotted, twisting tree branches burst through the stained glass windows. Shards of colored glass exploded onto the pair engaged in combat, and the prince stopped fighting and used both hands to protect his face.

The tree branches thickened and gnarled into a barrier protecting Garreth. Flowering vines crept along the branches much quicker and shot through the window.

King Dalgorel stepped back, mouth open at the scene. What did he expect to happen once all hell broke loose with a pair of sorcerers? He thought they'd let him fight measly sword battles without injecting some magical fun into the equation? Tough luck.

At this point, Kendra and Seth had become the only conscious audience for the ground-breaking duel. Well, Seth had become the only audience. Because Kendra was pretty embroiled in it at this point.

The vines darted in a beeline for the king. The first tendrils wrapped around his sword and wrenched it out of his hands. The others entwined between his fingers and prevented him from reaching for any other weapons. The branches followed and coiled around the king's arms, moving up towards his shoulders until his entire torso was encased in thick wood. As a final touch, the vines' bulbs burst into an array of flowers that would eventually drench the place in pollen. Everything stilled.

Kendra swayed as she walked forward, and Seth understood. Without constant exercise, their magical abilities had withered and pushing them as far as they did this morning would have enraged any of their tutors back home. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she mirrored his action.

Fear contorted the king's face as Kendra's dress billowed behind their ascent. Garreth dropped his dagger and fell to his rump, breathing heavily. Shards of glass had lodged themselves in his side.

Although, Kendra didn't spare a glance for Garreth. Which was definitely...weird. But, Kendra might have just been too wound up to be all lovey-dovey.

The warning bells began to toll yet again. One of the fleeing nobles or guards must've alerted castle staff. With the level of destruction Kendra's display had just caused, it was pretty inevitable.

Oh, well. It was a familiar tune to him at this point.

"Just kill me already," the king snarled. Although his earthen strait jacket kept him back, the ferocity and vitriol in his narrowed eyes was frightening. Kendra didn't flinch. Neither did Seth, but that didn't matter as much, because the king was also completely locked on the princess.

"No. I won't kill you. But, consider this Fablehaven's official resignation from the Treaty of Terrabelle. We forfeit the magic restrictions along with the allyships. Fablehaven is magical and always will be. Nothing you can try to do can change that." Kendra stepped back and turned her gaze to Garreth. It was steely, and Garreth froze in fear. "Despite what you may think of sorcerers, we are not bloodthirsty, revenge-driven murderers." The king scoffed and Kendra released a breath. Okay, so something had happened. "I won't kill the king myself as he is your father. What would you like to do with him?"

Seth bit his tongue. Please kill him, Garreth. Please, please. It will be so much easier than any noble stuff you guys would like to do. Please, have some sense.

The beaten prince raised his head. He climbed to his feet and stared down at his father. With them now on even ground, Seth could see that Garreth had a few inches on his father.

"Garreth, you would make a much better king," Seth put in. "Much nicer."

Kendra had no words of encouragement. Seth could feel her rigidity against him as she took a deep breath. Even so, she stood tall.

The king only stared up with a blank effect. Seth couldn't imagine what he could be thinking at the moment. He did just try to kill the son he should be seeking a pardon from.

A broken laugh escaped Garreth. He ran a hand through his hair. "I've never felt this much fury before."

After a scan of his father, Garreth turned to Kendra. The sudden attention caused her to stiffen further. "I am not my father, and I would like to take down the Sphinx. I know I don't know everything, or, really, anything anymore, but I still want to figure some things out. Can I come with you to help you recover your grandparents and kingdom?"

Kendra's fingers twitched at her side and curled into fists briefly. Garreth's eyes flicked to their motion but raised his gaze immediately. There was bravery in his posture, sure, but also fear and guilt.

Seth wanted to see Garreth come along. The guy was a pretty good swordsman. However, it was not his decision. It was Kendra's. And based on her silence, it was a difficult one.

She pressed her tongue to her teeth. Her answer arrived short and curt. "Yes. You may."

He nodded and looked back at his father. His shoulders tightened. "Did you already send the letter to the Sphinx?"

"I did." A smile broke out across the king's face. The vines curled tighter around his limbs and one crept up to cradle his neck. "You are all doomed."

Garreth shook his head. "No, you absolute coxcomb. You are. You have invited a dangerous man to your court and you will face the consequences when you don't have what he wants." His eyes left the king and returned to lock with Kendra's gaze. Sweat dripped down his face, and followed the curve of his grim frown.

"Leave him here." The prince wrenched his sword from the wooden beams without breaking eye contact with the princess. "And let him rot."

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thank you for reading!

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