Octavia tackled Dainn to the ground. She could feel him struggling, reaching for weapons that wouldn't have been allowed in a wedding hall. She tried to pin his hand down, but he rolled over her. Octavia had never been trained in combat, but her father had taught her a few basic things in case anyone tried to kidnap her.

"Son of a-" Dainn hissed when she headbutted up so that there was a crunching sound when her forehead met his nose. Before he could recover, she felt a fallen decoration beside her and went to whack him with it. He managed to block her, but she used the force to tilt him over.

Grabbing his hair, she pulled him back to the ground, reminding herself to stick to his injured side. He hadn't learned to fight with one leg yet. It was another reason she had chosen him for this role. Dainn might be a skilled fighter, but he had pretty much told her his skills had been compromised while he was healing.

"Give." Octavia bit his arm as hard as she could. When he jerked away, she pinned it to the ground. "Me." This time, he managed to throw her off, but she grabbed his ankle before he could get up. "The stupid-" This time, she felt a piece of broken glass next to her and stabbed downwards. There was a gasp as she met a target, feeling something warm and sticky blossoming under her hand. "Magic."

In the darkness, she could make out a vague outline of Dainn's arm. Feeling his forearm, she pushed her hand up to meet his palm. She only had minutes before he recovered, and at some point, Dainn would probably still be able to take her down.

Shouts of alarm and pattering footsteps echoed around the halls. The darkness concealed her from the revolutionaries, but she only had seconds before someone found her. Already she could feel someone reaching directly above her, trying to use the noise to locate them. 

"We're here!" Dainn shouted, and Octavia quickly pressed her palm against Dainn's. Heat began to build, flooding from her palm to her wrist, down into her arms. Despite the world around her exploding with chaos, Octavia felt herself relax at the familiarity of it.

Finally. Finally. Octavia felt the power race through her. It wasn't the high-quality fire magic she had grown up with. It was cheap and slowly dwindling out, but it would do. That also explained why Dainn hadn't tried to attack her with it. Fire magic of this quality would be hard to control while injured.

Luckily, Octavian was unharmed and very talented.

A hand grabbed her arm and she let the heat run up her arm. Whoever had reached for hissed, yanking back as her skin burned them.

Breathing heavily, Octavia got up and clapped her hands together. At once, all the candles burst back on, illuminating the room. Dainn coughed, paler now that his magic was gone. Octavia could see she had stabbed him in the center of his stomach, the blood trickling through his shirt.

"Come on," she said, wiping the blood off her dress. "You're... my... hostage..."

"Screw you," Dainn gasped as she tried to pull him up. He was too heavy, and Octavia was already exhausted.

"Get up... or... I'll burn you..."

"Burn me," Dainn spat and reached for the piece of glass Octavia had stabbed him with. She flicked her hand, and the glass heated into a bright red. Dainn hissed when his hand brushed it. "This was all a distraction," he muttered. Octavia grabbed his sleeve and tugged. "You're trying to buy time for your sister to escape."

Correct. Octavia wouldn't admit to that, though. She needed to hold Dainn hostage until she was sure Antonia and Nema were far enough away to-

"HELP!"

Octavia's head whipped up. Lucius' voice echoed through the room, pausing the chaos of Revolutionaries all hurtling in Octavia's direction, only to turn and see Antonia standing at the bottom of the staircase. Lucius was in front of her with a knife across his throat. The crowd gasped. Friedrich stepped forward as Octavia felt her heart drop.

This was not part of the plan.

Lucius was breathing rapidly, hands clenched around Antonia's forearm as he tried to pull her grip away. A few guards came closer, but Antonia raised her other hand, black smoke flickering across her palm.

"Come near me, and I will kill him." Her eyes searched around the room until she met Octavia's. Relief trickled over her expression before snapping back into something colder. "Let me and my sister go, and you can have him back."

"Antonia-" Friedrich began, but Antonia yanked the knife harder against Lucius's throat, bringing out a sharp cry of fear. "Let him go. Now."

Antonia didn't move.

Octavia looked down at Dainn. It appeared her sister had decided a child was a better hostage.

 She wasn't wrong. Friedrich's attention wasn't on Dainn as Nema stepped from behind Antonia, hands purple with wind magic. She raised them as a subtle warning not to approach. The room burst into dismayed whispers.

Abandoning Dainn, Octavia moved toward them, sending a column of fire down the aisle to clear her path.

"-traitor!" someone spat at Nema.

"A druid, no less-"

"Royalist-"

"I thought you and Antonia were escaping," Octavia whispered as she greeted them. Nema's eyes moved around the room - probably calculating their chances of escaping this castle alive. It didn't look high.

"I tried. She didn't want to leave you," Nema answered calmly. "Go stand next to her."

Inwardly cursing her sister's damnable loyalty, Octavia stepped closer to where Antonia was slowly becoming more and more surrounded by guards. A few turned their weapons to them, but Antonia squeezed Lucius harder, gaining a small squeak out of him.

"Please-" he began, whimpering.

Friedrich raised a hand, silently ordering everyone else to let Nema and Octavia by. "Think this through, Toni," he said. Antonia's breath hitched. "You don't want to hurt him."

"And you don't want to kill Trajan," Antonia shot back. "But we all know you would if you could get your hands on him." She licked her lips, slowly walking backward. Octavia and Nema went to either side of her. "You're going to stay here. If anyone follows us, I'll kill him."

Octavia looked up the looming staircase before them and felt a shred of hope. Still walking backward, they made their way up the steps, dragging Lucius with them. Flicking her hands, Octavia set the altar on fire, a subtle reminder that she knew what she was doing with this magic. Dainn sat up, eyes narrowed as he watched her move.

They reached the top of the staircase. There was a chance they could make it. If nobody dared to-

"You won't do it."

A man had shoved past the frozen onlookers, barging up the steps. Antonia's form stiffened.

Friedrich had also started moving, snapping at the Revolutionary to stay in place as he moved up the stairs. "Put my son in danger, and I'll kill you myself," he told him.

Huh. Octavia had never heard Friedrich refer to Lucius as his son before. It would have been touching in any other circumstance.

Antonia watched with careful eyes as Friedrich moved a few steps closer, raising his hands. "Let him go, Antonia. Give him to me now, and we won't follow."

Antonia hesitated. Lucius's fingers dug into her skin, his nails scratching her wrist.

"You'll send someone to kill us," she said. Friedrich pursed his lips. "You might let us leave, but you'll hunt us like you're hunting our mother and brother."

Whatever diplomacy was in Friedrich's face vanished. The man beside him tensed, looking unsure of the next move as Friedrich studied Antonia with newfound malice.

"Is that all you want?" he asked, moving closer. Antonia squeezed Lucius again in response. "To live?" Friedrich shook his head. "No. No, I know what you want. It's what you've always wanted. You are the second child and were third in line for the throne. Your magic was the only importance in your life, and your parents made you hide it."

"Antonia, keep walking," Nema said. Octavia also took a step back away from the staircase. Antonia said nothing, gaze unrelentingly fixed on Friedrich.

"And now you want to live to show it off so that people know you're special too."

"I am special," Antonia snapped back. A smile flickered over Friedrich's lips. "I was born with this power. I'm meant to do something with it-"

"You don't even know how to use it."

"I'll learn!" Antonia insisted. Nema and Octavia both looked at one another. While they had continued moving back, Antonia remained on the topmost stair, locked into her argument. "I'll use it to regain my family's throne. I am-"

"You have no idea what your family truly is," Friedrich interrupted quietly. "Your parents didn't even tell you that Jivanta had your magic."

Antonia froze. Her expression remained blank as she processed that, giving a subtle shake of her head.

"That isn't true," Octavia said, touching Antonia's arm.

There was no way Aunt Jivanta had been born with magic like Antonia was. Their mother would have told them. As it was, their mother hadn't known how to handle Antonia's magic. Wouldn't she have had more insight if her own sister had the same gifts? It was impossible.

Lucius whimpered, and whatever sympathy had been in Friedrich's eyes vanished, his fingers twitching. "Haz!" The soldier from before stepped forward. Octavia recognized him as one of the guards she had grown familiar with over the past few months. "Be prepared to put out any fire magic."

"Antonia," Nema said, voice growing sharper. Haz's hands were blue, a sign of water magic. Octavia raised her hands in warning. "Keep moving."

Antonia hesitantly took another step back. Her eyes flicked to Octavia, who nodded. A few seconds passed, tension rising as Octavia tried to think of a thousand ways they could escape, with the whole castle now aware of where they were. Octavia could have done it alone, but three people running from an army was much harder.

"Now!"

It was hard to tell who yelled it. A burst of water shot forward. With a wave of her hand, Octavia sent fire rising between them and the Revolutionaries. The water evaporated with a sharp sizzle as Friedrich cried out in alarm.

"Run!" Octavia shouted, only for an arrow to burst through the wall of fire, catching the side of her arm. Octavia gasped, hands lowering just enough so the fire faltered, and a few figures emerged from the rising smoke with a horrible battle cry.

Antonia hit the ground, and Nema lunged to protect her as Haz emerged from the dwindling fire, sword swinging. Octavia rushed forward to grab her sister, aware of the screams around them. Splintering wood sounded behind her, and a burst of pain went through her shoulder.

Antonia swore loudly, scrambling up as Octavia caught sight of Friedrich's axe buried in the ground next to them. The fire dimmed, and Octavia turned to see Haz moving toward her next. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her shoulder, she crawled to the axe, using whatever strength she had to grab the handle.

It was too heavy for her - and Octavia had never held a weapon in her life - but the adrenaline rushed through her. Somehow, she pulled it up, the pain in her shoulder burning through her as she managed to stand up and swing.

Haz screamed, the blade scraping across his eye and falling back. Octavia tried to lift it again, but Friedrich appeared, hand balled into a fist as he swung at her. His punch caught her jaw, sending her to the ground once more.

"Octavia!" Antonia's voice cried out, and when he looked up, Friedrich was hovering over her, grabbing his axe from where Octavia had dropped it. Summoning her fire, she willed the metal to heat in his hands, ignoring the magic blistering her palms. Friedrich's grip on the axe loosened, and she rolled to the side. Standing up, she used her good arm to grip his face. A crackle sounded, her magic burning his skin as he jerked away. He gripped her wrist, twisting it hard so she fell to her knees.

The axe loomed over her once more.

Octavia tried to raise her hands, but her shoulder stung as she worked to gather enough strength to summon fire. Friedrich grunted as he raised the axe, eyes darkening as-

"DADDY!"

Friedrich spun around at Lucius' voice. Antonia's hand jerked, and it took Octavia a moment to register that the red that suddenly gushed around them in spurts was blood. It was... it was....

No. Antonia wouldn't. Antonia would never.

Friedrich dropped the axe, instead taking a step toward Lucius. Octavia could barely register the body folding to the floor and rolling down the stairs. Blood sprayed over them all as Friedrich rushed over, gripping Lucius's small body against him.

A child. Antonia had killed a child.

It was to save your life, Octavia told herself, but the horror of it still left the world numb. Even with the world moving quickly around them, danger rushing up in every direction, everything felt quiet and slow.

"Run!" Nema shouted. Shaking herself out of her stupor, Octavia managed to yank up the axe and do just that. She kicked off her shoes and tried to ignore the dress around her, ripping as she grabbed Antonia's arm. Focusing all her energy on the feeling of magic in her hands, she summoned a wall of fire to block off the exit behind them.

"Careful!" Antonia shouted, slapping down Octavia's hands. "Too much, and you'll hurt yourself!"

Octavia glanced down. Blisters had started bubbling over her palms. A sign that the magic was overextended. Octavia didn't have time to figure out the limitations, though.

They were nearing the outskirts of the castle walls, and Octavia could see two horses waiting for them. Hope began to rise in her chest. Nema sprinted in front, faster than her and Antonia, and began undoing the saddle so two people could fit on the larger horse.

Octavia threw her leg over the second horse. Her dress was completely ruined at this point. All of it ripped and stained red. Friedrich's axe was still awkwardly clutched in her hand as she tried to figure out how to mount the horse with it. Nema helped Antonia up as an arrow zipped by her head, landing deep in the tree next to her.

Octavia's fire had dimmed, and Revolutionaries were filing out of the building with weapons now in hand. Reaching for the invisible thread she felt around her wrist, she threw her hand out, allowing more fire to rise from the ground. Revolutionaries stumbled back, narrowly avoiding the flames.

"Go!" Octavia yelled and leaned forward to keep her head from being too much of a target as she kicked her horse forward. Nema and Antonia darted after her.

From above them, there was a shuddering roar. Octavia clenched her hands, feeling a pull of heat rolling over as a shadow was cast over them. The dragon. Octavia risked a look up. She had hoped it wouldn't be a problem with Dainn being unable to ride.

Another battle cry sounded from somewhere behind as more arrows flew past her.

Octavia gripped her horse tighter, waiting for pain when, inevitably, a weapon would meet its mark. She didn't dare look back but felt the presence behind her getting closer. The dragon growled, the sound rattling her mind.

There was only one thing she could do. Octavia looked down at the orange in her hands. She took a slow breath. It was now or never.

"ANTONIA!" she yelled and pointed toward the Eternal River. "THAT WAY! GO!"

A dagger flew through the air, nicking the horse as it gave a sharp whiny and moved faster. Octavia took a deep breath and thought of her father... burning into ash. A person who was suddenly nothing but dust in the wind. She tried to imagine her hands and nails and eyes all crumbling into nothingness. Fear slithered down her stomach.

"OCTAVIA!" Nema yelled, getting further away as they drifted to the river. Octavia kept onward. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"KEEP GOING!" she yelled back and took a breath. She hoped the spirits were listening. "...protect me, Father," she whispered and raised her palms to the sky, gathering all the heat she could. The dragon let a low rumble, a sign of concern, as Octavia felt the little power she had grow more and more.

Antonia's voice echoed once more. "OCTAVIA, NO!"

Fire burst through the air.