Cora spent the night in Thalia's wagon, lying down on the hard mattress and staring at the dark ceiling above her head as the enchantress slept next to her, no worry in her heart.

She kept repeating the events of the past day in her mind, over and over again, the look in Harry's eyes seeming darker every time.

He'd killed someone in front of her. He'd told her to close her eyes, as you'd ask of a child while playing hide and seek, and then slaughtered over ten people before her in a matter of seconds. And worst of all, he'd seemed unaffected by it. As if he knew they weren't the first and wouldn't be the last.

That wasn't the Harry she knew. The Harry she knew was kind and came to help her when she asked. The Harry she knew took her to see the stars. But he'd committed a murder without flinching. Cora wondered if she knew him at all.

Thalia had mentioned he protected his people, and so he had done. What did protecting his people entail? To what level would he stoop in the name of it? She didn't know what to think.

Eventually her thoughts faded into a muddy, grey background and the sounds coming from outside lulled her to sleep.

• • •

When she opened her eyes again she saw a pair of violet eyes staring down at her and jumped up, slamming her back against the side of the wagon in fear before realising they belonged to Thalia.

"I forgot how long humans sleep for," she said, sending her a hard look, and Cora frowned.

"Do you dislike me?"

Thalia turned around, draping her black cloak over her shoulders and checking herself out in the mirror, staring at her through the reflection. "I don't dislike you, I dislike your judgemental spirit. Harry does more for us than you'll ever know."

"I don't understand," she admitted.

"You don't know what it means to be hunted like game and treated like a nightmare." She scoffed. "You don't know what it's like to have to hide yourself in hopes of staying alive. Harry saves us."

Cora stood up as well, brushing her fingers through her dark blonde hair in hopes of making it look presentable. "He saves you from what?"

"From what almost happened to you."

"But you can protect yourself, can't you? I'm powerless. I couldn't escape."

Thalia scoffed. "Harry was only able to help you because they trapped you like a human, not a fay."

"What does that mean?"

"If they'd treated you like a fay, they would've shackled you to a board, used iron to strip you of your powers and lined the room with poison. Nobody gets free from that alone," she explained. "Harry is one of the few that's willing to risk his life to save others'. This is why we follow him. Most of us are exhausted, but he's a fighter and a dreamer."

Cora put on her cloak as well, tilting her head. She could notice that the caravan wasn't moving anymore, which meant that they'd stopped somewhere during the night. She found the thought comforting, for some reason. "What does he dream of?"

"That's not for me to say." Thalia sent her a glance before opening the door. "Go have breakfast, we'll be moving again soon. I'll get a horse ready for you."

Cora followed her out, a confused look flashing through her eyes when she took in the amount of people that were walking around the circle of wagons. It looked like she'd slept for longer than she'd intended to, but she blamed it on the exhaustion from the day before.

A woman she didn't recognise approached her with a dish of berries and a cup of orange tea, and she took them with a little thank you and sat down on the step of Thalia's wagon.

She felt lost. Was she supposed to stick around Thalia or go look for Harry? Thalia didn't seem to enjoy her presence that much— she had to appear like a child to someone of her age and experience. Thinking about it, maybe her behaviour wasn't an act, but a simple reflection of the understanding of the world she'd made hers over the years. The young humans asking her for a reading had to seem predictable, simple and even immature to her. But then again, Harry was young as well, and she respected him more than anyone else.

Harry was the only other person she knew, but things were strained between them now. After he'd gone into his wagon the night before, she hadn't seen him again. Someone had tied Saiph with the others, and he'd stayed in there for the rest of the afternoon. Cora wasn't sure whether she wanted to talk to him or stay as far away from him as possible.

She didn't want to be around him even though it killed her to know he probably felt in the same way, and even though the fragile, peaceful side of her wanted to make sure everything was fine between them, she couldn't bring herself to seek him out.

She studied the people around her as she ate her berries. In the distance, Aster was coming back from the woods with the white fox in tow, the gentle morning wind blowing through his light blond hair. Oden approached him and they exchanged some words, and then the child ran away giggling. Aster rolled his eyes and watched the fox run around the fire with the rest of the children. He looked away and his eyes snagged on Cora's for a moment, and then he went to the red wagon. It wasn't long before a woman Cora didn't know was at his step with a fresh cup of tea.

Cora's gaze moved on. One of the children summoned a wind so strong while playing that it put out the fire, and the fox, taken aback, ran to hide under the food cart. A few minutes later, Aster was coaxing it out with something that looked too much like a dead bird.

She was sipping the warm orange tea when someone sat on the step next to her, making her wince. A glance to the side confirmed what she already knew deep down; Harry was beside her.

Her heart was pounding into her chest and she looked at the cup in her hands, not knowing what to say—if there was anything to say at all. She'd already made her point the day before, and there was nothing he could say that would make her forget the fact that he'd killed someone in front of her.

"Are you thinking of keeping it up for much longer?" His voice was deep and low, a whisper in the air between them, and she hated how the familiarity of the sound brought her relaxation.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry, because I'm not. They attacked us and they would've killed us, if I hadn't stopped them."

"I don't expect you to look for my forgiveness."

There was silence, and Cora hoped he'd stand up and leave her be.

He didn't.

"I wasn't planning on doing that." He stood up. "Get to the front of the line as soon as you're done, we're going on a trip."

She looked up at him hastily. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"It wasn't a request."

Cora glared at the back of his head as he went away, disappearing behind the wagon in seconds.

She couldn't stand him and the way he always had to get his way. There was truth in Thalia's cards—even though he wasn't a king, he surely acted like one. He expected everyone to bow down to his every wish; it was clearer now more than ever. If he couldn't convince others to do what he wanted them to, he'd find ways to force them to follow his will.

If his presence was nothing short of majestic, the upkeep of his prestige was no easy task for the people around him. She wondered why she'd never noticed how truly demanding he was. Maybe he'd been talented enough to make her follow the path he'd chosen for her, and she'd been desperate enough for an adventure to follow him without as much as a question.

How she wished she'd had more qualms, now.

She had no home and nowhere to go, she was lost. If he'd told her she was a butterfly in a glass cage when she was still in her little town, the cage was nowhere to be found now. He'd wrecked it and forced her to fly, but she'd lived her whole life in captivity, and she didn't know how to be free.

Cora finished her tea and stood up, giving the dishes back to the woman that had handed them to her, that was not far away.

Then, she sighed and walked to the front of the line. After all, Harry's hadn't been a request, and she had no bargaining power.

She found him waiting for her in front of the first wagon. Arnold was standing next to him, gripping the reins of two horses and talking to him quietly, but he went silent in the instant he saw her approach them.

"When should we expect you to be back?" Arnold asked, handing him the reins of a black horse.

"We won't take more than a couple of hours. Keep travelling south through the greenwood roads, we'll find you." He hopped on the horse and stroked its neck, and Cora watched in surprise as the animal seemed to visibly calm down under his touch.

"Need help getting on the horse?" Arnold asked her when she didn't do the same, and she glanced at it warily, realising just then that the horse she was supposed to ride was Saiph.

"Isn't this your horse?" she asked Harry, and he shrugged.

"You can have her."

Arnold handed him a black cloak that was similar to hers, with the only difference that the clasp was shining like gold and there was a fine, elaborate golden embroidery on the neckline.

Harry put it on and sent her a look, seeing the confusion on her face. "I'm recognisable in blue. After yesterday, it's important to make sure nobody knows the Fair was in the area when those bandits were killed. We'd be the first on their lists."

"Is this what you do?" Cora asked. "Kill people and then put on a fancy cloak and pretend you were never there?"

"You're rather judgemental for someone that has never been in the real world," Harry commented, and his use of the same word Thalia had used earlier shut her up. "While you were hiding away in a hostel I was building this Fair and protecting the people in it. Reality is much harsher than the filtered, pink version your aunt fed you to keep you content."

Cora clenched her teeth but got on Saiph, biting the inside of her cheek when she pawed under her weight.

Harry leaned over the ear of the animal and whispered something, just like she'd seen him do in the past, easily soothing her. "Good girl," he murmured before straightening his back.

Then, before she could comment on it, he was riding his horse at trot and was no longer next to her.

"Hang on, I don't know how to do this!" Cora said loudly, glaring at Arnold when he snickered.

"Happy to help with that," he laughed, patting Saiph on the side gently, and Cora's stomach threatened to turn over when the horse ran right after Harry.

She slowed down to a calm trot when they were next to Harry again, but it didn't do much to stop the trembling of Cora's fingers as she gripped the reins.

They rode side by side down the dirt road in silence for what felt like ages, even though she knew a little less than half an hour had gone by when they stopped at a crossroads.

"Where do we go now?" Cora asked when Harry didn't direct his horse in either direction, and he turned to look at her, an impassive look in his light green eyes. He wasn't wearing a hat, so the morning sun was shining on top of his head, illuminating his brunette curls with reddish and golden highlights. If he'd been someone else, Cora would've swooned over his dashing looks on that morning a thousand times over.

"We aren't going anywhere until you talk to me."

Cora tensed up. "Aren't we talking right now?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Cora," Harry warned her. "You need to get over yesterday."

"You're asking me to forget you killed more than ten people in front of me?" There was shock in her voice. How could he expect her to act like it never happened?

"You asked me to help you. That's what I'm doing."

"I asked you to get me out of jail, not turn into a murderer."

"They were criminals. They saw you, they would've gone to your city and sold that information to the guards. Do you realise the extent of the damage you'd bring us if it came out the Fair is harbouring a supposed arsonist?"

Cora let out a sour laugh. "Oh, so you aren't helping me. You're just scared people will hunt you too."

"Let me explain something to you, Cora," Harry said, the tone of his voice dark. "You and I share the same destiny, now. If I go down, you go down. Was I protecting myself? Yes, I was. But in doing that I was protecting you, too."

"Because we're bound together?"

"As long as you travel with the Fair, your survival depends on it. We feed you, dress you, give you somewhere to sleep. If guards bring us down you'll lose everything. That's how it works for everyone else, too."

"I don't know if I like this," Cora admitted, "I've never wanted this."

Harry gave her a serious look. "You don't have to like it."

"I got in trouble because I asked for the address," she shared. She hadn't told him before. "You told me to do that and I did, and that's why they thought it was me."

Harry lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That it would be dangerous to ask for the address. That this would happen. Is that why you had me do it, instead of doing it yourself?"

He sighed. "I only asked you to do it because I thought they wouldn't have given it to me. Humans tend to be scared of me."

"I wonder why..." Cora murmured under her breath. She too had been intimidated by him at the start. He seemed to love exerting his dominance above everyone else.

She looked down, sadness weighing down on her heart. She wondered what her aunt had thought, when the morning sun had found her gone. What if she believed she'd been killed during the night, or moved? She had to know she'd run away. And Naomi and Adair, too. What were they thinking? Were they missing her, did they know she was safe and free?

"I didn't even get to say goodbye," she said in a whisper.

"Most of us didn't either." He cleared his throat, staring ahead and making her think he hadn't meant to say it out loud. "Let's go left."

Cora followed him, and for half an hour they rode down a dirt road with trees on either side of them. Then, right when her body was starting to hurt because of the uncomfortable position she was sitting in, they left the woods.

She looked ahead. There was a small town in the distance, full of people peacefully walking down the street. It reminded her of home. It was way, way smaller and all the houses seemed to be instants away from crumbling down, but the feeling of warmth it gave off was familiar to her.

Harry pulled up his hood and Cora did the same, hiding her face from view as they went towards it.

Nobody seemed to be particularly interested in them as they entered the town. Harry's embroidered cloak turned some heads at first, but then they all dismissed it and went back to their errands, probably only supposing he came from a wealthy family and was not to be trifled with.

"What are we doing here?" Cora asked quietly as they went down the streets.

"I'm picking up a package."

"What kind of package?"

"I believe it's none of your concern."

Cora rolled her eyes, but didn't speak again. She knew he was still a bit short with her because of the way she'd acted the day before, but that didn't mean she couldn't be annoyed by his behaviour. At the same time, though, it also made her want to laugh, because Harry was petty. How could someone be so real and yet so ethereal at the same time?

They stopped in front of a building, and Harry got off his horse.

"Stay here, keep the hood on, don't talk to anyone, don't attract attention. I'll be back soon," he instructed, leaving the animal to her and going inside.

She debated hiding his horse and running away with Saiph, but then shook her head at the ridiculousness of the thought. Whether she liked it or not, she needed him, and he knew it.

At least he was offering her something. A life, a job. She had nowhere else to run. The thought of living with him scared her, though. She'd never liked danger, and the last days had taken a toll on her. She wasn't sure she'd last long like that.

Harry came out of the building carrying a mysterious white box, and she eyed it curiously as he tied it safely on the horse.

"You'll burn a hole right through it if you keep it up," he murmured as he accomplished his task, not looking at her, and she blushed.

"I'm just curious."

"Become incurious."

Cora glared at him. "Easy for you to say, I'm not the one with a mysterious white box."

He got on the horse. "It'll get less mysterious if you assume it's none of your concern. When did you start questioning everything?"

"Somewhere between being thrown in jail and almost sentenced to death and being present as over ten people were murdered."

"Just another day in the life, then," Harry commented, a hint of playfulness in his tone that didn't show on his face.

Cora dug her heels into the sides of Saiph gently, hoping the horse had enough common sense to follow Harry since she was a mess when it came to controlling her.

"If this is what's waiting for me, I'm not sure I'll last," she said honestly, lowering her hood and letting her dark golden hair free.

Harry shrugged, not glancing at her. "You get used to it."

"I doubt that," she commented, sighing as they turned the corner.

And then, they were surrounded by armed men.

The horses came to a halt in front of the line of men. Cora widened her eyes when she recognised them as the official guards of that town. What did they want from them?

"Well, you sure do look familiar, girl," one of them told her. "Get off the horse, the both of you."

Cora sent Harry a panicked glance, but he followed the order, so she did too. One of the guards grabbed the reins and pulled the horses away from them.

"What was the warning that came out of Beilyn again, guys?"

She paled. They couldn't already know she'd run away, could they?

Another guard sent them a sinister look. "I believe it was, blond-haired girl, grey eyes, medium height. I'd say it sounds just about right."

"What a pretty arsonist we have here. Going anywhere, darling?"

Another guard opened a piece of paper and stared at it before looking at her. "Yeah, it's her. Get her."

Cora started to back away, but halted when she realised they were surrounded. She looked at Harry, hoping he'd do something, anything, but he just stood by her side.

"Do we need to bring her alive?"

The guard with the paper replied. "Nah, she's an arsonist and murderer, she'll be sentenced to death either way."

The men unsheathed their blades and closed in on them. "Raise your hands."

Cora glanced in Harry's direction, a chill running down her spine when she realised that he'd raised his hands. Why wasn't he doing anything? Was he going to let them seize them?

"Raise your hands, I said."

Her hands flew up as well, and she sent Harry a terrified look. "Do something," she pleaded quietly.

"Silence!"

"Let's take them in."

She forced herself to ignore the guards, that were getting closer and closer. Now they couldn't even try to run away anymore, that close they all were to them. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

Finally, Harry looked at her. "So you want me to do something, now?"

Cora's mouth fell open. There was no way he was doing it in that moment, when they were about to be slaughtered, absolutely no way. Not even he could be that prideful. "Yes?!"

A little sarcastic smile curved his lips, but she could barely see it in the darkness of his hood. "Say please."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Silence, right now!" a guard shouted, but they seemed to be confused by what was going on.

Harry gave her a hard look. "Say please, Cora."

"You want me to beg you?!" She couldn't believe it. She simply couldn't believe it.

"I do."

"Please," she said, and one of the guards grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back.

Harry raised his chin. "Please what?"

Her heart was beating violently into her chest, and she could feel the threatening poke of the sword against her back. "Please do something."

He smiled. "Gladly."

He waved a hand, and the guards had no time to react before they were projected onto the wall and knocked out by the hit.

Harry stared at them and hummed. "I'll have to get Aster to clean this up. Wouldn't want these guards to go around talking about us, it's best if they forget."

He got a hold of the horses and calmed them down before handing Cora the reins of Saiph.

"Let's go, it won't be long before someone finds them," he said, getting on his horse, and Cora did the same.

They moved down the streets quickly but not too fast as to not make anyone suspicious, riding at full gallop only when they got out of the town. They slowed down when they entered the woods again, and Cora sent Harry a glare as she processed what had just happened.

"Why did you do that?!" she asked him accusingly. There was no way she'd almost got murdered because Harry had decided to make her beg him for help.

Harry sent her a serious look. "I needed you to understand."

"Understand what?"

"The world isn't your friend, Cora. They'll gladly kill you if only you give them the chance," he replied. "Work for me, follow my rules, and I'll protect you. If not, you're free to leave. But don't expect me to save you every time something goes wrong."

She stared at the ground in front of them, biting her lower lip in frustration. Harry had a point, she knew that now. He'd showed her that not doing anything would only bring to her destruction, and even though she didn't approve of his methods, she knew he was trying to do the right thing.

Those men had attacked them, just like those guards had. They would've killed them all if Harry hadn't done it first.

She didn't like it, but she had no other choice.

"Okay." Her whisper sounded so much like defeat.

"Okay what?"

Cora was starting to hate the way Harry's pride showed. "I'll work for you."

He pulled down his hood and gave her a dazzling smile. "Smart choice."

They reunited with the Fair not even an hour later.