Emory had fallen asleep by the time they stopped. The bags were pulled off of their heads, and she saw that they still hadn't reached the castle yet, but were in a much different part of Eden. The land was flatter, and the tree line was in the distance but everything between where they had set up camp and there was nothing but wild grass, brush, and a few trees. If they were heading to the castle, they weren't taking the most direct way.

    "Eat up."

    A sack of food was thrown down in front of Emory and Shay, and they both jumped as it hit the ground. Shay looked up to the man who had tossed it before them and rose her hands up, brandishing the rope around her wrists. He laughed and shook his head. "You can manage. It's just cheese and bread."

    Shay sighed, but reached for the bread. Emory followed, looking over at her with concern. "How are you holding up?"

    "What do you mean?" Shay managed to grab a small roll of bread and took a bite out of it, as if she weren't concerned about the rest of the situation.

    Emory shrugged but followed suit and grabbed some food. "You've just been... I don't know. You've been through a lot more these past few days than you have ever been at the vineyard. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Emory kept an eye on her as they ate, and Shay shrugged. "I see you've given up on politeness, too."

    Shay scoffed and looked over at Emory, her face contorted with frustration or anger, but Emory couldn't tell which. "Why does that matter? No one else seems to care."

    "Just yesterday you were scared of being around others-"

    "Just yesterday a whole town was burnt down. Because of us, Emory. Have you ever stopped to think that I'm sick of being the burden of everyone and having to be protected at other people's costs?"

    "This isn't a good time for arguments. Forget I asked." Emory leaned back, turning her body away from Shay.

    Shay rolled her eyes. Emory was the only one allowed to ever be in a mood. If it were Shay, she was being unreasonable. She was being naïve. She wasn't being the Prophet of Rosalind, she was being a child. A few seconds passed before Shay broke the silence.

    "I'm not a child."

    Emory didn't say anything, but turned back towards her, holding out her hands. "Pray with me." Shay hesitated, but sat down her food and wiped the crumbs for her hands. As she was reaching for Emory's hands, she noticed that a few of the raiders were watching them with curiosity, and one even seemed to have his head bowed in prayer with them.

    "I pray to you my true mother, Rosalind, for protection. Rosalind, I pray your rich soil and abundant fruits never fade, for they offer me life. I pray you let your warmth fall over us all, and show us the way to your arms. To you, I pray," Shay finished the prayer and heard Emory mutter it beneath her breath, along with several of the raiders. Shay smiled and nodded to them, but then turned away from Emory once more and continued eating. "Real food is sounding better the more I think about it."

    The few hours they spent taking a break were quiet, and by the time they got packed up to move again Emory had managed to slip her hands out of her binds. She held the rope strategically around her wrists to make it seem like she was still captured, but as soon as a raider leaned down to help her up, Emory lifted her legs into the air, wrapping them around his neck and dragging him to the ground. Flailing, he tried to reach for his knife but Emory grabbed it before he could and pointed it to his temple.

    The other raiders prepared their own weapons, but no one advanced. Camtono watched Emory with interest, not even grabbing for the sword at his waist. "You really think you can take us on?"

    Emory ignored him and turned to Shay. "Grab the knife along his leg and cut yourself free." Shay didn't move, but looked from Emory to the raiders. "Shay!" Shay snapped out of it and reached for the knife, beginning to saw away at the rope. Then, Emory looked to Camtono. "I do."

    Without hesitating, Emory knocked the man out with the hilt of his own dagger, allowing the raiders to charge her. None of them ran towards Shay, and she took the opportunity to do what she knew Emory would have asked of her. She hurried to the two horses, one of which was Camtono's, and swung herself up onto it. Camtono started for her, and Emory ducked under the two raiders coming at her to reach Camtono. Because he was running after Shay, he didn't notice Emory as she jumped onto his back, latching on with her legs and arms. Without hesitating, he threw himself backwards onto the ground. Emory tried to move, but was slammed between the hard ground and heavy raider, causing her to scream out in pain.

Emory brought the dagger down into Camtono's arm, quickly pulling the blade out and worsening his wound. He rolled over just enough for Emory to slip out from under him, and she sliced at the legs of the two other raiders coming near her. "Emory!" Shay shouted her name, pointing to the edge of the forest. Shay had turned from where Emory was fighting Camtono and spotted someone far off along the tree line. Not just one person, but a small group of people all on their own horses quickly advancing. Emory looked up to see them, and rolled back from the others, reaching for Shay's arm as she rode the horse past. Shay gripped Emory, grunting as she pulled her up onto the saddle behind her.

    This will hurt.

    Emory's heart skipped at the voice in her head, and not even a second later, an arrow pierced through her shoulder. She let out a scream, and looked down to the bloody arrowhead just inches away from Shay's own back. "What happened?" Shay tried to turn around but kept her focus on pushing the horse to go faster.

    "Just keep going," Emory cried, tears pricking at her eyes as she grasped her shoulder. Every move the horse made spread wildfire through her upper body. Carefully, she turned around to see that the horses were passing the raiders, and coming up close behind them. Their armor was light, and one of them was preparing another arrow as she rode her horse. "Turn!"

    Shay took a sharp turn, nearly running into another follower, but was fast enough that they were once again headed towards the trees. Towards cover.

    Just when the girls thought they were free from the others, another horse appeared out of the woods. Shay almost came to a stop, but realized it was Ingrid. Raising her hands, the girls passed through the tree line just as a glowing shield of violet and red appeared, those chasing them crashing against it as if it were a stone wall. Emory turned back just as Ingrid began to follow after them.

When the girls finally decided to stop riding, Emory was barely able to slide off the horse. The sun had set, and they were hiding out in a small cave. The horses were tied down inside, and Shay was busy covering the tracks as Ingrid braced Emory for what she was about to do.

    "I'll pull on three. One...Two-" Ingrid twisted Emory's leg, and it popped back into place. She choked down her scream, trying to save her energy for the arrow.

"You said three."

"I lied. Now, let's see..." Ingrid moved to the arrow, carefully rotating it just to the right. "Well, it's not lodged in bone. So, I guess that's some good news." Without warning, Ingrid grabbed a dagger and widened the cut around the arrow. "Bite down on this," she said as she shoved part of her cloak into Emory's grinding teeth.

    Shay walked in just as Ingrid removed the arrow, head and all, from Emory's shoulder. It was dyed red, and looking at Emory she looked as if she was going to pass out. "Is she going to be okay?"

    "We don't really have all the supplies we need for a proper poultice, but... I think so. Rosalind has smiled down on her before. We just need to make sure it doesn't get infected." Ingrid wiped sweat off of Emory's face and sat there for a minute. "I might be able to go out tomorrow and try to find something... but... I don't know."

    "I'll be fine," Emory muttered, trying not to pass out from all of the pain her body had just gone through. In reality, she felt like she would rather still have the arrow in her body than a semi-clean cloth soaking up all the blood that spilled from the wound.

    "So what's next then?" Shay sat down next to Emory, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly.

    "I was thinking we could head out to the border--"

    "The border?"

    "We need to get you two out of here. There's been too much going on and at this rate everyone is going to know who we are and come looking for us. I don't see any other option." Ingrid shrugged as if it meant nothing to run to the border for cover. The border of The Unholy.

    "No other option? How about just going to Evander like he wants?" Shay's voice rose, the anger finally allowing itself out. She was sick and tired of running from one place to another. Not being able to trust anyone or talk to anyone or just be for a little bit. She hadn't gotten sleep in over two days, and if she had it was for a few minutes at a time. She was tired. No, exhausted. "Evander has done nothing but make our lives miserable. Neither of you asked for this, and neither of you should even have to put up with this!"

    Ingrid winced and looked down. "Evander's specialty is making life miserable. Trust me, Shay. Emory and I have come to terms with doing this. As long as it means you don't have to be around King Evander, we can live."

    "She's right," Emory muttered, squeezing Shay's hand.

    "Why is Evander so terrible? Like Camtono said, everything he has done has been to draw me out of hiding. He didn't start off his reign with genocide or terror," Shay tried to continue speaking but Ingrid laughed, bitter and cold.

    "He murdered Alaric! Have you really forgotten what he did to our king, Shay? Your father? He was a good man, and a great king, and Evander murdered him." Ingrid's nose scrunched up, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Alaric, may he walk with Rosalind, she thought.

    Shay knew what he had done. But it still made no sense. Eden would still be better off with the Prophet and the King side by side, again, as at least then the people wouldn't be harassed and prohibited from sacred places. Camtono was wrong, for she did love her people. She just wasn't given the chances to prove it. "So, we keep running," she said as if the very idea caused a terrible taste in her mouth.

    The other two just nodded, and Emory let her eyes shut for a second. "Shay, the plan was never to always be running. It was to strike Evander when he least expected it. Ezekiel just wanted you to be older, so that when Evander was off the throne, you could take over without the need of a temporary noble."

    Shay wasn't having it. "And now what? What are our plans? Are we just going to keep riding around Eden until me or Evander dies?" Shay's voice rose, but no one really knew what to tell her. "Exactly. We don't know where we're going. We're just running away from everything and everyone!" She gestured out to the damp cave they sat in, water trickling down somewhere in the dark. "Do you really think we can do this forever? Because I'm already at my wits end if you haven't noticed! And Emory you were shot by an arrow today! Doesn't that worry you?"

    Ingrid huffed and stood from where she had been sitting. "If you want to go to Evander, then be my guest. But a lot of people believed in keeping you out of his reach, Shay, and a lot of those people are dead now." With that, she took off out of the cave without saying where she was going.

    "Hopefully she brings back something for my shoulder," Emory chuckled pitifully, trying to adjust her uncomfortable position and creating a line of fire through her body. Shay said nothing, but kept holding her friend's hand. "I don't think you're a child by the way." She paused. "I just thought you had realized that because you're the Prophet, people are expected to do anything they can for you. Yes, Rosalind's people matter, Shay, but if there was no Prophet? They wouldn't really have much else."

    "There would still be a Prophet, Emory."

    "One that would be working with a man who wasn't related to the Prophet in any way, and has nothing preventing him from hurting you."

    "I don't know if you remember, but every Prophet comes to an end at some point. Prophet Lena died at my birth, and Prophet Chelse before her. It's the cycle."

    Emory sighed and shook her head. "That's not what I meant, Shay. He murdered your father. Do you really want to take the risk of him doing the same to you?"

    "If it means the peace of everyone else in Eden? Then yes."

    Emory didn't know what to say. She didn't really have any control over Shay, but she knew that in some way she was right. The right thing to do was to go to Evander. Except, the right way was complicated. He wasn't a king by blood, and wasn't a noble whose family was blessed by Rosalind. He had no right to the throne. But she didn't take those lessons the way she had, because the Prophet was supposed to have no interest in them, as it may change her mind of the people. She was doing everything perfectly right, and that's what made it so hard to tell her it was wrong.

    "I'm tired. Can you watch and check to see if I start fevering? That means there's an infection, and hopefully by then Ingrid is back to handle it." Emory changed the topic, giving her friend's hand one last squeeze before laying back her head and letting her eyes fall shut. "We can talk about it more when one of us isn't in danger of dying, or when there aren't multiple groups after us."

    Shay sighed, knowing that one would always be present in the absence of the other.