Ingrid propped herself up from the ground, turning away from the thick blades of grass to the group of villagers who had attempted to bring back Emory. To bring back Rowena. She grabbed a fistful of grass in her hand and tore it from the ground, letting out a scream. The only person she had come to trust, come to care for... was gone.

Because of her, Ingrid thought bitterly. No, she corrected herself, because of Evander's men. Ingrid looked up to where Shay lay crumpled on the ground, holding her hands to her chest as she coped with the loss of Emory in her own way.

"Ingrid," Ezekiel spoke up from where he was hunched over a grieving Shay. "Please check and make sure Shay is alright. I'm going to go round up some others." He left in a hurry to gather the villagers: ones who were willing to plan ahead for the return of Cassius and Linus.

Ingrid stood slowly, breathing in and out with difficulty. She made her way over to Shay, who stared at the ground with a far away look. "What if they hurt her? What if they don't give her back?" She spoke quietly, her voice breaking as tears threatened to spill over onto her cheeks.

Ingrid's own eyes were misty, and she looked to the sky as a wave of wind covered her. "We'll get her back. That's all there is to it. Are you alright? Ezekiel wanted me to check on you but there's nothing that should be wrong." She crouched down, appearing as a swift old woman who could balance easily on the heels of her feet. She was reaching for Shay's hands to busy her mind, but Shay tugged them away from her grasp.

"I'm fine. My palms are just scratched. It's nothing serious."

"We'll take care of it anyway. Come on." Ingrid shot up and started paving her way to her apothecary, holding the old red fabric of her dress up. She didn't glance back until she reached the doorsteps. A slumped over soldier blocked her path, and she pursed her lips together before grabbing the arms of the body and dragging it out of the way. "Shay! Don't you think you should be the one to clean up this mess?"

Shay stood slowly now, watching as Ingrid yelled at her from the apothecary doorsteps. She wasn't paying attention to anything she said. Her eyes focused on nothing, and her mouth hung open as she took in the aftermath of the skirmish. Everywhere lay Evander's men, decked in iron armor as they lay on the ground, helmets tossed about on the ground. Blood pooled beneath some of their heads. The rocks had been unforgiving.

She watched as Ezekiel led a group of villagers to the tavern across the village center. The men and women who followed wore steady expressions on their faces as they filed into the building. Those that stayed behind either carried the children away or went to remove the soldiers from their resting place on the hard ground where everyone could see their lifeless bodies.

Ingrid grabbed her arm, bringing her back down to Earth by twisting her around so that they were facing one another. "Shay. I get that this is a lot to take in, but they can handle this. Ezekiel will figure things out. He'll know what to do so we can get Emory back safely. So we can make sure you stay with us," Ingrid reassured her, trying to meet Shay's gaze with her own fiery one.

"You act like you care if they take me." Shay grimaced, shoving Ingrid away from her. "I want Emory back, too, but don't pretend you care about what happens to me."

"Fine," the old woman huffed. "That doesn't change the fact that what's best for me, what's best for Emory, what's best for everyone here... includes you. So I need you to stay behind the soldiers. Or else all of this is for nothing." The old woman looked at Shay, the two mirroring each other in their defiant stances. Eventually, Shay crumbled. She didn't have the same fight as Ingrid.

"Take me to the apothecary," Shay muttered. Defeat pulled her head down and made her shoulders slack. Ingrid nodded to herself, turning her back on the village as they prepared for whatever sunset brought their stone village.

"Good. You can stay down in your room until Ezekiel says otherwise. That's where you're safest."

Shay's heart stopped at the thought of being trapped in that room while they planned to rescue Emory, and she watched Ingrid's back as they walked through the grass. Her eyebrows, slim and dark, came together in determination as her mind ran through a way to stay out of the room.

Inside the apothecary, the women sat beside one another while Ingrid rubbed something on the palm of Shay's hand. Ingrid worked in silence, not bothering to talk with the girl. Shay followed suit, pursing her lips together as Ingrid's tonic burned her wound. "That means it's working," she always said.

Shay tried to busy herself with looking around the room at the shelves of herbs and berries and potted plants. They lined the walls, and decorated the table where Ingrid managed her deals. One of the shelves, the one that hid Shay's room, was ajar from where she had escaped earlier. The body of a guard lay downstairs, while another one jammed the door so it couldn't shut. The soldier's legs were all that was visible, and Shay couldn't stand to look at what she had done.

Shay turned, her eyes catching on a broom that leaned up against a wall just behind her. The young girl acted like she was stretching, but reached back and wrapped her fingers around the broomstick. Just as Ingrid looked up, Shay brought the broom down on Ingrid's head, watching as the old woman fell to the ground. She watched in wonder as the sagging skin and wrinkles revealed Ingrid in her true form. Dark hair fell down across her shoulders, framing her slim face, her rosy cheeks.

Shay let the broomstick fall from her hand, clanging against the floor. A lock of her hair fell in front of her face, and she blew it away before walking back to Ingrid's room beyond the desk. She pushed the tapestry of Rosalind aside that hung in the doorway, revealing Ingrid's lone bed of animal furs. Shelves around the room displayed jars and glasses of oddly colored powders and liquids, books and scrolls. She reached for the only item whose properties she knew: a pale, red-colored dust that she remembered loving as a child.

Grabbing the container, Shay moved out to where Ingrid still lay, her face peaceful. Stepping over her, she came to the front of the apothecary. Sliding the powder into the satchel on her hip, Shay stepped out into the village center with a racing heart.

Her feet carried her, weaving her through the people as they continued to situate the fallen bodies around them. They bowed their heads before the young woman, offering her passage through the hectic group. Shay smiled tersely, her lips tight and eyes unable to meet their own. She eventually came to the tavern, where inside a group of twenty crowded around a table. Ezekiel leaned over the table, speaking in a low voice while the others listened avidly.

"What if they bring reinforcements?" Someone asked aloud, and others called out in agreement with the question.

"From where? They wouldn't have time to ride anywhere. Our village is hours from any lord's manor. Our vineyards offer us that kind of protection. The High Commander is out of his element as you can tell from his age that he lacks the experience. As for Commander Linus, he is desperate. Cassius wants peaceful relationships between the villages and the kingdom, and while I share that idea, he wants us to abide by the rules of Evander. He expects us to. He also thinks we will hand Shay over if it means we can save one of our own, but not without a fight."

A man in the crowd cheered, and soon the entire group was shouting, pumping their blood and riling their minds. Through all of the noise, another man rose his voice. "Ezekiel, what is the plan if they bring reinforcements and come after sundown. What would we do then?"

The cheering died down, replaced by the heavy sigh coming from Ezekiel as he gave them all an earnest look. "If that is the case, and they fail to arrive at sundown, we must prepare to take Shay elsewhere. I will escort her, but without Willow I will most likely be alone. I hope to leave Emory behind so she can still watch over the village, so I'm asking for volunteers." Ezekiel looked at the wooden table before rising to meet his followers' eyes. "I can train you along the way, but there's no guarantee of where we will end up." Silence fell and Shay watched as a woman stepped forward through the crowd.

"I'm sure my son can handle the vineyard by now. Count me in, Ezekiel." She looked on with stone eyes, her mouth set in a straight line across her face. Ezekiel nodded, and turned to the others.

Two men joined her, pledging their lives to protecting Rosalind's prophet and sharing nods of approval from the rest of the group. "Good. You'll need to make arrangements in case we must set out tonight. Now, if there are no reinforcements, and they are here by sundown. We must-"

"Give me over," Shay finished his sentence from where she stood by the doorway. Everyone turned to see her and she walked forward to join the group, face masked in acceptance. "There shouldn't be a rebellion. This has gone on long enough, don't you think?" Her point was simple, and no one said anything until Ezekiel straightened his posture.

"Daughter, we can't be sure that if we hand you over they'll return Emory to us. I don't want to risk losing both of you," Ezekiel reasoned. "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be with Ingrid?"

"Ingrid wanted to rest," Shay lied, lifting her shoulders to shrug before continuing her point. "What if your attack makes them hurt Emory?" No one responded. "The best thing to do is to hand me over. If you give me up without a fight, they'll be more inclined to give Emory back."

"And what then?" Someone from the crowd asked defensively. "We let you go off to Evander? Marry him so he has the power to limit our trade? Limit where we can go?"

"No," Shay closed her eyes in frustration and paused for a second before opening them again. "That's not what's going to happen. Send a few people outside of the village, into the woods where we know they'll be coming from. They come, we trade off, and we let them leave with me, and Emory, if they keep her, too. Then, those who are in the forest will follow them. Block their path so the horses can't escape as easily."

"We wait until their guard is down to ambush them," Ezekiel realized. "Not a bad idea." Then, he shook his head. "You could get hurt in the crossfire. I don't know if it's worth the risk."

"Ezekiel, I've been given training for moments like these. I thought I proved myself," Shay gestured to the tavern doors as she defended her right to be in the fight. Her face twisted as she tried to piece together an argument, but Ezekiel had already made his decision.

"It's too much of a risk."

"If you're not risking me, you're risking Emory!" Shay shouted, unable to hold back any longer.

"Emory can handle herself-"

"So can I!"

"Shay, all you managed to prove earlier was that you were capable of rash thinking. Just like Emory. She made a mistake and so did you. That's all I've seen so far."

"Emory was fighting back," Shay pursed her lips together, her nose crinkling in disgust. "Unlike you. All you want to do is hide. All you want to do is hide me!"

"Shay, now is not the time. I won't allow you to put yourself in danger. That's final."

"Then how do you propose we make sure we get Emory back safely?" Shay waited, but crossed her arms when he failed to respond. "Exactly."

"I'm not letting you do that, Shay. I'm sorry, but I can't let it happen." Ezekiel turned away from her and looked back to the crowd. "Now, back to what I was saying. We wait for them to come, and we can leave someone who looks enough like Shay to sit in the center of the village with a few others around her so it doesn't look too much like a trap." He continued to speak, but Shay refused to leave the room until she knew she was able to help. Able to fight- like Emory.

Suddenly, a voice inside her head spoke up, reminding her of a critical weapon. "What if I didn't have to do it?"

"What?"

"What if I wasn't the one they took?" Everyone watched Shay with confusion, but her eyes were lit up with excitement.

Shay and Ezekiel stood over her, and while Shay was pleased with herself, Ezekiel couldn't find his words. He didn't hear Shay as she explained Ingrid's capabilities and magic. "I'm sure if she tried, she could make herself look just like me. What do you think? Ezekiel?"

"Why did you knock her out?" He snapped out of his daze, running his hand over his face.

"She was going to put me back downstairs, but I wanted to see what your plan was."

"Don't you think that was unnecessary?" Ezekiel looked at her with confusion but Shay just shrugged. "Leave. I'll get her up." Shay looked like she was about to argue but one look from Ezekiel slammed her lips together. "You knocked her unconscious. You don't need to be here when she wakes up. Close the door behind you."

Shay left, leaving Ezekiel alone with the beautiful woman. With the imposter.

"Get up," Ezekiel grabbed her by her delicate shoulders and lifted her up against the wall, her dark eyelashes fluttering as she came to consciousness. "You get one chance to explain to me why you're here."

The woman winced, reaching her smooth hand up to her head where Shay's blow fell.

"I'm talking to you, Briar."

Briar looked up suddenly, coming eye to eye with Ezekiel. Panic washed through her body, freezing her face in fear as she looked down. Her face twisted into anger and tears welled up in her eyes. "That girl did this to me."

"Explain yourself, Briar!"

"Please, Ezekiel, I'm just trying to live peacefully! I was here before you all came to the village, I promise!" Briar began crying, the tears rolling down her cheeks, waterfalls across her golden skin. Her eyes sparkled with the grief, but Ezekiel didn't look away. He knew not to look away from someone like her. "I promise, Ezekiel."

"How did you get into magic? How did you escape the castle?"

"I knew magic before everything happened. I escaped because my father found me and sent me away. He knew Alaric wouldn't let me live after what I had done," Briar explained, her words now dripping in venom through the tears.

"Evander was with Alaric and I when we were informed of Queen Lena's death. That was the first anyone had heard she was murdered-"

"No. My father followed me, but by the time he realized what I had done... it was too late. So he sent me away from the castle, but I didn't know that he was going to kill Alaric. I didn't know-!" Briar's voice rose with desperation and she reached toward Ezekiel, but he pulled away from her poisonous touch.

"You had the chance to return to your father. Why didn't you?

"He killed the man I loved," Briar's chin trembled and she looked away, focusing on the apothecary floor. Alaric flooded her vision with his beautiful blue eyes. She would have done anything for him. She did do anything for him. "I can never go back to that castle. Everything I need is right here."

"And you only had to do what, Briar? Did you kill the old Ingrid before stealing her life from her? Aren't you tired of playing this game?"

"I'm done with it, Ezekiel. I just want to live my life. I've made friends here. I've helped people-"

"Is that supposed to excuse you for murdering the Queen over some jealous love affair? You're the reason Eden is in ruins!" Ezekiel shouted at her, his anger falling onto her in heavy waves. Everything his life had become was because of this woman. A dead queen, a dead king who he loved like his own brother, a life in hiding. Because of her. It was time for her to pay. "It's about time you're thrown into what your pettiness has caused. It's time."