KEION WAS RIGHT—the riots were indeed commencing. As more and more of the villagers awoke to hear that their beloved King Tevenot had been poisoned, the tension mounted. The emotions that seeped into the air were mixed: anger, frustration, denial and despair. Wails as despondent as the destiny that they would be faced with could be heard throughout Fribois.

Even through the closed door, Maarit heard hysterical sobbing coming from outside—the sound was loud enough to make the thick walls seem as though they were made of parchment. Slightly annoyed at the overwhelming reaction, Maarit rolled her eyes and stalked towards the front door, yanking it open once again. She looked to her right, only to see two women crying their eyes out.

She whirled around to face Keion and Helios, closing the door over again. "Oh, for the love of God," she said unsympathetically, in a slightly harsh tone. "Yes, I get it—their wonderful king has been killed. But must they really be crying now? You'd think the sun hadn't come up or something."

"That is slightly insensitive, don't you think?" the older of the two brothers said to her, seemingly taken aback. His sky blue eyes flickered defensively. "Our mother," he said, gesturing between himself and Helios, "is devastated as well. King Tevenot is adored; and while I would not go as far as to cry for him, even I must admit that the man was a great king."

"That isn't what I meant," said Maarit tersely, running her nimble fingers through her dark, tangled hair. She crossed her arms over her chest, shivering lightly in her dressing gown, which just barely shielded her skin from the cold air circulating around in the home. "I simply meant that they haven't a clue what is in store for them. Pri—I mean, King Theodoracius is going to kill many innocent people. That is what I foresaw, and people are just standing around and weeping! If they think that this is bad..." She trailed off ominously, reluctant to allow her mind to dwell on what lay ahead.

"But the thing is... they don't know everything that we know," Keion reasoned.

"What can we do?" Helios asked. "How can we draw attention to the problem at hand?"

Maarit swallowed nervously and with difficulty—she was feeling as though her throat was closing. She knew what she needed to do, no matter how unpleasant it seemed. "We... we should be alerting others about the fact that our new monarch was the one who killed the previous one."

Both brothers gaped at her, dumbstruck.

"What?" Keion commented questioningly. "Maarit, how? Unless they know that you're a soothsayer—which they undoubtedly cannot know—no one would believe you. They will believe that you're just spreading rumours."

She pursed her lips so tightly that they nearly turned white and nodded at the two men. "Exactly. I couldn't care less if people know that I'm a soothsayer. That is the absolute least of their worries. They're distressed about Theodoracius taking the throne, but they do not even know the extent of what he has done. He killed his own father!" Maarit exclaimed. "If people knew, wouldn't he be executed for it? Or, at the very least, imprisoned and replaced as king?"

Neither of them answered. Perhaps it was due to the fact that no one quite knew the answer.

"We must at least attempt to do something," she stated forcibly. "It seems that the three of us are just about the only people in the entire world that know Theodoracius murdered his father. We have knowledge of an event of the past, as well as what the future of this country holds. I do not think we should be keeping this crucial information to ourselves."

The only sounds that were heard for a moment were those of the women next door weeping, the light sighs freeing themselves from Helios's lips and Keion's heavy footsteps as he paced around.

"Perhaps we should further discuss this later, before we do anything rash or impulsive. I don't want anything horrible to happen to you," Keion told Maarit meaningfully, catching her eyes for one brief second before looking away. "For now, I will go check on Mother," he declared, nodding as though to confirm it to himself. Then he glanced again in Maarit's direction. "And while I'm there, I will see if I hear anything else."

Maarit nodded absently and watched as he swiftly exited the cottage, his shoulder-length hair flying out behind him. She moved to face Helios, who was biting his fingernails. Though he was not normally one to talk much, he was especially reticent and jittery that morning.

"Do you mind if I change?" Maarit asked him, glancing down at the dressing gown she was still wearing.

Helios raised his eyebrows so high that they nearly disappeared into his hairline. Surprise dusted his delicate lips. "Oh, yeah, of course," he muttered nervously, his soft brown eyes wide. "I'll wait outside, then—"

"No, no, it's fine," Maarit interrupted, a small smile pulling the corners of her mouth upwards. "Stay in here—I would be alright with that. You can just turn around. And close your eyes."

Helios suddenly looked feverish—his alabaster cheeks flushed a particular shade of oxblood. A deep crease appeared between his eyebrows and Maarit noticed his throat bob as he swallowed anxiously. He turned around so that his back was to her. Then, he sat on the stone floor, crossing his legs and allowing his head to hang. He was continuously clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides in a manner that demonstrated his unease.

Maarit crossed over to her oak wardrobe, which stood just beside her bed. She rummaged through it, took out some clothing and threw the garments down onto her unmade bed. After lifting the dressing gown over her head, she stared at the back of Helios's figure and at the way his curly brown hair fell to just above his shoulders.

"Maarit," Helios's voice said tentatively, shattering the uncomfortable silence, "I'm worried about you."

She paused, watching his shoulders slump. "What for?" she questioned gently. Waiting patiently for a response from the boy, she resumed dressing herself.

"I'm afraid of what'll happen when you tell people that you're a soothsayer," he responded. "Do you not remember what happened when we were ten and they found out that Faye Tibon was a soothsayer? They treated her as—as a criminal. You saw what they did to her. We thought it was awful. And that was back before you even knew you were one as well."

She did not reply for a while, allowing his heavy words to permeate the air. She merely fidgeted agitatedly, gathering the long black locks of her hair in her hands. Her hair was sleek, but knotted easily. She used her fingers to comb through the knots; as she did so, strands of black hair that had fallen out floated to the ground. At last, fully dressed and ready, she walked over to where Helios sat on the ground. His eyes were shut tightly, just as she had asked. His unwavering gallantry caused her to smile once more, crinkles appearing beside her almond-shaped eyes.

Sinking to the floor beside him, Maarit's knees bumped his, causing his eyes to flutter open and land on her. She made a pathetic and unsuccessful attempt to give him an encouraging grin, but it looked more like a grimace.

"I know," she said, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "I know the risks. I know that not everyone is as accepting of me as you and Keion are, I know that people fear those with my abilities and I know that they would shun me for it. Even my own parents left me because of it." She took a sharp breath. "But if they turn out to be afraid of me, it'll only mean that they believe me—and that is what is most important."

His gaze was filled with concern as he stared back at her, unblinking. She was close enough to him to be able to count each individual eyelash and to be able to distinguish the layers of amber in his brown eyes. Fondly, her eyes grazed over his jaw, down to his collarbone.

Her hand instinctively found his and she interlaced their fingers together. His hand was soft in hers as he rubbed his thumb over the top of it. There was a certain tenderness between the two for a moment.

The moment was fleeting, for it was gone as soon as Keion burst through the door in a panic. His eyes scanned around until he found Maarit and Helios sitting on the floor. Their hands fell away from one another and they both immediately stood, wincing inwardly in anticipation of the news that Keion had brought.

"Helios, Maarit—there's—there's an execution happening! Come on!" he stated, gesturing frenetically for them to follow him out the door.