The wine cellar was humid, and the round smell of aged wine didn't go well with the stench of mold lingering on the walls. It was a sweet, sugary odor that turned sharp at its edges.

Ela scrunched up her nose as she took a final step down the long stairwell to the cellar. There was a slight quiver to her limbs. Is this the right thing? she wondered for the hundredth time since she agreed to do this. Yet as the barrels of the wine room came into view, she realized right and wrong didn't matter anymore. Someone had kindly taken the time to light some of the torches, allowing her to glance at the already alert spy.

She didn't know what else to expect. Nora had been trained for this; of course she would have jumped to her feet, pointing a shaky revolver at Ela as a slow stream of blood trickled down her forehead. Sharp breaths rushed out of her chest, her entire body shuddering with every exhale. "I know your tactic," she breathed as her brows twitched to a frown.

A chilling shiver dashed across Ela's limbs. Her power had not yet abandoned yet. "Yeah?"

"You choose whichever side seems safer at the time," Nora spat. "You're a coward!"

Maybe she was correct. Perhaps what Ela truly wanted was peace, after all. The shocks of ice threatening to spill out of her stretching palms contradicted that accusation.

"I'm the reason you're alive."

"And you want to be the reason I will die, too?"

Sacrifices, sacrifices. No war was without losses, and some of them were bound to be unjust. Even though Ela couldn't shake off the guilt in her gut, she decided she had chosen the lesser evil. Kage was no saint, but lately she had realized Arden was closer to succeeding the devil.

The wrath his mistreatment toward the Ascended had spawned coupled with the utter shock his crimes against Zhao's family brought to her had been a disastrous combination. She had thought she was well acquainted with death after all this time, but she never knew how close it really was. The death of a sibling, the sheer anguish just the thought of it created in her; it was not something she ever wanted anyone to experience, no matter how cruel and vain and emotionally-driven theirs happened to be.

"This isn't about you," Ela repeated, and she hoped she was right. Kage was quite the vengeful prince and, knowing the spy was the reason Ailyn deserted her post, Nora's fate didn't look particularly bright. Still, Ela took a deep breath and stretched her hand out, the chill almost spilling out against her will. "So don't make it about you."

Nora huffed in disbelief. It only took a split second for Ela to notice the girl's finger against the trigger of the compact weapon.

Despite the pity she felt for the girl, she didn't hesitate. A crystal wave wallowed forth, smashing against the spy just as a bang resonated across the cellar. Glimmering shards of ice showered the floor as Nora crashed against the cold stone. Don't kill her, Ela reminded herself and stepped forward. With shallow pants, the girl on the ground backed against the wall and raised to her knees. Before she could shoot up and dash past the dual bender, four sharp spikes of solid water launched towards her, locking her shoulders into place.

Nora exclaimed in sudden pain. The tips fingers were already starting to turn a light shade of purple when Ela finally sighed, her breath crystalizing in the chilly room. The temperature couldn't be good for the wine, yet the beverage was the least of her problems. She knelt down, eyeing Nora's vicious scowl.

"What the hell is he paying all of you?" the spy wheezed, her chest rising and falling quickly and heavily. 

For the first time tonight, Ela thought about her answer. The rest of Nora's caustic remarks, she had been expecting. But this was a genuine question, one that Ela had no real reply to.  Why was everyone flocking to Kage, really? Some wanted money; others wanted asylum. Yet she wasn't interested in any of that.

Ela stared at Nora as genuinely as her position allowed. "A home," she said. "A place where I belong."

The shriek of the cellar door's hinges punctured the stunned silence, followed by yells and protests. The voices were too many to count, but Ela could clearly hear one female — familiar, too. They caught them already? A part of her had hoped Salo and Nora would be spared. They had done nothing wrong, virtually. Yet she had never expected Ailyn to participate.

At least four pairs of feet stomped down the stone steps. Ela looked behind her shoulder, her breath caught in anticipation.  The faces came into view, stripped of the masks they once wore.

It was all of them. Everyone except for Arden.

In more ways than she expected, Ela was comforted by his absence. She wasn't ready to face him yet, not without lashing out at him. All of her anguish had been channeled to the memory of him, and seeing him in the stuffy basement would be catastrophic.

Despite her relief, she couldn't help but feel the sting of irritation in her chest. All of these people who have to pay, when Ela had only wanted to punish him; she knew that whatever she said or did, Kage wouldn't them waltz out of the country with no repercussion for their treason. Yet maybe, in a parallel universe, he would spare the mercy to let them go in return for the boy who coordinated it all.

Salo's scrunched up face was the first to come into view. He seemed agitated, sad even, but not startled. His brows were relaxed, his lips puckered in what seemed to be pity for the team, for the failed mission. Ela couldn't remember the last time he showed this much bravery in any difficult situation. Perhaps he had changed.

And if Arden has changed, too? Ela swatted away the foolish thought. Doubt had no place in a situation like this.

The boy coughed as he was pushed forward, his eyes wild as they veered from Nora to Ela. Heavy chains weighed his wrists down. "What is this?" he uttered, shock finally making its way into his expression.

"I guess the lunatic promised her things a Kingfisher can't buy?" the spy hissed, her glare full of poison.

Yet it didn't look as if the artifact would fall into their hands anytime soon. Why would they try to win her back if they already found what she was supposed to retrieve? Ela knew she was trivial to the team, a last resort; somehow, that mitigated some of her guilt. 

Still, the sheer production of the mission stumped Ela. The palace might have been stripped of most security exactly because the four were anticipated, but after countless moments in her room, the girl was starting to believe even the few guards in the entrances would be too difficult to bypass. But they managed it, and with overwhelming success; almost too overwhelming.

"Everything you say can be held against you."

Ela had thought that Kage's presence wasn't necessary from the beginning. He didn't listen to her — when had he ever? — and she thought she understood why. In his eyes, Nora had taken something really valuable from Seyal, and from him. In reality, Ailyn would have snapped anyway, and he would surely find something else to blame it on; but never himself.

Nora was wrong. Ela hadn't chosen him. She had compromised.

Kage stepped around the guard that had carried Salo to the cellar, leaving the unbound Ailyn behind. Her eyes were clouded, her lips parched; she seemed exhausted.

The prince's narrowed eyes examined the spy as he paced towards her, a hint of a smile gracing his dark features. 

She barked a laugh, rolling her eyes dismissively. "What, I get a trial? How noble of you."

"We have too many concerns to do you that favor," Kage replied pleasantly. "But the people need a reason. What about lunacy? Treachery?"

"How about you tell them we beat the royal search party to finding your precious war machine and you are petty about it?"

Salo cleared his throat. "Is this necessary?" he said quietly. A pointed remark disguised as a powerless comment. Ela scratched her cheek. Are they acting? Do they already have it?

The same inhibitions seemed too scared of Kage to plague him, too. He crossed his hands and leaned against a broad wooden barrel. His patience during such a dispute sent a chill racing across Ela's skin. He shot an amused glance at Salo before smiling back at the spy. "Yes, with the advantage of my mother. I'm sure the world would be delighted to know you destroyed an old woman's house and a factory for your cause."

"Your soldiers did that. All we did was drain their resources."

It was Ela's turn to fold her hands against her chest. They weren't gathered in a cramped cellar to argue. "Where is Arden?" she asked.

The stillness in the room was stifling. It weighed down on Ela's limbs as if her bones were made of iron, blurring her vision and stuffing her ears with static. Silence had been her most comforting acquaintance in the Academy's dorm, in the factory's narrow hut, in the palace's deserted east wing. Now it seemed to taunt her. Had she made the right choice? Had she gained an ally or lost four?

Salo's twisted scowl was the last handful of dirt in the grave of her assurance. His clear eyes had gained so many shades; grief, hope, betrayal. So much had happened in these few days. What felt like lagging hours that wouldn't make their leave for her must have been torture for them. So many days of hoping. So many days of planning, only for her to turn her back to them.

It felt like centuries ticked by before Salo cracked his withered lips open. "Are three lives lost not enough?" he croaked, and what dwelt in his tone resembled something much worse than hate; disappointment. He had come here to save her. They all had. And as much as Ela loathed the idea of being rescued by a knight in shining armor, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

A sudden rumble resonated across the compact cellar as Ela's head snapped back. The door, she realized with hope and dread as a storm of hasty steps scurried down the humid staircase. There were no protesting screams this time; just uneven boots against stone.

The first thing Ela saw was silver and blue. A soldier. He brought a shaking hand to his chest as he sloppily bowed before Kage. The prince slowly turned back, his brows furrowed in puzzlement.

"Your Highness," the soldier breathed. He swallowed a pant, looking behind his shoulder and scampering out of the way soon after.

The withered flame in Ela's chest was rekindled by scorching rage. All the fury she thought she had leashed suddenly bit off the feeble tether keeping her emotions in check. He didn't deserve her pyre. He deserved the noose.

Arden was either deranged or suicidal to have come here seemingly willingly. By the look of his metallic eyes as they bore into Ela's, a bizarre awareness in them that made her want to punch him even more, he was both.

***

The universe literally doesn't let me be committed, I swear.

So, I'm sick! It's not the coronavirus but I'm vomiting all over the place and it's not pretty. Pair that with having to study for some piano exams and you have the obliteration of my program. I will still try to have the rest of the chapters up by the end of the week but don't quote me on this!

Anyway, four chapters to go! As I write out my plan I realize that everything in this ending seems weirdly coincidental but let's blame it on the gods until I start editing the plot ;) 

Thank you for reading! Please consider voting and commenting as it really helps ♥ Have a nice day~