They had been travelling for another day until they were reaching the evening, which made Astoria nervous. The dwarves were afraid of sunlight, but when the sun slipped away, they were at risk of angering them. She had considered waiting the night out but deemed that it wasted too much time.

The Heirs were gaining on them.

"We've reached the base of the mountain," Elias declared, hands on his hips. The large mountain loomed over them as he squinted at the top. "The Book of Darkness must be up there, but that's a long way up."

Astoria turned to him. "Let's go do another Invisible Eye session to spy on the Heirs." Once she saw his hesitation, she shook her head. "Elias, we have to, I promise I won't drain my energy."

"Good, because I don't plan on carrying you up Silver Mountains bridal-style," he joked and Astoria forced a chuckle. Even if he was being silly, she couldn't help but wonder. Suddenly, she imagined their skin brushing against each other and it made her pale cheeks flush with colour.

When their eyes bore into each other, had it always felt so intense? Had Astoria always felt this way? She started her breathing to a regular pace, grabbing Elias' hand. Her palms became sticky and sweaty as her head spun.

They arrived with the sound of rolling carriages. "There are the Heirs," Elias whispered, guiding her to follow the Heirs who were on foot. Nayleen and Foxe were chatting, but their brows were creased in anxiousness.

"You said a few days ago that we could exploit their, er, love." Elias didn't look at Astoria. "You know, use them to pit against each other."

Her throat went starchy. "Well, on second thought, Nayleen seems too feeble, it's like playing with a baby. She won't be of use, Eli. Also, Foxe is too anxious to function, he's not useful either." Excuse, excuses. Watching Nayleen Crest and Foxe Grendels was painful, they were so happy despite their worries. And I'll be the one to kill them, she gulped. I will murder them to save a nation.

So what was holding her back now?

"Let's go visit Zinnia," Astoria suggested, keen to get away from Nayleen and Foxe. They walked past some militiamen, making her eyes narrow. Prince Thatcher wasn't playing around, he wanted to find the Book of Darkness, but so did Astoria.

Zinnia Xing was alone, studying a map, clear and calculated. While Astoria hated her father, Lord Vance for obvious reasons resulting back to Yarrow Bar, she had to admit that Zinnia was extortionary. She was born a leader, something that the Vicious Kingdom needed, and that's why she's engaged with Thatcher.

She can do so much better. "Zinnia is our best shot," Astoria suggested, nodding her head at Prince Thatcher and Celeste Laurier. They were in the back of the group, lagging behind, but talking together.

Zinnia's eye twitched.

Astoria smiled slightly. "If she gets jealous enough, I can slide in an offer with her."

"Whatever you wish." They went towards Thatcher and Celeste, Astoria narrowed her eyes at them. Prince Thatcher looked like he wanted Celeste, but did he not remember he had a bride-to-be waiting for him? Or did he just disregard Zinnia's feelings?

"Are we almost there?" Celeste asked, running her fingers through her blond hair. Astoria's hand instinctively went to her short-cut hair, frowning.

"According to Zinnia, we're three-quarters there," the prince replied and Astoria gasped. How did they get through Valdor so quickly? That's when Astoria realized what the carriages were for—the Heirs were gaining on them. "She said that it's likely that the Lady of Dread will be there with her little knight."

Astoria felt Elias' panic as well. "Zinnia seems to know everything, doesn't she?" Celeste asked, but Prince Thatcher avoided her gaze, his cheeks reddening. It was clear that she harboured feelings for Thatcher, but Astoria didn't see where she was going with this. "Do you love her, Thatch? Truly?"

"Holy shit," Elias said. "That's shallow."

Astoria exhaled sharply. "That's a low blow, even for a Laurier." Questioning a man's love for another woman? Unfair, but she had to admit it was a clever way to have Thatcher around Celeste's pinkie.

Prince Thatcher didn't reply at first. "Let's catch up with the others, Cel."

Thatch and Cel. Astoria wordlessly grabbed onto Elias, shutting her eyes as they tapped out of the Invisible eye. She felt lightheaded, gripping onto Elias' arm. "They're getting too close for comfort," she said sternly. "We have to get moving."

༻༺✧༻༺

They had made good progress up the mountain, following an easy trail. The moon dawned over them, making Astoria look over her shoulder for dwarves. They were vulnerable to their attacks. "Don't worry, Tori, we'll get to the Book of Darkness first." Elias was barely reassuring.

"I..." she swallowed hard, looking up at the stars through the shadows of the trees. "I'm sorry for being so prickly last night, I was having a bad dream about Nadine and it just screwed me up. I shouldn't have yelled at you, you're the one person who stuck by my side."

He merely shrugged. "I forgive you—" Something struck his head, making him fall. Astoria was about to shout his name with an arm wrapped around her neck, gagging her. She wheezed as a cloth covered her mouth.

"Elias!" Astoria screeched in a muffed voice, her eyes lidded. She was so exhausted.

"Astor—" Elias was gagged as well with a cloth. Go to sleep, an alluring voice coaxed. Rest now, Lady of Dread. She resisted before succumbing to her deep slumber, her head spinning.

༻༺✧༻༺

When Astoria De Vil woke up, she was inside a jail cell. Oh God, she thought miserably. How long had she been in here? Did the Heirs already get here? She had a splitting headache, wincing in pain.

Elias was next to her, his eyes closed.

No, no, no—

He turned around, moving his neck. Astoria sighed in relief, glad he wasn't dead. She nudged his ribs with her finger, effectively making him jolt awake. "What the hell, Tori?" Elias groaned but quickly straightened once she glared at him. "I mean, er, are you okay, my lovely Lady of Dread?"

"How charming of you."

"You're awake." A female voice echoed, startling them. A very short girl walked over to the cell, grasping the bars. It was so dark, but she held a lantern, her black eyes landing on Elias. A blush crept up to the dwarf's gray skin as she quickly fluffed up her white-haired pigtails.

Astoria had never seen a dwarf before, but she assumed the ashy gray skin and white hair came from their tendency to avoid sunlight. "I'm Xadia," the dwarf grinned, mainly talking to Elias. Unlike what she expected, Xadia the dwarf didn't seem very aggressive as most dwarves were described to be. "Our people found you."

"More like your people kidnapped us," Astoria retorted, snippy.

"Hush, no one likes a girl with a potty mouth," Xadia snapped, which made Astoria's blood boil. I guess I was wrong about the aggression part. Xadia wore brown overalls with smudges of grease, Astoria guessed it was from working in the forges. "We don't get many mortal visitors, well, handsome ones anyway." That was directed to Elias.

"Oh...thank you..." He didn't want to be stuck in an awkward situation. We need to get out of here, he mouthed to Astoria. I'm trying to find that part out, she mouthed back. "So, Xadia, why are you here exactly?"

The short dwarf pouted. "I'm stuck on guarding duty because some other dwarf broke his foot." Xadia leaned in, her grip tightening on the cell's bars, grinning. "But you make it much more entertaining."

Astoria twitched with annoyance, and maybe a slight hint of jealousy, but took advantage of Xadia's flirty fascination with Elias. "Xadia, why are we here? We're already stuck here, we may as well know our fates."

Xadia sighed as if she was exhausted, looking pointedly. "Our dwarf leader, Leander, captured you both because he struck a deal with the Exiled Clan." Corvinne. "New axes for the mines if we managed to capture some mortals for the clan to munch on."

Elias wrinkled his nose and Astoria recoiled. "I find it hardly fair that we were ambushed by you dwarves," she said in a matter-of-factly tone. "I'll make a deal with you—our freedom in exchange for a kiss with Elias."

"What?" Elias blurted. "Why am I not consulted first—"

"Yes, yes!" Xadia squealed, it was almost amusing. She quickly produced the key, jamming it into the keyhole, letting the cell's door swing open. Astoria and Elias stepped out, she squinted at a long corridor. How do we get out of this place? The mines probably went on for miles.

Shadow-travel. But what if it wiped out her energy? She couldn't afford to pass out if the Heirs were arriving any moment. It was a risk she had to take—a calculated risk. "Elias, let's go, just kiss her already."

Elias sighed heavily, leaning over, and planting a kiss on Xadia's lips. They drew back and Xadia's ashy gray skin turned beet red. Astoria's twangs of jealousy turned into amusement. "Not funny," he reminded her. "Bye, Xadia, we need to go."

"Goodbye," she said woozily as if her head was spinning. Astoria's hand clasped onto Elias' as she stemmed her breathing. Deep breaths, don't overflow your mind with heavy thoughts, think of Madam Sunna, she told herself.

Within seconds, they were at the top of the Silver Mountains. A soft breeze caught in Astoria's short hair as she tried not to look down. Her feet crunched against the rocky dirt as she memorized her surroundings. In front of her, there was a hidden tunnel, barely visible in the daylight.

"Let's go, the Book of Darkness must be in there," she said, but Elias tugged on her wrist. She spun around, puzzled to see Elias' anxious state. He slid his hands into his pockets. "What's wrong? Is this about your kiss with Xadia?"

"Sort of?" His cheeks went pink once Astoria tried not to laugh. "Hey, I never kissed a girl before, Xadia was my first girl kiss."

"Well, you probably didn't do a bad job either since it looked like Xadia enjoyed it," she chuckled before laughing. With so much at stake, it felt good to be able to laugh with Elias.

"Yeah, well, I just brought it up because you didn't seem super pleased with Xadia's flirts." Elias' gaze cuts through Astoria's heart. Oh shit, I used to be the intimating one. "If you're worried I'd fall in love with some girl and leave you to fend for Valdor, you'd be wrong. I only serve Valdor and Valdor alone."

Astoria reddened. "Yes, that's what I was worried about." It was the last thing on her mind. "But your personal life and work life do not need to be controlled by me, Eli. You're a big boy, make your own choices. Now, shall we?"