On my first solo walk around the castle, the only person I met was Tris. The Sephan was simmering, his eyes burning with an anger I couldn't understand.

"Hey, Tris, what's up? The Arcans not showing you enough respect?" I was joking, but it seemed Tris wasn't in a jovial mood.

"If that Arcan idiot pushes me one more time, I'll..." He trailed off, shaking his head furiously.

"What did Brae do?"

"Apparently, I'm not important enough to sit in on impromptu Arcan meetings: 'The King left instruction that he was not to be disturbed' Tris affected a mock-Arcan accent as he parroted the guard's words. I struggled to suppress a laugh at how bad it sounded. But the urge was tempered as my brain fully registered the word 'King'. It was so odd to consider Brae's new title; it seemed so at odds with his youth.

"Any idea what they are discussing?"

"Some kind of plan to move as many of the remaining citizens as possible out of the city and into the surrounding towns-or that's what they are claiming, anyway. They could be discussing anything behind those doors..."

"I don't know-when I last spoke to Brae, he was devastated by the destruction throughout the city. He really cares about his people."

Tris' brain apparently stopped working after the first part of my sentence. "You've spoken to him recently? My Helian prisoner gets one on one time with the prince while I can't even sit in on a meeting full of other diplomats?"

''Hey! Your prisoner? I don't think so, Sephan. Right now, you have about as much power over me as you do Brae-by which I mean none at all. And that's exactly the way it should be. Right now, you and I are perfectly equal. We're both helping out the Arcans; we just have slightly different agendas."

Tris sighed, his anger beginning to deflate. "I'm sorry, Rox. You are the only ally I have over here at the moment and I need to start treating you like it. Speaking of allies though... Any chance you could put in a good word for me with Sparky? She's someone I'd like to spend a little more time with."

"So easily distracted, Sephan. You'll never get anything done if you keep chasing after girls." I could probably make more headway with Brae if Jazz started showing an interest in Tris... But did I want my sister spending time with a Sephan? A Sephan with murky morals at that. My feelings towards Jasmine weren't rosy, but I still wasn't sure I would wish that on her. Particularly not with my knowledge of Tris' lust for power. "I think you should focus on the task at hand, and leave Brae's best friend alone-I don't think it would help your cause if he disliked you any more than he already does."

Tris laughed. His good humour seemed to be returning. I was about to suggest we went for a walk around the garden when a group of approaching Arcans froze the words on my lips. Brae was at their head, flanked on either side by Cameron and Devon. Jasmine was with them too, but she was keeping off to the side.

"President Terra, Princess LeMarc, we are about to commence a wide scale evacuation of the city. We would be grateful for your assistance, should you be willing to give it."

"Of course," I replied at once, my eyes never leaving Brae's.

"The Sephans would be happy to aid you in your endeavour to save your citizens," Tris replied with the easy charm that had characterised his campaign.

"Thank you both. Troops are already assembling throughout the city. We will start the evacuation immediately." Smiling lightly in my direction, he led the group along the corridor and to the city.

"I'm surprised you're willing to help," Tris whispered to me as we followed Brae towards the door.

I shrugged back. "Just because I'm a Helian doesn't mean that I can't pull my weight. I helped you plenty in the Sephan Realm."

"That hardly involved getting your hands dirty, Princess. You're about to enter a war zone."

"Watch it, Sephan. Call me 'Princess' again and you'll have a war zone of your own to contend with." I let flames flare in my hands to emphasise my point, but Tris smiled dryly.

"No offense, Roxy, but your flames are a whole lot less menacing when there is all of this to contend with," he replied, gesturing to the view that met us at the palace gates.

The city of air had erupted into flames. A fiery apocalypse rained down from the sky in a blazing torrent. It melted through everything in its path, turning walls, roads and railway tracks into indistinguishable masses of destruction. Clouds of white dust billowed through the air, making it difficult to make out anything beyond the first few metres of rubble besides the chaotic streaks of orange falling from the sky.

Before I had a chance to wonder what the flames the Arcans were planning to do against all of this, Jasmine was at my side.

"Head east," she told us, an authoritativeness in her voice that I hadn't heard before. "Most of the houses on that side are still occupied. The citizens need to head towards the water - Brizan ships will be waiting to take them to a safer part of the island. Some of the soldiers are going to go with you - to do the actual persuading - since our citizens are unlikely to take comfort in the arrival of a Helian and a Sephan, but Brae wants you there for defence and fire power."

Tris nodded. "Got it."

But I wavered, unable to leave just yet. "What is Brae doing?"

Jasmine looked at me so strangely that I instantly regretted my question. "The King is insisting on travelling to the poorest section of the city, to the south of the palace."

"Is that sensible?"

"No. But does it sound like something Brae would insist on doing? Yes. Come on, you need to get going if you're going to help."

Tris nodded and set off to the east with a group of waiting soldiers, leaving me to follow in his wake.

The first house we came to looked untouched by the warfare; with a glossy front door and spotless white walls. There was even a window box filled with a rainbow of flowers and an immaculate doormat to 'welcome' us to the residence. Five faces peered through the polished windows, all haunted by the same wide eyes and trembling lips.

"You need to leave," I told them.

The oldest one, a man, shook his head, his face resolute.

I sighed. This was going to be difficult. "If you stay here, you will die. It's too dangerous. The King has ordered a total evacuation of the area."

He didn't look any more convinced, but I saw the face of the woman beside him waver slightly. She wasn't sure they were safe.

"If you leave now, soldiers can lead you to safety. We are evacuating everyone in this area of the city. Your children are in danger here." As I spoke, Arcan soldiers fanned around me, their white, military regalia billowing in the wind. As far as I could tell, there was no point or benefit to them though. They were trained in close range combat and had absolutely no way of attacking the skies; they were about as useful as a Helian with a phobia of fire.

But they seemed to reassure the residents of the house, who vanished immediately from the window and reappeared a few seconds later through the front door.

"I guess you don't have the magic touch," Tris said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Never mind. Let's head on to the next one."

"This is ridiculous," I told him, as the next family behaved in exactly the same way. "Why are we here? This area isn't even being attacked - the soldiers would be fine without us. We should be in the more vulnerable areas, protecting the others - like Brae."

"Brae has an Arcan army protecting him. He doesn't need a couple of foreigners getting in the way."

"It doesn't feel right, Tris. I've got a really, really bad feeling about what's going on over there." As I spoke, I watched smoke billowing into the air in the distance. The sight of it sent shivers down my spine that had nothing to do with the icy temperature. "We shouldn't be here."

"Well, they should have deployed us better then. Come on. Let's go scare a few more xenophobic poor people." He turned and started to walk towards the next house without looking back towards me. I went to follow, but my feet refused to move in his direction. I was in the wrong place. I could feel it. I shook my head and turned the other way, running back towards the palace before Tris could realise that I wasn't behind him.

***

It didn't take me long to find Brae; I just had to follow the destruction. I knew that he would be at the very centre of it, risking his life to save people too idiotic to rescue themselves. In the Helian Realm, we'd have just seen this as survival of the fittest: those smartest enough to evacuate and get out of harm's way lived; those who cowered in fear and refused to move died. I knew who the Helians would rather see survive.

A cloud of smoke erupted in front of me, turning the world into an ashy white. As it filled my ears, the sounds that had overwhelmed me moments before - crumbling masonry, flickering flames and the cries of those frantic to escape - were replaced with a heavy stillness.

I no longer knew which way to go; which direction I would find Brae - or anyone in. There was nothing but white; a foggy calm in the midst of chaos. Unable to orientate myself, I came to a stop. Blood was pumping around my body at a furious pace; I could hear it pound through my ears. I forced myself to breathe deeply, in an attempt to slow it down. It was only as the sound began to fade that I heard the shouting.

"Help! Please! We're trapped!" The voice, unmistakably Arcan, sounded like that of a small child: high; shrill and panicked. I bit my lip, unsure for a second what I should do. But Brae could look after himself more than a child could. And a small, selfish part of my brain knew that helping them would make me look good too. I started up again in the direction of the shouts.

It should have taken only a few seconds to reach them, but the white ash swirling around me made the terrain impossible to navigate by sight. My first step forwards sent me stumbling over an unseen chunk of debris. With my next, I twisted my ankle. I coughed as debris filled my lungs. By the time I finally made it to the source of the cry, my rescue attempt was no longer a solo one.

"Brae." His name came out as no more than a whisper, ethereal like his emergence from the dust before me. He didn't notice me, or the flames now dancing between my fingers. He only saw the children stuck beneath the rubble before us; a girl of maybe nine or ten, tears streaming down dust coated cheeks, her arm around a younger boy whose own eyes were dry, closed and had a trickle of bright red blood falling in front of them.

"It's okay. Don't panic. I'll have you both out in a second." The girl nodded, a glimmer of hope appearing on her features.

Brae stood very still beside the rocks, his hands at his sides in a position which was becoming increasingly familiar to me. I braced myself for the chill I knew was coming, as a strong gust of wind blew through the area. The sea of dust which swirled around Brae obscured him from view. But that didn't matter, because I knew what would be happening: the wind Brae had conjured would lift the stone from the top of the children and Brae would reach out his hands to pull them both to safety. He would be a hero.

But when the dust settled, the sight that met me was impossibly different. Instead of helping the children to safety, Brae was now struggling to support the masonry on his own shoulders, which were buckling under an extraordinary amount of pressure.

"Brae!" I called, rushing forwards.

"Roxy?" He barely had the strength to say my name. I could see the strain across his muscles and in the redness of his face.

"What do you need me to do?" I reached towards the stone, ready to try to shoulder some of the burden myself.

"No! Find one of the other Arcan protectors. We need their wind to lift it."

"But I can't leave you like this!"

"Please, Roxy! I need you to get help."

Biting my lip, I turned and ran in the direction Brae had come from.

"Help! Quick! The King needs help! Help!" I called as I went, desperate for someone, anyone, in this white wasteland to hear me.

"Roxy?" It was one of the female Protectors - Devon? She was supporting an old man, helping him to walk out from the ruins of his house.

"Brae's trapped! You need to get over there now - he needs you!"

Devon lowered the man carefully to the street. "Stay here, someone will come to help you in a minute. Where is he?" she asked, turning back to me.

"Over here, come on!" I ran in Brae's direction, barely glancing behind me to check that she was still following. My foot caught on a camouflaged patch of debris, nearly sending me flying, but then Devon was at my side, holding me up by the elbow.

"Careful. We don't have time to pick you back up too."

I nodded and continued on, reaching Brae with my next turn.

"There!" I pointed to where Brae was still struggling beneath the debris. He had been standing, hunched over, when I left him, but now he was crouched on the floor. His face was drained of colour. He couldn't hold on for much longer.

But Devon had already sprung into action. With her hands at her sides, she conjured a wind which swept under Brae's shoulders, lifting some of the weight from them. I was by his side instantly, ready once again to take some of the load.

"No. Help them first."

"Brae!"

"No, Roxy. They need the help more." I sighed, but reached out my hands towards the children. At the sight of my hair, the girl looked even more terrified than before, but she reluctantly extended her brother's limp body out towards me. I took him in my arms and carried him just far enough away from the rock before going back for the girl. With my strength to anchor her, she could hoist herself out and ran at once to her brother's side.

Now that the Arcan children were safe, Brae would finally accept some help himself. I stood beside him, shouldering enough of the weight for him to shimmy himself towards the edge. We let go together, ducking out of the way while the rock floated for half a second under Devon's wind before falling to the ground with a crash and a blast of dust.

Coughing, we headed back towards the children, who now also had Devon at their side.

"Will he be okay?" Brae asked her.

Devon looked unsure. "He needs a doctor, right away."

"Let's get him to one then," Brae answered, bending down at once to take the child in his arms. But his strength was exhausted and he was unable to lift him more than an inch above the ground.

"I've got him," Devon said, her face creased with concern. "Roxy, can you help support Brae? We need to get them both checked out."

"Come on, Your Highness. I think you need a rest." He reluctantly let me take his weight across my shoulders and we limped slowly towards the nearest medical team.

{Long Roxy chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Please vote/comment to let me know what you think}