The dagger clattered to the floor in a stringent thud. Then, chaos broke out. Nobles flooded out of the door, earning a storm of curious whispers from the guests who remained in the ballroom. Raimon stumbled off Cirasa in a daze. HIs eyes hardened and he cursed, craning his neck towards the trangene tree in the middle of the dais. Oh, no. Not on Elred's watch.

Elred dashed forward just as Raimon shot towards the wide open doors. Her fingers closed around the dagger Cirasa dropped and chucked it in the air. The blade flashed in the light as it sailed and ultimately embedded itself in Raimon's ankle. Her relative fell forward with a pained cry. Before he could stand up, the Garde surrounded him and tackled him to the ground.

Relief washed over Elred. They did it. They stopped the disaster.

Then, someone coughed behind her. Oh, shoot. Cirasa. She edged away from the cursing noble being held down by the Garde and ran to where her brother lay on the floor. "Hey, little brother," she whispered. "Stay with me."

She gathered her skirts and pressed the cloth to her brother's wings. Tears burned in the corner of her eyes. Her heart pounded in her head. What a cruel twist of fate this Feast turned out to be. Would he survive? Her brother groaned but he didn't stir. His eyes remained closed, his features crumpling in pain and exhaustion. She lowered her vision in the trail dimension and saw Cirasa's trail flickering faintly.

The white cloth around her legs slowly turned dark red. It's not stopping. How...

"Move aside," a voice pierced through Elred's panic. Her gaze snapped up and landed on her father. Without a word, he crouched next to her brother and carried him in his arms. He gave her a quick glance over the shoulder. "Clean yourself up. I'll deal with this."

Then, he rushed out of the room, leaving Elred still kneeling on the puddle of her brother's blood. "Your Grace," one of the Garde approached Elred but she only registered boots. "What will we do about the gathered army?"

Fabric rustled to Elred's left as the Queen strode past, her white gown still remaining immaculate despite all the chaos that happened. "Issue a state of emergency all over Helinfirth," the Queen ordered, her voice whole and flat. Elred raised her head and locked eyes with her mother. She couldn't tell if they were happy, sad, or disappointed. They were just...empty. "I want every head of the Upper City clans in here by afternoon. It's time they see what happens when they think of defying the Crown."

The Garde issued a hasty bow that's not even in the protocol and ran out of the room. Elred couldn't find the strength to push herself up, walk to the doors, and see all the decorations and guests ogling at the whole spectacle she had made of Abshire.

Despite the Queen not showing it, Elred knew. She had let her mother down. In the worst way possible.

2372 Rab 04, Jyda

The wine in her mother's glass sloshed around and glistened in the morning light. Elred pursed her lips and resisted bouncing on the balls of her feet when the silence in the office stretched. Last night was eventful. Elred dealt with sending the guests home, showering the disgruntled nobles and wealthy families with gifts as she showed them the door, while the Queen dealt with the heads of clans who rushed to the scene as soon as they were summoned.

Elred hasn't seen her father or her brother anywhere in the melee. When she finished cleaning up with the servants at around the last hour of the fourth quarter, she thought of visiting but decided against it. Her brother might be resting the night away. Still, why hasn't her father helped the Queen with all this madness?

After retiring to her room to get a bit of rest for about two hours, she was called down into the Queen's office, two floors below her rooms in the Vertinso Mansion. Now, as she stood in front of her mother's semi-circular glass table stacked to the brim with sheafs of parchments and other knickknacks, she couldn't bring herself to ask what in Crintine's name would happen to everyone involved.

"That was quite a Feast," the Queen sighed and set her wine glass on the table with a brief clink. She raised her eyes to meet Elred's, the same shade blinking back at her. "I would have wanted a more orderly execution but things happened."

Elred clasped her hands in front of her. "Yeah," she echoed. "Things happened."

The Queen narrowed her eyes at the use of informal talk in her presence but didn't seem to have the energy to correct Elred. "Well," she breathed, leaning back into her chair's back cushion. "Raimon confessed to everything last night and for the most part, you are right," she said. "Entobern agreed to aid my ill-guided cousin after he promised them a cut in Abshire's territory. The generals didn't look happy that they have all been caught."

Delicate fingers massaged the Queen's temples. "I guess you and your brother did a splendid job when it comes to your investigations," she said. "That helped greatly with the relaying of punishments."

A drop of dread sank in Elred's gut. "What's going to happen to them?"

"Raimon will face exile in Rabante," her mother said with a bored tone. "He and his immediate family will no longer be considered a member of our clan. They will be stripped of their privileges, including most of their assets. Abshire reserves the right to utilize these assets to the benefit of Helinfirth. Raimon can do whatever in Umazure he wants but he will not be able to drag our name into the mud along with him"

Elred knitted her eyebrows. So, Raimon could hire for himself some poacher goons in Asopus and he could come back to attack Helinfirth once more? That didn't sound good. Still, the other option was to execute him and that was also something that didn't sit well with Elred.

"As for Entobern," the Queen continued, gaining Elred's attention back. "They will be forbidden to step outside their territory. Abshire will reject their presence and should they be found here, they may be killed on sight. I will personally make sure that happens."

With what? The Garde? Would the Queen force these peaceful information gatherers to kill their own race? Oblivious of Elred's internal turmoil, the Queen continued. "Their trade with Abshire will be barred as well as their trade with the other Upper Cities. Goods from Rabante will be heavily monitored, as well. Appropriate sanctions will be placed upon them in terms of quantity, price, and use."

Elred tightened her grip on her hand. Wasn't that too harsh? Entobern allied themselves to Raimon because they already felt Abshire choking them. Imposing such punishments when they were already struggling internally, wouldn't that push them into defying the Crown further? Those sanctions did sound...unfair.

"I feel like you have something to say," the Queen said. "Spit it out."

"It's unfair," Elred blurted.

The Queen scoffed. "As monarchs, we need to do the right thing even if it hurts people," she said. "If we are to maintain order, our power, and our influence as a ruling clan, this need to happen. If we reward them for their attempts at a coup, then other families will see this as a precedent and proceed to undermine our authority in the same way."

"An example must be set," the Queen's voice was firm. "It's just unfortunate that Entobern got the brunt end of it."

Elred opened her mouth but shut it again. There was no use arguing with her mother about policies regarding Abshire's rule. That didn't mean she agreed with it fully. There might have been a more fitting punishment that wouldn't threaten the basic survival of their people. Her mother just didn't want to find it nor did she want to trouble herself with it.

That wasn't the kind of monarch Elred wanted to become.

"Oh, right," the Queen picked up her wine glass again. "The healers relayed Cirasa has woken up not that long ago. You should go and visit him."

Elred ducked her head and left the office without a word.

The door to Cirasa's room edged in her view sooner than she wanted to. Her fingers wrapped around the handle. Hesitation dragged her back. Should she just go back to her rooms? Sleep some more?

She shook her head. Just go in.

Light flooded in Elred's eyes as she stepped inside. Unlike the dim ambiance she always arrived at, this brightness almost tricked her into thinking she went into the wrong room. Then, her eyes landed on the quilted bed where her brother was sitting up, staring unblinkingly at the windows thrown wide open. Stray breezes filtered inside the room, shuffling his uncombed hair and rustling the curtains pushed back.

His eyes met Elred as soon as he sensed her movements. "Hey," Elred greeted, her legs bringing her closer to her brother. "How are you feeling?"

Cirasa didn't answer until Elred settled beside him on the bed. "I'm fine," he said in a soft whisper. "It doesn't hurt that much."

Elred fiddled with her fingers—something she didn't even know she did until now. "Your visions..." she started. Her tongue had never felt so heavy inside her mouth. "They're from the future, right?"

She raised her head to find Cirasa staring at her with knowing eyes. The scarlet shade in his irises looked out of place in his innocent expression. "Yes," he answered.

"So, when you showed up in the State Dinner, did you..." Elred closed her eyes, forcing the question out. "Did you already know what's going to happen to...to..."

Her voice trailed off. Cirasa appeared to have understood as his gaze faltered to the bandaged stumps behind him. "Yeah," he said. "I knew."

Elred blew an exasperated breath. "Then why would you—"

"Because it wouldn't make a difference," Cirasa averted his gaze. His fingers curled against the blanket drawn over his legs. "Helinfirth would have been ransacked. Raimon would have been King. Mom and Dad might have not made it. I don't know beyond the fact that if I didn't show up in that dinner, it would have been really bad for us."

"So you...even if..." Elred's voice died down. Cirasa stared out at the windows again. Being so high up in the Vertinso Mansion, they could only view the sky and the rolls of clouds crawling through it. Elred's heart wrenched. So that's why he was looking out. The vast blue reminded him of the heights he would never reach starting now. It told him of the feeling of freedom he would never feel again.

A single tear slipped out of his brother's eye, which he hastily wiped. "That's not what you think," Cirasa muttered. Then, he sniffed. "That's not..."

His shoulders shook as his head dropped into his hands in pure despair. Elred drew closer and cradled her brother close to her. Her own heart ripped into pieces with every soft sob escaping from him. She tightened her grip, willing her warmth reach him, to tell him that it wouldn't be the end of the world. He could still fly. He couldn't still touch the sky without wings. Elred would go to the ends of the world just to make sure that happened.

Cirasa had already sacrificed enough to ensure Helinfirth still stayed upright. Out of everyone, he was the one who was willing to give away the most. Elred wasn't sure if she could repay that someday. That didn't mean she wouldn't try.

As she held her brother, she made a promise to him. She would make Helinfirth a place where nobody had to sacrifice anything anymore. Helinfirth wouldn't have to be scared of a rebellion. They wouldn't have to cower behind wealthy families or need to depend on traitorous kin to be able to defend themselves. Helinfirth would be a safe place for innocents.

For Elred to do that, she needed to start somewhere. For her to fulfill her promise, first, she needed an army.