The tower room was dark, but Elira's skin still glowed faintly from the fire that had surged through her hours earlier. The Council hadn't returned with a verdict.
They didn't need to. She already knew.
She sat near the window, looking out over the dark spires of the castle, eyes fixed on the horizon. Somewhere out there was the truth. Freedom. Danger.
She would take all of it.
A soft knock.
> "Elira," came Auren's voice. "It's time."
She opened the door, and he slipped inside, dressed in a plain guard's cloak and carrying a satchel.
> "I bribed the western watchman," he said. "You'll have five minutes before the alarms ring."
> "You're not coming?"
He hesitated. "If I vanish, they'll know it was me. You need a head start."
Elira stepped close, reached up, and touched his cheek.
"You've already given me more than anyone ever has."
> "That's not enough," Auren said. "Not until this kingdom stops treating you like a weapon."
---
They moved through the hidden servants' corridors, past the cold kitchens, down into the forgotten halls near the catacombs. Auren opened a heavy wooden door with a key he'd stolen from the royal steward.
> "This leads beneath the castle walls," he said. "To the Hollow Market. From there, disappear."
Elira paused. Her hand on the door, her heart torn between the burning path ahead and the prince she was leaving behind.
"Tell Kael… tell him I'll return. When I'm ready."
Auren nodded. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Go. And set the world on fire."
She ran.
---
At dawn, Elira emerged into the outer city through a crumbling stone arch lined with ivy. The Hollow Market was quiet, its tents collapsed, its alleys still sleeping.
But the air tasted different. Not of ash, not of fear—but of freedom.
Behind her, the castle bells rang.
Too late.
Elira pulled up the hood of her borrowed cloak and disappeared into the waking city.
Lady Seraphine held a scorched fragment of Elira's broken cuffs.
> "We should have ended her when we had the chance."
The High Chancellor glared at Auren.
"She won't get far."
But Seraphine smiled.
"She'll run straight into prophecy. And when she does… we'll be waiting."