Oh goodness I really do not need to promise speedy updates because something always happens when I say that. This time it was my alternator going out on my car that I had to deal with, followed by the air conditioning. Life is evil.

Anyway, hope you like this long-awaited chapter. I spent a long time trying to figure out what I wanted to with Brenin, and I'm still not 100% sure it turned out the way I wanted it too. Oh well. Next chapter will probably be the last, and I'm going to try to make it ten times better :)

Alex felt as if a leaden weight was sitting at the bottom of her stomach as she led Brenin through the hallways. She could feel the presence of the revolver, hidden by his jacket but still trained on the middle of her back. It was very cowardly—despicable, even—for a wizard to use a mortal weapon, such as a gun. Magic didn't kill as quickly, but it was a lot less messy, and therefore more civilized. No one had considered the possibility of the Premier stooping so low as to carry a firearm, although it was entirely plausible now that Alex thought about his bloody reputation.

They passed a few guards on their journey through the council building, although none of them did anything more than cast a curious glance. They had learned well over the years to stay out of their boss's business. Whenever someone got too inquisitive, they either ended up fired or dead or both. It was an occupational hazard for someone employed under Brenin's merciless command.

"Justin's hiding just through here. He thought he could take you on singlehanded," Alex said in murmur, indicating a pair of towering nondescript white doors.

"Where's his followers, then?" Brenin asked distrustfully.

"On the edge of the city. The plan was that they would wait for his signal to attack as he soon as he got you out of the way," Alex responded. She felt the barrel of the revolver press into the middle of her back and froze.

"This better not be a trap, sweetheart, or you know what's going to happen to you," the man told her, his voice dripping with poison.

"It's not." It was getting harder to keep her words steady, especially considering Alex knew chances of self-preservation were slim. All it took was one scare, one tip-off that told him it was indeed a trap, for Brenin's finger to release the trigger and bury a silver bullet in her heart. She still couldn't believe that she had gotten herself into this. In the very recent past she would have abandoned Justin long before this point. It was ironic that she was going beyond her perimeters of usual behavior just to regain something he had lost, and at the expense of her life to top it off.

Alex tried to ignore her mounting dread as she creaked open one of the white doors just enough for her to slip through, Brenin close at her heels. They found themselves in a sort of ancient court, the magnificent ebony columns and judge's seat crumbling from years of disuse. Light flooded through small slits that served as windows in the arched ceiling, but it only illuminated center of the room where the judge and jury had once encircled the accused, leaving the corners of the chamber masked in eerie darkness. Alex knew they were there in the shadows; Justin and the Greys and everyone else. It was a comfort and a threat at the same time.

The white doors, the only entrance and exit to the room, were also concealed by the dark. As Alex got closer to the ring of light, she felt Brenin's hold on her slacken. Realizing he meant to stay undetected where Justin couldn't see him, she fought the urge to break into a run and instead walked calmly across the lit circle.

"Justin, I have some information for you," Alex announced to the air. She waited, searching for movement in the dark, for she knew that there was no way she could allow Justin to reveal himself entirely and make himself the perfect target. There was a shuffle, and he appeared, wand in hand, completely unaware of what was awaiting him.

Without wasting another second, Alex sprang at him. The crack of a shot that she had been expecting sounded, catching her shoulder just as she wrapped her arms around Justin and took him down to the ground with her. The resulting pain was nothing compared to what she had experienced after the shadow beast had attacked her, not to mention the relief of knowing Justin was unharmed had an unusual numbing effect.

"Alex, what in the world?!" Justin began. The unanticipated gunshot had confused him, and he didn't realize what had happened until his hand brushed her shoulder. "Oh my goodness, Alex, I had no idea…a gun, what wizard uses a gun? I just knew something was going to happen…"

Shouts echoed across the courtroom as the resistance members abandoned their hiding places to apprehend Brenin. The silver gun clattered loudly on the jet-black floor, disintegrating into ashes after Bassett blasted it with white-hot magic. Brenin yelled and cursed, but the odds were against him.

"Well well, Rience Brenin. We meet again." Farren faced the beaten Premier, satisfaction in her eyes.

"You! I thought we took care of you," Brenin spat. He strained against the bonds Bassett had placed on him, but they were reinforced with magic and proved to be unbreakable.

"Obviously you didn't. What a shame, especially since you would have gotten rid of Justin at the same time. Two birds with one stone, as they say," Farren responded. She tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something. There was a faint sound of several people shouting, and scattered booming noises as if windows and who knew what else were being shattered. "Do you hear that? That is the remainder of our little organization, as well as a couple thousand furious citizens. People don't like being ground into the dirt by their government, Brenin. That is the sound of justice, finally, after eighteen years of oppression."

Brenin's eyes were wide, betraying the cowardice in him for the whole room to see. He was well aware of what an uprising meant to him. He was as good as dead.

"Please, don't turn me over to them. I'll do anything," the man begged.

"Why should we do that?" Bassett demanded. "Because of you, Justin has no parents. Because of you, many have been deprived of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles. Why show you any mercy after what you've done?"

"Throw him out to the people, see if they'll have mercy on him," the aging soldier who had been in the army with Brenin suggested. Although his presence in the council building would have caused problems if detected, he had been assigned to the Control group mainly because of his muscle and had done a good job staying out of sight until now.

"I'll give you anything you want! Fortune, property, you name it," Brenin pleaded. Beads of sweat were already forming on his brow. He was speaking to Justin now, his final hope. Justin cast him a look of contempt in reply. Alex was clutched to his chest, her shoulder bleeding freely despite the pressure his hand was applying to it. She was as pale as a ghost, and her breathing was labored.

"Allow me, Justin. I can deal with this easily," Bassett said softly, approaching the pair. With some urging he managed to pry Alex away. He led her over to one of the circular benches across from the judge's seat and began whispering healing spells over her injury.

"You promise what already rightfully belongs to the true Premier," Farren told Brenin, nodding to a man who had once served as a security guard during the wizard world's glory days. He bowed his head slightly in reply and threw open the doors of the courtroom. Light flooded into the far corners of the chamber, and the sounds of the fray grew louder. Brenin sent one last desperate look Justin's way.

"I'm sorry, Brenin. You've taken too much from me already. I can't let it happen again," Justin said resolutely, his gaze resting on Alex.

The ex-Premier didn't have time for any more words. The soldier and the former security guard seized him roughly under the arms and dragged him out into the corridor. Farren, Bassett, Justin, Alex, and the others followed them to the entry hall of the council building, where the citizens of Caerdydd were in the process of overpowering the guards who stood against them. Once they laid eyes on Brenin, an outcry arose, and the dictator was immediately swept outside to be dealt with by the masses.

Justin watched with mixed emotions, wondering if he did the right thing. Surely Brenin deserved this for everything he had done, but he was still a human being, to a point. He felt a small hand lace through his and looked down into Alex's reassuring brown eyes, and suddenly he knew for certain he hadn't made a mistake.