I wake to an explosion. What a great way to wake up.

I throw myself out of bed, the Sentinels bursting into my room almost immediately. Their eyes lock on me, and I hiss, "To the barracks!" They nod almost immediately, and we set off, hurrying towards the barracks. We skid to a stop by the Square, soldiers pouring out and surrounding us. I cast a glance back to the flame and smoke of the bridge.

"Guns on the gates!" I shout. "Put nymphs on the other side, we don't want the fire spreading!" I look quickly back to the other side of the Square, and for a moment I think I see silhouettes, but I push the thought away. The spotlights blaze up, pointing down to the bridge or all around the square. I notice one person stepping into the middle of one of the beams, but I ignore it. Probably just some lingering soldier.

"Cal!" a voice screams, shouting over the noise of the legion. Wait- no, I realize, that isn't just any person- it's Mare. My head snaps over towards her direction, and she stands alone, one hand over her eyes to block the spotlight, but she still meets my eyes through the mess. She is not afraid- does she know what's going on? I shove my way through the soldiers, and I see her legs tremble. Or maybe she is afraid.

"Go back inside, now!" I tell her, standing over her, but she looks back up at me evenly. "Mare, it's not safe-!" I try to move back, so I can watch her go safely, but one of her hands snatches onto the collar of my shirt.

"What if that was the cost?" she says, and my heart just about stops.

She glances back at the smoking Bridge, eyes disdainful. "Nothing but a few tons of concrete," she says dismissively, but when she meets my gaze, her eyes are alight with fire. "What if I told you that right here, right now, you could fix everything." She leans closer. "You could save us."

You could save us. Us. What does that mean? I think, but I think I know what it does. But she's still staying out here, standing firm, standing strong. She's going to get herself killed! "Don't," I protest, one of my hands clasping hers. I'm afraid, I really am, for her.

"You said you believed in us once, in freedom. In equality. You can make that world real, with one word. There won't be a war. No one will die." My breath catches in my throat. Mare's eyes are fiery but desperate. "You hold the power now. This army is yours, this whole place is yours to take and- and to free!" she shouts, her grip tightening on me. "March into the palace, make your father kneel, and do what you know is right. Please, Cal!"

Could I do that? I wonder. The automatic answer I come to is no- but is that true? Julian always supported Reds. Mare is a Red, too, and she is someone I had fallen in love with.

But Father raised me to be scornful towards Reds. Not scornful- it's just the balance. If I upset that, what would happen? Rebellion, revolution? Would I be a good king if I did that? Maybe to Reds, but what about to Silvers?

And Mare, asking this of me- was this what she had been implying before? If all of this wasn't between us. Maybe this was it, her underlying message. And I hadn't realized it until now.

She leans closer and presses a kiss to my lips. I hardly register it. She is shaking, I can feel that. She pulls back, just a little, her voice desperate as she continues her speech.

"Choose me," she breathes. "Choose a new world. Make a better world. The soldiers will obey you. Your father will obey you." The spotlight flickers on and off with her heartbeat, which I can feel, pounding hard as she's pressed against me. She is tense, waiting for me to say something, but I can't. I'm just not able. "It was my blood in the cells," she insists. "I helped the Guard escape. And soon everyone will know- and they will kill me. Don't let them. Save me."

If my heart had stopped before, it was frozen in place now.

I helped the Guard escape.

I helped the Guard.

How did I not know? How did I not see? It was so obvious, now that I look back at it. My grip on her wrists tightens as I come to an even worse conclusion:

She used me.

"It was always you."

She stares evenly back at me. "Greet the new dawn, Cal. With me," she replies firmly. Her gaze flicks once to her left. "With us," she adds, quietly. I glance behind her and- ah, yes. Maven. He stares at me, and I stare at him. He is smug-looking, as if to say, She's mine now. And that pushes me over the edge- right over the damn line.

She used me.

So did Maven, didn't he? If they were working together, both with the Guard, then he was using me too. They both were. That hurts- that really hurts. "It was always you," I repeat, and this time I don't care about how broken my voice sounds. "The escape, the shooting, the power outages." She controls electricity- how did I not notice? "It all started with you."

Her mouth opens, and she tries to struggle back. I don't let go. Remind you of something? a voice in my head says. I shove the thought away. "How many people have you killed with your dawn?" I shout. "How many children, how many innocents? How many people have you betrayed?" People like me, people who trusted her. How many of those are there?

Her legs tremble and then her knees buckle, but my hand still grasps her wrists. Maven cries out, "Let her go!" He hurries forward, but Mare separates us herself. Her eyes are sorrowful and yet they are furious. Electricity shoots between us, and I jerk back, the sparks throwing her back from me. Maven halts, eyes wide. He turns to the Guard, eyes skimming over them before he lets out another cry. "Run! Run!" he shrieks, gesturing wildly from the blonde one- Farley?- to the left, then down, then to the drains. I jump to my feet before Mare does, my eyes following where Maven is pointing.

"The drains!" I shouted, the shout directed to my soldiers but my eyes only on Mare. "They're in the drains!"

One of the shadows scurries into the drains, Mare's eyes following only that one. Soldiers pour into the drains after it, ripping up pipes or grating to jump in. Mare's eyes are hollow as she stares at them. Part of me wants to relish in her pain, it longs to, but I can't. No matter what she's done, she is still Mare- and it still hurts for me to see her in pain, no matter how much I don't want to admit it now that she's... done what she's done.

My body shakes as I stand over her. Her lip curls as she stares up at me. She is angry, she is furious.

"How many?" she screams, her voice angry and hateful. It hurts, despite how much I want it not to. "How many starved? How many murdered? How many children taken away to die?" She inhales deeply. A hateful glare sharpens her gaze. "How many, my prince?"

She trembles on her feet, eyes wild. She is angry, and I am sad. I'm sad because she's right. She's right, even though I don't want her to be. I'm right, too, because what she's done is wrong, but her words remind me of why I believed in a world where Silvers and Reds are equal in the first place.

"My brother, Kilorn's father, Tristan, Walsh-!"

I don't know half of them, but I can tell they mean everything to her, the way her voice twists in pain as she cries out. I don't answer, my gaze drifting to Arven, standing behind her. I glance back at her once.

"I wish things were different."

I really do. I wish she hadn't used me, I wish she hadn't been in the Scarlet Guard. I wish she hadn't been forced to be a Silver, a prisoner in silk, I wish she hadn't been betrothed to Maven. But it happened. And now I have to deal with it.

The soldiers shackle her, and she looks like she wants to cry. I don't know if it's because of what I said, or because of what the guards are doing.

"Brother!" Maven snarls, his voice hard and sharp. "They'll kill her! They'll kill me!" I ignore him. I turn to one of the captains.

"Make sure they don't escape," I say.

The captain nods. "Yes, sir."

Mare slumps on the ground. They shove Maven forward, and he falls next to her, his head landing with a loud thump. I try not to grimace at the way he winces. Mare lets out a little horrible whine, as if the motion brings back bad memories. I breathe heavily.

"Take them inside, to the king," I say firmly. "He will judge them both."

Maven looks up at me, his eyes desperate. In stark contrast, Mare stares into the distance, hopelessness crossing her gaze. She knows to give up now. She has no hope. My heart twists at the both of their fates, now- there's no hope for either of them, although Elara may be able to save Maven, there's no hope for Mare. I push the thought away. I can't care about them now. They are traitors, working for the Scarlet Guard, and I can't have mercy for either of them.

Mare finally looks up at me. The sun is rising on a dawn, a dawn of a day that could be the last for them. Her eyes focus on the sun, and then they squeeze shut- this certainly isn't the dawn she wanted to see.

A/N-

Please R/R!

I really don't mean to beg, but please review! It means a lot to me, and I'm a lot more motivated to get chapters up when you review..

But yeah-