A few hours ago...

Mare POV

This is bad.

I wake up in my cell again, smothered by the feeling of silence. My nails dig into my palms, giving me something to focus on, away from Dahlia and her risky plan. But my efforts are useless. A million different thoughts run through my head. Each one points the finger at me. I didn't make Dahlia come here. I never asked for her to come here! I didn't want her to come here! After what happened to Nanny, I don't think I can bear another sacrifice. Especially if the sacrifice is my own daughter.

My own flesh and blood. I wonder if she'll find about the secret I've tried so hard to hide. And if Maven will too. He's already watching her. Daly might not even know it. Or maybe, this is her plan all along. It could very well be. Dahlia is not stupid enough to do things without thinking it through with a clear mind. Even under pressure, she is still able to succeed. She's shown the skill multiple times and I'm perfectly sure she will not act like Cal. Nanny was Cal's idea and look where that got them both. If she can handle herself properly on a normal mission, she can do it on this one.

But this is not a normal mission; it's about saving a mother and bringing a family back together. And since the prisoner is the mom and the spy is the daughter, things might go wrong. But I don't know her plan. I can guess. Maybe if she were to attract attention, people would view her as a threat rather than a weakness. But even if it isn't, Dahlia has a way of attracting attention like a magnet. It's like she was born with a certain aura around her that made people wonder. And it could be a blessing- and a curse.

My hand finds the manacles, feeling the stone that is keeping me prisoner. It falls limply to the side with a soft thump on the bed sheets. The sound is a momentary distraction from reality. And the distraction from the promise I made to myself earlier. Dahlia must survive. She is my own blood and I must do everything in my power to keep her safe from harm. I will never let another Barrow share Shade's fate.

The mention of my brother's name sends a sharp pain through me. The wound is too fresh, too raw to picked at yet. Not that I want it to be picked at in the first place. I want to forget it even happened. I want to forget everything happened. But I can't. No one can.

My thoughts are momentarily interrupted when Maven walks in.

"Hi," I say as venomously as possible, picking up the nearest book. It belongs to Julian. I flip it to a random page and begin reading. Anything to push Maven away from me.

"You seem to be in a bad mood," Maven remarks, his eyes going over the small mark on the wall left by the smashed plate. It's slightly dented inwards. "As always."

"Thanks for the reminder."

I turn back to my book, trying to ignore him for as long as I can. Julian's history books are a comfort; even though he's miles away, he's still here. Still teaching me. I will do my best to learn from him and learn as much as I can from this fool's bargain. Finding information is my new hobby.

"Are you alright?" Maven murmurs, sitting on a chair, opposite from where I am.

Something ticks inside of me and I close the book shut with a nice thud. "What do you think?" I snap, glaring at him. "Once you've been chained by Silent Stone for months, maybe you'll understand."

My words seem to set Maven off a little bit but it's not enough. He's still able to keep his cool, even when he says his next words. "You wanted this."

"Being back in your cage?" I quirk an eyebrow. "You must be delusional."

"You made the deal."

"I made it to save my family and my friends," I say, bristling at the truth. I'm the one who made the deal. It was a stupid decision but a vital one. Everyone is alive, safe and sound wherever they are. Except Dahlia. She put herself in danger on purpose. And I can't do anything about it. I can't even scream or let my anger out about it. Because in this world, I'm not her mother. We have to pretend we don't know each other.

"Yes you did," Maven says softly. His drops his gaze, waiting for me to speak. Even if he gives no order, I do as he bids. Or rather, I do what he wants. It's game we both know how to play and a game that we are both good at.

"Any newbloods catch your attention lately?" I ask as casually as possible. "We had quite the shipment yesterday."

As if I need to be reminded by Dahlia's arrival. It eats away at my conscious everyday. It kills me to know that my daughter could be dead the next day or in a few months from now. I would rather her not take the risk, but if she's chosen it, I'm powerless to stop her. And it's Maven's response that sends chills down my spine.

"The other newblood that can wield lightning," he says plainly. "She's the first one that comes to mind."

He means Dahlia. I don't know if Maven is trying to test my reaction or not, but it doesn't matter. I won't give him the satisfaction of it. "Oh. Good for you" is all I say. I act as disinterestedly as my body allows.

"And there were of course a couple others. The one that can bend light- the cheery one- and some more." He uses his fingers to count them off. "Too many to remember. The lightning newblood must be something special if I were to remember her first." His eyes meet mine. "What did you think of her?"

It's an obvious question with an even more obvious intent. "It felt good to see her power," I reply as coolly as I can. He must not find out. "To at least see the power of lightning."

My power. Dahlia's power. A reminder of who I am. The lightning girl. And so is she.

"I hope it did." Maven says softly. Lightning seems to affect him just as much, even if he isn't touching it.

Then, Maven stands. "I'm taking you out for a walk," he states, one hand on my bed frame. "It would be good for you to get some sunshine. You look pale."

"Thank you for your concern but I don't need any!" I snap, seething with all the rage I have. "I already get enough from the window you've given me." Using my chin, I gesture to the small sliver of diamond glass imbedded into the wall. "You can go alone. I also don't need to be paraded around the place like a trophy you've won. I'm a person not a trinket."

"A trinket that you gave me," he corrects, putting emphasis on the word. I resist the urge to spit at him. "Well, you're going out anyway. Your skin is pale and walking around in Silent Stone isn't helping either."

"I wonder who was responsible for that," I fire back. "Why don't you take them off? Oh right I remember why. You're just too scared that I'll leave you. Well, I'd rather die than stay here for another second."

Maven rolls his eyes and walks out of the room. With a wave of my hand, he signals for the sentinels to drag me out. Kitten and Trio proceed to grip me by the arms and force me out of my cell. I scream in frustration, trying to break free. Nothing could be more fruitless. Soon, I'm thrust out into the open, half dragged, half following Maven.

Maybe some things haven't changed despite everything else.

Present day...

Dahlia POV

Maven walks into the middle of the clearing, with powerful and elegant steps. He looks down at all of us, his gaze icy. "What are you all doing?"

Leo, Evgeny, Lia, and I remain silent. None of us dare speak up about what has happened here. I watch my instructor trembles under the gaze of the king and her attackers. It puzzles me. I understand her fear of the king but why is she so scared of them?

"Nothing out of the ordinary," I mutter. "Hopefully."

"I find that hard to believe," Maven says. His eyes go over the walls, assessing the damage. I do my best to stop myself from cringing. I don't miss the flash in his eyes as they go over at both the charred and broken sections of the marble wall. "Who did that?"

I did. I did it so I could kick those two into the dirt where they belong. And I know I'm in big trouble. My mouth opens to speak but I'm interrupted by my teacher.

"It was me Your Majesty," Lia says. "It was my fault this entire thing happened."

A smirk rises up on Leo's face. If I didn't have any self restraint, I would have already kicked him in the gut by now along with the magnetron. But one also needs to act a little weak in front of gods. I have to pretend I don't know how to use my ability; that's why I didn't do anything more than one bolt. One, "erratic" bolt.

"If that's what you say, then make sure it doesn't happen again." Maven glares at Lia with all the fire he has. "If it does, punishment awaits."

Lia shivers, though it's very slight. "I will certainly follow your orders Your Majesty."

"Good. Then it's settled." I don't miss the slight scowl Maven has on his face. Without wasting another second, he turns his back and walks away. Even though the expression is not obvious, Leo smirks.

"What type of person are you?" The words fall out of my mouth before I can stop them. A bad decision. "Punishing the victim instead of the ones who started it first? How many lies are you going to believe?"

Lia grips my arm to stop me but it's too late. My sudden outburst makes Maven stop, turn around, and walk back again. The air freezes sending shivers down my spine, ones that I try to hide. For a second, I regret my decision. But this is what I've chosen and I'll see it to the end even if the outcome is...unfavourable.

"And do you know?" Maven asks. We're almost eye to eye but he's taller than me by a couple inches. "Are you willing to say anything?"

His calmness is what surprises me. It's like he's not bothered at all by the Red recruit in front of him. If he is, he doesn't show it. Not even the tiniest sliver of feeling slips out of him. I know better than to search for anything in his body language; he's too good for that. It's virtually useless so why waste energy on something impossible?

I raise my head, having enough spine to look at him in the eye directly. It's something that not many people would do. What surprises me is that his mouth parts, just a little bit. It's a subtle action, not one that many people would catch. "Are you curious to know?" I say, my tone even. My voice doesn't reflect my body language; although I'm still, the way my eyes flash betray my own feeling.

Maven crosses his arms and looks down at me, recovering quickly. "Was that a request or do you need more clarification?"

The meaning is clear. It's definitely not a request. I don't want Lia to suffer at all but I risk making new enemies. I've built the grave myself; I might as well jump into it.

"We were passing by peacefully Your Majesty," I recount, trying my best not to say "Your Majesty" without some sort of contempt. "But then these two began to tease Instructor Lia about her personal matters. I was wrong for stepping into something so the burn mark on the wall is not her fault. It's mine."

To my surprise, Maven smiles. His eyes grow colder. "I would have never expected you to have such audacity to do something like that," he replies. "But it isn't rare to find that in people with red blood. They have a knack for destroying things."

"Destroying things? I'm sure my skill will come in handy one day, especially when the person I serve has a use for it."

"It can be." His eyes watch me carefully, looking for a signal of fear or emotion. Trying to read me. "Though it depends on when and how to use it."

From here, I can see Maven's face clearly. His features are sharper than Dad's but they still have some similarities, namely their black hair. Everything else is so much different. If not for the hair colour, I would have never thought that they were related. But the eyes are the worst. They're so empty, so soulless, so cold. They threaten to freeze me where I stand. And they are the same colour as mine. A piercing blue, as clear as water, like ice.

"Maven, calm down."

I don't need my eyes to know that it's Mom. I've lived with her long enough to memorize the sound of her voice. But I still shift my attention. Mom's expression only tells me one thing: don't cause any trouble. It's easy to receive her signal. Time gave me the ability to know her well enough. I'm able to know what she feels and what she means through simple glances, whether it's good or bad. I've had enough time to learn.

"I'm not upset, just curious," Maven says as he stares me down. Even though there is not a very big difference in height, I still feel small. It probably has to do with that sliver of fear inside me. I'm Red, he's Silver, and no matter how false it is, he's a king. Maven could have me killed at any time if he wanted. Even though I've had first hand experience with his ruthlessness, I'm counting on the more human side he might have. Hopefully he has one.

"Curious at what?" Mom snaps. "I don't have time for this. If you're taking me out on a walk, we could get it done sooner."

I don't miss Maven's eye roll. "You have too much time on your hands. And besides"- he turns back to me- "it's been a long time since I've met someone who needs to be broken."

I chew on my lip but stare up into his eyes nonetheless. Thankfully, I don't shiver under his gaze.

"Does a king like you need to spend time disciplining a child? Not to mention a girl?" Mom eyes meet mine but they are not filled with recognition. Good acting Mom. "Is your pride hurt so easily?"

"You have such wonderful imagination."

"Well, I gave up trying to figure out what goes around in that brain of yours. And it was only a small thing. I'm sure the king has many other matters to take care of," Mom says plainly, with an eye roll.

Huffing, Maven finally reaches a conclusion. "Next time, keep your mouth shut," he says. His voice is deathly quiet, a threat. Then, he turns to Lia. "Provos, teach your students to be obedient or else you'll be the one facing consequences."

"Yes Your Majesty," Lia says. "I will do as you say."

"Good." Maven glares at all of us one last time before turning away. "Samos, Iral- go one way. Provos, go the other. I don't need my court to be messier than it already is."

Both of the other two Silvers flush and nod their heads before departing. Lia slumps to the side as if in a daze. I hold her up properly, supporting her. I think she's still a little shook from what just happened. Maven sweeps past all of us in an unaffected manner but I don't miss the eye contact. It's a warning and one that I'll remember well.

Samos and his friend leave first but while the silk doesn't even spare a second for me, the magnetron certainly does. As he pushes his friend away, he looks back. Dark eyes meet blue ones. I expected him to be angry, but his eyes are filled with a certain...interest instead. It's strange.

I break the gaze first, helping Lia onto her feet and leading her away. The rest of the group follows and I don't spare another thought for the magnetron and his silver blood. I shouldn't anyway. But my head turns, just enough to look back.

He's still looking at me.

Maven POV

Such a bold child. I wonder about it.

A tongue like hers will get her killed one way or another. But there will be no useless killing in front of Mare- unless I want to watch her struggle. Not that I want to. Nanny was hard enough on her already and no matter how much I didn't enjoy killing her friend, I had to do it. For the throne. To keep Mare here. Besides, killing is not a very clean way to handle things; it only makes you look like a bloodthirsty monster and Mare doesn't need to be given more reasons to call me a monster.

Actually, the girl with blue eyes- Dahlia- hasn't crossed my mind in a long time. Or at least I think it has. Sometimes my grip on time can go out of sync with the real world. Some days can pass slowly whereas others disappear in the blink of an eye. But when I saw her today, it was a little bit shocking. Just a slight bit.

Her eyes. They are the same colour, same shape as mine.

Well then why should I be afraid? There are tons of people who could have similar eyes to me. Heck, there might be a person in a faraway land that has a similar face to me. But the chances of that are slim. And her eyes specifically. They're different from the rest. Hers burn with something. A cause. A purpose. A goal. She's so alive, it intrigues me. I've never seen that type of spirit in a Silver. And the only people I've ever seen with a sense of spirit and righteousness is in Mare and Cal.

My brother's name makes me angry again. Cal. The perfect son. I hate it. When my father never looked at me for once and had ignored me from the day I was born. And perfect Cal got everything he could have wanted. He took so many things away from me. All I had was Mother.

And now she's gone. Electrocuted by Mare's ability, her body put on display, shown to everyone in the kingdom.

It was painful. I lost the only parent who truly understood me. I blame Mare for it. I blame Cal. I blame everyone for her death. Why couldn't they protect her when she needed it the most? I know I can't do anything now, no matter how much I want to. No Silver ability, not even a newblood ability can bring back the dead. If they could, Mother wouldn't be the same. Something would be different about her, I know it.

I walk all the way past my study, to the outside world. Mare and the sentinels follow me from behind but from a respectable distance behind. They are supposed to after all. Only trusted soldiers can be so close to the king and I trust neither of them.

The sunshine is inviting. I partly drag Mare all the way into the garden. She follows behind me obediently but occasionally stumbles behind. I guess even the healers can never fully heal Mare when she has the manacles on.

"If I'm sick, leave me in there next time," Mare says angrily. "The sun doesn't help."

"I find that the sun helps when you're sick," I reply evenly." Also, you look so worn down so I thought you might have wanted it."

"Thank you for your concern but I'm perfectly fine without it," Mare bites, glaring at me. "Also, don't act like that next time."

"What?"

"In the hallway. If you do, I might not even forgive you for it," she hisses. "They are your soldiers and you better treat them well."

I quirk an eyebrow. "Did you forget? My treatment of them is based on how well you behave. And of course, your compliance."

"I know that."

"Good," I put a hand to her shoulder. The gown doesn't allow for much skin to skin contact. I can feel the relief emanating from Mare though she shifts away, partly from disgust.

"Don't touch me," she snaps. "Don't you dare."

I tilt my head. "Maybe you need more of an incentive to behave? If you do anything out of the ordinary, I will punish them."

Mare stands up quickly that I almost stumble back. "You wouldn't dare do something like that."

Her reaction is enough for me to take a lead. "Why are you so protective over them?"

"Are you crazy? They did nothing wrong. The fault is all mine. Hurt me instead if something happens not them!"

"I would rather you not bear the physical punishment."

"Don't you dare touch them," she hisses. "I will never forgive you if you do any harm. Not even the slightest bit."

"I know you won't," I reply calmly. "You haven't forgiven me at all actually. But remember, if you step out of line, they will suffer. Remember, I am a man of my word when I want to be."

With a wave of my hand, I gesture for her Arven guards to take her away. She doesn't struggle too much as they drag her out of the gardens. With one last moment, she looks back and sends me a glare before she leaves fully.

Some things need to be tested. And if she didn't struggle after I told her- which was partly a lie by the way- it gives me a tiny clue. Actually, it gives me two possibilities. Two possibilities for me to mull over.

Am I overthinking it?

Maybe I am.

Dahlia POV

My head hurts.

For some reason, I feel relieved today. That encounter with Maven will certainly not my last during my stay in the palace. But I survived. That's what mattered the most. I thought my defiant little soul would have me killed on the spot, but I wasn't. I'm alive.

After that, my schedule took a rigid turn; everything was a mixture of training and study. Most of us are advancing with our abilities though Kiera and I have been moving a lot quicker than the rest. Allison is just behind us, but she's still adjusting to the forms and protocol of fighting. Her sense of fighting it more "street"-like; it lacks a certain law to it. Everything she does in the ring is an unexpected move. Ally and I have been pitted against each other and fighting her was not as easy as I thought.

But if I have a couple more months of this, I might be able to pull the mission off. Well, I have to anyway. Failure leads to death- and worse- and that is not an option. If I failed, there would only be a loss for the Scarlet Guard; I'm certain my mind would be split open for all our secrets and Mom would still be imprisoned.

I've been here for about two weeks. It was enough time for me to observe and analyze the castle. My outline of it is still a bit blurry, but I can still make my way around here. Two weeks was also enough time for my body to wake up on it's own. But the sudden change of sleep can give me headaches at irregular times.

I climb out of bed and complete my first task. Kiera doesn't have the same timer as I do with her body. She goes to bed much later than I do and as a result, would wake up much later in the morning if not for me.

"Kiera," I whisper, tapping my friend on the shoulder, "rise and shine."

In an instant, her eyes flash open and her body jolts itself awake. "Why do you keep scaring me like that?"

"I don't mean to."

She rubs her eyes and swings her legs over the bed. "Nevermind. Give me five minutes. You can go first."

"Okay."

I quickly slip into the bathroom and complete my daily routine. It's my second task and it usually takes about ten minutes at best. Once I exit, she enters. Both of us are out here by the required time period.

Our schedule is quite boring. Breakfast, training, lunch, more training, dinner, free time until lights out. Repeat for six days of the week (we have Sundays off!) twenty four hours a day. I've arrived at around the halfway time. It's lunch and Lia's led us to the cafeteria. Strangely, she's not here to eat with us. She left early, possibly to catch some new recruits. They come everyday, growing more and more in numbers. It upsets me to see them swallow Maven's lie so easily but I have to learn to keep silent here. A couple sentinels lead us back to our dorms. It seems that Lia will be arriving later today since she hasn't come back yet.

I'm not wrong. A medium sized group of newbloods trail behind her. Some of the members are a little skittish, viewing all of us with a tiny bit of nervousness. Others swallow their fear and look at us with hard eyes. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.

And that's when I spot her.

There are so many questions I have to ask her. The first one that pops into my head is why. It's the most obvious one. Why are you here?

Clara passes by me as though nothing is wrong, but I feel a small piece of paper slip into my hand. My hand crumples the sheet into something small and I slip it into my pocket. I can't read it with so many people here. I have to pretend I don't know Clara just like I have to pretend that I don't know Mom. If people notice something off, they'll pounce.

But why did she have to come here? She could die. She might even fail like me. But the answer to that is simple. While Ally and Kiera are distracted, I slip behind the nearest pilar and open my the crumpled sheet of paper. There's only one sentence written on it.

I'll explain everything later.

I roll my eyes and set the note on fire with my lightning. The sparks turn to flame which eat away at the edges until it's nothing but a pile of ash. I blow the remnants off my hand. They scatter across the floor, barely visible like it never even existed.

Well Clara, I think to myself, you have a lot of explaining to do.

A/N: Mare did care for Dahlia when she was a baby but when Dahlia turned three, Mare had to put her aside in order to continue liberating more and more reds. Because of this, Dahlia was a very independent individual and never liked to rely on others much as she aged. As for Mare and Dahlia's relationship, they had a pretty healthy one. Even though Mare was away most of the time, Dahlia understood why and never thought her mother was neglecting her in any way. When Dahlia started to go on missions, they eventually grew closer than before.

Guess why Mare is worried about Dahlia being here. I'd like to think that it was an obvious clue. Feel free to write it in the reviews or something :)

Do you guys want some of the childhood excerpts in the story? I already posted a story where it will explain some of her early days in more depth but I might just add some paragraphs in here. Let me know in the comments/reviews ^.^

Another thing I wanted to mention. In Ancient China, when people were addressing the emperor they would use different pronouns (My mandarin is not good so please bear with me). For example, a servant would say "奴婢 不敢" or "servant dare not" in literal translation. However, if you look at captions written in English (if the movie or whatever is in Mandarin and there are captions) the translation becomes "I dare not" instead. Concubines of the emperor would also address themselves differently (臣妾 or Chén qiè) and address each other differently depending on rank (they would add niang niang at the end to show people of high rank respect. For the Qing dynasty, the rankings for concubines from lowest to highest were daying, changzai, guiren, pin, fei, gui fei, huang gui fei, and huang hou. Put them in google translate to get the actual sound of the word.) I wanted to the reader to be able to distinguish the difference but in the end, it would sound weird if I directly translated it from Mandarin to English so it wasn't suitable.

Hogwarts Houses!

Dahlia - I really didn't know where to place her.

I took a "Which Hogwarts house are you test" and the percentages I got for each house were pretty similar. I don't care if you believe me or not, but Dahlia has the same thing as me; she technically belongs in all houses. The reason for this is because she was raised by at least one major figure that represents the house. For Slytherin, it was Mare, Gryffindor was Cal, Ravenclaw was Julian, and for Hufflepuff it was Uncle Shade.

Kiera - Hufflepuff

The bright natured child who's been through a lot. Kiera is probably the nicest, fairest, most optimistic, and inclusive out of everyone in the group :)

Allison - I'm still deciding.

I think she would fit into Gryffindor because she's risking her life to save someone(s) in Whitefire. (HEY, BACKSTORY COMING LATER! Or actually, do you guys want me to add snippets of it in here? Let me know in the reviews ;)

Clara - Gryffindor

Clara takes much more from her mother (Farley) than her father (Shade). Clara is also risking her life for the Guard and her family at such a young age so that should be something to think about.

I think Victoria Aveyard wrote a Tumblr post on Red Queen characters in Hogwarts so check it out!

A/A: It is true that you can have similar looking people. Just search up "Ning ning and Jennie" and you'll understand.