I walk as fast as I can through the gardens, heading to the central plaza that is now empty. The air in my face is freezing cold, and the sun is starting to show on the horizon. I didn't realize how late it was. Breogan's room was so dark I couldn't keep a track of the time.

I make my way to the City gates where six guards are protecting the entrance. I try to look as calm as I can.

"Good morning," I say as I go past them.

"Good morning." One of the guards answers looking at me suspiciously. I realize I must look absolutely crazy with my wrinkled dress and my tousled hair. ''Where are you headed?''

My body tenses. I pass a hand through my hair trying to fix it a little and my hand gets stuck in it. I move it away carefully and look at it, placed on my pinky finger there is a ring with a heart-shaped ruby incrusted, a ring that was definitely not there an hour ago. How the hell did it get there? And then I remember Breogan taking my hand, I hadn't noticed it then, but how can it even be possible...?

''Have a great day my lady.'' The guard interrupts my thoughts.

I look at him. The gates are now open and he bows at me. I nod a little confused and walk past them. I decide that the ring's mystery is something I can solve later and decide to rush towards the woods.

Once out of sight I run. I run as fast as I can. I run so fast that I don't realize someone is standing in front of me and I end up crashing with a body. We fall to the ground. I feel as if the air has been drained from my lungs while laying on top of a soft surface. There is someone under me; someone who is hiding his face on my neck and while its arms round my body.

"Enia." Sedrik's voice is muffled by my hair, he sounds surprised and relieved at the same time. He holds me tight and I don't understand what is happening. ''I am so glad you are alright.''

I am trying to figure out what is going on, but I just lay there hugging him back. I never thought they would be already back in our meeting place waiting for me. How long have they been waiting for me? How long has Kalen been worried about me?

I feel how another pair of arms lift me off the ground, away from Sedrik. It's Kalen, looking at me with a tired face. I grab him into a hug. He strokes my hair, his hands trembling.

"I was about to have a heart attack," he says. ''When we all got here, after hearing they were looking for intruders, and then you never showed up. I thought…'

"I told them to wait until dawn." Cass interrupts as I walk away from Kalen. ''We all agree to meet here then, so I thought it was smart to wait for you. If you didn't show up by then that meant you were in trouble.'' she shakes her head. ''We were actually on our way back, ready to look for you.''

I walk to her giving her a brief hug that she corresponds. Sedrik is now back by my side, he takes my face in his hands, inspecting every inch. I cross my arms hiding my hands under my armpits. I feel the ring almost burning in my finger.

''Here, you must be freezing.'' he takes off his coat putting it around my shoulders. "What happened?'' He asks still inspecting my face, worries written all over his.

"I followed the plan." I say. It is essentially true. I was following the plan until Breogan found me. ''I went around the party, hoping to get any information about the Queen's plans.'' I finish.

I am not lying about any of it. I, in fact, went around the party, literally. And I was also hoping to get information about the Queen's plans. I wasn't hoping to get only that information, but they don't need to know that.

"You didn't hear about the intruders?" Kalen asks looking incredulous. "They gave notice about intruders in the castle, they started searching. That's why we all left.''

"How did they find out?'' I ask, avoiding Kalen's question. ''How did they possibly know about us?''

No one speaks. I look at Sedrik who is passing a hand through his face looking really tired.

''They could've recognized me.'' He finally says. ''Someone inside the castle could've known who I was. it was a bad idea, going there, it was too risky. We are all lucky nothing bad happened…I am sorry.''

"Well, what matters is that we are all here now." Cass says stretching her arms. ''Even if we didn't get any information.''

Sedrik's expression goes grim at Cass's words, and I don't have to have her gift to know how he feels. I hate seeing him like that, and I am secretly grateful to Breogan for giving me some information I hadn't even think of asking for, and that reminds me of how much I hate myself for being so stupid to forget about it.

''Well, that is not necessarily true.'' I say, and everyone's attention is now on me.

''Did you find something out?'' Kalen asks me.

I am about to answer but Sedrik stops me, shaking his head.

''Let's just go somewhere safe to talk.'' He says sounding tired. I realize he has been holding me all this time. I take a step away glad of the cold air hitting my face.

We walk towards a lake in the middle of the forest, where Ean, Accalia, and Atlas are waiting. Sedrik walks by my side, his arm almost touching mine. I keep my hands inside the pockets of his jacket. I still have the marks left on my wrists from being chained to Breogan's bed and I don't want any of them asking questions about it, it's better if I hide them.

We all sit down in some of the trunks that have fallen to the ground. The wind is blowing hard and it's so cold I feel my nose will freeze and fall of my face.

Sedrik gathers some branches and places them in front of us. He extends his hands over the branches and closes his eyes. A couple of seconds pass and nothing happens, a frown appears on his forehead as he takes deep breaths.

''What is he...?''

I hit my brother's ribs with my elbow shushing him just as Sedrik's hands start producing a few sparks. A couple of seconds later he is holding a small fireball that he then drops in the branches. I welcome the warmth in my face as the wood starts lighting on fire. When I look at Sedrik again, the frown is still on his face and his look is dark.

''Well, now that we all are settled,'' Kalen speaks, getting everyone's attention. ''I think you can start talking, sis.''

Now their attention shifts to me. I look at everyone and swallow trying to control my breathing and carefully choose my words. If I say anything wrong, or Cass senses my heartbeat, she will instantly know I am lying, and I am more than sure they are not going to take the truth calmly and reasonably.

''I had a terrific dance partner who gave me the information.'' I tell them.

I then proceed to give them the information Breogan had given me: The Queen's planned attack and her search for the medallions.

''I couldn't find out anything else.'' I finish.

''How reliable do you think your source is?'' Kalen asks.

I think about it for a second. The information came from Breogan, the queen's son and one of the very few people who could have any information about the queen's plans, which means the information can actually be pretty reliable. But then again, it came from Breogan, the person who has been trying to capture Sedrik for weeks and is an overall horrible human being. And I know I shouldn't trust anything he said, and that he can be an incredibly skilled liar, and I had never wished more than now that my gift was like Cass's and I could sense when someone is lying, instead of predicting tragedies.

But even if I don't have Cass's gift something tells me he wasn't lying about it. I don't know why, but I believe he was being honest.

''I would say pretty reliable.'' I find myself saying. ''You could say he is someone close to the crown.''

Really close.

''Well then, now we have to figure out what our next step is going to be.'' Kalen nods.

''We do.'' Sedrik agrees with a serious face, but then he looks at me and his expression softens. ''But we should get some rest right now. We can come up with a plan and discuss later.''

I am about to protest. To tell him that we don't have much time and we should discuss it now. But the look he gives me tells me he won't change his mind. I know he is doing this for me, for some reason he believes I am not feeling well; he might even know I am not being completely honest, but he doesn't say anything.

Keeping my encounter with Breogan a secret makes me feel guilty, even when I didn't do anything wrong, but I know telling them about it will only complicate everything, so it is better to keep it to myself, and the only thing I can do right now is listening to Sedrik.

We all move around, trying to find the best spot to rest. My eyes are fixed in the sky. I don't like lying to any of them, I feel bad. But how can I tell them the truth on how I got the information? Kalen would think I'm crazy for listening to Breogan, and Sedrik… He would hate me.

Unconsciously I find myself staring at him. He is laying down by my right side, close to me, his back is towards me while he faces the woods, making sure if anyone tries to sneak on us, he will be the first one to know. Always alert.

Just thinking about mentioning Breogan makes me feel guilty. Why do I feel guilty? What would Sedrik think of me if I tell him I believe we might've been a little too hard on Breogan and he might actually not be as bad as we thought? Would he hate me? I even hate myself a little bit just thinking about it. How would I expect Sedrik to feel otherwise?

I close my eyes trying not to think about him. Breogan. His eyes on mine, sad, hopeless, angry. I try my hardest to stop thinking about the way he said my name when trying to get information about his little sister, so desperately. And I definitely try my hardest not to think about how every single time he touched me it burned, and it didn't... hurt. Sedrik would definitely hate me.