I woke up sometime later as I found myself on a bed and I sat up looking around for a minute. I knew I wasn't back at the little palace and I started to get up. Walking towards the door I heard people talking and I put my ear to the door to listen.

"We had no idea General Kirigan was going to do that." Nadia said

"He did assign us as her guards for her protection." Marie said

"I appreciate that you girls have followed my daughter this far but you know the risks. You know as long as you follow her you both could be in danger." Father said

"She's our friend, sir. We don't want to abandon her. Not now, not ever." Marie and Nadia said

"thank you, that being said I think you two should know what could happen if he gets Amira." Father said

I knew I hadn't mentioned the whole truth to them and if my father told them then they might turn against him. I listened as father chose his words wisely not mentioning that he was the one who made the fold but that he had to hide his identity to protect himself. That it was true that he made an agreement with his mother for me to marry him. I opened the door after he told them and then I walked out seeing them looking at me.

"I can't hide." I said

"You have to, if he gets you then.." Father started but I sighed, "I am fully aware what he could do but I can manipulate him just as much as he can manipulate any girl..except me." I said

"No, you're staying here." Father said

I didn't want to argue with him so for now I gave in but I knew that my Kefta told a lot, so did my jewelry as my father came over and he started to remove my Kefta. I was shocked but he put a regular jacket on me and then he went for the jewelry I had on from Aleksander and I put my hands over me stepping back. I didn't care what he thought I had accepted everything Aleksander had given me and I didn't want to part with them again.

"Amira" Father said

"No." I said

"He can track you with them." Father said

"Then we keep moving till I can't keep running." I said, "I can do this when he finds me. The fact you can't accept that I can handle Aleksander is not my problem."

"Amira." Father said with a concern look

I walked past him as I said "You lost that right to tell me what to wear and what to do when you dropped me at the little palace." I said as I took my Kefta from him, putting it over my shoulder.

I knew my words would hurt him but the truth was I hadn't been raised by my parents past the age of eight. I was raised in the little palace where I only had Baghra for all that time and their letters to keep me from thinking they abandoned me. I had been prepared for facing Aleksander my whole life knowing I was supposed to kill that stag and I failed. I knew that Aleksander was coming for me and I needed to be ready but here I was in a house with many sun summoners.

I walked out of the room where I saw my aunt Analise and her son trying to train as I smiled. I walked over and she looked at me surprised to see I was awake.

"Maybe I could help. I had a good trainer." I said

"Oh uh maybe." Analise said

Adrian looked at me as I sat by him, having my kefta on my lap as I removed his bracelet, surprising him. My aunt looked shocked too but I assured her it was necessary for what he was going to be doing.

"Adrian, I'm Amira. Like you I'm a Dual Summoner and I can help you control it." I assured him

"You? You are the one they call Sankta Amira? Ok!" Adrian said smiling

"I am no saint." I assured him

We started as I was mindful of our surroundings and we started with the tidemaker as he was surprised when I showed him the water. He seemed happy to see that we were alike in that way but then we put our hands together ever so slightly changing our hand positions and we did it again to show our other ability which for me was sunlight but for him was Fire.

He really is an Inferni and a tidemaker. I thought

"Oh wow, you have the light to tear down the fold." Adrian said as his inferni fire slipped

"This light can do many things, Adrian. If everyone in this family with the light worked together the fold could be gone but if it is just me I can just make a tunnel for the skiffs to go through the fold." I said

"More resources?" Adrian said

"In a way, but if someone had the idea to use that tunnel to weaponize the fold. Grisha would still be useful to the people and we could get rid of enemies." I said

"Where did you hear such a thing?" Analise asked

I let the light go knowing that there was no hiding that Aleksander Morozova was alive. Every Grisha thought the black Heretic was dead in the fold and the people that were inside of it died too. I stood up as I knew that we needed to start moving and I looked at my aunt.

"The people in the fold when it was created didn't die. The Black Heretic didn't die." I said, "Women, Children, Men became those things in the fold. Lost their humanity to a powerful spell."

"And the Black Heretic?" Analise asked

"I know who he is and I can get him to do the right thing." I said, "I just need the time to get close and get him to see things my way."

"You said Grisha would still be useful but the fold could be weaponized." Analise said

"The Fjerdan problem could be dealt with, Grisha could live in peace without being hunted if we got rid of them." I said seeing her surprise at my assurance on this, "I am eternal, so I don't have a lot of options but to watch my friends..my family die sometime. If I get close...Once I get married I can gain power and influence in the 2nd army. I can inspire Dual Summoners to come out of hiding. To follow me where I go by marrying my fiance."

"I want to sign up for the 2nd army!" Adrian said excited

I smiled at my cousin, "Not yet, let me get that officially taken care of but I have a plan." I assured him, "I'm sure Baghra would love to have a new student."

We started to get on the move, Nico had to travel with us due to abandoning the 2nd army. He also refused to let me even consider running back to the little palace. Marie and Nadia seemed to have decided to follow me anywhere so that was nice. Traveling with family to keep ahead of Aleksander was a first but I knew that one thing he had to be within range with a Durast to track my jewelry and our soulmate link hadn't fully given all the clues to where I was.

"We could go through the fold." Analise said

"We are beacons of light just going to lure them and the 2nd army manages the skiffs going through. Zoya would love to rat me out to get her place back." I said

We needed a plan and we didn't have a lot to work with but getting out of Keramsin was a start for all of us. I looked at my wrist knowing he wouldn't give up, he wouldn't stop looking for me as the letters were faint meaning he was closing in. I led them forward as we ran to get the best distance. We just needed to get to the next village. I didn't care how long it took but I knew he was going either by horse or by carriage when it came to this. I didn't even think about the people who'd helped us escape. Nadia looked at the map as she pointed to the woods to be the best route and we took that path as I led but we had to stop for my grandparents as they were not used to this.

"How are we doing on distance?" Catalina asked

I looked at my wrist seeing the initials were barely there and that meant he wasn't very close as I smiled. "We're doing good." I assured her, I knew that he was tracking me by my necklace but I was tracking him through the soulmate mark. I knew he wasn't paying that close attention to his wrist, men don't normally think about it as a way of tracking. Baghra had told me to always try to out think him and here I was doing just that.

When we started to move again we kept going until nightfall when it was cold. We bunked up where we could. My father, my grandmother and I used the sun summoner power to put warmth in us before we decided to rest. Nadia and Marie bunked with me so if anyone tried to sneak up on us we could all three wake up and attack. Mother and Father bunked together, my grandparents stayed together and Aunt Analise stayed with her son.

By morning we were hungry but it turned out that Father knew how to hunt like Marie so we were able to eat. Adrian and I covered our tracks so that they weren't easy to follow and then we started moving again. Adain was younger than me by five years but it was clear he'd been training or he would have struggled.

"So what are you looking at when you look at your wrist to know we're ahead?" Adrian asked

"It's called a soulmate mark. When your soulmate is close to you, their first and last initial of their true name will appear on your wrist." I said, as I showed him my wrist where nothing was there right now. "We're far away from mine so we've made good distance."

This went on for a few days and I was ready for a bath and ready to see Genya again. I missed Genya and how she made everything look better than I actually did. We heard the sound of movement and I had my dagger ready when I saw the tailor who had helped us.

"How did you find us?" I asked

"I know how to track my friend." The tailor girl said as she walked over to each of us and she helped us look a bit better. "It's not much but you all look better."

I bet he won't let me sleep in my room if he catches me. I thought then slapped myself knowing I was thinking of sharing his bed.

"Amira, why'd you do that?" Mother asked

"Because I am in love with him and I am thinking about him when I need to get ahead of him." I said

As we made it to the village we had all of our 2nd army stuff in a bag on my shoulder so we wouldn't be found out. We found an inn to stay in for everyone to have a room and I fell asleep there.