Happy Halloween my children!

"Trick or Treat?" This chapter is quite literally a little bit of both.

Three Song Suggestions!

Song Suggestion: In Case by Demi Lovato

Mare: 1 Day before the Wedding

"Hey," I say in a soft voice.

Alex looks up from her book and shifts her auburn hair behind her ear.

"Hey," she says back.

"You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'll stay here on the jet so I should be okay."

We're flying on Davidson's private jet. He thought it best way for Alex. I sit down across from her in the back of the plane. She delicately closes the book. Davidson, Riley, and Jared sit closer to the front.

"I have the coms," she says. "I'll be able to hear everything and direct Jared. No one will know he's not you."

"Good."

Alex taps her fingers on fingers on her book.

"What are you reading?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. The best I can figure is it's some kind of religious text. It's only seventy-percent translated, but it's definitely… enlightening. Comforting even."

"Comforting," I repeat. My mind flashes to Iris and her gods.

"But it's not like Iris's gods," Alex says. I know she hasn't read my mind just now. But she's able to guess where my thoughts will lead now. "It's monotheistic."

"One god?"

"With a capital G."

"Hmm." Before meeting Iris, I never met anyone religious. And it never occurred to me there could be more than one.

"It gives me a sense of peace. Maybe after this is over you can take a look," Alex suggests.

"I don't know, I've never been religious."

"Or you think peace is something you've never known. And you think you never will."

I meet her eyes. "After everything I've been through-"

"I've told you about my past, Mare. And there was a time when I thought it wasn't possible. But this," she holds up the book. "This feels like something worth trying. Sometimes I think that's the best we can do is try. I think it's something we should all experience, at least once. No matter who you are."

"You mean, Maven."

Alex stands and moves to the seat next to me.

"Maven," she whispers.

Alex is the only one I told about Maven. She would've found out eventually.

"You're beginning to have feelings for him," she says. "And I'm not talking about the murderous rage type feelings. I'm talking the kind you had before he betrayed you."

I want to deny it. But it would be a lie if I did. Alex knows the ends and outs of my mind better than in do. Anyone else might think she's lying or misdiagnosing the situation. But Alex has a good understanding of her limits. And she's perhaps the most genuine person I know.

"Look, I get it okay. I understand why you don't want me to erase those feelings."

"It feels silly. Why. I mean."

"Mare, you're eighteen years old. To other's, you're the lightning girl, a force to be reckoned with and the key to not only ending this war but winning it. But to me, you are my friend. And I know that beneath the rough exterior, there is a human being who is scared and lonely. And I am telling you, you have every right to be. And you have right to take comfort wherever you can."

"Even if it's in the arms of the man that tore families apart, murdered children."

"Kilorn told you once we can't control who we love. And he's right. Just be careful, Mare. I have confidence in you. And I'll be here for you if you ever need me."

She opens her arms and her embrace is warm and caring.

"Why do you this?" I ask. "Encourage me to care for someone like Maven. Someone like the people that took away your family."

Alex has told me the story of how she ended up alone. How everyone in her family died.

"Like I said, everyone deserves happiness," Alex says, pulling away. "And I know what it feels like to love someone you can never have."

Alex's gaze shifts to the front of the plane. Riley sits hand in with Jared. They're only a year older than me. And three years older than Alex. She turned sixteen a month ago.

"Remember to be careful," Alex says. "Or be prepared to have your heart broken."

"Just add it to the pile," I say.

Queue: To Get It Right from Glee

Cal: A Few Hours Later

"You look just like your father did when he was your age."

Nanabel says from behind me.

"I highly doubt that," I say. "He married my mother because he wanted to, not because he was obligated."

"And he married that witch, Elara, because he knew his duty."

"And look how well that turned out." To this she says nothing. Instead, she walks over to look me over. It's been nearly a year since I've dressed in my House colors and it feels almost wrong. And she raises her hands to fix my collar.

"Its an hour until the rehearsal dinner so I don't want you to be surprised. She'll be here, that girl, Mare."

"What?"

"I didn't get wind of it until a few minutes ago. Apparently, your bride requested she be here. I've already spoken with the Premier. Tonight she's working as his private security, but tomorrow she'll be a guest for the ceremony."

"I don't understand."

How could Evangeline do this? Is it some kind of joke? To show that she's won some kind of sick game? this doesn't make any since. Evangeline appeared to be as reluctant to get married as I am. Maybe even more so. I thought that this wedding would be bad enough. Now I'm latching myself to someone I don't love right in front of the person I do.

"Is there going to a problem?" She asks.

"Would it matter if there was?"

Nanabel drops her hands. She doesn't respond immediately. Instead, she walks over to the window and looks over her estate. From here I can see acres of green and summer blooms on the trees. A complete contrast to what I feel

"It's not your fault, you know. Your grandfather, my husband, was in love with another man until the day he died."

"Robert."

Something changes in her demeanor. And her eyes go distant, lost in memories. People spoke about him like they spoke of my mother, but father did talk about him once when I was a child.

"Yes, Robert. He was a good, kind, and genuine man. And their love was pure. Many people talked, but they loved each other. And they refused to let a crown or anyone else get in the way of that."

"And how did you feel about it?"

"I loved Robert like a brother. Those who came to know him found it impossible not to. Your mother certainly did. And when your father introduced her, that's when I knew she was something special. People talked when they were together as well."

This I knew and I clench my fists.

"My point is," Nanabel continues. "Love is something you fight for. And if you want it badly enough then you will succeed. There is a precedent. And if she really loved you then she would make it her mission to be with you in any way possible. She wouldn't stop fighting."

And yet she has. We both have.

Without another word, I walk out of the room. I hear Nanabel call after me. But I'm already gone. I know what I need to do.

Queue: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri

20 Minutes Before the Rehearsal Dinner

I find her near the perimeter of the estate, by a line of trees. I can't help but smile at the memory.

Mare's alone as far as I can see and her back is to me. Her hands rest on her her hips and she looks at her feet as she paces slowly. And a warm breeze blows back her hair.

Something in me brakes. I've forgotten how beautiful she is. And for an obscene amount of time, I just stare.

"Are you just going you stand there or actually say what you came here for?" Mare doesn't turn as she speaks. Instead, she keeps her eyes on the ground and continues her pacing.

"You didn't tell me you would be here," I say.

Mare doesn't look at me but to the estate.

"Didn't want to bother you."

"Mare, can we just talk."

"Isn't that what we're doing."

"You know what I mean."

"Unfortunately so."

I sigh. "Listen, you know that I don't want to do this. That's it's you that I want to see at the end of the aisle."

"You know that's not possible, Cal," she says all keeping her eyes on the estate. "You've made your choice."

"But that doesn't mean this has to be the end. The day after tomorrow I'll be leading an assault on Summerton. And this could be over. But for me," I move and take her hand in mine and place it over my rapidly beating heart. "Without you, I may as well have lost."

She meets my eyes for the first time. I expect to see a reflection of pain that mimics my own. But what I see is something dark and cold and so completely…void.

"Cal-"

"Julian told me what you said, Mare. And I know that the girl that I fell in love with doesn't give up without a fight. Not when she wants something badly enough."

"And if that's true, Cal. What do you think that says about us? Because I no longer feel like fighting," she says meaning all things.

I take her face in my hands, but Mare quickly pulls away.

"What I told Julian was the truth. I loved you, but sometimes things don't go way the way we want and there is nothing we can do about it. And it may not be fair, but that's life, Cal. I wish more than anything that we could be together. But whatever chance we had, no matter how small, is gone. And I think it's best we accept it now before someone gets hurt."

But I already am.

"So that's it?" I'm beginning to lose my temper. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"What's happened to you, Mare? Why are you like this?"

And then it's her turn to get angry. "I am like this because of you. This whole time I've been thinking that everything's that's happened is my fault. But it's you. Your world. Did you know that I can't think of one moment in my miserable life when I haven't been bitter or angry?"

"Mare-" I accidentally grab her wrist and she flinches and backs away.

"No, Cal. I'm done, okay. I'm done."

Mare turns around and begins to storm off.

I mean to follow her, but something knocks me off my feet. I look over to see Mare on the ground too. But before I can ask if she's okay, the heat of flames catches my attention. And I follow their warmth all the way to my grandmother's estate. Two floors begin to crumble. And the main fire blazes from the roof. Down on the ground, grass burns with every falling ember. And in the heat of the summer, it will only get worse. I turn to see Mare is no longer on the ground but running yards away. A familiar but horrifying sound comes from the sky. I look up to see silver metallic bodies with orange wings soar above.

Snapdragons. Nortan Snapdragons.

More explosions rock the estate. Mare is still running, probably to find Davidson. And then a dreadful realization dawns on me. I rise to my feet into a dead sprint.

I had nearly forgotten Julian and Sara came with me for the wedding.

ANALYSIS

So the first thing I want to to talk about is the Chapter title. And then I want you to apply it to this last section of the chapter. And I want you to ask yourself:

Was that really Mare?

Second, the song suggestions are often for different POV's.

So this chapter is incredibly important. Not for just the upcoming chapters but for the sequel. I have a lot of things planned for the sequel and this chapter will be the root. I have a lot of themes set up for the sequel. And one of them is identity.

I said before that I want to go into Alex's character. And I will but for time and to keep it relevant that is something you're just going to have to wait for. The way I see it, inside my mind, this is actually the prequel.

Mare does know about Alex's past. When I first wrote Alex into the story I wanted her to be more down to earth, to provide a good contrast. But in the sequel, I will go more in depth, including who she is in love with, and we'll even get to explore her dark side. But for this story, I want to keep the focus on Mare and her journey to end this war. And then we'll explore Riley's, and Jared's story in the sequel.

Also, before anyone asks that was a Bible Alex was reading. And once again, I will go into detail how she has it in the sequel, but the gist of it is this. Five years before this, a series of archives were discovered in Monfort. The Bible was in one of them. If you want to know more just ask.