My head pounded, a steady heartbeat of pain pulsing at the back of my skull. The light battling against my eyelids and the voices surrounding me weren't helping either. I began to open my eyes until the sight of several cloaked figures sitting around a campfire made me close them again.

I had been taken by Mace.

Where were we? All I had spotted in the small glimpse I had gotten were trees and a dirt path, so there was a high chance we were still in Racaea. I could have opened my eyes to get a better look, but as soon as they discovered I was awake, I knew Mace would be onto questioning me. My best option was to listen and wait.

The ropes secured around my limbs dug into me, enough that I knew they would leave bruises, but my hands being trapped behind my back wasn't a bad thing. My fingers stretched towards my pocket to search for the Idaphite shard, a mixture of fear and hope building in my chest. I had to restrain my exhale of relief when I felt the weight of it still there.

"But, guess what! That's not the best part! After that, she fell face first into the fountain as Nash stuck out his foot." A roar of laughter followed and was echoed by several more from the group.

"Didn't she slip over trying to get out too?" Another person asked, struggling to breathe between their giggles.

After the group had tried to kill us and interfere with our lives so many times, I couldn't imagine them acting like proper people. They were having fun, enjoying themselves, instead of causing chaos. It felt like a fever dream.

"That's enough now," a clear voice rang out above the fun, a voice I found very familiar. Mace. "I'm sure she was very humiliated and got what she deserved, but there's no need to make fun of her now."

"Oh, come on." The first person spoke out again. "I know you find it funny too, Mace. There's no hiding it."

"I never said I didn't laugh at her."

"Mace?" A timid voice began, one that I could assume belonged to a little girl. "How long do we have until we're back home? I miss Snuffles."

"We should be home soon, unless we need to take any detours." The rogue's voice softened to a calm tone, something less intimidating. I wasn't sure if it was the same person I was hearing. Was Mace being gentle and kind? "I'm sure Snuffles misses you too. He'll be happy to see you when we return to the Fortress."

"What about the girl? Do you have a plan for her?" I froze, stilling my breaths as I knew everyone would be looking at me. This was the information I needed to hear. If I could figure out the plan and where we were, then my escape would be easier.

"Of course I have a plan. Besides getting the lead we need to find the other pieces of Idaphite, I want her to join us." Angered cries ensued after Mace revealed his scheme.

"Even though she sympathises over the fae? She wouldn't be loyal to us in the slightest!" One woman yelled.

"She's not going to join us now that our troops are on the move into Racaea. I've never wanted to call you an idiot as much as I do now." It was clear another person held back the fury in their tone.

"What would she even be worth to us? Does she even have any useful skills? She might just weigh us down."

It was difficult to keep my face still so I wouldn't expose that I was awake. I had to agree with them, as much as I disliked them. There was no way I would join their forces, not after they were sending their soldiers into Racaea. He was truly out of his mind.

The angered voices quietened before Mace explained, "I believe she has a possible potential to wield the Idaphite as well as we do. Do you think the same, Sabre?"

My body froze. How did he know I was awake? He had to be bluffing. I had made sure I hadn't moved an inch. If I continued to pretend to be unconscious, perhaps he would just continue to talk to his group.

"You can't keep pretending. I can see your eyes moving behind your eyelids, so there's no use keeping up the facade now." Mace sighed when I still didn't reveal my consciousness.

How did he notice such a small detail? I hadn't even thought of it myself.

"If you don't want to open your eyes yourself, I can always have someone else open them for you," he offered as if he were doing me a kind favour.

There was no use in continuing to pretend now. I opened my eyes and instantly shut them again as the setting sun glared directly into them. Once I adjusted my head, I tried again to find a dozen cloaked figures staring at me with curiosity. Now that they weren't actively trying to attack our kingdom, their hoods were down, revealing the people hidden underneath them.

They weren't all that vicious looking like I had imagined. In my mind, I had pictured people with scars across their faces from the countless battles they had been in, serious and cold expressions twisting their features, but they were just ordinary people. They were the sorts of individuals you would find running market stalls in towns, teaching children in schools.

That made them all the more frightening.

Around us was still the forest of the kingdom I had come to love as my home. The foliage was still thick around the path we were on, so I knew we were still nowhere near the border of Icrodeia. I couldn't tell whether that comforted me or panicked me more.

"There we go. That wasn't so difficult now, was it?" Mace stood from where he was sitting beside a campfire to approach me, a dagger in hand.

I tugged against the ropes binding me to see if they had loosened in the slightest, but it was no use. Even if I was able to break free from them, I wouldn't be able to escape while I was surrounded by so many enemies. "You're not going to get any information out of me, nor will you get me to join you. Don't waste your time."

"How many of our conversations have you heard?" He glared down at me, his golden eyes glinting in the rising sun.

They weren't talking about anything too useful to my situation, so I didn't know why he cared so much. None of them had given away our exact location, what they planned to do with the fae, or even the state of my friends. My heart lurched, pain burrowing inside.

They had to be okay, right? Despite the magic he had cast on them to stop them from moving, they had to be okay. I couldn't accept any other possibility.

"If you were watching me while I was pretending to be unconscious, shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" I retorted, resulting in a stifled chuckle from one of the people Mace used to do his dirty work.

With a roll of his eyes, he ignored the disloyal laugh from behind him. "So, you already know what I'm about to ask you?"

"My answer will be no to whatever you have to ask me." I hoped he couldn't sense the fear building in me as he took a step closer. Mace had been able to feel there was an Idaphite shard in my parents' home without even stepping inside. If he discovered the shard was hidden in my pocket, I would be done for.

He raised a brow. "I might have asked if you wanted me to stop Icrodeia's forces from entering Racaea. Well, now that you said no..."

"I know you would never offer such a thing." Pulling back Icrodeia's forces? Did he really think I was dense? After he'd just sent word to deploy them, there was no chance he would stop them now. Mace was toying with me.

"If it would get you to agree to join us, I could do that."

His response silenced any counter I might have had. He had to be lying.

"Now she's interested," laughed a male with fiery red hair. In the wind, it looked as if it could be a dancing flame, hungry for some substance to burn.

"I'm not interested in playing your games and I'd rather do anything than join you. Racaea doesn't have your Idaphite, so you're punishing us for no reason. I'd never want to join someone like that."

"You speak as if you're not Icrodeian yourself, traitor." I thought Mace had forgotten all about that nickname, but its return stabbed me in the chest. "By his reaction and now yours, I'm beginning to think that not even your fae pet knows what he's done to our kingdom."

"What do you mean?" I pulled against the rope holding me again, trying to manoeuvre myself away from him. "Who the hell even are you to know all this about Icrodeia, to have so much power to control everything?"

Mace tilted his head to the side, considering his next words. "I suppose I should begin to be more honest if you're to ever join our ranks." He crouched down beside me, flipping his dagger between his hands. "I'm the current stand-in ruler of Icrodeia," power reverberated around him as he spoke, "and I discovered not too long ago that your little fae killed the previous king and queen."