I collapsed into the grasses when I was far enough away from the campsite not to hear Silas and Nyx's bickering. I focused on breathing, one inhale before a long exhale, over and over again, trying to clear my head. I'd hated bringing up my idea to the others, but I could not get past the sickening feeling that Bjorn and Terran were in trouble. Perhaps not Terran—my brother was, after all, the heir to Sera.

  But Bjorn...I had spent the better part of a year on the road, which was the longest I'd ever been from him. I longed for his strong embrace, the same one that had comforted me as a child. Now that I knew both living parental units of mine were awful, I longed to tell him this and ask his permission to call him my father. After all, Bjorn was the only person in my life who deserved the title. It was a wonder he'd never settled down and had a brood of kids he could call his own; he was one of the few who would've been great at it.

  There was a swish in the grasses behind me as I heard someone approaching. I didn't turn to see who it was. I kept my eyes on the night sky, attempting to find peace in it.

  “If we are to return to Sera, we have to keep our identities hidden.” It was Cerin. Somehow, he was the last person I expected to follow me out here, after the anxieties I'd just put him through.

  “Yes...” I trailed it off, my anger turning to sadness. It was the first time the consequences of my actions had really hit me. The city in which I'd spent my childhood would no longer have me or my friends. My throat felt thick with tears I refused to shed. It wasn't even that I wanted to go live in the city like I once did; it was the fact that if I did want to, I couldn't.

  “Your father knows what I look like,” Cerin continued. “He has sent men after me before. I have found sketches that mirror my face in their pockets. They could either catch me or criminalize you for being with me. They don't yet know what I have taught you. You, alone, are safe.”

  “I am not going to run from a friend in the hopes of getting a lesser sentence, Cerin,” I replied, my voice thick with emotion. “If they want you, they'll need to get through me. If they want me, I will not use your crimes as as shield. If we are never seen by anyone other than Terran and Bjorn, it will be for the best.”

  “The key is doing that successfully,” he said. “If you do nothing else at all, I plead you to think twice about those you trust before you decide to do this. It takes just one stab in the back for all of this to unravel.”

  My stomach ached at his warning. “You do not trust me? Or Silas?”

  “I do not trust many. Silas's loyalties are unclear to me. I have heard your love for your brother and Bjorn, but I have no reason to trust them, myself. Please understand that I must be leery.” He hesitated. “They love you, I am sure of it, but they are both close to your father. Terran does not stand to gain anything with you, but a kingdom has been promised to him by your father. As for Bjorn, who is to say he will not sabotage us simply because he wants to do what he thinks is best for you?”

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  I exhaled so hard it whistled through my teeth. “Bjorn trusts my judgment. He may not leave Sera with me, but he will not sabotage us. I would bet my life on it.”

  “And indeed you shall,” Cerin replied, softly.

  In the days that followed, we planned our visit to Sera. It was a place none of us wanted to re-enter, but hopefully by working together, we wouldn't have to stay very long and we wouldn't even have to be found out by those who would do us harm. It was possible Cerin trusted me more than he let on, given his begrudging acceptance to follow me there. Silas, on the other hand, was clearly not happy with our return, and he seemed even less happy over my reasons. I understood he was scared. Given his position in his Celdic lineage, if he was found out to be a co-conspirator of necromancers, no matter how unintentional, it could ruin him.

  Nyx wasn't happy about returning, but it was nothing she wasn't already used to. She had always avoided the upper tiers of the city if she could help it. Theron was the odd one out; besides his relations to Cerin and I, he had no reason to fear Sera. It was for this reason that we chose him as our leader into the city, when we would eventually get there. He was the least recognized of any of us, particularly when it came to being our companion. When securing rooms in an inn, the names of Sera or Galan would never have to be uttered.

  And so it was that we reached the outskirts of Sera when the second moon of Meir was high at the center of the sky, exchanging the coolness of Red Moon for the chill of Dark Star. It had taken us nearly two seasons to reach Whispermere, but only a few weeks over one for the return trip. We'd had less detours and stops this time around, not to mention that all of us were much better at traveling together than when we started. Everyone had the things that they were good at, and automatically set about doing it for the rest of the group.

  As I stared at Sera still a day away in the distance, I hoped we would be as good at working together for this than we had been at traveling. My home made for a beautiful view, each tier of it lighting up the mountainside. With Meir dominating the sky to the city's east, it was easier to see its buildings and architecture, and even the smaller things like the guards up on its walls, taking their nightly strolls.

  Still, it seemed so intimidating, now. My eyes lingered on the tall stone towers of the Seran University, that put even the highest buildings in the lower districts to shame. Sirius and Terran were there, and if I was to get the attention of one without the other, it would require good fortune and teamwork from all of us.

  Bjorn. I couldn't see the barracks from here, but just knowing I was so close to him and couldn't just run the rest of the way to see him killed me. I had to believe he would leave with me. His first loyalty may have been to Sirius, but surely that had changed in the last twenty or so years when he had been a major part of my life. He was growing older, yes, but I believed he would rather be on the run with me than work the rest of his life under Sirius. In a way, thinking back on it now, I wished I would have asked him to join us when we'd left.

  There was nothing I could do to change the past. I could only hope that this time in Sera I would be able to make up for my past mistakes.

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