Reed practically raced through the gloomy stone corridors, relying on intuition to find an exit. The walls pressed in as if oozing guilt and the pangs of conscience that he now felt so clearly. If he had to look Meredith in the eye again, he would have sooner stabbed himself.

  She caught up with him quickly. It was no surprise, as she knew this crypt far better. It was clear she was already one of their own among the mages. Meredith grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop, and he couldn't even look at her.

  "Is this how you greet me?"

  "I'm not going to curtsy," Reed grumbled, leaning his back against the stone wall. "Your greeting wasn't any better."

  "The one you deserved. Where have you been?"

  "A bit of everywhere."

  "Aren't you glad to see me?" she asked. Her thin, small fingers toyed with the folds of her sleeve. Reed smiled to himself as he noticed that. Even if there was anger on her face and steel in her voice, Meredith's fingers always gave her away. Reed felt something like pleasure, realizing that he still knew her well enough.

  "I'm glad, of course. We just weren't supposed to meet again."

  "In the madam's house, you said something else."

  "It's a good thing you already know how often we all lie," he grumbled sarcastically.

  "Is practicing your wit more interesting than just talking to me?" Meredith raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. "Finding out how I lived, for example?"

  "Dita, I..." a sudden flash of shame forced him to fall silent. "I know what happened to you. I received the letters."

  "Why didn't you answer?"

  "And what could I have said?" Reed blurted out, grimacing with self-loathing. "Should I have told you that I lied to you and that I wasn't coming, even knowing how much you were waiting?"

  "You could have lied again," Meredith pricked him gloomily.

  Grunting, he turned away. A soft, small hand covered his and pulled. Reluctantly, as if made of stone, Reed turned back, looking at the hem of her dress as it barely brushed his boots.

  "Don't turn away from me, Hector," she said quietly.

  Reed gave a bitter smile, finally managing to look her in the eye.

  "Are you angry?"

  "For what? You paid for my shelter." Her lips curved into a subtle smile. "I'm not angry. I'm upset. I wanted to see you when you wanted otherwise."

  Reed lowered his head, finding nothing to say. He had expected accusations and shouting, perhaps even another slap. And he deserved it. Yes, he had paid Meredith's bills, but he was also the reason she was in such need. Before a new wave of shame could drown his thoughts, Meredith's embrace washed over him like a warm wave, and he allowed himself to hug her back. Somewhere in his soul, the ice covering his memories of her began to crack.

  "You've changed," Reed said, almost in a whisper, pulling away. "Very much."

  "And you haven't changed at all." She took a step back, and it became easier to breathe. "So, will you tell me where you've been? You must, or I'll slap you again."

  "Not here," he grimaced, looking around. "Too many ears."

  She nodded, beckoning him, and Reed obediently followed. The long tunnels pressed in, threatening to crush them against the cold stone. Reed watched Meredith's back ahead, her straight, proud posture. And he couldn't believe this was the person he had left ten years ago at Madam Eirene's boarding house. She was nothing like the girl he had saved from himself. Coming to terms with the fact that she would never be that way again was difficult. Now she was someone else entirely, almost a stranger, but Reed couldn't push her away, remembering everything they had been through together.

  He had been sarcastic and rude, behaving poorly toward her, and Meredith didn't deserve it. Yet Reed hoped it would help him reclaim his solitude. One part of him wanted his friend back, while the other didn't want to drag Meredith into trouble again. He remembered too clearly the reasons he had decided never to cross paths with her again. And what could he do now that she was grown? Only watch as she made her own decisions.

  A pleasant breeze blew against his heated face. Meredith walked a short distance from the exit of the old mines that served as a home for the mages and stopped. Her dark eyes wandered over Reed, studying him as if trying to convince herself he was real. Yet he hadn't changed as much as she had. Ten years apart had taken their toll and, to his great shame, Reed no longer saw a child in her. His eyes clung to her hair, her sharpened face, her lips, her body. Even her gaze was different, but this was Meredith.

  "Dita..." he began, grimacing awkwardly.

  Meredith raised an eyebrow.

  "Don't act like we're strangers."

  "I can't help it." The awkwardness of the moment pressed in. Reed felt vulnerable. It was unfamiliar, strange, and dangerous.

  "So, where were you?" she asked again, without preamble.

  "Saisen, Antari, Parey," Reed shrugged. "Working."

  "Did you know I was here?"

  "If I had known, I wouldn't have come."

  "Why?"

  "Because it would have been better that way."

  "For whom?"

  "For you," a faint smile touched his face. "For you, Dita. You see what I am. That is why I left. That is why I didn't answer the letters."

  For a while she thought about it, pursing her lips, and then looked Reed in the eye again.

  "Well, now we’ve met again. What happens next?" Her voice was steady and calm, just as it used to be. Meredith had always been like this. And now, with such bitter tension hanging between them, Reed was glad to see that among all the changes she’d been through, some things stayed the same.

  "I won't run from you," Reed mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "You can decide for yourself now, and I won't change that. I did what was best back then, and looking at you now, I see I was right. You wouldn't have become who you are if I had stayed."

  "Did you regret it?" she asked briefly, searching his face.

  "Yes. You must understand that my life is nothing like you imagined. I have enemies, and I might not have been able to protect you in time if someone found out about you. So yes, I regretted leaving, but I didn't want to go back. After all these years... and what would you have even said to me?"

  "That I waited for you every day," her voice grew quiet. "Every day I looked at the gates and waited for you. Even when I left that place, I still wanted you to find me. You are not a stranger to me, so do not act like one."

  "I'm sorry," was all he could force out.

  "Don't," Meredith suddenly smiled.

  "I missed you," Reed said softly, looking down.

  "Oh, Hector," Meredith whispered. She pulled him toward her by his shoulders, wrapping her arms around him. Her cheek rested against Reed’s chest, and she was still smiling.

  "Wait," Reed pulled back slightly, searching her face, and then asked cautiously, "What are you even doing here?"

  The question had been spinning in his head for a long time, but he wasn’t able to voice it before.

  "Living."

  "Why? Did you forget what happened last time? What if the hunt had been real?"

  "Well, times change. Sometimes people change too," she grumbled, pulling away from Reed's arms. He didn't try to hold her.

  "That means nothing at all. How did you end up here?"

  "Maró found me."

  "Ah, I see," Reed grimaced. "He told you what a noble cause they’re fighting for, and you were filled with a spirit of rebellion?"

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  "My parents died, and I would have died too, because everyone was just hiding. I'm tired of simply hiding."

  "And you decided to walk to the gallows yourself?" Reed raised an eyebrow. "Is this why I pulled you out? So you could finish what the mercenaries didn't?"

  "You've forgotten, Hector," Meredith replied calmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not twelve. I agreed to help, and it was my choice. The hunt will soon kill us all, no matter how we hide. And anyway, you weren't planning on returning. Why do you care?"

  "Oh, look. Says the one who’s 'not angry at all'," Reed snapped back. Meredith faltered, looking away.

  "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "King Arden is intensifying the hunt. He's crushing us with taxes. I can't hide anymore. I'm tired of being afraid, Hector. We have to do something before they kill us all. Death is the easiest fate a mage can get once they fall into the King's hands. The dynasty must change, or soon there will be none of us left."

  A plea and carefully hidden pain slipped into her voice. She feared being weak and a life on the run, but despite her fear, she still joined the rebels. Is it not courage to act even when you are afraid?

  "And what if I offer you another path?" Reed asked, hope coloring his voice as he broke the silence.

  Meredith raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  "I wanted to sail across the ocean again," Reed said, scanning the gloomy night forest. "Come with me. There is no hunt there, no king to topple, and no need to hide. I will work, and..."

  "No."

  "What?" Reed turned to her, unable to believe his ears.

  "I would love to, but I won't go. Not now. I want this to end. I want the king to meet his ancestors and for people to live without hiding their gift. I want..."

  "Vengeance?" Reed snorted.

  Meredith met him with a cold, majestic silence. Reed let out a heavy sigh and sat on a fallen tree.

  "So, will you help? There will be war, that much is true, but it is the only way we will find freedom. I don't want to run anymore."

  Inside Reed, an old, forgotten feeling stirred. Freedom. What was it but an illusion? Freedom was like a mirage, a dream, or a dying man's last vision, but never a reality. Meredith, it seemed, had intentionally revealed all the plans. The advisor was just a pawn to give the mages time to prepare for the rebellion to topple the king.

  For a moment, Reed remembered his own path to freedom. The old scar on his face began to ache, making his cheek twitch in irritation.

  Reed did not want to fight for the kreyghars who had enslaved him, nor did he want to fight for the freedom of mages who could have protected Belden but didn't. Meredith had chosen her path, and he allowed her that, claiming his right to his own decisions even if they wouldn't please her. Moreover, after the advisor's death, the mages would continue to prepare, which meant more threats to Meredith's life.

  "I won't be a part of this," Reed said quietly. "I don't want to see you die. At least this way you can sit here for a while, and maybe you'll change your mind about sticking your nose into business that is beyond you."

  "And become like you? Running, hiding, forgetting who you are and where you came from? Letting everything drift and ignoring every problem but your own?"

  "Bullseye! That is exactly what I'll do," he said with a sarcastic smirk. "This isn't my war, Dita."

  "It isn't your war until it touches you personally. Until then, you know nothing of the fight for the right to live free. You aren't being hunted, and your hands won't be cut off just for how you were born. You know nothing about our lives or what this means to us! All you know is how to run and hide from everyone, even yourself!" Reed's sarcasm had stung Meredith, and she suddenly exploded. Her voice was filled with steel and anger. It was likely because of that rage that she struggled so hard to maintain her composure.

  Whatever the case, her words struck Reed in the very heart. How could she speak of a war for miserable scraps of freedom, knowing who he was? How could she forget his own personal war? Rage rose in his soul. Reed jumped up.

  "Don't you dare talk to me about things you don't know!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Meredith. Fear flashed on her face, followed by regret. She wanted to say something, but Reed could not stop. She had touched his deepest wound, even if only in a burst of emotion.

  "Don't you even dare mention it!” Reed hissed. “I lost my freedom before I was even born! You and your kind sat comfortably on your asses while my country was torn to pieces. You know nothing of war or the sacrifices to be made for that freedom. You are delusional with ideas of a just war that Maró drilled into your head, but where were you all, great mages, when Belden burned? Where were you when my people turned into a herd of slaves? Where were you when they stole our freedom? Mages could have protected Belden, but they didn't want to because we are the Cursed. Would even one mage here fight for my freedom? Would they sacrifice their lives for me and my people? You humans love to ask for sacrifices. You love to demand them like a long-standing debt, but you are incapable of the sacrifices you ask for. I have nothing to give you and your people, Dita. Everything I had, you have already taken."

  "Don't blame me. I wasn't there," she said with tears in her eyes, pressing the back of her hand to her reddened face. "I didn't sell Belden. I didn't kill your people."

  "It is enough that humans and mages kept silent and were quietly glad it wasn't them in chains," Reed spat, his breath coming in ragged gulps. "And now? Now I am worse than an animal. They won't even sell me medicine once they see I'm a Cursed elf. You didn't kill my people, but you have no right to ask me to fight for those who see me as nothing but cattle that slipped the leash. No one will appreciate it, and no one will thank me. Even your precious Maró looks down on me like I'm expendable. Dita, I am expendable to him! He knows that even if I kill the advisor, I won't be able to escape. I’ll be hunted down and slaughtered. And you know what? He doesn't care. I saw it in his eyes. You should have seen how surprised he was when he realized I knew it."

  "I will appreciate your help," Meredith said, stepping closer. "I will. I'm not asking you to love my people..."

  "You're asking me to protect them. Protection is just another face of love," Reed dismissed.

  Meredith tried to take his hand, but he roughly threw it off, struggling to control his rage.

  He stepped back and exhaled. It was unusual for him to snap like that, and Reed felt exhausted. And guilty.

  "I won my right to live in freedom. I paid a price for it, and not a single mage helped me with that. I will not pay yours either, as I owe you nothing."

  "Even if it concerns me?" Meredith raised her tear-filled eyes.

  "I offered for you to leave," he grimaced, feeling his blood begin to boil again. "You refused. You are old enough to make your choices. Even if I had tried, could I have talked you out of it?"

  Meredith shook her head in silence.

  "Then there is nothing more to talk about. You want to decide for yourself without considering my opinion, yet you ask the same of me? You ask for things you are unwilling to give in return."

  Closing his eyes, Reed tried to calm down. He ran a hand over his face wearily.

  "I cannot forbid you from dying here, but I cannot stop you either. You seek death like a precious gift."

  "And you don't? For you, death is the glitter of coins," Meredith replied venomously. Unexpectedly, even to himself, Reed smiled.

  "Don't pretend you've only just realized that."

  Meredith remained silent. The silence was so oppressive and heavy that soon it became impossible to bear. He didn't know what to say, and Meredith didn't want to speak, turning away. Hearing her take a quiet breath to hide her tears, Reed felt like a monster. Did she deserve such words from him? Maró did, yes, but not her.

  A thirst for vengeance consumed her, even if she couldn't take revenge on those directly responsible for her pain. Reed understood, but he didn't want her to lay her life on that altar. Killing Ermod was not the same as plotting against the king. If the plan failed, the conspirators would pray for death as the desert prays to the sky for rain. Reed knew this, but did she know what she had gotten herself into? Were there wild, naive fantasies in her head about it? Reed didn't know the answers and didn't dare ask.

  From Meredith's expression, it was clear that the conversation was over. It was a good moment to return everything to the status quo. He would go about his business, and Meredith would go about hers, even if the outcome satisfied neither of them. Well, things do not always go as one wishes.

  "Take care of yourself, Dita," Reed said, his voice now calm. He adjusted his cloak, then added, "I am sorry it came to this."

  He had managed to walk a few steps when Meredith stopped him.

  "You know why Belden is in slavery, don't you?"

  "The Empire captured it," Reed grumbled.

  "And who allowed it?"

  "I wasn't taught history as a child. I only know what I have heard."

  "King Arden signed a pact with the Empire, and the primary condition was Belden. It was fertile land with plenty of space and a large number of elves whom no one in all of Emeron cared about. They even live longer than humans. Arden traded Belden for a truce. He sold you into slavery to preserve his army and his throne before you were even born."

  Reed stared at Meredith in shock. Of course, he knew Belden was under the Empire's lash, but he had always believed it was simply a matter of conquest. Taking advantage of Reed's confusion, Meredith continued.

  "He didn't care that Belden had fought for Tayden in Parey, pushing the Empire's army back to the very Bloody Gates. When Tayden died, Arden refused to fight for Belden, which was already burning by the time of his coronation."

  Reed gasped for air and stumbled. How could he have known? For the first fifteen years of his life, he physically could not learn anything. Slaves were not allowed to know history, not even their own. His mother had died when he was still a child, and there had been no one to tell him.

  Even the Beldenites themselves knew of it only in passing. No one spoke of Arden even in whispers at night in the barracks. By the time a new king of Forfield was announced, Belden had already become a colony. Rare historical facts were not enough to piece together information about events that had occurred before his birth. Thirty years across the ocean had sown a sense of indifference to his homeland. Upon his return, he had not even tried to stick his nose into the dusty enclaves of history. He was more interested in the present. Regretting his reluctance to delve into such matters once again, Reed looked at Meredith with a vacant stare.

  "Did you not know?" Meredith asked quietly.

  Reed shook his head. "Slaves aren't told why they are slaves. They aren't even taught to read or write."

  "I learned this at the madam's boarding house. Arden's death is not just a whim to me because I am a mage. He killed your future too, Hector."

  "I have a future," Reed grumbled.

  "Across the ocean?"

  "Exactly," he replied in a toneless voice. "Arden can rot in Haderat's pit. I don't care."

  "Is that the future you wanted for yourself?"

  "Who cares what I wanted?" Reed grimaced. "It's not always..."

  "...the way one wishes," Meredith finished for him, then suddenly gave a sad smile. "It took me years to understand why you love repeating that. You didn't choose your future. You took the first thing that came along because you simply didn't know what to do with your freedom. Freedom is not only your greatest wealth but also your most unbearable agony. You won't give up your current life and the future it promises simply because you don't know what to do with your freedom or what you truly want. What you have is safe, familiar, and habitual. But novelty is as terrifying as the Darkness itself."

  "Stop," Reed whispered, swallowing a lump in his throat. Every word of hers hit the mark so accurately that it took his breath away. "Don't, please."

  He wanted to run, if only to avoid thinking about what she had just said. He didn't want to look at her face or hear the words that shouted between the lines that she saw right through him. It was too difficult for him to piece together the fragments of history, to accept the unpleasant truth, and to fall into the same thirst for revenge that had consumed Meredith. Reed had never considered himself an idiot, but at that moment, he felt like one. For the second time, his reluctance to dig into the details of things that didn't concern him personally was playing cruel jokes on him.

  Meredith watched in silence as Reed left. Hans met him at the stables and returned the mare. He received a blow to the teeth for the setup. Vaulting onto the horse, Reed set off at full speed to the east, toward the capital. Somewhere back there, Meredith was left alone again. Watching Reed's receding silhouette, she no longer cried.