The children in Hale who had never asked for a war, who only wanted to grow up safe.
She sat up straighter, the bread in her lap forgotten.
“You know I can’t,” she said quietly.
He tensed. “You could.”
“No,” she said, and this time her voice was stronger. “I won’t.”
He didn’t look away. There was so much there in his eyes. Fury, grief, fear. Love.
“You don’t owe them anything, Kara,” he said, voice hard. “They’re hunting us right now. Would happily see both of us burn.”
“If we run, Sebastian, what happens to my family? Our friends? Your sisters? The people who had nothing to do with my trial, nothing to do with the Council. Don’t let your anger condemn them.”
He breathed hard, actually trembling with it, the tendons in his hand tight beneath her grip. “I nearly didn’t make it to you in time, Kara,” he said hoarsely.
I know.
Kara hesitated, the memory overpowering. She forced it away and finally asked the question that had been burning at the edge of her thoughts since the moment he’d arrived in her cell.
“Howdidyou get to me in time, Sebastian?” she asked. “How did you escape?”
He tensed, if possible, even more. There was something unreadable in his face. He let out a slow, shaky breath.
“My father,” he said finally.
Kara gaped at him. “Your father?”
He nodded, the movement small, reluctant. “He left a dagger in my room. Told me not to waste the chance. Took me hours to cut myself free from the nightshade.”
“He–” She could barely process it. “What?”
He looked down and said roughly, “I told him about the vision, when he questioned me in my cell. We were right – about what you overheard – the Council had been given a prophecy about Draknor. He didn’t share it but it was enough that he believed me... about the Arcanth, the Shards... everything.” He took a deep breath. “He said he couldn’t act on it himself. Or go against the Council. Not without risking my sisters. Or war.”
“He committed treason,” she said, still processing his words. “He let you go.”
Sebastian gave a harsh, humourless laugh. “Not quite. He let me climb down a two-hundred-foot tower with no ropes, no magic and nearly get myself killed, if that counts.”
But the edge in his voice was gone. Replaced with something quieter. Something like grief.
“He still left me to do this alone, even though he knows it has to be done,” he said. “But he gave me the chance to save you. So it matters.”
Kara reached for his hand. “It does.” She hesitated. “My father gave me a choice too.”
Sebastian jerked his head towards her, caught off guard. “What do you mean?”
“He said... if I claimed you forced me into helping, used your magic to control me, the charges would be dropped. I would’ve been free.”
He went still. The silence between them became almost uncomfortable.
“Why didn’t you take it?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t.”
His voice came rough, angry. “You should have, Kara!”
“I wouldn’t lie. Not about that. I wasn’t going to make you out to be a monster–”
