Phoebe replied sooner than they had expected. She said she could be at the palace in just a few hours, but that she'd get them out the following day at midnight.

Scott and Crystal bathed (which included Violet trying to get the branches off their hair for hours), got some supplies and were ready to hit the road.

Caroline and Crystal had had a serious conversation the night before, concerning what happened to Faith and how Caroline herself was holding up.

She was barely coping. She'd already been traumatised by finding her mother dead as a kid, but also finding her girlfriend murdered? Life was already hard as it was with an abusive father and the responsibilities of being the heir to the throne.

Caroline was going through a really rough and long patch called life. She couldn't stand responsibilities anymore. She wanted to be free, but she didn't think she could do it.

Her entire life had been rules and people telling her what to do. It was already hard for her to make a simple choice on her own, let alone decide what to do with her future. No matter how much she wanted her freedom, she just couldn't get it.

Violet pulled Crystal aside at some point.

“There's something you need to know.”, she started.

“What's wrong?”, Crystal asked her.

“No- nothing like that. Don't worry. Just... I need you to promise me something. Please.”, Violet bit her lip.

“What is it?”

“When you get out of here, get out of this kingdom. Go to Daniel's, but don't you dare go anywhere near the palace. Stay away from both kings for a while. Their feud has deeper roots than you may think.”

“What are you talking about? Do you know what happened between them?”, Crystal asked curiously.

“Just stay away from your father and uncle. Daniel and Alastor have been at each other's throats for over twenty years and things right now are worse than ever. Promise me you won't go looking for King Daniel.”, Violet pleaded.

“I won't.”, Crystal nodded.

“Good.”

Now, if you think that there was some tension between the girls after that, wait until you see what happened a few corridors away, at Tristan's room.

Tristan and Scott couldn't stand each other, even though that wasn't a first for Scott.

“What's the deal with you and Crystal?”, Tristan asked suspiciously when they entered the room.

“There's no deal with me and Crystal and even if there was, it would be none of your business.”, Scott crossed his arms.

“Defensive much?”

“Not all of us grew up in a fancy palace, you know.”, Scott shrugged.

“Was that jealousy?”

“No, it was a statement. There's nothing here to be jealous of apart from the fact that you have no idea what the outside world is like.”

“I've been out!”

“Let me guess; to party?”, Scott raised an eyebrow. Tristan looked away, then back at him.

“That's not the point! You're really infuriating to talk to.”, Tristan grumbled.

“I know the feeling...”, Scott muttered.

“Why are you so cold to people?”, Tristan asked again.

“Is this an interrogation or something?”

The prince hesitated. “Maybe.”, he shrugged.

“Yeah, well, I don't do that.”

“Look, you're traveling with my sister and you're both wanted. I don't trust you, not yet at least. I just need to know that Crystal is safe. Same goes for you and your sister, right?”

Scott eyed him for a couple seconds. “Crystal is safe.”, he said eventually. He felt the urge to gulp, but didn't. He didn't want to show any kind of weakness in front of Tristan.

“Good. That's all I wanted to hear.”, Tristan shrugged. “Now, do you want the bed or the couch thing?”

“Whatever. I don't sleep.”

“Right... Okay, I'll take the couch thing. You take the bed. You know... In case you change your mind.”

“Seriously, I don't care. Take the bed. I don't sleep.”

“But--”

“Don't. Just take the bed.”, Scott glared at him.

Tristan hesitated again. “Fine.”, he gave up. He'd argue with Scott more, but he has exhausted and Scott seemed to be too stubborn to change his mind. Dangerous too.

Speaking of Scott, Tristan found him the next morning sleeping face-down on the couch thing. He rolled his eyes and went up to the window to take a look at the weather. Not that he'd be going anywhere himself, but he just felt the need to see on what conditions his sister would be traveling in.

He sighed and looked away from the window, only to see Scott sitting on the couch with his face in his palms.

“Hey, Harrow? Are you okay?”, Tristan asked him.

“Huh?”, Scott turned around rapidly. He almost looked... scared? He nearly fell off the couch thing. “What?”, he asked again regaining his composure.

“Are you okay?” Tristan repeated, even more worried than before.

“Of course I'm okay!”, Scott rolled his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“No, I'm okay.”, he replied seriously.

“Stop it with the dad jokes.”

“What dad jokes?”

“You can't be serious...”

“I'm not! I already told you I'm okay.”

“I quit.”

“Finally! I thought I'd have to fire you.”, Scott sighed. Tristan was surprised with Scott not cracking a single smile in that entire conversation. It made him wonder how easy it was for Scott to lie and whether or not he did it regularly.

Scott lied down on the couch thing again, but didn't close his eyes, not even to blink.

“Don't get all depressed now... I'll take you to see Crystal when Violet comes over...”, Tristan sighed again.

“What the hell are you talking about?”, Scott shot back up.

“If I had a tomato in this room, it would be jealous of your red face.”, Tristan gave him a knowing look.

“Again; what the hell are you talking about?”, Scott repeated, seemimg really confused.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. He wondered if Scott was using his lying abilities again. He concluded that this couldn't be the case. Besides, two people can be fugitives and travel together all over the place without being in love or together. Maybe Scott was just worried. “Nevermind...”, he said eventually.

Just as he said that, there was a sequence of knocks on the door; three sharp ones, a single one and then two more sharp ones. This is confusing.

“It must be Violet.”, Tristan bit his bottom lip, trying to suppress a smile and openined the door.

Violet rushed inside and closed it. After a few minutes (Tristan and Scott had to change out of their pajama things), they sneaked out to go to Caroline's room (again). Surprisingly, they found no-one patrolling the halls...

“They must be guarding the walls and the gates.”, Tristan shrugged.

When they entered Caroline's room, they found Crystal braiding her sister's long hair. Crystal herself already had her hair braided and over her shoulder.

“There you go!”, she smiled as she finished off.

“Thanks...”, Caroline smiled weakly.

“How long have you been up?”, Tristan asked them.

Crystal shrugged. “We went to sleep early and we woke up early.”, she replied. Scott wanted to argue that Caroline's bloodshot eyes didn't really fit with that story, but he didn't say anything.

“So... Has Phoebe written anything?”, he asked.

Violet shook her head. “Not yet... I'll go check again in a bit.”, she sighed. Scott nodded and sat down on the bed, next to Crystal. He didn't know the others as well and wasn't in the mood to start meeting and/or opening up to other people.

One new person in his life was more than enough. He didn't want any more. As to what he needed, though... He knew exactly what that was, or so he thought.

He started to worry and wonder if Crystal was right when she said it'd be better to leave Phoebe out of everything that was going on. He'd already lost his mother; he couldn't lose his sister too.

But he had no choice... He and Crystal couldn't stay hidden in the palace forever. Alastor would eventually find them.

“There are a couple more things.”, Crystal sighed.

“What?”, Scott raised an eyebrow. “Don't tell me that this is about the horse.”

“That too. Don't talk about Ash like that.”, she crossed her arms.

“Wait, what's the other thing?”, Caroline asked her.

“Erebos took Benny's bow and quiver.”, her sister gulped. “I want them back. I know it's stupid, but they're all I have left from Benny- apart from Ash, of course.”, Crystal rambled.

“And how are you supposed to get those back? You can't get both. It's either the horse or the bow.”

“I know but it's hard to choose and I'll probably not get another chance on getting the other back.”, Crystal frowned.

“I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but...”, Scott paused to sigh, and then continued “...you should get the horse.”, he shook his head, looking disappointed in himself. “Not that I like him or anything, that horse hates my guts and the feeling is generally mutual, but he's fast and we can cover more ground in less time with him.”, he added.

“Yeah, but the bow will give us a combat advantage.”, Crystal argued. It's not that she didn't want Ash, she just felt the need to go through all pros and cons.

“When you're attacked on all fronts, there's only one option, and that is to run like hell.”, Scott told her.

“I guess... Alright. We're getting Ash.”, she smiled thinly. It wasn't a happy smile, nor a disappointed one. It was just a smile, only there for the sake of being there.

Crystal always smiled. Even when things were going wrong, she always found something to smile about. Scott had noticed that, but even though it seemed annoying at first, he had started to get used to it. He'd been meaning to ask her about it, but hadn't gotten the chance yet and it didn't really seem like the time for this type of questions.

Violet soon left to check if Phoebe had sent another letter. When she found out that she had, the witch ran back to Caroline's room to give the others the news.

Midnight. West gate. Don't be late.

That was everything written on the piece of paper Phoebe had mailed to them.

“Well, then, that answers it. We're getting the bloody horse and meeting Phoebe at the west gate at midnight.”, Scott shrugged.

“Without being late. Also, watch your tongue when it comes to my horse.”, Crystal glared at him.

“What? I told you, I don't get along with that horse. It hates me back. I don't see you telling Ash off!”, Scott protested.

“He's a horse!”, Crystal said in exasperation.

Scott crossed his arms. “Still.”

Caroline's eye started twitching. “You have to be kidding me. You're jealous of the bloody horse?”

“His name is Ash!”, Crystal interrupted.

“And why would I be jealous of that horse?”, Scott protested. “It's stupid!”

“He is not stupid.”, Crystal crossed her arms too.

“Guys! Enough! You're fighting over a horse!”, Violet interrupted them all. Tristan burst out laughing.

“What's so funny?”, Caroline glared at him.

“If anyone walked into this room right now and saw you all glaring at each other like this, they'd think you're fighting about something really important, not a horse!”, he laughed some more.

Crystal opened her mouth to speak, but Violet shushed her. “Don't you dare say that his name is Ash. Again. We got it.”

“Fine.”, she grumbled.

They spent the entire day resting. Violet explained to Crystal that the only way to get rid of that dust thing that Erebos has sprinkled on her, was to wait for a few days and let it go away on its own. Probably.

That didn't really reassure Crystal, but she didn't really care about it either. She didn't want or need magic. She'd lived her entire life without it and had done pretty well. She didn't want to be dependent on something so unpredictable. She needed something that felt more... real. Something more stable. Her life had already been turned upside down. She wanted to put her faith in something she could rely on; something she could control.

That's why Crystal loved archery. She'd been doing that since she was practically a toddler and she was always sure of herself when she fired an arrow. She knew that she would hit her target, just because she knew that's what she was aiming for. Yes, it was unpredictable, but when you do something your entire life you get used to that and when you get used to something, you start to understand it better and it starts being more and more predictable. She didn't know what limits magic had but she knew her own and that was something she could work with.

One hour before midnight, Crystal and Scott sneaked out with Violet, Tristan and Caroline.

Caroline led the way and somehow knew the shifts between the guards much better than Tristan, who was usually the one to sneak out. Violet kept eyeing her suspiciously, while Caroline herself kept herself from looking at her.

When they arrived at the stables, Crystal had a hard time keeping Ash quiet and that almost got them caught.

Soon, they were spotted. It's easier to hide when you're alone, but when you're travelling in a group of five- six if you count the horse- it's much, much easier to get yourself noticed. Naturally, that was something they had been panning to avoid.

Obviously, that plan didn't to so well.

They all started running and trying to hide Tristan, Caroline and Violet, mostly the former two. Violet was a "servant". She could leave the palace any time, but Caroline and Tristan? Alastor would murder them and wouldn't even hesitate about doing so.

Scott noticed Caroline was paler than usual.

“Are you okay?”, he asked her, knowing how tough dealing with Alastor could be. They didn't stop running.

“I'm fine.”, she hissed, running faster to avoid talking to him.

“I was just asking, dammit. Not everything is for the sake of sarcasm...”, he grumbled. “Unfortunately...”, he added, muttering.

Once they reached the gate and had to stop, Violet froze all the soldiers that were after them and proceeded to lift the gate with her powers.

“Why didn't you do that sooner?”, Tristan panted.

“Because I wouldn't be able to do it now.”, she croaked. Her nose started bleeding as silver energy raised the enormous gate from the ground. Violet's knees felt weak and her hands were shaking. She was sweating bullets and found it hard to concentrate on her task.

She wouldn't let them pass until the gate was to the top. She didn't want it to fall on Scott and Crystal's heads.

Phoebe stared at them all wide-eyed as she approached the gate, which was still being pushed upwards.

She ran inside and hugged Scott tightly before anyone could stop her.

“Don't you ever dare do this again.”, she growled.

Tristan and Caroline exchanged an awkward glance with each other, as Crystal stood nearby just as awkwardly.

She really wanted to help Violet, but she didn't know how her powers worked and even if she knew, that dust was keeping her from that.

“Who are you three?”, Phoebe raised an eyebrow.

“I'm Caroline. That's my brother Tristan and that's his girlfriend Violet.”, Caroline introduced everyone.

“Oh! You must be Queenie then. You're cuter in person.”, Phoebe smirked.

“What do you mean?”, Caroline tilted her head in confusion.

“You're the heir to the throne, aren't you?”, Phoebe asked her.

“Well, yeah--”

“Then you're Queenie.”, Phoebe shrugged, as if it was a given.

“I'm not queen yet.”, Caroline corrected her.

“Yeah, but my brother here has princess copyrighted, so...”, Phoebe sighed.

“You're confusing me.”, Caroline furrowed her eyebrows.

“You're cute when you're confused.”, Phoebe laughed.

Caroline blushed. “Whatever...”, she muttered. Phoebe laughed a little more, but was interrupted by Violet, who collapsed to the ground.

Tristan rushed to help her.

“Go... Quick...”, she whispered before her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious.

“Is she going to be okay?”, Crystal asked worriedly.

“Probably... Don't worry about that, go!”, Caroline yelled at them. The soldiers started moving slowly, as if the spell was gradually wearing off now that Violet was down.

“Well... Goodbye, I guess... Thanks for everything!”, Scott thanked them, as he grabbed Crystal's wrist and ran outside, Phoebe and Ash following close behind.

“Good luck!”, Crystal wished them as the gate fell back down with a loud bang.

As they walked away, realisation struck them.

“We're free!”, Crystal started bouncing up and down, laughing hysterically.

“I guess we are...”, Scott smiled lightly.

“Is that another smile, Harrow?”, Crystal raised an eyebrow, smirking.

“Maybe. Don't make a big deal out of it.”, he shrugged her off.

“Crystal, now that I met your siblings I realised who's got the good looks in your family.”, Phoebe interrupted them.

“Did you now?”, Crystal laughed.

“Yep.”, Phoebe smiled proudly.

“Care to tell us who it is?”, Scott raised an eyebrow.

“Queenie. Definitely Queenie.”, Phoebe blushed.

And then they started running because they realised that they were still a little too close to the palace.