Caroline and Tristan carried Violet back to her room as fast and quietly as they could and then Tristan walked his sister to hers, even though she didn't immediately go to sleep.

She wasn't really in the mood for sleep, despite that night being a really intense one. She couldn't help but think of the things Scott's sister, Phoebe, told her.

Why am I even thinking about her?, she asked herself.

And that's pretty much how the rest of her night went.

As for Tristan, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, so there are two types of people, I guess.

Even though, there are three if you count Violet in.


The next morning absolutely everything went wrong, as Violet accompanied the two siblings to have breakfast. Alastor, who usually missed out on that meal, was waiting for them in the dining room and gave them a really angry look when they walked in. Violet didn't enter the room, so she didn't get to see his furious face, but she waited outside in case things got bad.

“You helped two fugitives escape.”, he sneered at them immediately.

Tristan was about to say something stupid, but Caroline gave him a subtle nudge at the ribs and spoke instead. “I don't know what you're talking about, father.”, she lied- pretty convincingly if I may add.

But Alastor was the one that had practically taught his children how to lie. He hadn't been a good father, but when it came to deceiving someone he was the best teacher. “Don't try to fool me, Carol! I know you got Scott Harrow and your sister out of their cell!”

Caroline didn't give up, though. As good as her father may have been at lying, she was just as good at keeping up a mask. “Father, you're confusing me... Who is Scott Harrow?”, she frowned.

“Drop the act, Caroline!”, he yelled at his daughter, making her flinch.

“What act? Even if my sister was in the palace, I doubt she'd come to me for help! She barely knows me. Trust me, if she'd asked for my help, you'd know. I'd have told you myself.”

“I doubt that.”, he sneered. “I have to give it to you, though. Your lying skills are exceptional; you were really close to fooling me.”

“I'm not lying.”, she gritted her teeth.

“We didn't help Crystal escape! We didn't even know she was in the palace until that guard came into Caroline's room to look for her!”, Tristan growled.

“Then how did they escape? They obviously had help from the inside!”, Alastor yelled at them both.

“It was me.”, Violet stepped in the room, the exact moment Lux entered from another door. They both froze for a second, but Violet got over it after Alastor turned to her.

“Who the hell are you?”, he raised an eyebrow.

“Violet?! What are you doing here?”, Lux yelled at her, sounding more worried than angry.

“Cheryl sent me.”, Violet growled. “I was here in case Crystal was brought in, just to get her out.”, she lied.

“Guards!”, Alastor barked.

“No! Wait! Let me take care of this!”, Lux rushed, looking paler than usual, if you can believe that. Tristan and Caroline exchanged an awkward glance.

“Violet, what the hell are you doing?”, Caroline hissed at her.

“Let me take care of this.”, Violet hissed back. “I don't want your help, Lux.”

“You're getting it either way! We need to talk.”, Lux gave her a stern look.

“Wait- You actually know that brat?!”, Alastor turned to face Lux.

“Of course I do! And she's not a brat! She's from my clan! I- I know her mother...”, the pale witch muttered.

“Don't you dare talk about my mother! It's your fault she's the way she is right now!”, Violet snapped.

“Violet, you have it all wrong! Yes, I was out with your mother that day, but I didn't hurt her! She was my best friend!”, Lux reasoned.

“But you had no trouble locking me up in a cell to keep Cheryl from leaving!”


Everyone kept looking from one witch to the other rapidly, as they argued with each other.

“I promised your mother that I'd keep you safe! Letting you leave the village like that, especially with someone like Cheryl, would be dangerous! What would have happened to you if I wasn't here right now?”, Lux asked her worriedly. She slowly approached Violet, who backtracked a bit.

“I don't believe you.”, she wiped a tear.

“Violet, please!”, Lux took another step towards her.

“Leave me alone!”, Violet shrieked. Her voice sounded otherworldly and as she screamed a strong gust of wind pushed everyone and everything behind. “You're fighting for the wrong side. Stay away from me.”, she shook her head and ran off.

“Violet, wait!”, Lux and Tristan said at the same time. Tristan shot a glare at the former and then went after his girlfriend.


When he finally caught up to her, she was looking at the gates intensely.

He stopped panting and clutched his knees. “How do you run so fast in that dress without tripping?”

“I'm not in the mood, Tristan...”, she frowned. He knew that. He could feel it. He didn't ask her if she was okay, because he knew she wasn't. The exact same way, he knew that a small part of Violet wanted to believe Lux and everything she was saying.

“I know.”, he bit his lip. He glanced at the gate. “You're going to leave now, aren't you?”

“I was going to leave anyway, but yeah... I've already taken too long.”, she gave him a sad look.

He nodded. He tried to hide the fact that his face had fallen below the face of the earth by giving her a weak smile. Tristan knew that she could feel it was a fake one, but it made both of them feel a little better.

She took ahold of both his hands and he put his forehead against hers. Tears started streaming down her face and she started sobbing.

“Please don't cry...”, he hugged her tightly. She started sobbing on his shirt. He rested his chin on the top of her head and rubbed her back, as he blinked back some tears himself.

After a few minutes of silence, Violet pulled away wiping her tear-stained face. “Will you help me pack? I keep packing and unpacking, but I never really leave.”, she smiled weakly.

Tristan nodded and they went ahead to get her stuff.

°~*~°

Lux had turned red of anger. It's a miracle Alastor survived that conversation.

“No! Don't you dare send your guards after Violet, I'll take care of it!”, she yelled at him.

“You'd better! If she's not dead in an hour, I'll kill her myself!”, Alastor yelled back.

“She's seventeen!”, Lux said in exasperation. She didn't want to show to the king that she cared about Violet, but she couldn't help it at the time.

“I don't care about your witch laws!”, Alastor sneered.

Lux's eyes glowed a really dark black. “It doesn't have to do with legality, it's about being an ethical person with values! She's underage! And you should watch your tongue when you're talking about my people and my laws.”, she hissed. “Don't forget who helped you patch up all your mistakes!”

Alastor froze and gave her a deadly glare. “And don't forget who your brother works for.”, he sneered. “Besides, now you just showed me that you actually have a heart somewhere in there and care about at least two people. Three if we count the little witch's mother.”

“You keep blackmailing me like this. You're lucky I took an oath or you'd have died long ago. One day you'll be in real trouble and even if I'm standing right next to you, I'll wait for you to die and then spit on your dead body.”, she growled. “Violet didn't free them. Maybe you should ask my goddaughter about this; let's not forget why you really married Olivia.”, she reminded him and left the room, slamming the door (which exploded soon after).

°~*~°

Caroline had made a really huge decision and it was about time she did, because there were some things that Margaret Dow deserved to know.

By some things I mean her daughter's murder.

Caroline ran to the kitchens and asked around for her, because now that she Crystal was no longer in the palace, Margaret didn't have any other job to do. She was supposed to be her maid, after all.

After looking all over for her for a while, she stumbled upon her out in the gardens.

“Margaret?”, she asked.

The woman turned around at the sound of Caroline calling her. “Yes, miss Caroline?”

“Please don't call me miss...”, Caroline grimaced.

“Sorry...”, she muttered. “I just- I miss my daughter and my husband. At least I know where Andy is and I can visit him, but I have no idea what has become of Faith. She hasn't been writing to me. It's unlike her. I'm worried.”, Margaret sighed. “I'm sorry, sweetie... You wanted to talk to me about something and I started rambling about my problems... What is it?”

Caroline gulped. This was the hardest thing she'd done in her life up to that point, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Margaret deserved to know, though. “Actually, it's about Faith.”, Caroline looked away and blinked back some tears.

Margaret tilted her head in confusion. “What is it? Do you know something?”, she asked hopefully.

“I- Faith and I were a couple.”, she rushed. “We had a kind of a rough break up when I got caught up in an arranged marriage situation. I thought that maybe that was why she left, but then I realised there was something wrong with the letter she'd left behind.”

Margaret was at a loss of words, so Caroline continued.

“Along with my brother and a friend of ours, we started looking. We found her in a basement, here in the palace.”, the princess gulped again. “She was dead. Someone had stabbed her.”, she croaked.

Faith's mother stood up, not even trying to hold back her tears. Caroline was ready to be given the blame, but Margaret only hugged her. “Thank you so much for telling me... I know it must have been hard for you...”, she sobbed.


Caroline wasn't one for hugs, but at that moment she hugged Mrs Dow back and cried along with her.

After a few moments, they both pulled away. “We need to find out who did this and why.”, Margaret wiped a tear.

“Oh, trust me. We will.”, Caroline agreed.

°~*~°

Tristan walked Violet to the walls and ordered the guards to open the gates.

Violet was about to leave, when she turned around and ran back to Tristan. He lifted her by the waist and gave her one last kiss, before she hastily ran to get her bags and left.

She needed to get out of there fast. She didn't want to change her mind. Alastor would kill her if she dared stay in the palace.

Violet kept her head down and didn't look back as the gates closed behind her and Tristan kept looking towards her direction even hours after she was gone.

That's when he started feeling really hungry.

I guess I'll take care of her from afar..., he sighed to himself a while later and ran to the kitchens to get something to snack on.

°~*~°

Crystal, Scott and Phoebe had been walking almost all night when they had enough of that.

“We need somewhere to stay! We can't keep going like this!”, Phoebe snapped at some point.

“Well, Phoebe, we're open to suggestions.”, Scott replied rather coldly.

“Uh...”, she seemed to be thinking about it.

“Thought so.”, he muttered.

“I think I have an idea...”, Crystal said quietly.

“What kind of idea?”, Scott raised an eyebrow.

“The kind that will keep us from killing each other because of crankiness and exhaustion.”, Crystal sighed.

“You're being sassy now? I'm a bad influence on you.”, Scott shook his head.

“Guys! The idea?”, Phoebe interrupted.

“Right. We could go to that cabin we stayed in for a while. They won't look for us there again.”, Crystal shrugged. Ash neighed in approval.

“Good idea, but I don't want to agree with the horse.”, Scott crossed his arms.

“Seriously? I'll drag you there by force if you don't come willingly.”, Phoebe glared at her brother.

“Fine...”, he sighed. “But only because I'm the most tired I've been these days and that says a lot.”

“Whatever, Scotty...”, Phoebe rolled her eyes. Scott froze and fell a little behind. His sister turned around and gave him a worried look. “Is everything okay?”

Scott tried to shrug off the latest experiences he'd shared with his father. He subconsciously touched his side, where he'd stabbed him. Violet had closed the wound, but the scar remained.

“Scott!”, Phoebe snapped him out of it.

“Huh?”, he looked around in confusion.

“What's going on? You zoned out there for a second...”, she reached for his shoulder. He pulled away.

“It's nothing. I'll tell you once we get to the cabin.”, he gulped and they kept moving.


Phoebe couldn't shrug off the feeling that they were being followed. She kept looking behind her as they made their way to the cabin.

They arrived a little before dawn and immediately ran inside, dropped their stuff on the floor and did the beds and the couch.

After everything was done, Phoebe turned to her brother.

“You still owe me an explanation.”, she glared at him.

“Fine. Let's take this outside.”, Scott sighed. “Will you be okay on your own for a while?”, he asked Crystal.

“I'm not fragile! I can take care of myself.”, she crossed her arms.

“I'm sure you can, princess. I'm sure you can.”, he smirked and went outside.

“Spill. What happened?”, Phoebe asked him.

Scott didn't reply immediately, as if he was thinking whether he was going to answer or not. “It's dad.”, he said eventually.

Phoebe's stare hardened. “What about him?”

“Alastor hired him. He was at the palace. He came down in the dungeons on a daily basis and beat the hell out of me.”, Scott gulped.

His sister paled. “Wh- what? How?!”, she asked.

“I don't know! I made the mistake of telling Alastor my name the first time we met, but I told him that Carter Harrow was dead. Maybe he came looking for you and mom as leverage and only found dad at home.”, he shrugged. “But that's not the point. Dad is working with Alastor now. This is bad.”

Phoebe stayed silent for a while. “Are you sure if was dad?”, she asked carefully, her voice barely a whisper. Scott only nodded in reply.

Phoebe wiped a tear, but gave her brother a weak smile.

“Are you okay?”, she asked him. He shook his head.

“Let's just go to sleep... It's been a long few days.”, he sighed again and they both went back inside.

When they opened the door, he couldn't help but smile a bit at what he saw; Crystal was fast asleep on the couch and the fireplace was burning. Phoebe gave him a suspicious glance, so he immediately looked away and went to sleep, without even bothering to change.

It had been a long few days for all of them indeed.