The opening got closer.

Then closer.

Then suddenly there was no ceiling above them.

Sunlight hit Seraphina directly in the face.

She stopped.

For half a second.

Then a chunk of stone exploded from the opening behind her.

Kael grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her forward.

"Keep moving."

"I was appreciating nature."

"You can appreciate it later."

Another crash echoed from inside the mountain.

That was enough motivation.

Seraphina immediately continued running.

A few moments later they were far enough away that the sounds of collapsing metal became distant.

For the first time in what felt like forever, nobody was chasing them.

Nobody was trying to classify them.

Nobody was trying to lock them inside a room.

The realization was so shocking that Seraphina stopped again.

This time voluntarily.

She looked up.

The sky stretched endlessly overhead.

Blue.

Bright.

Normal.

After everything inside Noctaire, normal looked suspicious.

"You’re staring."

Seraphina pointed upward.

"The sky is bigger than I remembered."

Kael looked up.

"It looks the same."

"You clearly haven’t suffered enough."

Behind them, Theren climbed out of the opening.

Then Celestine.

Then two surviving Noctaire guards.

Seraphina’s mood immediately worsened.

She pointed at Theren.

"You."

"What?"

"Why are you still here?"

Theren blinked.

"I escaped the same facility."

"Yes."

"And?"

"And now leave."

"I’m not following you."

"You are standing near me."

"That is not the same thing."

"It is close enough."

Celestine laughed.

Traitor.

"She’s very welcoming."

"I was more welcoming before the kidnapping."

"We’ve discussed this."

"No, you’ve denied it."

"Because it wasn’t a kidnapping."

Seraphina folded her arms.

"Then what was it?"

"Complicated political detainment."

"That is kidnapping with extra words."

Kael nodded.

Theren looked offended.

"Why are you agreeing with her?"

"Because she’s right."

The betrayal was immediate.

"Wonderful," Theren muttered.

"No," Seraphina corrected. "Wonderful would be you leaving."

Celestine looked delighted.

Which was becoming a problem.

People should not enjoy being insulted that much.

It encouraged them.

Unfortunately, Celestine seemed immune to common sense.

"You’re trying very hard to get rid of us."

"Correct."

"Why?"

Seraphina stared.

"Do you genuinely not know?"

"No."

"You work for the organization that caused all of this."

"Fair."

"And you’re both suspicious."

"Also fair."

"See?"

Celestine nodded.

"Continue."

"No."

"You were doing well."

"I don’t reward suspicious people."

The conversation ended when part of the mountain collapsed.

Everyone turned.

A section of the cliffside broke away and crashed into the valley below.

Dust exploded into the air.

Nobody said anything for several seconds.

Then Seraphina nodded once.

"Good."

"What exactly is good about this?" Theren asked.

"The mountain is apologizing."

"It’s collapsing."

"Apologetically."

Theren closed his eyes.

Kael looked away.

Celestine laughed again.

The mountain clearly wasn’t the only thing causing damage.

Eventually they started walking.

Mostly because standing beside a collapsing secret facility felt irresponsible.

The path wound down through the mountains.

Trees appeared.

Then more trees.

Actual civilization still hadn’t shown up.

Which meant Seraphina had time to think.

A dangerous situation.

"Question."

Nobody liked that tone.

"What?" Kael asked.

"If I disappear long enough, can people legally stop looking for me?"

"No."

"What if I disappear harder?"

"That’s not how disappearance works."

"It should be."

"Why are you asking?"

Seraphina pointed dramatically at Theren.

"Marriage proposal."

Immediately everyone understood.

Even the guards looked uncomfortable.

Good.

They should.

This was their fault somehow.

"I’m serious," Seraphina continued.

"I escaped a secret organization."

"Yes."

"I escaped a collapsing mountain."

"Yes."

"I escaped weird classification systems."

"Yes."

"And somehow the marriage proposal is still following me."

Theren looked thoughtful.

"That is unfortunate."

"Unfortunate?"

"Politically."

"Personally."

"Also personally."

At least he was honest.

That was new.

They continued walking for another hour.

Eventually the path opened into a small clearing beside a stream.

Seraphina immediately sat down.

Then lay down.

Then refused to move.

"Get up."

"No."

"We need to keep moving."

"No."

"Why?"

She pointed at the sky.

"I’m spending time with my friend."

"The sky?"

"The sky."

Kael looked genuinely tired.

"You’re impossible."

"I survived."

"Those are unrelated."

"I disagree."

A few minutes later, a familiar sound echoed through the clearing.

Hooves.

Multiple.

Approaching quickly.

Seraphina sat up.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Suspiciously.

"I don’t like that."

Nobody disagreed.

Several riders emerged from the trees.

Official uniforms.

Royal insignias.

Messengers.

The universe had apparently remembered she existed.

Terrible timing.

One of the riders spotted her.

His entire face lit up.

That was never a good sign.

People only looked that happy when they were about to ruin her day.

"Lady Seraphina!"

"No."

The messenger froze.

"What?"

"No."

"I haven’t said anything."

"I know."

The messenger looked confused.

Reasonable.

Most people were.

He quickly dismounted and approached.

Then produced a sealed letter.

Royal wax.

Royal seal.

Royal problems.

Seraphina immediately pointed at Kael.

"You take it."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

The messenger awkwardly held out the letter.

Nobody accepted it.

The situation became increasingly uncomfortable.

Finally the messenger cleared his throat.

"It’s from the Crown Prince."

Silence.

Seraphina looked at the letter.

Then at the messenger.

Then at the sky.

Then back at the letter.

"I just escaped."

"I’m aware."

"I escaped today."

"I’m aware."

"Can I have one day?"

The messenger genuinely looked sympathetic.

"Unfortunately no."

"That’s cruel."

The messenger nodded sadly.

"I know."

Even he understood.

That somehow made it worse.

The messenger looked genuinely apologetic.

Which somehow made everything worse.

Seraphina pointed at him.

"You know what? I respect the honesty."

"Thank you?"

"But I still don’t like you."

The messenger accepted that surprisingly well.

Probably because he delivered bad news for a living.

Kael finally took the letter.

"Read it."

"No."

"Why?"

"I already know it’s terrible."

"You haven’t read it."

"I can feel it."

"That’s not how letters work."

"It should be."

Without asking permission, Kael unfolded the letter.

Seraphina immediately looked away.

"If it’s bad news, don’t tell me."

"I’m definitely telling you."

"You’re a terrible friend."

"I know."

A few seconds passed.

Then another.

Then Kael stopped reading.

That got everyone’s attention.

Even Theren looked interested.

"What?" Seraphina asked.

Kael looked up.

"The Crown Prince isn’t the problem."

Silence.

Nobody liked that sentence.

"What does that mean?"

Kael handed her the letter.

Reluctantly, Seraphina read it.

The first paragraph was exactly what she expected.

Concern.

Questions.

Political chaos.

People looking for her.

Normal disaster.

Then she reached the second page.

And froze.

"No."

Nobody moved.

"No."

Theren sighed.

"That’s usually a bad sign."

Seraphina pointed at the letter.

"There are three proposals now."

The clearing became very quiet.

"What?"

"Three."

She looked personally offended by the number.

"Why are there three?"

The messenger carefully raised a hand.

"Technically four."

Everyone stared at him.

The messenger immediately lowered his hand.

"Sorry."

Seraphina looked ready to fight the entire concept of diplomacy.

"FOUR?"

The messenger nodded.

Very cautiously.

"I disappear for a few days."

"Yes."

"And people decide this is the perfect time to propose marriage?"

"Apparently."

Kael took the letter again.

"Who?"

The messenger swallowed.

Then started listing names.

A prince.

A duke’s heir.

A foreign royal family.

Another noble house.

By the end of the list, Seraphina looked exhausted.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Spiritually.

Academically.

Every possible version of exhausted.

She sat down on a rock.

Then immediately stood back up.

Then sat down again.

"What are you doing?" Celestine asked.

"I’m having a crisis."

"On the rock?"

"Where else would I have it?"

Celestine nodded.

Reasonable answer.

Theren folded his arms.

"Politically speaking, this makes sense."

Seraphina looked horrified.

"Never say those words again."

"What words?"

"Politically speaking."

"They’re important."

"They’ve never helped me once."

The messenger shifted awkwardly.

"There is another issue."

"STOP."

The messenger stopped.

"What?"

"Let me enjoy having only four problems."

"You currently have more than four problems."

"Exactly."

"I don’t understand."

"Neither do I."

For some reason, Celestine found this extremely amusing.

Which reminded Seraphina of another problem.

A very important one.

She turned toward Theren.

Then toward Celestine.

Then back toward Theren.

"Why are you two still here?"

"We already discussed this."

"We discussed it badly."

Theren looked confused

Seraphina pointed dramatically.

"Go home."

"This is not my home."

"You know what I mean."

She pointed toward the mountains.

"The evil mountain is that way."

"Noctaire is not evil."

"The evil mountain."

"Noctaire."

"The evil mountain."

"Noctaire."

"The evil mountain."

Kael interrupted.

"You’re both embarrassing yourselves."

Silence.

"Fair."

"Fair."

For the first time all day, they agreed on something

Celestine pushed herself away from the tree.

"Actually, we should leave."

Seraphina immediately brightened.

Finally.

A good decision.

"We have reports to write."

Theren looked unhappy.

"We have a lot of reports to write."

"Excellent," Seraphina said.

"I support this."

Celestine smiled.

"You’re not even pretending you’ll miss us."

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"No."

"What if I get emotional?"

"You won’t."

Celestine laughed.

Again.

At this point Seraphina was convinced she enjoyed being difficult.

Theren stepped forward.

For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something serious.

Something meaningful.

Something important.

Instead he sighed.

"You are going to create a diplomatic disaster."

Seraphina looked offended.

"Going to?"

Even Kael laughed.

A little.

Very little.

But it counted.

Theren stared at him.

"You encourage her."

"I survive her."

"That’s not the same thing."

"Close enough."

The messenger looked deeply confused.

Honestly understandable.

Celestine began walking away.

Theren followed.

After a few steps she glanced back.

"We’ll meet again."

Seraphina immediately pointed.

"That sounds threatening."

"It wasn’t."

"Somehow that’s worse."

A small smile appeared on Celestine’s face.

Then she disappeared down the path.

Theren followed shortly after.

Within minutes they were gone

The clearing felt strangely quieter.

Seraphina watched the path for a few seconds.

Then nodded.

"Good."

"What now?" Kael asked.

She looked at the letter.

Then at the messenger.

Then at the road leading home.

Finally she pointed in the opposite direction.

"That way."

The messenger blinked.

"Your home is the other way."

"I know."

"The Crown Prince specifically requested—"

"No."

"Lady Seraphina—"

"No."

"Your family is worried."

She paused.

Just for a second.

Then she looked at Kael.

"Want to disappear for a few weeks?

Kael thought about it.

"That sounds peaceful."

The messenger looked horrified.

Seraphina smiled.

The dangerous smile.

The one that always led to trouble.

For the first time in days, she felt genuinely free.

And that was probably a terrible sign.