"Nythe, what is your plan now?"

Rhysandor looked to him for the way forward. They had met Sseraphis and laid bare their intentions, but Sseraphis had shut them down with truths they couldn’t refute.

Following the serpent and being adamant would be unreasonable. However, they had orders and couldn’t just wash their hands clean and walk away.

Nytherael’s eyes turned bloodshot. He took out the Emperor’s decree from his bag.

"Your Emperor was among those who celebrated loudly. You want a report to give him. Tell him this, I said it before, and I’ll say it again; as long as I bleed, the dynasty will too."

Sseraphis’ words rang in his head on repeat. The same beast that ordered him to find his lover and fix the broken world had celebrated Sseraphis and Aeltharion’s pain.

He couldn’t stand to see the decree. He stretched out his hands, and flames burst out from his palm. The flames mirrored in his bloodshot eyes appearing lethal.

"Nytherael, what are you thinking?" Samahita paled. In a blink of an eye, Nytherael set the decree on fire and watched it burn.

"No, you can’t do that," Samahita cried out. She rushed over, picked up the burning decree, and started putting out the fire by tapping it with her bare hands. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In her panic, she forgot that she was an ice phoenix and could use her powers to easily put out the flames.

All she could think about was her father’s disappointed look, and it unlocked a fear inside her that cracked the path of indifference she practised.

"Sama," Sheana went motionless. Watching her sister frantically burning her hands while trying to put out the fire on a decree that was a death sentence from their father, she couldn’t move forward to stop her. "Are you crazy?" She asked in a voice so low it was barely a whisper.

"Father trusted us with this mission. He’s looking to us to restore order. I can’t let..."

"This is my plan!" Nytherael declared.

The other beastfolks remained still watching her as though she had lost her mind. None of them felt as motivated to go on with the mission as they did at the start after Sseraphis held the mirror they’ve used on him back to them.

They didn’t like the image that reflected back at them and were currently rethinking their priorities.

Aenyra stepped forward. She summoned a little cloud of rain to extinguish the fire and spare Samahita the pain when Sheana grabbed her hand.

She shook her held, motioning for Aenyra to hold out on helping her.

"That’s your sister. How can you be so heartless."

"When you don’t understand something. It’s better to say nothing," she exemplified Aenyra’s words back to her. "Let it be."

Theren couldn’t watch anymore. He pulled Samahita away from the burning decree and held her in a tight hug, and didn’t let go.

Samahita struggled, choking up. In her mind, one thought ran. ’Must put out the fire! Can’t disappoint, father.’

Her struggles persisted on and on. Theren’s hold remained steady and didn’t let her go. The decree was burnt and reduced to ashes, and it was only then that Samahita’s body stopped.

Her eyes remained glued to the ashes as though trying to reverse the process and get the decree back.

Theren held on to her even tighter but watched the strength behind his arms. Scares he’ll break her if he applied force in his touch.

"What’s wrong with her? Usually, she acts like nothing in the world can move her, so why is she overreacting over a piece of paper?" Nerezza raised questions, feeling sceptical and worried.

"It’s usually the indifferent beasts that are most broken," Sheana sighed. She turned her back from that heartbreaking scene and stormed off, forgetting that she was still holding Aenyra’s hand.

Aenyra was dragged out. She opened her mouth time and again to tell her to let go. "You hate when I’m seductive. You dislike it when I’m nosy. You loathe my careless attitude or flirty nature. Now, you don’t like me agreeing with you. What exactly do you want, Aenyra? It’s so hard to please you."

Sheana’s cries haunted her mind, and it kept her from saying anything. In the end, she was dragged away to a secluded section at the back of the inn.

When Princess Sheana raised her hands to run them over her hair in irritation, that was when she noticed the wrist in her palm.

Her eyes followed the arm to see the body attached to it. Princess Aenyra stood next to her quitely with a cold, chilling judgement in her eyes.

"Sorry," Sheana quickly apologised and released her hand.

For some reason, Aenyra felt unsettled by the simple apology that wasn’t paired by some sarcastic remark or flirty edge. However, it was just a plain apology.

"You’re acting strange again."

She adjusted her standing posture, feeling like she overstepped like she’d done earlier, and Sheana would lecture again and say she’s hard to please.

Princess Sheana smoothened her hair. Her lips curved up in amusement. "You must be paying close attention to me to notice the changes. My cold dragoness, are you falling for me?"

"Ridiculous," Aenyra shot her down and veered around to leave.

"Stay," Sheana let out. She didn’t want to be alone at that moment. The trip wasn’t going as she planned. She was falling apart internally, and the person she usually turned to was breaking down and couldn’t be there for her.

She didn’t know what she was hoping for from Aenyra when she asked her to stay. Part of her knew that Aenyra would never agree to her request.

To her surprise, Aenyra stayed put without a word. Princess Sheana felt a little warmth inside. The cold didn’t feel half as bad with Aenyra there, and even though the silence between them was comfortable, she didn’t like it.

"Did you know that your brother is dying?" She inquired, changing the subject to the piece of information she stumbled upon when she overheard Aeltharion and Sseraphis’ conversation.

Aenyra stiffened. Shifting the weight of her body from one foot to another. "You never heard that, and we don’t talk about it either," her voice was glacier than usual. "Never."

"Okay."