Julian opened the wooden gate, eyeing the golden horse. He smiled as he knelt down and poured a bucket of water in the trough.

He gave the horse a small pat before turning around to exit the gate. He stopped in his tracks to see someone waiting by the gate.

"Violet," Julian greeted, his smile growing bigger. He came outside the gate and set the bucket down.

Violet returned the smile for a moment.

"Are you alright?" was all Violet asked.

"Me?" Julian pointed to himself.

"Who else?" Violet chuckled. "You took a poisonous arrow, Julian."

"Oh, that?" Julian laughed, as if it had been ages ago. "Yeah, I feel okay. Thanks for asking." He rubbed the side where he had been shot. "Your physician treated me well."

Violet nodded, turning her head to look at the horse inside. Her eyes seemed to daze off; deep in thought. Julian bit his lip. He had heard that Violet killed the woman who had shot him without even blinking an eye. He was grateful that that woman would never hurt anyone else again, but at the same time he was surprised. He would expect similar behavior from the late queen Amaryllis, but Violet? His Violet? When he looked at Violet's current state, he felt that this wasn't the best time to mention it.

"How's Acorn?" Violet finally gestured.

"How are you?" Julian asked worriedly. "Are you okay? I heard what happened with the Lady Marguerite and Princess Ivy... I can't imagine how you must feel right now."

Violet inhaled sharply. She had visited Saige's cottage this morning. Poor Saige was forced to leave Marguerite's corpse on the table while she tended to Ivy's knife wound. Violet had to leave when she saw the claw marks across Marguerite's throat that she felt so used to seeing. She just couldn't take it.

"Violet?" Julian prompted softly. "You can tell me. I'm here for you."

Violet stared into space, her bottom lip quivering. "My father... my mother... my two aunts..." she whispered. She then said, "They're all dead, Julian! I... the rest of the Red Phoenixes and Crow are still out there. Ivy is injured and Acacia is in trauma... I don't know if I can take this..." her voice cracked as she continued on. Julian winced from hearing Violet's troubles, but continued to listen. "Aster, Rose, and Lily have already signed the will. It's been less than three months and my parents and aunts are already dead! It's only a matter of time before they start targeting Aster! What if they succeed? Rose will become queen and I have to become second heir. Julian, I can't..."

Before she could continue on any further, she gasped when she felt Julian's arms wrap around her in a tight hug.

"Everything will be alright," Julian whispered into Violet's ear. "You're not alone. Aster is here for you. Your sisters are here for you. I'm here for you." He massaged Violet's back, his hands brushing against Violet's blonde waves. "Everything will work out."

Violet could only hold on tighter as she sobbed in Julian's arms.

--

Aster made his way down the hall, clenching his fists. He was going to the dungeons to meet Reese, the Red Phoenix leader. This was the leader of a group of people crazed with annihilating him and his family. They would do anything, apparently, even hiring an assassin to do their dirty work.

His thoughts were interrupted when an elderly voice called from down the hall. "Your Majesty?"

Aster glanced over his shoulder to see the castle librarian, Jeffrey. Aster raised his eyebrows. Jeffrey was one of the only Azalea advisers due to his knowledge and wisdom, but he was granted temporary leave from Basil due to a family emergency. When he left, Basil still had Flora, Amaryllis, and Marguerite to advise him, but now that all of them were dead, Jeffrey was obligated to return to help Aster.

"Jeffrey," Aster greeted, slowing his pace so that the elderly man could catch up. "I'm glad to see you again. Are things well with your family?"

Jeffrey gave a warm but sad smile. "Sadly no, your Majesty. My wife had recently passed. I deeply apologize that I could not return sooner, your Majesty. I needed time to... let things sink in."

Aster frowned and replied in a solemn voice. "I am sorry for your loss, Jeffrey. I'm glad your journeys back to the palace went safely."

Aster and Jeffrey rounded the corner and descended the steps that led to the dungeons.

"Yes, your Majesty, thank you. I came to speak of something important, your Majesty."

Aster stopped in his tracks, the row of dungeon cells laid out on his left.

"Can it wait?" Aster asked.

Jeffrey shook his head. "I'm sorry, your Majesty, but you need to hear this."

Aster shifted his attention to Jeffrey. "I'm listening."

"When I returned, I looked through old records of Azalea history. A thought had crossed my mind but I wanted to be sure before I told you," Jeffrey started. He then said, "A lunar eclipse is approaching, your Majesty."

Aster widened his eyes, but asked calmly, "When will it occur?"

Jeffrey cleared his throat before replying, "The lunar eclipse will occur a week from today, in the late evening."

Aster brought a frustrated hand to his forehead. As long as Crow or the Red Phoenixes don't attack that day, we'll be okay.

"Your Majesty, you must inform the princesses and the knights. It is the day you and the princesses are most vulnerable, after all," Jeffrey prompted.

"Yes, I am well aware of that," Aster said. "Thank you for telling me this, Jeffrey. I appreciate the advanced notice."

Jeffrey bowed before turning to leave the dungeons.

Aster sighed. The lunar eclipse... what a pain that will be. I'll deal with that later. For now I have to speak with the Red Phoenix leader.

--

Reese had been sitting in his cell, staring into space and waiting for someone to come and see him. He felt like his pride had just been stomped on. Thierry, the knight that Chase had told him all about, had knocked him out by simply whacking the hilt of his sword against his head. The residual pain from his forehead was nothing compared to how mortified he felt.

He smiled slyly when he heard faint footsteps. Aster had come down to see him. Reese had managed to hear faint chunks of Aster's conversation with what sounded like an elderly old man, but he didn't hear everything. The main words he managed to hear were "lunar eclipse" and "most vulnerable", but that was it.

The doors to his cell opened. Reese placed his wrists against his knees, the chains around his hands clanking against each other.

Aster strode in like the proud king he was, the light coming from the small window of the cell giving his crown a vivid gleam.

"Well, if it isn't the high and mighty Aster Azalea, himself," Reese said, his voice sardonic.

One of Aster's eyebrows twitched, but he said didn't lash out. "You are Reese, I presume?"

"Reese Henessey," Reese continued.

"Raymond Henessey's son," Aster drawled. When Reese clenched his fists, Aster scoffed lightly. "And the current Red Phoenix leader."

"In the flesh," Reese confirmed.

"Wow," Aster said, mimicking Reese's sarcastic tone. Neither Aster nor Reese cared that they were acting so impolitely. Aster continued, "Your father was obsessed with trying to get rid of us. He at least had the decency to kill my uncle himself, but you? From what I hear, all you did was get an assassin to do all your dirty work."

Reese gritted his teeth, wanting to protest, but found that he was at a loss of words. Despite what Aster said, it was the truth.

I'm sorry for being so weak, Father. I have disgraced you.

Aster didn't hesitate to continue, "At least you and your father share one thing in common. You're both crazy lunatics who have a fantasy of killing all of us. Like father, like son, I guess."

Aster could see that parts of his personality when he was younger were starting to show, but like before, he couldn't care less at the moment.

"You disgust me," Aster muttered bitterly.

"Oh trust me, the feeling's mutual," Reese spat.

"Tell me where your lair is," Aster demanded.

Reese scoffed. "Over my dead body."

In a moment's notice, blue asters started to bloom on the ground. Before Reese could say anything else, Aster seized control of Reese's blood.

"I usually don't like to use this on people, but I'll make an exception for you and the other members," Aster gritted his teeth.

Reese gagged, collapsing onto the ground and staring into Aster's eyes with nothing but determination. Aster's eyes were laced with fury. Normally, Aster would feel guilt after using his water that way. He felt guilty when he had to torture Devin, but that was more because Devin was a young teenager. Facing Reese, however, the person who hired the assassin to kill his mother, just made him feel so angry. After a while, Aster released his hold on Reese's blood.

Reese started to laugh. "Devin told me all about his time with you. You must remember Devin, right? The fourteen year old boy you failed to get the location of the hideout from?" When he saw Aster narrow his eyes, Reese merely chirped, "If you couldn't get it from him, you won't get anything from me."

Aster clenched his fists, turning and punching the cell wall in anger. Why are Red Phoenixes so frustrating!?

Aster finally asked, his voice loud from anger. "Why do you want us dead? What have we ever done to you?"

Reese weakly mustered a smile. "My mother is dead because of an Azalea. Thanks to your family, I never knew her."

"I'm sorry for your loss, but that's not an excuse to send an assassin after all of us. If one Azalea killed your mother, then sending an assassin after all of us makes you worse than them," Aster crossed his arms, a little disturbed with Reese's answer. "Who killed your mother?"

Reese scoffed. "I don't know. My father never told me who." Menace sparked in his eyes when he met Aster's gaze. "Your family magic will be the downfall of this kingdom. You may have it under control now, but it's all going to lash out someday. My followers and I just want to prevent that from happening."

"Did your father tell you that?" Aster snapped. "Your father is dead, and his death was in vain if he expected you to make a difference."

As though jolted by lightning, Reese tried to spring up, trying to lunge at Aster.

Accepting that he didn't even have the strength to sit up, Reese taunted, "You know, out of all the people I asked Crow to kill, he was the most excited when he told me that he was going to kill your mother."

Aster lashed out at the mention of his mother, seizing control of the water in Reese's blood once more. Every moment he spent talking with Reese, the more he wanted to just stop the blood flow to his heart. Aster hated to admit it, but Reese knew how to push his buttons.

Reese could only look at Aster in triumph as he coughed from the squeezing feeling in his lungs. If Aster's powers showed signs of lashing out, it just proved Reese right about how dangerous Azalea magic could be.

Aster gritted his teeth, shaking in anger and pushing a little further. Reese started to gurgle from blood that got caught in his throat. Before Aster could do any more damage, the cell doors sprang open and someone shook Aster out of his thoughts.

"Aster, stop! You're killing him!"

It took another second before Aster finally released his hold on Reese, whirling to see who had interrupted him. He furrowed his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"Violet? What are you doing here?" Aster demanded. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"You would have drowned him in his own blood if you didn't stop," Violet pointed out, gesturing at Reese, who was lying on the ground, barely conscious.

Aster wanted to protest, but he knew that Violet was speaking the truth. When Aster took a closer look at Violet's eyes, he saw that they there were glimpses of her eyes that were bloodshot red from what he could only assume was crying.

As Reese breathed heavily to regain his breath, Aster asked again, "What are you doing here, Violet?"

Violet straightened. "I just came from the stables. After letting all of my feelings out, I decided to face the Red Phoenix leader himself."

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Aster raised any eyebrow.

Violet ignored Aster, but her eyes then set on Reese, her eyes hardening.

"This is him? This is Reese Henessey?" Violet hissed.

Aster nodded, "Yeah. He won't tell me where the hideout is."

Reese finally sat up slowly, his eyes meeting Violet's. He smirked when he saw Violet clench her fists. "Ah, so the lightning princess has decided to come down."

In an instant, purple violets started to bloom. Aster, realizing what Violet intended to do, extended his arm in front of Violet. Violet was already engulfed in purple lightning sparks, and her face reminded Aster of how Violet had looked when she had killed the Red Phoenix woman.

"Violet, you can't kill him yet. That is my call," Aster ordered.

"Oh, calm down, Aster. I'm not going to kill him. He deserves to die, alright, but he doesn't deserve a quick death by lightning," Violet said coldly. "I just need to let all my feelings go. Talking to someone can only do so much. Reese needs to feel the pain that I feel."

Before Aster could protest, shocks of lightning burst from Violet's body, striking Reese in a nonlethal place.

Violet clenched her teeth, her eyes seething with what could only be rage.

Aster was at a loss of words, as though frozen in place as he watched Violet inflict pain on Reese.

"That is for my father..." another small lightning spark, "my mother..." another zap, "Aunt Amaryllis..." and the last zap, Violet's fists shaking from frustration, "Aunt Marguerite..." No more sparks were directed towards Reese, but the lightning fizzled upward, making Violet's hair stand up slightly. She screamed at Reese, "All your fault... this is all your fault!"

Reese, who had been howling from the pain Violet had inflicted on him, protested weakly, "Unlike you, I've never killed anyone. The worst I did was stab your sister in the stomach."

Aster nearly jumped in surprise when Violet suddenly screeched again, the prisoner across from Reese's cell had even looked away, pained to look at the sight. "Your pathetic father and Crow may have killed those I love, but you are Raymond's son and you hired Crow to kill us!"

With one last zap from Violet, Reese collapsed onto the ground.

As though awakened from an electric shock himself, Aster stepped in front of Reese and protested. "Violet, stop this! You killed him!"

"Ah!" Violet cried in frustration, whirling around and banging a fist on the walls. After a few moments, her lightning finally dissipated. She replied as calmly as she could, "I didn't kill him. I just knocked him out."

The cell doors to Reese's cells opened again. Aster and Violet turned to see Rose and Lily.

"We heard screaming from the dungeons," Rose said. "What happened?"

Aster merely gestured at Reese's unconscious form. When Lily's gaze settled on Reese, she gasped when she saw residual lightning sparks.

When Rose saw the sparks, her tone immediately changed to frustration and disbelief. "Violet, I know you're angry, but that doesn't give you the right to kill whoever who want."

"I didn't kill him!" Violet snapped at Rose. "Why does everyone assume I'm going to kill him, after everything he has done?" Rose gave her a look, and Violet threw her hands up in the air. "For the millionth time, Rose, I am not going to apologize for killing that woman!"

Lily cautiously approached Reese, afraid he was going to spring up like a zombie. When the lightning sparks finally calmed down, she bent down and gently felt for a pulse. She exhaled in relief when she felt a faint pulse against her finger.

"Violet's right. She just knocked him out," Lily stood up, informing the others.

Aster sighed, frustrated. "I honestly don't know what to do with him. He's the Red Phoenix leader, yes. I want to execute him, but Reese is right in a way. Technically, he didn't kill anyone. That was Crow." Aster gestured hopelessly at Reese.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aster. Reese is far from innocent. Like I said, he may not have killed anyone with his own hands, but he was the one who sent Crow," Violet said.

"What about the other Red Phoenixes and Crow? If we kill Reese, we might make things worse," Lily finally said softly, her eyes darting between Aster and Violet worriedly.

Rose suggested, "Perhaps we could offer the Red Phoenixes a compromise? We spare their leader in exchange for a permanent cease fire."

"Are you guys hearing yourselves?" Violet protested. "Reese will not hesitate to see all of us dead. Why are we giving him the benefit of the doubt?"

The three sisters looked at Aster, waiting for him to make a decision.

After a long silence, Aster finally said, "I will execute him during Aunt Marguerite's funeral." Rose and Lily opened their mouths to protest, but Aster said firmly, "When Raymond ran things, only Uncle Basil died. Aunt Flora, Mother, and Aunt Marguerite were all killed when Reese was in charge. He has a hold over Crow. I can't let him live."

Rose said slowly, "Aster, this is what your mother would have done."

Aster frowned, his eyes hardening. "Sparing him will only give the Red Phoenixes hope. I need to show the Red Phoenixes and Crow that they cannot just kill whoever they want. Killing Reese will break the Red Phoenixes and Crow. He must be executed." This time, Lily opened her mouth to protest, but Aster finally raised his voice. "My decision is final. Reese dies tomorrow."

Rose finally gave a nod, knowing that she will be needed tomorrow for both the funeral and lighting the pyre. Lily said nothing, but opened the cell door to leave the dungeons. Violet followed behind her, a satisfied expression on her face.

Aster gave one more look of disgust at Reese before exiting the cells.

Rose spoke up, "What if Lily is right, Aster? What if killing Reese just makes the Red Phoenixes and Crow more angry?"

Aster stopped in his tracks. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "I will take that chance, but as of now, I cannot think of anything good that will come from letting Reese live." Rose pursed her lips, but merely nodded, accepting Aster's decision. "By the way, Jeffrey spoke with me earlier."

"He did?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," Aster said. "He wanted me to tell you and the others that a lunar eclipse is coming." Rose's eyes widened a fraction. Aster continued. "I'll bring it up at dinner again, but I just wanted to let you know. There wasn't really a good time to mention this until now."

Rose mentally agreed. They were so focused on deciding Reese's fate, mentioning a lunar eclipse would be too much of a headache to deal with in that moment.

"Are you coming?" Aster asked.

Rose shook her head. "You and Violet had the chance to speak with Reese. I wish to do the same before he dies tomorrow."

Aster nodded, closing the cell door behind him. "Remember to lock the door when you come out."

"I will," Rose called back.

Rose heard Aster's retreating footsteps as she moved to lean against the wall. She glanced at Reese, who was still knocked out cold. She had much to say to him when he woke up.