Reese hurriedly walked through the forest, his eyes searching. Bryan, Lorraine, and Derek all made it back to the hideout. He told them, however, that he needed to speak with Crow.

He finally reached a circular forest clearing. He spun around for a moment, breathing heavily.

"Crow!" Reese called. "Crow!" After a few moments of silence with nothing. He then shouted, "Chase!"

The next second, Chase emerged into the circular clearing, dressed in his regular long sleeved black shirt and dark pants.

"I heard you the first time," Chase replied.

"Chase," Reese called. "It's been a while."

Chase nodded, smiling. "Yes, it has." Chase crossed his arms. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yes," Reese confirmed. He brought his left hand and rubbed it against the back of his head. Reese gave a dry laugh. "Well, since I almost just died, I realized that I wanted to talk with you. We're friends, aren't we?"

Chase smiled lightly and nodded his head. "Yes, Reese. We're friends." Chase then asked, "Are you doing alright?"

Reese laughed. "If you mean 'alright' as in not dead, then yes, I'm alright."

Chase grimaced slightly, remembering how he had just stood there to let Reese face Aster's wrath. Chase then said, "I overheard Ivy talking with her sisters." Reese furrowed his eyebrows. Chase continued. "Ivy has lost her earth powers. Permanently."

"What?" Reese opened his mouth in surprise. "She did?" He bit his lip in thought. "That's why Ivy screamed bloody murder while I was running away."

Chase nodded. "I heard her say that she most likely lost her earth after you stabbed her with a salted dagger."

Reese shrugged thoughtfully. "Well, at least now we have two options; stab an Azalea or kill an Azalea."

Chase cast his eyes downward, not saying anything for a moment. Finally, he said softly, "I'm sorry, Reese."

Reese blinked. "For what?"

Chase shook his head, gritting his teeth. "I saw Aster's execution speech. I... I left my mask behind. I wanted to save you, but I was a coward. I almost let you die."

Reese waved his hands horizontally in a no gesture. "You don't have to apologize, Chase. You don't owe me anything, not after everything you have done for me." Chase said nothing, obviously thinking the opposite. Reese sighed. "Look, I just came here to see how you were doing. After almost dying, my first thought was I just wanted to talk to a friend." He then glanced backward. "I have to go back soon. The others are already worried as they are."

Chase merely nodded. "Goodbye, Reese."

"Until next time, Chase," Reese called before darting back towards the Red Phoenix hideout.

--

When Reese returned the hideout, he was immediately greeted by a group of members.

"Reese! You're back!"

"Reese! Are you okay?"

"Oh, we were so worried!"

"Reese! Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Bryan said that you had to talk to Crow."

"Did you really almost die?"

"Enough!" Lorraine stood up, raising her voice. "Give Reese his space."

The members who had spoken immediately fell back, not liking Lorraine's tone. Bryan and Derek were calmly seated next to her with their arms crossed.

Reese cleared his throat to speak, "Thank you all for worrying about me. I have some news for you all." Silence immediately filled the room. "I encountered Princess Acacia in the woods, and I found out that her element is light."

Some members whispered in discussion. They had always wondered what element Acacia had. If anything, they thought she would have ice like Lily or even earth like Ivy.

"I was then captured, and King Aster ordered me to be executed. Luckily, Bryan, Derek, and Lorraine saved me.

A group of members cheered. Lorraine merely crossed her arms and sneered triumphantly at a few other women who gave her questioning glances.

"That's my father!" Devin hollered, pointing at Bryan.

"Devin," Bryan muttered a warning to his eldest son.

Reese cleared his throat again, this time a lot more deliberately. After people quieted themselves, Reese continued. "I met with Crow after I told the others to head back first. Crow gave me some interesting news." He took a deep breath, wondering how people were going to react. "It appears that Princess Ivy has permanently lost her earth magic."

While mutterings sparked up within the group again, Bryan, Lorraine, and Derek all exchanged wary glances, as though silently communicating that that was why Ivy had screamed bloody murder while they were escaping. Reese took that moment to scan the group. Bryan, Lorraine, and Derek all took the time to train these Red Phoenixes. He remembered when he first became leader, mostly everyone had doubtful looks on their faces. Now, people exuded a little more confidence. Reese nodded his head, knowing he could lead these people in an attack.

"I had stabbed Princess Ivy with a salted dagger before I was captured, which most likely explains her loss of powers." Reese stated. "Simply wounding them with a salted weapon will take away their magic. The next time we attack, you either wound them or you kill them. I don't care which one you do, as long as the magic is gone. I have faith in us."

Before people could erupt in cheers again, Derek asked from his seat, "When do we attack next, Reese?"

Reese pursed his lips, thinking back to what he heard in the dungeons. He didn't catch all of it, but he managed to catch little chunks such as "lunar eclipse" and "most vulnerable". He would have to do more research on that, but he was mostly sure when their next attack on the Azalea's was going to be.

"We attack on the next lunar eclipse."

--

Amber pushed through the rowdy crowd, her eyes set on Saige's cottage. The memory of seeing Thierry getting stabbed in the stomach at Reese Henessey's execution... or what was supposed to be Reese Henessey's execution, was still ingrained into her brain. Her worried cries had been drowned out by the surprised crowd when the three Red Phoenix adults had miraculously rescued their leader.

She finally reached the door, bursting it open. She heard a grunt of pain as Saige pressed a bundle of thick tissues around Thierry's stomach wound, removing the dagger in a fluid motion as to cause as little excess blood to flow out as possible.

"Thierry!" Amber rushed to the table that Thierry was lying on. She frantically asked Saige, "Is he going to be alright?"

Before Saige could reply, Thierry slowly tilted his head to the left to see Amber's worried face. "A-Amber?" He then grimaced when Saige applied more pressure on the wound to soak up the blood flowing out from his wound.

"Don't move so much," Amber said gently. "I'm here, Thierry. Just relax, I'm here for you." Before Amber knew what she was doing, she clasped her hand in Thierry's. Thierry relaxed from the warm contact.

An awkward silence filled the air, until Saige finally replied. "Yes, Amber, he's going to be fine. It's just a dagger wound."

Thierry set his jaw, disappointed in himself. "That adult had good aim."

Saige slowly removed the thick tissues. She frowned when she still saw some blood flowing from Thierry's wound. She pressed the tissues down again to soak up the blood.

"How is Ivy?" Saige asked.

Amber bit her lip. She had watched Aster's execution speech from a side window of the castle. After Reese escaped, Amber had rushed to the balcony side of the castle to check on the Azalea's.

"Ivy! Ivy, wait!" Acacia had called.

Ivy sobbed, still clenching her side where Reese had stabbed her. She ran back inside from the balcony.

Rose had ran in front of her and attempted to embrace Ivy in a hug. "Ivy, it's okay. We'll get through this."

Ivy shook her head, shying away from Rose's arms. "Just leave me alone!" At this point, Ivy looked angry. She dashed up the stairs, her quick breaths and stomping feet could be heard from the lower floor. By the time Aster emerged from the balcony, Ivy slammed her bedroom door hard, causing everyone to flinch from the sudden harsh noise.

Lily brought her hand to her neckline. "I hope she's okay..."

"Her earth magic is permanently gone. Of course she isn't okay," Violet said bitterly. "I've always thought my lightning magic was a part of my body. To have that ripped away, it would be like losing a fragment of my heart."

Aster said, "Give Ivy a few hours. Anything we do right now at this point will just make her feel worse."

Amber was about to announce that she was going to check on Thierry, but when she saw everyone's faces she knew that no one was in the mood to hear what she had to say. Without another word, she left the room and out the castle.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Amber finally replied to Saige. "She's not doing so well, but we can check on Ivy later. Right now, Thierry needs our help."

Saige merely nodded in understanding. She lifted the tissues to check on the wound again, seeing that the blood had clotted, Saige stood up and rifled through her cabinets. She grabbed a dark yellow ointment from the shelf, and then reached into a drawer to get a big bandage.

Amber clasped Thierry's hand tighter anxiously as she watched Saige apply the yellow ointment on Thierry's wound before applying the large bandage over the wound.

"The ointment is to make sure the wound doesn't get infected. You can remove the bandage the next day to let the wound breathe," Saige commented. "Other than that, you should be in good shape, knowing you, Thierry."

Thierry smiled. "Thanks, Saige." He slowly sat up, gritting his teeth from the slight pain. He then turned his head to meet Amber's gaze. He finally lifted his left hand, lifting Amber's hand in the process. "Thanks for worrying about me, Amber." They finally withdrew their hands, but Saige noticed that both of them looked as though they didn't want to let go.

"Anytime," Amber whispered. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Thierry nodded before standing up, putting on a spare shirt that was lying around. He then made his way over to the door, waved goodbye, and left.

"Amber," Saige called. Amber's eyes were still fixed on the closed door. "Amber," Saige called again, a little bit louder.

Amber snapped out of her daze. "Yeah?"

"Do you have feelings for Thierry?" Saige asked bluntly.

"I-" Amber immediately started, but shut her mouth when Saige raised an eyebrow in a slightly challenging manner. Amber bit her lip, flushing a little pink.

First Lily, and now Saige? She remembered denying her feelings when she was talking with Lily, but she couldn't explicitly deny it when her sister was the one who called her out. Amber finally asked softly, "Is it that obvious?"

Saige smiled. "Don't worry, he likes you too."

"What?" Amber asked, flabbergasted. "How do you know?"

"I have eyes, you know," Saige replied, trying to hold back a laugh.

Amber rolled her eyes at Saige's remark, but sighed. "I don't know. I honestly can't tell whether he likes me back or if he just sees me as a friend. We all grew up together."

Saige's eyes twinkled, crossing her arms. "Trust me, Amber. He likes you."

Amber sighed. She then asked, "Speaking of crushes..."

Saige shook her head. "I know what you're going to ask, and I'm going to tell you again. I don't like Aster in that way."

Amber gave an exasperated huff. "Are you sure, Saige? Like I said, you may not even realize it yourself, but I can see it. You care about his well being."

"As a friend," Saige corrected. "I thought about it after you left the other day. I don't harbor romantic feelings for Aster, unlike you do for Thierry."

Amber flushed pink again. She finally shook her head, exhaling. "Fine, whatever you say. I'm just stating what I think."

"Sometimes what you think isn't always what it is," Saige stated.

Amber bit back the urge to make a retort. Her eyes lit up, remembering something. "Aren't you accompanying Aster and Thierry to the lower towns in two days?"

Saige nodded. "We'll only be there for a few hours." She sighed thoughtfully. "Thierry has to be there in case anything bad happens to Aster, and I have to be there in case anything bad happens to either them." She then added, "One of the maids will fill in for me while I'm gone."

"Do you think Thierry will be okay? With his wound, I mean?" Amber asked, slightly worried.

Saige shrugged. "Thierry is one of the strongest knights I have ever seen. I think he should be fine."

Amber nodded her head slowly, listening to Saige while slowly agreeing. "Okay, yeah, you're right. Thierry will be fine." Her eyes then twinkled. "I'm going to head back. Safe journeys to the lower towns and back, sis."

They exchanged a hug before Amber left to return to her duties.

--

"Zane," Reese said tightly. He saw the young boy about to enter his room stop and turn his head.

"Reese," Zane replied evenly.

Reese stopped himself so that he was in front of Zane. He towered above him, his shadow silhouetting Zane, but Zane did not run away.

"I want to talk about the day I found you with Princess Acacia," Reese said, narrowing his eyes. Reese noticed that Zane looked like he wanted to run away, but he did not budge. "I know you're young, Zane, and I know you don't completely understand the situation we're in. You should know that the Azaleas are dangerous, even Acacia. I was surprised and a little angry you stood against me that day, but I admired your courage to stand up for yourself. That is what I need from you. I need you to stand up for yourself against the Azaleas. Can you do that?"

Zane gave a brief nod.

"Good," Reese relaxed a bit. "I hope you will make the right choice if it comes to it. Acacia is a little girl, even younger than you, so I understand why you thought you needed to defend her, but I can't have you siding with the Azaleas."

"Okay," Zane replied curtly, looking up to meet Reese's gaze.

"Okay," Reese nodded. He patted Zane's shoulder. "Thanks for informing the group about my capture. If it weren't for you too then I would have died earlier."

Zane said nothing in return, but watched as Reese turned to leave.

--

The next few days passed quickly. Ivy did not come out of her room, still distraught over what had happened. She did, however, show up at breakfast, but after that she immediately retreated back to her room for the day. Aster woke up fairly early on the second day, knowing that he will be journeying to the lower towns today with Saige and Thierry.

He was passing by the council room, peeking his head in to see Jeffrey. He greeted Jeffrey good morning, and was about to head on his way, until Jeffrey said, "Is this a bad time to speak with you, your Majesty?"

Aster shook his head, closing the council room door. "What is it, Jeffrey?"

Jeffrey was looking at a bunch of scrolls splayed across the table. He finally replied, "I have been looking through the Azalea laws for the past few days, your Majesty." He pursed his lips. "It appears the laws have changed. These are not the laws I remember from King Basil's reign, your Majesty." He then commented, hovering his finger over a raw area of the parchment. "It has your mother's signature at the bottom, which meant that she made changes to the laws during her reign." He turned to look at Aster, "Have you had time to look at the laws, your Majesty?"

Aster mentally groaned. Being a king was so tiring at times. He was glad that he had Jeffrey to help him out with reminding him of certain tasks.

"No, Jeffrey. I haven't had time yet," Aster replied.

Jeffrey pressed his lips into a thinner line. "I think you should take a quick look, your Majesty. Some of them are a little harsher than I remember."

He picked one small scroll in particular and handed it to Aster. Aster skimmed over one section and immediately widened his eyes. Jeffrey was right, though 'a little harsher' was an understatement. If he remembered correctly, the punishment for stealing would be labor in the plains until the thief had enough to pay for what they had stolen. It wasn't pleasant, but at least everyone was somewhat happy in the end. Now, the parchment said that the punishment for stealing would be a chopped off hand.

Aster sighed. "I must journey to the lower towns today, but I will take a look at these more carefully when I return." He turned and opened the door to leave. "Thank you for informing me of this, Jeffrey."

Jeffrey bowed. "Anytime, your Majesty."

Aster left the room, making his way towards the castle entrance to the carriage where Saige and Thierry would be waiting.

After the monarch makes changes to the law, they are posted around the kingdom with their signature. Everyone knows that those laws I just read were Mother's, not mine, but... I don't want people to judge me for what my mother did when she was queen. I'm surprised that Mother managed to make law changes during her one-week reign. That means that she knew exactly what she wanted change before she became queen.

Aster emerged into the sunny light, seeing the carriage waiting by the front entrance. He saw Thierry waiting by the carriage with his arms crossed. Saige was standing next to him, talking and comforting Ivy. His other cousins were all standing on the grassy yard.

When he arrived, he said, "We'll be back in the evening." He heard a few shouts of goodbye from his cousins. He smiled before entering his carriage, Saige and Thierry climbing in after him.

The driver whipped the reins, and the horses were on their way. Rose, Lily, Violet, Ivy, Acacia, and Amber watched as the carriage rode off towards the lower towns.