“Rae!” Clarissa yelled, throwing open my bedroom door.

Immediately, I sat up alert, only the light of the moon streaming in from my window to illuminate the space. It was dim, but still enough for me to see her incredibly panicked expression.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” I asked, already pushing off my blankets.

But her words quickly made me pause, if only for a second.

“…It’s Kieran,” she said. “They’ve found him.”

…Right. I guess it was about that time. I’d known it was going to happen eventually.

“…Where?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

“He wandered across the border, coming close enough for our patrols to pick him up and subdue him. He’s in the dungeon waiting for you now.”

“Okay… leave it to me,” I said, standing up to throw a jumper on.

“Wait… what are you going to do?” she asked. “We didn’t finish talking about your plans for after he was caught.”

I looked over at her, a reserved expression of my own to face her. It was clear just how weak she was becoming even