Silas's royal advisor, Calista, gazed out her bedroom window of Ralayna's castle with her alluring azure eyes as she did every night. But tonight, something caught her attention. Like an owl stalking its prey, her keen eyes became fixed on two figures moving outside in the darkness, though it was difficult to determine who exactly they were because the sky was overcast.

A slight smirk crossed her face as she tilted her head to one side and thought, chuckling, What an odd hour to be wandering around outside. Do they really think that they can get past me that easily? I guess they don't know me very well.

They truly have no idea what they're up against; nothing gets past me. Don't be shy; show me who you truly are! Calista thought.

Calista raised her right hand, placing it in front of her face. A white glow began to radiate from it, and her eyes began to show confidence as she commanded, "Unveil to me the identity of those lurking around in the shadows trying to conceal themselves from me."

As soon as she uttered those words, it was as if a burst of light had lit up the darkness outside briefly. The spell offered her improved vision to give her a glimpse of who was out there through her eyes.

Is that Marcus and Klive? What could they possibly be up to at this hour? Calista thought while her eyes widened in confusion. Suddenly, a throbbing pain shot through her head, causing her to grip her head while she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Agh, what's going on? Why does it feel like my head is about to explode?" she said in a strained voice. She breathed heavily before prying her eyes back open, only to find that there was no one there, and the pain had subsided just as quickly as it had surfaced.

I could have sworn that I saw Marcus and Klive out there. My imagination must have gotten the better of me; I guess I'm just tired, she tried to convince herself as she slipped under the covers of her bed.

But as the night dragged on, Calista's eyes burst open as a sharp pain ripped through her heart. It felt like someone had driven a blade straight into it, causing her to sit upright in her bed and arch her back forward.

Tiny beads of sweat began to form on her neck and forehead while her eyes began to emit a faint pale blue glow. She tightly gripped her chest and gasped for air.

At that moment, she squeezed her eyes shut, her body trembling as she fought back the urge to cry out in pain. She couldn't understand why she was feeling such immense pain out of the blue. Had someone managed to enter the castle without her acknowledgment and cast a spell of some sort?

She forced her body to comply as she nearly stumbled off her bed. She staggered to the door of her room and slightly cracked it open as she cast a spell, allowing her to sense the presence of who was in the castle.

She knew something was terribly wrong since she could not sense the presence of Silas or Cassian. They both should have been in the castle, given how late it was.

Calista quickly cast a shape-shifting spell to disguise herself as one of the castle's guards and wandered around the castle steadily in search of Tristan.

Calista oddly sensed Tristan's presence in the dungeon, which shouldn't be right. She decided to check Tristan's room first after sensing his faint presence, but to her dismay, he wasn't there.

After leaving his room, Calista continued to wander the castle halls. She grimaced at the top of the staircase leading to the castle's dungeon after sensing how strong Tristan's presence was. She didn't want to believe it but she knew he was down there.

As soon as Tristan heard the sound of the dungeon door creaking open, he lifted his head to see who was about to walk through.

Calista softly pressed her index finger against her lips before silently mouthing that it was her so Tristan wouldn't be alarmed by a guard suddenly entering the dungeon area.

Relief washed over him before he said, "Calista?! Thank goodness it's you. I can't tell you how good it is to see you right now. I really wish it was under better circumstances. Things aren't looking too good right now."

"Well, whatever it is, it can wait. Why are you locked up here instead of in your room? Also, why isn't Silas here? At this hour, I assumed he would be in his room, but I couldn't sense his presence when I used my spell to survey the place for an intruder," she said before she rushed over to the bars of the cell that were keeping Tristan locked in.

A soft chuckle left Tristan's lips, "About Silas," he started before his gaze met hers with a pleading glimmer in them. "Calista, you must listen to me very carefully; I need you to run as far away as possible. But, before you ask me why that is, it's because of Silas. You said he isn't here, right?"

"That's because he's up to who knows what that likely is going to end up horrifically. But it's not just that. Lately, he's been acting strange to the point where I feel like I don't even know him anymore. After all, he's the one who put me down here."

Calista's eyes widened in disbelief over Tristan's words. "What? Silas did this? You realize how insane that sounds! We are talking about the same Silas here, right?! He would never resort to such methods. Maybe if I talk to him, he'll clear things up, and it'll be one big misunderstanding."

But, just one look into Calista's eyes was enough to tell anyone that she was starting to have doubts since Tristan isn't the type to make up lies, especially about his brother, whom he loves dearly.

Tristan swiftly shook his head, "Calista, you and I both know that's a terrible idea. Look at where my idea got me. Just as Silas said, I really am a fool for thinking my rash plan would've done me any good," he softly said before he reached up to place his right hand over his face.

"He's already killed a family friend; if he found out that you were having doubts about him, it scares me to think what he would possibly do to you. You know me, and Silas cares about you a lot. But he isn't in the right mindset right now," Tristan said.

"You can bet I'll do everything in my power to prevent that, which is why you need to leave right away. As if I would want anything bad to happen to you because of me," Tristan said with pleading eyes.

Calista's throat felt dry at that moment, and no words left her mouth. She didn't want to believe that Silas was capable of such things; how could she paint him to be a villain when she knew him better than anyone?

Silas was the type of person who selflessly looked after his younger brother and treated those around him with a deathly sweet kindness. Silas and Tristan had always been close to her like family since they grew up together as children.

But she would be lying to herself if she ignored the fact that something had shifted in Silas when his and Tristan's father was assassinated. There was no way that such an event would've led him to treat his beloved brother and those he cared about in such a cruel fashion, would he?

"Well, what about Cassian? He isn't here either? Maybe he can help out with the current situation. He is your personal guard, after all," Calista asked.

Tristan then said, looking down at the ground with guilt, lacing his words, "The day before, I told Cassian that I was going to confront my brother because I had this terrible feeling that he was planning something. Cassian told me that it wasn't a good idea and that he was going to go to the gods for help. But, he should've already been back..."

A look of disbelief crossed her face, "You can't be serious right now! So, what are you saying? Are you saying he's dead!" she said in a tone that was a mix of anger and sadness.

"I don't know, okay! I didn't want anything to happen to him. It's all my fault," Tristan said before burying his face in his knees while a soft sniffle left his lips.

"It's not your fault, Tristan. I'm sorry for yelling at you. Look, we can talk about this after I get you out of here—" Calista said with determination before Tristan swiftly cut her off.

Tristan continued to shake his head. "You still don't get it. You need to leave me behind and never come back; Silas will be coming any moment, and if he finds you here, who knows what he'll do."

"If anything happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. Cassian has to be out there somewhere. Go find him and convince the gods to be on our side and save us all," Tristan said with a little hope in his voice.

Calista bit her lower lip before nodding in agreement with Tristan's request. Just as she turned her back to him, tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran up the stairs leading out of the dungeon.

She had to head out through the castle's main entrance since it would be the fastest exit to leave. She wasn't looking forward on her way out since tears were streaming down her cheeks. But at the last second, she decided to look up. Her eyes widened when she nearly bumped into a tall figure whose blue eyes were all too familiar to her.

Silas!!! Calista screamed in her mind.

She had enough time to search those dull blue eyes for any sort of emotion only to find none, but fear snuck its way into her heart when her eyes traveled downward to see the blood-staining Silas's uniform.

But she didn't stop to ask Silas any questions when Tristan's request flashed before her mind. Without wasting a second, she continued to run aimlessly through the rainstorm on her way to the nearby forest.

Tristan froze when he heard Silas's boots click against the floor as he descended the stairs toward the dungeon. After stepping off the last step, Silas swiftly made his way over to Tristan's cell.

"Dear little brother, something strange happened. A guard just bumped into me without a greeting and was in quite a rush, even though I didn't give them an order. Also, what sane person would go out in such a storm?" Silas said with amusement, lacing his words before he gripped onto one of the cell bars.

"But there was something even more amusing. I couldn't seem to find Calista anywhere. Did you have something to do with that dear little brother? Oh, I know. She was disguised as a guard, the same one who bumped into me just now, wasn't she?" Silas said while he gave Tristan a stone-cold glare.

Then a grin appeared on Tristan's lips as he raised his head from his knees to look up directly into Silas's eyes. "What? Did you really think I was going to stay quiet and not tell her the truth that you're a complete psychopath?!" Tristan said with anger, lacing his words.

"And what truth is that? So, what you're really saying is that all you did was fill her head with lies. The same lies you used to poison your own mind with," Silas said with an unamused tone.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?! So, you're telling me you didn't plan on doing anything to her when she started having doubts about you?" Tristan said seriously as he rose to his feet before making his way somewhat closer to Silas.

"You know better than anyone how deeply I care about her, and I would never lay a hand on her," Silas said honestly. But one look into Silas's eyes made it difficult to determine whether he was telling the truth or not.

A low chuckle left Tristan's lips, "As if she would ever be in love with some psychopath."

As soon as those words left Tristan's lips, he felt his body get yanked forward when Silas didn't hesitate to reach through the bars without warning. Silas took hold of the front of his shirt before forcing Tristan to stumble into the metal bars.

"You don't know anything, do you, dear little brother? She loves me a lot more than you think she does," Silas said while gripping Tristan's shirt until his knuckles were white.

"I'll tell you just how clueless you are. Did you ever stop for a moment to question me on whose blood this is?" Silas said with a menacing tone.

It was then that Tristan finally looked down at Silas's clothes to see that they were, in fact, stained with someone's blood. He hadn't noticed before because he was too focused on Silas himself.

"Even if I had, you wouldn't have told me anyway. Why are you like this? Just tell me what your reasoning is!" Tristan stated before a gasp left his lips when Silas shoved him backward after releasing the front of his shirt, causing Tristan to fall on his butt.

"I think I'm done talking with you, dear little brother. But to answer your question on whose blood this is, you'll find out tomorrow. You don't even have to ask; I could just tell you were dying to know," Silas said with a wide grin.

"Also, since when has there ever been anything wrong with me? I think the only one with something wrong is you, dear little brother, but don't worry. I'll chat with you sometime later. Since I don't want you to be lonely, you can play with Klive and Marcus," Silas said.

"See? I'm that much of a caring brother to care about your needs, unlike you, brother. Who keeps hurting me every chance you get," Silas said with a grin before ascending the stairs to prevent Tristan from saying anything else.

After Silas stepped onto the final top step, he walked past Marcus and Klive before he stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Marcus and Klive," Silas started, which caused both Klive and Marcus to turn around to face Silas, whose back was currently to them.

"I think I'm willing to reconsider your request. Won't you teach my dear little brother to behave himself better since I have more important matters to attend to?" Silas requested.

"Oh, and one more thing, don't be too rough with him; I don't want him dying on me," Silas said as he glanced over his shoulder. Once Silas finished talking, a grin formed on his lips. Once those words left Silas's lips, both Marcus and Klive grinned in unison.