Disclaimer: I don't own the Green Ember, SD Smith does. I only own my OCs and my storyline :)

We were supposed to go together–safety in numbers was what we were going for. Investigating the explosions and seeing what Daggler was up to was not a one person job.

However, Faye had sprained her ankle two days ago and was not going anywhere for a while. Liam, being the resident doctor, had to stay and take care of her, so I was on my own. I mean, I usually am fine with being alone, but today was not one of those days.

On my way to the city square, I pass by the Longtreader house, now a derelict shamble of wood after they all abandoned it. I stop to look at it and try not to feel more than a little angry. It was war, my rational side says, and sometimes betrayal was to be expected, but this...this was different. It’s always different, from everyone's point of view.

I dodge guards who are keeping everyone out. Probably to keep everyone in as well, to make sure no youngling escapes.

And it’s not even Victory Day. Whoever set those bombs better feel guilty about this.

I clamber up onto a roof, where I’ll be well out of sight but see everything. I love these sorts of hiding places. Quite a few of them are conveniently located exactly where I need them.

All the populace of First Warren is gathered here with their younglings, their necks draped in red. It makes me sick every time I see this.

But what really catches my eye is the fact that there’s one of the Six hawks perched on a wall, ready to attack.

I knew going alone was a bad idea. I turn to leave the area when I feel a piercing gaze on my back. I turn around again and see two bucks perched, hiding, not dressed in red. But they saw me.

I continue to look at the two bucks. One old...er and one young. The young one had goldish fur that seemed to match Faye’s description of her older brother. I narrow my eyes slightly–something seems familiar about him, and not in a good way. The older one was pitch black, and definitely the foul tempered Lord Captain Helmer.

I used to trail after him all the time and try to catch him off guard when I was a kid. I never managed to do it.

They break eye contact away from me as Winslow begins to speak.

I can hear the two bucks buzzing about something. Good grief, are they even trying to be quiet? Rule number one of spying: you don’t talk when you’re spying, especially within the reach of a deadly hawk.

I turn back to the can’t-even-think-of-an-insult-good-enough prince and a hawk who I never bothered to learn the name of. I close my eyes, because I know what’s coming next. I always do. I’ve watched it for years. It’s horrible and I can’t do anything about it. I hate not being able to do anything.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

But I can never shut out the screams of the kids and the sobs of their parents.

One day, I’m going to go straight to Akolan and drive a sword through Morbin’s heart, if he even has one.

* * *

I’m back at our hideout within half an hour. Faye is limping around, complaining about her ankle and how sprained ankles shouldn’t exist and how it had to be her to get the sprained ankle while making food for us.

Faye is the most stubborn doe you’ll ever meet, and that’s coming from me. Maybe it’s in her blood or something.

“Take a breath, Faye,” I say.

Faye ignores me but stops her ranting. Liam is sitting on the floor, fiddling with my throwing knives.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I say, moving forward to rescue them. “What are you doing?”

“Nothin’,” he says, grinning at me. “Relax, Ada, they’ll be exactly the same.”

“They will be? You’re a doctor, Liam, not an inventor,” I exclaim. “And maybe an artist,” I add after he throws me an irritated glance.

“Yeah, well, who says I can’t be an inventor?” Liam shoots back, before returning to fiddling with the knives I didn’t rescue.

“Faye,” I complain. “Liam’s messing with my knives.”

No word from the kitchen, which means Faye’s deep in creating food.

I look around our hideout, a series of tunnels that I had the luck to come across when I was a kid. It’s definitely not the best, seeing as a roof collapsed the other day, but it hides us from the Black Band.

“Hello?” Liam snaps his fingers in front of my face. “You fazed out there a little.” I blink.

“I’m still here,” I say. “How’s Faye’s ankle?”

“She should be back on her feet in a few weeks,” Liam says, not looking up from my hunting knives. “It all depends on whether she keeps her ankle elevated or not.”

“Which she isn’t doing,” I fill in.

“Which she isn’t doing,” asserts Liam.

When Faye calls for dinner, we go to the kitchen and find a (thankfully) simple meal of vegetable stew. Faye is humming as she serves the soup, and I recognize the tune. It’s a song some people made up recently, about a certain Picket Packslayer. I find it hilarious and Faye likes to sing it at the most inconvenient times. But if people are singing about what the causers are doing, then there may still be hope for the First Warren.

“I have an idea,” I suddenly announce. Liam looks up.

“And here I am,” he says sardonically. “Without a pencil or paper to record this momentous occasion.”

“Fire away,” Faye says, sitting down opposite of me.

“I think we should go to the citadels,” I say.

One second. Two seconds. Then Faye begins loudly protesting. Liam stares at me, open-mouthed.

“They hate my family!” Faye is saying. “They would probably hate me! Ada, you’re not seriously thinking about doing this?”

I wince when I’m reminded of her family. The last time she even brought them up was ages ago, when we received news of an army of rabbits under a starry banner.

“Don’t worry,” I say. “I don’t even know if I’m up to seeing my family either. But look, when I was at the First Warren today, I saw two causers.”

“How’d you know they were causers?” Faye asks, noticeably calmer.

"They weren't wearing red?" What I meant to be a statement came out as a question. "Anyway--"

“Oh great,” groans Liam. “Adalyn has her Justice-Has-Come face on.”

“I do not!” I protest. “But that’s not the point. I knew they were causers because one of them was Lord Captain Helmer.”

Liam’s spoon clatters on the table.

Faye looks uncertainly at me. “Are you sure about this?"

“Yes,” I say confidently. “There’s been causers in here for years–the rumors of the Citadel of Dreams proves that. I might be jumping to conclusions, but I think the explosions and the two causers I saw are linked in some way.”

“So what’s our first course of action, Cap’n?” Liam asks, grinning.

Wow. They’re all on board for this plan? Seriously? Today’s should-I-even-call-it-a-celebration may be celebrating the day I lost my freedom, but today I got something more. Hope.

“First, I need to talk to Lord Captain Helmer.”

Heyyyy! I'm not sure what to think of this chapter tbh, since it's the first one and I'm introducing the characters...

There's going to be changing POVs, just a heads up, but only one POV per chapter :)

But anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts/theories on this!

-Bea