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believing in my argument completely.
    “Ha!” His short laughter echoed off the cavernous rock walls, mocking me in a way that unexplainably hurt my feelings. “Don't fool yourself. I have no intention of seeing that wedding through.”
    I fell silent, confused and hurt. Kiran walked faster into the darkness ahead of us, his light disappearing into the dark void ahead. I leaned into Sebastian, the weight of my torch becoming too much.
    “I know that he hates me,” I confessed quietly. “But, I don't know why he has to be so cruel about it.”
    Sebastian laughed unexpectedly, not the cruel kind of laughter like Kiran, but a gentle, genuinely entertained laughter that made me look at him.
    “Kiran doesn't hate you!” he exclaimed in an amused whisper.
    “Yeah, right!” I argued. I didn't need Sebastian to paint me a pretty picture, I wasn't even looking for encouragement. I just wanted to complain to someone.
    “Eden, I think there are only so many times a man can be rejected before his pride takes over,” he insisted even softer.
    “You don't have to be nice about it, Sebastian. It's Ok that he hates me, I'm not very fond of him either.” I admitted, brushing off Sebastian's explanation.
    “I think what you're witnessing is something more like self-preservation.” Sebastian nudged me with his elbow as we approached the cave mouth.
    I fell silent with Kiran waiting for us at the entrance to a man-made tunnel in the middle of the wreckage of collapsed boulders and trees. He eyed us over with that same look I had seen a dozen times from him in the past twenty four hours, not knowing how to explain it or do anything but shudder from the severity of it.
    Sebastian helped me climb over the large rocks and then lifted me up to Kiran who helped with the last portion before the tunnel. Once at the tunnel's level, I followed Kiran into the dark, narrow passageway, crouching against the low ceiling and in fear of a collapse.
    The tunnel was not very long, and we were to the other side in no time. We emerged into the fresh air and midnight sky, the sound of the river that ran along the bank greeting us and a million stars twinkling above.
    Talbott was there too, waiting for us patiently. And with him Rosalind, Lilly's mother, unbound and free. I realized then that Kiran was taking her with us, releasing her into my brother's care and the freedom her assumed death granted her.

 
Chapter Four
     
    “They should be here by now! Where are they?” Talbott demanded. He paced in the darkness, his feet stomping heavily across the wilderness floor, snapping twigs and shifting dead leaves.
    “Relax, they'll be here,” Sebastian reassured him calmly. He sat with his back against a tree and eyes closed trying to squeeze in some sleep. Talbott shot him an aggravated look and kept pacing.
    I sat on the ground too, leaning against a tree. Even in the midnight hours, the air was still feverishly hot and the trek here had left me exhausted and overworked. Sweat dripped from my forehead and soaked my shirt. The rest of my group had the advantage of magic to cool them, but I suffered through the heat, wishing we stayed close enough to the river for water.
    We were high in the mountains, meeting at a previously decided place. We hiked for hours through the midnight sky, deep into the Romanian wilderness and far from the ominous castle. I couldn't remember exactly where Amory and I waited for Avalon and Jericho and if this was it or if this was some place new entirely. The forest muddled together in my memory, it was all a beautiful haze of thick trees and rough terrain.
    “Will you be all right?” Rosalind asked with concern. She stopped her own silent vigil to sit down next to me. Freedom for her rested only moments away and not only that, she would be reunited with her daughter. I felt her joy, and saw the anxious excitement on her face and felt satisfied. I could be miserable a few more minutes to give her peace.
    I could be