“Alright, now let’s go” Mathias said once everything was done. I moved my leg slightly and softly tried holding my weight while standing. My eyebrows shot up when I felt absolutely no pain or discomfort. It was if it had never been broken in the first place. Somehow, this made my irritation towards Mathias grow.

I followed the brothers, observing the outside of our cell and becoming surprised at seeing the guards fast asleep just outside our door. Was it magic? Did Mathias have that much power this early in the story? It’s not like it was difficult to make someone fall asleep, but it did require a certain level of magic power and precision if you did it on someone with magic abilities that could detect your intentions, and more so if you did it with more than one person. As we were descending and passing through other hallways, I saw more and more people asleep. Did Mathias do all of this?

“Don’t fall behind. You’re going to get lost!” he called when I stopped to see a big group of maids sleeping on the courtyard, astounded. Did he enchant the whole castle? If he had this much power, why was he only using it now? He could have done it earlier to save his brother and not use me or my family, goddammit!

“Come on Elaine” Lucas grabbed my hand, pulling me with him. We didn’t encounter a single problem on our way outside, and that made me paranoid. Something was bound to go awry, I just knew it. Things couldn’t be this easy. However, we left the castle by a side door that connected to the kitchens, and stepping outside I finally saw the carriage Mathias prepared for us.

Well, calling it a carriage was a little too much of a stretch. It was actually just a pushcart of sorts attached to a single horse. The kind my father used to transport his products to the nearby town. It was packed with a few boxes as well as blankets and pillows. So I assumed Mathias was planning ahead in case we had to run for a long time.

I still hated him though.

“Lucas, you drive the carriage” Mathias ordered his little brother while taking me in his arms without my permission and quickly placing me on the pushcart. Lucas nodded, sitting on the driver’s seat. He looked up at his brother.

“Come on Mathias, get on! We need to leave!”

Both Mathias and I blinked, then shared a look.

"Lucas, Mathias won't be coming with us" I explained with a small frown. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about Elaine? Ah, this is not the moment to be petty" he frowned at me, even giving me a scornful glare! "I know I said it was alright if you hated Mathias, but for now, you should leave that resentment behind. Just because you don't want him to come with us it doesn't mean..."

"Wait, wait, wait! I am not saying this because I want him to die!" I truly didn't. Death was too easy... More seriously though, I guessed even if I hated him and wanted him to pay, I would still not wish death upon him, even after everything that happened. "I didn't mean to say I would not tolerate him coming with us! There were no personal feelings on my w-! Ugh, Mathias, you talk to your brother!" I ordered when I realized it sounded like I was trying to justify my words. I was not, dammit!

“Lucas, what Elaine means ist that I have no intention of coming with you” Mathias clarified, his voice soft.

That certainly took Lucas by surprise.

“Wait, why not?” he demanded, sounding angry. Mathias sighed, obviously not wanting to drag on the discussion, but knowing he had to explain himself if he wanted Lucas to listen.

“I have a lot of things I must take care of first before I can leave. But I have time for that. You don’t.”

“What, so you think I’m going to leave you behind? Mathias, once father realizes I am not here anymore, he’s going to go absolutely crazy! You can’t stay here! Who knows what he’ll do to you!” he tried to reason. The argument was becoming too heated. I looked away, feeling like an intruder all of a sudden.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. It’s your life that’s at risk right now” he continued soothing, trying to convince him. Lucas shook his head.

“I refuse! I won’t leave you alone! I’ll stay here with you if necessary!” he declared stubbornly.

"Lucas..."

"I said I won't leave! Whatever you have to do, you can tell me! I'll help!"

"This is not something you can help with."

"Stop saying that!" Lucas yelled then, looking completely jaded. "Why do you always do this? You never tell me anything! You're always trying to protect me, keeping things from me! But you know what? You can't do that anymore! I'm no longer a kid, I have the right to know what's going on and decide for myself if I want to do something about it or not! I'm so tired of you always taking decisions for me!"

Mathias didn't say anything in answer, apparently stunned. I tilted my head, congratulating Lucas in my head for standing up for himself, but thinking at the same time that, despite his words, he was still a kid.

And Mathias was his older brother...

I bit my lips, feeling in conflict with myself. I cared about Lucas and didn't want him to take an unnecessary risk if possible. In that, I agreed with Mathias. The person with the most possibility of dying if he stayed here was him. I also understood Mathias' determination to protect him, as I was also an older sister, and no matter how much our little brothers grew, part of us would always look out for them. And that was the part that made me a mess. I understood Mathias.

God, I understood Mathias.

Of course, understanding was not the same as justifying. Bad deeds were bad no matter how noble the intention behind them, but the fact I could sympathize with Mathias, if even just a little, made me absolutely nauseous.

Fuck my life.

"Lucas" I finally decided to intervene. It might not be my place to do so, but, regardless of how, I was already irremediably tied with them. They made it so from the moment they decided to use me as a replacement. My opinion in this matter was as important as theirs. "I want to go home, and I can't do it without your help."

I had a speech prepared, about how he should reconsider and all that, but in the end, I decided to say only what pertained to me. I wanted to go home. I was tired of being involved in this. And I needed him in order to go back to my family. This pair of brothers owed me that at least.

Silence engulfed us after my words. I didn't know if Lucas would heed them or not, but regardless of what happened, I was already so tired I didn't know if I could be bothered anymore.

Then, after a long while, Lucas spoke again.

“But, I don’t want to leave my brother. I don't want to leave you…” he said this time to Mathias. He gave him a small smile.

“It’ll be alright. I promise you when I finish what I have to do, I’ll go looking for you, ok? In the meantime, just leave, run as far away as you can, and take care of yourself and of Elaine, alright?”

He mussed his little brother’s hair, as the other one nodded, his entire body sagging in sadness and impotence. There were tears hanging from his eyelashes, but he contained them.

After the small affectionate gesture, Mathias walked back to the castle, but not before stopping for a second next to me and murmuring on my ear. “Take care of Lucas. Please.”

I frowned, looking at him as he straightened. Our gazes locked for a short while that felt like a long time, before I forced myself to answer; “I will.”

With that, Mathias patted the horse and we were off. I looked back, seeing his figure becoming smaller and smaller as we got farther away, until it was no longer in sight. I sighed, leaning back against the wall of the pushcart and looking up at the sky. The moon was slowly approaching its zenith. Soon, it would be time for the ritual to begin. Although I told myself I shouldn't care anymore, I still couldn't keep myself from wondering; what would Mathias do now?

But I knew, even if I wanted to deny it. He was, finally, going to confront his father.