Topaz was too full of determination to feel regret.

Although, if he were a bit less determined, a distinct feeling of regret might have just crawled up his spine and seeded itself within his thoughts.

The streets were quiet and dark, one would expect as much from late nights but there was something undeniably wrong about the silence. It hugged the corners and crept in the shadows, it made what should be a familiar map entirely foreign.

Topaz had memorized the streets of the city. Not in person but in concept. Any map that he’d been forced to study had been subsequently memorized and it was how he was able to stride through unfamiliar territory with complete confidence and no assistance. It certainly impressed and disturbed the guides within the palace.

Topaz knew these streets.

And he didn’t.

The patterns were the same but the names were wrong. The architecture was familiar but businesses were different.

From where he stood, halfway up Linali Hill, he could see the palace in one direction and the ducal estate in the other. This spot should have a cobbled street with a bakery to his left.

The building, if one could call it a building, was nothing more than broken remains.

The information I studied was wrong.

That was the logical explanation. It was unusual for Duke Edentus’ servants to have incorrect intelligence but there was always the possibility that he’d been fed false information on purpose.

For what purpose?

His gaze lingered on the place that should hold a bakery and drifted toward the street sign he’d been ignoring.

[Waffle Hill]

Perhaps his memory had failed him and this was simply the wrong place. It was supposed to be called Linali, he was sure of that. Named after the Saintess Linali who died at the zenith and blessed the kingdom with prosperity in her dying breath.

History and myth.

He’d always wanted to visit this spot with Ruby. He would love to see the place where such a pillar of the kingdom once made such a heroic sacrifice. Topaz thought it was a bit morbid.

He loved these things, the same as Ruby, but sometimes he couldn’t properly disconnect himself from the facts.

Saintess Linali died here. She didn’t curse her fate. She only blessed the world. There was something wrong about that. Something wicked.

Like painting over something gruesome with a wholesome smile.

Like hiding the bruises beneath long sleeves.

Topaz didn’t like it.

He was sure there was only one hill on the map that had such a view though. At least, according to the information that he’d been provided.

He trekked slowly upward, his sharp eyes taking in every discrepancy between the information he had and the scenery around him. There was just enough that was the same that it hardly made sense to lie.

He’d never heard of a Caramel Alley.

At the top of the hill, there would be a shrine to Saintess Linali.

I’ve always thought that Linali was a strange name.

Topaz often wondered if it was her true name. Or if perhaps, myth had mangled her actual name. Or maybe names were just that foreign and different so long ago.

The cobbles, now that he thought about it Linali Hill was supposed to be bricked, led to a small park where children might play.

There was no sign of a shrine.

The silence in the city really was stifling.

I need to go home.

He’d been so desperate to leave.

I need to save Ruby.

He’d rushed away without a word and he thought he’d be able to figure it out once he was out of there.

From the top of the hill, he could see the palace clearly.

The majestic architecture that reached up into the sky and claimed the horizon, showcasing the power and wealth of the royal family.

I need to save Ruby.

The skyline was broken.

Bits of the once grandiose palace were cracked and burnt. Disrepair and fire and boulders leaving nothing but a phantom of what was once greatness.

Topaz’s legs nearly buckled beneath him.

If he was being sensible, he would realize the impossibility of it. There was no way that much damage could have been incurred while he was unconscious. And for all of his fathers devious machinations, there had never been anything about destroying the palace or the kingdom. Only claiming it for himself.

Using Topaz as a tool to usurp the royal family and cleanse the kingdom of those fools.

The cobbles tore into the flesh of his foot, his mad dash losing one of his shoes as he ran.

His breath burned his throat but he ran.

He needed to save Ruby.

He needed to reach the palace.

To find what remained and fix it all.

He needed to stop his father.

Why had he been so cowardly? Topaz gasped for broken air as his feet slammed again and again against the ground, fighting gravity to force him to move faster and faster. Tangling among themselves as he tripped and fell down the hill. Rolling into a heap at the bottom and forcing his feet below him again to run toward the palace.

Ruby had to be okay.

Topaz couldn’t be too late.

Hot tears seared his cheeks as he ran, his body pushed so far beyond its capacity that he was nothing more than a gasping and stumbling mess.

Still, he ran.

He could feel the burns his father gifted to him. The opened sores. The burning in his side. The burning in his throat.

Everything was fire.

The one pain that he could not tolerate.

Burning and burning and burning until there was absolutely nothing left inside of him. The narrow and quiet streets offered him nothing as he forced his way forward.

The quiet was alone.

In some ways, it felt as though he was the only living thing in the entire city. The only real thing.

Ruby–

His heart burned and broke and he forced it to pump for him again, just to drive him forward. Just to reach his destination. Just to–

A blade touched his throat just as Topaz’s fingers grazed the palace gates.