Her mother turned away from her, taking a deep breath and wiping her tears away. She then crunched the paper from her hands and turned to face her daughter with a smile, "You're back."

Mathilda had a concerned look on her face as she watched her mother. She was trying to put a strong facade on her daughter, and it made Mathilda feel more guilty about the attitude she gave her mother earlier. 

"I bought you a book. It's a new one." Mathilda took the book she bought her mom from the bag and handed it to her, "Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

Her mother lets out a small laugh, taking the book from her daughter and staring down at its cover. Mathilda's eyes traveled at the crumbled paper on the desk, curiosity getting the best of her, "What's the letter for?"

Her mother's eyes turned back to the letter before meeting her daughter's eyes.  "It's your father. He's..—" Her mother paused, as if unsure what to say. Mathilda furrowed her eyebrows at her, "He decided to stay at Leian Capital for another year."

Mathilda was unsure if she should just accept her mother's words. That pause gave her a sense of doubt in her words. Her mother was definitely hiding whatever the contents of that letter. But she decided to just believe her mother's words for now because she had a feeling that she wasn't gonna like whatever was inside that letter. 

"You should take Tamian out in the woods with you tomorrow." Mathilda's mother said, looking up at her with an assuring smile "He hasn't got out much and I don't want him being cooped up in his room."

Mathilda stared suspiciously at his mother. She feels something wrong. Her mother was hiding something, beyond the contents of the letter, she was sure of it. Her mother didn't care about Tamian being cooped up inside his room. As far as Mathilda remembers, her mother rather her kids stay indoors than out. 

Maybe her father's coming back tomorrow? Maybe they're gonna have a messy fight that ends with their father leaving the house for a good amount of time? If that were the case, then she'd rather keep Tamian company in the woods than have him listen to that bullshit.

Mathilda gave a slow nod to her mother, just agreeing to every request and word she said to not upset her more than she already was. 

"Good. Make sure to leave in the morning." Her mother directed, "I'm gonna clean the house, and I don't want him making a mess after I clean up."

"Sure.." Mathilda gave her mother another nod, her body slowly turning away from her, "I'm gonna go to my room now. G'night."

With that, Mathilda made her way upstairs to her room. Her mind was drifting to the weird conversation she just had with her mother. She could feel a huge weight on her chest, telling her that something was wrong. Whatever it was, she felt that whatever was gonna happen tomorrow, it's gonna change every in her life.

------

Early in the morning, Mathilda had to drag her nine-year-old brother out of his bed and out of their house. She wasn't as thrilled as he was going out at eight in the morning just because their mother was concerned that Tamian wasn't getting enough outdoor time. 

But thankfully, Tamian managed to have fun in the forest. Climbing on trees, making a small shelter out of sticks and leaves, making small boats, and having them race on the flowing river. Mathilda couldn't deny that she also enjoyed being outdoors instead of being crammed up inside her room.

"Matty!" Mathilda was busy picking up their boats from the river when Tamian called her. Mathilda quickly got off the river and jogged towards where Tamian was, who was holding up leaves and sticks compiled together. His other hand was pointing at what seemed like a metal door of a bunker. Her eyes widen, "Look at this cool thing I saw!"

"Drop it Tamian." Mathilda said, taking his brother by the wrist and pulling him away from the scene. She could feel her heart in her ears, beating rapidly. Those are the type of things that shouldn't be in the forest. With the things going on with the Empire right now, there are countless things inside that bunker. And Mathilda wasn't going to risk it.

"What why?" Tamian asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It's a bunker where they keep kids inside." Mathilda simply said. She doesn't; want his brother to be curious, so instead she decides to scare him, to keep him from asking any more questions. Their mother always tells them stories about kidnapped kids, so it was an easy way out. 

Tamian kept quiet, following his sister. He looked up at the sky, seeing nothing but gray clouds. It was a reminder of the curse the Goddess Lucianna brought upon the land when rebels tried to take the throne from the Athearith family. Only a true Athearith heir can sit on the throne of Athearian and wear its crown. Only then will the Empire see the light of day, and feel the warmth of the sun. "Do you think they'll come back?"

Mathilda was walking them back to Acrine, noticing that it was already time for lunch. They traveled quite far in the woods after Tamian insisted that he wanted to play in the river. Mathilda turned her head back to her brother, "What do you mean?"

"The Princesses. One of them will be the Empress, right?" Tamian asked his sister, "You think they'll come back and we'll get to see the sun again?"

Mathilda kept quiet while she walked. *Will the princesses be back? She has absolutely no idea. Does she keep on hoping they will? Of course. It sucks waking up in the morning and seeing nothing but depressing clouds looming over Acrine. Plus she'd really like it for someone to soothe the anxiousness of the people in Acrine whenever a slightly threatening rumor starts spreading around.

"Of course they will. The Empress is looking for them." Matilda simply replied to her brother with a shrug, "That's why they built The Shelter. In case the princesses are wandering around, they'll be placed there and they'll be rescued."

They were already close to Acrine, but the sudden change in temperature made Mathilda slow down in her tracks. Mathilda noticed that the sky was orange, Its hue mixing with the grey skies. Something's not right.

"Something's burning," Tamian commented, looking up at the sky and down toward the direction they were heading. He gripped the hem of Mathilda's shirt, "Matty..."

Mathilda's eyes widen at the sight.

She could see people running around— No. They weren't just people. They were in uniform. They were Imperial Guards. And they weren't simply running around. They were chasing someone. Someone Mathilda knew from around their neighborhood. One of the guards took out a gun, and it didn't take a genius to know what that guard was about to do.

Mathilda didn't waste any time picking up Tamian and ran back to the woods as fast as she could. She needed to get away from there. She needed to get her brother to safety. Mathilda could hear footsteps behind them, and the shout of imperial guards telling her to stop.

Mathilda used her ability to fly the guards up the air, a height that might or might not make them groan in pain. But it was a chance she'd take just to get away from them. Mathilda ran and ran until her legs physically gave up on them. She tumbled on the ground, dropping Tamian down.

Tamian immediately sat up and crawled towards his sister who was lying on the floor, on top of dead leaves and sticks, panting and sweating, "We lost them. I think."

Mathilda couldn't feel her legs, as if she lost control over them. Yet she could feel them shaking. Her lungs felt like it was about to explode and she could feel her heartbeat all over her body. She was looking at the sky, trying hard to calm herself for her brother.

She turned to Tamian, who had tears at the corners of his wide eyes, fear and worry embedded with them. Fear of what they just witnessed, and worry to his in-shocked sister. Mathilda closed her eyes, breathing through her nose to control her breathing. Once she calmed herself down, Mathilda slowly sat down.

"I'm fine." Mathilda reassured her brother, patting his head before standing up. Her legs were still wobbly, but they couldn't stay there for long. Not when there were imperial guards roaming around, looking for them.

Mathilda had her brother on her back as they roam around the woods. Her mind was still in shambles, she couldn't think straight. Still couldn't process what just happened. But one thing's for sure. She needed to find a place for them. Somewhere safe for her and her brother. And she could only think of one place.