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If she didn't go.

Well, she knew for sure that Taegus would die if she didn't, and that was enough.

The silver-haired boy was too weak to even protest as his comrade reluctantly agreed to go with the red rogues. That's if his mind was still clinging to consciousness at all.

Kel hardly noticed as Marcus pulled her to her feet, praising her for making the right decision. It was a similar compliment to the one in her memories given by the smiling man while ruffling her hair, but this time, it made her stomach turn.

And just like that, the red rogues tore off through the forest again with Kel in tow.

It will be fine, she told herself as she jogged along in the midst of them, I can get away the first time they stop.

All she had to do was buy Taegus enough time.

The ordeal with the rogues had taken just long enough, she hoped, that soldiers would already be deployed to search for the missing patrol.

At the very least, they had missed the checkpoint where their path would cross with the succeeding patrol, and that should have raised suspicions.

"I hope they find him," she murmured, glancing back at the bushes and trees flying behind her.

Her resolve to escape at the first stop faltered when the group finally did stop.

Evading these soldiers long enough to backtrack all the way to the Dragon's Heart had become less feasible with each step they'd taken away from the camp.

Taegus's fate is sealed by now, Kel thought. I should just run.

… Or should she stay and ask her former colleagues who they worked for now and why they were so adamant about taking her?

"I hope you aren't thinking about running, Kel," Marcus interrupted her pondering. "Now that we've seen you alive, we'll lose our necks if we don't bring you back."

With a grunt, he plopped down next to Kel where she sat leaning against a rock, casually waving a rope back and forth as if contemplating whether to restrain her after all.

"Bring me back where?" Kel asked quietly.

It was settled. She should figure out her situation now before blindly running off. She'd failed enough escape attempts in Serin to learn that watching and waiting is usually the best choice.

"Back home!" Marcus smiled. "Aren't you happy to be finally going back?"

"Home?" Kel tilted her head. "You mean, we're going back to Mevani."

"We're technically already in Mevani," the man teased. "But, yes, we're heading straight to the palace."

"Are we in Mevani?" one of the other soldiers leered sourly, taking a seat next to Marcus and Kel. "Hasn't the Dragon Emperor already staked his claim here?"

"Ha!" Marcus snorted in response. "He can have this forest when we're all dead!"

The two men went on bantering and lamenting about Serin's swift invasion. Meanwhile, Kel was having trouble connecting all her thoughts.

Marcus and the others were still Mevanian soldiers?

Then why were they wearing such strange uniforms? And why had they attacked a Pandreian squad?

Unless, Taegus had been lying about being attacked by them

Or Serin soldiers had disguised themselves as Mevanians to cause internal strife among the other kingdoms.

But why the red tunics?

Wasn't it a little odd to have such a dramatic uniform change, especially during wartime? The only time such an event occurred in the past was when a major revolt deposed the old royal family in favor of a new bloodline.

Something like what Calix had done in the Serin empire.

And what was it Marcus had said about losing their necks if they didn't bring her back to Mevani? Nobody there could possibly know where she was or that she was alive at all.

Except for..

Kel's heart stopped.

..Dash.

Turning to Marcus, Kel spoke up, "Hey, who-"

"Oi Kel," the other soldier interrupted. "We all thought you were dead!"

Kel's eye twitched ever so slightly.

That's natural, considering my country sent me to die! she huffed internally.

"Things were kept pretty hush-hush after those guys all came back without you," Marcus added. "The truth leaked out eventually though."

"How could it not?" the other soldier shook his head. "Especially after that."

".. That?" Kel echoed.

"There was one person who knew you'd be alive though," Marcus continued, ignoring Kel's question. "Gotta give His Majesty some credit."

"Wait.." Kel swallowed. "The king knew I was still alive?"

"Of course," the other soldier nodded. "After all, he's the one who insisted that anyone who finds you must drag you straight back."

"Haaa," Marcus sighed. "I never would have thought that guy-"

"Man! Don't call His Majesty like that!" the other man cut in, glancing at the others in their group nervously. "You never know where his eyes are, if you know what I mean."

Kel was completely bewildered now.

Had Marcus really just referred to the king as 'that guy'? She'd never heard any of the palace guards disrespecting Mevani's king that way in her entire life.

There was no doubt now.

In the many months she'd spent away from her home country, something big had happened. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off about these men. Aside from their uniforms, there was something else she couldn't quite describe that was different about them.

When Dash had brought up a potential situation in Mevani, he must have been downplaying the truth.

"Tell me, Marcus," Kel leaned closer to the man still slumped next to her. "What happened while I was gone?"

The man simply shook his head.

"All I can say is that I'm worried for you," he murmured. "Maybe it would have been better to leave you there at that Serin camp.. but I have no choice."

"What do you mean?" Kel asked, growing more anxious.

If leaving her in the heart of what they deemed the enemy's ranks was better than what lay in store for her…

"You should have run a little faster.. yelled a little louder.. something," the man shrugged, "made it so we never even got a look at your face."

"But Marcus," Kel placed her hand on the man's trembling shoulder. "What's going to happen to me?"

"He.. no, Barclay was with you, right?" Marcus said quietly. "When he died?"

"Uh.." Kel winced at the memory. "Yes he was."

Marcus turned to her with eyes full of pity.

"It would have been better," he repeated.

"If we never found you."