I woke up feeling sore all over, but I found myself sleeping in Octavia's arms. We were in a moving car. I tried to blink the haze from my eyes in case I was dreaming. Octavia felt me stirred and released me. I sat up and looked around.

"Where are we?" I asked, feeling confused.

"We're going back home," she said.

"What about the court?"

"They released us," she said. "The King granted us amnesty."

"We're free?" I asked, still unable to believe what I heard.

"Yes we are, you've earned us both the right to live," she said and smiled. "Thank you very much, Viv, for everything."

I returned...