The door exploded into splinters.
Five soldiers crashed through, swords drawn, faces hidden behind Temple guard helmets.
Kieran moved like liquid death—one motion, two guards down, blood spraying across the floorboards.
"MOVE!" He grabbed my arm, yanked me toward the back window.
"There's thirty of them!" I shouted.
"Then we don't fight thirty!" He smashed the window with his sword hilt. "We RUN!"
Lily was already climbing through, surprisingly agile for someone who'd been sobbing thirty seconds ago.
I hiked up my ridiculous ball gown skirts—why did Seraphina wear THIS to a ball?!—and climbed after her.
We dropped into a narrow alley. Rain poured down, turning cobblestones slick.
"THEY'RE ESCAPING! SOUTH ALLEY!"
Boots thundered behind us.
"This way!" Kieran took off running, Lily and I scrambling after him.
My heels—STUPID EXPENSIVE HEELS—caught on the cobblestones. I kicked them off mid-run, barefoot now, freezing rain soaking through silk.
"Where are we going?!" I gasped.
"Away from the SWORDS!" Kieran vaulted over a fence like it was nothing.
Lily went over next, her torn dress catching, ripping further.
I tried to vault. Failed spectacularly. Ended up scrambling over ungracefully while Kieran yanked me down on the other side.
"You wrote action scenes," he hissed. "Didn't you research how to MOVE?!"
"I WROTE THEM! I didn't DO THEM!"
An arrow thunked into the fence where my head had been two seconds ago.
"ARCHERS!" Lily shrieked.
We bolted through a market square—empty at midnight, stalls abandoned. Kieran grabbed a cart, shoved it behind us. It crashed, spilling vegetables everywhere.
Bought us maybe ten seconds.
"The harbor!" Kieran shouted. "We need a boat!"
"I can't SWIM!" I yelled back.
"Then don't FALL IN!"
We careened down a side street. Temple guards poured out of an intersecting alley—AHEAD of us now.
"TRAPPED!" Lily skidded to a stop.
Guards behind. Guards ahead. Stone walls on both sides.
Kieran's eyes scanned frantically. "There!" He pointed at a building. "ROOF!"
"You're INSANE—"
He grabbed a drainpipe, started climbing.
Lily went next, surprisingly strong for someone so delicate-looking.
I grabbed the pipe. It was wet, slippery, freezing—
"CLIMB OR DIE!" Kieran shouted from above.
I CLIMBED.
My arms screamed. My dress caught on every possible thing. Below, guards surrounded the building.
"GET ARCHERS! SHOOT THEM DOWN!"
Kieran hauled me onto the roof. Clay tiles, slanted, rain-slicked.
"Please tell me you have a plan!" I gasped.
"Working on it!" He looked around wildly.
The next building was maybe eight feet away. A gap over a three-story drop.
"No," I said. "Absolutely not."
"JUMP OR GET SHOT!" Lily was already backing up for a running start.
She RAN and LEAPED—barely made it, scrambling onto the opposite roof.
An arrow whistled past my ear.
"YOUR TURN!" Kieran shoved me forward.
"I'LL DIE—"
"YOU'LL DIE HERE SLOWER!" He grabbed my hand. "On three! One—"
"WAIT—"
"TWO—"
"I'M NOT READY—"
"THREE!"
He YANKED me forward and we RAN and JUMPED—
Time slowed.
The gap yawned beneath us. Three stories down to cobblestones and certain death.
We weren't going to make it.
Then Kieran THREW me.
I sailed through the air, screaming, arms windmilling—and crashed onto the opposite roof, tiles cracking under me.
Kieran landed beside me in a perfect crouch because OF COURSE he did.
"I HATE YOU!" I wheezed.
"Later! MOVE!"
We ran across rooftops, jumping gaps, tiles shattering under our feet. Behind us, some guards were trying to follow. Most were falling.
"THE HARBOR!" Kieran pointed ahead.
I could see it—dark water, ships, the docks—
The roof ended.
Just ENDED in a twenty-foot drop to the street below.
"Oh, you've got to be—"
"HAYSTACK!" Lily pointed. "THERE!"
A merchant's cart piled HIGH with hay sat directly below.
"That only works in GAMES!" I shouted.
"GOT A BETTER IDEA?!" Kieran was already backing up.
He ran and JUMPED, disappeared into the hay with a WHUMP.
Lily went next. "FOR THE GODDESS—" WHUMP.
I stood alone on the roof. Guards climbing up behind me. Archers taking aim from below.
"SERAPHINA!" Kieran's voice from the haystack. "NOW!"
I closed my eyes.
Thought: *I died once from a chandelier. Dying from a hay jump feels appropriate somehow.*
And jumped.
The fall was HORRIBLE—stomach in my throat, wind screaming—
WHUMP.
I hit hay. It was scratchy and smelled like horse and I was ALIVE.
"GO GO GO!" Kieran dragged us out.
We ran for the docks. My bare feet slapped against wet wood. Ships loomed in the darkness.
"THERE!" Kieran pointed at a small boat. "UNTIE IT!"
Lily fumbled with ropes. I helped, fingers numb, everything happening too fast—
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Ten guards blocked the dock. More coming from behind.
Surrounded. Again.
The lead guard stepped forward, removing his helmet.
My blood froze.
It was the DUKE. My father.
"Seraphina," he said coldly. "You've made this very difficult."
"Father—" I started.
"I gave you EVERYTHING," he snarled. "Position. Power. A Crown Prince engagement. And you threw it away for WHAT? This madness with a fake Saintess and a dangerous Duke?"
"She's innocent!" Lily stepped forward. "She didn't poison anyone—"
"YOU be silent, fraud." The Duke's eyes were ice. "I know what you are. The Temple's little puppet. And you—" He looked at Kieran. "—Duke Valerius. Always meddling. Three timelines you've interfered with my plans."
Everyone froze.
"What did you just say?" Kieran's voice was deadly quiet.
The Duke smiled. "You thought you were the only one remembering? The only one LOOPING?"
The world tilted.
"No," Kieran breathed. "That's impossible. I checked—YOU never showed signs—"
"Because I'm BETTER at hiding it than you." The Duke drew his sword. "Four timelines, Valerius. I've watched you try to save my daughter four times. And every time—" His smile was cruel. "—I'm the one who kills her."
My father.
MY FATHER was the killer Kieran could never find.
"Why?!" The word tore out of me. "I'm your DAUGHTER!"
"You're a LIABILITY!" he roared. "In every timeline, your existence threatens my TRUE plan. So I remove you. Timeline one: I convinced Theodore to execute you. Timeline two: I hired the assassin on the road. Timeline three: I poisoned you at the tea party."
He pointed his sword at me.
"This timeline, I tried framing you for Mercedes's murder. Clean. Simple. But you SURVIVED. Again." He shook his head. "So now we do this the direct way."
Guards moved forward, surrounding us completely.
"Last words, daughter?"
My mind raced. We were trapped. Surrounded. No weapons except Kieran's sword. My father was a MASTER swordsman. We were DEAD—
Unless.
"Just one question," I said. "What's the TRUE plan? What's worth killing your own daughter four times over?"
The Duke's smile widened. "You really don't know? Even as the author?"
He KNEW I was the author?!
"Six months from now," he said, "Theodore's coronation happens. He marries his Saintess, becomes King. And that night—" His eyes gleamed with madness. "—I assassinate him, blame foreign agents, and as the Regent appointed to 'stabilize the realm,' I become the REAL power on the throne."
Lily gasped. "You planned this—"
"For YEARS. Theodore needed a Saintess? I GAVE him one. Had the Temple train you PERFECTLY." He looked at Lily. "You were MY insurance policy. When Theodore dies, the grieving Saintess confirms my story. The people follow YOU. And you do exactly what I tell you."
"I'll NEVER—" Lily started.
"You will. Or everyone you love DIES." He said it so casually. "Your orphanage. Your childhood friends. All of them. Unless you obey."
This was insane. My father was the REAL villain. Not Seraphina. Not even Theodore.
"And me?" I asked. "Why kill me?"
"Because in timeline one, you accidentally discovered the plot. Tried to expose me." He shrugged. "After that, I couldn't risk it. Easier to remove you entirely before you could interfere."
"You're INSANE!" I shouted.
"I'm AMBITIOUS. There's a difference." He raised his sword. "Guards. Kill them. All three. Make it look like they fought each other."
Ten swords raised in unison.
Kieran moved in front of me protectively. "Ideas would be GREAT right now."
I looked around frantically. Water behind us. Guards ahead. No escape. No weapons. No—
Wait.
The boats.
The DOZENS of boats packed together in the harbor.
Oil lamps on every ship for night navigation.
"Kieran," I whispered. "How fireproof is this dock?"
His eyes widened. "You're not—"
"GOT A BETTER IDEA?!"
I grabbed an oil lamp from the nearest boat, THREW it at the guards—
It shattered. Oil sprayed. Someone's torch touched it—
WHOOOOSH.
Fire EXPLODED across the dock, cutting off the guards.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the Duke roared.
"PLAN B!" I grabbed another lamp, threw it at a different boat. More fire.
"You'll burn the ENTIRE HARBOR—" Lily shrieked.
"YEP!" I was already untying the boat. "GET IN!"
We scrambled into the small vessel. Kieran grabbed oars, started rowing with desperate strength.
Behind us, the ENTIRE dock was catching fire. Guards scattered, trying to escape the flames. Ships were burning. The Duke stood in the inferno, screaming orders—
"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER, SERAPHINA! I'LL FIND YOU! EVERY TIMELINE! EVERY LOOP! YOU'LL ALWAYS DIE!"
We rowed into the darkness, flames lighting up the night sky behind us.
Lily stared at the destruction, horrified. "You just burned down HALF the harbor!"
"They were trying to KILL US!"
"The economic damage—"
"IS NOT MY PROBLEM RIGHT NOW!"
Kieran kept rowing, muscles straining. "Where are we going?"
Good question.
We were fugitives now. Wanted for murder, conspiracy, and arson. The Crown wanted us dead. The Temple wanted us dead. My FATHER wanted us dead and could apparently loop through time.
No allies. No resources. No plan.
"I have no idea," I admitted.
Lily pulled out the High Priestess's ledger from her dress. Somehow it had survived the chaos. "Then we start here. This ledger has EVERYTHING. Names, dates, payments. Evidence of the conspiracy."
"Evidence no one will believe," Kieran said grimly. "Theodore controls the courts. The Temple controls public opinion. Your father controls the military." He looked at me. "We can't fight them directly. We're three people against the KINGDOM."
He was right.
We needed allies. POWERFUL allies.
I thought about my story. About the characters I'd written. Who was powerful enough to stand against a Prince, a Temple, and a Duke?
Then it hit me.
"The Northern Duchess," I said.
They both stared at me.
"Duchess Valeria Frost," I continued, the plot coming back to me. "She controls the North, has her own private army, HATES the Temple, and—" I looked at Kieran. "—is your aunt."
His expression shifted. "You want to go to the North? That's a WEEK's travel through hostile territory."
"You have a better idea?"
Silence.
"The Duchess doesn't involve herself in capital politics," Kieran said slowly. "But if we brought her PROOF of Temple corruption and royal conspiracy..." He nodded. "She might actually help. Maybe."
"Maybe is better than nothing," Lily said. "And according to this ledger, the Temple has been embezzling tax money from the North for years. The Duchess would WANT to know that."
"Then North it is." I looked at the burning harbor behind us, at the two people who were now my only allies in the world.
A regressor who'd watched me die three times.
A fake Saintess with a ledger of secrets.
And me—the author who'd accidentally written herself into a death sentence.
"This is insane," I muttered.
"Completely," Kieran agreed.
"We're all going to die," Lily added.
"Probably."
We rowed in silence for a moment.
Then I started laughing. Couldn't help it. The sheer ABSURDITY—
"What's funny?" Lily asked nervously.
"I wrote a simple romance novel," I said between laughs. "Villainess loves Prince, poisons heroine, gets executed. Nice and clean." I looked at them. "Instead I'm in a boat with a time-looper and a con artist, running from my psychotic father, wanted for crimes I didn't commit, planning to cross hostile territory to beg help from a Duchess I wrote as a minor character."
I grinned, wild and desperate. "I've completely lost control of my own story."
Kieran smiled back, sharp and dangerous. "Good. Your original story was boring anyway."
"BORING?!"
"The villainess just dies? Where's the fight? The revenge? The CHAOS?" He leaned forward. "This version is MUCH better."
"We're literally FLEEING FOR OUR LIVES!"
"Exactly. Much more exciting."
Despite everything, I laughed again.
Lily looked between us like we'd both lost our minds. "Are you two... okay?"
"No," we said in unison.
"Definitely not," I added.
"Haven't been okay since timeline one," Kieran confirmed.
"...I'm surrounded by insane people," Lily muttered.
"Welcome to the team," I said cheerfully.
We rowed through the night, leaving the burning capital behind.
One week to reach the North.
One ledger of secrets.
One chance to expose the conspiracy.
And absolutely NO idea if we'd survive.
But for the first time since waking up as Seraphina, I felt something other than fear.
I felt ALIVE.
"Hey Kieran," I said as dawn started breaking on the horizon.
"Yeah?"
"In your previous timelines—did we ever work together like this?"
He was quiet for a moment. "No. You always hated me. Pushed me away. Refused help." His eyes met mine. "You were so focused on Theodore, you couldn't see anything else. Until it was too late."
"And now?"
"Now you're different. Unpredictable. Dangerous in ways I can't anticipate." He smiled. "I like this version better."
"Even though I burned down the harbor?"
"ESPECIALLY because you burned down the harbor."
Lily groaned. "You're BOTH insane."
The sun rose over the water, painting the sky in shades of fire.
One week to the North.
Everything to lose.
And a story that had gone completely, beautifully off the rails.
I couldn't wait to see what happened next.
---
END OF CHAPTER 3
---
Next: Chapter 4 - The Road North (Where Everything That Can Go Wrong, Does)
*A week's journey through hostile territory. Bounty hunters. Wild beasts. Running out of food. And the slowly dawning realization that Kieran might be catching ACTUAL feelings. This is fine. Everything is FINE. (Nothing is fine.)*