Water sprays against my face as I slowly walk over the bridge, to the open cave entrance on the other side that comes into view. The bridge is covered all the way down, with carvings of dragons and of a man controlling water. The sea god is depicted as well. There are words I can’t read inscribed all the way down it. I wonder what they say, what they speak of, and if it’s of any use for me to understand the sea god. I stop near the edge of the bridge, tracing my finger over the upside-down triangle I spot carved on the banister of the bridge. It looks just like my mark. I wonder if another changed one has had my mark before, if maybe the mark is reborn time and time again.

“Cassandra of Onaya. The first female changed one to live in many, many years. It is an honour to meet you,” a man says from the shadow of the cave. The man steps forward into the dim light, his face hidden under a cloak. He lowers the hood as I step off the bridge, and move to stand right in front of him. It is the master I met when I landed here yesterday, the one that advised me. Dante seemed to trust him. I run my eyes over his fragile form and realise he is a lot older than I first thought he was. His white hair matches his pale eyes. I find myself focusing my eyes on his changed mark, still finding it strange to see other changed ones. I doubt I will ever be able to get used to it.

“Master Light, there is another female changed one who lives. She is queen and should be respected. It is not her fault what happened to her, and she is one of our kind. We must not forget her. I will not,” I say, hating that she is overlooked like this. She may not have her senses, and she may have lost her mind, but she should be remembered. She is queen after all, and that demands respect on its own.

“You are correct, of course,” he says, but his tone doesn’t suggest he cares much for my opinion of the queen. I doubt anyone will care much for her anymore, but she is Hunter and Ryland’s mother. I feel nothing but a deep sorrow for her and hope I can save her somehow. “Come inside, we have much to discuss.” I follow him into the cave, which opens up into a massive room. There is a table made out of solid white crystal in the centre of the cavern. There are four other figures wearing hoods sitting at the table, and Master Light walks ahead, holding out the seat at the top of the table for me.

“Please sit, Cassandra,” he asks me. I take a seat where he indicates as he sits on the other side of the table. I smooth my hands over the stone, feeling the circle patterns etched into it. It is utterly beautiful and precious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of crystal this big before.

“I am Master Light, as you well know,” he introduces himself again, “please introduce yourselves, masters.” They all take their hoods down at the same time, and I look at the masters on my right first. One is the purple-haired man I encountered last night. He nods respectively, which is much different from the look I received when I saw him last. I don’t know why, but I instantly don’t trust this master. There is something about him, and I will be watching my back around him.

“My name is Master Igor,” he says bluntly, quickly turning away and not waiting for any reaction from me. I look over to the man on his other side, who appears so much different. This man has five large cuts over his face, almost covering up his mark but I can still see it. It’s a circle, with some swirls inside. His grey eyes watch me with a lot of intelligence hiding behind them.

“Master Hid, at your service,” he says, bowing his head.

“There is no need to bow to me,” I say, and he chuckles.

“Your chosen are the princes of Calais, that makes you a princess by all accounts. If that didn’t garner my respect, what I have heard you did with the king earns you my respect for the rest of your life. Respect is earnt in actions, and you have done just that. A girl from Onaya, with nothing more than a mark, nearly killed the king and then vowed to go back. Most people would be scared, scarred, and destroyed from what I heard happened. But you are strong, resilient, and so very impressive, Cassandra of Onaya,” he says, and I stay silent, not knowing how to respond to that statement. Anything I did was to survive, until the king took everything he could from me and promised to take more, to destroy my world. I won’t let anyone take my chosen from me, and fighting back is the only way I know I will be able to survive this. I thought I did what anyone else would do, but maybe Master Hid is right.

“You also have my respect, Cassandra. I am Master Pirate,” I turn at the sound of a deep voice to see the man who spoke on my left. He is a huge man, with an arrow mark on his forehead, black wavy hair that falls around his face, and a serious expression.

“Pirate?” I ask.

“My family name. My ancestors were some of the very first pirates, and I have forty ships that my family run. I left the king after he decided killing my child was the best way to control me. I want revenge for my little boy, and my army of ships will bring an army to his door and help me do just that,” he explains to me.

“I am sorry the king took your son’s life. He seems to think killing is the way to control everyone, and it is not. He will pay for every life stolen, I swear,” I say firmly. Master Pirate nods, his eyes on me like he is looking into my soul to determine if I’m telling the truth. When he finds whatever he is looking for, he smiles slowly.

“I believe the king should have killed you when he had the chance, because he has clearly created his greatest enemy,” Master Pirate says, and I smirk. I look up at his mark, curious what the arrow means, what his power is.

“What is your gift?” I ask.

“We don’t know this girl, just heard rumours, and we are to trust her with everything? All of our secrets? She could be working with the king, or the princes–her lovers–could be!” the final master shouts, slamming his pale hand on the table. I lock eyes with green ones that match the green plant-shaped mark on his forehead. He seems to be about my age, with blonde hair, a body built from rigorous training, and an outraged expression. I’m sure he doesn’t trust anyone, and I imagine he has lost much to make him this way.

“If we as changed ones don’t trust each other, who can we trust?” I ask, and he tilts his head to the side.

“We are meant to trust each other simply because a god kissed us at birth, cursing us? Because we have all been cursed to be hunted? To have those we loved hunted? To know we are never safe?” he rapidly questions me, his angry eyes never leaving mine.

“You believe your mark to be a curse?” I ask quietly. I understand the sentiment, it is something I used to believe when I was on Onaya. I thought it was curse because of what our ancestors did, because it kept me locked in the house, hidden away. The mark is not a curse, I know that now. It’s a gift, a gift that gives as much as it takes.

“Everyone I have ever loved is dead because of this mark, what else would you call it?” he snaps.

“That’s enough Master Gold,” Master Light says, and I raise my hand.

“He is right to speak what he feels. There is no point to this meeting if we all lie to each other. We are trying to make a new world, and it shouldn’t be started with lies,” I respond. Master Light raises his eyebrows at me with an impressed expression, and I turn to look at the other masters.

“I once believed my mark to be a curse, but only because this world and the king makes it so. Yet, we have power. We are blessed by a god, and we can make the world a better place. You can trust me because we have a common goal that everyone on this mountain shares,” I say, and Master Gold doesn’t say anything, letting me speak. “We all want the king dead, for the changed ones to be free, and to change this world for the better. I will fight for that with or without your help, but your help could be the difference between victory and defeat.”

“You speak a good bargain, yet, share no plan on how to win,” Master Gold replies, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with me.

“I made a deal with the sea god, and the deal tells us all we need to know to win this war,” I say, and they are all silent.

“Tell us the deal," Master Light finally responds, and I recite it for them. They all look around at each other, and Master Pirate quickly writes down my words on a notepad.

“You have met the sea god?” Master Light is again the first to ask after another long silence.

“Yes, he saved me when I fell off a cliff at the king’s palace. He looked after me, spoke to me about things. I was offered more than one deal, but that is the deal I accepted,” I say.

“He saved you when you fell into the sea?” Master Pirate questions me.

“Yes,” I reply simply. “The sea god needs me alive to win this for him, and he is always watching us, always wanting his children to survive.”

“None of us will survive while the king lives.”

“The sea god created the monster of the king we have. It was an accident, I believe. He never meant to make the king the bitter monster he is now. Even gods make mistakes, and their children must be the ones to fix it,” I tell them, and there’s an eerie silence to the room as they take in my words.

“Then this deal, how can it help us figure out our next move?” Master Hid asks.

“We need a crown, a god-blessed crown that is the twin of the one the king wears. It boosts powers, and that is what makes the king so very formidable. It is what enabled him to steal the gifts from his changed one, the queen. The king stole both crowns from the sea god, and I believe the deal tells us he hid it with the mermaids,” I say, knowing deep down I’m right. ‘Where life lives in the sea,’ can only be the mermaids, who are more likely to kill us than help us.

“So, we get this crown, and then you will kill him as we use our army to destroy his?” Master Light muses. “It could work, but we will need time to prepare.”

“That’s the plan, but I need to find the crown first. The king hid it with the mermaids for a reason. They won’t just give it to us, and I know nothing of mermaids, or how to fight them,” I reply.

“You’re missing an important part of all of this. The king cannot die while his changed one lives. To win this war, you must kill the queen. If you promise us that, we will give you use of our army. We will let you lead, as well as help you find the crown and what to do to bargain with the mermaids. Mermaids like deals, treaties, and most importantly, tricks,” Master Light informs me in a serious tone.

“She will be my mother in law . . . she doesn’t deserve to die. The king destroyed every part of her and stole her power. Death is not what should befall her," I plead with them, despite knowing nothing will change their minds or save the queen. Her death is needed, and I know that, I just don’t want to accept it.

“Her mind is lost. Her other chosen were burnt away into nothing, nothing left but dust and not even changed magic can heal that. She would welcome death,” Master Hid tells me with a touch of understanding in his voice.

“But changed ones’ chosen cannot die? So, how did they? I don’t understand, though I never really thought about it until now,” I ask them all quietly.

“The only known way to kill chosen when their changed one still lives is to burn their body. How can anyone come back from that?” Master Pirate muses, and leans back in his seat. “But perhaps the souls are more important than the bodies we wear. Soul mates speak nothing of our bodies, only our souls.” I think about what he says as they all watch me closely. Everyone in this room believes in so much more than life and death.

“Do we have a deal, Cassandra? Will you kill the queen?” Master Light asks me. The question in itself is simple, but it breaks my heart when I try to answer it. Even in my mind, I cannot say the words, let alone speak them out loud. Is one life worth giving the whole world a chance? Especially, when that life is an innocent one?

“Why me?” I blurt out.

“Because it proves you will give everything up to win this war. Even the respect and love of two of your chosen. Even your soul for killing an innocent,” Master Light says, his tone gentle but firm. He wants an answer, and I keep my eyes on the table as I think it through. I know she has to die, but I don’t honestly know if I could be the one to kill her. She is Hunter and Ryland’s mother, and they love her. They would hate me for killing her. Despite all that, in the end I know my answer. There has only ever been one possible answer.

“I will kill her,” I whisper, hating myself for saying it, but knowing I don’t have a choice. If my soul and my chosen, are the price for saving the world, how can I be selfish enough not to pay it?