Prologue

Varian held out his hand. "Madeline, please," he begged. "Quirin was like a father to you! Surely you understand me."

She spun to face him. "No! You're right, he was like a father to me! Why are you tarnishing the memories of him like this?" As her temper rose, so did the rocks around her.

"Avenge him with me," he pleaded. "You know what must be-"

"NO!" she screamed, rocks shooting out of the ground. "This is NOT necessary! You could talk this out with Rapunzel- she never wanted to hurt you, and you know that. If you refuse to accept that, fine. But in that case, I'm not fighting by your side." She picked up her bag. "I'm leaving."

"But- your powers!" As he said that, her rocks seemed to glow.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"You could be a target- they're dangerous- everything you were raised for, you're just leaving that all behind?" he asked.

Her voice turned cold, pure ice, even as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I could ask the same of you."

"Madeline-"

"NO." She opened the latch on the gate and ran without looking back, rocks shooting out from where she had stepped. Varian could've chased after her, but for some reason, he felt rooted to the spot.

Trivia

 * The mood song from this chapter was "Burn" from Hamilton.
 * This teaser released by the author most likely takes place later in the series and will be revisited.