//Day three after the explosion topside//

  "If you don't give names before the trial this evening, the cil will order your trae Prison instead," Greyson said, sitting alone beside Orion who was id out in the dimly lit cell.

  The doctors had just left after ging Orion's bandages and applying fresh ois and aics.

  Orion's breaths came short and raspy, struggling to stay awake. He was receiving food, but it was nowhere he quantity or quality to restore his energy for healing- let alone being giveime to heal.

  While drifting in and out of sciousness previously, he desperately wao heal himself but knew questions would arise if he did. The only thing Orion could do was grit his teeth and ehe pain.

  "Why don't you ask Vander instead?" Orion croaked.

  Greyson blinked, staring at him for a moment. "He told you?"

  "We've talked." Orion curtly replied.

  A frown formed before she shook her head, letting it pass. "Regardless, the cil knows you're ected to those kids. I spoke to Vander already, and the result was the same."

  "Orion, please. Think about Caitlyn; she wouldn't want this." Greyson pleaded, trying various tactics to vince him. "I know you had no part in this, and so do many others. Don't throw your life away over this. A few names will reduce your sentence from ten years to five and ier ditions."

  Her eyes drifted to Orion's hands as they ched into fists. Airred within him as he forcibly turned his head to lock gazes with Greyson. "The cil knows but doesn't care?"

  "They care, but for different reasons," Greyson carefully spoke, realizing she had just errored.

  "The eeds their pound of flesh. They have to make the feel people safe," Orion bitterly mocked, groaning as his wounds fred in pain. "I know what I am to them- a political pawn. I'm screwed no matter what."

  Silence lingered between them. Greyson's expression softened as she spoke agaiing to Orion, "Your mind truly is bright, Orion. If only you weren't so heavily involved in the uy's criminal acts, you could've been at the academy alongside Jayd the others."

  After another pause, Orion finally gave a firm response. "No."

  Greyson couldn't help but turn her head away in anguish, standing up. "If you ge your mind, tell the guards standing outside," Greyson whispered a without saying another word.

  Orion wao heal and escape now. The thought of spending a lifetime in prison being tortured and w as a sve in the mines was unbearable.

  If he recalled correctly, that would be the prisot would eventually appear- if he wasn't already there.

  He felt like he had had enough.

  'If I tell her, I hers, and I've sacrificed too much at this point.' Orion thought, frustration and anger simmering within him. 'But I won't throw my life away for the cil's be.'

  'It's been, what? Two or three days sihe explosion? Silco will make his move soon, and they won't transport me while lockdown is in effect.'

  Orion clutched the rough bedding, gritting his teeth. "Jail or banishment- or both. Damn it."

  Even if Orion healed himself now, he wouldn't have the energy to escape. The best he could hope for would be to break out and live as a fugitive.

  Helplessness and depression seeped in as he y there for hours.

  Eventually, the sound of shuffli and a small otion reached his ears from outside the cell.

  The jail cell opened, and he heard footsteps approag.

  "This is it, huh? I failed." Orion muttered, sighing as he closed his eyes. It was time to accept the future as a fugitive, forever on the run.

  An ominous tone crept into his ears, however, sending chills down his spi was low and taunting. "I warned you, boy. But you never listen, do you?"