The Rooftop Vigil

Mariza balanced on the edge of the giant house's roof, her sturdy boots gripping the weathered shingles. The black spear spun between her fingers—her venom needle, deadly and precise. Three months had passed since that terrible night at the bar.

"Still up there, Mariza?" Ava's voice called from below.

Mariza didn't answer. Her right eye, black with its neon green glow, scanned the horizon. Somewhere out there, Prince Max was trapped. The fire prince who had accidentally burned down the tavern when the kingdom guards stormed in. Everyone had escaped except him.

"You can't sit on that roof forever," Ava continued, climbing up the wooden ladder.

"Watch me," Mariza muttered, twirling the needle faster.

Ava's red hair appeared over the roof's edge, followed by her freckled face. "The others think you should give up."

"The others didn't see his face when they took him." Mariza's grip tightened on her weapon. "He was scared, Ava. Really scared."

"And what exactly do you plan to do about it?"

The Shoemaker's News

Mariza's fingers tightened around the venom needle. "I'm going to find him."

"With what army?" Ava shook her head. "The kingdom guards took him to the capital. That's hundreds of miles away."

"Then I'll walk hundreds of miles."

A small voice piped up from the ladder. "Actually, my mom might know something."

Both girls turned. A boy with messy black hair climbed onto the roof, his round glasses sliding down his nose. He looked about twelve, with olive skin and worried brown eyes.

"Felix, what are you doing here?" Ava asked.

"My mom fixes shoes for the traveling merchants." Felix adjusted his simple green shirt. "She heard something yesterday. A merchant said the fire prince is being held in Ironstone Tower."

Mariza's heart jumped. "Where's that?"

"Two days' ride north. But here's the thing—" Felix's voice dropped. "The merchant said they're moving him tomorrow. To somewhere no one knows."

The venom needle slipped from Mariza's fingers, clattering against the shingles.

"Tomorrow?" she whispered.

Ava grabbed Mariza's shoulder. "Even if we left right now, we couldn't make it in time."

"Then we better stop talking and start moving." Mariza stood up, her eye blazing with determination.