Luna stared at the high ceiling, her mind could not escape the voices, All the events of the day before ran through her mind

I promised to protect her...

She couldn't get much sleep last night, none of them did. The gang was mummering, already trying to come up with a plan to escape this tower, but from the sight of their faces she could tell that every scenario led them to a dead end. Lilly stood close to Luna, her newfound friends intrigued her. Her mind was filled with a lot of questions. She wanted to ask Luna about how they met, why are they here? and if they were a part of the royal knights she hadn't met, but seeing how Helene still hadn't woken she decided to keep those questions later.

Luna stared at Helene, it pained her to see her like this. Misery struck her like never before. And as her eyes started to water again she let out a sniff trying not to cry again.

"Lulu you know I'm not that easy to get rid of right? "

Luna quickly looked back at her cousin, who had a cheeky smile plastered all over her face.

"I had a good nap, guess I'll be the only one with no eye bags" she said with a smug face, putting her hands behind her head.

"You little..Do you know how worried I was here?!" Luna lightly punched Helene's shoulder making sure not to hurt her as she was still recovering.

"Okay, okay... Breathe in, breathe out, Lulu," Helene said, slowly getting up while wincing from the lingering pain in her body.

"Hells!!" was all Helene heard before she was knocked to the ground again by an excited Lily. "Hey, kiddo! Are you trying to send me to Emris? I just got back from the... dead. Ca-n't bre-athe... Lily-" Helene gasped, struggling to rise with what little energy she had left.

"Lily get up!" Luna grabbed Lily by her shoulders chuckling at the scene unveiling infront of her.

"Sorry! I was just excited to see you" Lily's eyes were covered with a thin layer of water as she apologized.

"It's okay lily..." Helene went and hugged Lily, patting her back reassuringly.

Without any warning the doors to the tower swung open, Mylo and Corvina walked with two other knights.

The knights each were holding a tray presumably to bring them breakfast.

"Ah They feed their prisoners, how kind..." Damien exclaimed with a fake smile across his face. "What are YOU doing here?" Luna said, clenching her teeth whilst glaring at Mylo. He furrowed his eyebrows, he wanted to protest but ultimately decided not to.

I won't... At least she's okay.. I hope she knows, it was a mistake..

He gave one sympathetic look at her, Helene not knowing how to react quickly looked away.

"Glad to see you survived the attack, Mylo" Logan broke in between the trio trying to ease the tension. He extended his hand, "Do I know you? What attack- I think you have me confused with someone" Mylo said shaking his head, "Is that THE Mylo" Lily whispered in her not so secretive way to Helene.

"Nope this is different Mylo, as long as I'm concerned Lils " She said with a weak hearted smile.

For a brief moment they held eye contact. Memories in the back of his head tried fighting it's way.

Arghhh, it's like my mind is clawing the inside of my head, Every Time she's near me this happens...

Mylo groaned out loud holding his head with his hand. "Mylo, Are you okay?" Corvina asked in a reaffirming tone, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, I just need some space" with that, Mylo walked to the opposite corner of the room, trying to escape from the prying eyes of his past.

"Well Corv, you replaced me so easily" Adam who was silently eyeing her the whole time, finally spoke up.

"Oh Look what the cat dragged in.. Why don't you crawl back to the hole you were hiding in, Isn't that what you're best at? " She said enunciating each word with crisp precision and sarcasm.. Adam raised both of his hands in the air, defeated, stepped back, looked at Helene and mouthed "Exes am i right?" to which a small laugh escaped from her mouth.

Mylo who was still couldn't get his eyes of Helene kept looking at her from the far other side of the room in awe and relief,

Nice to see her smile...after what I did

His stare was soon interrupted as he saw the olive skin toned mage piercing his skull with guilt using her almond eyes.

"Enough Chatter.." The doors swung again, this time only one person walked through. It was the princess "I am princess Nephele of Viltarin and I have a proposition" , it sounded more like a command rather than a proposition. She stood there directly facing Damien waiting for his cooperation, and something about the spark in her eye told Damien that she won't take no for an answer.

This prick of a child

Damien mustered up a smile and said "Listen princess, we don't take orders from the royal court, we are more of a mercenary type of people. So we have nothing to bargain with the crown "

"Not even the Founder's book...? Or the protection of your Healer?" Damien's expression changed, he looked at the princess dumbfounded "Did I hear you wrong kid, or did you really mean.. Darven's Book? The Founders book" He said looking around making sure that everyone in the room heard those exact words as uttered. "And what's going to happen to Helene, I'm not losing her again" said Luna remembering Roden's vile threat.

"Well, I would be willing to answer you, if you accept the propositions, And for you Damien Alexander Knight I've heard you're a man who keeps his promises" the princess said checking her nails. Her callous behavior left everyone baffled, especially Luna. Seeing the desperation in his new found friends' eyes Damien decided to agree to her bidding.

"I'm in, anything for her.. And the book"

"And Corvina told me convincing you would be hard, oh well the job is quite easy actually" the princess now feeling relaxed walked over to a couch and sat there as if it was her throne.

"All you have to do is kill that so-called king... and the deal is done" Not changing her demeanor she remained stoic, chilled and somewhat care free.

"Damien You will absolutely not do that, that is treason against Viltarin. Not to mention isn't he your own blood? This seems like a trap wage a war with Otos" Luna sprung out of the bed lashing out at the princess, her guards swiftly moved trying to retain Luna before she could attack . But the princess raised her palm "No no, she's harmless, no need to hold her" she stood up,

"That man is capable of far worse things beyond any of our imagination, I'm afraid your healer will find out, only if you don't cooperate" her tone got more and more serious with every word. The gang including the mages couldn't help but feel threatened.

"Okay Nephele, that's enough" Corvina came in, "Recently we have evidence to believe that he killed our late king to rise to the throne, also ever since he has been king he has done nothing but strip away Viltarin's resources... "

They sound desperate... it could be true, thought Damien. The mysterious death of the king wasn't even released outside their kingdom, and remembering his earlier visits the city did seem dull compared.

"Also we don't know what, but we believe that Roden is doing some inhumane experiments in the dungeons, we have no proof because only Roden and his assistant have access to that area.. He and the king have been up to very suspicious activities, on top of that kidnapping your princess confirms that whatever they're up to right now is no good and, I fear for the well being of my people... I may be a bastard but he is far worse than you can imagine. I see my citizens die from famish because the crop fields are used for Roden's so called experiments, People, Children go missing in the dead of night... Yet sometimes the guards of dungeons hear screams coming from the cellars.. And I -" The princess's voice broke, the tough persona she held from the beginning slipped for a moment showing her vulnerability. Her reasons come from a place of hope. A hope that said she can provide for the safety and the wellbeing of her people. This was something the girls could relate to, they all listened to her in silence, feeling a bit guilty for judging her too quickly. "I want what's best for my people, if killing him seems too cruel, then help me overthrow him. With the aid of the shadow prince I have a chance.." Seeing the princess look tormented, the mages couldn't help but empathize with her deeply.

We serve to protect our people, She may be arrogant but by Emris I don't have the heart to ignore her plea

Luna looked at Damien nodding her head with approval.

"Well what do you say mage, up for causing some treason?" Damien asked, a sly grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

She smirked, a hint of mischief in her eyes. "I never thought I'd say this, but... why not my dearest rosey?'

"Wait, you came to save me with THE Shadow Prince! What in the Emris happened?!" exclaimed Lily who was still having a hard time wrapping her head around what was going on.

Helene let out an exasperated laugh "Kind of long story Lils, just stay tuned for a bit"