Young Writers Society

Delilah

Delilah was awake early in the morning. She got up gently so she didn't wake Desmond. She looked at him with a soft gaze before pulling a silk robe on and walking out of her room quietly. The castle was quiet, like it was every morning. She shook her head....a quick sound of feet came at a run down the hallway. Del looked behind herself and saw her sister Farin running down the hall, her face as pale as the snow that fell outside their windows in the winter.

"Rin? Sister what is wrong? You look as scared as a baby deer!" Lilah held out her arms for her sister to run into. Rin ran into them and Delilah felt the younger girl shaking. She looked around trying to find the cause of her sister's reaction. Finding none Delilah shook her head. If nothing in the immediate area had scared her then Rin must have been approached by a suspect.

Delilah led Farin into her room, forgetting that Desmond was in her bed sleeping. But when she looked he was gone and the bed had been made. Del sighed in relief but turned her attention back to her younger sister. Farin had started crying a little since Delilah had pulled her into an embrace.

"Bryn just scared me , I don't know if it's wise to continue with the marriage." Rin said. Del frowned, her sister loved her betrothed and she knew it just from Farin's actions recently, but something felt off. She sensed that her younger sister had reservations about what was about to happen. She smiled at her younger sister.

"Farin, mother wouldn't force us to marry these men if she thought it would cause us harm, and we're prime targets right now. Don't let Bryn scare you out of your commitment and don't be afraid of your betrothed. If you love him like I think you do then I don't see how he could hurt you"

"Lilah, what if Bryn is right though? What if all the plainsmen are wanting is our lands, what if they don't intend on stopping the fighting?"

Lilah shook her head at her sister's words.
"Rin, if there was a shred of thought that, that was their plan then we wouldn't be marrying the princes...we'd have a choice. But that's not what their plans are, which is why we don't get a choice in marriage"

Farin looked like she wanted to say more but she didn't she sat next to her sister in the chairs and looked at the fire that was blazing quietly in the corner, eventually being lulled to sleep. Del took a blanket from her bed and covered her younger sister with it before leaving, preferably to have a nice chat with Bryn.

How dare he scare her sister like that. How dare he even think it wise to talk to a royal the way he talked to Farin. Yes a few words would be spoken and all would be resolved. Delilah walked quickly in the direction of the office that Bryn was given, all the while aware of Desmond's faint footsteps hiding in the shadows.

Eli had been sitting in the reading room. He wasn’t reading, since he was too on-edge to enjoy a novel. The thought had crossed him that Princess Farin was not Bryn’s only target. Any one of the six’s deaths could spark a war, so even sitting in this room, Eli could be in danger. Or worse, his brothers could be. Not even sleeping was safe.

Slow, confident footsteps passed the doorway of the reading room. Eli looked up in time to see the coattails of Bryn’s suit passing by. Needing an excuse to put this book down and do something, he slid out the door. Carrying his sword could be seen as an act of aggression, and Bryn was clever enough to take advantage of it if it came up in a council meeting that a foreign prince was running through the castle armed.

Bryn was in no rush to get to where he was going, and Eli had to stop himself from moving too fast in impatience. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Bryn took a turn and arrived in the courtyard. As he crossed it, he let a note slip from his left hand, not stopping. Eventually he entered the castle at the other side of the courtyard, but Eli had paused to inspect the note.

It was a mostly blank slip of paper, with the words Courtyard, sundown, pay written in the top corner. Eli hesitated. He could get the guards to come to the courtyard tonight, and prove Bryn’s guilt. But they could be in on Bryn’s plot, and ultimately it would get him nowhere. No, he would go alone.

But what if he’s captured, or attacked? Having someone there would be a safe call. Only one person though, to prevent them from being too noticeable. Alik was too emotional right now, and Farin was too close to the problem. Delilah seemed to be occupied on a nightly basis. Ibsen and Anumati probably wouldn’t approve of Eli’s plan. Looks like he would have to go alone.

Looking up from the note, he saw Delilah run by the exit Bryn had taken, followed by a guard had Eli felt he had seen. After a moment’s consideration, he took off after them. It seemed like they were trailing Bryn, but he couldn’t let a confrontation happen. If Bryn even so much as suspected the note had been found, he could change the meeting spot or cancel it altogether.

After a tiring sprint, he caught up with the guard. Delilah wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and the guard was standing around a corner in the hallway. “Where is she?!” Eli hissed to the guard. He turned to Eli and looked in surprise, before realizing they had also been tailed.

“She’s around the corner, talking to Bryn,” the guard replied.

“Is she an idiot?” Eli asked, mostly to himself. The guard appeared to be quite angered by this question, however, and clenched his spear tighter than he had.

“You do not have the right to insult a princess of the tundra! I don’t care if you’re a prince, disrespect like that is unforgivable! Especially directed at your future spouse!” He whispered in hush disdain.

Eli groaned. “Do you not realize that he wants her dead? She could be walking into a trap! Besides, I have a plan to prove his guilt, but it won’t work if she gives away too much. She’s way too emotional after what happened to Farin for me to trust her self-control.” He started running around the corner, but the guard grabbed his sleeve. With a quick jerk of the arm, Eli let his sleeve rip off and rounded the corner…

...To see just one guard. She was probably on the younger side, a new recruit, and was holding her spear in her hand, looking hostile. Her eyes were on the floor, which looked like a regular floor. “Where’s Bryn and Delilah?” Eli called to her, hoping she had seen something.

She looked to be at a lost for words, and was still staring at the floor. “They were talking here, and then the floor opened up, and they dropped through, and now the floor is back to normal. I swear I’m not crazy, but-”

“Is there a basement to this part of the castle?” Eli hurriedly asked. By now the other guard had followed him around the corner and was looking worried.

“None that I’m aware of,” the female guard said with a sad head shake.

“You, try to pry open these floorboards,” Eli commanded the guard who had been with Delilah. He looked hesitant to follow orders from a prince, but finally decided to obey. “You, with me. We’re going to speak with Ibsen and Anumati. Something tells me they’ll know what to do right now.”

He wasn’t sure why he asked her to accompany him, when he could easily have done it himself. It just felt right in the moment. Maybe because she was a witness. Eli was unsure, but she followed him without hesitation, and they rushed to speak with the two nobles.

At last they arrived at Anumati’s room. A knock, and they heard footsteps shuffling to answer the door. “This is wrong. I shouldn’t even be near the princess’s room. I’m still a black cape,” the guard said in worry. It took Eli a second to realize the black cape was in reference to this kingdom’s ranking system, and black cape was the novice title, characterized by the black band on her uniform’s cape.

“Relax. You’re with me,” Eli comforted her. “You know, I don’t even know your name.” It seemed wrong to ask about her name at a time like this, but Eli felt he desperately needed to know it.

She looked surprised at the statement for a second, but smiled when she realized what he was asking. “Claire. My name is Claire. Pleased to meet you. Your name?”

“Prince Eli. Just call me Eli, though.” It shocked Eli that someone in the kingdom hadn’t heard of who he was, but he liked it. Claire wouldn’t think of him as just That Prince. He wasn’t just the face of his family’s accomplishments, or a royal prince that wouldn’t ever be king but needed respect anyway. He was Eli to her, a new acquaintance. A potential friend. Eli had never had a friend outside of royalty.

The door was pulled open, and Ibsen welcomed the pair into Anumati’s room.

Bryn Toltear

This wasn't part of his original plan...but it would do. With a struggling Delilah beside him, he was rather surprised that he was able to get away with this. His men had jumped in with a perfect ruse. They had rough grabbed the both of them as if they were both prisoners. Right in front of that black cape. Of course, this hadn't been the original plan. He was planning on just disappearing before the princess came up.

However, with this new development he would be able to work with this. "Who are you?! Why are you trying to kill my sister?!" Delilah screamed at these men. Of course, only silence greeted her as they quickly moved to get to the main lair.

"Keep quiet Princess," Bryn said in a hushed voice. As if he were going to take care of everything. "Let me deal with these ruffians."

"I demand to be taken to your superior. I swear I will have you hanged with how you are treating the princess. Mmmph!" The pair of them were gagged with dirty rags. Though he gave a hateful glare to the men, he had to admit that it was a nice touch. The princess was escorted off and Bryn was let go.

"How are the preparations coming?" Bryn asked before pulling the rag from his mouth.

"Everything is as you requested. A small army is ready to invade the Plain's unprotected border."

"Good. Bring me Desmond."

***********

Desmond came thrashing into the room with a few more of Bryn's men.

"Ah the young soldier. I take it my men have been of most convincing."

"You damn, traitor! I swear I'll see you hung from the highest gallows!"

"I'm the traitor?" Bryn retorted. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but a soldier having an affair with a betrothed princess is already enough to put your head on the executioner's block." Desmond's eyes widened in shock. "Or perhaps the fact that you have been seen entering the princess' room through the servant's entrance late at night and leaving before sun has risen. Imagine the scandal at the thought that the princess' innocence has been taken by a guard that was entrusted with her well being."

Desmond's head dropped. The men around him releasing him as he sat there defeated. "What do you want, steward?" he growled.

"What I want is simple. Kill one of the princes. If you succeed in reigniting the war, then I will give you the princess back. if you fail, then I will expose both of you as traitors. And you know full well what will happen to the princess. Now...we have to come up with a plan that will make sense as to why you were able to retrieve me and not your beloved princess."

Bryn smirked. This was all going to work out so famously. Either one of the Plains princes was dead or he would have war sparked with the princess as the scapegoat. It was perfect.

Alik Stormwind

"Alik, you have only just gotten to your feet you shouldn't be straining yourself like this!" the king said in that worried tone.

"Father! Princess Delilah is missing! I can't just sit here while she could be in danger. They need all the help they can find to get her back," Alik said pulling his tunic over the bandages that currently wrapped around his torso. They currently held a salve that dulled the pain in his back.

"Alik I almost lost you!" the king said grabbing Alik by the shoulders. "Again...I almost lost you again. Now you want me to let you go back out there to face some enemy that we don't know?!"

"I have to do something!" Alik cried in desperation. "I can't just lie here bedridden while others are facing this threat alone. That isn't what you taught us. It is the responsibility of the Plainsman to protect his family. Well very soon they will be family. You want me to just ignore everything that you have taught us? Why every man, regardless of his status in life, is taught how to fight...how to protect what Delor has blessed him with. I can't just sit here and do nothing. That isn't how you raised me."

Alik pushed passed his father determined to make it out of that ornate door before his father could find some other reason to keep him there.

"Son." That single word had enough power to stop the young prince in his tracks. "I know I can't stop you. Even when you were a child I could never stop you from pursuing what you wanted. But I want you to tell me why?"

"What do you mean why? Someone is in trouble. It's..."

"I know that isn't all that there is, Alik. I'm your father. I know these things."

Alik looked down, his hand dropping from the handle of the door. He slowly turned to the older man, his full of uncertainty.

"It's....Princess Farin. I....she's scared of me..." Alik said his voice sounding on the verge of breaking. "I...I know that I can't take back what she has seen. But maybe I can try and show her that I care about what she cares about. Maybe helping find her sister will be enough to show her that...I'm not a monster."

Alik's hand toyed with the bracelet that was given to him. A gift from his betrothed before the time of giving gifts. An item he refused to take off no matter what the reason, especially after the attack.

"What makes you think that she's scared of you?" his father asked.

"I can see it in her eyes. The way she looks at me. Like I'm some terrifying monster that she is just waiting to turn savage on a moment's notice. And now her sister has been captured, possibly by the same people that attacked her. I feel like none of this would have happened if we weren't here...that we're responsible. That I'm responsible."

There was a long pause between them as Alik tried to find the words to express what was in his heart.

"I want to see her smile again...like that first day. Before she found out about that side of me."

The king sighed before he moved closer to Alik. Fixing his coat to sit better across his shoulders. "Well...If there is nothing I can say to stop you...then just promise me you will be careful. I don't need my beard getting any grayer from worrying about you."

Alik nodded before he headed out of the room. He felt stiff. Almost two days in a bed made him feel like his joints weren't wanting to work right at all. Heading to the hall of the disappearing princess he began to search over every crack of the hall. "There isn't any lever...which means that wherever this secret entrance is, the lever is on the other side of it."

Turning on his heel his brow furrowed in thought as he wandered toward the main meeting room. "I won't like to suggest this but we may have to just tunnel through the floor and repair it later."

A gasp drew him from his thoughts . Looking up he saw Farin there...staring at him. Those eyes shining within those dark brown pools. Alik clammed up again. The hallways diverge creating two perpendicular halls to the one they were in.

Alik wanted to say something...anything that could change that look in her eyes. But he just dropped his head. His shoulders sinking as he slowly made his turn, heading to the meeting room. He could hear Farin's hasty footsteps heading in the opposite direction from him.

He wasn't sure where it came from. Maybe it was the desperate part of his heart trying to reach for his betrothed, but it all happened before he could stop it.

"Princess Farin!" he cried, whirling around to see her. His eyes terrified and his handss clenched in a desperate attempt to keep from shaking. "Please.."

It was all he could say. Praying to Delor and The Goddess that his plea could be heard.

Farin stopped, the prince's voice jarring amid the jumbled fear in her mind. She realized she had not heard him more than two words speak since that day . . . Her back still to him, she could feel herself begin to tremble as the memories came flooding back, but she tried to take a deep breath and shook her head slightly. Lilah had said they were safe. She could trust Lilah, and their mother. But Bryn had said--

"Stop it!" she cried, not realizing she had made that exclamation out loud.

Alik jumped a little as he heard her yell. Feeling that she was screaming directly at him his shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone," he said in the smallest of voices.

Farin jumped again, and turned quickly to see Alik standing still, looking at her with such a sorrowful expression that it shocked her. "Oh," she said. "I--I didn't mean to say that out loud." She squeezed her shaking hands together. She could make this work.

Alik nodded slowly though he wasn't really sure if she meant that or if she was simply being polite. "I...I'm sorry that...I'm sorry about what happened," he said looking down to the stones at his feet. "I...never wanted you to see that."

Farin took a deep breath and paused to think through her response rationally. "Well, it's too late to go back now," she replied quietly. She forced herself to search his face, trying to make sense of his every emotion. He seemed sincere from just about every angle.

"I...I want to fix this...but I don't know how," he said, his hand trembling at this very interaction. Scared to death he would say the wrong thing and send her running down the hall. "I can't bear to think that...this will be us. Walking past one another as if we were ghosts. To see you so frightened of me. I don't want you to have to live like that."

She couldn't understand why he was acting like this. If all Lilah said was true, he had nothing to be sorry for. It was--it was her fault. Her fault for allowing past trauma to affect her view of the present. She glanced down at his hands, and stopped when she saw the bracelet she gave him, still there around his wrist.

Farin swallowed and straightened. Mother had always said that she was responsible for fixing her own mistakes. This had to be one of those times. She willed her feet to move forward, one step at a time.

"No," she said. "This--this is all my fault. I shouldn't have . . . doubted you so easily." She stopped in front of him and looked up at his tall figure, into his eyes. She extended her own hand, still shaking, and took one of his.

Alik almost seemed to jump at the touch. His eyes rimmed with the beginning of tears. Trying to hold up a brave front. One that he held in front of so many people, ready to crumble in front of her. He looked into her eyes praying he wouldn't see the same fear. "I..." he closed his eyes and took a breath. Summoning his own courage to push through. "I had wanted to tell you before...everything happened, that I asked that we live somewhere where you can still be in the Tundra. That's why I asked about the sled."

Another breath as he slowly let his hand hold hers with the gentlest touch he could muster. "Our families, and our people, have had a great deal taken from us. I didn't want to take you from your home. I don't want to take away your peace of mind. I just want to keep you safe."

Farin felt tears pricking at her own eyes when she saw his. "I believe you," she said, and she meant it. She stood on her tiptoes to wipe the wetness from his face, all the while letting her own tears begin to fall freely. "It's going to be all right. I'm sorry for making you go through all this."

Alik had turned his face into her hand, a part of him elated that she was trying to close the distance that had come between them. "I shouldn't have tried to hide it from you. I'm sorry. I..." he paused a moment before looking to her again. Taking her hands gently in his he cupped them close to his chest. "If I can manage it, you will never have to see that side of me ever again. It is not something that I ever wanted out. But when he hit you...I just...I couldn't let that stand."

She shook her head. "Even if--if that does come up again, I-I won't be afraid anymore. You have only protected me, not harmed me. Not like other people have before. So don't worry about that. Why don't we just put this behind us, and start over?"

Alik nodded gently, finally releasing a held breath. His stature changed and relaxed. A smile on the corners of his lips again. "I'd love that...but if we are to start over...I'll have to find you another flower," he said holding her hands a little tighter.

Farin let out a small laugh and smiled. "I think this is a better gift that any flower in the land. I don't need anything else . . . Alik."

Alik finally smiled his hands sliding down her arms and around her waist to embrace her. His own joy overpowering his traditions as he held her close, protectively. "Thank you, Princess Farin. You have no idea the happiness you have given me."

Farin let out a small gasp and felt her face grow warm as he put his arms around her so familiarly, but she relaxed into it and wrapped her own arms around his neck. Her smile grew bigger. "I think I could get used to this," she whispered into his ear. Sure, it wasn't exactly proper, seeing as they were only still betrothed and standing in the middle of an open hallway . . . but it was nice, just being like this for a moment.

Alik didn't want to let go. His arms wrapped tightly around her as he smiled. It felt good to smile again. Slowly letting go, and letting his hands rest gently on her sides he winced a little as he stood a little straighter, from a subtle pain from the closed wound. "I...um...." he was actually blushing as he realized just what he had been doing where anyone could see. "I was trying to help with the search," he stumbled through as he wasn't really sure what to do with himself in that moment.

She nodded, growing more serious. "Whoever is trying to form a rift between the Plains and the Tundra again is still out there. I suppose finding him--or her--is the most important thing for now."

Alik took her hands again as he nodded, his thumbs gently tracing over the back of her hands. "When all this is over. The two of us wed and this whole business is at a close. I am going to take you to see all of the Plains. Just the two of us and as few guards as possible. We'll travel and see everything. Then we'll come back to the Tundra in the summer, and you can show me all the wonders of your home."

Farin frowned as a thought came to her. "Wait . . . what search are you referring to? I wasn't aware that there was one being conducted yet."

Alik swallowed a little as he could see the confusion. She doesn't know he thought. Should I?

"Alik," she said, pleading. "Don't hide this from me. I can handle whatever it is."

He released a breath, laced with uncertainty before he nodded slowly. "Your sister - Princess Delilah - is missing. She fell through the corridor back where I was with the steward Bryn. The stones opened up and they fell through. No one has seen either of them for a few hours now."

Farin gasped and covered her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears again as guilt flooded through her. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" Her voice broke near the end. "Lilah. . ."

"I don't know, but I swear to you...we are going to find her," Alik said firmly. "Everyone is looking, Plains and Tundra alike." He paused a moment before he decided to be completely honest with her. "And there's something else...I think that the steward, Bryn Toltear, is the one responsible for the attack and disappearence."

"Bryn? But--but how is that possible? He--he's always been there for us." She shook her head in disbelief and sniffled. "Isn't he missing too?"

"I know it doesn't make sense, and I don't have any evidence of it. But...I just have a feeling. There are too many coincidences for something not to be up in my book." She may not like hearing this from him...but he refused to hide anything else from her. The last time didn't turn out so well.

Farin let out a breath and tamped down her emotions. "Why don't we go talk to Anumati?' she suggested. "She'll know what to do. She always does."

"My brother Ibsen did earlier, but it may be time for all of us to get together and figure this thing out. Right now just the five of us know about my suspicion," he said taking her hand gently and placing it over his arm. Escorting her as was proper for him to do. His free hand on hers.

"Please be okay, Lilah," murmured Farin.

Knowing the castle was apparently home to at least one secret passage, the three princes and two princesses met outside in the royal badminton court, fenced lightly by bare trees, where they could keep an eye out on the surrounding area. Alik made sure that everyone had a mode of protecting themselves, even the princesses, but also that nothing was too ostentatious to demonstrate their defensiveness - Eli gave Farin and Anumati small sheathed daggers to strap on their wrists under their sleeves.

"Future king and queen versus us," Alik proclaimed, brandishing his racquet. "Fair enough?"

Ibsen laughed - he couldn't help himself! It had been so long since he'd let loose and played a game with people he cared about. Nevertheless, he was still self-conscious about the chip on his front tooth and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Ibsen laughing," Eli said. "Heck, you've fooled me into thinking we've gathered here to have fun." He lowered his voice. "Knock, knock, big brother... my betrothed is missing." With that, he tossed the shuttlecock in the air and smacked it over the net.

"Sorry," Ibsen muttered, straightening his face. He watched Anumati pop the shuttlecock back over to the other side.

"So," she said, "what's our evidence against Bryn?"

"The biggest thing, I think, is that he's missing too," Ibsen said.

"Right," Anumati said. "I don't see why, if Bryn isn't to blame, the kidnappers would take him as well. Right now he's our biggest suspect, so why would they eliminate him?"

"I see what you mean, but no one else knows what we know," Alik reminded her. "They could see Bryn as one of our greatest allies."

"He's up to no good," Eli said. "That's all I know. That note I found? Excellent evidence."

"Maybe it's code he's using for the better good," Farin suggested. "Have we asked any of the guards if they know what it means?"

Anumati shook her head as she served the shuttlecock. "We can't ask any of them. How do we know who's on our side? If Bryn's to blame, we can't let him know we suspect him."

"But some of those guards..." Farin said. "We've known them for so long! Same goes to Bryn, I guess. All these people I once trusted with my life. What happened? Why are they doing this?"

Alik laughed suddenly, and everyone looked at him oddly. "Hey! I don't see any smiles! We're supposed to look happy, remember?" He leaped up and smacked the shuttlecock, which in term merely hit the net and bounced back. "Ow," he said, touching his side. "Okay, maybe not that happy."

Eli picked it up and sliced it over the net, forcefully grinning. Ibsen dove for it and scooped it up into the air, setting it for Anumati; she sliced it back.

"Against the rules, but I'll allow it," Alik said.

They played another couple minutes in awkward silence, until the shuttlecock dropped at Farin's feet and she didn't move to pick it up. Instead, she stared at it.

"Rin?" Anumati asked.

Alik stepped over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Farin, what's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" she cried. She looked up at him, and her eyes were red with tears. "It's been nearly three hours now, Alik! Where is she?" He didn't have an answer. She turned to Anumati across the net, her eyes pleading. "Anumati? Where is she? What are they doing to her?"

Her face pale as the snow, Anumati shook her head.

Remembering the dark, glaring windows of the castle overlooking the court, Ibsen twirled his racquet impatiently. He didn't want to be rude and request that the girls act happier, but anyone could be watching them, gauging their awareness of the situation. Farin wasn't supposed to know that her sister was kidnapped - perhaps Delilah was only in town looking for a new dress.

"I really want to hug you right now," Anumati said to Farin, "but I don't think that'd look good."

Farin smiled - a genuine smile. Sniffling, she bent down to pick up the shuttlecock, then served it to her sister.

Ibsen noticed a guard nearing the court. "Head's up," he said. "Guard."

"Look happy!" Alik said.

The guard arrived at the court and bowed his head. "Apologies for interrupting your game," he said. "Princess Anumati and Princess Farin, Steward Bryn requests your company in the hall."

Ibsen felt a chill go down his spine.

"Alright," Anumati said, in as proper and controlled a tone she could muster, turning to give Ibsen her racquet. She locked eyes with him.

We'll be right behind you he tried to tell her through that gaze.

The princesses turned and followed the guard into the castle.

Ibsen stood with his brothers until the door closed. Then, wordlessly, they set off after them; facades of cheerfulness were abandoned.

<center><b>Bryn Toltear</b></center>

"You keep to your role and you'll have your lover in your arms once again," Bryn sneered, nursing the split lip and bruise that was on his face. He had those hidden beneath the castle rough him up to make it seem that he had been in a struggle. Clothing ripped and set in the seat to appear a pitiful as possible.

"Tonight, when things are a little less busy, you will use those back corridors that you are so adept at using and slit one of the prince's throats. Maybe the betrothed of the one you love so much. Make sure that he knows who she belongs to."

Desmond had to grit his teeth. This snake had him by the short and curlies. He didn't have a way out. If he didn't do what this psychopath wanted then who knew what would happen to Delilah?

Bryn let his smile fade away as the door opened and in stepped the two princesses. Eldest and youngest. "Forgive me Princess!" Bryn began looking to her with a sorrowful look. "I was not able to protect your sister. Not even within these walls. Her capture is my failing," he said bowing low, pretending to once again be her ally.

"Do not strain yourself, Steward," Anumati said in her even and calm tone. "Tell me what happened so that we can take the appropriate action."

"We were walking through the corridor when the floor gave out beneath us. When we stopped falling we were captured and they immediately separated us. It seemed that they had no use for me and were set to kill me. Had this brave guard not arrived when he did, I would be forgotten in some hole."

Desmond visibly shifted as he stood at attention.

"Desmond right?" Farin said, struggling to hide the fear and concern in her voice. She was not as practiced as her eldest sister. "You are my sister's personal guard."

"Yes, Princess."

"What did you see?" Anumati asked gently.

Desmond gave a glance to Bryn as it seemed he hadn't expected to be questioned so soon with the Steward right there. "There were several of them. They took Princess Delilah by horseback across the Tundra. I had no chance in catching them, when I saw that a few of them had remained behind. Dealing with them I found the Steward there in the state that you see him here. I thought it the best chance to find the Princess, since I could not pursue them on foot."

"Is my sister alive?" Anumati said, unable to hide the hint of worry in her voice.

"When I last saw her she was," Desmond answered honestly.

"Do either of you have any idea of who is behind this?"

Neither answered. Desmond only produced a cloth that was torn from the same cloth as the Plains uniform.

"I do not wish to assume that the princes are involved. But I am not confident that they speak for all of their kingdom," Bryn said warily. "I fear that there may be a few turn coats in their ranks attempting to do away with us."

"Or perhaps there are a few here wishing to make us think it was the Plains," Anumati responded, her voice once again flat. "I am surprised they did not simply attempt to cut your throat Bryn."

"They attempted to extract some information from me about you and your mother before they beat me. But your sister wanted me to tell you that should she not make it to be very careful of the Plains princes. Though I have no proof, I believe she may had been led to that place by one of them."

Anumati's eyes narrowed at his statement, but nodded carefully. "I see. She would not have said something so lightly. I will tell my mother everything. Including the heroism of this brave guard. Now rest. We will figure out what to do when we are done speaking with my mother."

Bryn nodded as he let them leave. That sneer of his spreading over his his features as he looked to Desmond. "You may just save the princess after all," he chuckled before standing up.

"Two days before the Yuletide. You have until then to get the job done Desmond. Fail, and I will make sure you die a traitor's death," he said as he left the room. Letting the guard stew in his lack of options. The sun approaching the horizon.

Delilah was roughly shoved into a tiny cell, all it had in it was a pile of straw, a chamber pot, and a small stool. When the guards shoved her in she fell into the stool and fell to the ground. Her hands were scraped up. Lilah wiped away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Her dress was ripped from the fall and filthy. She silently thanked the Gods she had worn trousers and a shirt under her dress. She pulled her hair tie from her wrist and tied her hair into a high ponytail.

She made sure the guards were turned away before she untied all the strings holding her dress in place and took off the skirts and the corset. She tossed all her things in a corner, pulling a hat and a knife from one of the hidden pockets. She sheathed the knife in a holder at her waist. She pulled the pins from her hair that had been keeping her hair out of her face. She pulled the hat over her head and walked silently up to the door. She felt around for the lock on the outside with her fingers and quietly slipped the pins into it. It took a bit of jostling from her to get them into the grooves just right. Oh so quietly she got the door open. She slipped through the small opening she had made and quietly creeped behind one of the guards. She grabbed his gun which startled him enough to make him turn around.

But before he could make a move Lilah had him pinned. She wrapped his arm around his back and held him at gun point and faced the other guard.

"You think you scare me little girl? I'm not afraid of you, no one is." He said with a smirk. He used his free hand to try and hit Lilah in the side of her face. Fortunately Lilah saw that coming and ducked. At this point the other guard had pulled his gun out and was trying to aim it at Lilah. He couldn't get a clear shot though. Lilah's hat was knocked off her head she dropped the gun quickly and pulled her knife out and threw it at the other guard, it hit him in the throat. As he went down she quickly picked up the gun and shot the guard she had pinned and shot him in the temple and dropped his now lifeless body. She grabbed the other gun and some ammo before she ran down the tunnel in front of her.

She was determined to get out of this underground prison and find her mother to tell her what's going on. Lilah was terrified, but she wouldn't show it. She could only hope that she could reach the surface in time to prevent another murder attempt....or a death.

Lilah walked for what seemed like hours, in fact it had only been 30 minutes, she was tired and thirsty. She didn't really know how long she had been down here but she kept moving forward. Soon enough she ran into a ladder that seemed to lead up. Lilah put both guns in the belt around her waist and started to climb.

It was dark and cold on the ladder, and the walls were close to the ladder and that made her a bit claustrophobic but as she kept climbing she could see some light escaping around the edges of something. When she finally reached it, she saw that it was a trap door. She carefully pushed it up and looked around.

She recognized the room she was in as the study she had frequently escaped to when she wanted to be left alone by her mother. She climbed out and replaced the tile she had pushed out. She pushed a heavy oak desk over the tile and slammed some books on top of it before running back to her room to change and then it was off to find her mother.

When Lilah reached her room, it was exactly how she left it, except Rin was no longer there and the blanket had been draped over the chair. Lilah quickly slid out of her blood stained clothes, hid the weapons, fixed her hair, and pulled on a simple dress while slipping on a pair of flats and running out towards the common area.