Author's note: Sorry for how long it took to get this new chapter out! I was at camp for 2 weeks and then school started back up >///<

I should have heard them coming up behind me. I was just so overwhelmed at the moment...honestly what fucking kind of assassin was I to not even notice the royal guards before they had grabbed me, one at each arm. I began thrashing then, in some sort of blind rage. Maybe if I had been thinking more clearly I could have still escaped but in that moment I had never felt so powerless. I opened my mouth to shriek but one of the guards clamped a hand over my mouth tightly.

"Don't make a sound. We're not going to hurt you," He muttered. With those words I was dragged down the hall. It wasn't until I had been pushed inside and the door had been slammed shut when I realized I had been brought into the prince's chambers. There he was standing there watching me, the light from a single candle illuminating his delicate features. After a moment he spoke, his voice was calm, bored almost.

"So I see you found out." I nodded stiffly. Mikhos just shook his head. "I knew it was only a matter of time. The maid tipped me off that you were approaching the portrait and I correctly predicted you would ignore all reason and look at it anyways. I made sure my guards brought you here incase you got a bit...hysteric." I hated him, I hated him now more than I ever had. Grimacing I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, ashamed of the tears. Mikhos folded his arms, his expression unreadable in the dark room. "I know you're not mute. Say something." I swallowed hard trying to keep my rage under control.

"You...knew..." my voice was shaking and I couldn't stop it. "You knew this entire time and you never even thought to tell me. You never fucking assumed that I should know my sister was dead. You didn't even PLAN on telling me. What if I hadn't looked at the portrait? Would you have still kept me in the dark? She was my sister! She was everything I had!" The calm was breaking in Mikhos's voice when he spoke again, it was only a slight change but enough for me to clearly notice.

"Everything you had? She was everything I had too. I didn't tell you because I assumed I would be the last person you would want to hear it from. Someone was going to tell you eventually Nicky. Didn't you notice all the people staring at you since you've been here? Hell, even that man Orla brought from the palace to judge the trainees that one time. You look exactly like her, there was no way no one was going to bring it up."

"And then why did you bring me here?" I practically hissed. "If you didn't even have the nerve to tell me then why the FUCK would you bring me here to have 'my little melt down' why not just lock me in a fucking dungeon. Pretty dangerous huh?" I took a step closer to him my hands curled into fists. "I've punched you before. Maybe it's not the best idea to leave me alone in this state with the crown prince." Mikhos just shook his head.

"You wouldn't hurt me and even if you tried I could defend myself. I brought you here because...I thought...I understand. She meant as much to me as she meant to you, trust me. Her last wish to me was that I looked out for you." A sudden realization hit me, a cold, horrible realization.

"You're the one that rigged the tournament weren't you?" There was silence between us for a moment before he finally replied.

"Yes." My head was spinning. It didn't make sense. Edgar had told me he was the one to handle it so...had he planned this...how had he gotten Mikhos to do it? What the hell was going on?

"If you were looking out for me why were you so...horrible to me when we first met."

"You know." His gaze darkened and his tone grew cold, his words turning my blood to ice. I did know...she must have told him. I didn't want to think, I didn't want to relive it so I was silent, faking ignorance until he went on, until I understood how much he really knew.

"You must have known why she left you right? Why she came to the palace to work as a servant rather than go back to you. You killed the man who took you in, the man she had seen as a father." The tears were coming again despite my best efforts to hold them back, my eyes stung and my mouth felt dry.

"I had to."

"Bullshit." His voice was harsh...the same tone he had used that night in the baths months ago. "When she came here she was a wreck, broken. That's how we met, I found her standing in the middle of the hall one night weeping. The man she had seen as a father killed by the only other person she cared about. You betrayed her and destroyed her and even then on her deathbed her last dying wish was for me to look out for you-"

"You think I wanted to kill him? Who the fuck do you think I am?" The man in question was Philip Everston, Edgar had brought Mira and I to stay with him when we were younger and had nowhere else to go. "I'm not a fucking monster, he was like a father to me too. We lived with him for over 5 years!" I could still remember that terrible night as clear as day. "Mira had something...I don't know if she ever told you. Our parents were executed by your father. They were...still practicing magicians." The words clearly hit Mikhos hard and his eyes widened slightly.

"Black magic?" It seemed he shared his predecessors hatred towards it. I nodded slowly. "Yes, Mira and I were still too young to know anything about it but they gave Mira a necklace before they died. I don't know much about it only that it contained some sort of blood bond with the wearer and couldn't be removed unless they died. We never thought it was important, Mira just always wore it as a reminder of our parents. Then one night I overheard Everston...he was our foster father...I heard him talking to some men. They were...bad men. They offered him his weight in gold if he killed Mira and gave it to them."

"So you killed him first." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes. And then that night I went out and found the others as well." I could hardly remember the night past the point where I had fallen into a mad murderous rage.

"And why didn't you tell Mira?" There was something in his voice, a pain I had never heard before.

"I couldn't. Like you said...he was like a father to her. How could I tell her that the man she cared about so much was going to murder her in cold blood just for some extra money. I was naive. I thought I could just take the blame and that..." I found myself laughing now, a cold, sad, sorrowful chuckle. "God I was so stupid. I thought she loved me enough to forgive me and things could just go back to the way they were."

"And instead she ran."

"Yes. And I suppose you know more about the second half of the story then I."

"Do you want to know...how she..." I shook my head.

"No I can't. Not tonight. I just...I can't handle it." He nodded slowly.

"I understand." He was silent a beat and then spoke once more. "Nicolai...I didn't realize I misjudged you. I'm..." he was struggling to say it but after a few more moments of uncomfortable silence between us he spoke once more. "I'm sorry." He handed me something and once I had it in my grasp I realized it was a handkerchief. I took a deep breath, attempting to regain my composure.

"You didn't know. It's in the past now, there's nothing that can change that. It must have been hard for you, huh?"

"Hm?"

"Seeing someone who looked like Mira for four months and having to act like everything was fine." He just shook his head.

"Nicolai I do not wish to speak about it."

"Alright." I shrugged. "I'm going back to my room...that is if your guards will permit me." He nodded stiffly.

"Yeah."

"Good night Emery." I knew it wasn't his real name but I was so used to saying it, it just casually slipped out. I brushed past him and made my way out. The same guards who had brought me were still positioned outside the door and they watched me leave silently. I wondered how much they knew about the puffy eyed Kingsmen they had brought to the prince's chambers. It didn't matter to me, I was too fucking exhausted. I didn't want to think, I just wanted to shut down. I trudged back to my chambers and if I hadn't been so exhausted I might have noticed something was off, that the door was open a crack. I saw the figure almost immediately upon entering, he wore a hood and was seated silently on my bed. When I opened my mouth to speak they put a finger to their lips as an indication to be quite. The figure lowered the hood revealing a pretty faced young man with long blond hair. I was suddenly struck with a chord of recognition. I had seen this man before that day in the town when we had the assassin challenge. I had run right into him. He stood up now and made his way to the door before grabbing me by the sleeve and pulling me out into the hall.

"We must be quiet," he whispered. "I hope you have your coat, it's cold out tonight. We'll only be gone for a few hours." I stared at him, confused.

"What the...who are you? Where are you taking me?" The man extended a slim hand.

"My name is Sabri. I've been told to take you to a hidden place. It's confidential, I'm sorry. Edgar is holding a secret meeting and he wants you there."

"Wait Edgar is here? What is he doing so close to the capital."

"Ask him when you see him. Come on, let's go."