"Any trouble?" James asks, peeking into Dylan's room. As usual, he went to Dylan's room to discuss today's work. It was now a habit for both. Dylan wouldn't admit it but he liked his company.

"Nuh. I just finished with the poems. But...." His voice trails off.

"But?" James comes inside and sits beside him.

"Only if I had the names...." He takes out the 1st poem and shows his notes.

"This poem is about a betrayer in the castle. You see these lines; they have been inspired by some of the old poetry, like very very old.

"I regret every ship that he never sailed - the person here is trying to say that the royal was too weak to go into wars, hence the mention of ships. The royal must have been a nuisance towards these servants so they wish for him to go to war and leave the castle for months. Hence they regret not sending him.

And listening to the fallen angel on her honor's shoulder – they are still talking about that royal, now calling him as a fallen angel. The fallen angel or that bratty royal must have had a confidant inside the palace with whom the servants might have seen him. I think the confidant was a woman and addressing her as 'her honor' must mean the woman was a royal too.

I regret not exorcising that demon who possessed that already wretched soul – this talks about the royal being evil beyond repair. But they still had some chance of saving him. So they regret not taking that chance.

and every two-lane word he swore – here they talk about the dubiousness of that royal's character. That royal must have two faces, one to show the royals or the king and queen, other his real face."

"This royal along with another woman royal must be planning something which the servants knew. But they couldn't say anything." Dylan finishes looking up from his notes and is greeted by an admiring face of James.

"WOW! You did that?" James asks in astonishment. He loved Dylan's dedication to work.

Dylan blushes at his compliment. "It's nothing much. I am a literature major. I love poems."

"But still....it's so awesome that you can do this." James claps his hands like a happy seal. Dylan just laughs and hits him. He likes it when he is complimented, especially from him.

"What about the second poem?" James asks interested.

Dylan stops laughing. He was wishing James wouldn't ask him it but he guessed it was time.

"It's.....it's about forbidden love." Dylan keeps his head low.

"Oh." James's smile disappears too. It must become awkward between them. Because they have started seeing each other in dreams.

"But hey! We are not sure if it's Rufus and Walter." James said lifting the heavy tension in the air.

"Actually....." Dylan goes on to describe his dream. The dream of the tree, the poem, and the kiss.

"OH wow! This....this is heavy...." James feels a bit, he couldn't describe what. Should he be happy or creeped out?

"And the poem keeps revolving in my head." Dylan continues.

"Do you remember it?" James asks.

"Here. I noted it down. I thought I would decode it but it is pretty simple." Dylan hands over the book to James.

"It was you,
it was me,
and it was the silence underneath the stars that understood
my heartbeat
and it is racing.
You told me nothing.
I believed everything.
At that moment, I found life.
In that moment
I found you."

James read the poem out loud. Dylan could swear that he felt that King Walter was the one who was reading it. He shrugs off the feeling.

"That is really heavy." James jokes, "Guess they must have loved each other deeply." He looks straight into Dylan's eyes. For a second he felt as if Dylan was leaning in to kiss him and leans in too. But Dylan jolts back.

They sit silently for some more time. James initiates conversation, "Have you decoded that one?"

"Yes. It is rather simple. It just talks about a forbidden love blooming, how it is a secret and it should be kept hidden. It is interesting to know 'you mustn't give this wild bird, its desired pair of wings' this line suggests that one of them wasn't eager to fall in love, maybe because of its forbidden nature. But they were drawn towards the other person." Dylan says.

"So did Rufus and Walter break up?" James asks.

"We can't say it is entirely true because the poem is incomplete. I couldn't find the other paper." Dylan pouts a little. He really wanted to know the fate of these two lovers. "Do you want the whole interpretation?"

"No no, it's pretty simple." James was going to ask the most obvious question, "So, you want to tell the other guys?"

"Yeah, I mean. I can't hide the poems. Maybe I can hide for whom it is written." He shrugs it off.

"Why? They already know about our ancestors." James asks.

"They will ask how I am so sure. I can't tell them I saw us kissing in dreams because they don't know about my nightmares. Especially Noah. I don't want them to be worried." Dylan looks up to James who was smirking.

"What?" Dylan asks confused.

"You said 'us'." He said smirking.

"I meant King Rufus and Walter." Dylan blushes a little.

James chuckles. "What about Clive? Should we tell him?"

"You want him to tease us more?" Dylan says chuckling too.

"I wouldn't mind that," James says shrugging his shoulders.

This is what Dylan fears. James saying subtle things, a subtle flirt that makes his heart flutter. The most embarrassing thing is that James doesn't even know he said something that would make Dylan weak in his knees.

"Jokes apart, you are right. If we found evidence for forbidden love, a royal betraying the castle, they will find more clues about who the lovers were. We don't have to tell them about our dreams." James said getting up. He was now studying Dylan's dream journal.

"I keep thinking....you get happy dreams, I get the sad ones."

"What do you mean?" Dylan asks.

"I mean you saw the happy moments. Them kissing, them eloping..."

"But they were running away. That wasn't a happy one." Dylan points out.

"But they didn't get caught in your dream right?" Dylan shakes his head in a no. It was making a little sense now. "So it must have been a good moment. They were running away from the shackles the society, finally free. But on the other hand, I have bad ones."

"Like the graveyard." Dylan finishes his sentence. "Then what about the vision. Rufus was sad in mine."

"That is confusing me too. Walter was grinning in mine." James says, a hand on his chin.

"Maybe Rufus being on the throne was good for the nation. Walter sitting on the throne might have led to destruction." Dylan gives a suggestion.

"Only one way to find out. More poems and cryptic messages." James shrugs.

Thud!

Both James and Dylan stand up with a jolt. James carefully opens the door to see if someone was eavesdropping but there was no one. A vase had fallen down.

"Who is there?" Dylan asks.

"Nothing. A vase just fell down." James closes the door.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So Rufus and Walter were really lovers. We had guessed it right." Noah looks at the torn paper.

"I think you should stop hiding stuff from Dylan." It was Logan who spoke.

Noah just ignores him. Logan continues, "You won't be able to decode that piece by yourself. The other half is with Dylan."

"I don't need to decode. It's a stupid poem anyways." Noah looks away.

"But still, you have to stop hiding stuff from Dylan. You are supposed to keep him on your side. By doing this, you are just pushing him towards that James." Logan crosses his arms on his chest.

Noah bites his lip. What Logan said was true. Noah had found the poem first and decided to tear it and keep the other half with him. When he saw James entering Dylan's room, he thought he would listen to a bit. But many things got revealed. At least they don't know who the 'royal' was, the one who betrayed the castle.

"Look, Noah. I know what we are doing is for Dylan's own good. But this puts us in a vulnerable position too. We need protection. And we can get that when Dylan is on our side. You know things would get ugly if he....." Logan was stopped mid-sentence.

"Yeah...yeah. You don't need to repeat that." Noah says irritatingly.

"Are you still giving him the medicines?" Logan asks to change the topic.

"Yeah. He doesn't remember any of his dreams." Noah swivels on the chair and gets up to leave.

"And we have to take care of this James. He is a new complication." Logan remarks.

Noah crumbles the torn paper and tosses it in a dustbin. He knows James is a threat. He knows he has to eliminate him.