The two mages looked at him in shock at his words. "What? We were just looking for you, to make sure you were alright. What's going on?" the younger prince explained in confusion. 

"Has my father sent Virgil to the dungeons yet?" Roman asked urgently. 

Luis nodded, looking down as he remembered what the cursed version of his brother had said to him. He had to admit that he didn't really have a problem with locking the dark prince away; his words hurt, and it was unnerving to see him alive when he wasn't really back. That being said, he wasn't sure that it was the best idea. According to his step-brother, Virgil had shown considerable want to be locked up. 

"We have to break Virgil out of prison," the prince exclaimed, looking panicked. "Locking him up is exactly what he wants. He'll escape and we'll lose our best chance of saving the real Virgil."

The three of them stared at each other for a moment before Thorn spoke up. "Roman, what exactly is your plan?" the princess questioned. "This isn't going to cause your father to lock you or us in a cell, right?"

"This Virgil knows where the man holding him hostage is, just think about it! He knows where to go back to, so we need to convince him to take us with him," he explained. "He takes us to his captor, we free the real Virgil so he can control his body again, and then beating this mage will be no problem. It's far better than leaving him in the dungeons when I could just tell he had a plan to escape."

Luis and Thorn looked at each other, both looking somewhat skeptical but also hopeful. Obviously they wanted it to be that simple, but they weren't so sure. "Do you really think it'll work?" Luis asked quietly, shaking his head. "How do we get him to take us with him? Surely he'll be smart enough to know what we're trying to do."

"Leave that to me, now are you in or not?" he said, looking between the two. "I could do this alone, but I would rather have two dependable mages watching my back. You saved my life last time. Please guys."

They both sighed heavily, considering the consequences. This would be the second year in a row that the three of them would be traveling somewhere to save Virgil during the annual celebration of peace. Thorn let out a little chuckle, putting her hands on her waist and looking up with determination. 

"Let's do it," she said, shrugging. "It can't be any harder than last year's quest. At least there's not raging thunder storm outside this time."

Roman smiled a little, grateful and amused before turning to the younger prince for his response to the question. He bit down on his lip, looking between his fiancé and his step-brother. "This is dangerous, but I want my brother back," Luis said firmly, lifting his chin. 

"Thank you," the other prince replied, taking his hand to squeeze it firmly. "Let's go, we've gotta hurry if we want to get out of here before our parents notice we're missing."

The three of them hurried through the halls, dodging past the castle staff and making their way hastily to the dungeon. They passed by the banquet hall, pausing so that the guests inside wouldn't hear their footsteps and come out questioning what was happening. As they went by, Luis paused, hearing a young girl's voice. 

"What's going on?" she asked, sounding a little scared. 

"Princess, everything is perfectly fine," a low, male voice replied sternly. 

The young prince stopped, moving forward to peer through the cracked open doors. His eyes landed on her; a girl who had to be about ten with chocolate colored skin and curly black hair that framed her face was standing with who appeared to be her advisor or some kind of authoritative figure. When Luis' gaze traveled up to the man's face, he recognized one of the kings.

He scowled. He had spent an entire year memorizing the family trees and relations of their neighbors, and yet, he didn't have a clue who this little girl was. She looked nothing like the king, and she'd never come to one of the celebrations in the past. 

"But that person with the hood seemed to be trying to hurt Prince Roman-"

"Sapphire, what have we discussed about speaking out of turn?" the king cut her off sharply. 

She flinched and bowed her head apologetically. "My apologies sir..."

"Good, now I'm going to find your sister. Remain here and don't cause any trouble to the other guests, do I make myself clear?" he said, tone intimidating and aggressive. Luis felt his stomach churn uncomfortably upon seeing the young princess nod and shrink away. "Good."

He watched as the king made his way across the room to someone he recognized from previous celebrations and then returned his gaze to the young Sapphire. She looked nothing like the king that supposed was her father; he drew the conclusion that she was adopted rather reluctantly by the king, hence their tense relationship and completely different physical appearances. He felt sympathy, as it was clear she wasn't actually treated like a daughter to the king. 

"Luis! Come on! We gotta move!" Roman whisper shouted, having noticed that he was stalling. 

"But this little girl," he tried to explain, looking at him with wide, sad eyes. "She looks so miserable, I-"

Thorn came up to him and clasped his hands in hers. "I know, I saw her earlier," she said, nodding to her through the door as she pulled him slowly along. "But we can't help her right now, we've got to make sure we get Virgil out of the dungeons while your fathers are distracted."

He frowned sadly but nodded. The three of them made their way through the hallways of the castle, reaching the doorway that led down into the dungeons below the palace. The air was chillier as they descended down the stone steps, Roman in the lead and clearly the one with the plan. Luis just hoped this would end well for all of them, and that he wouldn't have lost another person he loved by the end of this.