"Um Kacia," Aleela said, after I continued to lie on the floor staring at my hands for longer than anyone would consider normal. "Are you okay?"

I tried to say yes, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble. This was so much worse than the first time. Even moving my eyes to try and look in her direction made me feel like I was going to pass out. The room was spinning around me. I was blood and pain. I shut my eyes.

"Kacia?" The next voice was deeper: male. My eyelids fluttered open and I found Dante standing over me, his forehead creased in concern. "Come on," he said, crouching to help me up. I tried to shrug him away. He was a Lathrian; I didn't need his help. But he lifted me to my feet, taking care only to touch my clothing and not my skin, and escorted me to Aleela despite my protests. I slumped onto the bench beside her, eyes fluttering closed.

"Drink this," he said, holding out a bottle of cyan liquid.

"What is it?" I asked, eyeing it sceptically. It didn't look natural.

"Opalberry juice. It will help ease the pain tithe. Evanthe will sort you out a steady supply of the stuff when she gets back. Ash should've grabbed a bottle before your fight but... Let's just say Etealian wellbeing isn't high on his priority list."

"I got that impression, thanks," I said, massaging my neck before taking a tentative sip from the bottle. It was sweet and refreshing, not what I'd expect for something laced with poison. I risked a bigger gulp. The more I drank, the clearer my head grew. By the time I was halfway down the bottle, I was starting to feel some semblance of normality returning.

"Speaking of Ash, I ran into him on my way here," Dante said at last. "He looked rattled, which is impressive. It takes a lot to trigger an emotional response from the ice prince."

"I guess threatening to kill me took its toll." I looked back at my hands, which were still caked in blood.

"Here," Aleela said softly, producing a small pack of wipes from her pocket and handing them to me.

I pulled the first one out and started to clean up some of the damage while asking Dante, "I get that you don't like us, but with Ash, it feels stronger than that."

"That's... because it is. Ash's father, General Tassigny, was the captain of the royal guard. After the death of the Etealian queen, the king organised a royal tour of Volcaria, a victory parade, of sorts. Ash's father played a principle role in the organisation.

"Ash himself was only a few months old, so his mother, Queen Annalise, was on maternity leave from her altora duties and they accompanied the royal family on their tour.

"When the rebellion broke out, there was chaos in the streets. Those who didn't support the rebels were butchered. General Tassigny persuaded his wife and son to flee. The queen wanted to stay and fight with him, but he pleaded with her; they both knew Ash's survival would rely on her power. Once he knew they were on their way to safety, he attempted to rescue his king and restore order to the city.

"Dozens of eye witnesses describe the fate he met at the hands of the Etealians. They tore him limb from limb in the streets. There wasn't enough left for the queen and Ash to bury."

I listened in silence while I focused on getting the blood out from between my fingers and under my nails. "That's horrible," I told Dante, starting to wipe my cheeks. "But I wasn't even alive when that happened. Why blame me for it?"

"I never said that Ash's hatred was logical, but it is deep routed. He's grown up believing that Etealians are savage, immoral and violent. All of them. No matter when they were born or what part they could've taken in the death of his father. The treatment of Etealians after the uprising is equal to Lathrian opinion towards them. It also helps discourage further unrest and rebellion."

"It's cruel to punish Etealians who had nothing to do with the uprising though. That's why there are so many problems in Volcaria - we know the treatment we're receiving is unjust."

Dante sighed. "I don't make the rules. But you've found yourself in a good position to influence the opinion of someone who does, or soon will. Maybe spend less time attacking Ash and more time letting him see that Etealians aren't all like he expects."

I huffed. There was about as much chance of that happening as the twins handing themselves in.

"You need to get used to his company at any rate, and at least attempt to tolerate it. You'll be spending a lot of time together over the next few months. You can't spend the entire time trying to kill each other. Although, it'll be entertaining to watch if you do."

"Thanks." I sniffed. My nostrils were full of dried blood and the scent flooded my senses. My stomach rolled. "How do you cope with the tithe?" I asked. I'd only used my powers three times and they didn't seem worth the toll they took on my body.

"It gets better with practice - you develop a level of tolerance. I can use my powers in small bursts without too many ill effects. But the tithe is important; it keeps us in check. Limitless power comes with limitless problems. We're all safer for the tithe's restriction. It is horrible though; I was sick for most of last night after flying you here."

"Why do it?"

"Because I got to fly you here. I wouldn't give up getting to fly for anything. Sure, I would have rather taken a scenic sweep around Lathria instead of flying over the mountains putting up with your stench, but still: flying."

"It's not as if I have much of a choice, anyway," I grumbled, removing the last of the blood from my face.

Dante sighed. "Ash is the closest thing I have to a best friend. While I don't agree with everything he says or does, I do understand the hatred that it stems from. I also know how much he hates being in this position; relying on one of the people he detests most in the world. I think this will be good for him. And then, in turn, it can be good for Etealia."

I pulled a face, but Dante continued. "Stick with it. I'll do what I can to help - like getting you some more opalberry juice. But right now," he added, getting to his feet and stretching. "There's a dull state dinner I'm going to be expected to attend this evening and I plan on spending the intervening hours with a delicious blue-eyed sailor down by the harbour." He winked at me then strode from the room without a backwards glance.

I turned to Aleela. "What just happened?"

"Dante is..." she sighed, reaching for the right words. "More tolerant towards Etealians than most Lathrians are. He's known for being rather eccentric, but is also more approachable than Ash; it's one of the reasons most people prefer him. If Dante says that he'll help you, then he means it. He's a good person to have on your side." She smiled. "Unfortunately, you're going to be expected to attend the state dinner he just mentioned, acting as Ash's personal guard. You can rest in your room until then though."

"What are you going to be doing?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Maybe I could get her to take me for a walk outside, so that I could start scoping out the exits.

"I need to go and prepare lunch for you and Ash and see if he needs anything." She didn't sound as unhappy about the task as I would have been. Going near Ash was about the least appealing thing I could think of.

"You call him Ash," I said, after a pause. "Rather than his title. It's..." I fought for the right word. "Personal."

She shrugged. "I've been serving Ash for so long now. I use formal titles when I speak to him, but it's difficult to think of him as anything other than Ash."

She escorted me the rest of the way back to my room in a comfortable silence that was spoilt by the click of the lock when she closed the door behind me.

I was feeling too weak from using my powers to try and launch an escape that afternoon, but I had enough energy to start preparing and planning. Step one involved packing a bag with essentials.

I found a leather satchel and filled it with a few sets of clothes like the ones I'd been wearing today. I added some scarves that I could wrap around my face to hide my auretis and as many of the valuable gemstones as I could prize from the dresses as possible, as well as a handful of jewellery. I needed to try and get some extra food, water and opalberry juice over the next few days. I put everything I had for now on top of a pair of hardy combat boots and hid them at the back of a wardrobe.

Next on the agenda was checking the room for weaknesses. The lock on the main door was far more sophisticated than anything I'd come across in Volcaria, so picking it would take some time. There were no air vents. The panes of glass in the window were too small for even me to squeeze through and unless I was imitating a volito, there would be no way of getting down once I was on the other side.

Getting out was going to rely on a key then. Since one was unlikely to appear from thin air while I stood in the middle of the room, I decided to curl up in a chair instead. Closing my eyes sounded like a good idea; using my powers left me more exhausted than an afternoon in the mines. I was wiped.

But when I flopped onto the nearest sofa, I was disturbed by the sound of familiar voices.

"Can I get you anything else, Your Highness?"

"No thank you, Aleela, that will fine."

Ash and Aleela. He must have been sitting in our 'shared' lounge - not that I had any actual access to it, since Aleela locked me in every time I returned to my suite.

I wandered over to the door. On the other side, I could hear them talking in low voices; the comfortable conversation of people who were used to each other's company.

Ash didn't treat Aleela with the same venom the queen had. Maybe he was so used to having her around that he'd forgotten where she came from.

Maybe he didn't hate all Etealians, no matter what he claimed.

Sorry for the really late update! I think I'm going to try changing my posting day to Tuesdays as I'm struggling to find time on Fridays at the moment. Please vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading.