The entire room remained quiet.

I felt sick. Sick in my head. Sick in my stomach. The entire room felt like it was going to collapse on my head.

Ashe Knightley took a broad step forward, daring a glance to me. I stilled, my body on the ground. He lowered his cloak and grinned. "Beautiful wedding, Princess Valarya."

Diana snarled, but the man that held his dagger at her throat aimed it closer. She folded her palms and said, "Get out."

Ilias and Kace both passed a glance to Diana, but kept silent. It looked like the people at their throats were women.

My father hid behind a pillar, but he tried to have a stern expression. "I will have my guards execute you—"

Ashe Knightley chuckled, twirling the crown around his finger. The guards that weren't held back by anyone stayed with their sword out. "What guards, King Lorcan? The ones that I killed just yesterday?"

Ilias lifted his arm up to push the woman off him. The woman visibly rolled her eyes and grabbed onto his armor, tossing him to the ground. "Try that again, and I'll skin that pathetic armor," the woman grounded. Her thick accent was sharp and intricate—almost like the dagger's tip when she bent down and pinned his neck to the ground.

I wanted to get up, but there was bile piling in my throat. Ashe's gaze snapped back to me, and the woman who held Ilias at the ground spun and looked at me.

"Queen Merelle, that crown was lovely," the woman holding Kace said. "I had fun stealing that."

Mother started to run toward the woman, but the man that held Diana flung his arm out in front of her, a sword ready to slice her in half of she didn't stop.

"Let her come," Ashe said lazily, as he held out the crown. "Come. Retrieve your crown, Queen Merelle. We had our fun."

The man laughed as he lowered the sword, reverting his attention back to Diana. I could see Irene and Whila carefully edge their way over to me, but the woman holding Ilias had her eyes wide at them.

Mother reached her arm out, expecting the crown to be placed in her palm, but Ashe tossed it to the side, as worthlessly as a plank of wood. "Take the crown," he said. The amusement in his voice was as visible as the sun.

I shuddered at that tone. The room still spun, still revolved, but Whila ran behind me and pulled me up. Her arm steadied my hips as she said, "Enough of this. What is it that you want from us, Knightley?"

Ashe ignored Whila and returned his attention to Mother, who had placed the crown atop her head. He smirked. "Since you so kindly asked, Princess Whilameena, I will respond with... equal kindness." He pulled his cloak off and threw it onto one of the members in the crowd.

The crowd backed away into the farthest corner, worried expressions darkening their features. Kace pursed his lips, trying to figure a way out. Even with his Fae heritage, magic didn't run in his bloodline. Northern Faeries didn't have access to magic ever since Cadice's wall was built.

I wondered what would've happened if Kace had magic. If he could blast every one of these intruders. The thoughts swarmed my head as Ashe came forward yet again and said, "I'm here for the princess."

Ilias lifted his neck and tried to hastily get up, but the woman put her leg onto his neck. "Do that again, and I'll snap it."

Ashe pursed his lips, analyzing his way through to me. The haze in the room didn't clear away. I could faint. I knew that something wrong was happening. Irene pulled Whila and me back, trying to help us—help me.

"Don't bother with that nonsense, Princess Valarya. We killed dozens of guards to get here; do you honestly think we will leave without you?" Ashe asked, the cockiness leaking through.

I shook my head as my knees began to wobble unsteadily. "You can't. There are guards surrounding the palace. People will search for me. They'll kill you—"

Ashe rubbed his head and hissed out annoyedly, "Your voice is deafening."

The man holding Diana and the two women with Ilias and Kace looked at Ashe. I couldn't see their faces, but I was sure something was wrong.

I pulled Irene and Whila, but I fell, my crown tumbling down the stairs. Both women looked at me, then back at Ashe. The crowd in the corner looked to each other, their own worry masking their joy.

"Get her."

Such a simple command from Ashe Knightley.

Irene grabbed a torch, trying to keep off the two women that were now reaching toward me. Whila pulled me up, constantly touching my cheeks and forehead.

One woman took the torch away from Irene with ease while the other pulled me off Whila. The man that held Diana pushed back Ilias and Kace with his sword. Diana ran toward me, but Ashe blocked her with his sword.

Wake up, a deep voice said. Control yourself. Look around you. Say something. Stop trying to fall. Stop trying to fall! The voice kept getting louder in my head.

I heard a slam go off behind me. I managed to look back, watching as Ilias pushed past the man the held him back and chased after me. "Valarya!" he called out over the commotion.

I tried to open my mouth and pull away from the two women that held me so tightly, but before I could, the world dropped from underneath me.

There was only one woman holding me now.

She jumped through the window, holding me still, and I felt the air rush back into my body. I screamed out for Ilias, but it didn't help that I saw the man now jump out the window after us. They both carried me over the plains of grass, and as I continued to scream, I saw the other woman jump out the window.

I could've sworn she lifted a cursing finger behind her as she dashed toward us.

I threw my weight back, trying to lose them, but they only tightened their grips. "Gods, stop that!" the woman that held me barked.

"Kace! Ilias!" I continued to scream, continued trying to get free, but the man and woman held tight, and soon, I saw Ashe leap out of the window. He threw his sword against Ilias' face, stunning him for a second.

It felt like Ashe appeared too fast next to me. They dragged me effortlessly, like I was a feather and they were bricks, and I kept pulling.

There was no use anymore.

Ahead, there was a carriage with a familiar man perched at the front, holding the reins of two horses. I couldn't catch his face as the woman holding me pushed me inside the carriage, Ashe and the other man following after. The other woman ran to the front and sat next to the familiar man.

As soon as the carriage jolted forward, everyone removed their cloaks. They cleared their throats, but when they tried to say something, I pushed Ashe so hard that the door on his side swung open.

Ashe yelled, holding onto me as his body was about to fall out of the moving carriage. From behind us, I heard guards shout. I've never seen someone look so angry in my life as Ashe tried to grab onto the wood of the carriage and climb back inside.

The man in the carriage pulled me back, but I kept pushing Ashe, trying to get him out of the carriage. "Are you mad!" Ashe yelled.

"If you don't get out, I'll jump out," I yelled back.

The familiar man that was steering the carriage shouted back, "I can't stop. They're catching up."

The woman in the carriage pulled back with the man, trying to get me to stop. There was an odd pain at my palms, but I kept pushing. Ashe growled, his own force to get back was overpowering.

My body flew back, and the second it did, Ashe climbed back inside and shut the door. "Are you insane! I could've died—"

"Like hell I care!" I grabbed onto the dagger at his waist, but he snatched my wrists and pushed me away.

"Stop!" He took the dagger out of its shell and held it up to my neck. "Enough of this. Avaloryn!"

The woman that sat in the front swung open the window to peer in. I heard the shouts of the guards behind us as she opened it. "Yes, Ashe?"

"Get rid of the noise behind us."

She smirked underneath the shadow of her cloak as she answered, "I think I will." Avaloryn. I tried to remember that name. She shut the window.

The carriage was silent. But I felt a loud rumble, then yells. I turned back, but I knew that Avaloryn had done something to them.

It wasn't long before she opened the window and looked in. "They're all crispy. Blaze arrows are running low, though." She removed her cloak, her golden curls bouncing out. "Beautiful girl, may I add."

Ashe rolled his eyes and leaned back, huffing out exasperated breaths. He kept his dagger at my throat, but the man and woman that were holding me back let go. "This was fun, wasn't it, Henneh?" Ashe turned his head to the woman that sat next to me.

She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. "Are you mad? You literally did nothing that we planned!" She held up her dagger, her long finger tracing the sharp edge. I shuddered as she tilted her head and watched my eyes widen. "But it was... amusing, nonetheless."

"Am I the only one that Ashe told his plan to?" the man next to Henneh said. "I feel so lucky. Thank you, Ashey boy."

I refused to chuckle at that name.

Ashe rubbed his forehead with his free hand. Aren't they scared that I know their names? If I managed to get back to the palace, I could order their deaths at the snap of my fingers.

Then again, I suppose the entire palace was scared of him. I never heard about his little group, nor did I care enough about it. It was a waste of time, and I rarely had that.

*~⚜️~*

I hadn't seen such a large camp.

What was I thinking? I had never seen the world. Being trapped behind marble walls prevented that, and Cadice's blood that ran through my veins reinforced that.

Ashe finally removed the dagger from my throat. He sighed and opened the door, leaving me in the carriage.

I could escape right now—

A man appeared next to me and helped me out of the carriage. Such familiar features—I've seen them before, but I couldn't exact it.

He didn't talk as he held onto my arm and walked me through the dirt camp. The sky was a mess of ink, and I was sure it would've been morning by the time we arrived.

There were tents along the pathway. The man pulled me along swiftly, so I tried to absorb as many things as I could. Many women and men walked around and stared at me. I didn't know if they knew I was the princess, but I was sure it was because of this hideous gown I was wearing. Compared to them, who wore old cloth and no shoes around the rock-infested ground.

"Move along," the man called out to everyone. They immediately snapped their heads away and resumed whatever it was they were doing.

At the end of the winding trail, there was a building made out of wood. There were no windows, and there was a cloth draped over the entrance. Avaloryn emerged with a woman at her side, but they quickly walked past us.

The man walked me inside, the smell nearly contorting my entire nose. I glanced around, spotting Henneh on a chair, carefully playing a round of chess with the man that had sat with us in the carriage. She concentrated; it was the final move needed to win.

Ashe, on the contrary, leaned against the wall and fidgeted with a bracelet he was wearing. He looked at it contently before he gave up and slipped his dagger into his belt. "Took you long enough. I almost thought you died."

"Well, I wanted to give the princess a tour of our humble camp." The man that held me put me on a chair near Henneh.

"Your father kept pestering us, Nylas," Henneh muttered, her fingers rubbing her chin. "He'll come in any second now."

That name. I knew that name. I knew his name, his face, his voice—I didn't know from where. Who was this man—?

"Can you play already!" the man across Henneh yelled. She furrowed her brows and tapped the board with her nail. "You do this to annoy me. I can swear it!"

"Then swear it, if you're so confident in yourself, Rysdan," Ashe called over from his corner. Rysdan stayed silent, but he chose to watch Henneh tap her finger. "That's what I thought."

"If I become used to this, I might be bored," a deep voice said from the entrance.

Ashe pushed off the wall and walked over to Henneh. He placed his arm over her shoulder and moved a piece.

"Ah, there's Ashe's move," the man behind me said. I jerked my neck back and saw an older man there. He came next to me and watched the chess game.

Rysdan leaned back and quickly played a move.

Ashe paused for a second and turned to look at me. "What do you recon I play, Valarya?"

I snarled under my breath, trying to contain my annoyance. This was ridiculous. What kind of things was I being tortured with?

"No answer?" He lifted a brow, as if he was glad I hadn't said anything. "Fine." Ashe played a piece.

Rysdan leapt up and yelled, "I won yet again!" He accidentally kicked over the table, causing the pieces to fall onto Henneh. She snapped her head at him, and I thought she was about to shred him. "You and Ashe are terrible."

"Can we please go back to what this meeting was about?" Nylas walked to his father elegantly.

I remembered that walk.

I remembered how he could elegantly dance. How he twirled my Irene in the ballroom. The way he has touched her, almost like he knew her—

"You," I said, too shocked to point my finger up at him. Nylas grinned and looked at me. "You're Lord Prosdos' son. You came to the palace every day."

"How amusing. I'm gone for five minutes and the room is already a mess," a high-pitched voice said from behind me. I didn't bother to look, but she continued. "It's too late to be bickering about little things, Princess Valarya. I'm going to sleep, and I better hear about all of this tomorrow." Avaloryn left the building as fast as she came in.

Henneh and Ashe chuckle as they listen to what Lord Prodos said: "May your father's reign end in grief, Princess."