Eliza and Demitrus continued towards the food area quietly. Just before they entered, Demitrus stepped up next to her and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

“Hey, don't tell the others about what you heard. They wouldn’t be as…accepting as you are.” his eyes were serious, and a hint of concern was behind them.

Eliza met his gaze with a slight smile on her face. She raised an eyebrow and waved his hand off her shoulder, “ About what, you being a thief? Sorry, but they already know; you haven’t exactly hidden it, quite the opposite, in fact.”

Demitrus sighed, “No not that; about me stealing from nobility and using greater illusion magic, it’s a much bigger deal than you realize.”

“I wasn’t planning on talking about it in the first place, Don’t worry about it.” She continued walking, and Demitrus sighed in relief as he walked next to her.

They entered the food area, which was markedly less crowded than the first time Eliza had come here. She made her way toward the table that handled food distribution.

She stepped into line and waited for her turn and noticed that Demitrus was silent, which was unusual for as long as she had known him. Glancing back at him, she could see that he was staring off in a direction with a blank look on his face. Following his line of sight, she saw the administrative building for the camp. She turned back to see that he was now looking at her with a slight smirk.

Eliza sighed and turned around, raising her hand to massage her forehead. She could already feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. He had proven himself trustworthy on several occasions, but the more she learned about the guy, the less she understood.

She stepped forward, finally coming up to the table. She shelved her concerns for later; it was time to eat. The guard behind the table looked at her uniform and, after a glance at Eliza’s dark hair, placed food into a bowl and set it before her. Picking it up, she stopped. There wasn’t even half the amount she had been given the last time.

Looking up in dismay, she watched as the man gave a bowl to Demitrus, noticeably fuller than her own.

Trying to be polite, she said, “Um, excuse me, I think there’s a mistake; we're from the same group. Shouldn’t I have gotten more than this?”

The man turned to look at her, and this time Eliza saw the thinly disguised look of disgust in his eyes, and before he even said anything, she knew what this was about. He looked down at her bowl of food and then back at her.

“Nope, that looks right; get out of the line.

Her right eye twitched, and her arms trembled as she barely restrained herself from leaping over the table and strangling the man. Taking in a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. Her situation was precarious enough, and becoming incapacitated for attacking a guard was the last thing she needed.

She noticed Demitrus was watching her from the corner of an eye, and she smiled to communicate that she was okay.

“I see-.” She began to say, looking down at her bowl of food trembling in her hands. But then she was cut off by Demitrus as he placed his hand on her head, silencing her. Surprised, she looked up.

“Daryl was your name, right?” Demitrus casually asked.

“What's it to ya, kid? You're holding up the line.”

Demitrus smiled, “ oh, it's nothing, just thought I'd confirm it. I’ll take my friend here.” he ruffled Eliza’s hair, “ and we wish you a wonderful night.”

Confused, the man hesitated before responding, “ Enough of your drivel; get out of the line.

“Of course,” Demitrus said as he dragged her away.

“I can move by myself.” Eliza said, shaking him off, “What was all of that about? Why’d you grab my head?”

“You’ll see later. Come on.” he said mysteriously with a smile, “as for touching your head, I just felt like it; why else?”

She kicked out at him in irritation, but he effortlessly danced out of her range with a laugh.

Eliza followed, unsure of where he was going. As usual, she had no idea what was going through the guy's mind. Sighing, she reached up and fixed her hair with her free hand as she followed.

Eventually, they came to a table where Leo and Leah sat, digging into their own portions of food.

Looking down into her bowl, Eliza felt disheartened as she sat down. She wasn’t looking forward to going hungry again.

While she was in the middle of this thought, a bowl crossed in front of her vision, and some of its content was poured into her bowl. She looked surprised at Demitrus, who sat down in the seat to her left.

“What are you doing?” She asked; she knew that he had gotten more than her but what he had gotten was still less than what they gave out to other groups. Both Leah and Leo looked at him questioningly as well.

Ignoring Eliza’s question, he answered the twin's unspoken question. “ The guy gave her less than half a scoop.” He took a bite of his.

“I see.” Leo said, and he held out a hand to Eliza, his eyes looking blankly into the firepit, “Bowl.” he said in a tone that left no room for argument. She hesitated for a moment before mutely passing it over to him. She felt conflicted; on the one hand, she didn’t want to accept help, and on the other, she didn’t want to go hungry. The conflicting emotions battled within her as she watched Leo pour some of his bowls into hers.

Leah took the bowl before Leo could hand it back, and she poured some of hers into Eliza’s. She shook her head and muttered, “They say we don’t have souls, and then they go do this to a little girl.” Once she was done, Leah placed the bowl in front of Eliza and sat back down, continuing to eat.

Eliza mutely stared down at the noticeably fuller bowl of full.

“Eat.” Leo said, “We don’t have much more time until the mission debrief could be.”

Eliza continued to sit there until she managed to give voice to the question that was burning in her mind.“ …Why? Why are you all still being so kind to Someone like me?” Eliza asked emotionally.

Lea tilted her head and furrowed her brows, “Someone like you? What do you mean by that?”

Eliza looked away, “ I know how insufferable I can be. Not only that but time after time again, you had to save me in Grimhold. First, from the Rakna, I messed up against the wraith and needed to be saved, and now this.” She indicated her bowl of food. “I’m aware of how… stubborn I can be, but I'm not dense enough not to realize how much of a…burden I've been. So why are you being so nice?”

A heavy silence fell over the table, and people stopped eating. Leah was the first to speak, “I don’t know, mistakes or not; I thought you were pretty cool when you faced off against the Warrior Rakna. And you even struck a blow that sent the Wraith flying.” She shrugged.

“Yeah, straight at you.” Eliza laughed bitterly, “I’ve fought demons for a long time; it's what I'm supposed to be good at. After what I've been through, everything that happened in Grimhold was humiliating.” Eliza laughed bitterly, “My sensei would chastise me severely if he knew.”

“Yes, you’re arrogant, you run into danger seemingly without a second thought, and you put yourself and the team at risk….” Leo said; every word of his felt like a miniature punch to her gut.

Then his tone became softer, “... but all of us know what it means to come to Grimhold, especially to be placed in this squad. Someone wants us dead, Someone powerful enough to get us placed in the squad that's guaranteed to die. With all our problems, the last thing we need is to be each other's enemies.”

She heard everything they were saying and knew it was supposed to be comforting, but she only felt guiltier the more they spoke. Every kind word just reminded her that her mistakes could’ve gotten them killed.

Demitrus exhaled loudly, drawing her attention to him; he was eying a spoonful of the soup they had been provided, “Pitying your mistakes and worrying about your so-called humiliation wont get you anywhere.” he said, looking over at her. “If you know what your mistakes are, fix them and focus on something more meaningful, like getting back at the scumbags who put us in here. Everyone in favor of that?”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Of course,” Leo immediately said,

“Naturally. We can’t do anything on empty stomachs, so dig in.” Leah said with a bright smile.

“Thanks,” Eliza said quietly and started to eat.

She felt oddly…comforted by what Demitrus had said. It seemed that, for better or for worse, the others were in a similar situation as her. And though it was probably wrong of her to be happy about it. The fact that others were going through something similar seemed to lift a weight off her shoulders that she hadn’t even realized was there; she wasn’t alone.

Now that she thought about it. She was curious about what they had done to be put in this place. She hesitated to ask because of how touchy of a subject it probably was.

After she had eaten a little bit, Eliza decided to ask and see what happens. “You guys said that Someone sent you here. If we help each other, we should know what we're going up against. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

A dark expression crossed Leah’s face, a look Eliza had never seen on her. She began to speak, “Octavius. He came to our monastery one day, demanding our monastery's aid in one of his father's territorial conflicts. The Matriarch refused, and he didn’t take that too kindly.”

Leo let out a grim chuckle, “That's an understatement. Nobody thought he’d be insane enough to invade the monastery at night and take captives.”

“ Somehow, he managed to capture the Matriarch's son and demanded some people with magical powers in exchange. We were the youngest, and so they decided to send us. Almost immediately, I felt my connection to Elwyn get severed, and I guess neither she nor the Matriarch thought it was worthwhile to save Leo and me.” Leah said, a bright smile coming to her face, “I blew up the temple over their heads when they came to get us. And when the dust settled, I promised I would do something similar every chance I got if they took us to war. So they ended up sending us here.”

“Why is he here?” Demitrus asked; Eliza was wondering the same thing.

Leo shook his head, “We don't know, but knowing him, there’s something his father wants here.”

“How were you able to use that much magic earlier? You sent the wraith flying.” Eliza asked

“ I’ve managed to gather a limited amount of magic from the environment, and I had enough to do that. But without Elwyn’s guidance or blessing, I can only gather and use so much.”

“And you had to use it to save the sparky boy of all people? That must’ve been infuriating.” Demitrus said. Eliza had to agree; she didn’t think she would've been willing to use her magic to save the man she hated the most, the one who had ordered the execution of her parents.

Leo’s face darkened in anger, “I didn’t use it to save Octavius; I used it to save Leah.” he hissed out through clenched teeth.

The conversation died down, and a heavy silence filled the air. Leah broke it with a strained smile coming to her face. She looked between Eliza and Demitrus, “ Enough about us; what about you guys? What happened to get you here?

Eliza’s and Demitrus’s eyes met in a silent competition urging the other one to go.

Eventually, Demitrus sat back in his chair, smiling, “I was on a mission for Lycus, and you could say it went south. You know, considering that we're both here. He believes that I have what he wants.”

“Knowing you, I'm surprised you were only caught,” Leo said, finishing the last of his food.

“Right? Lycus thinks the same thing; he’s arrogant enough to believe I intentionally did it to get him captured. He pulled some strings with his influence, and here I am.” Demitrus said with a sneer.

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose, “ Be honest here, Demitrus; you don’t need to say what it is but do you have it? Whatever it is that he wants?”

He went silent for a moment and turned his head to the left and right to look around them. Eliza did as well, and she saw that they were mostly isolated, with the firepits around them being empty. Finally, Demitrus leaned forward with a self-satisfied grin, “Of course.”

Demitrus turned to Eliza, his usual smile returning to his face. “How about you, Eliza? How did you end up here?” His eyes urged her to speak before the siblings could ask more questions.

Ignoring his silent plea, Eliza thought about how much she should tell them. So far, they had proven themselves trustworthy by saving her life several times. She found it ironic that she felt the most secure she had felt in months with a group of people sentenced to death. But still, she hesitated. What if they turned on her like all the others?”

The battle between the conflicting emotions raged on inside her.

Finally, Leah spoke up, “Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.

Somehow Leah’s words calmed the inner turmoil she felt. She came to a decision; they had trusted her with parts of their past, so she would trust them with most of the truth.

She held a hand to Leah“...yeah, I’m fine, just give me a sec.” Eliza said as she steeled herself.

Taking a deep breath, she started, “so, do you guys remember when I said deserted?”

At their affirmations, she continued, “In truth, it wasn’t desertion, but I was running for my life.”

Eliza thought about how to say what came. Next, her hands trembled slightly, and she could already feel her throat starting to choke up.

“Most people who desert do so for the same reason.” Demitrus quipped from the side.

“My parents were charged with treason, and I watched them get executed,” Eliza said quietly, forcing the words out.

“...Ah,” he said, and for once, he seemed speechless.

Eliza felt a sharp pang in her heart and clenched a fist over her chest. This was the first time she had been able to talk to anyone about it. She had expected it to hurt, but not this much.

Everyone just quietly sat a listened.

Eliza took a moment to collect herself and then pushed on; her gaze fell to the table; she wasn’t sure she could continue if she saw their expressions. “They came after me next, but I had already left. I managed to stay ahead of them, and a couple of people from my squad in the military helped me escape. We had to detour through a dangerous wilderness to avoid patrols, and everything went fine until a Wraith attacked us; I was the only one to escape.” Eliza felt another painful pang in her chest, and tears involuntarily began to burn in her eyes.

She blinked the tears from her eyes and finished speaking, “As for how I got here, Caldren incited some men to assault me, and I ended up killing them. The guards showed up, and now I'm here.”

“Why would he do that?” Leo asked

“He blames me for the death of my father.”

“Why would he care?” Leah asked.

“My father was widely acknowledged as a hero after his many accomplishments in his service to the empire. “ A small smile came to Eliza’s face when she thought of all he had done; she was proud to have been able to call him her father, “he was idolized by many of the young men in the empire.”

“That doesn’t explain why he blames you,” Leah said.

The smile fell from Eliza’s face, and she clenched her fist over her knee. “ there were several instances of Demons somehow breaching the city and causing mayhem around my house. Some rumors were floating, spread by a faction that disliked my father, that my father was somehow involved, but none of them ever stuck. That is until a Demon came to my aid on one of the more difficult missions I was on, and word spread. Things culminated in an investigation being launched, and enough evidence was found to condemn my family to death.

“That's suspicious; from the sound of it, your father wasn’t a man who would do something like that.

Eliza clenched her fist tighter, “Obviously. And I know who planted the ‘evidence’ because almost immediately after my parents were executed, my uncle inherited my father's position and ordered my death.” she spat, just thinking of his face brought boiling rage into her heart.

“...This is just a suspicion of mine so feel free to tell me if im speaking nonsense.” Leo said; he looked around before leaning forward and speaking quietly, “ but was your father, Duke Silvestine?”

Eliza looked up sharply at Leo, “and if he was?” She asked quietly.

Leo sat back, “ Nothing much, just understanding how much of a threat your uncle is, makes it easier to think of countermeasures, you know?”

“That scumbag,” Leah snarled, “If I get my hands on him, I’ll rip him into a million pieces.” Eliza looked over at Leah in surprise. When Eliza’s eyes met Leah’s, Leah stopped.

“Ah, that’s if you don’t get to him first, of course,” Leah said meekly, rubbing her neck.

“You guys are still planning on helping me? After all I told you?” Eliza asked in disbelief.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Leah asked.

“Well, for one, my uncle is now in control of a non-insignificant part of the Silverian army that we would need to fight through to even get close to him. And that's assuming he doesn’t do anything else until then.

Leo shrugged, “we don’t mind, provided, of course, that you help us fight the Duke of Fyre. you’re not the only one who has enemies in high places,” he said, a smile coming to his face, “I’m sure Demitrus would even help if you helped his with his little problem with Lycus.”

“Hey, Lycus was the Ganglord of the capital city, and he has ties to much of the major nobility across the city-states. That hardly constitutes a minor problem,” Demitrus said with a raised eyebrow; he looked at Eliza with a smirk, “but more importantly, a Duke’s daughter? Wouldn’t that make you royalty, Princess?”

Eliza’s right eye twitched, and she snorted, “Position or not, that hardly makes me a ‘princess’ do you know how much anxiety you calling me that has caused? Do you think the Kaldrian government would’ve sent me here if they knew I was foreign nobility? Being tortured for information on the Silverian Empire would be the least of my worries. So, could you please stop?”

Demitrus was silent for a few moments, “Very well, I’ll come up with something else.”

Eliza sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I would prefer no nickname at all; just Eliza is fine.”

Demitrus smiles, “I’ll take it into consideration.”

Eliza sighed.

“...Right,” Leo said, “so now that we got all that out of the way, let's figure out what to do to survive; we can't stab Octavius or Lycus because of these marks, any ideas?

“Steal their socks?” Demitrus offered jokingly with a smile on his face. Both Leo and Leah sighed.

“Sure, go do that; any other suggestions?”

“How about we seriously try for the citizenship thing? They must have enemies; if we get out of here, we might be able to get their help.” Eliza said,

“...That's reasonable, but….” Leah held up her hand with the mark on it. “We’re part of this squad, and do you really think they’ll let us out?”

Considering everything Eliza had just learned, she doubted it as well.”Either way, we can’t kill them here and survive; the best bet is to get out of here with our freedom; if we want to go against these people, we'll need a lot more power than just us.”

“Escape isn’t an option with these things tracking us,” Leo said, looking down at his marked hand. “They must have a way to remove them in the offices. Could you look into it, Demitrus?

“Naturally,” Demitrus responded, leaning back in his chair with a lopsided grin.

“Without getting caught?” Leo asked deadpan.

Demitrus tilted his head as if confused and asked with mock hurt in his voice, “ Who do you think you're talking to?”

“A captured thief.”

Eliza saw Demitrus’s smile twitch, “ you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good.” Leo turned to Eliza, “ you don’t have anyone with political strength keeping you here. You probably have the best chance of all of us to ask about citizenship without raising suspicion. Could you go look into it and see what we could do?”

Eliza could probably talk to some guards; Kolgit was perhaps her best bet. She wasn’t sure if she could waltz in and start talking to him, but it couldn’t hurt to try, “Sure.”

Just then, Eliza heard armor clanking, and everyone quieted down and turned to look at the approaching guard. The guard was dressed in armor, flashier than the other guards that Eliza knew. The only guard she had seen wearing something similar was…Gary.

The guard stopped next to the table and commanded Leo, “Your squad, debrief, Now.” His voice was condescending and gave no room for argument.

Eliza collected her bowl, as did the rest of the group, and after dropping off their dishes, they started making their way toward the debriefing area. The guard led them the entire way.