Kneel," the knight commanded. An immense pressure slammed down on Marcus and the rest of the Arium household, forcing them to their knees.

The knight fell to one knee as well, bowing his head towards Seyda. Marcus stared at her as she turned around. When he saw Seyda's face, he would have gasped, but the invisible pressure coming from the knight still weighed on him.

Seyda had completely changed, her aura shifting from his warm and lively friend to that of a cold and dignified noble. She glided past the kneeling servants and family members, her eyes leveled forward.

As she passed him, Marcus choked out a few words from under the terrible pressure emanating from the golden knight, "Seyda. Help. It Hurts."

The heiress came to a halt, turning to look down at Marcus. Her green eyes then flicked to one of the knights, issuing a silent command.

Moving faster than Marcus could comprehend, the Knight struck down at Marcus, planting a plated foot into the boy's back.

Dirt and gravel stung Marcus's face as he looked up at the knight.

With a howl, the family's old guard dog, Fang, launched himself at the knight, who, without even glancing sideways, grabbed the dog by its throat and squeezed.

Seyda calmly climbed atop one of the Drakes as Fang fell to the floor with a soft whine, choking on his own blood.

Tears stung his eyes as Marcus let out a sob. With a single flap, the Drake carrying Seyda vanished in the direction of the Blue Palace.

The golden knights acted fast, rapidly binding and gagging everyone assembled in the courtyard. They organized Marcus into one of four group bundles, tightly tying him and three of his servants together before the remaining drakes rose steadily in the air.

Eyes widening in realization, Marcus watched as ropes attached to the underside of the drakes' harness grew taut before slowly lifting the bundles of dangling prisoners into the sky. Marcus bit down on the dirty piece of cloth gagging his mouth as he rose up.

The ropes holding him in place dug and chafed his skin as the drakes flew over the city.

Marcus used to love taking Air-taxis pulled by Rocs, a species of massive birds, but this flight was nothing like that.

He and the people strapped onto him dangled at the end of a singular rope tied to the bottom of the Drake, swinging and barreling to the sides at the slightest turn. They frequently got within a dozen feet of hitting particularly tall towers.

Zeus, Hermes, Hestia, Gods, what is happening?

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

As they got higher and higher, cramped buildings and crowded, narrow streets became replaced by blooming gardens and lavish mansions, where high-ranking officials working in the Blue Palace lived.

The Drakes approached the Palace, a massive structure featuring countless towers, hidden courtyards, shaded balconies, dining rooms, and great halls. It was said that you could spend a lifetime in the Blue Palace and still not know all its secrets.

The drakes landed on a large pad jutting off the side of the lower level of the palace. Connected to the pad was a huge hanger, cut into the side of the massive plateau that the Blue Palace was built on.

Upon the landing of the massive beasts, lines of guards in blue uniforms formed a formation in front of the four golden knights, saluting in perfect synchrony.

I've never seen so many journeyman-level warriors, and those golden knights could even be Masters.

The most basic recruits were below apprentice level, while professional soldiers were mainly high apprentices. Being at the Journeyman level in a combat art was enough to be an officer with respectable status, and here were dozens of them?

A soldier untied Marcus, separating him from the rest of his friends and family.

The soldier roughly grabbed Marcus's hands, binding them together with a coarse rope. Marcus stared back at his family as he was led down an extravagant hall, lined with ornate carvings and beautiful paintings, before entering an unassuming closet hidden behind a column.

The soldier escorting him pulled a lever tucked away behind a stack of cleaning rags, and a camouflaged panel at the back of the closet slid open, revealing a dark and narrow stairway.

The soldier tapped a red amulet hanging from her neck, which then glowed with a dim light, before shoving Marcus forward.

His mind dull and tired, Marcus dazedly followed the soldier down what felt like endless flights of stairs before arriving at a large, steel door.

Keys from the soldier's belt unlocked the first bar on the door, followed by a long numeric code, and lastly, the soldier tapped her dagger to the tip of her finger, smearing a small amount of blood onto a rune in the center of the enchanted lock.

With a deep sound, the steel door split into three pieces before retracting into the walls.

Marcus blinked as a wave of howling wind greeted him from the other side.

The room they stepped into was medium-sized, with its walls seeming to be cut into a natural rock formation. A massive cage divided into six cells hung in the center of a cavern.

Instead of a stone floor however, there way simply open air. A massive drop into the city, at least a couple hundred feet high lay below Marcus.

A bridge was the only thing other than a single, colossal chain keeping the cage from dropping hundreds of meters down into the city below.

The soldier finally undid Marcus's gag, allowing him to draw in a few precious, deep breaths.

"Please, ma'am, there has been a mistake! I haven't committed any-"

"Rip."

A gauntleted backhand sent Marcus slamming into the side of the chamber.

The soldier, carelessly pushing Marcus forward across the bridge, began to speak, "Your trial is tomorrow at midday. Go to sleep."

Marcus opened his mouth to respond, plead, or even grovel, but the words died in his throat. He was resigned.

Unable to sleep in the massive cage dangling hundreds of feet above Naples, Marcus huddled into the corner of his cell. He tucked his arms into his shirt to keep warm from the sharp nighttime wind while attempting to process what just happened.

Seyda, my friend, is Seyda Martino, heir to the throne of Italy? Seyda is a common name; I never would have guessed it would be her. But why didn't she bail us out when the drakes came, and her knight killed my dog... I don't get it.

Confusion plagued Marco all through the night before he finally came to the crushing, obvious conclusion.

She Betrayed Me.