"My Lord Greg," the voice called again.

"Aris?"

"My Lord. What happened?"

"I am nobody's lord. Not anymore," Tum replied. "It was fun while it lasted."

"I saw through it all, but you have the courage, the boldness of spirit to be a lord."

"My spirit ebbs at a low tide."

"Take courage and rise again. There are some who are with you."

"With me?"

"I seek news of your servant."

"His name is Buckle…" Tum said. The next words refused to leave his throat.

"I want him to know that I made a mistake running away from him. I should not have let him leave."

"Hmm."

"Where is he?"

"Is he coming back?"

Tum did not know what to tell her. He had seen too many heartbreaks to want to cause one. How would he tell her that the man she now wanted was dead, gone?

"Yes. He is coming back."

He heard footsteps coming down the dark, dungeon hallway.

"You have to leave," he told the captain. "Someone this way comes."

"I await his return," Aris said, standing up.

Enil walked down the dark hallway. The captain was rising as he approached, and he had overheard the last words of their conversation. He knew what it meant to be on the other side, against this captain. Aris was a warrior like none had ever seen. To see her fighting for love would be one great sight, but Enil knew he did not want that against himself.

"Captain, the king seeks your presence," Enil said.

Aris walked past him. He stood there, staring at the condemned Tum before he turned and followed the captain out of the dungeon.

"I overheard the prisoner lying to you," Enil said.

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"What you heard or did not hear is none of your business," Aris said, brushing him off.

"He told you his servant, Buckle, was coming back, right?"

"What is it to you?" Enil asked, turning on the man.

"Nothing. I was just wondering why a man would love to lie to the grave."

"Speak."

"There is nothing to say, and you would not believe me anyway."

"Speak!" Aris said, drawing the man back when he tried to leave.

They were of the same height, but with the way Aris stared into his eyes, Enil felt she could have been standing three feet clear of him. He stared into his eyes, then he looked away.

"We found them fighting for the sword, the three of them."

"He did not tell me that."

"He would not."

"Here," Enil said, showing her a piece of clothing he had gotten from Tum. It looked like a piece from the robe Buckle had worn on the journey, and Enil had obtained it for this reason. "The poor boy's cloth as he fell. He was still stricken with grief at your refusal. He bid me give you this."

Aris gasped. "But you know nothing about us."

"Dying men keep no secrets, well, except for the prisoner in the dungeon, but then he might have someone he would be willing to pour his heart to."

"The liar!" Aris declared in rage.

Inwardly, Enil smiled. It was always fun to watch how feelings made the very best of soldiers take leave of their senses, especially if those soldiers were rivals.

"I am going to see him!"

"He would have another lie handy. As you know he's quite smooth with his tongue."

Aris had noticed this in the way Tim spoke with the king. He was too smooth for a noble many of whom she thought were unremarkable and uninspiring.

"Besides, the king wants to see you now."

Aris nodded and follows Enil towards the king's court. Enil leads her to the king's throne, bowed, and turned to take his leave.

"Stay," the king said. He was seated on the throne on the only platform in the court.

The captain of the king's guard and the deputy of the Palace guard stood before him. Beside the king, Sheer stood, ever loyal in his position, or so it seemed.

"Word has come to us of the gathering of the peasants somewhere in the city," Harodin said. "They are looking for a way to fight us back, and I have no intention of seeing back to watch peasants overrun this city."

Enil shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. He loved running from fights. It ensured he stayed alive. That was when the captain decided to sacrifice himself and the men that were in the forest to the trolls, he was the first to respond to the captain's request to take the princess and the prisoner home. None of them would contest that with him. The thought of a battle in the city upset him. He was going pale, getting drained of color.

"We have to find them before they strike," Harodin declared passionately. "I would have their heads hanging on a spike before I give in to their request since they have chosen to mistake sensibility as weakness. I shall show them what a king does to treasonous subjects."

The boy was barely twenty, yet he was talking as if he had been to the battlefield, Enil thought. He had no intention of being her to defend the king and his advisor. The peasants were enraged, and he did not think anything could stop them, not all the armies of Kora whom the peasants outnumber fifty to one.

"Anyone you see or suspect of plotting on the crown is to be executed on the spot," the king continued, leaning back into his seat. Tomorrow, the traitor in the dungeon would be brought out to the people and publicly executed. The people must learn to respect the crown. I would have his head on the gates of the city as a message to the peasants."

The captains nodded.

"One more thing before you go," the king said.

They looked towards him, attentive.

"Kill whatever stands in your way. That is my command."