I slowly opened my eyes to a dark room. I try to move my arms and the sound of rattling chains tells me that its a waste of effort. I feel pain in every part of my body but I don't see any injuries on my body and my eyes hurt. It's a wonder I can even open them.

I guess getting tortured for a month helps with pain tolerance heh. I try to laugh at my own joke but only silence and tears from my eyes responded.

I feel nothing but pain but that is not what hurts the most, not even the betrayal from my so called motherland hurt or the fact that everything has been against me from the start or that that stupid Agares is probably watching my situation and laughing his head off.

What hurts the most is that I'd never get to see them again. No hugs from Elena, No more of mother's cooking, no more of Elena's troublesome acts, no more of that warmth in my heart that just being around them brings.

For the first time the world felt truly cold and desolate. The sound of the doors brought me out of my thoughts. As I looked up I finally realized that I was in a dungeon.

The doors opened and the First Prince stepped inside alone and shut the door on the guards outside. I looked at him with hate but spared no effort to pull at the chains since that was hypocrisy and I had no wishes to make a fool of myself in front of my enemy.

I simply sat there and looked at him as he did the same. Then suddenly he burst out laughing and asked.

"Are you confused?"

But I didn't answer and just kept staring at him as he then asked "didn't it occur to you that your escape was too easy or that your meeting spot was found too easily and turned into a trap for you?"

I of course used to care but now that I was here I no longer cared as knowing all that no longer mattered. Some may call me an idiot that did not want to learn from his mistakes but let's face it I probably would not even get the chance to have revenge or closure of any sort.

He continued with his story of how he let the fact that he was experimenting on something that could grant potential immortality leak to his brother through his brother's spies and then letting them attack the area I was in but that was when I escaped courtesy of him leaving hardly any guards and thus facilitating my escape. The now dead second prince got to my former prison and upon not finding me there he turned to my family and my useless father who was never of any help to me my whole life betrayed me telling the prince everything about me, my habits, places I visit and the like and that he even advised the second prince to take my mother and Elena to convince me.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

And then how the second prince came to find them but since they already left the house he sent men to all the places my father had told him about and how he found them and then I happened.

Even though I wasn't interested in knowing all that, finding out worsened my state of mind even further especially after hearing of even more betrayal, from my father no less.

"Hey what was that skeleton thing?" he asked again.

This time I looked at him but kept quiet because even I don't know what it was and now I probably never would.

That was when I noticed something different about the prince and the first notation of that was the phoenix mark on his forehead.

He saw me looking at the mark on his head and asked.

"Oh this? This is what happens when I drank the blood from your heart and that's not even the best part." he said sounding like a kid who just got his favourite toy.

He then held his hand out and somehow conjured fire, something that even I can't do and it hurt to know that just my blood could give a person such abilities but I was the crippled phoenix.

Then he pointed his hand at me and suddenly a wave of flames was directed at me and hit me and God it hurts. I can't even laugh at the irony of my own situation, I was a phoenix getting burnt by my own flames, after a while he stopped the flames and turned back while saying out loud.

"Prepare yourself for execution."

And he walked out leaving me looking like a roasted pheasant.

(A/N: sorry couldn't resist the dark humor)

A while later some men came and dressed me in rags and started taking me out of dungeon. I just went along totally unresponsive to everything going on.

From everything I heard I was going to be put on trial for killing the king and the second prince which I obviously did but for obvious reasons.

I was then taking to a room that looked like an armoury and more people came to hold my chains. I wondered why but didn't make any moves.

Then one of the soldiers that wasn't holding my chains came and pried my mouth open and put a knife to my tongue, my eyes widened when I realized what he planned to do but a second too late as the next thing I felt my tongue being cut off and as if that wasn't enough i felt something being poured into my mouth and then a torch was put on my mouth and it caught ablaze.

It was oil. As if cutting my tongue wasn't enough they had to burn up my mouth too. After a few minutes the fire got put out and my mouth was then covered up with a thick cloth and then I was dragged to the place where the trial was to take place which not surprisingly was a coliseum like area where all the people sat to watch.

I was dragged out and they started reading my "crimes" and decided that I would be executed also not surprising because the moment I was brought out the people had been clamoring for my execution.

I look at the people and shed the last tear I would ever shed in "this" life because it was for this same people I went to war. Where all my troubles started.

I was taking to the chopping block and my head was put into the hold and the axeman raised his axe.

"SCHWING." was the last sound I heard before it all went black,

Again.