After hours upon hours of convincing, I am finally letting the prisoners go back to their home to collect some personal things. My one candition is if they go, two guards, my brothers, and I will have to come with them. I also warned them that because of the guards, this could give them some unwanted attention but they all said they were fine with it.

My brothers and I draw out a map of our route today and we end up deciding that going to June’s house, which is the closest house to the castle, first. Then we are going to end with going to Pierce’s house so that we can just walk on back without stopping anywhere.

After our four prisoners are ready to leave, my brothers get into formation incase they have planned to run from us.

Theon gives them a gentle reminder when we are almost out of the door. “Remember, any funny business and we will kill you on the spot. No questions asked.”

The four of them nod with Pierce and Cheleste looking a little green after and Xavier’s eyebrows turning in an angle that shows he is not amused. June doesn’t seemed bothered by this at all and keeps on walking like she didn’t hear her life get threatened.

Right before we step out of the door, Hammonet asks if he can join us on the walk to his house since he is off duty for the next twelve hours. I agree and he runs right up to his daughter and check in on her. He is asking so many questions like Why do they think you are a follower of Darkness? and I thought you were a strong follower of Light, what happened?

June tries to convince her father that she is still a follower of Light and there is no way that Darkness will ever go in her heart. People like her are just as dangerous as the people who are only devoted to Darkness. That’s the problem with a lot of the world is that they think they have to pick one side, but in fact they have to let Light and Darkness balance their hearts. Everyone needs some good and evil in them otherwise there will be nothing to work for. Mortals are created to work for whatever they think is the right thing and if there is no evil in the world then what will they fight for?

As we head out of the castle doors, we walk down the path and then turn left at the end of the road where the more financially fortunate citizens live. I knew that royal guards got paid more than the average citizens but I didn’t know they would get paid enough to live in the upper class part of the kingdom. Though, I don’t know what Hammonet’s wife does for a living so it could be her bringing in all of the money.

Eventually, we walk up to this gorgeous stone mansion that has a long drive way with perfectly trimmed trees bordering each side. In the front of the mansion there is an arch about a little path way before you go to the front door. This is a very big mansion for a civilian and it makes me respect June and Hammonet. They seem like very nice people and not stuck up which is not what I would have expected with people who live in this kind of house.

Hammonet leads the group up to the front door and let us in. The inside of the house is just as beautiful as the outside. In front of me is a spiral staircase with the glass and jeweled accessories covering the walls and shelves around the base of it. I man comes out in very nice clothing but clearly isn’t part of the family that lives here.

“Welcome back, lunch has been made for you sir and your bed has been made for you,” the man says.

“Thank you Emerson. Can you please give our guests whatever they need?” Hammonet replies.

Emerson does a combination of a nod and bow and opens his arms to gesture us in. We follow him into what seems like a kitchen while two guards follow June up the staircase to her bedroom. The paintings I have seen on almost every wall shows that this family is a strong follower of Light and because of that, it eases me a little bit. That doesn’t change the fact that they were the in pub where followers of Darkness go to. I know plenty of people who were raised in houses that followed Light but eventually turned to Darkness. I can’t let my guard down just because of the family.

My brothers and I got to meet June’s mother, which luckily didn’t give June any of her looks. Hammonet is a rather handsome man and I am surprised that he married June’s mother but that shows you more of who Hammonet is. He obviously doesn’t love her for her looks but for personality. The only thing I don’t like about June’s mother is that she is very mean and ride to Pierce. Pierce is a man who is super funny and light hearted but you can tell he is uncomfortable around her. I think that says a lot about their relationship.

June’s mother is not happy that we are holding her daughter captive for a couple of weeks but she is confident that June will be able to come back to the house after. She says that June wouldn’t go anything near something that associated with Darkness. Let’s just hope that she’s right because I am kind of liking this friend group.

After June comes down with a big suitcase, she says goodbye to her parents. I can tell she carefully words phrases so that her parents can be more confident that she is coming back. We walk out of the big doorway and down the long driveway and head out of the upper class part of town. I have been made known that Xavier and Cheleste live in the middle class and because Xavier’s house is closer we are going to stop their first.

It is not that long of a walk to the middle class part of the kingdom but you can tell it is definitely farther away from the castle than June’s house. The house is not impressive. It’s an average house but what is impressive is the family that lives inside.

This family loves each other very much and you can tell that they would do anything for each other. Xavier looks a lot like his mom. She has the same straight brown hair and the same shade of blue. The only thing that he got from his dad is the angular face that makes them very handsome.

Instead of brown hair and blue eyes, Xavier’s father and sisters have blonde hair and brown eyes. I learn that his younger sisters are identical twins and that they are six years old.

Xavier’s parents follow Xavier and the two guards into his room while he packs. I can hear his mother raising her voice to him and telling him that she disappointed him for the last time. When he gets out of the castle in a few weeks she is going to take him to Throng ten times more than she already has. Which it sounds like she already takes him a lot.

Xavier’s mother raises her voice more and more every second and the two twin girls out with us are starting to get frightened. I see that both of them are hold dolls in their hands, so I bed down and ask them what their dolls' names are. I know that if I was a kid, I would hate hearing my parents fight. Unfortunately, my brothers and I were the cause of my parents' fight, but I can’t think about that right now. I have to distract these girls.

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They tell me their dolls' names are Emonie and Idalia which are coincidentally their names as well. They told me all the drama about their little tea parties and how the doll Emonie broke the wooden cup of the doll Idalia and now they are fighting. They tell me that they always fight but they also always make up in the end. I laugh and tell them that it sound like my brothers and I.

After a few second of silence, Idalia puts her hand on my cheek and says, “You are very pretty.”

My body stiffens. I have heard that people think I am pretty but they wouldn’t tell a Magnificent to their face that they think they are pretty. I’m sure the citizens are scared that a Magnificent would laugh in their face and tell them to flirt with someone else. I wouldn’t. I would simply thank them and then if I had time I would strike up a conversation with them.

Cheeks heating up, I clear my throat to bring myself back to the present. I smile at Idalia and tell her, “Not as pretty as you.” She giggles and runs to her sister and they go back to playing with their dolls. That’s when I notice that Xavier is done packing and him and his parents are staring at me. His parents with content and Xavier with a mixture of embarrassment and desperate to get out of here.

Xavier says goodbye to his parents and then we head out of their house and to Cheleste’s home which is a little bit farther away. It’s still seems to be in a middle class section but closer to where the lower class is.

Her house doesn’t look different than Xavier’s but inside is a lot more chaotic. When we walk in I notice immediately the group of little children sitting at a very long wooden table. The door squeaks and all of their little heads tilt towards the sound as if it just called out each individual name.

At first, they look very confused but once they see Cheleste every single face lights up like little drops of sun. They yell her name as loud as they can and run up to her and hug her. Cheleste bends down and makes sure to kiss every single forehead that is in front of her.

Slowly, an older woman comes out of the kitchen and waddles over to the door where everyone is crowded by.

“Finally, you left me, you selfish piece of shit. I had to take care of all of these kids and I am exhausted. Come, help me feed the children,” the lady says as she waddles back to the kitchen.

“Mom, I can’t,” Cheleste says. She looks around at the little children in front of her and then looks at her friends, my brothers, and I. “I can explain, just follow me to the bedroom.”

Cheleste’s mom grunts but doesn’t argue.

Chelste bends down again to the little children, “Alright little ducklings, Mama and I have to talk but you will get your food in a little bit. Please be good and sit at the table. No fighting and make sure behave, we have guests.”

Cheleste, the two guards, and her mom walk towards her bedroom and the children all run back to the table where they were sitting before. Now that they are all sitting down and not running around anymore I can see that there are six children. There are four girls and two boys and all of them have the same curly red hair as Cheleste.

As we wait for Cheleste to come back, I learn that the oldest two, girl and boy, are twins. They just turned thirteen a couple of days ago. The middle child is a boy and he is more quiet than the other kids. The last three are girls and they are triplets.

They then proceed to tell me that Cheleste takes care of them most of the time and now that she hasn’t been home for a couple days, the twins are trying to help out their mother. She is a single mother because their father left to follow Darkness when the triplets were born. The triplets tells us that they are sure that their father will come back and all I can do is feel sorry for them and know what it is like to have a father that abandons his children.

Before I can get too far into my thoughts, Cheleste and her mother come back. Brooding darkness shadows her mother as the fire of a raging bull shines through Cheleste. They had a fight. That’s the only explanation but Cheleste looks like she stronger than ever and I know that she can handle this.

Cheleste comes and kisses all of her siblings on the forehead again. “I love you so much, little ducklings. I am going to go somewhere for a little while but I promise I will come back.”

“You promise?” one of the triplets ask.

“I promise, duckling.”

They all say their goodbyes to each other as her mom sulks in a corner on the opposite side of the house. After saying goodbye to her siblings, Cheleste walks straight to the door ignoring her mother. We all follow her out.

The four friends gather in a group in front of my brothers and I asking Cheleste if she is okay. She kept telling them that she didn’t want to talk about it and that she just wanted to get back to the castle where she can get some alone time in her room.

We finally make it to our last stop of the day and that is Pierce’s home. I find out that he lives in one of the poorest sections of Chopver. He is one of the happiest people I have ever seen and because of that, I would not have expected him to live in a dirt house. It gives me so much more respect for him.

We walk to a lump that is made out of dirt and clay. There is one hole in it that creates a window. An unattached plank of wood is used as a door and Pierce explained that his father and him has to move everything heavy in front of the door when there is a bad storm.

We all walk into Pierce’s home and we meet his father and grandmother right away. This home only has one room and one bed. Next to the bed there is a pile of hay and buckets of food. I find out that Pierce and his father sleep on the pile of hay while Pierce’s grandmother sleeps on the bed.

Pierce explains that he didn’t have anything he needed to pack but wanted to opportunity to explain to his father and grandmother what is going on. His father and grandmother aren’t bother much by the news and confident that they will see Pierce again. And if he does see them again, I personally will see that he brings as much food as he possibly can to his home for his family. They are all so sweet and truly do care about each other.

When we tell them that it is time to say goodbye, not only do they say goodbye to Pierce but all of the friends. That’s something I notice the other families did not do. The other families didn’t even acknowledge the other friends much and the friend group seems close enough that they would have been friends for year. You would think that their parents met all of the friends if not the friend’s parents.

On our way back to the castle, I notice the mood in the friend group changes. They are a lot more relaxed and talking to each other as if they are not going back to their prison.

In some weird way, it’s kind of nice to see that.