When they arrived, The King was waiting for them. Degore frowned, "What happened, my son?"

Ulric sighed tiredly, "The prisoners escaped, but," he added, "it's taken care of."

"What?" The King cried, "How did you get injured?"

"Well, it came about that the prisoners had a sword at my neck, and Fendrel threw his sword, injured the prisoner, and the prisoner stabbed me in the leg." Ulric grimaced remembering the pain.

"Which one?" Degore asked lowly.

"The boy." Ulric replied, "But don't injure him. We need him in good condition for selling."

"I've changed my mind. They have been too much trouble for us. Slavery is too good for them." The King decided.

"Then what do you have planned?" Ulric questioned.

"Death. They have shown me time and time again that they deserve it." The King helped Ulric sit down at the edge of his bed as a doctor entered to fix up his leg.

Ulric nodded, "Alright, father."

A knock sounded on the door. "Ulric? Are you in there?" A female voice floated in from outside the door.

Ulric's face lit up with a smile, "Xene?" He asked.

The door opened and she popped in. Xene curtsied to the King. "Your majesty."

"Hello." Degore greeted. He left without another word, leaving the two friends to talk.

Turning towards Ulric, Xene frowned. "You look terrible! What happened?" She asked, concerned.

Before Ulric had a chance to answer, the guard that helped him to his room burst in without knocking. "My lord, I'm sorry for intruding, but..." He tried to get is breathing under control, "the prisoner, sir, she's...she's having a seizure. The guards don't know what to do, but I think she's dying." He finished hurriedly.

Ulric stood up quickly, wincing in pain as he put weight on his injured leg, "Bring me to her." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." The guard helped Ulric walk down to the dungeon as fast as he could. Instantly, Ulric spotted where Thea was. A group of guards were gathered around the entrance of a cell, looking quite alarmed. Ulric walked over and looked in the cell. Thea was thrashing about on the ground, a circle of guards surrounding her. They all looked uncertain and upon seeing the prince, they made a pathway to her. Ulric knelt by Thea, and examined her condition. She seemed unconscious and totally incoherent. Suddenly, her hand shot out and smacked him in the stomach. Blood ran down her face from her cuts opening again from Fendrel. Thea thrashed about on the floor, unable to control her actions and unaware of them.

Ulric grunted from the blow, and called for the guards to restrain her. Two stepped forward uncertainly and pinned her to the floor. She calmed slightly, but didn't wake up.

"Keep her restrained." He ordered.

A minute later, Thea's struggles ceased and she opened her eyes. They filled with fear when she noticed Ulric staring down at her. She visibly tried to jerk away.

"Calm down, prisoner." Ulric said with no emotion.

Thea took a deep, shaky breath and scowled, "Wh-what's going on?" She asked venomously.

"You were having a seizure." Ulric explained. He stood up, "Everyone get out of her cell." He ordered. Everyone filed out of the cell and the door was shut and locked. A faint sigh could be heard from Thea as she remained on the cold stone. Ulric ignored the sigh and headed to check on the other prisoner.

Nikandros was doing badly. His leg wounds were getting infected, and his ribs ached. When Ulric came, Nikandros was recovering from a fit of pain from his legs combined with his ribs. Ulric's eyes widened as he saw the condition of Nikandros. For a moment, a surge of pity washed over him.

Nikandros saw Ulric staring at him, and glared darkly at him. "What do you want?" He growled.

Ulric composed himself, and said simply, "Just checking on the prisoner."

"Well, you can see he is still in here." Nikandros said sarcastically. Ulric glowered at the sarcasm, and turned away abruptly. Nikandros uttered a short bark of laughter.

Ulric whirled around, "You got a problem?" He snapped.

Nikandros shrugged innocently, then groaned slightly as he bumped an injury. Ulric walked away haughtily, 'the sooner these smart mouths are gone the better.' He decided angrily.

Thea waited until all the guards an Ulric had gone before speaking. "N-Nik...?" She asked weakly.

"Thea?" Came the soft reply.

"Still holding on?" Thea whispered.

Nikandros swallowed. "Yes. You?" He asked.

"Barely." Thea forced out a laugh. "That plan certainly didn't work very well..."

Nikandros grunted in agreement, but said nothing. In truth, he was so disappointed that the plan hadn't worked. Everything has been going so well! But then the guard had thrown his stinking sword. He meditated bitterly. Nikandros shifted, trying to get comfortable, and he felt something shift in his boot. Realization dawned on Nikandros. "The keys." He whispered to himself. Of course, he thought, he had put the keys in the most inconvenient place possible.

"Maybe we'll never get out of here..." Thea frowned and closed her eyes. It felt like her whole face was on fire. No matter what she did, the action caused it to hurt.

"Thea." Nikandros spoke slowly and softly.

"What? I'm just sayin'..." Thea defended.

"I have the keys in my boot."

"What?" Thea exclaimed in disbelief. Her eyes widened and she repeated quieter, "...what?"

"I. Have. The. Keys. In. My. Boot." He repeated.

"Oh...how?" Thea scrunched her forehead in confusion.

"Well, I placed them in there before I stabbed the prince." Nikandros explained.

"Well that was smart...but how are you going to reach them when your hands are chained?" Thea sat up, stretching her tired limbs.

"Yah, that's the problem." Nikandros bit his lip, trying to think of a solution.

"Mmhmm..." Thea nodded, joining him in thought.

"Can you think of any way?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Are you flexible?"

"Uh..." Nikandros stared blankly into the darkness where Thea's cell was located.

"Is that a no? Cause that factor is important in my idea." Thea stated.

"Um, it depends...what is your idea?" Nikandros questioned.

"Bend your leg up to your arms?"

"Well, I'll try, but the keys are in my boot, so how would I get them out?"

Thea threw her hands up in frustration, "I don't know! Do I have to do everything?" She winced when her shoulder wound was moved.

"No, but you had the idea in the first place..." Nikandros pointed out.

"You figure it out...I-I...my head hurts..." Thea rubbed her temple.

Nikandros sighed deeply.

"Sorry...that was insensitive. I'm sure you don't feel so hot either." Thea walked over to the wall that separated her from Nikandros, "Honestly, I think we shouldn't do it right away...we are both too weak and they will be expecting us to try again."

"Your right." Nikandros agreed tiredly, "But we may not have time."

"True...we can't wait too long..."

"This is so frustrating!" Nikandros exploded quietly, "To have freedom so close and yet so far!"

"I'm starting to regret agreeing to this mission..." Thea stated obviously.

"Yah, me too."

Thea fell silent and sat down, leaning against the bars to be near Nikandros. Her eyes fluttered closed and soon the exhausted assassin fell into a troubled yet deep slumber.

Nikandros felt the tears come. What had happened in the past few days finally caught up with him and he let the tears fall. He was totally exhausted.

Here's the thirteenth chapter for y'all! I hope you enjoyed it!

Spread some love if you enjoyed it! Thx guys!

Ithildae, Aris, and Evara

Writers:
Ulric: Evara
Thea: Ithildae
Nikandros: Evara
Fendrel: Ithildae
Guards: Ithildae and Evara
Degore: Ithildae