"Wake up." A deep voice sounded, and Harriet's eyes sprang open. She was sitting in a chair, and the amulets were back around her arms. Casting a glance around the room, she saw that the others were there, too, and they had evidently been woken up by the man who was standing at the other end of the room. To be honest, she was quite surprised that Katroina hadn't sold them out. But it could have been staged. And she wasn't here.

The man stood with his chin up, and leaning on a cane. Harriet would place him at around his mid-thirties, but grey hairs gave his age away. His eyes seemed to glow an icy blue, not unlike the King's eyes. In fact, he bore a strange resemblance to the King. He looked similar, but not so similar that he could be a twin. A brother, perhaps, but not a twin. But she had never been told about him having a brother. And she had been the Chosen One until Kadriq showed up. That was the time when she could get all of the information she needed from the government, no questions asked. She had gotten too used to that life.

Harriet looked back at the others, who were sitting in chairs beside her. Kadriq didn't show any emotion, as usual. Mina was looking vaguely annoyed, but Caleb just stretched his legs out, seeming completely relaxed. Harriet knew that her expression was more revealing than their ones, so she attempted to smooth her features over. It seemed to work, because Kadriq, who was sitting beside her, gave her a slight nod.

Well done.

The man shifted his cane into his hand, pointing it at Caleb, then Mina, then Kadriq, then her. "Swordsman, Rune Master, Chosen One, Altered User."

Harriet stiffened, feeling the others eyes on her. Altered user? Altered user. She had no idea what it meant.

He waved a dismissive hand at her, and walked over to Caleb, who looked lazily up at him. "Caleb, is it not?"

The boy smirked, and nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"Your handlers send their regards."

In a second, Harriet was on her feet and grabbing the man's collar.

He shouldn't know.

He shouldn't speak about it.

Harriet, stop. He's just trying to seem powerful.

"Harriet, calm down!"

She ignored Kadriq and Mina, pulling the man's cane from him and pushing him against the wall with it.

"Don't. Say. That. Again."

He laughed, his mouth spreading wide, unnaturally wide, to reveal a silver tooth. He disgusted her.

"Where did you learn that?"

Harriet.

"Where did I learn that?" He chuckled, and Harriet pushed the cane forward. The man let out a soft gasp, before switching back to leer at her.

"Tell me!" She demanded, and pushed forward again, forcing the man to lift his chin. He was still grinning.

A pair of arms grabbed her, and pulled her away from the man. "Harriet, stop."

Kadriq.

She fought back, not registering the fact that he had spoken out loud. "You can't just..."

"I can." He replied quietly, letting go of her. He seemed to know she wouldn't try and attack the man again. Harriet looked around the room. Mina was standing up, a hand on the chair, while the man leant against the wall, massaging his neck. However, Caleb was still sitting down, seemingly curled up into himself.

Her mouth was dry. She shouldn't have done that. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She was so fucking stupid. She should have been able to keep herself in check, shouldn't she? She'd been trained for so long, half her life, really. She was meant to know how to keep calm. If she couldn't keep herself calm, then what about her magic? Would it just... go off?

The man looked coolly at her, before his mouth split into the same wide grin she hated so much.

"You are very promising, child." He pulled himself off the wall, instead leaning onto the cane.

"Promisin' my ass." Mina retorted, and when she looked back, the girl still wasn't sitting down. She gave Harriet an accusing glare, and turned back to the man. "What do ya want?"

"Firstly, I would like for you to know the truth." He nodded towards them, and smiled. A muscle in Harriet's jaw twitched. The man seemingly didn't notice, and gestured for them to sit down. "Do sit down, and let us continue this civilly."

Harriet turned and sank into the chair, followed by Kadriq and Mina, who both looked slightly apprehensive.

"Name first." The rune master folded her arms, and leant back.

The man looked at her with disdain, but replied. "You may call me Xavier."

Caleb was still silent, and Harriet had changed her mind. Xavier had deserved it.

"Okay then, Xavier." Mina said, her jaw set, "You tell us the 'truth' and then you let us fuckin' leave."

Xavier's nose scrunched up, but he didn't comment. "Maybe." He sighed, and looked down at Mina.

"Get on with it."

"Eleven years ago, King Darian, as you well know, was crowned. However, he was not meant to be king. There was another brother. His name-"

"Was Xavier." Harriet cut in, and nodded towards Mina. "Like she said, get on with it."

Fucking drama queen.

Xavier sniffed, but continued. "I was to be king. But Darian was power hungry and ruthless, so he did everything to become king. But he was not fit to be king. He tried everything, failing each time. I thwarted him, and kept doing so, until one day. He-"

"We don' want your life story."

"People are beginning to find out about me, and to solidify his power, Darian is trying to develop a way of magic to keep us all pliable and extremely suggestive."

"And we should trust ya because?" Mina asked, looking at him with an expression not far from deadly. Her fists were clenched, and she looked like she was trying very hard not to get up and throttle him.

"We have a victim of their... testing, as you may call it."