From the moment I saw Theodora, what was left of all sense of logic and reality left me. I did not know how to feel at all. Was Theodora alive all this time?

As myself and Giltren stayed by the door overhearing the conversation, what we heard shocked us to our core.

"It's been two years, Jovik. I can't stay with somebody whose heart isn't mine." The girl said. Surely His Majesty would not entertain this theory, but I have to admit that she was brave to try this.

"It has been two years indeed, yet my heart has only melted from an unloving shrivel of stone now. Please don't freeze it again." The King's voice had a pleading tone to it. Perhaps they were right when they said that the end was near.

Still, a part of myself told me that Theodora or Quinn, maybe she could heal the King's heart. However, if she failed to, His Majesty would forget mercy completely. Therefore, I admit I hoped that the King would get the help he needed; which was through a companion.

It wouldn't be long until this empire fell apart and the debris of its consequences upon us. We may not have had any rivals, except for chaos. Anarchy was growing, and this girl proved it, Theodora proved it with her disappearance. The more ruthless King Jovik grew, his hatred in his subjects' hearts did as well. Now, it was only a matter of time before the dragon of mutiny sank its greedy fangs onto the Crane Dynasty and devoured it, leaving it but ashes and another cautionary bedtime story for the future.

"Jovik-

"We are married by the law, and by morality itself I cannot commit adultury. Please stop accusing me of such a sin."

We heard a sharp intake of breath and a long exhale. I was astonished at how it all was. The king, who let his beloved kill his own father, was now begging her to reunite with him. I must applaud at the luck Quinn has brought. If she was Theodora, I would have brought her on a palanquin, and now I regret not doing so for her.

"Yes, I found the hole!" Grail suddenly yelled in delight. Me and Giltren both looked at him. To our obliviousness, he had been on the other doors the whole time.

"Tell us what you see." Giltren told him. We both crowded him.

"Uh, they are- um, uh... you look." Grail said and walked away instead of eavesdropping more. Giltren looked at me in confusion, and I quickly knelt down to look through the keyhole of the room.

My jaw figuratively hit the floor. King Jovik had an arm around the girl's waist and caressed her face with his other hand. This was going too far, Theodora wouldn't want this to happen.

"Let me see," Giltren suddenly said and tried to shove me away and kneeled beside me. He lost his balance and fell sideways onto me.

"Get off!'" I hissed, and kicked him off of me. Unfortunately Grail found our predicament amusing and forgot the rule of stealth while eavesdropping.

Grail knelt down and pushed both of our heads away from the lock. "Let me see."

He was on the verge of laughter and that's when I remembered that we were not supposed to be here.

I grabbed the back of both of their shirts and dragged them away so we could talk about what we saw.

"Leave!" Grail hissed at me, while Giltren shoved me insolently.

"That is not... her." Grail said, trailing off as he realized what he was saying. It would be equivalent to a sin to compare a commoner like Quinn to Theodora.

"Then how do you explain the resemblance of the scar on her eye?" Giltren asked.

"A good sharp blade and some research would not be much trouble for an ambitious whore like her."

"Her hair? Her eyes?"

"Dyed." Liar. One would not need to have eyes like Grail's to deduct that the girl's hair was natural. Still, the owner of those eyes denied what they showed him.

"Her eyes?" Giltren asked again. Without a doubt that was something unexplained even to my own conscience. By no means did Theodora look like someone who could afford to have her eyes coloured in.

Grail was silent for a moment, his head down, yet not in concentration. His answers seemed to come off of his tongue as if he had known them even before we knew of Quinn.

"Coincidence."

"Her voice?"

"Coincidence."

"But it is somebody at least." Giltren said. "It has been four hours, and nobody else in the kingdom has been hurt."

"Then let us see to the end of this day." Grail grumbled.

"If there is more bloodshed even with Quinn's presence, then she is of no use and Grail will have his wish." I announced, declaring the decision.

"If you both wish to entertain the harlot's claims, be my guest." Grail said in an unreadably aloof tone, although his words had made enough sense. Suddenly, I had a question to ask him.

"Are you that hopeless, Grail?" I asked him.

"It isn't any question of having hope, but how much one should have for something that isn't true." He snapped.

I waited for him to elaborate, because I knew where this was going and just the right counterargument for it.

"Listen to yourself, Zarias. Theodora is dead, and it was clear the moment she had gone into the badlands. Even if what you say is true, do you think she would ever be the same?" Grail asked angrily. The fool had let his anger overrule himself.

"Our king lost his wife and his sanity. Are you proposing there is no aid for His Majesty either?" I asked.

"That is, if she even is Theodora." Giltren said to himself. Was he not the one to propose a chance for her in the first place?

"Giltren, are you not the one who wished to observe the situation?"

"I did suggest said decision, but I never agreed to believing she is Theodora."

"Exactly what I have been trying to say." Grail said loudly. I turned to him. This was getting out of hand, and only the truth could clarify everything.

"Grail, you have been dying to rip her apart for more of your tests so you do not have to tolerate her presence!" I yelled. He looked up from examining his nails.

"So do you not care whether I find the cure to mortality for these humans?" He asked in all seriousness. "One human could give life to others. So what if it is an imposter of Theodora?"

He started walking towards us. I mentally prepared myself for whatever new bizarre theory he had come up with and how many would have to die for it.

"That girl in there can serve a much better purpose than herself. She is pure of any depressants or hallucinogens, I have ran all my tests on her-

"When did you run tests on her?" Giltren asked suddenly.

"When Zarias, the optimist here, repeatedly struck her across the face, she spat some blood out and I took it right after delivering her to the king. After you two stuck your ears to this door for some reason instead of looking for a keyhole, I simply examined her blood sample. By the way, it was a good idea drawing blood along with saliva, it made my task much easier." Grail inhaled as he was out of breath from explaining.

"Please Zarias, what is one wicked life compared to a thousand innocent ones?" Grail begged in all seriousness. He had gone insane, more or less. Then again, we all had.

"Are the both of you out of your minds? She is still the king's prisoner until dead or released, and by what we can gather she is currently in neither condition." Giltren reminded us.

Perhaps we would all have to wait and see Theodora's fate.