When Sora had told her brother an overly brave- not to mention crazy- plan, he had just nearly thought she had gone insane. Sure, she had been talking to the servant girl in secret, and their conversations had been quite friendly(No, he had NOT been eavesdropping), but he wasn't expecting this.

Sora had become so engrossed with finding out the girl's name she had gone as far as to ask the PRINCE to commit a treasonous act.

And he had complied, making him just as insane as Sora.

With a deep breath, Soren strutted down the hall into the old dungeon, debris from it's collapse preeminent. "Oh what am I doing?" he muttered to himself, making his way to the single working cell that sat at the end of the corridor, and in the dead of night it was engulfed in shadow.

Quietly he leaned his head against the bars and whispered, "Hey? Are you in there?"

Then she emerged from the shadows, her clothes torn and her face clouded with mud. "Come to take me back, have you? Found out about Princess Sora, coming to see me? Stopped her from coming, didn't you? And now you're going to punish me too."

Soren winced internally. Is this what castle servants think of us? Evil, dark, cruel...

"No. The opposite, actually," Soren said, fumbling to find the cell key among the many others on the keyring, "I'm getting you out."

The servant girl took a step back. "You're helping me?"

"Yeah, but only because Sora asked me to," he said sternly. It's not like he wanted this girl to think he helped prisoners escape all the time. "It's a one-time thing."

He unlocked the cell door and pulled it open. It creaked with age and both Soren and the servant instinctively looked towards where the guards had fallen asleep. With a sigh of relief, Soren noted that they hadn't woken up.

Soren led the girl over to where the roof had collapsed and showed her crevices where she could put her feet to climb up. As she neared the top the prince followed after her, looking towards the sky. The first star had appeared, the first ember of a raging forest fire.

"Why are you helping me?" The girl asked as Soren moved to stand next to her.

"I told you, because Sora asked me." The girl looked at him with her head tilted, as though she believed he wasn't telling the full truth. Am I? He thought for a moment, No, maybe not. Maybe I think that she deserves freedom. Because the servants are less servants and more slaves. Soren shook his head. "Sora is waiting for you by the river."

The girl nodded. "Thank you, Soren."

Soren grunted, a small smile forming in his lips.
And as for the girl? She was already bounding towards the river. Towards freedom.