Author's Note: Thanks to everyone reading! Please tell me your thoughts, I'd love to know what you all think of this story :)

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 Shai couldn't stand it anymore. Mikko had gone upstairs, and Jasper had fallen asleep over an hour ago. Shai was struggling to keep her eyes open, but she wasn't willing to fall asleep. She needed to talk to Todd.

She reached over and peeled open his eye. She saw his pupil staring back at her. He moaned and rolled over onto his side. It was the first time he moved since they had dragged him into the house. She nudged his shoulder, but he didn't move. She dug her boot into his back until she watched him start to stir again.

Todd rolled onto his back. Shai sat on the edge of the couch and watched as Todd pushed his fingers into his eyes. She looked across the room to see Jasper was still curled up in a ball in the corner of the room.

"There's a lot you need to tell me," she whispered.

"Those camps are awful, Shai," he said. He stretched out his shoulders, and pain winced across his face. "There's not much to talk about."

"That's not what I mean," she said. "You never told me you were an Archy."

"It never came up."

Todd propped himself up on his elbows and he scanned the dark room. Shadows were cast across his face, but Shai could notice his weight loss. His cheeks and nose seemed sharper than they were before his arrest.

"Where's Ren?" he asked.

"Who?" Shai didn't want Todd talking about someone else. She wanted him to confess everything about his past.

"The girl I was with. Did you leave her behind?"

"No she's on the couch over there." Shai gestured to the side of the room.

Todd's arms shook as he pushed himself even farther up. He slid off of the couch and Shai watched him as he wobbled through the dark room. He kept his hands out in front of him, but he bumped into a lot of Mikko's clutter. Shai wanted to call out to him and tell him to return to the couch, but she didn't want Jasper to wake up. Todd sat on the edge of the couch the girl was lying across.

"Hey, Stutter," he said to her.

He grabbed her wrists and rolled her onto her back. Shai got up and took a couple of steps forward. She stopped when Ren and Todd came into the light peering through the window. Shai had seen Todd with an array of girls, but never like this. He had her face cupped in his hands. She ripped his hands off of her face and sat up on the couch. Her eyes widened when she saw Shai. She had taken off the jacket and boots, but she still had the rest of the Officer's uniform on.

"Don't worry. She's not an officer," he said.

"Y...y....you," she started to say.

Shai watched as she struggled to get the words out. She had never seen someone struggle so much to speak before. Ren's eyes were locked on Todd. She opened her mouth, and didn't say anything, but shook her head.

"Just spit it out," Todd said.

"P...p...pr..."

"Prince?" Todd guessed and Ren nodded. "My name may be Tegan, but I'm not a prince."

"You're not from Royale?" Shai asked.

"I was born there and I lived there when I was young, but I am no longer an Archy."

"We heard about the assassinations."

Shai jumped when she heard Jasper's voice. She wanted to be quiet so that he could sleep, but they must have been talking too loud. His hair was disheveled and he was digging the heel of his palm into his eye.

"How'd you hear about them?" Todd asked. "No one outside of Bright talks about them."

"Mikko told us about them," Jasper said. "There was an attack on the palace. Five people died, but only four bodies. You never died."

"Who's Mikko?" Todd asked.

"I'm Mikko!" The lights flicked on and everyone groaned in pain as their eyes tried to adjust the light. Mikko was standing in the doorway. He had his ratty bathrobe wrapped around him. "I see our guests have woken up."

"Mikko Takahashi?" Todd asked.

"The General may have kicked me out of Royale, but I'm not going down without a fight," Mikko said. "I can see that you have done the same. Except the General is looking for you, and he wants my head on a pike. I don't know why though. That would ruin his rug."

"The General is looking for me?" Todd asked raising an eyebrow.

"Him and Sasha won't admit it, but they're going nuts looking for you. I hacked into Royale's database. I told you they weren't able to get rid of me."

"Wait a minute," Shai said, "what's going on? You two know each other?"

"Mikko used to work with all of the Techis in Royale," Todd said. "Why'd you get thrown out?"

"Let's not start that!" Shai exclaimed holding her hands up. "I'll never get any answers if he starts ranting."

"Who's the General and Sasha?" Jasper asked.

"The General is in charge of the military and all of the bases throughout the country," Todd said. "Sasha is his son."

"You know them then?"

"Yeah." Todd nodded his head. "Him and my Dad were really close. Sasha was my best friend when I was a kid."

"So you can talk to them about the Rats?"

Shai looked up to see Jasper smiling. She hoped that he got the revolution out of his mind, but she knew that was unlikely.

"What do you mean?" Todd asked.

"You can tell them about what goes on out here? You know what happens in the camps. You can get them to stop," Jasper told him.

"I'm never going back to Royale," he said.

"Oh yes you are!" Mikko pushed past Shai so that he was standing in front of Todd. "I did not do all of this work to find the missing Dyer prince for it to go to waste."

"What good would me going back to Royale do for you?" Todd asked.

"Haven't you been listening?" Mikko swung his hand out and smacked the back of Todd's head. The violent motion shocked Shai. Todd shook his head and rubbed his head. "They kicked me out! They banished me to this God forsaken hellhole. I need to get back to Royale, and I will. When I bring home the beloved Prince, I'll be taken back with open arms."

"Cambrie would not be happy to see my face around," Todd said.

"Cambrie?" Shai asked. Even she knew that Cambrie was the Queen. Her portrait and paintings were all over Bright. Her face was on all of the money they ever got their hands on. "Why would the Queen not want to see you? You're her family."

"The Queen is the one who had my family killed."

Shai felt her jaw drop. She looked up to see Jasper was chewing on his lip. Ren reached out and grabbed Todd's shoulder. Even Mikko wasn't saying anything, and Shai thought that must have been a first.

"What?" Todd asked looking around. "Come on, don't look shocked. She killed my family so that she could be Queen."

"How do you know that?" Shai asked.

"Doesn't it seem a little odd that everyone in front of her for the throne died that night? I mean almost my entire extended family lives in the palace. Why only go after my parents and siblings?"

"That's more reason to why you have to go back," Jasper said. "You can't let her get away with killing your family."

"Would you rather be living in our crappy apartment than in a palace?" Shai asked.

"Cambrie will have people trying to kill me on day one," he said.

"No she won't," Mikko said. "It's way too obvious. She'll have people going after you on day three, maybe day two if she gets too impatient."

"G...go," Ren said.

Her hand was still on his shoulder. He reached out and covered her hand with his. Her lips lifted into a smile, and Shai noticed the large gap between her two front teeth.

"I'll go, Stutter," he said. "But you have to be my bodyguard."

Ren nodded her head and let out a faint giggle. Todd smiled at her. Shai dropped her gaze to the ground. Despite them not saying anything or moving, she felt like she was witnessing an intimate moment.

"Great!" Mikko shouted. "We'll head out in the morning. I need to start packing my stuff. I don't know what to bring. I can only carry so much."

"We're going too," Jasper said.

"Not happening," Todd said. "It's way too dangerous."

"We just broke you out of a camp," Shai said. "Don't tell me what is too dangerous."

"They're right," Mikko said. "Now everyone out! I need some sleep and this isn't a hotel. Come back in the morning and I'll give you some disguises."

Mikko ran out of the room and she heard him pound up the stairs. Shai rolled her eyes and took Jasper's hand.

"We have been staying in the house next door," Shai said. "You can come with us."

"We'll scout out a house near by," Todd said. "I need to talk to Ren and I don't really feel like sleeping on the floor."

"Whatever, you just better not leave without us," she said.

"I owe you, Shai," he said. "Thanks for getting us out."

"I can't wait to tell Brodhi we got you out," she said. "He refused to help me out."

Todd laughed and shook his head. "You tried to get Brodhi to help you? That's hilarious."

"Should we go see him before we go to Royale?" Shai asked.

Jasper shook his head. "Him and Lynn probably have their baby and are happy. He won't want us around."

Todd stood up and stretched his arms up over his head. He had on the same brown uniform that Ren was wearing. She got up onto her feet, but her knees started to wobble and she held onto the arm of the couch to stay standing. Todd wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her stay on her feet.

"We'll see you two in the morning," Todd said.

Shai nodded her head and watched as the two of them wobbled out of the room and down the hallway. The gas Mikko created must still have an effect on them.