N: England looked up from his bandages and gave Mandoria a sour look before noticing his fathers, and when he did he weakly smiled, "well it is nice to have a family reunion, here, in a dungeon."

Anglo crossed his arms, he didn't like to see his son injured, and he disapproved of his tone, "well we would have come together at home if you left peacefully as requested by Mandoria. I have also heard about how you 'greeted' the king, and I must say, I expected more from you."

England stood, walked up to the bars, and said, "I'm sorry, Fa, but I did what a concerned father would do, "he glanced at Saxon and continued, "Faeder has really been messing with British Empire, first with French Empire, recently stirring who knows what in the new world." He shook his head and returned to his seat, "and the humans were rilled up with what happened in Saxony, of course I fought."

Anglo turned to Saxon to see how he would react, and he saw guilt in his eyes. Initially, he was happy that his son fought back, something that he usually does, and the stuff about British Empire did affect him, but that was just part of his job. When Saxony was mentioned, he lowered his head in shame, and when Anglo reached out to comfort him he shrugged him off and went to lean against a wall.

Seeing England's wounds, Anglo worried even more and asked Mandoria "can I enter into the cell to check on England?"

-----

When Johann entered the princes' room, not sure what to do, he asked, "what is it like being the only people your age in this big place?"

M: "Boring," the brothers said in unison, then Derogan continued, "sometimes we will play with the knights and servants' kids but that is on rare occasions so we mostly stick to ourselves."

Mandara nodded and hopped onto his bed, "we play in the forest or the eye of Ora. The birds around here are very nice and tell cool stories."

At the mention of birds, Silver Streak popped out of nowhere and landed on a shelf next to Johann, giving the kid a once over.

"I don't think you two have been properly introduced," Derogan said when he saw the raven's interest, "this is Silver Streak, she is very friendly and loves people."

Silver cawed at Johann in greeting.

-----

"Of course," Mandoria said, though it was barely above a whisper.

He nodded to the guard, who nodded back and unlocked the cell door for Anglo, shooting England a warning look to not try anything.

Mandoria wouldn't look at the English, he still felt guilty and scared for not telling Anglo and Saxon anything, he instead diverted his attention to his wings, absent-mindedly fiddling with his feathers to take his mind off what he did.

N: Anglo rushed over to England and began getting worked up by his wounds, fussing about as he told off England for picking at the bandages.

"Fa, I'm fine," England kept on repeating as Anglo continued his fatherly pestering.

Saxon stayed outside the cell since he knew that Anglo has completely covered for England, he noticed Mandoria fiddling with his wings so he spoke up. "What I said before may have been much, and since I know how kind you are I would have to re-evaluate. But what I said about hurting my family is true."

He looked at some of the captured soldiers in the cell and muttered, "if you feel guilty about what you did, believe me, I understand."

——————

Johann waved at Silver, "hallo, I'm Johann," he introduced himself, then he did a double-take on what Mandara said, "wait, you said that the birds tell you stories? You can understand birds?" Since he isn't usually around winged countries, or any countryhumans at all for most of the time, he was fascinated about learning about them.

He reached to stroke Silver's chest and said, "although it wouldn't be the same way, whenever I was with my dog, since knowing him for so long, it would almost seem like we could talk to each other."

M: "Huh, we used to have dogs," Mandara said, "they were hunting dogs and would help Father hunt, though one day they tried to take down a bear, it didn't end well, unfortunately."

Derogan hummed in agreement and said, "and about the birds, yeah, we can understand them, being part bird ourselves, we can even speak to them, watch."

Derogan then mimicked some raven calls, Silver Streak responding back.

"I asked her what she thought of you," the older prince explained, "she said that you were very brave to try to attack Saxon at the Eye of Ora, he is a scary guy and something like that takes courage."

"I think Saxion is a big goofball," Mandara snickered, "Father even said that it was like he was raising another child when he came here."

-----

Mandoria looked up to Saxon for a second but went back to his wings.

"It doesn't excuse me for keeping it a secret," he muttered, "He is your son and you and Anglo had every right to know what happened. I don't know what I was thinking, but if I let him go without telling you what occurred it would have obviously ended in disaster. I was being a selfish fool, and I have no excuse for it."

After a moment of silence and a small sigh, the king finally looked up to Saxon though not in the eyes, "I am truly sorry that harm came to your son, if you need retribution then please take it out on me, not my boys, p-please."

N: Saxon hummed and replied, "you are not selfish, and you are definitely not a fool," he faced him, "you are just playing your part in this damn world we happen to live in, so what did I expect?" He watched as Anglo started to walk towards them, "and as for retributions," he smirked, "I would have to see how British Empire reacts to the news since he is your ally."

"Speaking about British Empire," said Anglo, frowning at Saxon's last statement, "we would need to find a way so that he would hear the news about his father from us, and only us, so that we can advise him on the next best action, hopefully not putting a strain on the alliance."

Anglo sighed, he felt that the world has just gotten more complex ever since giving the country status to England and apologized, "I'm sorry for all the misfortune that has befallen you ever since we came here. Quite frankly, it would have been best if we saw England earlier, but it is the duty of the king to protect his kingdom."

"Can you stop apologizing," retorted Saxon, "you can't exactly apologize for killing a bunch of people-," he caught on what he said and fell silent; he remembered he tried to apologize to Johann about Saxony.

"Can you truly say that all that has happened did not start when you arrived here?" Anglo asked, and Saxon remained silent. He turned to Mandoria and said, "I believe that we could leave sometime tomorrow, the sooner the better."

-----

"A goofball?" Johann scoffed, "I would say Saxon is anything but a goofball. You guys are lucky that he has been exceptionally kind to you, but he is not always like that to others," he shook his head as he sat down on a chair, "I may have seen brave, but it was only because I had nothing to lose. Since he is the entity that represented my people, I kind of had an understanding of how he would act, but otherwise I was going in blind."

He didn't want to continue to talk about Saxon, so he looked outside and saw that the last rays of sunlight were disappearing, so he asked, "where could I stay for the night? And also, how is Sir Rowen like, since King Mandoria said that I could stay with him if he wanted to?"

M: Mandara was confused about Johann's statement that Saxon wasn't always nice to others since he didn't know who he really was. Derogan understood a little bit because he knew what an insurgent is and that Saxon was the head of them, though he definitely didn't know as much as the adults or even Johann for that matter.

When the kid mentioned Rowen, Mandara's eyes lit up. "He is the best," he declared, "he is super fun to be with and is really nice, sometimes we joke about him being a second Father."

"He and Father are best friends too," Derogan added, "they are usually seen together when in public and he guards Father when he goes to meet other kingdoms and empires."

"Rowen has mentioned wanting a kid of his own," Mandara piped in again, "his wife died before they could have one and we think that is why he likes us so much, but hey, since you also lost your family, that means you both won't be lonely anymore, right."

-----

Mandoria shrunk when British Empire was mentioned, even though they were allies and good friends, he knew how volatile his wrath could be and was fearful about how he would take the news.

"I suggest sending England and his men with you both," Mandoria said, "seeing as you all will be going to the same place either way, then you three can talk to British Empire first."

When Anglo mentioned everything going south when Saxon came he opened his mouth to try to defend the entity but remained silent when he couldn't think of anything to say.

"If you feel you are strong enough to travel then you may," he eventually said, referring to Anglo's injuries, "and I will provide whatever you need for the journey."

N: Anglo nodded and began to walk away when he stumbled a bit. Luckily Saxon was there to catch him before he fell, and he noticed how he was taking on Anglo's full weight, so he said, "you have tired yourself out today, you should have just stayed in bed."

The country shook his head and replied, "I'm fine, the day has simply been slightly taxing, that's all."

Saxon sighed and helped him up, and he lifted up his wings so that it no longer dragged along the floor, and turned to Mandoria, "we will see if we can travel, don't listen to this tired country here, and maybe," he glanced at England, who was lying on the bed, "my son can learn a lesson by spending time in a cell."

He supported Anglo as they waddled together to his room, and he flashed an angry look at any knight that tried to escort them.

-----

"It would be nice to not be alone anymore," Johann agreed, stood up, and went to the door so that he could get a glass of water from the kitchen, but when he did, he was surprised to see a knight guarding the door.

"Do knights usually guard your door?" Johann asked the princes, and he tried to walk past them but he was told to stay inside, "I just want a glass of water."

M: "No, that is very strange," Derogan said, he went over to the knight and asked what was going on.

"I was simply ordered to guard you three, the king was taking Sir Anglo and Sir Saxon to the dungeon to see Sir England-" the knight covered his mouth when he realized he was saying too much. Mandara and Derogan gave each other confused looks.

"What do you mean 'to see Sir England', he left when Father told him he couldn't have Sir Saxon," Mandara said.

The knight shook his head, "I'm afraid I have been ordered not to tell you, even though I slipped up I won't spill anything else." He then smiled at Johann, "I will have a servant bring up some water for you, but for now you must remain in here with the princes."

The knight closed the door and continued guarding, leaving three very confused children.

-----

Mandoria instinctively reached out for Anglo when he stumbled but retracted his hands when Saxon caught him. He hated that the country was hurt, he was supposed to be taking Saxon back home yesterday but he was barely able to hold up his own weight.

When Saxon mentioned England learning a lesson, Mandoria silently nodded, as he didn't feel he had room to say anything. The king stayed where he stood after Saxon and Anglo left, just trying to wrap his head around the events of today and how they would affect his and his kingdom's future.

N: When they reached the room, Saxon laid Anglo down on his bed, and when he got comfortable, Saxon asked, "what you said back there about all the trouble happening after I arrived, do you believe that?"

Anglo sighed, "I can't ignore the trouble you cause in every country you set foot in, and with what I have heard that has happened since your arrival, and knowing how the kingdom was before that, wouldn't I?" He sat up so that he could face Saxon, who was sitting in the chair opposite him, "but that is what you get from being the head of insurgents, it's in the job description."

Saxon nodded, and when he checked that Anglo was fine, wordlessly left the room to his own, thinking over what he said, before calling it a night.

(continue on chapter 21)