My mind is racing, but my body is numb and unmoving. My legs drag on the floor behind me. My eyes stare straight ahead. Doors and hallways blur past my eyesight until everything is dark and cold. The pain in my stomach has faded into a low throbbing feeling. There is buzzing in my ear and it won't stop. Help. That is all, I think. Help me, please. The guards turn a sharp corner and drag me through a metal gate. Dungeons. The stone floor is rough on my legs. A row of cells emerges from my eyesight. A hunched over figure sits in the closest one to me. I can barely see straight so I can't see the face. The guards unlock the cell next to the person.

"Octavia?" A familiar voice whispers. Something stirs in my brain. The door swings open and they throw me inside. "What did you do to her?!" The person yells at the guards. My face rests on the cold floor towards the cell next door. My eyes adjust to the darkness on a face. Cedric. He grips the bars and looks at me with worried eyes. "Octavia, can you hear me?" Yes. I want to say. My mouth doesn't move. Neither does my body. "It's okay, you're in shock." No, it's not okay. I'm dying.

"Just look at me and stay awake." I make a groaning noise and turn on my back. "We need to stop the bleeding." I press my hand to my wound. It feels wet and slimy. "Try and focus, Octavia." I hear a ripping sound.

"Cedric," I croak. Everything starts to move around me. I try to keep my head as still as possible.

"Shh, it's okay. I need you to move yourself over here." I look over at him. He is holding a strip of his shirt. My breathing picks up as I use my bloodied hands to scoot me towards the bars separating us. I stare at the ceiling as tears cloud my vision. I can't do this. As I get closer Cedric reaches through the bar and grabs my hand. He pulls me towards the bars. "Okay, you're going to have to wrap this around your stomach." I make a small noise telling him okay. He hands me the cloth. I struggle to get it under my neck to my other hand. I whimper as I arch my back and slid it under. "Good," he says. I grab the two ends and hand them to him. He lifts up my shirt and starts to tie the cloth. I can't even look. I stare at the ceiling and wait for him to finish. I feel broken. My heart feels as if it has been shattered into a million pieces.

I look down and watch his wrists which have silver cuffs around them like mine. He tightens the cloth and I let out a cry. "I'm done. You're going to be fine." I shake my head.

"I don't want to die," I cry to him. He grabs my hand and shakes his head.

"You aren't," he says.

"You have to promise me something. Promise me."

"No, Octavia, you're not going to die," he says as sadness clouds his features.

"Please!" I beg him. He squeezes my hand. "Promise me, you'll find my brothers and tell them I love them and that I tried." Tears roll down my cheek onto the stone as I look up at Cedric. His eyes are glossy. He doesn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I promise," he whispers. I nod my head and swallow the lump in my throat as I try to focus on my breathing.

"I'm so sorry," he says. I close my eyes and hold his hand tighter. There are so many things I want to say and ask him, but I'm too much in pain to say anything.

I close my eyes for I don't know how long, but every few minutes I would feel two fingers on my wrist where my pulse is. Just to make sure I'm breathing. I listen to the thrum of my heartbeat against my rip cage to distract my mind from everything else.

Soon I wake up to footsteps. I open my eyes and see two guards walk in. I hear Cedric shift beside me. I raise my body and lean up against the back of the cell wall. Joanna walks in with her head high and hands clasped in front of her. She smiles viciously at Cedric as he stands up in his cell. She looks at me and frowns

"I thought you'd be dead already," she says. I glare at her.

"Let us out of here," Cedric says in a dull tone.

"Why? An animal belongs in a cage," she replies in a bored tone.

"If that's true, then why isn't Max in here?" Her eyes narrow into slits like a snake.

"Where's Max?" Cedric says getting closer to the bar.

"Your brother is resting," she smiles. For what?

"For what?" I glance at Cedric like he just read my mind. She laughs and looks at both of us.

"You two are going to die tomorrow," she says tilting her head at me. I grimace at her sickly smile. "Don't worry. You get a fair trial." Cedric glances back at me and sighs. "I'll let you two decide your fate, but you die tomorrow either way."

"Why are you doing this?" I grind out. Her icy glare directs toward me.

"Because you are an abomination," she hisses at me. "You really thought you could fool me? I know everything that goes on in this palace. You are so naive." I keep my eyes glued to hers. She shifts towards Cedric.

"And you are nothing to me and you always will be. Max will always follow me and my ways. You and father not so much," she says to her son. Cedric grips the bars.

"Is that why you killed him?!" He yells. I intake a sharp breath and watch her face. She gives no sign that she didn't. I look down at my blood dried hands. "You're sick! I swear to God I will kill you when I get out of here!" I wince at his harsh words.

"We'll see about that. Sleep well," she smirks. Cedric draws away from the bars as she walks away with the guards. Cedric sits down beside me near the bars. I can hear his hard breaths circle through his nose and mouth. I stay silent and let him catch his breath.

"Max stabbed you, didn't he?" His voice cuts through the silence and through my heart. I feel my throat closing up.

"Yes," I manage to say. He leans his head back against the wall.

"How stupid are you, Octavia?" I turn my head and look at him. He glances down at me.

"What?" I ask him.

"You knew the risk. You knew you had to keep your head down to not get notice. So why the hell would you agree to marry my brother?" I knew this question was coming. I knew Cedric thought I was stupid and reckless for my decisions.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I whisper. He scoffs

"Well, please enlighten me, because we are sitting in the dungeon together!" I press my lips together.

"I'm with the Resistance," I say. He stays silent and stares at me. "Max was my partner and the engagement was fake. It was a way for us to escape at the celebration." I pick at the blood underneath my fingernails and look down.

"But you didn't get out," he says.

"Someone snitched on us that night. I never suspected him. I didn't have a reason to." My heart hurts just thinking about him. How could I have been so stupid? He lied to me about everything. He betrayed me. Did he really love me? Or was that a lie too?

"My brother has never been a trustworthy person. He my mother's lap dog. I should have warned you."

"It's not your fault," I say. He sighs and I place my hand on the cloth that is holding my insides together.

"We have to pick duel tomorrow. We have to try to get out of here," he says. I turn my head and look at him.

"Are you insane?" He looks at me.

"Octavia, you'll be fine."

"I'm going to die out there," I say. I have no strength whatsoever to fight against someone.

"We have to try. I doubt my mother will allow our powers. We will probably get some sort of weapon." My mind drifts to Sage. I should have been meeting her by now. She'll know something is wrong when I don't show up. We could possibly make it out of here alive. If we win the duel we get out. Simple as that.

"Do you really think she'll let us go if we win?" He hesitates before answering.

"She has to," he says. I nod. "We need to sleep, especially you, for tomorrow." He's right. I need my strength. I scoot off the wall and slowly lay myself in a flat position. I try to ignore the pain in my stomach as I flutter my eyes closed and think about my family. I will get out of here. I swear.

In the morning I wake to our cell doors being unlocked. I sit up and see Joanna standing outside the cells with the guards.

"Wake up," she barks. Cedric sits up beside me. "What will be your fate today?" Cedric and I glance at each other.

"We choose duel," he says. She grins and nods.

"Prepare them," she tells the guards.

She stalks away and the guard's motion for us to get up. Cedric quickly gets up and walks into my cells to help me up. I wrap my arm around his shoulder, and he pulls me out of the cell. My body feel slow and heavy. Each step on my right foot is painful for my stomach. The guards lead us down a corridor and into a dark room. They open a door and Cedric walks me through. We are in the cave leading to the ground of the arena. This is where we die. I stare at the sand until Cedric leads me over to the wall and sets me down.

I wince as I sit down. He lifts my shirt up and then rips another strip of cloth from his shirt and wraps it around my wound. I can't stop staring at the sand in the arena. He tightens the strip and pulls my shirt down. I grimace at the pain and try to push it away from clouding my mind. Time to focus.

"Octavia," he says getting my attention. I meet his eyes as I listen to the voices growing in the arena. "Listen, we'll be fine." His reassurance barely gives me hope. I'm going to die. He might win but I will hardly be able to dodge my opponent. "Just remember what you've been taught. You're the top in the class," he reminds me.

"I'm scared," I admit. He nods. I notice his sandy brown hair falls over his right eye. He brushes it away and focuses back on me.

"I know, but we can get out of her if we stick together."

"And if we can't?" He gives me a pained look.

"Then we die with honour," he says. "I've got your back if you got mine." This gives me hope.

"Okay." The guards behind us throw two heavy things beside Cedric. We glance at them and see that they are two silver swords. We glance at each other. I've never fought with a sword before. Cedric grabs my hand and hauls me up before I can say anything. I feel around on my feet for a stable grounding and then he lets go. He takes the two swords and hands one to me. It's heavier than I thought. I flip it from hand to hand, weighing it out. The guards grab our arms and lead us towards the entrance to the arena. We stand side by side with our swords in our hands.

"Don't let the sword scare you, just remember how to defend yourself," he says.

"Thank you," I whisper. He bobs his head up and down.

I start to rack my brain through all of my training. I can't help but wonder who we are fighting against. Cedric grabs my hands and I latch onto it. He's nervous too. You aren't alone Octavia. Keep going.

We hear the Queen's voice from afar and then our name being called. Cedric nods and together we enter into the bright sandy arena. The first thing I see are thousands of people. I think of Kim.

"They will be fighting our best Red fighters," Joanna announces. "Ava and Jeremy!" From the cave on the other side Ava and Jeremy emerge hand in hand and walk towards us. Cedric grip tightens and I curse under my breath. Oh shit.