The way back to the cellar was not what we were expecting. The halls were now crawling with guards. I should have known better. Noah was always ten steps ahead of me. He saw this coming. I don't know how he knew it was today, but he did and now we have to get ourselves out of here without being caught.

I turn towards both Jonas and Jacob and whisper, "Okay we need a new plan. This place is crawling with guards now and we will get caught if we continue towards the cellar."

Jonas did a circle motion with his hand like he was expecting me to say more, "That's quite obvious princess but what I'm really wondering is how we are planning on getting out of here alive."

I scoffed at him, "Alright jackass no need for the attitude. I have a way to get us out of here, but it will not be easy. For this to work you both will need to follow my every move perfectly. Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded.

"Amazing." I turned my head down the hallway and then motioned for the two of them to look at where I was pointing, "First we go down this hallway. We will cross a path to our right, we take that. From there we take two lefts. The only problem is that after we take those turns, we will encounter the staircase. The one that leads up to the main part of the castle." They both looked at each other like I was insane, I waved them off, "Look, I know it's a little insane, but we have no choice. Plus, he has sent half the guards to sweep the cellar and any second they will be here. It's now or never, so are you with me."

They both nod.

"Perfect, then follow me."

I start down the hallway which is a slow and painful journey. The first hallway is not far from where we are, but we cannot afford to be quick because we could be spotted at any moment. It has to be executed perfectly or else we will find ourselves dead. I'm sure Noah has told the guards to kill on sight and I've survived death once; I will not be so lucky again.

We reach the first hallway and quickly enter it. From there I'm less worried about running into guards as they are already all down here. We are able to move quicker than before and in less than a minute we make it to the staircase. I look at them for any signs of hesitation. Finding none I motion with my hand to follow me, and we sneak up.

As predicted the main floor is a ghost town at the moment. Any remaining guards are with Noah, that I am sure of. What I am not sure of is where Noah is at. He could be anywhere in the palace. And I'm sure he's searching every inch of the palace for my whereabouts.

We stay to the walls of the castle. It's good that there are three of us right now so that we can cover every angle. I have Jonas covering the back and Jacob is covering the side. I've got my eyes front.

In front of us the large double doors come into view, and I breathe a sigh of relief thinking we are almost in the clear. I put my hand on the door to open it before I hear behind me,

"Blair?"

I freeze. My entire body goes numb, and I can't do anything but keep my eyes fixed on the door.

"Blair, darling I've been looking everywhere for you. What happened to you?" I can hear him coming closer.

I'm no longer frozen. That fear quickly replaced by anger that he acts like he is concerned about me after what he did. I quickly turn on my heel to face him only to find him so close we almost bump noses. While I was frozen, he had taken Jonas and Jacob into custody.

"Let. Them. Go."

He smiles down at me, "I will, just as soon as you agree to come home."

"Blair don't!" Jonas yelled.

Noah's face turned dark, he turned towards Jonas, "And just who in the hell are you?"

Jonas struggled in the guards' arms, "A friend."

Noah scoffed and turned back to me. He leaned so close to my ear so only I could hear, "If he truly is a friend, tell them to back down. Come home and they live."

"What about me? Are you going to try to kill me again your highness." I say with a bite in my tone.

He wraps a strand of my hair around his fingers, and I yank my head back, "Always so feisty. I have no idea what you are talking about, dear. You fell. End of story. I'll make sure you are protected if you come back if that is what you are asking."

I look past Noah to see the guards have put their blades up to their throats. I know Noah isn't bluffing. So, I need to make a hard decision.

I back up and look at Noah, "Fine I'll stay. On one condition."

"Blair please no. I can't lose you again." Jacob says on a choked sob.

My heart drops hearing my brother cry, "I'm sorry brother. Now the condition. They stay safe no matter what."

Noah smiles brightly, "Don't worry, darling they will be well taken care of."

I'm confused on why it still feels like I didn't win here but I'll do anything to keep them safe, "Alright, then I'll come home." The word home makes the bile in my throat rise but I swallow it back down.

Noah claps his hands together, "Wonderful." He turns to leave but before he does, he turns back to me, "Oh, one last thing I forgot to mention. I told you I would keep them safe, but I didn't say how."

The bile fights more in my throat. I knew something didn't seem right.

"They are to work under me and my army. They will be trained under me and will be prepared for the war to come."

"You said you would keep them safe! How is sending them off to war keeping them safe. You are sending them to die!" I scream at him. My voices echos through the empty castle.

"Darling, I said that I would keep them safe, but when they are under the commander's eye, they are not my problem anymore. Therefore, I have tried to keep them safe but whatever the commander wants them to do, they will."

Tears sting my eyes, "You lied to me."

He frowns, "So did you. Now let's go." 

I begin to follow Noah up the staircase, and I can see the hurt on my brother and Jonas' faces. There was nothing in the agreement that said I couldn't talk to them at any point. Although there is no way of knowing if they will now. They look as if I betrayed them. But I did not betray them. It is not my fault he took advantage of the situation. I thought that by making this deal I would be helping them live normal lives. But I'm painfully wrong and now I might have lost my only two allies. I had to find out for sure though.

I turn to Noah, "Could I speak with them please before I come up with you?"

He nods, "You get five minutes and then meet me in our chambers. We have much to catch up on darling."

The guards let go off them and they both look like they are ready to fight the guards, but they decide against it.

I grab Jacobs hands, but he pulls them away quickly. Tears start to fall out, "Please you have to believe that I had no idea he would do this. I thought I was helping you both live a normal life. I could make that sacrifice. But I didn't know there was a loophole."

Jacob can't look me in the eyes, but Jonas can't stop looking at me. I don't know which feels worse right now.

Jonas sighs, "I know princess. I haven't known you long but one thing I do know is you aren't a liar." He turned to Jacob, "You have to believe her. If only you saw the state she was in when I found her you would realize that no part of her wanted to go back to him. She's just trying to protect us."

"I'm supposed to be the one protecting her!" Jacob yells, "And I didn't." He finally looks at me and his face is soaked on tears.

Without hesitation I wrap my arms around my brother and hug him tight. It takes him a second, but he hugs me tightly back. He whispered how sorry he was into my hair, and I told him over and over that is was okay.

I pull back, "We will figure this out. Look at it this way, we are inside of the castle. What easier way to find weak points then be directly involved. We take down the king from the inside out. Before he realizes what is happening it will be too late."

The hope fills their eyes again and they both say they are willing to do what it takes.

"Now, I need you to prepare yourselves for something. I will need to pretend to be back in love with him. So, you will see me being loving towards him but just keep remembering that it is not real. That it is a necessary step. He will be suspicious if I am not loving. We need everything to be perfect. So will you both be able to handle seeing me like that."

They nod, but it's Jonas that looks the most unsure. Maybe it was the stress of the day, but I could have sworn I saw a pang of jealousy in his eyes.

"Alright. I will update both of you weekly. I will visit you both daily though. Once I figure out where you are staying in the castle of course but I shouldn't have too much of a problem with it." I look at both of them, "Let's get to work then."