At breakfast the next morning, it was just King Allarick and Winter in the great dining hall.

All the higher nobles had slept in, being their lazy selfs.

"You seem to have an unusual accent." commented The King after they were settled with food on their plates.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Winter inocently.

"I was just wondering where it was from."

"From my father I supose. Though, I never fully understood where he was from." Winter lied smoothly. She wasn't really lying, she did get the accent from her father.

"Ahh, I see." mused Allarick.

"You have a wonderful son." she said, trying to change the direction of their conversation.The last thing I need is for my loyalties to be discovered.

"Ahh yes, that he is."

After listnening to Winter talk a while about his son. It clicked, and he remembered where he had heard the accent before. It was a Neric accent!
"Are you Neric?" the King asked, seemingly out of the blue, but in the most calm, normal tone.

Winter was shocked! The shock was quickly replaced by fear. "Why would you ask such a question?" she asked, hoping her face hadn't betrayed her thoughts.

The King smiled smugly and took a sip from his goblet, amused, her face had betrayed everything. So she is Neric?

He continued to question her, wanting to make sure his asumptions were right. He believed that a wise king always double checks himself.

"Your king has asked you a question, are you Neric? Well, if you are, then I wouldn't be your king. Would I?"

"Nn, n, no sir."

"No? Your not Neric?" he lifted his eyebrow disbelievingly.

"Um no, you wouldn't be my king if I was."

"So, I am your king?"

"Well, not, technically."

"Stop playing with words and answer me girl!" he commanded.

"Well, actually, I am." she looked down shamefully, hoping for the King to pity her.
When she looked up all she saw on his face, was hatred and disgust.

"Gaurd?" the King quietly called.

"Yes? Your majesty?"

"Please escort this young lady to the dungeon."

The gaurd nodded and held out his hand, waiting politely for Winter's.
Winter stood up and eyed the outstreched hand with disgust. The gaurd shook his head amused, then said in a low voice "Right this way." and he walked ahead.

Winter didn't know what els to do, so she followed him. I should knock him out and escape! But she didn't, she wanted to see Nathaniel and talk with him. But how am I suposed to talk with him, when I'm in the dungeon?

The gaurd walked down some stairs and hallways, then stopped at a door opening it, and motioning for her to enter while bowing.
She nodded curtly and walked in.

The gaurd closed the door and left, she heard the bolt on the door being locked and the steps of the gaurd leaving. looking around she was surprized by the soft and plushness of this dungeon. Is that guard sure this is the dungeon? She shrugged, so what if it isn't? What do I care?

She threw herself on the bed and started crying, sudenly overcome with sadness. Crying for home, for The King's disgust of her, and she hadn't seen Nathaniel since yesterday afternoon. What was she supposed to do here?
This was his world, not hers. A world he didn't want, but it was still his.

When she looked up from her crying because she heard a noise, she saw Nathaniel across the room with an unreadable look on his face.

She was imidiately angry at him for witnessing her moment of weakness. She stood up and threw a pillow at him, getting ready for a fight. "what are you doing here?" she demanded.
She rarely ever cried, whereas some women would cry over the smallest and stupidest things, she bottled up her feelings.

"I would ask the same of you." said Nathaniel, his look still unreadable.

Winter scowled, "Your, so called father, found out I was a Neric."

Nathaniel couldn't help himself, and burst out laughing. He had perfect reason to. Winter, in a ladys dress, tear streaked face, scowl, and tense fighting posture. Was just a little funny.

She frowned, confused. "What's so funny?"

"Umm, nothing, nothing."

She stared at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Then shrugged, whatever. "Okay, well, just tell me why your here?"

"I asked for the dungeon, this is, one of, the dungeons."

She scoffed "Ya right."

He smirked "Your saying the gaurd who brought you here, didn't know where the dungeon was?"

She sighed "Fine! You win."

His smirk grew, nothing like winning against Winter and actually having her admit to it.

"I just have one question." she said.

"what's that?"

"You tell me your a direct decendant of Robin Hood! But you don't tell me your the only child of The King of Dirland!"
She yelled exasperated.
And yes, she had been wanting to tell him that since the ride in the carriage when she had learned of his royal heritage.

He smiled even wider, enjoying her anger way too much. "Didn't occur to me."

She shook her head, amazed. He was so uhgg! Such a discriptive word, uhgg. So she decided to ignore him.

"Fine, I'll tell you." he said, not liking this kind of reaction.

She turned and looked at him, smiling victoriously.

"I never wanted to be crown prince."

She scoffed "Ya, I understood that much."

"Well," he continued "I guess I didn't need you as an enemy before you'd even met me. Plus, no one really knew of my existence. So why tell you?"

She shrugged "I guess."

"Okay, well on to a lighter subject."

"Like what?"

"What do you want to do today?"

"Ya, because there are so many things to do."

"You'd be surprized."

"You sound like you've been here before."

"Maybe."

"What are your suggested activities?"

"We could always tease the gaurds."

"What gaurds? And how?"

He walked through a door to another room. In the room there was just a wash stand, mirror, and a chair for no apparent reason.
Nathaniel grabbed the pitcher with water in it off the wash stand.

"Huhh? Now your really confusing me."

He didn't answer, just went to the locked door and poored the water so some of it would run underneath the door to the hallway out there
"Now, we wait."

"Your crazy."

"Tell me something I don't know."

She shook her head "Your so bad!"

He smiled "Ya, but what's the fun in good?"

"I'm gonna repeat myself, your crazy!"

"Aww, you can't come up with something els to say?"

It was only a little while, then they heard an earsplitting screech.

"Well that didn't take long. Just one question, what is it supposed to acomplish?"

Nathaniel shrugged.

"Really? Your pathetic!"

He shrugged again, and layed down on the bed with his hands behind his head and yawned.
He's so weird! We should be coming up with an escape plan! "So what's the plan for escape?"

"Wait for my father to come visiting. After that we'll come up with one." I want my father to explain himself.