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"My great people of Findara, I am weak in the heart to announce that the devil has taken over the mind and soul of Prince Ace." King Oliver said to the wedding guest the very next day. Rhoma quickly looked over to see if she could find a familiar face but the only familiar face she saw was Sebastian's who was desperately looking for his ginger boyfriend. Their hearts sunk deep within their chest as the group looked for the member of the defiance in the vastly, large room. The two guards could only spot out a few more people in the defiance but everyone else is gone. "Among them was the bride who helped Ace conceive a plan to help the sinners leave the kingdom." Oliver added making many people in the crowd gasp and some even fainting.
"Rest assured! I will lavish you with gifts for an apology. Findara will work on a cleansing ceremony in hopes that our most merciful lord will be forgiving of his greatest sin." Oliver finished as many kingdom rulers started to talk amongst themselves. All conversations carried on in a hushed tone speaking foully of the prince as King Oliver made his way to each guest of the wedding with Kiki and the Elites following him. Rhoma had ordered a majority of the guards to stay in the ballroom and others to go guard the kingdom's walls. While walking with the guard outside, Rhoma quickly grabbed Sebastian by the arm and yanked him into a side closet.
"Do you know what's going on? I thought they were smarter than this!" Rhoma exclaimed quietly as Sebastian shook his head.
"I was literally just with Chester last night! And I saw everyone before my guard shift started, except for Clara and Beatrice. I haven't seen Beatrice in the past two days as well as Clara since yesterday noon." Sebastian informed as he scratched his head.
"Everyone?! As in Ace as well?" Rhoma asked as Sebastian nodded his head. "You don't think someone was spying on him at the time, do you?"
"Most likely! You know they had suspicion on a mole. Do you think Lilith helped some of them leave?" Sebastian asked as he sat on a box.
"How could he be so careless the night before an important day? At this point we need to figure out where everyone is before doing anything. I'm sure that Chester is safe." Rhoma advised as the two left the closet and made their way to their posts.
Meanwhile deep below the castle, a conversation of its own was happening within the cellar that held the seamstress and a healer. "I can't believe you got caught by Gracelyn." Beatrice laughed at a fuming Clara.
"Oh yeah?! At least I wasn't jumped by some teenagers." Clara retorted wishing she could cross her arms.
"At least I'm not shackled down and hanging from my hands." Beatrice huffed back before both ladies busted out laughing. "How did we even manage to get caught? By some teenagers too?!"
"Honestly, I guess the younger generations are getting clever these days." Clara laughed before asking, "How did you know it was Maddie and Mary Nita anyways?"
"It's Felicity and Gracelyn as well, but they're all doing this against their will. I overheard Kiki talking to Oliver that the effects of the drugs were wearing off and then I was jumped." Beatrice answered
"Drugs? Wait they're drugging kids into submission?! They're what eighteen!? Nineteen!?" Clara exclaimed.
"Maddie just turned seventeen." Beatrice pointed out.
"Oh, even better! And think about how long they have probably been doing this for! They've probably been doing this to them since they were ten! That's when they started working for Oliver and the Elites." Clara yelled.
"Hold on it gets even better." Beatrice said sarcastically.
"Oh goodie!" Clara said with the same amount of sarcasm.
"It's not that the 'drug' isn't working. It's that I'm not making it correctly anymore." Xavier said coming out from the shadows with food for the two ladies.
"You are still drugging kids!" Clara yelled as she tried to run at him, but the chains kept her still.
"Let me explain, please." Xavier pleaded as he gave Beatrice her food and entered Clara's cell.
"This better be good or I will make it my personal mission to end your life." Clara threatened and he rubbed her wrists before taking the tray of food.
"As you probably know I have a blood contract with King Oliver. Whatever he says I do and I cannot harm him, that's the terms of the contract in exchange for my survival." Xavier said.
"You're a coward." Clara spat.
"I was a kid too once. I was naΓ―ve and scared. I disappointed my only guardian and ran away. I didn't know that my life would end up like this and I'm tired of doing what I do." Xavier yelled out as Clara's eyes widened.
"We are aware of the contract." Beatrice said as an indication for Xavier to continue.
"The drug is a potion for mind control. You give it to someone and that person obeys your orders. Depending on how much you drink is how the effects will take place. Two tablespoons are for an hour, four tablespoons for two hours, and so one." Xavier explained as he composed himself and pulled out a bottle of purple liquid.
"So, I'm assuming that much like alcohol, they started to build a tolerance?" Beatrice asked.
"Oliver literally had them drinking this by cups, then bottles, now jugs. I want to help you guys out so I slowly add less ingredients to the potion to try to snap Gracelyn out of it first. But she's so in love with Kiki, it's hopeless. Mary Nita manages to snap in and out of what is voluntary and involuntary along with Maddie. But Felicity is still struggling to snap out of her involuntary actions." Xavier sighed.
"Why do you want to help us?" Clara asked while poking around at her food.
"There's someone I finally want to be with and Oliver is planning to start using this on everyone in the army so they don't have to hesitate killing people because of their morals." Xavier said as Clara took a deep breath in.
"And how do we know that our food isn't poisoned right now?" Beatrice asked as Xavier twirled his finger making a spoonful of food from both trays go into his mouth.
"I⦠I wasn't expecting that." Clara said as Beatrice nodded her head.
"I gotta get going now before Oliver get suspicious, but hope this cleared stuff up." Xavier said lowly. "I will be talking to Ace later today about an escape for the three of you."
"Three of us? What do you mean?" Clara asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"You didn't hear yet?" Xavier asked, surprised.
"Hear what? What's going on?" Beatrice asked desperately to know.
"The Defiance got caught last night." Xavier answered making both ladies' world spin.
While Xavier quickly explained to the ladies the events that happened last night, Ace was being dragged by his feet to his punishment. The pain of being dragged shirtless on a stone road was unbearable enough, but the pain to come once Ace had reached his destination in the middle of Sliver City was about to be way worse than what he could have ever imagined. Even while he was being dragged, Findarian Elites were throwing bibles, crucifixes, and thorned crowns while reciting bible verse in hopes that their Lord will forgive Ace for what he has done. After passing through Blissful Gardens and into Silver City, people started to yell at him for betraying the kingdom while they threw rotten food, feces, and stones.
"Father please, we can change the world together." Ace whimpered in pain, but Oliver looked down on him as the guards placed Ace forcefully in a pillory.
"You know how the procedure of cleansing goes. You are not my son." Oliver said as he walked up a set of stairs and took his set on a chair with his name on it.
"FATHER PLEASE! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME. LISTEN TO ME!" Ace cried out as two men in a mask with flogs in their hand walked up behind Ace. "TELL THEM TO STOP! DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING?! I'M TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE LIVE A BETTER AND HAPPIER LIFE! PLEASE DON'T LET THEM DO THIS TO ME! FATHER, PLEASE HELP ME! I'M BEGGING YOU TO TELL THEM TO STOP!" Ace cried out as Oliver snapped.
"YOU HAD ONE DUTY AND THAT WAS TO RULE FINDARA! You should be thankful that I don't have you rolled up tightly in a carpet right now and burning you to death. Be thankful that the Lord is forgiving and that you will have your rightful place in heaven like our mothers before us." Oliver praised as the Findarians roared out an 'amen'. Ace's heart beated louder as the men behind him raised their arms.
"PLEASE FATHER! I'M YOUR SON! THERE'S ANOTHER WAY!" Ace screamed out as he tried to escape from what's to come, but no avail.
"I have no son. Start." Oliver's voice boomed as everyone lowered their heads and prayed while the priest started to yell at their God to forgive Ace. The screams of the white-haired boy pierced the ears of Rhoma and Sebastian as they watched the young man struggle helplessly. The sound of the flog cutting through Ace's skin was distinct and something Ace knew he would have nightmares of which he would wake up from in sweat in the middle of the night if he survived this. For an hour this went on with two 15-minute breaks so the priest can pour holy water over him as part of the cleansing. This is something every queen of Findara had to go through. This is was Ace's mom and grandmothers had to go through. The pain of it was unbearable, he started to wonder if being burned alive would even hurt.
As Ace slipped into a dark warm sleep, he thought he saw Aceline for a moment. Her warm smile, arms open, a tear falling from her check. When Ace woke up, he was surrounded by darkness on a cold floor. "Finally, you're awake." Xavier said as Ace snapped his head in fear but groaned out in pain. Quickly the frail man tried to scoot himself away from the wizard but immediately stopped after just briefly moving his legs, the pain was un indescribable. "Hey, I know you are scared but I'm not going to hurt you! I'm going to talk to you about escaping." Xavier reassured as he held his right hand up and pulled out a key from his pocket with his left hand.
"Don't worry about my escape, get the others out." Ace said weakly as he watched Xavier's hands glow.
"Firstly, I'm not that skilled in healing so I will try my best to at least disinfect everything and seal the wounds." Xavier warned as he helped Ace sit up straight.
"Honestly whatever relief you can do would be wonderful." Ace groaned feeling the instant relief and soothing of the magic doing its work.
"Secondly, we all want you out of here Ace. Right now, it would be ideal that you get out of here first before anyone else, but you're one stubborn dude. Are there not any passages down here?" Xavier asked.
"I'm honestly regretting never putting passages through the dungeons. I never thought of a reason until now." Ace chuckled as Xavier looked at him with concern.
"No part of that was funny." Xavier pointed out.
"Oh, I'm well aware. I'm laughing because I got caught and put everyone in danger. I messed everything up." Ace laughed as he held his head in his hands.
"Ace what are you talking about?! I may not know much of what the Defiance does but I do know that you have changed their lives for the better and gave them ultimate happiness." Xavier said trying not to get annoyed at how such an open-mind like Ace's could be so close-minded to the bigger picture.
"Yeah, but not everyone lived for a better change though." Ace sighed as Xavier started to wrap up his treatment.
"Why are you so caught up on those who couldn't survive?!" Xavier asked as he backed away from Ace.
"You wouldn't understand." Ace sighed.
This made Xavier mad as he hung his head low, "I do understand." Xavier said as Ace looked at him with questioning. "You think that just because I've been at Oliver's side all these years that I wouldn't understand what it is like? I had my own lovers come and go because of him. I miss them so much, but there was nothing that I could have done. It's the bloody contract and I want out." Xavier explained as Ace stood up and looked up to Xavier.
"I-I'm sorry. Is that why you want out? To be free from him?" Ace asked as Xavier shook his head.
"There's someone I had an interaction with weeks ago. I wasn't at my best so hopefully he is understanding and there's also the Coven that I would love to see again!" he answered. Ace watched as his eyes sparkled when he talked about these people. He knew now how truly he wanted to help, but the question still stood on whether or not the wizard could be trusted.
It wasn't long until Xavier had to leave once more, but before he left Xavier explained that the kingdom was on a tight lock down and that there are more guards at post than ever. The two didn't think twice about conceiving a new plan. Xavier had told Ace that Beatrice and Clara were in cells located at the other end of the castle and had informed Ace of the conversation exchanged amongst the three. Ace had asked about Rhoma and Sebastian to which Xavier had told him that they were safe and no one suspected them. Ace knew that Beatrice and Clara had to get out as soon as possible so he told Xavier to distract Oliver tonight while he gathered the four and escaped to Asterin.
"You can come with us tonight!" Ace exclaimed as Xavier was about to walk off.
"I would love to, but you know I can't." Xavier said.
"There has to be a way." Ace pointed out. Xavier knew very well that there was one for sure way he could get away from King Oliver, but he didn't know if he was ready to make that sacrifice. Without saying another word Xavier left to join Oliver back at his side. Ace sat back down on the floor again, being careful not to open up any of his wounds and looked at the rusty silver key in his hands.
Ace didn't know when the time would be right to escape, so he decided on leaving right then and there after Xavier had left. He opened the cell, making sure to take the key with him as he made his way to the closest passage that would lead to the other side of the castle. It's not like he had much of a choice: If he waited too long, they would all die and it would be too risky if they waited for the defiance. The young man stopped in his tracks of the dark, narrow hallways before saying, "Open sesame." as he stomped his foot twice to the ground. A passage on the ground opened up with stairs revealing it's passage, Ace took it quickly as he wondered if it was daytime or nighttime.
"Ace?!" The two ladies exclaimed as they watched the white-haired man walk up from the ground.
"What happened?" Beatrice asked as she stood up.
"Are you okay?" Clara followed up as she pulled against her chains.
"We didn't think Oliver would be that ruthless against you!" Beatrice exclaimed as she walked right up against the bars.
"Let me heal you!" Clara offered as Ace opened up Beatrice's cell then Clara's.
"Don't worry about what happened and I'm okay now, Xavier did some healing. Did he give you the key for the cuffs by any chance?" Ace asked as Beatrice nodded her head and walked up to Clara to set her free.
As Clara rubbed her wrists to smooth out the pain she said, "He gave it to us earlier and told us what happened to the-" "They're safe. Lilith was with us at the time." Ace interrupted her. "Let's go before it is too late." Ace added as the three made their way to the escape passage. While they made their way to the escape, Ace informed the two of what the plan was. They noticed how the night was dark and moonless. It sent shivers down Ace's back as the three walked to the familiar willow tree that leaned over a pond. Although the guards on duty were double, it always seemed as if no one guarded this area of the castle grounds.
"I don't see them." Clara whispered as they hid behind the tree away from the castle.
"Give it some time, I left right after Xavier gave me the key." Ace said as the three sat on the grass.
"We should have added passages in the castle leading to this tunnel." Clara pointed out with a soft chuckle as she remembered the argument her and Ace had.
"What is this tunnel anyways?" Beatrice asked as she stared at the blank sky, not even a cricket dared to make a noise.
"Apparently Findara used to mine in the beginning of its years, but they found nothing so they raided nearby towns and small kingdoms. But King Frederick never bothered closing up the mines so there's a whole system that leads to Asterin." Ace informed.
"Yeah Clara, it wouldn't be a great idea to add passages connected to the tunnel. This one is good for now." Beatrice said.
"Well, it would have saved us the trip of walking and waiting for the others." Clara huffed as she ran her fingers through the grass. As the minutes passed, Ace shivered due to the October's nights being much cooler. Clara looked up to Ace and inspected his scars and cuts, "Please Ace let me heal you." She offered once more.
"It's okay Clara! I kind of want to keep them, this is the first time I've ever been hit or anything in my life. As much as it hurts and I probably won't like seeing them down the road, I would like to keep them." Ace smiled as Beatrice looked over to Clara in a concerning manner.
"If you say so." Clara shrugged before three loud drums echoed through the kingdom.
"Damn! They know we are gone!" Ace exclaimed as he carefully jumped to his feet.
"We got to go!" Beatrice said as Clara walked over to the willow tree to open up the escape tunnel.
"No! We need to wait for Rhoma and Sebastian still! At least for a few minutes, I know Xavier will bring them to us." Ace pleaded as the two ladies mutually agreed to his pleads. They laid low, hoping that no one would run up to find them.
"It's them!" Ace exclaimed softly as two guards in formal Findarian amour running up to the tree.
"I-I don't think so." Clara hesitated as she got ready to open up the tunnel.
"Yes, it is!" Ace exclaimed as they watched the guards run closer to them.
"Ace, you better be right." Beatrice said as she did the sign language for defiant only to see Rhoma and Sebastian take off their helmet.
"I was really hoping that Xavier was telling the truth. Rhoma damn near ripped off his head." Sebastian panted as Rhoma laughed.
"I really did think he was messing with us, but then he said you told him that Seb and I were the only two not caught." Rhoma clarified.
"Where is he?" Ace asked out of curiosity.
"He made sure that I ordered all the guards to search for you away from here as Seb and I searched this area. He couldn't make it due to Oliver." Rhoma answered as she pulled Ace into a hug. "I almost cried seeing what you had to go through." Rhoma whispered into his ear as he hugged her back.
"I thought you two were watching. I wish you weren't, but oh well." Ace shrugged.
"Oh well?!" The group yelled.
"Ace, you could have died!" Beatrice pointed out.
"Just look at you! You're a twig!" Rhoma added.
"We should definitely do some training!" Sebastian offered.
"We should definitely start to leave and make fun of Ace later." Clara mocked as the group nodded their heads. They all huddled around Clara as she placed her hands on the tree's truck and gently hummed a small tune before the tree revealed a door and stairs heading down to the tunnels. Beatrice and Clara headed down first, but right before Ace could join them and set one foot forward to freedom a dagger flew past his left ear and hitting against Sebastian's armour.
"I missed my lady." Gracelyn said as Kiki patted her head.
"Do not worry about it. You did very well." Kiki smiled as she pulled out a dagger and stabbed Gracelyn in the heart. Gracelyn's eyes widened as she let out a small smile before falling to the ground.
"Gracelyn!" Rhoma yelled out as she reached out for the teen, but Ace stopped her.
"GUARDS HELP ME!!!! THEY'RE ATTACKING!" Kiki yelled as she let out a blood quenching scream. Clara and Beatrice climbed out of the hole to see what was going on, but all their hearts sunk deeply.
"Sebastian, Rhoma! Get them out now!" Ace ordered as the two nodded and watched as Ace got onto his knees over Gracelyn.
"Stop! No! I can save her! Please, she's just a kid!" Clara cried out as she tried to escape Rhoma's grip.
"OVER HERE! PLEASE SAVE ME!" Kiki yelled out as a troop approached them from afar.
"Get out now!" Ace ordered as Sebastian picked Clara over his shoulders and ran into the passage. Ace continued to put pressure around the wound as he watched her breaths getting shallower by the minute.
"The moon is so beautiful tonight." Gracelyn smiled; Ace knew there was no moon out tonight. Not even the stars bothered to shine for her, it was Kiki's complexion that gave off the illusion of the moon. "Look how beautiful she is."
"Gracelyn, stay up a little longer! Let's watch the sunrise." Ace smiled as Gracelyn nodded her head before slowly drifting off to a peaceful sleep. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Ace yelled as he stood up and walked over to Kiki.
"AHH! HE'S ATTACKING ME!" Kiki screamed once the troop finally approached them.
"Ace Winters stand back!" The troop ordered as they surrounded him.
"Thank the heavens you are here! The rebellions killed the servant girl in front of me before running off! Ace stood by to finish her off!" Kiki cried out as she held one of the soldier's hands.
"No! Please give her medical help, Kiki is lying!" Ace pleaded before one of the slapped Ace with their spear.
"Take them away." One of the guards ordered as they dragged Ace and Gracelyn's deceased bodies away.