"Take her!" He shouted with a pained breath as the arrow dug into his chest, the blood stain growing larger and larger with every passing second. He looked into Benvolio's eyes with such desperation and fear it struck the once condemned man to his core.

"I'm not leaving without him!" Rosaline cried, tears streaming down her face and onto the weakened body of the prince. Benvolio could understand, how could she leave without the man she gave her heart to before she even knew Benvolio's name? Besides, he was their sovereign, ruler of Verona and he could not die here in the middle of the town square.

"I'm not leaving without you!" He said to her, assuring her that no matter what, he would always be by her side, even now.

They knew then what they had to do. Each one of them grabbed an arm of the prince who was beginning to slip in and out of consciousness. They put each arm over their shoulders and began to gently but quickly lift him up to take him to the palace, where hopefully the royal physician would be ready and waiting to operate on Prince Escalus.

Around them, there was utter chaos. Deadly archers surrounded the square, standing high on the rooftops of the various buildings in Verona. They shot arrow after arrow, their quivers never seeming to be empty, aiming at anyone they laid their eyes on. Men, women and even children fell like trees and the air began to stink of blood, tears and the fear of the people of Verona. Their cries were mixed with the archers' chants "The new prince is here! The new prince is here!"

Benvolio and Rosaline hardly had time to focus on any of this, their main goal was to take the Prince to safety, but that was no easy task. Arrows flew dangerously close to them and the guards that circled around them in order to help them take the prince to the palace for safety. One arrow was able to pierce their circle and grazed Benvolio's arm.

"Ughh!" He cried out, the pain reverberating through his body and bringing him to his knees momentarily. "Benvolio!" Rosaline cried out, worry and tears forming in her eyes. "Are you okay?!" "I'm fine." He assured her, flashing his trademark smirk, trying to hide his own fears. "Just keep going!" She nodded her head and they continued, dodging the flurry of arrows that rained down.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they finally reached the palace doors. The guards pushed them open and they were greeted by the royal physician and his assistants. "Oh dear God your highness, quick let me lead you to the nearest bedchamber!" The older man seemed overwhelmed at all the excitement surrounding him. You could actually see more of his hair turn gray with each second. They followed the physician into the room and gently placed the prince on the bed. They stepped back to allow the physician to do his job.

"Quick!" He began to bark directions at his assistants. "Carefully cut open his doublet and gently take the arm that was hit out of his sleeve!" "Ready the pipli to sedate him and the thyme to clean the wound!" At that moment, the princess burst into the room. "Escalus!" she cried out. "Your highness, you cannot be here! This sight is too much for you!" the doctor began to plead with her. "I will not leave my brother!" she firmly stressed. "I will stay by his side and be with him through this! Your job is to heal my brother, not waste any time worrying about my sensibilities! Now heal him!" The doctor was taken aback by this show of strength by the princess and immediately went to his post without a word to begin surgery on the prince.

Isabella turned to Rosaline and Benvolio "Thank you for stopping to help him, both of you." She looked at Benvolio with eyes that seemed to show such gratitude as Benvolio did not have to save the man who was so close to ending Benvolio's life without a second thought. "But unfortunately, I have to ask you to leave until the surgery is finished." "Of course," said Rosaline "We'll be waiting outside for news." She took Benvolio's hand and led him outside of the room where she shut the door behind her. Two guards stood at attention at the door and Rosaline and Benvolio sat down on the nearest bench. They sat down in eerie silence, all they could think of was the chaos that went on not too far outside of the palace walls. Verona was burning and they had no idea how their city was going to survive this.

"Um…" Benvolio broke the silence and looked down at his hand that was still being held by Rosaline's soft yet firm hand. She was holding him as if he was her rock, a notion that seemed strange to him as he only knew Rosaline to be such a strong woman. Passionate, undeterred and strong-willed was what he knew her to be. But the woman he saw in front of him was vulnerable, weakened and seemed to age a hundred years in the past few days, her eyes seeming to yearn for some peace. "He will be alright. He's in the best hands; Lord Aldo is one of the best physicians in the city. I know he will help the prince." He gave her hand a squeeze. To actually be able to hold her hand in his was such a beautiful moment for him. He had this amazing, strong woman who had a heart full of love and care and a mind full of justice right by his side. He wondered what he did in life to be so blessed by God. He didn't feel as if he deserved this care after being mistreated for so long in his life.

"Thank you" she softly replied. "You didn't have to help. You had no reason to." "It was the right thing to do. No matter what happened in the past. Besides he did stop the execution, it was the least I could do" he chuckled. "I can't believe he did that. I thought it was a lost cause" she said. "I thought I failed you" she looked up at him. He cupped her face in his hands just like he once did in the dungeon when they shared that intimate and passionate moment where they confronted their new feelings for one another. These feelings took them both by surprise, and they were built on trust and mutual respect plus a longing to be free from the societal and familial chains that bound them. "You saved me more than you could ever imagine. Before you, it was as if I lived in a fog. You helped me escape that life" he told her. He wiped away the tears that were falling slowly down her cheeks. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you," she said. "I didn't realise how much I needed you in my life."

"We have so much to talk about. We have to discuss our relationship." She looked up at him shyly. "Yes we do" he responded. "A lot has changed between us, all for the better."

At that moment the doors to the bedchamber where the Prince's operation was taking place flew open. Out came the princess looking determined, strong and above all very angry. Rosaline immediately stood up, "How is he?" she asked. "It is going very well; they've taken out the arrow and are in the process of sealing the wound. He is strong and fighting as hard as he can." Isabella replied. "Right now there is another matter we must deal with, the attack on our city." "Benvolio?" she called out in his direction. He immediately stood up and came over to where the two women were standing and gave a proper bow to his temporary sovereign. "Yes, your highness?" "I need your help with something. I understand that you are in the eyes of many a criminal and a scoundrel but Rosaline trusts you and Escalus saved your life for a reason so I will trust you as well." She said to him.

Benvolio was taken aback by this claim but was grateful for the princess' trust. "I would be honored to help you in any way possible, my princess." He said. "I need you to help me gather an army. All of the generals and military tacticians are not at my disposal now and we need to fight off this attack." "We will use the discreet alleyways to help make our way to all of the great noble houses of Verona and call on the heads of the households and their men to help us in our endeavor, including House Montague and House Capulet. We will be fighting as one united Verona." Rosaline and Benvolio both found their mouths to be hanging open as they listened to the Princess' decisive and well thought out plan. "I will help in any way I can your highness," said Benvolio. "I'll do anything for Verona." "Good. Rosaline please stay here and be with Escalus when he wakes. I will have other duties for you soon" asked Isabella. "I will" replied Rosaline "Okay Benvolio, let's ride out. I will change into something more suitable and we will leave with some guards for protection in 10 minutes" "Yes, princess." He bowed once more as she made her leave to her private bedchambers.

Benvolio turned to face Rosaline, he didn't want to leave her but he knew he faced no choice. Verona was in danger but no matter what happened to him in the past he knew that he could not stand by when so many innocents were being slaughtered. He himself could relate to that in so many ways. Verona was his city and he had to protect it. Rosaline looked at him straight in the eyes and said: "I know you cannot promise me your safe return but please be careful. Can you promise me that?" "Yes," he said as he brushed a few stray strands of her hair back behind her ears. "I only want to help Verona in any way that I can and quickly make my way back to you." "Good" she replied, "If you don't, I will kill you myself." She joked. "I know. Your wrath is far scarier than any foreign army I suspect." He replied. "Definitely" Rosaline chuckled.

At that moment the princess returned wearing what seemed to be her brother's clothes. A doublet complete with pants and boots for men. Once again the princess shocked the couple into silence. "I know it is strange but it is practical for riding." Isabella held out a sword to Benvolio. "Here, I hear you are a master swordsman, use it if necessary." Benvolio took the sword and immediately hooked it to his person. "Are you ready?" asked Isabella. "As I could ever be" He replied. "Then let's ride." She began to make her way to the back entrance where the stables were located with her guards ready to gather their army to fight for their city. Benvolio turned to Rosaline and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead. "Take care, I will be careful." He assured her. She nodded in reply to nervous and concerned to actually speak. He then turned away to follow the princess, quickly disappearing out of view.

Rosaline began to send up a quick prayer before heading into the prince's bedchambers. Please dear God, watch over him and the princess and guide their every way. I cannot lose him; he is the greatest gift you could have given me. Also, please protect the city of Verona. After this short moment, she went into the prince's chambers to watch over her old lover, all while keeping thoughts of her new one in her mind.