Stella awoke with groan. Her back was stiff from sleeping on the ground. Stella's mouth was sandpapery. And when she looked around… Stella was in a grungy holding cell. She smiled dryly. Those guards must not have taken kindly to the slaughter of so many of their own.

The grin slid off her face as a guard stalked over to her cell."Well, well, well. Look who finally woke up." He leaned against the door casually," How do you like your new living quarters, old timer?" Her stomach snarled,"Where's the food." He laughed sadistically," Food? There will be no food. You're lucky they haven't killed you yet." It took all of her self control not to rip out his throat right then and there. The foolish guard must have sensed danger and started to make his retreat, kicking the door and mumbling something that sounded like 'filthy savage'.

After the guard left she took stock of what she had in her cell; dirt floor, stone walls, and a wooden door. Nothing useful. Nothing to help her make an escape.

Stella's body was littered with bruises and the occasional cut. Nothing to be worried about ,except for the one across her ribs. It was roughly two hands long and felt fairly deep.

She must not of noticed it before in her adrenaline rush and the bloody haze of a fight. Stella touched the incision tenderly and hissed."Damn, that's a stinger." She tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of her oversized shirt and wrapped it tightly around the wound. All that was left to do was wait and hope infection didn't set in.

"Hey, um… are you okay." "What?" A young man in a guard's uniform was hovering outside her door. "You've been staring at that wall for fifteen minutes." He shrugged. I stared at him piercingly."Oh." then he turned away. But, something struck her as odd; there had almost been genuine concern in that guard's eyes. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Stella decided to put the incident out of her mind and focusing on obtaining some method of escape. She didn't doubt she would find a way.

Stella wasn't that terrified little girl that they had drug into this death pit. No, she was a young woman now. One that would fight tooth and nail to set her queen free. Even if she must die to do it.

Suddenly her thoughts zipped to the stone in her shirt. Stella brought it out. Her treasure gleamed as if to reassure her that she would make it out of this alive. A rainbow of colors shone within its crystalline crust. Lighting up her world in the darkest place she'd ever been. She smiled at in pleasure. The stone sang at her touch and it startled her so much that she stood up abruptly and stared at it. Stella moved toward the back wall and the stone sang louder encouraging her to get closer to the brick barrier. There ,where the stone sang the loudest, was a hole in the wall. Not a large hole by any means. But, large enough to see out of. Enough to keep her sane in this desolate cell.

The guard appeared again." I brought you some food." She smiled as a plan formed in her mind."Thank you ." Stella tried her best not to appear as if she were mocking him."I'm Stella." The guard seemed surprised at my pleasantness, as he should be. I had given him the wolf stare earlier."Sorry about before, it isn't exactly fun to wake up in a dirty, cold cell…" She fingered the hem of her shirt bashfully. The guard stared at her hands hungrily.

She had been right about his intentions. It was almost disappointing,really, human nature. The mortals only did what was beneficial for them.

But right now it was useful for her escape. Stella pushed aside her food and moved temptingly toward the door, all the while smiling at him shyly. "And what's your name?" His eyes glazed over when she planted her hands on her hips. "Darius." The newly identified Darius watched her move another inch before he gave in.

The lustful man's arms shot through the space in the bars and pulled her flush against him. " And you ,Stella, are mine." She caught a glimpse of elongated canines and gasped, This man was no man, he was of the Fae! Something tugged inside of her , like knot being tied in a rope.

This lowly prison guard was her mate. And Stella had to trick him to save everything she loved. Only one word could describe her situation at that moment.

Crap.

How could she just trick him? But then again, how could he let her fester here?

Darius was still looking at her with hunger in his eyes. Stella tried to push him away."I can't do this." He looked confused for a second before her plan dawned on him. "I can't believe you would do this! You're my mate!" Darius was angry. He shoved her back and she hissed clutching her wound which had started up its bleeding again. Part of Stella's shirt turned scarlet. "If you are my mate why would you allow me to be locked up here in this cage?!" The fae girl lowered her voice," Who are you loyal to Darius? That bastard king or your own people?" A shadow fell over us then and Darius pushed back his midnight black hair revealing pointed ears. "I thought I was alone. The last of a mighty people. When I was offered a job, I saved my own life by taking it." his voice was sad and weary. " Then you came here and the light shone around you. You are my mate chosen for me by the divine. I am loyal only to you." Stella's face lightened considerably in relief. She still had a chance with her mate. Maybe after she escaped, they could take the queen to Mistward. Maybe they could finally be sort of safe and get some well deserved rest.

Stella came close to the door and pulled Darius closer to her and kissed him softly. "I've met you before. When we were children." He looked surprised. "What?" She chuckled, "You visited my city with your father. We played together in the courtyard. My mother knew what you would be for me. She told me we would meet again when we were older."

Darius smiled. This was how they were supposed to be. Happy. Reveling in each other. But she was in a cell and he was keeping her prisoner. She frowned but shook it off. Darius told her it was time for the guard change. He kissed her quickly and left even quicker.

A persistent sting caught her attention once he was gone. When she brought her hand away it was covered in red. Stella sat down heavily against the cold stone wall. She had just managed to swallow the last of her meal when her eyes fluttered shut.

Dreams of Darius filled her head. Of finding true happiness with him one day. And then two hours later she woke up to the clanking of keys in a keyhole.

A guard shoved manacles on her ankle and wrists while she was dazed and marched her into a small conference room. Celaena Sardothien was there on her knees glaring at the ground. The crown prince of Adarlan standing in front of her. Stella grit her teeth as she was forced to kneel next to her queen. "Choal. I thought I asked you to clean them up." Stella frowned, how dare he?! Aelin shot her a warning glance. "A pair of assassins condemned to death. Rightfully so. You killed two hundred men in twenty minutes. But I will rescue you from this place if you would agree to be my champions."

Stella growled at the thought of being in debt to an Adarlanian, but much longer in Endovier with a possibly infected wound and she would be dead. Her queen spoke before she could."We agree." A richly dressed man standing to the left of the Prince smiled like,'I thought so'. It boiled Stella's fae blood.

"We leave at dawn."