Magnus stood there and continued to look at his father walk away. Magnus had stopped trusting his father after Aron let it spill that his father had hired him to kill his mother. Magnus couldn't believe that before all of this he had aspired to be like his father. Magnus looked down at the girl kneeling before him with her hand to her heart. He hadn't known what to do at first when his father had grabbed Cleo it had been surprising for him. Though Magnus knew that his father had no problem with violence against women Cleo hadn't done anything to provoke him. Cleo had stared at him for several seconds as if begging him to do something when his father had grabbed her. Magnus kneeled down in front of the girl that his family was holding hostage in the castle and tried to make her look at him. Magnus pulled her hand away from her chest and put his other under her chin and forced her to look at him.

"Are you all right?" Magnus tried to search her eyes but she kept looking away. "Please Cleo I need to know that you're okay."

Cleo suddenly looked up at him with a wild look in her eyes and the glistening with unshed tears. "Why the hell would it matter to you, do you do this to me only to break me down more?"

Cleo yanked her chin out of his hand and then stood with her hand still in his. Magnus didn't want to let go, he didn't want the girl to walk away think that he wanted any of this to happen to her. Magnus didn't hate the girl she was kind and seemed level headed and much stronger in these situations than he would ever be. She had tried to start conversations with him since he had come back from the mountains but he had continued to ignore her. One day she had finally had enough and had told him she wouldn't be trying to talk to him anymore since he wanted to be so rude. He had regretted his decision to ignore her but with all that was on his mind and his new revelations about his father he didn't have time to be civil with the princess.

"Cleo I can promise you that I had no idea that he would react like that to my behavior." He tried to look into her eyes again but she kept looking away. Though he couldn't see her eyes he knew what he would probably find. Distrust. Fear. Longing. Distrust of him and the words he was saying to her. Fear of what could happen next if he or anyone decided to go against the King. A longing for the life she used to have and the people that now all have their severed heads upon stakes or bodies dumped in forgotten places.

"Cleo please come with me to the library so we can talk. That's all I want to do, just talk." She finally looked at him seemingly searching his eyes the same way that he was only moments ago. He didn't know what she would see, if she would she would just see the eyes of the man that killed her first love or a man trying to help her now. Finally she seemed to come to a conclusion and pulled her hand from his.

"Fine we can go talk in the library."

Cleo sat across form Magnus in the library with her hands in her lap. She had no idea why the boy had asked her to go to the library with him. She had never seen him so kind especially towards her and now it was starting to unnerve her the way he sat there and just continued to stare at her twiddling his thumbs as if he didn't know what to say. Cleo didn't think that she had ever seen the prince nervous except for when he made his fist kill, Theon. Now though she didn't think she could really recall a time when he looked nervous.

"What is it that you want Magnus? I would like to just go back to my chambers and be by myself for now." She didn't want to spend all of her time sitting in the library having a starring contest with the prince. And to be perfectly honest she just wanted to cry. Though on the outside it would seem that she was calming down but she could still feel the cold tip of that dagger on her throat.

"I'm sorry I was simply thinking about a couple of things. Are you feeling any better do you have cuts that we should have somebody tend to?"

"Magnus please don't act as if you are my friend we both know that you find me a nuisance. I find your fake sympathy unwanted and a little disturbing."

Cleo was trying to be as straight forward as possible. If she thought too much on the incident that had just occurred she would burst into tears she knew it. She had to admit to herself that she had been quite scared the last couple of times her life had been in danger but now she wanted to live so she could finish this. All of a sudden Cleo heard a hearty chuckle come from the man across from her. If Cleo had found his kindness disturbing she found his laugh downright terrifying.

"Cleo you honestly find my sympathy disturbing? I don't think that has ever been said before, then again I guess you are one for surprises. I didn't mean to scare you I just need to know that my new ally was okay."

"New ally? When did I become anything more than a prisoner in this castle, and ally to what?"

"Though it is true that you are a prisoner to my family I know that you can help me with what I need to do."

"And what exactly is it that you need to do?" Cleo didn't know why she was indulging him but she was quite curious.

"Well I need to kill my father."

Authors Note:

So like most high schoolers I have finals coming up so I have a lot of studying to do, so unfortunately I might not be able to update until this weekend. I really hope that you enjoy the story and that you give me your feedback.