Chapter Nine:

"We're here."

Berwald announced as we came to a large, grassy hill in the open field. We had been traveling for little under two hours, and the sun was now completely risen and shining down brightly, the early afternoon rays drying up the remains of yesterday's storm. I hung tight onto Berwald as we began to ascend up the hill. My stomach was in butterflies and I craned my neck over his shoulder, eager to see what was on the other side of the hill, what was Christiania.

We approached the top of the hill and Berwald pulled the horse to a stop. It was absolutely beautiful. The kingdom was nestled into a valley of rolling hills that seemed to go on for miles. The houses and buildings were made from mostly stone and beautiful carved wood as opposed to the wood, straw and plaster huts and buildings in Menetti and the surrounding smaller villages. It was like looking into a different world all over again. In the distance, right at the back of the land was the castle. Worn flags were flying from poles on all of the tall turrets that over looked the kingdom, but the castle itself looked to be in ruins…

I couldn't help but smile in awe at the sight before me.

Berwald was wearing a smug look on his face upon seeing my reaction to the lands.

"Impressive, hm?"

I nodded, not taking my eyes from the view in front of me, trying my best to look down on everything that was going on. Hundreds of people went about their daily lives within the streets, and so many different smells caught my attention. Berwald kicked the horse on and we set off down the hill, following a little path made into the dirt that gradually turned into a cobbled street the further down the hill we got. We passed through two large iron gates and into the kingdom. Something caught my eye as we passed through, and I turned back to look at the gates. On two stone pillars on either side of the gates were two rusty, weather worn, metal statues of animals; both facing each other. They were what looked like lions, standing upright on their back legs and holding an axe between their front paws.

"Berwald? What's this statue for?"

I tapped him on the shoulder as I asked, but he didn't even need to turn around to know what I was talking about. He must have passed through these gates very often.

"It's th' kings coat of arms. It represents the kingdom. Not very important anymore though."

I kept looking at it for as long as I could until we turned a corner. When I turned around, I saw that we were in a very large and open village square. We didn't stop though, and we followed a path through the centre. It was sort of like a road, as we were following behind several other horses, some pulling carts and wagons, and others just with a rider atop like Berwald and I. The beautiful stone buildings had very tall and pointed roofs, some belching smoke out from their chimney pots. It was a lot cleaner here, and the people seemed to be a little wealthier for their clothes were a little more stylish as opposed to the plain tunics that everyone seemed to wear back in Menetti. Come to think of it, Berwald fit in here more than he did in Menetti. As did Lukas, Emil and Mathias. They all wore capes and cloaks with a trim of fine fur like the people here did, and their tunics and clothes were made from cloth that held rich colours and intricate design.

After a long while of following through the city centre, we broke away from the steady line of horses and carts and set off onto another path, one leading towards the castle.

"I need ya to keep quiet. Try t' keep looking ahead and don't make eye contact with people."

Berwald told me in a low voice as he turned a corner. The noise and chatter from the village centre was beginning to fade away as we reached what probably were the outskirts.

"But why?"

"Just do it until we pass through another set o' gates."

I did as he asked, and kept my gaze forward, looking over his shoulder at the castle walls that was getting closer and closer. Soon the gate he was talking about came into view. It was locked shut with a heavy padlock and chain, and when we reached it Berwald quickly slipped off his horse and took the set of keys Lukas had given him from his pocket. He spent a few moments unlocking the gates, and peering over his shoulder now and again. Once the padlock was off, he opened the gates. The heavy iron scraped along the ground as he did so, the noise piercing my ears and causing me to flinch and cringe at the sound. Berwald motioned for his horse to follow him through the gates, and I clutched onto the sides of the saddle when it began to walk. She stopped on the other side and waited patiently for Berwald to put the padlock back on and hoist himself back up to sit infront of me again. Berwald patted her neck and she began to descend up the path towards the castle door.

"Are we going in?" I questioned, suddenly very aware of where exactly we were. There was just so much to look at, it took a while for me to actually realise.

"Mmm. We are. We're gonna be staying here while we're here. I told ya not to look at anyone and t' keep quiet in case anyone was followin' us."

"But why is that a bad thing? Are people not allowed in the castle?"

Berwald shook his head.

"No. You'll see when we get inside."

Soon, we were close enough to the castle that I could reach out a hand and let it drag along the crumbling, sandy bricks as we rode beside it. As we passed through the stone archways and yet another set of gates, which were open this time, and were at the end of a small bridge. I saw that the great, oak wood doors to the front of the castle were sealed tightly shut; a mass of chains and padlocks tangled with the locks and bolts. Instead of passing through those doors, we rode around the side of the castle and through a little tunnel. At the end of it, there were some stables, and to my surprise there were already horses there.

"Someone's here…"

I felt my voice hitch a little when I spoke as my heart quickened. I didn't expect to find people here. Were they supposed to be here? Berwald had gone to extreme cautions when entering, so surely no one could have gotten in who shouldn't be, right? The horse stopped beside an empty stable towards the end of the courtyard and Berwald turned around to face me, a stupid, goofy smile played on his lips.

"What?" I felt my mouth curl into a pout and I raised an irritated eyebrow at Berwald. "You said people weren't allowed in here."

"Ordinary people aren't allowed in here." He said as he jumped off the horse. I did the same, and slid down beside him. The horse lead herself into her stable without so much as a word, and Berwald closed the door behind her, giving her nose a scratch when she poked her head back over the wooden fencing of her enclosure. The other horses around us seemed to almost be talking amongst themselves, busying themselves with snacking on their bales of hay and flicking flies away with a swish of the tail. There must have been about 20 horses in total. I was officially baffled.

"What do you mean 'ordinary people'? Why does everyone have to speak in riddles, huh?"

I poked Berwald as hard as I could in the arm as I spoke, but it didn't seem to do much, he just shrugged me away.

Suddenly, I heard faint voices and footsteps echoing through the tunnel in which we had just entered through, and no more than a moment later two young boys appeared from it.

"Lord Oxenstierna, you're back!"

Berwald turned around when he was addressed, and the boys seemed to lower themselves into a respectful bow upon laying eyes on him. When they rose back up, their gaze fell on me.

"Who's this you have with you?" one of them asked Berwald. He was the taller of the two and had a mop of long brown hair that brushed his shoulders. The other was shorter and had a messy tuft of blond hair, and he clasped his hands tightly in front of himself and wrung them a little. He looked rather nervous. Berwald pressed a hand to my back and pushed me forward a couple of steps.

"This is Tino, soon to be Lord of Menetti."

I stood awkwardly looking back and forth between Berwald and the two boys while they hurried into a deep bow once again, but this time for me. Once again, they rose and began to turn on their heel and walk back in the direction they came in.

"Lord Oxenstierna, we have prepared you your usual room and another for Lord Tino. We got the letter stating your arrival the evening before last. I must say it's good to have you back." Brown hair looked over his shoulder and spoke to Berwald with a smile as he and I followed behind the two boys. I had no idea where we were going, who these people were and what the hell a Lord was. When brown hair had turned around again I tugged on Berwald's sleeve and he stooped a little so he was closer to my height, which signalled he was listening but I should talk quietly.

"Who are these people? And why did you call me a Lord to them? What is that?"

He straightened up again but still continued walking.

"The blond is Raivis an' the brunette is Toris. I called you Lord because that's what ya are. If you agree to take the stone that is. Menetti will belong to you. You should really be referring to me as Lord or Baron," he shrugged, "but I don't like these titles of superiority. So I like it when ya call me Berwald."

I stopped walking, but again Berwald pushed me forward, urging me to keep walking.

"Wait. What do you mean Menetti will belong to me?"

This time before answering Berwald slowed down a little and let Toris and Raivis get a little further in front before replying.

"It's hard for me t' explain. To put it simply there are five sections that make up this land outside o' Utopia. One section belongs to each of the five people who have one of the stones. Menetti is the last one, so it will be yours if ya take the stone."

I was beginning to understand now. If each of the five sections belonged to someone, then Christiania must belong to Lukas. It would make sense seeing as though he is the prince, or maybe I should say was the prince, and the castle is here that was once in control of the kingdom. Would Lukas become King then if I were to take the stone? What would actually happen? I was just about to ask Berwald but before I could we came to a smaller set of wooden doors in comparison to the ones at the front of the castle that were all tied up with locks and chains. Toris and Ravis pushed them open and we stepped into the castle.

I stood in awe as Berwald closed the doors again behind us. Although the outside of the castle was in ruins the inside was in pristine condition. It was almost like an illusion! We were in a corridor that seemed to go on forever, with lots of doors along each of the walls leading off into many different rooms. The floor was polished wood with various carpets and rugs covering it. The walls were made of stone and stretched high and tall around us and eventually met with high wooden beams that made up the ceiling. Painting and pictures covered the walls along with beautiful sconces that lit up the corridor perfectly. This was everything I expected it to be and more! I let my eyes wander over the people in the portraits on the walls. They were all dressed in beautiful clothes and surrounded by all sorts of different people with different faces. Smiles, frowns, smirks, even looks of fear. Before I knew it we were moving again, this time walking along the corridor and to the end where we came to a grand stone staircase. Berwald began to ascend up it while Raivis and Toris stayed at the foot and nodded at him as he walked past. He nodded back in thanks before they set off again through one of the many doors within the walls of the corridor, chatting amongst themselves. Quickly I followed suit and ran up the stairs to catch up with him. When we reached the top we were greeted with another corridor that was pretty much identical to the one we just walked down, just with different pictures. I counted the doors as we walked past and we stopped outside of the 7th one. Berwald took the keys out of his pocket and opened the door.

"This is your room." He turned to look at me over his shoulder and watched as I stepped past him gingerly and into the room. It was huge! Probably the size of my whole hut back in Menetti, maybe bigger! I walked in further and let my hand run along the soft quilts and fur blankets of the large bed that stood against the back wall. It was surrounded with red velvet curtains and drapes, and all sorts of beautiful wooden furniture was arranged throughout the rest of the room. Though one thing was a little odd, light streamed in through the cracks in the wooden boards covered the windows and the room was lit mainly by the sconces rather than actual daylight.

"Huh? How come I can't see the view?" I asked as I approached it and tried to pry the wooden boards apart, slipping my fingers between the cracks to try and get a better look at what was outside of the window. I had never seen Berwald move so fast! He shot across the room from where he was standing all the way over in the doorway and grabbed hold of my arm, turning me away from the window and towards him.

"No, Tino. We can't open those." His eyes stared into mine harshly and completely freaked me out.

"Oh great! Is this another piece to the never ending puzzle, huh? Just how many more secrets and 'things I shouldn't know about' are there?" I yanked my arm away from his grip and stared back into his eyes twice as hard. "Why can't I open the shutters? Is there going to be someone on the other side of the glass waiting to kill me? Oh wait I know, it will be one of those creatures won't it!? Waiting outside in the castle grounds to come and eat me up!"

"Tino stop! My god, are ya sure you weren't exiled for anger issues? Your temper is as bad as Mathias's! Calm down, I'm on your side!"

I sighed and pressed a hand against my forehead. Over the last few days my temper had been running hot and cold and I found that I was snapping at Berwald much more than ever. I had never felt this highly strung in my life, it was a little scary; like I was losing control of myself bit by bit. My mind seemed to be thinking more and more about this stone too. I was subconsciously thinking of it all the time. I just couldn't get it out of my head.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. This is just all still so new to me. Every time I get used to something or my surroundings something new happens and I have to get used to more things and more people and it's just so stressful!"

I flopped down onto the bed in defeat when I finished my little rant. "You've had decades to get used to all this shit. I've barely had a couple of months." After a few moments of silence and me staring down at the floor I felt the bed dip next to me as Berwald sat down. He hesitated and whetted his lips before speaking.

"This is where I'm gonna train ya. But it's not just you that we train here. Toris an' Raivis are training too. And so are lots of other people. All the people in this castle are part of… well, suppose you could call it a secret army…"

Once again, Berwald began to unfold yet another piece of the puzzle that was life outside of Utopia. The army that was being trained here was to protect Lukas and Emil and what was left of their kingdom, though they had no idea that it existed. It was set up by Mathias a couple of years after he met Lukas and claimed his stone. It turns out that as well as the people that were exiles there were other people coming out of the walls of Utopia, and those people were spies. Berwald had never encountered one himself and so he didn't know what to expect, but he said that these people had some kind of connection with the people back in Utopia and their job was to try and find out where the stone was located. They used people and manipulated people to get the information they desired.

Mathias was the one who had dealt with them the most and he had good experience on dealing with them. Before he was exiled he was training to work for the government, as it was one of the highest paying jobs during that time and every young man needed a good secure job to provide for their families, and so he learnt of a few of their tricks and schemes. Usually, once the spies were discovered by anyone out here they were taken away and executed. It sounded really brutal and my heart lurched at the discovery of this new information; but it was either kill that one person, or leave them to survive and risk multiple deaths as a result.

That's why we had to take such pre-cautions when entering the castle, and why I wasn't allowed to open the shutters. The last stone is somewhere in this castle and if one of the spies were to get their hands on it, then Lukas – the last person known to possess the gift of his powers - would be in huge danger, and these lands would most likely be taken over by the Utopian government; as Lukas and this army of people were the only ones stopping that from happening.

"We can't even imagine what might happen if the Utopians get their hands on the last stone. So we have t' be careful."

"But what about me? What will happen if I decide to take the last stone?"

Berwald shrugged.

"Dunno. Not even Lukas knows that. That's why we want you to be 100% sure that ya want t' do this. So we decided to bring ya here to train you with everyone else. Get ya used to the life that you will live after you've used the stone – protecting Lukas and these lands. Because this life we live… well, to live for eternity is often seen as a great gift. But in reality it's nothin' more than a dark curse."

His eyes softened behind his glasses and he cast his gaze to the ground as he spoke, fingers clutching tightly at the hem of his tunic. It made me realise just how lonely Berwald probably was. The world kept on turning and progressing, yet he was frozen in time, never aging, watching the world grow old instead as he stayed the same.

"But enough of this subject. It's nearly time for us to go down to dinner. There's a large assortment of clean clothes over there in your wardrobe. I hope ya find something to suit you that fits."

Sure enough, I followed the direction of his gaze and my eyes fell upon a large oak wardrobe in the far corner of the room. Then, without so much as another word, Berwald stood up and left the room; closing the door gently behind him. As I stood alone in the middle of the room, eyes still fixed on the door that Berwald had just exited through, I couldn't help but feel like coming to Christiania might not have been a good idea after all.

The sun was beginning to set, and Lukas sat out on the hillside watching it slowly slip beyond the hills and the horizon. Ever since he'd told Tino about the stone and he'd gone to stay safely in his castle with Berwald to learn more about their situation his mind had not been able to rest at all. He pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest, resting his chin on his knees as he just sat and let his mind wander. He thought back to a time when he and Emil lived happily and peacefully in a kingdom that was rich and prosperous. He was the son of one of the most powerful kings in the world at that time. He had close relationships with other royal families from across the seven seas, from the shores of the mid-European mainland; Spain, Belgium and Holland, the little group of islands that made up the British Isles a little further north off the shore of the mainland, and not to forget his closest Northern friends and neighbours; the rulers of Denmark and Sweden.

But now that was all gone, torn out from his life and instead he was now forgotten about, sealed away within his last remaining lands and surrounded by the ugly grey walls of Utopia while some new government took his place as ruler of Norway.*

He couldn't help but wonder what the world must now look like. Did his people still speak Norse, or had the language of his land died away when he supposedly did? That's another piece to the puzzle. Nobody questioned the disappearance of Lukas and his family, as their death was faked and the lands surrounding his castle quarantined off while and "investigation" went under way about the cause of their death. The people were lead to believe that it was an illness that killed them, and to keep everyone else safe they closed off the infected area and turned it into Norway's military research base. The whole world seemed to buy the story, and so nobody knew of what really happened.

That would all change though once the last stone was claimed. Lukas had no idea what would happen after it was claimed, and what would become of him. What he did know though is how much the uncertainty scared him. A grey cloud of fear always seemed to linger near him, keeping him in what seemed like a constant bad mood. That wasn't true at all though, and if there was one person in the whole entire world that was able to lift that cloud away even for just a little while was-

"I thought I'd find ya up here."

Mathias.

Tearing his eyes away from the sinking sun, Lukas turned to look over his shoulder to see Mathias coming over the top of the hill. Neither of the two of them were out searching for exiles tonight, and so it was one of those rare occasions where they could sit together and enjoy each other's company in peace, away from everything.

Mathias sat down next to Lukas without a word and snaked an arm around his waist. Sighing in content, Lukas brought his legs down and he too put an arm around his significant other and leant his head against his broad shoulder.

"Even after all these years, it's still one o' the most beautiful sights in this world, huh?"

Lukas hummed in agreement, turning to look at Mathias. He wasn't aware that he was being watched, and so he continued to stare out at the sunset infront of them, the last of the golden rays casting beautiful shadows onto his handsome face. Even after all these years, in Lukas's eyes, Mathias was still the most beautiful man in the world.

Dinner was a very formal affair, something that I can't say I was expecting. The grand hall in which we ate was lined with beautiful, long, wooden tables with piles of food on them enough to feed an army of 100! There must've been around 50 to 60 people in the room, and I found out that all these people were the people who were part of the army and then some; staff that worked in the castle and the people that trained us were eating among us too. It was a wonderful atmosphere, but I simply could not enjoy it as much as I would've liked. As Berwald and I were chatting with the people who were seated around us, I felt like I was slipping in and out of consciousness. My head began to throb and I could feel a migraine coming on. I thought at first that it might possibly be due to lack of sleep, as we had a long and tiring journey over the past few days, but as the evening progressed that it wasn't sleep deprivation at all.

The stone. It's all I could think about. Where was it? Where on earth could it be hidden? Did Berwald really know where it was, but he wasn't telling me?

"Hey Berwald? How badly do you want me to use the stone?"

I found myself asking the question almost subconsciously. The words left my mouth before I even had time to register what I was saying!

Berwald carried on eating his dinner and didn't reply to my question, instead just turned and glared at me from behind the cover of his glasses. Why was I talking so openly about the damn stone? It was quite obvious that the entirety of the room was completely unaware that Berwald hadn't aged in the past 80 years. My neck, which hadn't caused me any problems since the day of my exile, began to throb and burn, and the pulsing pain in my head was beginning to grow unbearable. Sensing my discomfort as I began to fidget and scratch at the back of my neck, Berwald stopped glaring and his expression switched to one of concern almost instantly.

"Tino. Are ya alright?"

He kept his voice low and didn't attract any attention from the company around us.

"I'm feeling a bit hot. I might go outside and get some fresh air."

Against my own will again, I rose from the table, excusing myself and headed for the doors that lead out into the main corridors. I could hear Berwald excuse himself and get up to follow me like I knew he would. He was always chasing after me and following me around like a little lost puppy. Now I would use it to my advantage. As I reached the doors and pushed them open, Berwald was right behind me. My head was buzzing and my neck throbbing like never before. Something was under my skin. It was hot, but it made me feel fully charged. I felt superior, powerful. The doors banged closed behind us as we stepped out into the corridor. My vision was distorted; it was like looking through a tunnel. Suddenly, a huge surge of what felt like electricity surged through my body, pulsed through my veins and completely took over my body and state of mind, causing me to turn quickly on my heel and slam Berwald up against the wall with a strength I didn't know I had. Just like that day outside my home, there was a shooting pain flowing through my body and then everything went black.

"Tino! T-Tino, what're ya doing?!"

It was like staring into the face of a stranger. The face that was looking at me with such ferocity and anger couldn't possibly have been Tino. But it was Tino, who else could it have been? He had me against the wall, one hand on my throat and the other pinning my right arm to the wall beside me. It was becoming hard to breathe, but no matter how much I clawed at the hand over my neck with my free hand he just wouldn't let go.

"Tino… wha… what's gotten into you? Let me go, you're gonna strangle me!"

"Ah ah, not until you tell me where the stone is. Come on Berwald… do it for me? You love me, don't you? Let me be with you forever. Isn't that what you want?"

"I don't know where it is! I told ya, Lukas is the only one who knows!"

He released his grip on my neck, but still had me pinned against the wall. His hands wandered over my body; one made it's way up the inside of my dress shirt and over my chest, and the other was splayed dangerously low over the front of my trousers. My head was spinning, my body unable to move. I could feel Tino against my throat again, but this time it was his teeth and tongue dragging over the thin stretch of skin beneath my jaw. This was wrong. This was so, so wrong. Then, my own words from earlier echoed into my head, causing my heart to drop to my stomach.

"These spies, they use people and manipulate people to get the information they desire."

What had I done? How could I have been so fucking stupid? Of course Tino was only using me to get to the stone! Why else would be befriend a freak like me? He was a goddamn spy!

In a fit of rage, I pushed Tino away from me and down to the ground. I winced as his head smacked off of the hard tile floor as he went down. I was conflicted. Was this still Tino? The man I loved with all my heart? Or was this now just an empty shell? I had no time to dwell on it though. I knew what I had to do, though I also knew it was going to kill me to have to do it.

Hastily, I unbuckled my belt and slid it off. Tino was now bleeding from where his head collided with the floor, and so he was unresponsive in shock if only for a few seconds, giving me time to seize his wrists and bring them together behind his back, turning him over onto his stomach on the floor and tie them behind his back. He was kicking and screaming and shouting all kinds of threats, but it wasn't Tino. I'd lost him. Gritting my teeth and choking back tears, I hoisted him up over my shoulder and began to take him to the only place that I deemed a safe place to put him; the dungeons.

My mind was a complete blur as I made my way down the stone steps to the dungeons as quickly as I could, Tino thrashing around over my shoulder, still shouting about how much I loved him, and demanding to know why was I doing this to him. He was right, I did love him, and I was foolish to fall in love with him, with someone who would never love me back. What a fucking stupid fool you are, Berwald!

The dungeons were dark, damp and completely empty, as long as I had been coming to this castle they had never been used. But sure enough, they were still fully functional. Kicking open the door of the first cell I threw Tino down into the corner against the hard stone, grabbed the shackles and set to work chaining him to the walls of the cell. Tears were streaming down my face, my heart and chest were aching, and I felt like I was at the absolute breaking point. After 80 years I finally thought that we were free, that I had found the one. Looking into those dead eyes of the face I thought I knew so well was like a bullet to the brain. I'd failed, and I nearly brought the entirety of what was left of Lukas's kingdom down with my foolishness. As I began to exit the cell and lock the iron cell door, I could hear Tino crying out to me. His voice was muffled though through my ringing ears, and I couldn't face to look at him. Taking the key from the lock and sliding it into my pocket, I trudged back up the steps and back into the corridor, refusing to look back at Tino. My legs felt like lead, and by the time I had reached the top of the stairs, I could bring myself to do nothing more than to sink to my knees and cry.

"Sir, the boy was a failure. We were so close, but we were caught out at the last minute."

"Not to worry. We finally have the information we need. Bring me the Prince."

A/N: Oh dear oh dear. What are we going to do now then?

*In this AU, unlike the current situation in 'real life' Norway, there is no monarchy whatsoever. When Lukas and his family supposedly passed away, a government took over the country and began to rule it. Utopia is almost like a separate country on it's own though within Norway. The rest of the country is just like it is currently, as is the rest of the world, but Utopia is almost quarantined off and not many people go in or out, and that's because of the suspicion that the government still have about people perhaps possessing magical powers.

Thanks for reading, I'll see you all next chapter!