(Alice's POV)

I didn't understand what was going on. Why do Jack and I have the same symbols on our backs. Why could he hear my thoughts? What strange magic was at work here.

"They are compatible." My mother said.

Jack finally spoke aloud. "What does that mean?"

"It is a very rare condition. Like a magnet attracts metal, your magic called to Aliendra's" My name is Alice.

Jack shot me an understanding look, and turned back to my mother.

"Your powers intertwined and became one. You noticed that you fire was far more powerful now, and Aliendra you may notice the same thing. You no longer have your own power, you share the same pool between you. I'm assuming that you can hear her thoughts."

"Yes." I answered for him. Okay we are getting close to how we fix this.

"How do we fix this?" Jack asked for me.

My mother looked solemn for a moment before saying. "You don't. Your power is now one, the only way to separate you is through death, and that would drive the living partner insane."

I looked to Jack, and tried to picture him dead, but for some reason I couldn't. Instead I felt an incomprehensible level of loss. My mother was right. We were connected.

I look good, even when dead. Jack joked..

Don't even joke about that. I snapped. I couldn't think about it for a second longer.

"So what now?" Ashryver asked. "Are we going to send the Emperor's son back with a link to the most actively hunted girl in the empire. Forgive me for saying that that sounds like a terrible idea."

My mother held up a hand. "Calm down Ashryver. The link did more than anyone may possibly know. I get the feeling that Jack would rather cut out his own heart than hurt Alice at this point."

She's right Jack said, and I knew he was telling the truth.

"I still don't understand." A woman with red hair in the back said. "How deep does this link go?"

My mother walked over to me. "Well Wendelyn I hope this is enough explanation." She motioned to me. "I'd like you to meet Jack." She walked over to Jack and motioned to him "I'd like you to meet Aliendra. By all accounts they are the same person now."

"By the gods I didn't know that this was possible." Wesely said.

"It's rare certainly. Very rare. I can only think of one account historically of this happening, and even then their names were lost through time. It furthered their loss even still when the Emperor started burning everything related to magic." An image flashed in my head of eyes not my own. A boy overlooking his father as he ordered mounds of books be thrown into the fire. The pyre was dozens of feet tall, and throughout the pile outlines of corpses could be found.

"It certainly makes it harder." I agreed verbally. "So what do we do now?"

"Well earlier you became queen of a fallen nation, but this changes things somewhat." My mother declared. "You will have to talk with Jack and declare your allegiance. You and Jack must be in complete agreement or else you will find yourselves drifting from your goals. We will leave you alone to talk. Wesely, Ashryver, I want you two to find us somewhere else to live." They left the room still talking about the specifics, and shut the door behind them. Jack and I were alone.

I think that went well, Jack said. I snorted.

Yeah, couldn't have gone better. Now I have an assassin talking in my head.

You should talk to someone about that, you're sounding kind of crazy. I laughed and Jack joined in.

Oh we will never be normal now. I stated.

Apparently not. So what do you want to do about this whole 'declare your allegiance!' thing.

Well I am a queen and I have people to serve. Also I will never serve your father after what he did.

I agree with you there but I don't have a choice. He opened up and allowed his fear and anguish to flood into me. I saw an older woman whom I immediately identified as his mother, and a young girl that seemed slightly more blurry whom I realized to be his sister. A sister that he had never met.

I realized the true extent of his desperation. A wave of shame over the man he killed surged through me, and resentment for his overbearing father. This truly was Jack, behind the jokes, and "I don't care" exterior.

How do you handle that everyday? I asked.

I don't have a choice. I do what I can to stay alive.

Will you still kill for your father I asked. A wave of shame that wasn't my own coursed through me as an image of a old man lying unearthly still in a bed burned away all other images. The remnants of a scream still plastered on his lips, reaching out for help that will never come.

I can't, not again. He was a good man, especially for being a lord. I can't keep on like this. He swore.

So what will you do if he asks you to kill again?

ARGH I don't know! It seems that I'll be killing someone either way. If I fail my family dies, and if I succeed… I don't know what to do. Desperation fell from him in waves, and I hated to see him like this. I hated that he had to endure this moral agony every day. Most of all, I hated the emperor for putting us in this situation.

What if you pretended to kill his targets, but simply faked their deaths. I'm sure that once they are told that the Emperor is hunting them, they'll do everything they can to save their own lives. You can do that until we find a way to hide your family where your father can't hurt them.

A new feeling flew through Jack, one that I found myself sharing. Relief and Hope, although I forced myself to cut off from his feelings. They were his to enjoy, not mine.

Thank you Alie- Alice. I hummed my gratitude.

So that's our plan, our we ready to declare our support for Spera? I asked.

It seems like our best choice right now.

Alright, well I'll call in the others. I opened the door, where my mother and a few members of the court were standing around quietly talking in hushed tones. The court appeared to be angry, and my mother seemed fearful. This was not as it should be, but I ignored it.

"We've made our decision." I declared. I motioned for them to enter the ruined home, but they remained still. My mother cast one final look at her court, and the red haired woman cocked her head threateningly. My mother paled, and then they all entered shutting the door behind them audibly.

"Well, I just want you to know that I won't judge you for whatever you've chosen. If you want to preserve yourselves and work for the Emperor that is fine with me. I will respect your decisions." I looked to Jack, who for some reason looked jealous. The phrase unconditional love drifted towards me.

"We've decided to serve the remnants of Spera." Jack stated. "We will do whatever we can to remove the Emperor from the throne. No matter the cost." His face hardened and I realized. This wasn't a son talking about his father. This was a subject talking about a tyrant. Jack had been the closest to the Emperor as he tore through the surrounding Kingdoms murdering his way to the throne. Jack had watched it all happen, and was forced to obey any command given to him. That was too much for any child to endure. I was starting to see why he had run away.

My mother looked pleased, and relief coursed through her face, but also fear. She knew what the dangers were of choosing this life. "Well I cannot say that I am suprised. Have you discussed what will happen when Jack returns to the Emperor tonight?"

"No he will not be returning tonight!" A man in the court declared. "No matter your talk of the "link" changing him, and the devotion he feels toward Alice. I will not have a Ternac return to his father after he has seen all of our faces."

"I agree, I feel that as soon as Ashryver returns we execute him." Another voice said. The thought of Jack being killed by these bureaucrats sent me too the edge. My vision turned bright red as ice cold fury plunged deep inside of me. Every member of the court paled and began to back away, my mother stood still looking defeated. The court had done that to her, I was dangerously close to tearing each of them apart one by one.

I felt Jack brush up against my mind and I let him in. Just as a torch would melt ice, his presence melted the rage eating away at me begging me to kill them. I calmed slowly but steadily, and soon I was completely at peace. I felt him melt away, but stay close.

My mother laughed, a heavy pained laugh but a laugh nonetheless. "I feel as if your queen has made her position known on this topic, and I feel as if you should heed her guidance." I snorted but felt satisfied that I had such an effect. The weight of my imaginary crown still pressed down harder than I could bear,but I liked being able to protect Jack.

"I have a feeling that if you threatened to kill Aliendra, Jack would react similarly. Sending him into the arms of our enemies is not an act dangerous for us, it is an act dangerous for him. He is willing to risk himself to help further your cause, I suggest not trying execute him." My mother finished. I felt a rush of gratitude to the fallen queen.

The court grumbled their approval, but cast furious looks at the queen. This was not normal, and I began to see it more and more with every second. I didn't know what was going on, but I was going to get to the bottom of it. A few hours ago she was their queen, why were they acting so cold to her?

Jack seemed to be sharing my sentiment, and cast a worried look in my direction. Just then Ashryver and Wesely opened the door and shut it silently. Every member of the court did their best to look loyal, just as I had seen when I had first met them. Ashryver and Wesely seemed to be out of their control, and had enough power to take them down. I still didn't understand the situation, but it was becoming clearer to me every second.

"Ahem. We have found several apartments in the upper side of town that the owner was willing to sell to us. Although we will need a large sum of Imperial gold, does anyone know where we can find that kind of cash?" Ashryver asked.

"Whenever I complete a contract for my dad, I get paid enough to buy a village. After giving false reports on Alice I should have enough to get you your apartments."

Ashryver seemed stunned but quickly collected himself. "You're a good man Jack."

"Well then we all know our plans, now all that we can hope is that nothing goes wrong." Something about the entire situation felt off. I couldn't put my finger on it but something wasn't right, it was all happening too easily. There was also the manner in which my mother was treated by the minor members of the court, it was as if they were superior to her. As the cloud of my emotions thickened only one remained dominant of the rest: fear.

Author's note- I wrote a large portion of this in the morning, so if the writing style is a bit off it may be that. Anyway I am greatly enjoying the build up to a very dramatic moment that will change the nature of this story entirely. It's going to be awesome. (That may be my author's bias leaking through right there) Thank you for reading.