Hello guys! Hope you're up to this important chapter. Enjoy:

Jenna walked down the palace corridors in her dark green dress which was designed with black and silver lines shaped like lions that matched well with her golden crown glowing on her raven hair. The candle lights which made her crown shine more, shadowed her exhausted but determined face. As she reached the courtyard she saw many people - less than usual - standing together in silence.

Jenna stood on a small wooden stage set for her she glanced at Septimus who stood at her left, filling Beetle's empty spot then at Harry.

"They are no one from the talented or wealthy people." Harry said quietly, still looking straight. "Beetle obviously has all the po_"

Jenna stepped into his words with a worried glance at the crowd. "Hush... They might hear. We just need to encourage them." Jenna saw Septimus looking at her with agony reflected in his green eyes. His look reminded her of the result of his investigation.

Flashback:

Jenna was going through the books about revolts to find a solution that Septimus appeared in front of her. He was breathless.

"James. It was all James." He glanced around to make sure no one would hear and continued more urgently. "James had bought your guard so it may seem that you were trying to slay Beetle. We just need to tell this to Beetle so that he will come back." Septimus was grinning happily but Jenna didn't respond it. "What's the matter now? Everything will be okay once again."

The book fell from Jenna's numb hand. "So his trust in me broke because of James?" She mumbled to herself which made Septimus's grin fade. "It doesn't matter anymore. The water is spilled." She brought her head up and looked directly into Septimus's eyes. "He has crossed the bridge of no return. Anything I'll do will be in vain."

"I know about your decree but you can just take it back." Septimus couldn't let go of this last hope.

Jenna shook her head. "I can't go back on my word. They will never allow it unless I give a reason for saving Beetle." She had always wanted to protect Beetle but now that her protection was needed she was useless. Not even her power as a queen could be of any use. "We just have to go on." She felt weak as she felt a pain in her chest that made her frown.

Septimus took her hand. "Yes you can. Please Je..." He let out a frustrated sigh at not being able to call her name as always. "My liege, please. You can so this." He pleaded.

"The system I have laid out in the government makes my power limited. I have have the whole court's consent or a good reason which I don't have." She tried to explain but she knew that Septimus was as desperate as she was. She tightened the grip on the chair's armrest to bear the pain she had. She felt like there was fire coming up from her chest.

Harry ran into the room without any announcement and saluted quickly to Jenna. "The people are gathered at the courtyard to show you their support."

"Give them a speech and tell them they can meet her later." Septimus glanced at Jenna's pale face meaningfully so that Harry would understand her being unwell. But as much as Harry admired Jenna, he also admired power so he didn't say anything and waited for Jenna's answer.

"No need, I'll see them myself." She stood up which made Harry smile and Septimus cross his arm with disapproval. He liked her all powerful. "Don't worry, I'm stronger than I looked." Jenna whispered quietly to Septimus.

Back to Jenna's POV:

"Our Castle is in peril because of those who only think of themselves." Jenna raised her voice which silenced the crowd to listen to her. "They only think about their goals while disregarding people's welfare. The more they succeed the more you'll lose." She could see that the crowd were lingering to each word she said. "And that led the Castle to such crisis." She felt cold from inside. She couldn't believe that her every word was an attack to Beetle. "I won't stand by any this longer. I will deal with the rebels and establish harmony among all kinds." She extended her hands as if embracing them all. "We have to strengthen our forces to get our country's dignity back." Her voice grew silent while she was hailed by the people in front of her.

Harry watched the crowd's excitement with victory. Beetle was done for. If it wasn't for Jenna calling him, he would've got completely lost in his joy.

"Harry, did you mobilize the troop?" Jenna was talking with great hardship as drops of sweat were appearing on her forehead for all the effort.

"I have. They are ready to attack from four sides at once." Harry answered with a lot of energy.

Jenna nod her head. "Good." She then raised her hand and waved at the crowd with a queen-like smile while her face growing paler by seconds. She felt her head becoming dizzy so she slowly stepped down from the platform with everyone following her.

Septimus was so lost in his sorrow that he had just noticed her sudden weak expression through all the shadows. As Jenna stumbled he started to run to her side but Harry was there first and took her arm.

"Forgive my imprudence but please let me carry you. You don't look good." Harry said earnestly but Jenna freed her arm.

"The people are watching. I can make it to my chamber." She glanced at Septimus who was still looking at her with a mixture of disappointment and worry. Jenna slapped her cheeks to wake up and walked her way back to the palace. She had to bear through all the emotions. Just before going through the palace gates she heard the people's voice go up but didn't turn back for having hard time keeping her energy.

Septimus however looked back just in time to see what had caught their attention. One of the stars in the sky was glowing more than ever and suddenly in front of his focused eyes, the star fell.

Jenna who had just entered the corridors fell as well to the ground making Septimus to look back at her. She was gasping for air as she clutched her skirt.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty." Harry was frightened. He looked at Septimus to help him in lifting Jenna to her room but Jenna's hand fell to the ground as she stopped choking.

"It's okay. Just be quiet... quite." This was her first stroke after years which reminded her of the last time such thing happened and Beetle was there to comfort and help her. She heard Harry's shout at the guards to bring something to transport her but she didn't care. Jenna had never thought that her fate with Beetle would be so separated.

Beetle's camp (Minutes before the star fell.)

Beetle's personal spy ran into the fortress with hurry. He had to tell Beetle that it was all James but his way was blocked by James himself.

"The spy on the mystery mission is back." James smirked and stood tall in his armor. He could guess the reason the spy was hesitating. "Solved the Queen's riddle right?" The spy stood silent so James turned to the guards around him. "Arrest him." He shouted.

The spy bolted off with the guards following him. James took a deep breath. He had to be more careful. He was wrong to let the family live. Beetle's entrance made him put up his calm mask. "Sir, the people are waiting for you."

Beetle nod his head lifelessly and strode in the direction that James was pointing to. The sound of his own heavy black boots pounding on the ground working on his nerves and the his sword clashing with his belt repeatedly didn't help to make it better.

The torches were lit all around the fortress's massive courtyard. They made it easy to see everyone waiting for Beetle's arrival. Beetle however was nervous with knowing that each step he took would make the gap between him and Jenna wider. He brushed off the fallen strands of his brown hair from his forehead and took a deep breath.

"The Castle is weeping due to an incompetent queen." He had planned for this beforehand. "We have suffered uprising and humiliation from other nations." Beetle had to pause pause for a moment to let everyone get a good grasp of his words. "And that has led this country to misery." His voice echoed through the courtyard. "Hence, I'll depose the Queen and build a new and stronger country." was breathless from shouting so he stayed quiet and let the crowd hail his name, repeatedly.

After standing there motionless for few moments Beetle remembered the time he had visited the same courtyard with Jenna. They had even named each star together. He tilted his head up and looked at the sky, making others to follow his gaze with curiosity.

James poked his arm to bring him back to reality. The moment Beetle wanted to take his eyes off the stars one of them fell. The sound of amusement rose from people. "A star fell." They all said together and pointed at the sky.

Making his mind work faster, Beetle saw the advantage in the situation so he looked back at the crowd who were from various kinds but standing in union though being different. "A star fell right at the Castle." He shouted with all his strength. "It's a sign that the Castle will fall. That the Castle is through. Blood will be shed." He didn't know that he could be such an advantageous and ambitious person and he hated every second of it but he carried on as if feeling nothing. "Let's fight for a new country." Beetle drew out his sword. "For a new Castle." He shouted with all his might which made everyone enthusiastic enough to shout along with him.

Beetle was pleased for the first time after he had started this. Jenna had said that her only true love and devotion is to the country and now he was proud of becoming that country. He knew that he can finally have Jenna as his.

Jenna's POV:

Harry was explaining his brilliant plan to Septimus and Jenna since the other men in government positions couldn't be trusted. Jenna was sitting on a sofa with irritation while holding her chin up with her hand. She was forced to sit back in her white silk bed gown so that she would to be involved in the plans; since Septimus thought that it was too much pressure for her.

"Their army is strong but if we attack from four corners at the same time we can get to a fifty-fifty chance of success." Harry was anxious so he clapped his hands to get rid of any visible worries. "The only problem is communication."

Septimus looked at the parchment laid out on the table. "We can assign some wizards to use appearing spells for communication." He suggested.

Jenna shook her head. "By then it's too late." She felt something stick in her throat as she wanted to say his name. "Beetle... well he is quite experienced and not to mention smart. A second delay and he'll find out before you can attack from four sides at the same time and by then our army will be crushed. We have to confuse them." She ran her hand at the back of her neck in frustration as they all grew quiet and started to think.

Jenna closed her eyes and tried to think as the Beetle she knew. He was intelligent enough to find out any plan they pulled out so they had to do something out of ordinary and then it hit her like a thunder. "The star." Jenna thought aloud making both Septimus and Harry look at her with confusion. She snapped her finger and started to laugh. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"What is it?" Harry felt more excited than ever by the expression on Jenna's face.

"It's simple, we just have to place the star back into its place and use that as our code. When the star goes up, they all attack through the gates." She looked at Septimus whose green eyes shone with realization. "Got it?"

Septimus was amused at first by her plan but with remembering that the person they are planning to attack is Beetle he felt as if he was showered by cold water. "It'll work." He said curtly and saw Jenna's smile fade at the same conclusion as his and her face grow serious. Septimus turned to Harry's bewildered face and answered his unspoken question. "We'll attach a candle on something like a kite and send it up. That way from afar it'll seem like a star but when our troops see it rise they'll attack."

Harry's mouth fell open from the idea. "Neat." He said to Jenna. "Then I'll go and lead the troops to the fortress." He was so eager that he just ran out with a quick salute. Not caring about his prince status getting demoted to a war general by doing this.

Beetle's POV:

Beetle was sitting in his chamber while James and other ministers were praising his quick thinking. He heard some noises from outside of his chamber after sitting with them for what felt like ages. He glanced at a guard to open the doors to hear the voices more clearly.

"Silence." Beetle raised his hand and everyone fell quiet so the noises were clearly heard. The noise of people running around made Beetle bolt up and rush out of his chamber. The scene before him was perplexing. Everyone were either running or shouting for help while some stood to point at the sky.

Beetle looked up and to his surprise, the star was rising to go back to its place. He started to think, rationally thinking it wasn't logical for a fallen star to go back to its place. "It's fake." Muttered Beetle which made James nod his head.

"Of course it is but why do they need to do it? How did they do this?" James was mystified and looked up at Beetle's thoughtful face with his hand tapping on his sword as if finally getting the whole story.

"It's a kite." He omitted that he was sure that it was Jenna's idea. No one else thought of such a way to distract him. "Distraction." Beetle's mouth cracked into a laugh as he got her idea. "Hold the gates. It's a war sign." He suddenly shouted at the men around them. "Don't get distracted by other armies. We have to put our full force on the army Harry's leading."

"But sir, can we_." The minister's words of doubt were cut through with sounds of explosions from different corners of the fortress.

"Everyone we have prepared for this. If we make it through tonight, we'll be victorious." He yelled above all the noises. "Take positions. I'll lead the army myself." He ordered the army commander so that he could move out.

Beetle then looked around for James but he was missing again. As the courtyard was being cleared out and all the people present were using all their might and talents - including magyk - Beetle spotted someone coming to him with his leg dragging. It was his personal spy.

"What happened to you?" Beetle was shocked at the state his spy was in but the spy didn't seem to care.

"I was being followed so I jumped into a river and got away." He pointed at his leg. "This happened while running." He said curtly.

Beetle could hear his heart pounding. "So did you found out?" He asked urgently. The spy saw James coming to them from behind so he rapidly explained everything. Of how James tricked Beetle and Jenna not being involved at all.

"That's all I found out sir." He glanced at James worryingly but Beetle didn't notice.

He was in another world, the world of misery. He couldn't believe that he was tricked like that so he just started to walk aimlessly. Unaware that he was being followed by James, he found himself in his chamber. Everything seemed unfamiliar to him. All the parchments bearing ingenious plans, his specially carved brown chair and even his selection of bow and arrows were looking strange to him.

James ran in from behind him with a bag in his hand. "We have to leave and fight them off later near the palace." He said urgently and started to pack all the papers in Beetle's chamber because those were all the great backup plans. "Sir, hurry." He said as he ran around the room to see if anything was missing that he noticed Beetle's silence. James turned to Beetle's face and was unsettled by his eyes staring at him. "What is the matter?" He suddenly became cautions.

Beetle walked to him. "You weasel." His mouth was stretching into a neurotic smirk as he looked at James straight in the eyes. "The Queen's guard's death." He hissed as being too furious to form a complete sentence.

"You finally cracked the code, right?" James laughed at him without any fear of Beetle's anger.

"All this time it was you. Someone like you... a trash like you planned this." Beetle's body was trembling from anger but James didn't seem to care.

"That's your problem. All the things you say are excuses." James knew that his tone was contemptuous and scornful but carried on. "That's what you always do. You seem to find excuses for everything." He pointed at Pamela's band around Beetle's wrist. "And here I thought you were like my Pamela. What a fool I was." Beetle's eyes filled with tear at the mention of his mother's name but he stayed quiet. "She was wrong about you too just as I wrong as I was. To try to help you in gaining your great cause_"

Beetle's cut his words. "Great cause? I was raised as mom... Pamela's great cause and gained power as your great cause. That greatness isn't mine." He wanted to pour out all his emotions but James stopped him.

"Excuses again. Pamela abandoned you, you didn't receive any love for a long time and we ruined your love. Is that it?" James's smile ceased. "Rebellion and turning your back on the Queen, you think it was all because of me? No, you would've done this even without me." He yelled which made the tears fade away from Beetle's eyes and turn them into angry red.

Beetle grabbed James's collar violently. "Stop it." He shouted but James just raised his voice further.

"Didn't you do everything in these years just to gain more power? Can you deny that you wouldn't have done everything just to gain the Queen?" He punched his hand at the left side of Beetle's chest. "It was all here. It was all because that you wanted everything yours. Because you had to be a king. It didn't matter that it was the Queen or her crown, you just had to have it because in the end that's all you are."

His words had made Beetle's anger turned into despair. "This isn't me. I just wanted to_"

"Oh love?" James said wryly. "Suddenly driven crazy by love and broke everything apart? Then yes, I just helped you a little." He was hitting on Beetle's weak point. "But even if you were successful in your love, you would've kept me by your side because you are afraid. Because you can't trust." Beetle let go of his collar slowly and stepped back from him in daze. "Just accept who you are. You never think that 'I should trust that person.' But you always think that 'What happens if that person doesn't trust me anymore? What if I'm thrown away?' That's all you'll ever think about."

Beetle shook his head as his face grew red. "Be quiet." He shouted with despise but James just came more forward. With his every step forward Beetle took a step back until he was next to his chair.

"Do you know what's worse? The Queen..." James smirked at Beetle's sudden focus from hearing about Jenna. "Trusted you until the end."He spoke slowly and clearly which made Beetle lose all of his strength. He tried to grab anything just to avoid falling but he was unsuccessful as he fell on his chair. "It was you who couldn't trust. Your love wasn't ruined by the Queen or even me, you broke it yourself. With your own hands, words and actions." James laughed at Beetle's teary eyes and started to pick his fallen stuff to leave.

Beetle knew every word that James said could be true but he remembered Pamela when she was telling him about all the great talents around her. She had mentioned James as a great manipulator who was brilliant with words. Out of corner of his eyes he saw James glance at him before wanting to leave so he abruptly took James's arm and shoved him back then swiftly took out his sword to kill him right then.

"Death's too good for you." He muttered and just reserved to making a scar by a swift turn of his sword at James's leg making him shrink in pain and pushed him down while taking the tablecloth. He didn't react to anymore of James's swears or words and tied him tightly to the chair then moved around the room and took down their rebellion flag to use it as a tool to silence James.

Beetle was breathless from all the struggle. He turned his back at James and faced the wall mirror. As he looked at himself carefully he saw his changes and he hated it. Beetle ran his hand through his tidily pulled back hair and started to mess it until it became like it was before and fell on his face. He then looked at the black armor he was wearing. Taking off the armor layer by layer, Beetle felt lighter. "I didn't do this. This isn't me." He kept repeating to himself until he was only wearing a plain black shirt with matching trousers.

Beetle put on his long and over-sized coat. Without a second glance at James he went out. Harry's men would find him any minutes and arrest him. He was sure that once they arrest James, he'll get what he deserves.

"Sir, where are you going?" His spy asked who was standing in the empty courtyard waiting despite of all the sounds of shouts and explosions.

Beetle smiled with sorrow. "To see the Queen." He said and started to move but the spy blocked his way.

"She ordered your execution. You have to run sir." He pleaded but Beetle's smile only grew wider at his loyalty.

"I don't care if she does." He had to at least fulfill Jenna's last wish before dying for mistrusting her.

That's it for this chapter and I hope you all liked it. I asked you this question at chapter 6 and got very interesting answers so I ask you again. How do you think this story will end? Sad, happy or vague? Be sure to let me know before you proceed to the next chapter which might be the semi final chapter. Even if I had uploaded the next chapter by the time you are reading this. Just guess with me before you continue.

Thanks everyone for your excellent support.