Abe Mazur sat across from me once more, his legs were crossed and he continued to sip from the crystal glass that was back in his hand. I held my own glass within my grasp, but did not take a sip.

My leg pulsed with pain, and the throbbing pain in the back of my head had now spread to the backs of my eyes. I blinked it away though, I had to concentrate. I had to form a plan.

"So, what do you know about your powers, Little Girl?" He asked.

I suppressed an eye roll at the question. "I know absolutely nothing about them, Old Man."

A smirk lifted at the corner of his mouth. "That is not what I wanted to hear. Tell me, if you will, how did you discover your powers?"

I wasn't sure how honest I should be with this man, he seemed to know a lot about me, as well as the Ivashkovs, he seemed to want to help me get to Dimitri, and that was all I cared about in that moment.

"I spent some time being held in the Ivashkov Kingdom, where I had to work for him as an assassin. I was made to kill the people he needed killed, and he offered me a roof over my head in return. Dimitri was the one sent to capture me." I smiled at the memory, remembering how much I despised my foreign jailor and considering how far we had come since then. "The King seemed to know more about me than I knew about myself, as everyone does. He had Dimitri train me, and he told me that the King suspected I had powers of my own. It was a ridiculous thought, and to cut a long story short, I shoved my hand into a fire and found that it didn't harm me."

Abe raised his eyebrows in surprise at my story, and nodded his head, urging me to continue.

"I think that Dimitri knew, even back then, that the King was not to be trusted. And so he trained me both in combat and with my powers without anyone else knowing, until I mastered them completely. Obviously the King knows about them now, and wants me dead more than ever." I explained with a smirk of my own.

"Where did your powers come from?" He asked next.

I let out a humourless laugh at that. "No idea, I never met my parents. I believe them both to be dead."

Shock and sympathy filled the man's brown eyes. "Do not pity me." I growled. "Now it's your turn to answer the questions. Where did you get your powers from?" I questioned.

The man sighed and put down his empty glass. I watched carefully as he ran a hand through his greying hair. "Mine is not a story that is easy to tell. I've never told the story to another being, but I believe you deserve to know."

"Go on." I urged.

I watched as he closed his eyes for a moment, as if going back in time. "I inherited the power of flames from my father, he was incredibly powerful, and despite how busy he was, he spent time teaching me to control it. You must know how difficult they can be to manipulate. He didn't want me to lose control."

He opened his eyes and gazed out at the rain falling from the skies outside the window. "I grew up with my family in another Kingdom. I met the love of my life there, my child was born there. But it was dark times that we lived in, war was raging and I knew I couldn't keep them safe there." His eyes had glazed over, and now it was my turn to feel sympathy for the stranger before me.

There was no trace of other living beings in this house, so I knew that his story was not one that ended happily. "We left our Kingdom during a ranging battle, I left everything behind to protect them, and still it wasn't enough."

"Wh- what happened?" I prompted, my voice shaking.

He released a breath before continuing. "My child was only young at the time, barely learning to walk. My wife died protecting my daughter. I fled with my daughter to another Kingdom, the Ivashkov Kingdom, but I was being hunted for who I was, so I knew I couldn't keep her with me, it was too dangerous."

I could understand his thinking; I could only imagine how difficult it must have been. It was almost impossible for me to leave Dimitri behind only a few days ago, but imagine abandoning a child.

"I thought that I was keeping her safe, that she would be looked after, but I know now that wasn't the case. I have something I need to confess to you, Rosemarie." Guilt now contorted his features.

"What is it?" My voice coming out as a whisper. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say, but I had to hear him say it. I should have known why his features were so familiar to me, why we both possess the power to manipulate flames.

"Say it." I demanded. "I need to hear you say it."

"You inherited your powers from me, Rosemarie, as I inherited them from my father."

I already knew the words before he spoke them, but they still made my chest feel like it had caved in. The breath escaped from my lungs and I couldn't seem to be able to catch my breath.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea who or where you were until I found you the other night. I thought you were being looked after, I thought you were safe."

"How?" I breathed. "Who are you?"

"I am Abe Mazur, son of Tatiana Mazur, Prince to Queen Tatiana's Kingdom. My father was the King before he was murdered."

Suddenly all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. All of the riddles people had weaved into my mind.

That was why Queen Tatiana was so kind, why she told me that her people would stand behind me. That was why the people in the paintings in her castle looked so familiar to me. It must have been why everyone was so secretive about the history of her Kingdom. You don't even know who you are.

The words kept playing over and over in my head.

You are more important than you think.

You don't know what a prize you are.

I am a Princess.

And not even a fake one like I was before.

I have royal blood flowing through my veins.

The man sitting before me is my father.

-xXx-

Abe and I talked until the sun rose in the sky, and the rain and the clouds parted to reveal a pink sky.

He told me all about his life before he fled. He told me about my fierce mother, Janine. She was completely normal and yet magnificent, she was the daughter of a blacksmith, she had no powers flowing through her veins but she was strong willed. She had fiery red hair and loved fiercely.

They met by accident, and fell in love swiftly. It was not the ideal matching for a Prince, but Abe's parents, my Grandparents- Tatiana and her late husband- allowed him to love who he wanted. They were happy, and he explained that they were even happier when I was born. But then King Ivashkov grew jealous of the Mazur's prosperity and attacked them. Many died, including King Mazur. That was when he fled. Janine was killed during the escape; he changed my name and hid me away where he thought I would be safe. Everyone within the Mazur Kingdom believed the both of us to be dead.

Once our stories had been shared, silence fell between the two of us.

Now it was down to business.

"This is a lot to take in, for the both of us I think. But I have more pressing things to worry about. I need to get into the Ivashkov castle; I need to get to Dimitri." I explained, my chest filling with a strength that I thought had already been extinguished.

"It's going to take some time, but I think I know what can help you do just that. You do not only possess the power over flames, Rose, you have another power too. We just need to figure out how to wake it up."

Dimitri's Point of View.

I had taken to pacing the length of my cell.

How much time had passed? Days? Weeks? Months?

The pressure of the silent stone made my brain feel like it was being pressed on by a boot. My ears were ringing and what little light reached the cell made my eyes burn.

I had taken to pacing to try and keep myself sane. As sane as one could remain in this place plucked straight from the depths of hell.

I had found that if I stood still for too long, the shadows would start whispering at me.

I had received two more meals since I gave the last to the man across from me. The first meal that came, I sent straight across to the man. I tried to eat the second meal that came, but vomited as soon as the substance began making its way down my throat.

It didn't take me long to realise that I would die in this cell. My only regret was that I didn't truly know if Roza was ok, and that I hadn't had more time to worship her.

When I managed to fall asleep, I found no peace within my dreams. My mind had started playing tricks on me.

Once I awoke to Roza kneeling beside me in my cell, her warm hand cupping my stubbled cheek with a beautiful smile on her face. "We need to get out of here, Dimitri." She had whispered after pressing a chaste kiss to my lips.

I tried to nod, I tried to stand. I wanted to hold onto her and kiss her. But I couldn't move a single muscle in my body.

My body had turned to stone. I had blended in with the walls of the cells; it seemed as if soon they would swallow me completely.

Roza!

I tried calling to her, but my mouth would not move.

Soon she grew tired of trying to free me, and met Adrian Ivashkov at the entrance to my cell. They walked off hand in hand, and she didn't even look back.

I awoke shouting her name.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Adrian Ivashkov standing behind the bars of my cell, though Roza was nowhere in sight.

"Hello, Belikov." I glanced up at him from where I sat in the far corner of the cell. I did not greet him in return.

I watched as the Ivashkov Prince formed a key made of ice and opened the lock which kept me in here.

He stepped over the threshold and released a sigh of relief once he was inside. He remained at the doorway, and left the door open, as if to taunt me further.

I noticed how his shoulder sagged and the corners of his features smoothed in relief when he walked into the cell made of silent stone. Curious.

"What's that all about?" I questioned, not having the strength to elaborate or address him as I should. He didn't deserve my manners.

The man stood up straighter as if noticing my presence again. A crazed sort of smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "It soothes me, being away from my powers. Sometimes it gets too loud, in my mind."

The man was clearly unhinged. "Are you here to finally kill me, Adrian?" There was a hint of hope in my voice that I wished wasn't there. I didn't want to leave this world, not really, but I knew that the end was in sight.

"No. You're more useful to me alive at the moment." He glanced around the cell, disgust filling his icy features. "At least try and survive a little while longer."

King Ivashkov always spoke in riddles, and it seems that his son was the same in that manner. I had no time to question the man, or even consider forming an escape plan before he was back out of the cell, with the door firmly locked behind him.

Survive. All I had to do was survive.

There we have Chapter 25! Dun dun dunnnnnnnn... the truth has finally been revealed about Rose and Abe and Tatiana! I can imagine that most of you probably saw it coming at this point, but I hope it was ok and that it all came across clearly enough? I imagine how I'm going to write in my mind and it often doesn't end up that way when I actually type it out. Anyway, sorry it's been a while since I've uploaded again, but I am back again for another chapter! How have you all been? Anything new happening? I'm off to Iceland on Thursday with a couple of friends, has anyone ever been? Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all again so much for all of your continued support, for reading, favouriting, following and reviewing this story, It means more to me than you can possibly know. Thanks again so much, please let me know what you think!