Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize

A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter

Chapter Thirty

"And I want them NOW!"

Bella's eyes were blazing.

Albus poke, his calm voice soothing her fury a bit.

"Apparently she was stunned after she made two of her comrades leave, covering their back."

Bella barely refrained herself from cursing out loud. Lily! You fool! You damn self-sacrificing fool! She thought.

"So, she is now a captive of the Dark Lord?"

Exer nodded.

"Yes, and there is little we can do about it. The castle is too heavily guarded and warded too attempt to rescue her."

Bella looked away. She knew this, but it was tearing to have to admit that they could not do anything to save Lily; they were completely helpless. Squashing her despair and tears, she took a deep breath. Lily would be all right, she didn't have the choice; she had to be all right.

She waved her wand, locking the door and reviving James; she couldn't leave him like this, but she would not let him do something foolish or stupid. She owed it to Lily.

The prince stirred and was suddenly on his feet. But before he could run for the door, Bella's voice stopped him.

"Don't even think of it James."

He turned to her.

"You have no right to keep me here, you cannot understand what I…"

Bella slapped him, hard.

They starred at each other, their gaze locked defiantly, even if James looked a bit unsettled at the young woman's attack.

"Do not even finish that sentence, James. Lily is like a sister to me, so do not even think that I am fine with this."

"You do not seem that heartbroken…" sneered the young man.

"Contrary to you, I use my head before jumping into something. There is nothing to do for her, by going to the castle you will only make things worse, because when they capture you, and they will if you go, you will give them leverage over Lily."

Her words were said in a harsh tone.

"Now, sit down."

She wasn't leaving room for argument. With a somber face, the prince obeyed and sat near his father, his mind only focused on Lily and what they might do to her…

The King cleared his throat.

"What is the situation?"

Exer cleared his throat then started to assess both forces.

It was clear that even if the King's army now had the advantage in number, though not by much, Voldemort held the better position, the castle, when ready, was nearly impossible to invade, the past Kings and Queens had made sure of it.

Finally, the man finished his speech.

"Thank you Exer, now, do any of you have any idea on what to do?" asked the King.

A silence stretched in the room, until finally, Derna spoke up.

"Your Majesty, you have to challenge Voldemort; this is the only way to draw him out." She spoke calmly, her voice unwavering. She knew the implications of her words.

Those had the effect of a small bomb. People started speaking out loud, agreeing and disagreeing.

Finally the King waved his wand and a loud explosion silenced everyone. He turned his eyes towards the young woman.

"You are aware of the consequences this decision would entail?"

She nodded.

"We would be facing The Dead Army, and though we now have slightly more men than them, we are talking about soldiers who do not feel any pain, who will keep on fighting until beheaded or until Voldemort's death."

"Your Majesty, I, like all of your soldiers male or female, will fight for the kingdom till the end. Whatever we may fight, we will obey you."

King Regis looked at her, and then at everyone present in the room, all of them had a determined and resigned glint in their eyes.

"Then I shall challenge him… And whatever might happen, I will be proud to fight along side my army."

A few seconds passed as all of them realized what was about to happen.

Suddenly a harsh voice cut through their thought.

"So it seems the race of Men has not fallen that low…"

All heads whirled to meet a being that had not been seen in the kingdoms of Men for centuries, a dwarf fully armed was standing with several companions in the doorway.

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The dwarves were eyeing them cautiously.

Finally the King stepped forwards and bowed a bit.

"I welcome you, as King of my people."

The dwarf who had spoken first answered. He was slightly taller than his companions, but shared the same build and dark hair as them. The six of them were dressed finely: dark colored pants; protection placed on their calves, boots, reinforced with metal and a spike on the front. A dark green shirt was covered by a mail coat, and a leather tunic above everything. Armbands covered their forearms, their palms were strapped in leather to prevent them from loosing grip on their weapons. Their helmets were covering their heads and a part went down over their nose. A huge ax hung on each of their backs, two smaller ones were tied to one of their side, a dagger on the other one.

The six of them were muscled, that alone was obvious, but their stance was screaming their fighting experience.

The dwarf then spoke.

"We received your message and request and answered the call of the Pure, though our Garthans sensed that the Light one was taken away."

"That much is true," said the King, "She was captured as she came to the rescue of two of her comrades."

The dwarf bowed his head, a threaded strand of hair falling in his face. His five companions shared his reaction. After a minute of silence he looked up.

"She acted as her nature asked her to. We will follow her lead. Our army will join yours."

The six of them made quite sight, but nobody could deny the fervor in their eyes.

"We are grateful for your help and hope to see this alliance of Men and Dwarves achieve greatness."

The dwarf bowed his head, to show his agreement to this statement and then looked up.

"King Regis, may I present my companions and myself," he didn't wait for his answer and started to name the other dwarves at his side, "On my right: Barnag of Lukleian's Deep, commander, Orted of Tygh's caves, commander, Parthios of Lukleian's Deep, leader of the specialists. On my left, Ercov of Fandal's underground, information, and Neys, chief Garthan." He paused slightly, "I am Kaldor of Erfran's Abyss, chosen leader of our forces."

The king tilted his head in a salute to them and started to present those present in the room.

Once it was done, Sir Albus conjured several seats for the six newcomers, making their height adjustable to who was seated on them.

And then the planning began.

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James was listening to the talk going on around the table, but his mind could barely register a word. His whole being was focused on Lily and what might be happening to her… Bella's words were running through his head.

She had to be all right, she just had to. She was Lily, she couldn't die, not now, not when they could be together, no, she had to be alright, she would escape again….

He couldn't focus on anything else but the redhead who he hoped would be his princess.

How could they calmly plan, how could they act as she wasn't a prisoner of the Dark Lord! Anger bubbled in him but was quickly squashed.

He couldn't stay here; he had to get out, to… to do something!

But Bella had been right; he could not go to her rescue… Damn her for being right.

He fingered the necklace she had given him, the gold playing softly with the light, and lost as he was in his musing, he missed the sharp glance a dwarf sent his way upon seeing it.

Despair rose in him, overwhelming him and then he couldn't stand it anymore: he rose from his seat silently and left the room as discreetly as possible. Despite his effort, all those present noticed his departure, but nobody stopped him. Not even Bella. She knew he would not try to leave.

He exited the building and went to a quiet corner where he broke down, silent tears running on his face, clutching the necklace to his heart, praying, praying with everything he had that Lily was well.

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Lily was lying on the bed, seemingly asleep, but in reality trying to find a way out of this mess.

She heard the door creak open and relaxed immediately, to all outsider eyes, deeply sleeping. However, she barely repressed a cry when a hand clamped her mouth shut.

A low voice whispered in her ear:

"Do not move, do not make a sound and do not forget, you are dreaming this… Lilyaris"

She immediately recognized the voice and relaxed, keeping her eyes closed. Once this talk was over, she would use some little self-hypnotizing tricks to convince herself that all of this had been a dream. If the Dark Lord was to look through her mind or question her under Veritaserum, she would not be able to tell, as for her mind this scene would have never taken place, thus was not the truth.

She gave a slight nod and the hand left her mouth.

"Voldemort is with the Dead Army, his men are occupying the castle. The servants were sent to the dungeons but are unharmed for now. There are two guards before your door, changed every two hours. I managed to get the authorization to come here, to see if your blood could be used for some potions the Dark Lord wants to experiment. There is an antimagic barrier on your door. Two guards are posted in every corridor and in front of every possible escape-way after you manage to get away. I do not think he knows of all the passageways here, but even if he does not, it is virtually impossible to escape now."

The speaker took a deep breath.

"He is preparing for something. I know it has something to do with you, but I do not know what exactly, just that it is going to happen soon. I sent a message to Albus to warn him."

Lily started to tap on the bed with her finger.

A few minutes later, she stopped and the voice spoke up.

"Very well, I will do so." Soft footsteps were heard. "Good luck Lilyaris, we are all going to need some…."

Lily clicked a few times with her tongue.

A small chuckle was heard.

"Too true…" said the voice before leaving.

As she was about to clear her own mind, Lily allowed herself a thought.

Good luck to you too, Sir Snape…

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In the shack, people had noticed James leaving the room and were sporting grim faces.

"Will the prince be alright, Your Majesty?" asked a counselor.

"He will; give him a little time to deal with Lilyaris' disappearance.

"He will not do anything harsh?"

The King shook his head.

"No, not until he knows what was Lilyaris' fate. If she was to die, I do not know what he would do, but I would fear for his life and sanity."

"He is her consort, they are two in one, that is the meaning of his necklace…." Said a dwarf, Neys, looking at Praïn.

The Elf chief nodded.

"Exactly, this necklace is a mean for elves to mark their soul mates. Two souls in one, and even to some lesser degree, two powers combined."

"Soul mates?" asked a man.

Praïn sighed.

"Yes, I gave a necklace to Lilyaris, it is a birth one. The one she would offer to her soul mate would have to have the same shape but not the same metal, stones… If James is able to wear it, then he is her soul mate. But I know Lilyaris offered it to him as a friendship token since they, at the time, could not be more."

Before anyone could comment on this, a raven swooped through a window, a small thing tied to his leg. The bird landed in front of Albus. The old man looked at it surprised. With a little squawk, the raven extended his leg, waiting for him to untie the thing. Once it was done, he flew away, leaving an intrigued assembly behind.

Slowly, Albus unshrunk it. Reading it quickly, his expression darkened.

He then burnt the thing and looked up, facing questioning faces. Raising his wand, he cast several silencing wards on the room; then cleared his throat.

"One of my informants gave me information on Voldemort's guard, army, and plans."

The King frowned.

"Informant, what kind of informant?"

Albus shook his head.

"I cannot tell you, only Lilyaris and I know of his identity, for his own security. We know there are spies within our army and cannot afford to have him uncovered."

There were some protestations, but they were quickly silenced.

Albus proceeded to tell everyone what his spy had reported, his mind drifting to the day that had led to him having an informant…

Flashback:

He had been sorting through various reports when two people had entered his office.

Looking up, he frowned upon seeing Lily and Sir Severus.

"What is the problem, Lily, Sir Severus? Did something happen?"

Lily shook her head, her red locks flying around her face.

"No, nothing of the sort, but Sir Severus has something to tell you."

She turned to the man and with a tight smile, motioned to him to speak up.

Sir Severus sighed and after throwing an accusing look at Lily started his tale.

Apparently his Father had decided to side with Voldemort in the coming conflict, thinking the odds of victory to be on the Dark Lord's side and wanted his only son and heir to join as well.

Sir Severus knew he could not refuse it. It would mean either his death or to a lesser degree his disownment, something he could not afford.

Knowing the influence of Lily, he had gone to her and she had proposed him a deal: he would join, but spy and report to her whatever information he could gather. In exchange she would vouch for him once it was over.

She had managed to have him agree to tell Albus: in case Lily was to be captured or killed. The contract had been a magical one.

End Flashback

He had never asked the reason behind Severus' defection, but he had not regretted it. Through his Father, Severus had gained valuable information and what he had just sent him could very well be what they needed to win this war.

Once he was finished they debated over these new factors and finally all heads turned to the King.

King Regis rose from his seat.

"I will challenge Voldemort tomorrow."

There were no cheers, no cries, only acceptance and resignation. They all knew they might not survive the fight, but they were willing to follow their King to the battle.

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Lily had taken a small nap after having conditioned her mind. She was jolted out of her sleep as someone shook her shoulder.

She woke up, startled, only to face one of the maids of the castle.

"Alda?"

"Mistress Lilyaris, Lady… Oh!"

Shaking her head, Lily took the hand of the distraught woman.

"Calm down, Alda. Everything will be fine."

As she said those words, she knew she was not being entirely truthful, but that didn't matter right now, she had to calm her.

This seemed to reassure Alda.

"I… We… We were put into the dungeon… and the guards…" she was crying.

Lily froze.

"Alda, did… did they hurt you?"

The woman sobbed.

"No… not me… but they took some of the girls…. When they returned they would not talk, they were in shock… They… they touched them… Lady… They were so scared…" She was hiccupping.

Lily was now filled with ice-cold rage.

"Did they do it again?" she asked, scared to hear the answer.

Alda shook her head.

"No… a captain came, they were sent away and the new one were forbidden to touch or speak to us…."

Alda was slowly getting calmer.

"Why are you here Alda?"

"The Dark Lord wants you to come to dinner with him tonight, I have to help you get ready."

Lily stiffened.

"I will not go to dinner with him…I am his prisoner, not his guest."

Alda dropped her head.

"He-He said his earlier threat is still standing should you not come."

Lily's shoulder slumped. She had to obey.

In a defeated tone, she spoke up again.

"Well, I should prepare then…"

In silence they got her ready and by the time two guards knocked on the door, Lily was dressed, with her hair and make up done, thanks to Alda's help.

The door opened and four men entered. They faltered a bit when they saw Lily.

She had decided that if she had to dress up, she would do it thoroughly.

She was wearing a simple creamy gown that clung to her frame. Black embroideries that were leaf shaped were curling on the hem and running on the bustier. The long sleeves were tightened around her arms. The creamy color was shimmering with the light. She was wearing her hair up in a simple bun held in place with ebony clips. She had hidden her elfish necklace and wore instead a simple thin chain with a black, tear-shaped pearl. Little make up was adorning her face. Black pearl earrings were hanging at her ears.

She was regal and haughty.

One of them took a step forwards, hesitant.

"L-Lady… Lord Voldemort awaits your arrival. You are to wear those bracelets." He handed her to thin obsidian bracelets. She slipped them around her wrists, and then gave him a haughty and cold look, nodding sharply, not uttering a word.

She headed for the door, the men parting to let her pass. Two of them took Alda by the arms and started to lead her away, while the two others escorted Lily to the Dining room.

They stopped before the doors of the room, two guards standing before it. The two accompanying Lily nodded, and they opened it, letting them pass, their gaze not leaving Lily.

She stepped in the room. All the heads turned to her. All the deserting nobles were here, in their shining party clothes. She was standing in the entrance her green eyes eyeing them, scornfully. They avoided her gaze or returned it with malice.

A voice cut through the silence as the doors closed behind her.

"Lilyaris! So nice of you to join us…"

Lord Voldemort stepped through the crowd of people who were giving a wide berth as he passed. He stopped near her, his eyes raking her figure.

"I must admit that the rumors about your beauty were founded… You are a pleasure for the eyes."

Lily eyed him icily.

"I cannot return the compliment."

Lord Voldemort's red eyes narrowed slightly but he dismissed her comment, holding out his arm.

Lily eyed it.

"I would rather touch a skrewt."

Voldemort leaned on her and she caught a scent of pine and spice.

"You will be my partner for the evening."

She looked at him, challenging him.

"My threat is still standing Lilyaris."

With a shudder of disgust, she placed her fingertips on his arm and he led her to the long table were dinner was to be served. They reached the seats usually occupied by the King and the Queen.

Stopping there, Voldemort pulled out the Queen chair and motioned for Lily to sit. In the corner of her eyes, the young red head saw Elianor's face contorting with hate.

Voldemort sat at he left, in the King's seat and looked up at the nobles.

"Jonathan, would your daughter give me the pleasure of sitting at my right?"

The Duke of Nearth nodded with a tight smile, signaling to Elianor to obey.

A pleased expression plastered on her face, she glided to the aforementioned chair and sat gracefully, gracing Voldemort with a dazzling smile.

The other nobles then seated themselves quietly. A heavy silence fell on the table, only broken by the arrival of the servants, bringing the food.

Quiet whispers then started to flew.

Tight lipped, Lily was eating small bites, sitting stiff in her chair.

The meal seemed to stretch agonizingly. As more wine was brought, tongues started to speak more easily and freely.

As Lily put down her napkin, having finished eating the dessert, a hand touched her arm.

She looked up to see Voldemort looking at her.

"Remove your hand, Voldemort," she said, refusing to give him the title of Lord.

He leaned on her.

"You will learn to address me by my proper title, Lilyaris."

She sent him a defying glance.

"This is your proper title."

The hand tightened his grip on her arm.

"And you will learn to respect me, as my consort."

Lily's eyes widened at those words.

"Never!" she breathed.

Voldemort only smirked.

"The ceremony will take place in a few days, since the crystal was found… I just need to bind you to me," then his voice turned into a cold whisper, "and you will be mine, make no mistake of that."

He returned to a conversation with the Duke of Nearth.

Looking around the table, trying to divert her mind from icy knot of fear growing in her, Lily noticed Lucius looking at her with a hungry look which made her shudder. Severus was on his right, looking uncomfortable, but talking nonetheless to a man next to him.

He looked up, met her gaze, and gave her small nod, which she returned before looking out at the starry sky.

She would escape, she would not let him win, not that easily at least.

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Once the meeting was over and the details of the challenge had been settled, Bella left the room to find her friend.

She found him, crumpled in a corner.

She knelt at his side and engulfed him in a tight hug.

He was shivering as he returned the gesture.

"James, she will be alright, we will save her…. It will be alright," she whispered. "But you need to pull yourself together, the army needs to see you strong, needs someone to look up to…"

"It's hard Bella, to be strong, when all I want is to cry and quit."

"I know James, but you have to do it," she tightened her grip on his shoulder. "Do it for her, James, do it for Lily"

He pushed her away, raising his tear-stained face.

"For Lily," he whispered, determination entering his voice once again.

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