Disclaimer: see chapters 1-6.

Rule# 7: Never ever under any circumstances, lie.

Mush was lonely. And scared. It was dark and he had no idea where he was going or where the trail he'd been following since he left Blink was taking him. He was tired too, but finding himself incredibly alone, frightened and lost, thought it would be better if he didn't stop to sleep for the night. The forest was full of strange, unfamiliar and even unfriendlier sounds that Mush wondered if his life was in serious danger.

Another good reason to keep moving. At least, he told himself, awake he could try to ward off an attacker. Asleep, he was as good as something's dinner. Mush shivered at the thought, wrapped his arms around himself and trudged forward.

Dawn was dawning in front of him, a sight for sore, tired eyes. The bright orange sun was just peeking up beyond the turrets of the castle's dark silhouette.

Wait. Castle?

Mush stopped suddenly and stared, sure that he must look like a fool with his mouth hanging open, gawking like an idiot at the whitewalls of the palace. It was real.

It wasn't that he never believed there was a castle, it was just that the fantasy was so far beyond his comprehension that seeing it before him made him wonder if he hadn't dozed off and was lost in a dream world.

Dream or not, Mush relished the sight and found a sudden burst of energy and warmth as he launched into a run and with each step, found the castle growing larger and larger.

If only he'd known the palace was so close. He'd imagined it on an unreachable stretch of land, protected by dozens of traps. He imagined being faced with a giant sphinx, a creature his father had once told him about, and victoriously answering her riddle without taking so much as a breath before he did so.

Now the castle was less than a foot in front of him and he lifted a hand to touch it. Really, it was the wall that surrounded the town that surrounded the castle, but to Mush, it was all part of the same fantasy.

The stone was cold, but not so cold that Mush couldn't bear the contact. A shiver ran down his spine and then—

"You there!"

Mush turned around suddenly to see a pair of the King's guards, on horseback, staring down at him. He wasn't sure which one had addressed him.

"What are you doing?" asked the one on the right.

"Just making sure it was real," Mush answered truthfully. He wasn't sure why the guards snickered at his reply.

"Its real alright," one of them said, motioning to the gate less than twenty feet from them. Mush hadn't noticed it. "Go on in and have a look."

Mush took several deep breaths before smiling up at the guards and taking the few steps that remained between him and the entrance to the city.

His family had to live here.

The city inside the wall was bustling with life, but unlike the villages he'd visited previously, it wasn't a rambunctious sort of lively it was…

Different.

Eventually, he found himself in a vast marketplace that smelled like fish. He asked around; had anyone seen the other half of his horse?

An old man, blind in both eyes, reached a hand out to feel the wooden structure and was about to say something when a small boy, less than ten years old Mush guessed, ran between him and the old man. Mush watched him; the boy kept glancing nervously over his shoulder.

Less than a minute later, Mush realized why.

Two large, hairy men, both brandishing polished swords pushed their way through the crowd, shouting insults at the boy, who seemed to have long since disappeared into the crowd.

Mush, curious, ran after them. What would two huge men like those have against such a little boy?

When the men stopped, a shopkeeper, a tall lanky man with unruly brown hair, had captured the boy and was holding him out to the men by his collar. "Caught 'im tyrin' to hole up in my cellar," the man explained, spitting afterward.

"Thought you could get away did you?" One of the guards growled. He grabbed the boy from the man's grasp with so much force, the material of the boy's shirt ripped. The boy shouted for help, and Mush thought it would be best if he ran away, back to where he came from.

But the crowd was much too thick for Mush to push his way through. He finally gave in and watched.

"What'd the little gutter snipe do?" a woman behind him hissed to the man beside her.

"He's a thief from the looks of it," the man whispered back.

It was at that moment that Mush looked at the boy and made eye contact. He tried to look away but he couldn't. The boy's face was dirty, scratched and caked with dry blood, his clothes were baggy, torn, beyond repair, and he was barefoot.

Mush felt something. It wasn't pity; it was…

Sympathy.

He didn't know what moved his feet to the middle of the crowd where the men were whipping the boy with heavy lashes.

"Stop!"

It wasn't Mush's voice that had left his mouth. It couldn't have been. He never yelled. Ever. Not like that anyway.

At first, the men just stared at him incredulously, the onlookers holding their breaths in anticipation.

"What did you say?"

Mush glanced at the little boy who swiped at his wet eyes with a dirty sleeve which only succeeded in leaving a darker streak of dirt across his young face.

"I said stop," Mush replied, less brave. His voice shook when he said it and he cursed himself mentally for it.

"He said stop," the man on the left said. Both men laughed. "I suppose you'll want to be joining him in the dungeon then." The men started to advance and Mush started to back up, but suddenly, from nowhere, a figure jumped between him and his foes.

"In the name of his majesty, I command you not to lay a finger on either of these gentlemen."

"By what authority are you—"

The man on the left paused when the figure removed his hood. Mush recognized the blond hair immediately.

Blink had come to his rescue…

"Your highness!" Both men, and all the citizens around him dropped to their knees. Blink turned around to look at Mush. "I wanted to tell you," he said quietly.

"You know this boy?" One of the guards asked, still on his knee.

"Mush has been my traveling companion for quite some time now. He's an honest and decent fellow and I—"

"You were kidnapped, your highness."

"And this boy, he was your captor."

"No! I asked if I could travel with him. He had no knowledge of my status."

"Guards!" The guards mumbled something to one another and then forgetting all about the boy, one grabbed Mush and the other grabbed Blink.

"Unhand me or I'll have you thrown in the dungeon!" Blink shouted. The guard ignored him and instead began dragging him through the crowd which was dispersing slightly as six new guards arrived, pushing their way through.

Mush remembered watching a large fist growing larger as it neared his face, and then a burst of pain, and then darkness.

When Mush came to, it was still too dark for him to know if he'd opened his eyes or not. He was obviously in the dungeon, though he'd always pictured it differently in his mind. Somewhere behind him, a steady drip evidenced a leak from somewhere up above.

He didn't know what day it was, how long he'd been out, whether or not he was alone…

It became obvious to him after a while why exactly men died so quickly in the dungeons. The silence was getting to him. He was hearing things, strange sounds he'd never heard before, sounds that no creature he knew of could make.

He hoped whatever it was couldn't see in the dark. He huddled as close to the cold, stone wall as he could.

The sound became so loud after a while that he began shouting to drown it out.

"Pipe down," hissed a voice.

"Who's there?" Mush listened to his voice echo around the chamber and then fade.

"Quiet!"

"But who—"

A loud creaking sound silenced him and suddenly, the dungeon wasn't quite so dark.

Mush shielded his eyes against the light and then watched as two figures entered. One of them tossed a metal contraption aside; it crashed loudly against the wall.

"You're going to get us caught," a voice said. Mush recognized it immediately.

"Snoddy?"

"Mush! You look terrible!"

"I feel terrible, thanks."

Snoddy and Skittery who upon closer inspection, Mush realized the second figure was, hoisted Mush to his feet and helped him to the freshly opened door. The light in the hall wasn't at all bright, but Mush had been in the darkness for so long, it gave him a headache. He winced and slammed his eyes shut.

"How'd you find me?" He whispered.

"Blink told us," Skittery replied.

"But…how'd you get past the guards?"

"It wasn't hard. All they needed was a bottle of my special rum…they were out in less than a minute."

"But it wears off pretty quick," Skittery said. "You're going to have to stay quiet and we'll sneak you out through the kitchen.

Mush learned that Skittery and Snoddy knew a lot of people. And they all seemed more than willing to help out.

Before he knew it, Mush was free, and cringing in the sunlight. "Now, we have to get you ready for the ball."

"What?"

"The ball," Snoddy repeated. "Blink mentioned you had wanted to attend."

"Not anymore." Mush hung his head slightly. Blink had tried to stand up for him in the market but…Blink had lied. About a lot of things. He'd never told Mush he was the Prince. He stole from people. Mush couldn't trust Blink anymore than Blink could trust Mush. Blink had kept things from him after all. If he had trusted Mush, he wouldn't have kept so many secrets. Important secrets.

"Nonsense," Snoddy replied, grabbing Mush's arm and pulling him through the streets.

"No, I really don't want to," Mush protested, though it didn't sound convincing even to himself. "Blink he's…he's a liar…I don't want to see him."

"Well he wants to see you," Skittery said. They stopped in front of a building. Skittery looked both ways and then pushed the door open.

"I don't care what he wants," Mush mumbled. Skittery shut the door behind them and then locked it. Mush glanced around. They were in an old shop. A Few cans of food hidden beneath a layer of thick dust sat on an old shelf. A few cobwebs hung in the corners.

Mush coughed when Snoddy opened a door behind them and filled the room with a billow of dust.

"What is this place?" Mush asked finally.

"It's the old general store," Skittery explained. "We stay here sometimes when we come to the city."

"It's a health hazard," Snoddy said, resurfacing from the room with an armful of fabric. "The city closed it years ago an account of the roof having a leak. They were going to destroy it, but some of the townspeople decided that it was too important to the city's history to destroy, so they just left it. No one cares enough to do anything about it so it just sits here."

Snoddy shoved the material into Mush's lap. "Put these on," he said.

"Where did these come from?" Mush asked.

"They're on loan," Snoddy grinned. "From His Royal Highness."

A/N: Sorry it took so long guys…I'll do better. I promise. I think next chapter will be the last…but I'm not for certain.