The worst thing about the Night Court was when it was silent. Purely, plainly, silent. Nobody liked it – not Selene, not Tobias, nor Leon or Rosalie. Usually, if the period of silence was too long, it meant something bad was about to happen. And now, a month after the ball, and a month after they broke the news to Clythia that the Night Court was withdrawing their position, Selene was quietly fearful. Especially when she woke up to an empty bed. She looked side to side, realizing that she was completely alone. But she could still hear someone at a distance – outside of the room, farther down the hall. So she got up slowly, putting on her bathrobe, and walked down the hallway quietly.

The noise got louder until she realized that it was coming from her old room. She stopped at the cracked down and opened it slowly.

"What is this?" Her whole room was an entire mess. There were at least nine to ten suitcases lying about, with clothes strewn and items that were definitely not in the room prior, stuffed in open suitcases. It looked like half of the house had exploded in her room. Why it was always her room? She didn't know. But she did know that Tobias was trying viciously to close a suitcase that was too full to close.

"I got a letter from Clythia," Tobias said. Selene could feel a wave of heat run down her body and she tugged the bath robe tighter around her.

"And?" She said, this time softer. "What did it say?" Tobias shrugged.

"She actually seemed pretty okay with our parting," Tobias said. "Apparently, she has greater plans that are more important. She apologized for coming off abrasive. And…and she congratulated you with your pregnancy." Selene felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Her lips pursed and she told herself to hold it together, to take slow breaths.

"How?" Selene asked. "How did she know?" He then looked at her, his dark eyes meeting hers as he thrusted his hands against the semi-open suitcase.

"We're royals, Selene. It could've been anyone. It could've been the servant who noticed that your dresses were made to be looser, it could be the cook who is now forced to accustom to your nasty diet, it could have been anyone that you told…" And she knew who he was implying.

"He wouldn't have told anyone," Selene growled. "Devlon wouldn't betray my trust." He scoffed.

"The point is, don't take it personally. She is a powerful woman, and anyone could have told her. Plus, they'll all know sooner or later. It's not like you can hold our daughter in forever." She was quiet for a moment, tearing away from his gaze. Because frankly, she liked it being a secret. It was something that was theirs. Something nobody could turn into a political issue or a weapon.

"Then what is all of this?" She asked dryly, pursing her lips. She was motioning to the mess in the room. "What is this disaster?" He was quiet for a moment and his eyes fixated on the suitcase more intensely. Her eyebrows knitted down.

"Velaris. You are going to Velaris." The words made Selene's mouth drop. Her posture broke and she walked into the room hurriedly.

"Why? We just came back!" Her shrill didn't seem to do a single thing to him. If anything, it only made him pound on the suitcase harder.

"I thought you loved Velaris." In a way, she did. She loved the beautiful stars, the joyful people, the sky line and the colorful markets. But she felt suffocated there – like she was stuck in a box. Every moment she was in Velaris, all she wondered about was when she was going to leave. It created a paranoia that she couldn't quite place. It wasn't something she wanted to go back to anytime soon.

"I do," Selene said easily. "But the Hewn Theater is supposed to play at our estate tomorrow and I want to see it." He closed his eyes impatiently, exhaling.

"This is about a…theater?" She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"This is about the fact that we can't have one moment of peace without you shipping me off to Velaris. I have plans here, Tobias. If you want me to leave you alone, if you need time, you can have it. But you aren't considering my side. I was really looking forward to this theater and you don't even care."

His eyes landed on her like a hawk. "Fine. I am very, very, very sorry that you have to miss your theater, Selene. I am truthfully, woefully, sorry." She reflected the same look at him.

"That is the most artificial apology I have ever-"

"We'll bring Rosalie," he said quickly, and his voice seemed desperate now. "We'll bring Rosalie to Velaris. She loves it – and, if you agree to this, we'll stop to a popular theater half way between Velaris and here. Far better than the Hewn Theater. My mother used to go to it annually." Her eyebrows knitted down as she blinked stupidly.

"Why are you so…" She was going to use the word desperate, but that seemed like a bad decision. "…keen on me going to Velaris?" He didn't look at her now. Instead, his eyes lingered at the luggage case below him. He had stopped trying to close it and instead put his hands on it tiredly.

"Selene…" And he said it so feebly, so painfully, that it sounded like a dagger had just been plunged into his chest. "Please." She took a step towards him, looking at the bags again. He had packed enough bags that it could last months – maybe even years. Enough to keep her there indefinitely. It probably contained items she had never ever worn.

"I would tell you," she said. "If something was going on, I would tell you. And not because I have to – because I'm married to you. Because I love you and I trust you and I will always be on your side. Let me help you." And his eyes held onto hers. For a moment, he looked so young. Vulnerability flickered, desperation filled his face.

"It's been kept inside me so long that I don't know where to start," he breathed. "It's too much to explain and I am sorry. I am sorry that I'm now springing it on you, forcing you to bear the consequences. This is a problem that has started before you were even relevant and I should have fixed it then, instead of now. I should've solved it then." She shook her head slowly.

"Tobias, you wouldn't be telling me this unless you felt like it was too heavy to bear alone," she told him. "So let me carry some of the weight. Let me help you." He shook his head. For a moment, it seemed like tears were forming in his eyes.

"You won't believe me," he said. "I wouldn't believe me. It'll sound crazy."

"Why wouldn't I believe you?" She asked back. "You're my mate. I'll believe you no matter what it is – even if it was something entirely impossible. Because if I didn't, it would mean that I'm not picking you. And I'll pick you, no matter the consequences. Every single day until the day I die."

"You promise you'll pick me?" He said feebly. "You love me enough to…pick me? Believe me? No matter what?" His voice had cracked.

"Of course," she whispered. "Of course, I'll pick you. Against anything." He was quiet for a moment, biting the inside of his lip nervously. He looked like he was reaching his point of patience – like he was burning out slowly and he was about to burst. He looked so tired, so young, so lonely. His eyes were glittering when he looked at her.

"Darkness lurks in the castle, Selene. I know you've felt it, I know you're in knowledge of it," he said emptily. "But you don't…you don't know much about why, do you? You don't know why your instincts are constantly telling you to run when you enter certain rooms? Or to fight when you hear certain sounds? Or that every day you survive in this castle, you get a little stronger? You never questioned it?" Her eyebrows furrowed down. She hadn't ever asked herself why. She always assumed that it was just something apart of the Night Court, but she didn't wonder where the source came from or why it was like that.

"Ghosts?" She guessed. But as soon as she said it aloud, she regretted it. It was a stupid assumption, childish even.

"No," he breathed. "This darkness is very much alive. This darkness has a heartbeat louder than both of ourselves put together. I thought I could control it, but it's too dangerous to stay here anymore." This time, she didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to reply. Instead her head tilted, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"You remember when I said family was rela-"

"Are we leaving?" The voice made her jump. Though Tobias didn't jump like her, he was clearly startled. When Selene turned around, relief filled her body. It was only Leon and Rosalie. Both of their eyes were scrolling the room, confused.

"Selene and I are going on a little trip," Tobias responded stiffly. Selene turned to look at him. He got up slowly, growing close to her. Leon's face broke.

"Where?" He asked. Selene smiled.

"A theater between here and Velaris. And then afterword, we're going to stay in Velaris for a bit." She looked at Tobias but his face was hard. His hand had gone around her stiffly and he was looking at Leon and Rosalie without a hint of emotion in his eyes.

"Rosalie, you're coming with us," He said, as if he was expecting her to object. "And Leon…" His voice stopped for a moment. It broke. "I need you in the Autumn Court." Leon's face dropped.

"Autumn Court? I finished business there," Leon said. Tobias shook his head slowly.

"They still aren't listening. I need you to be an ambassador there. I don't trust anyone else the job," Tobias said. "It probably won't take more than a mon-"

"My leg is killing me," Leon interjected. "I just got back from the Autumn Court. The entire time, I just spend the entire time walking around or else the heir will sneer at me. I can't do that for a month when my leg is this bad." Selene didn't respond to him. It was rare that he talked about his leg – even rarer to complain about it. Tobias was quiet for a moment.

"Fine…" Leon breathed. "I'll do it. But only on one condition – I come with you to the theater. There, they have hot springs. It helps the leg." At first Tobias didn't say anything, but then he nodded.

"Pack lightly," he commanded. "We leave in an hour."

~*~ discidium ~*~

"This wasn't what I was expecting." For some odd reason, she was expecting nothing. She was expecting to find a small camp that were common check points for nomads to hit. She didn't expect a village squeezed tightly between two mountains. Personally, she didn't understand how this was the halfway point between Velaris. If anything, it felt colder. Tobias told her that because the weather was so rough, they would have to get closer to Velaris by foot in order to winnow there. The village was alike to the other village Tobias had brought her to, but this one seemed more Illyrians based. Cobble-stone paths, scattered vendors. But everybody was in Illyrian-style clothes and filled with tattoos that spoke the ancient language of her people. Everything had a gold-red glow from the dark torches that hung around the street, unlike the delicate lanterns. Everything was made out of dark, polished wood, rather than the stone material prior. At a distance, she could see a mass amount of tents that were probably the common people's homes, but the town part had long, lengthy towers that looked over all of it. It was more than just a few stories – the crooked, tall buildings were large enough that she could see miles and miles out from outside from town when she was at the highest level and even overlooked other villages at a distance.

"The theater doesn't start for another three hours," Tobias said. "We don't have to go there early. I made sure we reserved seats." Her eyes were lingering outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"I am so excited," Rosalie had interrupted. She was sitting in the leather chair overlooking the large town next to her. All of them were lingering in the master's room, at awe at the beautiful windows. Selene wanted all of them to see it – it was a daring sight. "I went to them once and they were absolutely phenomenal. Leon, remember when we got invited to a party with them?" Leon smirked.

"Barely," Leon said, snickering. "Saying as I don't remember it, I'm sure it was great." Rosalie giggled. They kept on with their conversation and slowly, Selene drifted away from them. None of them noticed as she met Tobias on the opposite side of the room. Between Rosalie's loud voice, and the cackling of the multiple fireplaces, nobody would be able to hear them. He was sitting in a recliner tiredly, a drink in his hand.

"That looks strong," Selene said, her eyebrows rising. "Since when did you drink after long rides?" Despite constantly being around alcohol, Tobias didn't normally drink unless he had a specific reason. He didn't look at her, just took another sip of his drink.

"You know, there's more than just a theater here," he said, looking up. His eyebrows had perked up briefly. "There's shops and orchestras and – you wanna know what, Selene? How the hell does this place even exist? I mean, Velaris makes sense. But this place? I don't even bother to stimulate their economy, yet this crap town has survived for eons. My mother would drag us here at least twice a year." Her eyebrows perked up as well.

"Are you okay?" She asked. He shook his head.

"No," he said. "Because I cried. The last time I came here with Leon and Rosalie, we went to an orchestra and I cried like a baby in front of tens of people. It was like the music consumed me and suddenly, I had just…I felt human again. I was reborn." She listened carefully.

"I want to take you to one," Tobias said. "After all of this over. After I can finally sit down and tell you what's going on. When you're still pregnant, so I can shove a frumpy dress over your head as you waddle to your seat, I want to take both of you. I want to take you to an orchestra, and I want you to cry with me in front of tens of people and I want you to know the feeling of feeling human." She smiled.

"We can do that. I would-" And then the whole place trembled. In the corner of her eye, a color flashed. Tobias rushed to his feet, catching Selene's arm so that she didn't fall. Rosalie was out of the chair and Leon was hovering over the window. He turned to Tobias, his face stricken.

"There was a…there was a…" Selene was next to him and her hand went to her mouth.

"Oh my cauldron…" One of the villages at a distance was on fire. "The village is in flames." Tobias was staring outside the window, his eyes looking a million miles away.

"No," he argued. "It was a bomb." And then suddenly, they heard a woosh and a building in their area bursted. Fire blazed over half of the building. Though it was far away, Tobias pulled Selene closer. Leon stumbled back, his eyes wide.

"The building is on fire," he breathed. He shot his head towards Tobias. "Stay here. You can't leave – we can't risk the High Lord getting hurt. I'll help them." Tobias didn't argue. Instead, his eyes lingered. As Leon began to move, another tremble went through the building. Selene took in a ragged breath, looking out to a different direction. Another village had been bombed. The flames were blazing fast.

"Who the hell is doing this?" Selene demanded. "Who the hell would ever-"

"Rebels," Leon answered. He was still lingering in the room. "Only rebels would bomb relentlessly." She looked at Tobias sharply, but he didn't look like he was ready to talk. Instead, his eyes looked at each detail of the vicious scene. From their view, it looked like a painting. If only they couldn't hear the screaming at a distance, and not slowly smell the faint smoke from where they stood, she would almost say it was beautiful.

"Go," Tobias said to him. "Don't-" But then something new stopped Tobias from speaking – voices. Not screams, voices. Voices seemed to grow louder around them. Sharp, demanding voices. Though their building hung over the sidewalk and prevented them from seeing, she could hear the rhtyhms of feet circling their building. Tobias's eyes widened. She had never seen him look so urgent, so vital.

"Go!" He yelled at Leon. Leon hesitated. "If you want to protect us, go now!" Leon flinched. He turned back towards the door, opening and closing it with a bang. Immediately, Tobias locked it. She could see, just barely with his magic, a whisp of black light glisten around the doors. He was sealing it.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. "What if Leon needs our help?" He shook his head.

"It's just a few men. He can fight through-" And then a harsher light bursted. Selene tumbled back, shielding her eyes. When she looked outside the window, her voice shivered. Initially, there were probably eight different villages that they could see. Now, at least half were burning.

"They're burning all of them," she whispered. She felt like she was going to be sick. Somewhere close to them, she heard a thud. But she was too stuck on the horrifying scene in front of them. "All of those beautiful villages. All of those people." She then whipped her head towards Tobias.

"You're a high lord," she said. "You can fix this. You can kill all of the rebels with a blink of an eye." He shook his head. His jaw was clenched.

"I could," he agreed emotionlessly, "But we'll be fine. They'll give up soon." She staggered.

"Everything is going up in flames," Selene said louder. "Leon can't do this by himself. He can't be a one-man army. You have to-you have to help him!"

No," he said firmly. "I won't."

"They're killing entire villages," Selene whispered. "Entire villages, Tobias." But he didn't even look at her. His eyes were fixated at the bedroom door. Selene's fingers were shaking. She had been through this once, ages ago. Another war band had raided her village but nobody hid. The Illyrians in training who were occupying her village fought for them. They didn't even hesitate. Yet, her own husband was just staring at the front door emotionlessly.

"Tobias, there are rebels probably storming into this building. The nearby villages are burning in flames. You can't just sit there and-"

"I can do whatever I please," Tobias snarled at her. The harshness of his reply stung her. "I am the High Lord of Night. I don't have to do anything." Her mouth dropped. She glanced at Rosalie, who was sitting in the corner quietly. Quiet as a mouse. She wasn't making eye contact with either of them.

"What about them?" She shrilled, motioning to the burning villages at a distance. "They don't deserve a say?" Tobias's jaw clenched. It looked like a million things were running in his head. She took a step towards the door. Anger was blazing through her as she eyed Tobias, the supposedly most powerful man in the world.

"They're commoners," Tobias replied coldly.

"Your brother is down there, dying for you," she hissed. His nose flared, but he still didn't meet her eyes.

"And that's his duty to his court," Tobias replied slowly. "He made his decisions. Now we have to wait." She blinked at him twice before she even opened her mouth.

"H-He has one bloody leg! What are you talking about duty and making his own decisions? He can't even stand up straight!" But he wasn't listening. He was barely paying attention to her. Instead, he was thinking something in his calculating mind. Something was going on in his mind, and it was fierce. But she wouldn't sit around a wait for his response. Maybe he could watch dozens of people die in front of him, but Selene couldn't. She let out a long exhale.

"Let me go find Leon. I'm small. They won't-"

"No! You're to stay here until I say otherwise."
"You can't tell me-"

"You'll do it or I'll lock you up in the highest tower for weeks." The only exhale that Selene heard was Rosalie's. Neither Tobias nor Selene even took a breath. He was looking at her deathly - his body had gone whiter and his eyes were blazing. She couldn't recall a time that he had looked at her so coldly, so inhuman. It was like she was finally facing the devil, and she had to make a choice. A choice to obey, to trust. A choice that picks love, that picks peace between themselves. The choice that he wanted and the choice that means she would have to swallow everything she was. On whether she would shake hands with the devil or she would walk past him, welcoming his wrath.

"Try me," she said slowly. "Fucking try me, Tobias." And maybe that's when everything stopped - when they both realized that both of them were serious. That he would lock her up, and she would find a way to blow his estate to the ground without a hint of guilt. That they were equally unbinding, just opposite sides of the same coin.

"Wait!" Rosalie's voice broke. "Wait, Tobias…She doesn't mean it." And there was true fear trembling in her voice as she finally left her corner. There was something unusual about Rosalie's manner that Selene couldn't depict. As if memories were flashing beyond her eyes as she went between Selene and Tobias. Enduring a fear that Selene was yet to comprehend.

"Oh no, I mean it," Selene corrected her. Her wings had fully flung out. "I am not joking, I am not kidding around. I refuse to be silenced by my own husband." Rosalie didn't even look at her. Her hands were up pleadingly towards Tobias.

"She doesn't understand," Rosalie told him. "She's pregnant." And for just a second, it seemed like Tobias didn't care. The word didn't do anything to him - the cold look didn't break, his body didn't show any hesitation.

"She's right. I don't understand. I am yet to understand why you don't go fix this when you can by a blink of an eye!" Her voice rose. "People are dying. Your own brother could be dying right now. I don't understand why you won't go down there." Rosalie's head dipped down for a second. Her hands clenched together.

"Because he can't! Because they're rebels and he doesn't want his court seeing them as martyrs. Because they have no intention on killing him, but the unborn child of the High Lord? They'll kill an unborn child. They'll kill you. He's right, Selene, you're better off here." There was silence for a moment. And not just empty silence, it was still silence. Heavy, unyielding silence. But then her eyes rose to him, colder than she had ever mustered in her life. His eyes had stopped being so cold, and instead watched her closely. Detailing every muscle on her face, every inch of her body.

"Why didn't you just tell me-" But then his hand swung out in the air, colliding against Rosalie's cheek. Rosalie fell to the ground, gasping tightly as she tumbled against the hard wood floor. It happened so fast that Selene hadn't even comprehended it at first - she was frozen on the spot. A distant voice in her head was telling her to move, to reach for her, but her body didn't follow the voice's words. Instead, she stood up straighter, facing her husband once again.

"Is that true?" Selene decided quickly that she would hang onto Rosalie's words instead of responding to his ruthlessness. After all, that's what he wanted. He wanted her to dive to the ground, reaching for Rosalie, to wipe her mind away from the problem. He was that desperate to keep her in the room. So very desperate - so very cold and ruthless and desperate. She glanced at her quickly, double checking that Rosalie hadn't been seriously injured. Rosalie was seething as she sat up slowly.

"There is so much, so much, that you don't understand," he emphasized. "Those commoners are going to die anyways. They will die no matter what. You are the only one who matters. The only one who is in danger. Fuck me, fuck Leon, fuck everybody else. You are the revenge they want. And I am begging you – begging you now that you remain here. Fight everything you are, Selene. I know who you are. But I'm asking you to choose to be someone different right now." And she forced herself to breathe.

"I hid who I was for eighteen years and now, now of all times, you want me to hide again?" Selene said. "I-" And then the door busted open. Somehow, someway, Tobias spun his back to face her. His actions were done to protect her, but whatever opened those doors flung him into the air. She fell to the ground, tumbling. The force that busted through could have killed her – it was fiercer than a tornado. But, by sheer luck, or maybe just instinct, she formed herself into a ball and shielded herself from the impact. She allowed her wings to go around her tightly, making a tight cocoon on the floor. As the dust flung around and the air consisted of the remaining bits of the room, she remained inside of her wings. Carefully, the seconds feeling like minutes as time passed, she looked past the cloud of suffocating smoke. What seemed like far away, she saw a body on the ground. But then she heard the shuffling of feet rushing in, more than just a few. Light blared into the room suddenly, torches of fire reflecting through the thick air.

"Is he dead?" A voice demanded. She held her breath.

"Knocked out," another voice muttered as she felt a body lean closer to the ground. "We are lucky. If he was awake, we would be-"

"It would be a lot worse if he was dead," another voice intercepted. The voice was flatter, more mature. Not necessarily due to age, but by knowledge. Power. Nobody argued with him – instead they used the silence to move around swiftly.

"I found the whore. She's breathing as well," the first voice said. "Let her alone. She's not our bait. Can anyone…" the man coughed. "…can anyone find the Lady of the Night Court?"

"Yes, I did." At first she was confused, looking around like a bat coming out of its wings, but then her heart stopped. She felt a yank at her wings. Immediately, she flapped them, causing the person who had grabbed her to fall to the ground. She rose to her feet slowly.

"You dare touch me, the lady of-" But then she felt multiple hands on her, yanking at her, pulling her at all directions. The smoke began to clear and she saw them – many men dressed in green, sharp uniforms with silk wraps covering their heads and masks hiding their faces aside from their eyes. They all had weapons – maces, swords, daggers, arrows. And while she didn't see the smiles on their faces, she saw the joy in their eyes.

"Who are you?" She demanded hoarsely. One of them clucked their tongues. She realized quickly, as the rest of them were silent, that this must've been their leader.

"I'm glad you're awake," the man said, taking precise steps towards him. "I'm glad you're going to be able to see this." She didn't even blink.

"Rebels?" She guessed. "Surely, only men that desperate would burn down entire villages." At first the man's face relaxed, staring at her blankly, and then he bursted out into laughter.

"You think we're your rebels?" He said, and the men around him began to laugh as well. "No, sweetheart. We come from Hybern. General Clythia's people who have come to avenge her. You're dealing with an entirely different level." Though her mouth had already dried up because of the dust, she felt like she was going to choke on air. Clythia's crew? Tobias was so sure that it had been the rebels. He was so positive that Clythia wanted nothing from him. Clearly, he had been wrong.

"She's insane," Selene said, speaking to herself aloud. "I knew she was insane, and he never believed me." She heard a woosh and suddenly someone's hand collided with her cheek. The roughness of this hit made her whip back, nearly breaking from the other men's grasp. She inhaled sharply, feeling as if the air had been ripped away from her. Half of her face stung horribly.

"She's our savior," the man said, putting his lips to her ear. "And after you're gone, he'll run to her for comfort. She will have everything. She will have her mountain, she will have the Illyrians, and she will have your husband." She let out a mirthless chuckle.

"So you're going to kill me, are you? For your savior?" She asked. She didn't know where her bravery was coming from, but clearly she had it. "That's what she sent you to do?"

"No," he said. "She sent me to get your wings. To carve them out individually. And then I'm supposed to leave you to die." She felt like all the blood in her body had left. This was worse than Hunter – at least then, she knew her handler. At least then, she understood why Hunter was doing it. Despite his cruelty, Hunter felt like he was taking wings for moral reasons. These people were just doing it for revenge.

"My wings are…" She was going to say everything. But it wasn't everything anymore, was it? It wasn't anything compared to her friends, or her husband, or her unborn child. She loved her wings, and she would die for her wings, but they weren't everything anymore. She had so much more to live for, so much more to long for. "You don't know my husband. He is worse than Clythia. He won't kill you or take your body parts or erase your identity. He knows there's something worse than death. He'll torture your families, your lovers, your animals. He'll burn your cities to the ground, and purposely spread excruciating diseases across your villages like wildfire. He'll kill every leader in Hybern, including your beloved general sisters, and let you live in anarchy for however long it takes before he conquers the nation for himself." At first nobody responded. She didn't look at all of the men – only the man in front of her. She held his hazel eyes tightly.

"You think you're messing with a man," she added, a small laugh to her voice. "But he is no man. He is a combination of darkness and power and greed. He is the High Lord of Night. And the night is not merciful." The man went nose to nose with her.

"I look forward to it," he said, his voice crisp. "Take off her wings!" She tried tucking them in, but two men grabbed them. It was horrible pain – pulling the two wings open, like they were ripping her leg open. Though there was no damage to her wings yet, it was unbearable. She screamed, she screamed a horrible noise that rang out in a pitch that was painful for anybody's ears. At a distance, she heard glass breaking. Several hands had let go of her jerkily, but not enough to break her free. And it was like she was speaking to the skies in a language nobody else could understand– demanding for the moon to listen to her one last time.

"Take them off!" A man yelled. "Take off her wings, now!" In the darkness, she saw a flicker of silver rise into the air. It was still musty, still clogged with debris. But she saw it lift into the air like she had seen it happen so many months ago. Who knew it would end now and not in the village she once was. She always assumed that if her wings were taken away, it would be because she was an unwanted woman in a cruel village. Now, she was the wife of one of most powerful men alive, and simply being maimed because she was too influential in the world. Too important.

But then she heard the door open again. The men, though still holding onto her, flinched. The silver that was hovering above her lingered away. The new men who rushed into the door were different – they wore purple uniforms, not green. Older, lesser quality. But something was different about them. Especially at the man in the front. His weapon was out, and there was something powerful about the way he stood. You could just tell.

"No," the person said. "You will not touch the Lady Selene of Night." Lady Selene of Night. Not the Lady of the Night Court. The individual tore through the fighter in front of her, nearly slicing him in half. Instantly, the many hands let her go, making her fall to the ground. But then more gentle hands caught her, getting her back on her feet. But her eyes were elsewhere, watching as each man of Clythia's were sliced in half. Some tried running but they didn't make it more than a foot. Before she knew it, only seconds later, she was surrounded by dead bodies and a group of men dressed in old, purple clothing.

"Are…are you okay?" The voice came from the man in front of her. She blinked several times. The world was spinning, and it took every inch of her to focus.

"Who the hell are you?" She finally said. This time, the man's face hardened.

"We are revolutionists," he replied. "We heard you visited our colony, and we heard your cries." Her eyebrows furrowed down.

"I'm…I'm confused," she breathed. "You knew I was the Lady of the Night Court all along? And what do you mean, you heard my cries? How in earth could you have heard them?" And then he gave her a soft smile.

"We may live underground, but our people are everywhere," he said gently. "We are always listening, and our leader favors you. She says you have a strong heart." Her hands were shaking. She didn't even know what to say anymore.

"Revolutionists…" She said again. Her eyes flickered to Tobias. "You can't hurt him. He's my husband." He looked over to him, eyeing Tobias.

"We are honorable people," he said quietly. "We will not harm him. We do not wish to harm him. We simply wish for a new reign." She didn't understand the difference. Certainly, it meant the same thing. But then the man held out his hand. In it, he was holding a purple ribbon.

"We'll be contacting you," he said, giving it to her. "We have already called healers who are on their way. You are safe, Lady Selene of Night. And we look forward to speaking to you soon."

Can I get some reviews please? Like I probably get up to a thousand views and I LOVE THE REVIEWS I GET but I have faith that people that normally don't post a review can give me a review for this chapter. Its what I live for.