Notes: It's me, next day post from previous chapter! I felt really good about continuing the story and the reviews I received were so lovely. Thank you all. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a pleasure for me to write. Again, there might be occasional errors in grammar and probably a few typos. But I'm lazy :P

Reviews:

noobl2 - Yeah I used the line of "Raising an army" but I doubt it'll be along the size of that, maybe 30-100 people depending on how things go for the little pipsqueak. Thanks for understanding, and I have something much bigger planned so I really hope you stick with me through this train :)

Slimster22 - I am very much alive, I have had multiple cans of coke and am on fire, I wrote like 700 words of this in about 10 minutes it felt good to just let everything flow into a word document xD Tom is indeed here now! Wooohooo, or Nayyhayy depending on how you feel :P

brody Putnum - Thanks for the compliment my dude, I'm glad that I'm not discontinuing it either

Enjoy~

Marco wasn't sure if what he did was the right choice, after all, it meant that he had to leave Star behind in order to get a group together strong enough to pressure the crown into conceding their throne. He needed to get some influence over Hamschmert. Great, I made it. Now where do I go? That was when a friendly voice intruded his thoughts, "Hey, how are ya? Name's Tom, nice to meetcha." Marco whipped around to get a good look of the approaching teenager. "Say, aren't you that kid that was with Markus a little while ago?" He wore a grey shirt and a dark blazer, in similarly coloured jeans. Surprisingly, he had pinkish hair which had Marco puzzled.

"Uh, yeah, I came here about a week ago. How do you know Markus?"

"He's my lil bro." Oh. Well that's helpful. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Choosing right now?"

"Abouuuuttt that…" His eyes rolled, "What do you think of the current King?"

"Say no more." The Lucitor replied as he dragged Marco along toward the Old Crumbs tavern. What… Marco was a little confused as to how this had played out so far, in his slight panic by not having a very good excuse for why he was out of the Choosing he thought he should lead with what he was originally here to do. It seemed like Tom knew what he was getting at.

When the entered the bar, the atmosphere was identical to the last time, the smell of sweet alcohol roamed the air, Marco's feet stuck slightly to the wooden floor from all the beer that had been spilt on it. Old men were cheering at some sort of gambling thing, Marco wasn't sure exactly what it was but it seemed to keep them entertained. Tom dragged the teen to the back room where a large buff man was waiting at the opposing side of the door, "Password." He stated gruffly.

"अंधेरे के स्वामी से नमस्ते" What? A few noises were heard from behind the door before it opened with a clank, revealing a total of about 13 people sat around a desk with papers and figures.

"What's this?"

Tom whirled around and spread his arms, "This, Castle-Kid, is the rebellion!" Marco scanned the room; Markus wasn't anywhere to be found – did he know about this? Is this the reason why he got cosy with Ophelia? "When you said to me on the street about what I thought, well I knew you'd probably be thinking something along the lines of 'I want to get revenge' am I right? Or am I right?" His deductive skills took quite the leap of faith in assuming Marco was out for revenge, perhaps he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he seems reliable enough.

"Yeah, something like that… See I've got a plan—"

"What a coincidence we've got a plan too!" Tom cut Marco off and proceeded to intrude with their plan, one of the background shapes came to life.

"T, it's not polite to cut people off." A blonde-haired woman, who appeared to be in mid thirties called out, she had bright-blue eyes and wore a white vest and a light-green dress that went down past her knees.

"T?" Marco blurted out without thinking.

"We refer to each other by initials here, it helps keep secrecy among ranks in the case of anyone overhearing." Tom replied. Well at least that gives me a bit of hope. But there is still only 15 people here right now, we can't take a castle with that little.

The blonde woman began to speak again, "He says we have a plan, it's a bunch of a crap thrown together because none of us" She spoke those 3 words while turning around to gaze across the assortment of people "can come to an agreement on the best plan."

That was when a ginger man chimed in, his voice was hoarse, "We only can't come to an agreement love, because some of yous can't understand the brilliance which is my plan."

"Brilliance?!" Another ginger cooed, "Brother you wouldn't know brilliance if it slapped you in the face. You're plan consists of blowing up half the castle!"

"Well I don't see yo—"

"ENOUGH!" The blonde-haired woman silenced, to which the ginger siblings just stared at the floor. Marco was left dumbfounded, not quite sure how he should enter the conversation anymore, These people are insane. "Sorry dear, as you can see, we're not exactly organised right now. We lost our leader a few months ago-"

Tom chuckled, "Lost? Is that what you call murdered?" This seemed to bring a bleak atmosphere around the room, everything fell still.

"…" The replied paused, "You see, an assassin worked their way into his home a while ago and… Poisoned him." An assassin? She couldn't mean… "Anyway, that's all done now. We're happy to have you if you want to help us on our conquest to take down the monarchy." She smiled sweetly, it reminded him faintly of how his mother would smile.

The boy took a moment to think things over, this was a lucky break for him. He'd already found a rebellion group willing to attack, however, they weren't prepared, trained or even united. There was only 4 days until the ball. "I have a way into the castle…" At this news, everyone in the room perked up, interested at what the Diaz was mentioning "Listen, I've got a plan. It has a really good chance to succeed, we only need to take out the King and the crown princess – everything else falls into place."

"Easier said than done kid." The ginger man retorted.

"No, it really is that easy. We'll need more people but in 4 days' time they'll be a massive ball, the security will be light and they'll be plenty of nobles from across the country attending. We could slip in the back and storm the castle before they even know what was going to hit them."

"You got some pretty big stones to waltz in here and give us this kind of information. How can we trust you? What if this is a trap to weed us out?" The other sibling responded.

"You're right. The only proof I have that I'm working against the crown princess is with this tape. Which holds a confession from Markus Lucitor about his relationship to Princess Ophelia." Marco announced as he held up the recording, Tom seemed a little intrigued by it.

"My brother was with Ophelia?" Tom asked.

"Yes, I thought you knew… Wasn't he getting close to provide you all with info?" The room exchanged glances before returning to Tom.

"No… He isn't even aware that we exist…"

"Okay kid, we'll give that recording a lesson and get back to you when we've decided on an outcome."

Castle – Star's Room

The butterfly arose from her cocoon finally. She stood up, a little wobbly at first due to her lack of use of her legs for the last few days. Come on Star… Come on! She cheered herself on and made a path for the window, with a significant pull she stretched out the curtains and allowed sun rays to beam their way back into her room – filling up every crevice with warmth. It felt surprisingly good. Although, she did have to go through an adjustment period as her eyes had become used to the dark. Her frazzled hair was stretching every which-way, her pyjamas were bunched up near the foot and her top was tucked half-way into her pants. It took a few more minutes but she reminded herself that Marco was coming, he wasn't going to leave her, and that she needed to be ready for when he came. Thus, she dragged herself to the washroom and began to get scrubbed.

The bath water felt amazing, as if it were lifting her spirits and taking all of the burdens from the past away. She sunk deeper, this time making sure to lock the door to stop any unwanted intrusions from the bitch of a princess. It wasn't much use though, after a few minutes of sitting there, she found her mind wandering back to Glossaryck: His words. Am I in love with Marco? Or am I scared? He was there for me when no one else was, out of everyone in this castle he's the second person to truly see me… But… he hasn't ever said "I love you." Has he? Does that mean he doesn't? No. I'm just doubting myself, of course he loves me. We spent the night together at the bar, then in the bed, we even slept next to each other – he's caring, yeah, he loves me. I love him… I… *sigh* I love him.

Ophelia's Room

Matthew burst through the door, gazing accusatively toward the princess, who was currently in the middle of changing.

"Oh my… What am I going to do with—"

"Cut the crap 'Phe, why'd you kill Glossaryck?" Matt's eyes had a certain fire to them, one that only made 'Phelia more pleased with her work. She finished putting on her dress and looked back to the boy.

"I didn't kill-"

"You had him killed, same difference." Matt responded coldly.

"He was in the way; he was just too strong of an opposition for me. He was a massive dick but he was knowledgeable, and that kind of knowledge cannot find its way into Marco's hands." She began to stroll over to the boy now, only a meter away.

"We could've talked it out, made peace! It doesn't have to end in a bloodbath! Listen, I feel something between us, a special connection. But I cannot keep doing this if you won't listen to me or let me in on anything." Matt held his hand out for Ophelia to grab, a short pause occurred before she accepted his offer.

"Fine. I'll try to make it more civilised." He brought her into a hug before thanking her, that was when the door bust open to reveal a short greenette stood on the opposite side. "Kelly?" 'phe questioned "why are you here? You're supposed to be following Marco!" Matthew grew annoyed at this, here she was annotating she had undergone a slight change but she's immediately back to hunting Marco down.

"Yes your majesty, but there was a slight complication with the thing. I've been told that my sentence has been extended?"

"What of it? I need you here, so if I want to extend your sentence I will."

"That's not fair mi'la—"

"Don't tell me what's fair Kelly! If you don't leave right now, I will have your entire family executed do you understand?" A sharp pained look crossed Kelly's face and then an angry one, she gritted her teeth and bit her tongue before venomously replying, "Yes your majesty." The door closed and then the two nobles were left along once more. "What?" Ophelia asked.

"You said you were going to try being more civilised."

"Sometimes my darling, you've got to be hard with the commoners, otherwise they'll turn out soft. Now, before I go downstairs and have to address the inferior subjects, why don't we have a little us time?" She seductively asked as she motioned to the bed and started to drag Matt.

"You can't keep doing this 'phe." He groaned.

"You say you don't want to but I know your body too well, come on then, ravage me a little more. I know I just put this dress on but I want you to rip it off." Her words felt as if they attacked every nerve in his body, forcing him into a state of incoherent thought. He tried to resist a little more, but found himself eventually giving in and following her to the bed as the two entered the covers.

Servant Quarters

"Emi! Long time no see!" Phil cried as he dove toward the young maid. She simply dodged out the way, leaving him to go flying past her and into the wall, it was only a soft thud, he stopped himself before completely hitting it. "Harsh!"

"Zip it, shrimp." She replied humorously.

"Harsh!" The man repeated. This left Richard and a few others to chuckle at the two's antics.

"What brings you here today Em?" Dick asked as he bit into his cheese sandwich.

She sat there for a moment before casually replying "Nothing. I just wanted to come here, do I always need a reason to show up?" The old man's stare protruded through her act, "Okay fine. Listen, I like all of you—"

"Even me?" Phil asked with a sparkle to his eyes.

"Except you." She added on the end, to which a further laugh ensued. "Anyway, on the night of the ball. I need all of you to leave, go to town, just get out of the castle – don't ask why, just please, do me this favour."

"And why can't we ask the reason miss?" The old man interrogated.

"Trust me, it's a lot better if you don't. Please promise me that." For the first time, in perhaps ever, Phil got a serious.

"Okay. If it's that important to you Emilia, we'll do it. Won't we guys?" To which the rest of the servants held a cup up to.

Old Crumbs Tavern

The ginger man was the one to come and break the news to Marco, "A'ight kid. We reviewed it. You're in, what's this great plan of yours?" Marco stepped up and introduced himself to the council (if you could call it that).

"Hi. My name is Marco Diaz, I was born in East Klingon to Angie and Rafael Diaz, I was chosen this year to take part in the Choosing – and I want to tear down the monarchy and reform the nation. For my plan to work, I'll need more people—"

"Not a problem," Tom added, "there isn't a soul in this village who wouldn't want to help with that, given the plan is good enough – the might not come out and say it immediately but no one would, the king's soldiers parade around here all the time."

"Excellent, after that – I've got an inside person that will open the back entrance on the night of the ball. We'll be able to storm in there and kill or take prisoner the king and princess. However, I would much rather the king be killed… Any objections to that?" Nobody raised their hand, "Good. Afterward it'll be a simple matter of taking over the throne."

"Who'll that be castle-kid?" Another member asked from the back. "You? Getting us to do all the dirty work so you can take the throne?"

"No. The throne doesn't belong to Ophelia, the real heir is inside the castle but she's been locked away her entire life, she's been beaten by that asshole of a King. She's kind-hearted, caring, thoughtful, compassionate, beautiful and with guidance I know she'll be a fantastic leader, one that will abolish the difference in society, make unfathomable changes that we can't even see on the horizon right now. The future is bright with her at the head of it, and I believe strongly that we need to fight hard to get her there."

It seemed like an eternal silence, but in the deadness of the room, a single clap could be heard – followed by another, then another, until eventually everyone was clapping to Marco's speech. The speech that would ignite the fire which burns the monarchy to the ground. Wow it worked. Marco took a large breath.

20 Minutes Later

Marco left the tavern to get some fresh air, in his doing so a small figure bumped into his side. He looked down slightly to inspect the body – realising that it was in fact Kelly. "K-Kelly?" He asked.

"Shh!" She said aggressively as the girl pushed him back into an alley with a finger on his lips.

"What's wrong?"

"Listen, Marco… I know you're up to something, and I don't expect you to trust after what I did to Star and… The librarian." A small flame of anger heated Marco's face when he heard that Kelly was the one to put Glossaryck under the bonfire.

"I need your help to kill Ophelia."

End Notes: When I said it was a "joy to write this chapter" I really meant it. I love doing interactions between Em and Phillip, it's always great chemistry. Doing the stuff between Matthew and 'phe is always lovely too because it allows me to kind of bring a kinky side to this story so it doesn't get too boring romantically. Writing up foreshadows is always fun too, I can't remember if I did any here in this chapter even though I finished it like 9 minutes ago lol

What'd you think? Got any constructive criticism or compliments? Leave 'em all in the reviews, it cheers me up to know people are reading this, otherwise all my readers are just numbers on a spreadsheet that tells me how many people have visited my chapters but not necessarily if they've finished reading them :D