Notes:

Hey it's me, for another chapter! Wooo. This one is speeding up a lot and I really hope you enjoy it, I've got more planned :)

Reviews:

brody Putnum - Thanks for the compliment :)

Bedrock Armor - I already sent in my idea for the name - it does kind of put me at ease to know other people make stuff up like me as they're writing. Also, I wish you the best for that novel, sounds good :D

A lingering explosion of dust floated silently around the room; a few light rays entered through the cracked windows. Marco had been staying in one of the Tavern's lodgings, for the time being, he didn't have the money to rent out anywhere nice so he had to make do with it. Despite being 60% dust and 20% creaks, it was still probably more comfortable than his home. He only had a mattress to sleep on, apparently, this room was mostly used for storage, which was easy to guess based on the absurd number of boxes that stretched into every crevice of free space. Marco had to spend an hour on the first night just clearing boxes out of the way in order to get his mattress down.

It was strange to think in only a couple of days he'd be attempting to overthrow a country with a rag-tag bunch of rebels. Since he left the castle, the teen had a lot of free time to think about other things, how were Matt and Al doing? What was Star up to? What's River up to? It made him feel uneasy to know that River could do whatever he wanted in that castle and Marco would have no way to tell what happened until it was too late: A strong pain in his chest started to form. After a few exasperated breaths, he composed himself again, Time to go down I suppose. He grabbed the clothes that he wore after being banished from the castle, they had a small cut in his shirt from where a sword had accidentally scraped against him yesterday. The clothes had been washed by Samantha, Susan's niece, she was 11 this year – her mother and father were ravaged by a pack of wolves a few years ago. Luckily, Sam had been staying over at Susan's place that night.

Marco's hair had started to get rather greasy now, a few deep locks formed and diverged across his fringe, with a slight comb of his hands he placed the clusters back to their positions and proceeded to return to the tavern's core.

It was just as lively as every day before, the tempo never decreased despite how tensions kept on rising. Tom was chugging a bottle next to Dashon, "Those two idiots will drink themselves under in an hour at best." Susan commented; she was currently holding a tray of empty bottles.

"How long have they been like this?" The boy replied, not taking his eyes off the sight of a grown man absolutely destroying a teen in the drinking game. Multiple empty glasses were to the left of Dash with only a few to the right of Tom.

"Like this? Forever, those two really made a connection… At first, they butted heads all the time, but eventually, things calmed down and they talked things through more."

"Talked things through?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"God no!" She laughed, "They really are just two idiots who are too stubborn to admit when they're wrong so they just compete."

"What are they competing over?"

"Over who gets an assistant when this is all over." She whispered.

"But there'd be enough butlers for al—"

"Shh! Just let them fight out a little longer, it's great publicity for the bar. Anyway, I need to get these drinks refilled, see you around Marco." With those words, the maid threw herself back into the crowd heading for the bar. What a strange place.

Castle Gardens

Ophelia was chatting to some of the boys over by one of the fields, some of which were having a friendly game of cricket to try and woo the Princess. Useless idiots. Al thought to himself, watching on from a distance. Al was currently sitting on a patch of grass, twiddling a few strands of it he plucked earlier in his fingers. He had been enjoying the quiet life the past couple days, after his confrontation with Matt – the two hadn't really spoken. That was until he heard footsteps behind him. "Hey… Al." The voice belonged to Matthew, Al didn't acknowledge his presence, still annoyed at the fact he went straight to Ophelia. "Can I sit down?" Matt continued.

Al broke the grass between his fingers, "Yeah sure… Do what you want man." Matthew's hand was still bandaged up, a faint patch of red could be seen underneath the white tissue, the blade had pierced all the way through his hand. A near impossibility for him to form a fist.

"Yeah… Alright." His voice faded, after sitting himself down with some strain and a thud, the boy continued, "I'm sorry. For being a dick back in the rec room, but I still think Ophelia—" Oh here we go again… "can be saved, she's not past the point—"

"What if she doesn't want to be saved, Matt? You thought of that?" Matthew was at a loss for words, "Maybe, just maybe, she doesn't want you to save her, perhaps she enjoys what she does."

"Nobody is born evil."

"Some people just like to hurt though; you haven't seen the world I have! You've spent all your life cooped in a perfect fantasy, one where everything is diplomatic, but the truth is!" Al had to take a breath, "The truth is… Some people are just beyond help… They kill, steal and pillage everything they want, and you sit there – thinking – hoping, for the nightmare to end. But the simple fact is, you only have yourself to blame for how things turned out. All the suffering in the world is caused by the incompetence of its people. You can't change someone by belief, that's bullshit and you know it. You're just too stuck up to admit that maybe - just maybe: You're wrong." A face of pain and torment shadowed Al's face. Matthew didn't have any words to combat that.

"… When did we… Drift this far apart?" Matt asked, frowning at the situation in front of him. Nobody noticed until it was too late. They started as friends, plotting, scheming together. Yet now it seemed as if they were stood opposing each other, on a battlefield where there'd be no victor.

"Guess it makes you think huh… Have we 3 really taken such drastic changes in our ideas? You were supposed to be the uncorrupted noble, yet here you are talking about how you'll do anything to save Ophelia – quite possibly the most corrupt noble. Marco was supposed to be inconspicuous but here he is dealing with the devil at every turn and doing whatever he wants… I'm here… I was supposed to be out… In the first few days… Return to my old life, enjoy youth – grow old. Now I'm part of a suicide pact."

"Well… If we're going separate ways, I guess that'll be the final time we talk right? As friends. So, I just want to say: Thanks Al, you were one of the good ones, one of the best lower-class man I've ever met."

"Likewise." Al said before standing up, "See you around, my Lord."

With a gulp, Matt stood up and faced the opposing teen, "See ya." Before setting off for where the other Chosen were playing cricket.

Star's Room

Emilia had invited herself over to talk more with Star. They had started to form a good friendship, Star lent her the book that she'd been reading; the two were talking about it, or at least the start of it as Emilia had only read the first 50 pages or so. Alfonzo entered the room, "Al whatcha doin?" Star asked the girl was currently laid upside down off the end of her bed.

"We have a problem… I think we're 1 man down." He said as the teen approached the two women. "Matthew has… Turned his back on us, he's with Ophelia now." The two others in the room took a few seconds to ingest the news.

"HE WHAT?!" Both exclaimed simultaneously. "Why would he?" Asked Star.

"I don't know his full motives, but he said that he thinks Ophelia is good deep down… She just needs guidance."

"That's a load of bullcrap!" Star complained, to which Emilia just wildly nodded in agreement. "We have to get him back." She demanded and stood up, preparing to leave to find him.

"No." Alfonzo firmly said, "We can't afford you to throw the entire plan under the bus for this! What if River sees you," Star did remember that her father would be less than thrilled to see her around the castle during the stay of the Chosen… "Trust me, I've tried to talk him out of it. The man has already chosen his path, I don't think we'll be able to change his mind." Al had a sad look on his face, he didn't know the guy for that long, he seemed like a genuinely good guy at the start. But now it looks like he's been tainted by that bitch.

"So… What now?" Emilia asked, standing up and cleaning crumbs from her waistcoat.

"We wait for Marco… I suppose."

Dungeons – 6 P.M.

Kelly had been knocked unconscious by the guards to make it easier to transport her. She woke up with a splitting headache yesterday, the time she spent in here was mostly used to figure of a way out. However, it wasn't as easy as it seemed, the bars were old but still heavy metal – bending them was out of the question for her. Likewise, the walls were fully stoned: No wood. The girl resided herself to wait for the gracious arrival of the Princess, she was currently sat against a corner with her head rested on her legs. She'd been receiving food and water but not nearly enough, it hurt to swallow at this point from the dehydration.

The assassin tried to take her mind off the situation by reminiscing about her family. I can't believe that bitch manipulated me like that… And I fell for it. The guy wasn't scared for her life, being an assassin, she always knew that at some point another person would come in and off her. She was more disappointed at the fact that she let herself be so easily manipulated; she should've looked for proof! A harsh clang signaled the arrival of someone, whistling followed sue. "Oh, Kelly!" The voice rang out. It took the Princess a minute to reach the entrance of the cell, Kelly kept her head in her lap, not wanting to give Ophelia the satisfaction of seeing her like this. "Come on Kels, look at me. Take a good look at the one who you tried to kill." The girl finally decided it was enough, when she looked at 'Phe though – her eyes burned with hate. "Ooooo spooky." The Princess quietly rebuked. "You know, you and your little band of birdies were very useful to me. All that info you leaked. Really, you deserve props, Congratulations!" She began to slowly clap. "You could've made it so far… But you decided to backstab me. I'm not angry… Just hurt."

"Hurt?" Kelly chuckled & coughed. "I'll show you hurt when I get out of here, I swear I'll rip your throat out in front of that Timmings dick."

"See… We can't be having any of that now. While I appreciate the thought, I do quite like living so if you could just like… Die here, that'd be great." Ophelia finished as she began to leave back up the stairs.

"Is that really all you came to say?" Kelly called back.

This caused the Princess to pause for a moment and eventually return her head to face Kelly, "I just wanted one last memory of you, I'm so glad it got to be a feisty one too!" She finished with a smile, "Okay Jeremy, you can do your job now."

"Who's Jeremy?!" Kelly called out, a little panicked – she stood up and ran towards the bars to get a better look at the man now clambering his way down the stairs, hard thuds with each step.

"He's the Castle's lead interrogator, he loves messing with chemicals. I'm sure he has something extra special whipped up for you, my dear." The Princess set off upstairs.

"Yes, my highness." He wore a white coat, circular glasses and had a small briefcase with him. "Hello Kelly, or should I call you 'Raindrop'? That is your other name, right?" Kelly didn't say a word, just inspected him. "No need to answer, I know you're probably worried – a somewhat intimidating man with an intimidating briefcase, wearing a white cloak and menacing glasses – you should be. See, I was instructed to keep you alive. But at the same time, make your life a living hell. In this briefcase I have a neuromuscular-blocking drug, well actually a lot of it. About 6 vials, if given in full, just 1 of them would kill you. But if I change the dosage, we can get a lot more use of it."

"What does it do?" Kelly asked, a large lump beginning to form in her chest.

"I'm so very happy you asked that. Are you aware of what a 'diaphragm' is? It's the muscle used for operating your lungs so you can breathe, this drug paralyses it. Allowing for only slight movement, basically: It feels as if you're suffocating." Kelly's fear had fully erupted, she began to shake her head and back away from the bars.

"No, stay away from me!" She screamed.

"Guards!" Jeremy called, "Get in there and subdue her – it's time for the first dosage." The man had a maddened smile. Three guards came running down the stairs and unlocked the door, Kelly attempted to fight back – knocking one over and getting a good hit on another's face, but the armour was simply too strong for her to do enough damage. After a while they seized her body, her torso twisted in desperation to escape but the doctor was already upon her. "Don't fight back Kelly. It'll only make it worse if I were to slip and hit an artery."

"No, no! Nawwwfff—" she was gagged now and held in place as the needle slowly entered her neck, her eyes widened at the sudden intrusion to her body.

"All done." The effect was almost immediate, the guards and doctor left the cell – Kelly began to convulse on the floor. Her chest reverberating in rapid oscillations, only a little bit of air could enter her system at a time. Short gasps could be heard from the young maiden, she struggled around on the cold wet stone more, her body began to lose strength – it focused on one thing: Survival. The girl felt as if she had an anchor placed on her lungs and they were exploding. A few tears began to form, the pain was unbearable: Just how long would this last?

Next Day – 1 Day Left – Tavern

"Okay let's go over the plan once more," Susan suggested. Everyone was currently around the table, even Dash had stopped drinking to listen in. "At 10 PM while the ball is in full swing, the gates will be lowered thanks to Marco's inside man. We'll all enter at that time, Marco will split off to meet with his insiders, meanwhile, we'll be preparing for a storm in the great hall. We only get one chance at this, if it goes sideways, we'll all die." A few looks were exchanged around the room before they all converged back.

"If we weren't willing to die, we wouldn't be here." Said Tom.

"For once I agree with the twerp," Dash replied both of them smiled weakly.

"Okay. Well, if we're all in agreement. Let's get to work—" She was cut off suddenly by the sound of a crashing metal bucket on the floor, everyone whipped around to see a small shadow begin to run.

"STOP!" Yelled Marco and Tom at the same time and both pursued the spy. The other members looked at each other, all of them holding their breath.

"Wait!" Marco shouted they were outside the tavern now, making their way through the street. The assumed spy then took a right down a dingy alleyway – "I'll cut him off." Said Tom as he separated from Marco. The intruder was taking multiple twists and turns, a few ways were dead-ends which allowed Marco to catch up. The end of the alley was in sight, unlucky for Marco it was a bustling area – if the spy made it that far then there'd be no hope of finding him again. Shit. "Who are you?!" Marco shouted up front, it was worth a try to get him to speak… No avail. Surprising.

The guy was about to make it but then an arm reached across the exit and took the perpetrator out, at this point, he was smashed onto the ground and let out a groan. "ahh me 'ed." Wait.

Tom immediately recognised the intruder as his brother, "Markus?!" He asked in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I should be askin' you the same thing bro. What the 'ell was all dat about in there, overthrowing? You some kinda terrorist?" He seemed genuinely confused as well as a little annoyed at the close line he received.

"No… Well yeah but that's not the point, listen – you cannot tell anyone okay… What you heard, never happened."

"Yeah yeah sure—"

"No!" Tom pointed at him, "Listen here, we'll all die if they find out, you will, I will, everyone there will. It'll be your fault Mark if this leaks."

"Okay. I get it. I understand I won't tell anyone bro. Trust me." Marco still seemed unnerved, after all, Markus did confess to hooking up with Ophelia after just a few drinks and a little buddy-buddy time. Could he really be counted on to keep something like this secret? Even if it's just for 1 day?

"Understood," Tom said as he put his hand out to help pick up his brother from the floor, "Everything is gonna be better for us soon, ya hear?" To which his brother only nodded and then left toward some random way, Marco and Tom walked back to the Tavern to inform them of the current crisis aversion.

The group was still wary about their plan being spilled to Markus, but they eventually got over it. Furthermore, they decided to push the plan forward 1 hour to 9 PM because of this.

Everything else ended peacefully, Star finished her day with another bath – the red marks and scars still haunted her, but she was doing much better thanks to Emilia's conversations.

Al spent most of the day writing a diary, he wanted to keep track of things from now on. Record all his feelings, he had enough of sitting idly by too. If he returned home… When he returns home, he said he'll change, devote himself to going to school, learn as much as he can and change the rotten country through politics and democracy. A noble goal if I do say so.

Matt and Ophelia spent the night like rabbits, the two had recently released themselves of the shackles that once bound them; for Matt it was his friends, the only thing that stopped him fully realising what he wanted to do, he was going to save Ophelia. Meanwhile, for the Princess in question, she released herself of the burden that was Kelly – knowing that she was currently writhing in agony actually was a bit of a turn on for the Princess. A sadist through and through.

The Day of the Ball

End Notes: Here it is, the final day of the Choosing. How will it play out? I wonder. I feel bad for Kelly, the poor thing - it must be horrible to have to be like that for so long...

What'd you think of the chapter? Good? Bad? Changes you'd make? Leave it all in the review section! :D

Thanks for reading,
vK