(Alice's POV)

What happened after he fell asleep and I followed after him was a blur. I remember several tall powerfully built men wearing the emperor's tunic bundling us up and throwing us into the back of a cart. Jack woke up just enough to realize what was happening, and to be knocked right out again when he hit the cart. Still half asleep and struggling against the pain in my head, I drifted off.

The clinking sound of a key turning in a lock jerked me from my uneasy sleep. Before opening my eyes, I tried to convince myself that it was all just a dream. I was still on the ground in the clearing away from the city. I was with Jack who was waiting to scold me again for killing those men. Thinking about Jack was comforting somehow, even though I let him down.

The heavy iron door flew open and I was forced to accept the reality. I was captured again, but it wasn't as if I couldn't escape whenever I wanted. I force my heartbeat to calm, and I opened my eyes to face my captor.

Whatever calmness I found was immediately thrown out of the window when I beheld my captor. Powerfully built with dark ornate clothing that cost more than a village. Eyes devoid of any color and black hair falling down to his neck. All scruffiness aside his expression said one thing "I am more powerful than you can ever hope to be." I was looking directly at the Emperor of the united kingdoms.

He snapped his fingers and two guards that I hadn't noticed left the cell. The shut the door and locked it with another heavy clank, leaving the Emperor and I alone in the cell. Big mistake. I tried to throw myself at him, to gouge out his murderous eyes, but a sharp snap in my shoulder revealed the chains locking me in place. Similar ones held my ankles locking me in a sitting position on a stone slab. No matter, I was still the most powerful with in the world.

I focused on his neck and imagined it snapping violently. He continued to look down on me pitifully. I tried again and imagined the air in his throat hardening so that he suffocated. He still looked fine, his mouth upturned in a slight smile. With a final jerk, I tried to drop the stone ceiling down on his head and crush the life out of him, but even the ceiling resisted my will. I was for the first time in my life, completely powerless.

My head slumped down in defeat, and he began to speak. His voice grated against me and my ears felt assaulted by the sound. If I had control over my hands I would have thrown them over my ears to muffle the traitor's speech. "I am assuming by now that you have tried to kill me every way that you can imagine, yes?"

I looked up and stared through his dark eyes, defiant. When I didn't respond he snapped his hand across my face faster than I thought possible. I heard a sharp snap, and my jaw hung limp. With a single slap he had broken my jaw. Blinding pain erupted from the wound, and tears fell down my cheeks.

"You will answer me when I ask you a question, and you will answer it Yes Sir or No sir. Is that understood?" It took a second for what he said to register. He took that second as defiance. "Is that understood!" He shouted.

"Yesh shir." I mumbled as the blood began to pool in my mouth. I tried to make my jaw move but it remained firmly locked.

"Pathetic. Well I suppose you can't answer my questions if you can't speak, so I will grant you reprieve this time." He stared at my gaw intensely for a moment before the pain eased considerably and a noticeable snap alerted me that my jawbone was back in place. "Now what do you say?"

"Thank you, your majesty." I said recoiling from the possibility of another slap.

"Hmpf. Now onto the matter at hand. I am not an unreasonable man, so to provoke you to answer my questions honestly I will allow you to ask one question of me. One question that I will answer completely and honestly, in the hopes that you do the same. Does this sound fair?"

"Yes sir." I answered submissively.

"Alright." He leaned against the wall in a pose that was supposed to be relaxed, but he just ended up glaring from a slightly lower position. "Ask away."

I wanted to ask why he invaded all of those kingdoms, why he banned magic, and why he is attacking kingdoms far from here with the same ruthlessness, but a question fell off of my lips before i had time to consider. A question that surprised me in its importance. I looked up to the king and asked with a shaky breath "Where is Jack?"

His booming laugh filled the cell, and I couldn't help but feel sheepish as he looked down on me. For some reason the question bounced around my mind and I wanted to know the answer, I needed to know the answer. What had become of the boy I had failed to protect.

The emperor mimed the wiping away of a tear, and collected himself. "Your male companion was executed upon arrival. He is now currently on his way to be deposited in one of the mass graves near the Imperial Sickhouse. He was of no significance to me. No-" He continued to talk but the world grew cold quickly and I couldn't suppress a shiver.

I had known him for all of three hours before he… he. "Alice." I said to myself. "You knew him for a few hours calm down. How is he different from anyone else you've killed?" Then I realized. He wasn't. He wasn't different from the thousands I had killed. Everyone had hopes, dreams, regrets, and people that... loved them. I fought the urge to vomit as the true wait of what I had been doing for years fell onto me.

How had the assassin known more about humanity, and compassion than I? Now he was gone, and I could never thank him for showing it to me. I could never tell him how much he meant to me.

"Stop being silly." A voice shouted from the back of my mind, "You didn't know him long enough to care about him. He was a boy, nothing more." The voice spoke truth and I calmed myself down. I hadn't known him for long, but I doubted that I would ever forget him.

It was then I noticed the steady stream of tears sliding down my cheeks. I wanted to wipe them away, and to show more dignity in front of the emperor, but I was still chained. So unrestrained the tears fell.

"Did you not hear me girl!" He shouted tearing me from my thoughts. It wasn't a question.

"Sorry your majesty." I forced my voice to remain calm and steady. "No sir I did not. Please repeat the question."

"If you were anyone else I would have you hanging from that statement alone, and that day will come but for now. What is your name?" He said gruffly.

"Alice Springhaven." I answered.

"Ha! Well aren't you arrogant. Did you think that the name Springhaven would make you sound more impressive? No, what is your Real name?"

"That is my real name." I swore.

"Liar!" He shouted, and suddenly the world did not exist. I could not see, I could not hear past the pain erupting from every point in my body. I felt as if every nerve were burning, but wouldn't burn up. I could think past nothing but wishing that it would end, through any means.

The pain stopped as quickly as it began, and he asked again softly. "What is your name?" I don't know where I found the strength, but I looked up and stared him down. "Alice." Fire flew down my spine and hunted down every part of my body that wasn't ignited to add to its fiery bounty. The pain was unbearable, and I swore that I would tell him if he would just make the pain stop. It continued for a few more seconds, each feeling like a year, and then it ceased entirely.

"What is your name?"

I opened my mouth to tell him the truth, but hardened quickly picturing Jack's face. "My true name, given to me by my mother… is Alice Springhaven." Flashing a cocky smile I added "What's yours?"

He screamed filling the cell with the sound of his fury. Every part of me wanted to shrink from his rage, but I held my gaze. I wouldn't make this easier for him. He leaned over and smashed my jaw once more, before he tore out of the cell, leaving me alone. My mouth started to fill with blood, and I wanted to scream in pain, but the image of Jack held me firm.

(Jack's POV)

I awoke quickly and my assassin instincts kicked in. Without opening my eyes, I counted two guards, each standing a foot away from me blocking the door with their bodies. I was chained at the wrists and ankles meaning that this was an interrogation cell. I was last held in the prisons of Ber'Check, and the only dungeon with interrogation cells near Ber'Check was the capital. I was in Vellhaven, a hundred feet below the Emperor's palace.

No, no no no no this couldn't be happening. I couldn't be back here, after all I did to get away. Despite all of the running and hiding he still managed to find me, and now there was no escape. I was trapped, and I couldn't run anymore. He'd force the choice I had been running from all my life upon me, the one that prompted me running away in the first place.

The loud clunk alerted me that my interrogator was here. I kept my breathing steady and mimicked sleep, even as the door swung open, and the footsteps of the Emperor banged against the floor and stopped a foot from me.

"You never could fool me boy." He snapped, and I opened my eyes. He stood there same as ever, the disappointed look etched on his face as if it were a mask that he could never take off.

"Hi dad."

Author's note- As the review I wanted to respond to so greatly was a guest review, I will respond to all of them here in the hopes that the respective writers read my response. To Amaryllis, I may include members of the original cast of Frozen as throwaway text, none of the original members will be key members of the story. To Shawn Raven, I appreciate your response, it was very kind of you to say. Reviews like yours make writing stories like these worthwhile, and I'm glad that you are enjoying it as much as me. To everyone that has taken the time to read my modest story, Thank you.