S.U.R.V.I.V.E. by Shadowgirl416

Beta Reader: Avatarfan445 :D!

Chapter 6: The Resistance

"What do you mean you haven't sent anyone to look for her?" shouted the pale woman, the man in front of her frowned.

"Why should I?" he replied, that seemed to trigger a fury in his wife.

Lily scowled; sometimes her husband could act so stupid! He really hadn't notice the gravity of this situation, Erika was on the loose and she was probably looking for a way to break the contract.

"Frederick," she started, walking closer to him. "You know damn well that all we have 'accomplished' so much is because of Erika – or more precisely because of the contract she signed." Even when she talked to him through clenched teeth, he understood her.

"I know that, Lily." He assured, and noticing how mad his wife was getting he decided to explain why he hadn't sent guards to look for Erika. "Come on, she doesn't know how to break the contract. And if she figures it out, I know it will take her more than one day to find Dominick-"

Lily cut him off, "She's with him!" That made him eat the rest of his sentence, it was something he didn't know but it was indeed alarming.

He sighed, "How do you know that?"

The black-haired woman snorted, rolling her eyes before continuing. "I know it…" she simply replied. Frederick then remembered that his wife had special manners of getting anything she wanted, that included knowing and seeing almost whatever she desired.

Erika was with Dominick, and even when he wasn't sure if she knew about her contract's loophole – they had to find her, immediately.

Erika felt like somebody was carrying her around. At first being completely brute and aggressive with her – but she knew that it was no use to struggle until she knew who had captured her this time, so she tried to stay calmed. Strong arms that she supposed belonged to a man held her against his hard shoulder. They didn't speak a word while she was being carried; she only heard the cracking of the dry leaves on the floor and felt some branches brushing her arms.

After several minutes, Erika heard the creaking of what she identified as some type of door - followed by the sound of a woman's gasp - that's when someone finally spoke.

"Who are they?" a female voice hissed. The man carrying Erika abruptly dropped her, making her trip.

"Why have you brought them here?" the woman insisted.

"Zip it and go get the boss, Cherry." The man replied, helping Erika up to sit her on a chair. "They discovered the entrance."

And before the girl could say another thing, Tom insisted. "Go and get him!" The girl snorted before storming out the room, the two men leaving afterwards. But before Erika could say anything to see if Anneliese was with her, the creak of the door echoed in the room again.

Slow and cautious steps getting closer to them, "Who do you think they are?" a man whispered.

"I have no idea -" another male replied, "But there's dresses are so pretty." he sounded a bit unintelligent, though. Then, a loud 'thud' was heard. "Ouch!" the dumb man whined.

"Shh! Be quiet, Nick, we are not supposed to be here." he hissed at the other.

"Oh, okay." Nick replied, and remembering what his brother had just said he whispered: "I knew that."

Erika quietly gasped, she knew those guys! Those boys were Preminger's minions - the smart one that had brown hair and the not very bright blonde-haired one.

But, what were they doing there?

"Hey, look-" Nick said "The one with the pink dress looks a lot like the Princess." With that, Erika was now sure Anneliese was there.

Some seconds passed before Nick could answer to that.

"That's no princess, Nick - she's the queen!"

"Oh! That means she's the boss's wife!" And after actually realizing the situation, he continued. "Uh… should we take her back to the castle then?"

Nack sighed; Erika heard when the man slapped his forehead with his own hand in distress. "Nick," he calmly started, "That's why we came here in the first place, to make sure she is here!" he hissed, trying not to speak to loudly. "Now, come on. We have to tell the boss…"

"Nack…" Nick whined, "They'll be serving free food and-"

The brown-haired man growled, cutting off his brother. "I said, let's go!"

When the door closed again, Erika bit her lower lip; she knew that even when the men had tried not to speak loudly, they had heard everything. She knew who their boss was, and she also knew that boss was Anneliese's husband. After knowing that Preminger knew where she was and that he had sent his henchmen to actually make sure that she was there - Erika knew Anneliese had to be scared.

He could have sent the men that brought them there to kidnap them – maybe it was part of one of his twisted schemes. I mean, if someone who is under your supervision and that holds a lethal secret that could ruin your whole life goes missing – the most obvious thing for you to do is send all the rescue parties available to find her. Yet, they had just heard that he was just making sure she was kidnapped?

"Anneliese?" Erika called; she heard a sigh near her. "Anneliese, are you okay?"

"Yes…" The Queen's tone felt somewhat cold - almost hurt. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so. Do you have any idea of where we are?" Erika asked, trying to change the subject.

"I have no idea, and for what I've heard we are going to stay here for a while…"

Erika felt bad for her, she knew she hated Preminger but she also knew that he had the responsibility of looking after his wife's security. Honestly, she didn't know what to say to her. The only thing that she had in mind was: 'I told you so'. Anneliese didn't believe her when she told her all those things about Preminger, like that he was pure evil and that he kidnapped her and tried to kill her and Julian in the mines.

And saying that would only make things worse, and Anneliese was starting to believe in her - she couldn't lose her trust.

"Look," Erika started, "I'm sure those guys will tell him and he'll send all of his guards to rescue you. They are kind of stupid, they probably said that because they were… confused." Erika tried to lie, and she was aware of how stupid her theory was. But she could feel the tension in the room starting to decrease, Anneliese was feeling a bit more calmed.

"I guess you are right…" She replied, but what Erika didn't know was that Anneliese had relaxed by thinking of other things. Tonight was their first anniversary ball, and clearly she wasn't eager to attend. If she was held here at least until tomorrow, she wouldn't have to go to that stupid event.

"I'm sure we'll get out of here in no time." Added the brunette, "After they discover who you are, they'll let us go in a couple of seconds."

Anneliese chuckled, "Sure, because no one wants to get revenge on their awful ruler." Sarcasm in her words was palpable; Erika raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And how lucky am I to be his wife? After all, I'm sure they won't use to me to manipulate him into doing whatever they want."

Erika raised an eyebrow, maybe there were things that she still didn't know about this altered reality. But Anneliese was right; maybe these persons could use her as a hostage to make Preminger pay for a rescue or something. But before Erika could say something, the door of the room sprang open.

"Here they are sir," said Tom. By all the steps they were hearing several persons were walking into the room.

The leader walking inside as well, "Why did you say you brought them, James?" The door closed once again.

Erika's heart started beating faster, instantly recognizing the man talking - It was Dominick!

"Well," James started; "The one dressed in pink was sitting on top of our secret entrance-" the female voice that Erika had heard belonged to a girl named Cherry interrupted the man.

"Shh! They are here and they are listening! Now they know where the entrance is-"

Tom cut her off. "That's why we brought them here!"

Cherry grunted. "And now they know where to find us if we let them go!"

"Guys!" James joined the argument, "Maybe if you didn't mention anything about it when we are near them, they wouldn't know."

"That's what I've been trying to say!" Cherry complained, "Now they'll have to stay here until we don't have to hide anymore!"

Dominick watched the trio as they bickered, feeling out of place and utterly disrespected.

Frowning at them, he shouted, "Enough!" and everybody fell silent. "What you mean is that you kidnapped these ladies just because they were wandering in the woods?" They did it because Anneliese had been sitting on top of a rock, but she didn't know that that was the entrance to their secret community. Glaring at the three persons in the room he added, "It's a secret entrance; they didn't know they were blocking it." Afraid to answer, Tom nodded.

Yet, Cherry dared to mutter. "They do now."

Nick frowned harder at her; a deep and fast sigh escaped his lips. "Untie them at once."

"But sir," Cherry complained, "They already know our hiding location. If we release them they might go and tell the King where we are."

Erika couldn't resist this opportunity, if she didn't make herself noticeable now Dominick was going to free her and she wouldn't be able to find him – meaning that she would have not be able to break the deal.

And gulping before speaking, she finally said: "You're secret is safe with us, Dominick."

Everybody stopped talking and everyone stared at her; she could feel their glares even with the bag covering her head.

She heard a pair of boots slowly walking closer to her, "I beg your pardon." Dominick asked - he was the only one who talked after what she said. The sensation in the room felt oddly tense, everyone stood quiet as they waited for the stranger to answer.

Erika didn't know what she had done for everyone to act like that, so she replied confidently. "I said that we won't tell anyone about your hideout -"

"I know what you said." He cut her off, his voice with an almost bitter tone. "How did you call me?" Now he asked for a more specific answer, leaning closer to hear what she had to say.

The brunette felt almost stupid when she answered to his question. "I called you Dominick; your name is Dominick-"

Again, the man interrupted her. This time cutting her off with a sharp and furious tone of voice. "My name is Nick." he stated, "You better ask the names of the people you don't know before guessing how they are named." He hissed.

Erika could feel the anger in his voice, now she knew he had changed his name - and judging by his tone he had very good reasons to do it.

Cherry giggled, "Can you believe her? She thinks Nick is that rich missing guy Dominick!"

Nick felt how his chest filled with doubt, nobody knew about his real name except Julian. Nobody knew about this, it was his past and he had promised to avoid any contact with the people from his life as a prince. And now, Cherry, James and Tom find a pair of girls and one of them calls him confidently by his real name… Who was this woman?

Without any hesitation he removed the bag from Erika's head - his face filled with shock when he saw her face as a gasp escaped his mouth. The people around them gasped as well, Cherry frowned at the woman.

Erika looked up, meeting his eyes. He was just as she remembered, her Dominick. His baby blue eyes piercing hers, yet the usual loving gaze he gave her wasn't there – it was perhaps something dangerous and embittered. Her voice barely above a whisper, her own mind protesting when she dared to ask – afraid of the answer she was almost sure he would give. "Do you recognize me?"

And even when she thought her dear husband would remember her and that he would be just delighted to see her, his frown hardened.

"Of course I do," Those words where almost comforting, but the scowl on his face revealed what she feared. "You're the queen," he continued, Erika felt like if a knife had slashed her heart. Her own husband couldn't remember her, and by the way he was looking at her, he was not happy to see her. "- wearing a brown wig for some reason." he finished.

When he said 'queen' she could literary feel all the hatred he had put into that word. His face was just filled with shock, he stared at her like if she was some kind of alien – Cherry walked closer, her brown eyes fixed upon Erika. Dominick's arm stopped the redhead from getting any closer. And just like the look on everyone's face, Erika knew she wasn't welcome at all. Anneliese must have done something horrible to them, so she just prayed that they wouldn't uncover her friend's head.

Her expression morphed into a sad one as she shook her head. "No, I am not the Queen. I just look like her."

But the red-head was maybe the first one to presume this was just incredibly unusual, she looked exactly like the Queen – with a different hair color. This was way too strange, and if this brown-haired woman was bizarre then maybe her friend had to do something with this peculiar situation.

So, Cherry stopped staring at Erika and her eyes found Anneliese. Without asking her boss for permission, she walked towards where the girl in pink was sitting and yanked the bag off her head.

The mane of blonde hair was the only thing that differentiated this girl from the other, but she was indeed the real Queen. And just like when they saw Erika, all of them gasped – only that this time the feeling of certainty was present.

Anneliese's expression was of complete fear - the way they had previously talked about the Queen wasn't very pleasant. This 'Nick' didn't seem to like her very much; the tone of his voice when he talked about her left much to say. Now alone to face these people, all she could do was feel afraid of scowled, her fists clenched on both sides of her body. After all this time and there she had her, after dealing with the distress of her people – and she wasn't losing her chance at getting revenge. That night, she was going to make the King pay – but now, she had the Queen in her hands.

The skinny red-headed girl took Anneliese by her dress's collar to pull her up in order to speak more directly. She knew Nick wouldn't stop her this time, this woman was the real Queen – there was no doubt about that.

The blonde woman flinched; she didn't know what was going on. She had never seen this girl before in her life and there she was being somehow threatened by her. The stranger leaned closer as a disturbing grin formed on her face. Anneliese gulped, trying to stay calmed.

"We have the bait for tonight's hunting." She hissed through clenched teeth.

The Queen couldn't help but to try to take it as a joke, forcing herself to chuckle to see if this was just a bad-humored prank. But when she noticed that Cherry frowned at her, she gulped again. "Look," Anneliese started, trying to keep some distance from the other woman. "I have nothing to do with whatever is you are upset about -"

When the redhead heard those words the twisted grin reappeared on her face, "You don't?" she almost breathed, obviously just trying to mock Anneliese. "Well that's too bad! Because as far as I know, you are the Queen – aren't you? So it's your freaking fault too!" Her voice going higher and higher with every word.

"Cherry, go easy on her." Dominick commented.

Anneliese shook her head slightly, "But I don't know what you are talking about!" she mustered in the bravest voice she could - because it's suddenly taking great effort not to burst into tears. As optimistic as she was, the pressure and shock from the situation she was in made her feel very powerless and weak. In the middle of nowhere, kidnapped along with a stranger who looked uncommonly just like her, and now with another stranger who is clearly very mad at her for something she hasn't even done. Being locked up inside the palace for the past year, only allowed going outside if someone goes with her and pretty much the only place outside her castle that she can visit is her cousin's home and she doesn't like going there too often.

Cherry rolled her eyes, "Don't try to make a fool out of me, your majesty. It would be stupid if you weren't informed of the way your husband rules the kingdom."

The blonde girl suddenly felt lost. She was supposed to know how Preminger ruled the kingdom? Because if she did, he had told her differently. Now that she remembered, she never got any advice about being a Queen – her mother never said anything to her for it was not in plans that she had to marry somebody or that she would have to be the new Queen in such short time after her wedding. It had happened way too fast, it was unexpected and sudden. Preminger had lots of experience; she knew he had the potential to rule wisely – but he told her that it was the King's job to rule, her job as a Queen was to 'rule by his side' and the definition he gave to that phrase was that the only thing she had to do was be by his side to bring him company.

"But I'm not informed, I'm not allowed in those types of business."

Erika tried to interrupt, she knew Anneliese and she knew when how to tell when she was lying – she was being completely honest. "She doesn't know anything about it!"

Ignoring Erika, the redheaded girl shrugged, "I see you're trying to con me – but you can't!" She leaned closer to Anneliese, her nose almost touching hers. "I don't care if your precious little husband hasn't kept you up to date; but you are as guilty as he is. If you were a good ruler you would force him to use that fortune of yours to literary start sustaining your people!"

Anneliese tried to move her head away, "I swear that I don't have anything to do with it, I didn't even know about all of this!" She tried to convince her again, but her expression remained the same.

Then, the door sprang open again. Someone entered, steps walking closer, "Let her go, Cherry." the new yet familiar voice snarled. Cherry looked back, identifying the person. But Anneliese wasn't able to see, the girl's high and voluminous red tresses blocked her view.

"Why?" She asked him, and then turned her head to face the Queen once again. "She deserves to feel all the pain her own husband has caused us with no doctors or food available -"

He cut her off, "I said leave her alone!" Judging by the sound of his voice the girl knew he was serious, she had known him for a little more than a year – he never shouted, this meant that he was possibly even angry. The girl looked back again, and after she gave a small growl she released the woman's collar.

Anneliese fell on the chair when she was released from Cherry's grasp; the redhead took another moment to glare at the blonde woman before storming out of the room – James, Tom and Nick leaving afterwards. Now, seeing that this situation was perhaps in good hands they decided to leave – the attack needed more attention than two girls.

Erika sighed when she saw Dominick leaving; this was the worst day of her life – and maybe the last. But she wasn't going to give up so fast; she was going to do her best to win Dominick's heart. "Are you okay?" she asked, the blonde woman nodded in response.

Her head lowered in disbelief, Anneliese couldn't stop thinking about what Cherry had told her – Preminger was allowing their people to starve and get sick. Make all those people suffer for naught when he had a vast unused fortune! If she ever went back, the first thing she was going to do was force him to fix the damage – get doctors and food as soon as possible, what was wrong with him? And for now on, she was going to take part in every decision he made.

Then, she heard steps walking closer to her.

She froze when her eyes met the mysterious man's ones; her breath got caught in her throat, it was impossible for her to breathe. The masked man walked closer to her, his hands drifted down close to her arms as he aimed to untie her hands.

Anneliese couldn't believe it; the same masked man that appeared on her balcony and offered her to run away with him - he was in this place with Dominick, in this sort of hideaway, which only meant he was hiding from something or maybe someone. His gentle touch burning her skin as he undid the knot of the rope tying her hands, her mind was blank. Still, she knew that touch - just wasn't sure if it was real or just her mind playing games with her.

So to prove it, she stood up from the chair to face him when her hands were freed, those eyes piercing deeper into her soul - those unforgettable blue eyes.

It was him, she had found him!

Anneliese couldn't help but to grin, walking towards him and slowly raising her hands towards the mask covering his face aiming to remove it; her heart pounding in her ears, her hands trembling. But just like the time before this, he dodged her attempt; recoiling from her grasp. She took some steps forward, almost penning him. The doubt of why he wasn't allowing her to see his face only grew inside of her. Almost disappointed and confused, the blonde woman lowered her head. If this was really Julian then why would he hide from her?

Julian knew it was upsetting for her that he didn't permit her to see his face, to prove his identity the only option he had on hand was speaking to her. He didn't blame her, if he was in her place he would have done the same thing – the person that you love hides from you for no known reason, he understood why she was starting to walk away from him.

But before she went out of reach from him, he gently grabbed her arm. The girl looked back, her eyes slowly looking up to meet with his own once again. His voice barely above a whisper, "Anneliese…" His eyes explaining everything, they reflected in some way that he had important motives to hide – she understood.

And that was all she needed to reassure herself, her grin returned as she walked closer to wrap her arms around him. Her fingers clawed to the back of his shirt, her face pressed against his chest. She closed her eyes when she heard the beating of his heart, assuring her that this was real, that he was there with her – that he was alright and alive.

He couldn't breathe; after all this time away from her, there she was. And now that he had returned her embrace, his heart wriggled from both excitement and relief – she was finally safe in his arms. Julian placed his cheek on top of her head; it was pure bliss to have the sweet smell of her hair and the tenderness of her arms around him.

Anneliese never felt safer than now, she was finally outside her castle with Julian – that meant that she didn't have any reasons to go back to the castle.

Erika, who had been watching them, was still trying to figure out who could be this man. He was wearing the same mask that the man who had visited Anneliese back in the castle; taking a closer look at him, she now was sure it was the same man.

But, who could it be? She knew that Anneliese had never loved another man, and for all she knew he was missing. Now that she noticed, he did look strangely familiar. The same long honey-colored hair, same stature and the way Anneliese looked at him… it had to be Julian!

Feeling almost bad to break that beautiful moment between them, Erika asked, "Julian?" her voice filled with surprise. Why would he be here too?

Both blondes looked at Erika, gently breaking the embrace at the same time. Anneliese smiled as she walked towards her friend to untie her hands.

Julian's eyes bulged out when he saw the brunette - he looked at Erika then at Anneliese, again at Erika and then at Anneliese, then back at Erika again and then at Anneliese…

Both girls laughed at the man's reaction.

He chuckled, feeling completely flabbergasted; "This is…" he started, but paused, trying to look for a proper word to describe this situation.

Erika still remembered the first time they met; they did something similar to this. They laughed as Julian stared astonished and almost incredulous at them. She also remembered the word he used, maybe the one he was about to use right now. "Uncanny?" She guessed, standing up from the chair and walking closer to him.

The man almost gasped, shock filling his gaze. "Yeah."

Erika giggled; at least he was taking things better than Dominick. Anneliese walked to his side, he grabbed her hand as he resumed his conversation with Erika.

"And you are…" he started. Erika sighed, yet another person who didn't recognize her. She had to keep that single fact in mind, 'Nobody knows you.' –Except from Frederick and Lily of course.

So, she smiled. "I'm Erika."

Julian nodded, smiling as well. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Erika. I guess I don't have to introduce myself, I think you already know my name."

She chuckled, "It would be complicated to explain right now," she paused, raising one of her eyebrows to continue, "I know you all, but for some reason nobody knows me." Julian remained confused and replied nothing, Anneliese knew what she was talking about but she could explain everything to him later. "It's a long story." Erika added; he nodded.

It was Anneliese who got the man's attention now, "Julian," she called, he turned to face her—just hearing her voice made his stomach feel tingly with happiness, "Yes?"

The most important question of all, they had been looking for the answer since they arrived. "Where are we?"

And even when neither of the girls could tell, his eyebrow puckered – forming a worried expression on his face. "Well, your highness. I'm afraid you are in the headquarters of what you know as The Resistance…"

Anneliese gasped, she only knew a few things about 'The Resistance' but she knew for sure that she was not welcome among them. Now everything that Cherry had said earlier made sense. She knew that this group had been claiming something from them for a while, but she never knew what. They even had attacked the castle and their realm several times but Preminger never told her what they wanted, and to be honest she never thought their situation was that severe.

And that was something she couldn't fix, her mother left Preminger in charge and she didn't know a thing about ruling a kingdom properly. It wasn't her fault either, as naïve as she has always been she trusted both her mother and Preminger in everything. He assured everything was fine with the kingdom when she asked, not being able to guarantee that for herself, she decided to believe him.

What she was starting to feel now was pure fear; if somebody noticed she was the Queen and that she was alone in there… it didn't sounded good.

Noticing that Anneliese was beginning to look worried, Julian leaned to talk more directly to her. "Look," he cupped her chin with his hand to make her face him, "If you stay by my side, nothing will happen to you. I won't let anyone hurt you." She smiled, he was right – she was safe.

Erika loudly cleared her throat, "Excuse me lovebirds, but we have some bigger problems than protecting Anneliese from the people who live here."

Julian asked, "Like what?"

Erika looked at Anneliese; they knew that breaking the deal as soon as possible was more important than preventing some villagers to noticed there was an 'enemy' between them. But Julian still didn't know that.

"Like I said before, it's a long story, Julian."

Anneliese looked at him, "I'll explain it to you later." He nodded.

Erika started to fix the strands of hair that were out of place as she walked towards the door. "Well, how about if we take a look at this place –"

"Wait," Julian protested, making Erika stop walking. "Before any of you leave this room, you better change your clothing."

Erika raised an eyebrow, how were they supposed to change their clothes? They were in the middle of the forest captured by some odd secret society – plus, she never was born in this 'alternate universe', where was she going to look for some other garments? Placing her hands on her hips she asked, "And where are we supposed to get other dresses?"

Julian replied, "Leave that to me."

"Find her!" Shouted the man, "Find her, find her!" he repeated, each time his voice ringing louder and angrier. Several guards who had been listening to their ruler's tantrum for about an hour just nodded. "It's incredible how a puny feeble girl could escape from you all!"

He took a big deep breath and after he sat on the nearest couch, he sighed in frustration. That Erika had to be somewhere! He already knew that she was with Dominick, and he also knew that Dominick was hiding along with all of the traitors that formed 'The Resistance' – in order to find her, he had to find him.

But, even when he knew this group had attacked his kingdom before, he never saw them as a threat and so he never thought it was important finding them. Now that he had sent his guards to look for their hideout, he realized this was going to be harder than he thought. They were nowhere to be found!

And now he could hear the steady and rapid pace of some steps walking into the room, "What's going on here?" Lily asked. Frederick felt a huge relief when he saw her; she always knew what to do, she could resolve this little problem in no time.

"Oh Lily, my dear," he breathed, standing up from the couch. "That filthy pauper is nowhere to be found."

The woman rolled her eyes, "Really?" Frederick instantly felt confused, he expected her to be as worried as him - not to use sarcasm. She sighed, "Don't you think I've tried to locate them already?" Oh, that's what she meant! Now he understood. "I've searched everywhere for them, but they are just… gone." The way she was explaining this meant that she really had tried to catch them, that she had worked very hard to find some clue but that whatever was avoiding her magic from working properly was stronger than her. "I believe they must be hiding inside a very well protected place – and I just can't trace them!"

He felt pressure on his chest and his teeth starting to clench—this was awful! Lily was probably the only person that had the abilities to do these kinds of searches and it was impossible for her to even know if Erika was alive or not. She had to be found, fast – if she kissed Dominick everything would be back to normal. And normal wasn't pleasant for them. Her contract would be cancelled along with its effect; Erika would be added into the story again. She would have met Anneliese, Julian would have asked for her help –she would have agreed to pose as the princess for a while, making Preminger spend more time on the castle while Anneliese managed to escape and she would have met Dominick. This all meant that Dominick's wedding was never cancelled and that his father left him everything he owned, leaving Frederick out of the picture.

But, let's be honest, in this reality 'Nick' had suffered a lot. He suffered the loss of his rightful place as the next King, he lost his father, he was forced to watch how his dear cousin took over everything he owned and how he did as he pleased with the kingdom.

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' The young prince used to say, and Frederick knew that in fact, Dominick had been through so much that his heart was already made out of stone – hard, rigid and cold.

And what chance did a strange woman have of penetrating into his frozen soul in just one day?

He placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, "Don't worry," he said "Everything will be just fine, you'll see. There's no way he can fall in love with her so easily."

Erika silently groaned; these dresses Julian had found where just rags. They were tattered, frayed and dirty – even she had better clothes as a child. Not that she cared, but couldn't they at least wash them? Hers smelled like old cheese, not to mention it was also starting to itch.

But, she had to admit, Julian was right; they blended into the crowd perfectly.

And now that she had stopped complaining about the dress, she started to look around her.

This place was amazing! A hidden village indeed, just that it was situated inside what she described as a 'hole'. Deep and plant-covered walls surrounded the place, completely hiding it from the outside world. There were countless booths, it looked just like Anneliese's kingdom used to be – before Preminger took over it. People selling all kinds of items, you could say that they were progressing down there without Preminger's help and she started to feel some relief. If she couldn't break the contract at least these people wouldn't starve, and 'The Resistance' would remove him from his position – leaving the kingdom in hands of these people.

And while Erika eyed everything around her with pure amazement, the pair of blondes walking in front of her where just concentrating on the other; the Queen holding the masked man's arm as he guided them through the crowd.

"Julian," Anneliese looked up to him, "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, "Of course you can."

Her curiosity was growing with every second she spent with him. "Why are you here?" she asked, "I mean, supporting these people?"

Julian sighed, the answer to her question was quite simple – revenge. But that simple word would only cause even more inquisitiveness in her. There were lots of reasons, so he needed privacy and some more time to explain everything to her. If he just told her that he was in this group because he wanted Preminger dead and didn't explain the reasons, she could even think he was the bad guy in this problem.

"Uh," he paused, "How about if I answer that question later?"

She smiled as she nodded.

Erika kept looking around, amazed with this little town. But now, not everything she was seeing was very positive. There were men carrying guns, others carrying spears and swords while others prepared horses with the proper equipment for what she guessed was probably an upcoming battle. She wandered, what were these people up to?

Then she spotted Dominick, he was heading towards a building with several rooms on top of the other. She made sure that Anneliese didn't notice and she started to walk away.

He never noticed her, but she followed him – hiding behind everything she found so he wouldn't notice her. And finally he stopped in front of one of the many huts located at the place; he took a key to unlock the door and entered the house. And even when she knew he probably locked the door, that didn't stopped her from walking closer to verify if there was another way to get in.

Somehow, she managed to enter through an open window. It was a simple hut; a small bed at one side, and some books here and there, several garments on the floor, a table cluttered with objects on top and a huge covered item cornered at one side of the wooden room. Yep, that was Dominick alright – if it wasn't for the servants that worked in their castle that exact mess would be in every room for all he cared. So she walked in, starting to carefully eye the place to find him.

And after a close inspection, Erika noticed that he was kneeled in front of a drawer looking for something. Walking on her tiptoes, she walked as quiet as she could to get close to him. He was holding a piece of paper on his hands, but it was impossible for her to see what was in it.

She bit her lip, and decided to clear her throat. The man winced and instantly clutched the paper in his hand, looking back at her as he stood up from where he was.

Nick frowned, "What are you doing here?"

Erika shrugged, trying to smile. "Julian was showing us -"

He cut her off, "Julian?" He should have known, "Where is he?"

"I left him with Anneliese."

Dominick chuckled, his expression softened. "Well," he started, trying to hide the piece of paper in his hand – crushing it between his palms. "That means he'll be busy for a while."

Erika giggled, a feeling of relief started to overwhelm her – he was actually talking with her without freaking out! "I know; they don't mind being alone."

He nodded as he tried to put the wrinkled ball of paper inside his pocket – he failed at it and it fell to the floor.

Automatically, Erika bent to pick it up. And when she looked up, she found his eyes looking straight into hers – his hand hovering above hers.

His rude, hard and tough expression changed into a sweet and soft one as he eyed her, it reminded her of he used to look at her – when he actually remembered that he was her husband...

Both brunettes straightened up, their eyes never disconnecting. Erika handed him the crushed piece of paper. Then, he looked away as he cleared his throat.

There was something in her eyes that made him feel home, safe… loved. Yet, he decided to ignore it – this was a very strange woman who had just appeared in his life. And that strangely knew a lot of things about him…

"Uh, thanks." He muttered, placing the paper inside his pocket.

"You're welcome…" she replied, and after a stiff and silent moment he broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduced myself," He offered his hand; "I'm Nick."

Erika smiled, shaking his hand. "I'm Erika."

"Well, nice to meet you Erika. And do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Not at all."

"Did Julian mention that you and your friend shouldn't be here?"

"Was he supposed to?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, as if it was too obvious for her to ask that. "That's the queen, if someone discovers she is here," he sighed, a long and not too pleasant story he decided to skip and he continued, "Both of you will be safer if you get out of this place, you should go."

She lightly pouted her lips, almost as if she was trying to make him feel sorry for her. And he hated to admit that it was working, how could he be telling this beautiful, sweet girl to get out from his hideout?

Wait!

Nick frowned, shaking his head. What was he thinking? Beautiful, sweet girl? He should be preparing himself for the battle, instead of admiring a stranger. And yet, another look into those deep sapphire eyes and his heart skipped a beat.

Perhaps, love at first sight - No! That only existed in fairytales, stories that only children bought. He was an adult, he didn't believe in those silly tales anymore.

The prince marries the princess and they live happily ever after - yeah right.

For him it went more like: The prince's cousin kicks him out of his own kingdom because the princess that was going to marry him to help him get his rightful place ran away. He plans revenge against his cousin, who married a witch to take over the kingdom. Who is also the person he suspects murdered his father in order to become King. Now, that sounds familiar and realistic.

"I could stay here with you; I could help you with -"

Nick cut her off, "Trust me, you only have to get out of here and take your friend with you. You'll be doing me a huge favor."

Erika scowled, "I can't leave-I have to stay here." Choosing to leave as simple as that, she turned and started walking around the room. "Besides," she continued, "Don't you think Anneliese is in safer hands here?"

Dominick nodded, following her every step – he hated when people looked through his stuff. "I know she is, but she won't if someone finds out she's the Queen." He repeated; Erika knew he was right. Yet, she knew that no matter what kind of danger she was facing her blonde friend wouldn't leave without a certain masked man.

"She is the Queen, but she's hiding just like everyone here. Don't you think they know that she is on their side they will support her instead of hurting her?" And before he could even reply, she kept talking. "That's another thing I wanted to ask, why is everyone hiding? I mean, is Preminger looking for you? Did you did something wrong? They are offering a reward for whoever turns you in, and I saw some sort of -"

"Whoa," he cut her off, again, "Slow down there, will you? First of all, I don't even know you, which means that I don't have to explain the things I've done to you." She almost frowned, "And where do you come from? Everyone knows who we are, what we do and what we want."

Erika shrugged, "But I don't, and I don't think it would take much time to explain it to me."

Nick sighed; sometimes, if you cannot fight against your enemy, just join him. "As you may already know, we are called 'The Resistance'. We are a community of people who are not okay with the unreasonable laws of our rulers. This village is composed by people from both kingdoms, and our goal is to eliminate those two pompous fools."

The woman nodded, but all of her questions were still not answered. "But, why eliminate them? Can't you just like kick them out of their places? I'm sure if some higher authorities know about this injustice -"

"What higher authorities?" he interrupted her, once again. "A higher rank than a King?"

Well, he won this round because he was absolutely right. Who was more powerful than the King? No one could order him to do nothing, it was impossible to hold them and make them do what everybody knew was right.

"Then, how are you planning to… eliminate them?" God, that word sounded so strong and evil. How was Dominick planning of doing something like that to someone?

"We'll attack Preminger's palace tonight, there will be an anniversary ball and Frederick will be in the castle as well."

"And," she paused, thinking twice before asking him, "Are you going to kill them?"

With the tone of voice she had used to ask that, it sounded so immoral and inhumane – but he knew better, he knew that it was for a good cause. Without those two, both kingdoms would return to their glory days. And before he replied, he cleared his throat. Because it was suddenly taking a great effort to reply to that question. "Ye-Yeah."

He saw how the woman lowered her head. And for a moment, she felt twice as guilty for everything that was happening. It was her fault Dominick had become this… this monster. "Can I ask you something else?" Nick nodded, "Why are you killing them?"

He cleared his throat again, why was it so hard to tell her? "I already told you." he simply responded.

The girl shook her head, "You don't take someone's life away just because they are horrible rulers."

His eyes widened, this girl made him flinch internally. How the hell did she knew how to break him down like this? Maybe he shouldn't look into those sapphire depths when he talked to her. Maybe he should avoid her, because she was almost mind-controlling him! "Frederick…" he started, a knot started to build up in his throat, "Frederick killed my father."

Erika gasped another horrendous surprise! And everything made sense to her; she had heard the story before. Dominick had told her about his father, about what he did to choose between his son and his nephew. He told her about the wedding, he was supposed to get married as soon as possible – however, his father understood his son's situation. Erika was learning to be free, she wanted to travel the world before marrying Dominick and he comprehended that. Dominick was chosen to be the new ruler; Frederick was left with nothing after he disobeyed his uncle's orders – marrying the kingdom's witch and inviting her to live in their castle was too much. The former King didn't have anything against her, just that he knew how malicious, harmful and perverse Lily really was. And so, Frederick decided to quit his duties as a Royal and moved out of the castle – he lived with her they always guessed.

However, in this universe, Frederick and Lily did succeed. Dominick came back home without a bride, and since Frederick had one he had some advantage. "He played a horrible dirty trick on my father, told him that he had engaged a girl that lived in the kingdom – even paid a woman to pose as her for a couple of hours – and those were the rules he had arranged." Nick paused, stopping the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. "And then, it happened in a flash, the same moment my dad declared him King, he became sick – in a matter of days, he died."

Erika had no words; she couldn't tell him it was her fault. He even told her that, it meant that he somehow trusted her already. Maybe he had thought that out loud. Because if you think about it, he wasn't supposed to know that she knew about his story. She walked closer to him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

Nick nodded as he took a deep breath. "I think you should be leaving now," he started, Erika was about to complain as she removed her hand from his shoulder. "If you want to stay here, then you better help with the attack."

She didn't know if she should frown, or if she should smile – he was literary kicking her out of his hut but at least she got to stay there.

"And this is where I live," Julian said as he opened the door of the small cabin, Anneliese grinned as she stepped inside. And closing the door behind him, he continued, "It's not very much for a Queen to visit -"

And before he even started to talk about that subject, she cut him off. "It's more than enough." He smiled, even when she still couldn't notice – that mask on his face was avoiding her to see how happy he actually was to have her there.

But, Anneliese knew he was more than glad – she felt home with just feeling his presence in the room. She looked around. It was a perfectly cozy, little home. Not even half of what she was used to live in, but just enough to make her feel cheerful. The small bed, a desk and a chair on the other side of the room, several candles, a mirror-less dresser at a corner and the distinctive books piled all over the place. Some papers nailed to the wood-walls and several small windows that were the only passage for light to enter.

She felt him walking closer to her, next thing she knew she was surrounded by his arms. He just couldn't believe she was there with him, and he wasn't planning on letting go of her. She sighed, she felt so protected in his arms and yet there was the possibility that she might lose him.

Pressing her face against his chest and closing her eyes she whispered: "I've missed you so much…"

He held her tighter, "I've missed you too. I promise you that I won't allow anyone to separate us ever again."

"How can you be so sure about that?" She knew that Preminger, for some reason, didn't wanted Julian around her. And that he had even fired him to prevent any contact between them. If he did it before, he could do it again.

"Trust me, we'll be together." He broke the embrace, taking her hands in his. "He won't be a problem anymore, not after tonight."

Anneliese frowned in confusion, that didn't sound very good. "What do you mean?"

Julian doubted for a moment, what if he told her everything and she didn't believe him? So he decided not to reply to her question, "Just trust me. He'll pay."

"He'll pay for what?"

Julian sighed; she didn't know anything – about his scheme, about her kidnapping, about the gold or about her mother. She was clueless! Not to mention he wanted to tear him apart for marrying Anneliese, she had given him everything when she didn't even love him.

"For everything he has done," he replied, then –even when she still couldn't see- his expression softened. "But, let's leave that subject alone for a while…"

Anneliese smiled, getting closer to him. "We should wait no more…"

He chuckled, "You're right, we've waited enough."

He started leaning closer to her, closing the distance between them… their faces inches apart. She almost chuckled in front of him; he was leaning to kiss her as if he didn't have that mask on. And she couldn't help but to wonder even more about why he had been using it…

Anneliese again raised her hands to his face, hoping to remove his mask. Now that they were in a more secluded area he had reasons to remove it, yet here they stood and all she could see were his eyes. Oh, how she longed to see the face hidden behind that mask!

His hands caught hers just as she began pulling the mask upward; revealing everything below the tip of his nose.

Anneliese sighed.

One of his hands released hers, gently cupping under her chin and pulling her face up. His eyes gazed deeply into hers, making her lose her train of thought. So, she leaned in; her face inches from his. He followed suit and their lips met; just as each had only dreamed of for the past year. And she took advantage of his distraction, swiftly succeeding in removing the rest of his mask.

He pulled away stunned and she gasped. Everything about him was the same; that same soft look in his eyes; same raised cheekbones and strong jaw line. Everything except for that scar...

A fine diagonal line, the center running just under his right eye. A slight curve in dual directions; one downward, cutting off above his top lip. The other followed an upward motion in an almost perfectly horizontal path, ending at the entrance of his ear.

Carefully, like a caress, Anneliese's fingers traced the length of unsightly blemish; his eyes closed and he sucked in a sharp breath.

"What happened?" Anneliese asked, her voice barely audible, "Who did this to you?"

He simply shook his head, biting down on his bottom lip. "It's better if you didn't know."

Anneliese's eyes filled with horror, he didn't have to tell her who had done it – just a glimpse of the pain that flickered in his eyes was enough for her to figure it out. "No… he got what he wanted when he became king... he had no reasons to do this-"

"Anneliese," he began slowly, "There's a lot you don't know about him..."

And just when she was about to say something, someone knocked at his door.

An impatient and irritating voice started calling from outside, "Julian!" And the Queen could not stop the scowl from forming upon her face when she remembered who the owner of that voice was. "Hurry, Julian! Open up! I have something for you!"

Julian rolled his eyes, he knew it was her. He also knew how Anneliese felt about her; he didn't even have to ask. Yet, he knew he had to open the door because if he didn't, she was probably going to tear it down.

So, sighing and running a hand through his hair, Julian replied. "I'm busy, Cherry."

The girl did not hesitate to protest, "Oh come on Julian; this won't take long!" The blue-eyed man looked at Anneliese, and even when she smiled at him she found it hard to get used to that scar on his face – not because it bothered her, she loved him no matter how he looked, it was knowing who was responsible for it that made her feel a mixture of anger and sadness. And he looked like he was ashamed of looking at her, yet he was almost asking for her permission to get rid of the girl knocking at the door. "You know that if you don't open the door I will enter anyway."

"Ugh…" he grunted, why did she had to be so annoying? He looked at her again; a smile flickered in his face before he turned away. "Wait here," he said.

And as he walked to the door, he decided that it would be better if he was the one who went outside instead of letting Cherry in. Then, closing the door behind him, Julian instantly saw the red-head and knew why she had come. In her arms were several spears, the blacksmith must had sent her to bring them.

"Hello, sweetheart!" she chirped, walking closer to him.

He scratched the back of his neck, rolling his eyes. "Uh, hi."

She smiled, taking the pack of spears and handing them to the man in front of her. "I brought you your spears."

Julian took them, and only said: "Thanks." She noticed that he was being awfully quiet; sure Julian almost never talked to her, but when he did he wasn't this quiet and distracted. 'He must be hiding something.' She thought; plus, the fact that he hadn't invited her to come inside made her suspicious.

"You know," she started, "It is very rude when a gentleman doesn't invites a lady to come into his home when she has come to visit."

Julian almost sighed, "You know that is utterly impolite for a lady to interrupt a man when he's in the middle of a very important situation."

Cherry snorted; Julian was never this mysterious, he was the most honest and decent man she knew! "What could be so important for you to hide?" And before he could even reply, the girl headed for the entrance and rapidly turned the doorknob. He tried to grab her arm before she walked in, but she was faster.

Anneliese looked at them, confusion filled her gaze. "What's going on?" she asked, Cherry frowned.

She turned to Julian and hissed through her clenched teeth, "What is she doing here?"

The man decided not to say a word, it would be worthless if he did anyway, and he walked inside as well. Anneliese looked almost worried when she saw Julian holding the dangerously sharp-looking objects, she had seen the guards at her castle using them as well and she knew they could only cause harm to others. Then, after he placed them on top of his bed, he decided it was time for Cherry to learn the truth.

So, he walked to Anneliese's side and took her hand – entwining her fingers with his.

He saw how the redhead's brown eyes bulged out as she started to take short, fast and shallow breaths. Her jaw slightly dropped, "I see…"

Anneliese felt so out of place, she didn't know why this woman was acting like this when she saw Julian simply holding her hand. But, because she didn't know anything about her – she decided to stay quiet and let Julian do what he thought was right.

Cherry couldn't think about what to do next, so she just stood there – staring at them.

And just before the tense moment brought the worse out this situation, the front door sprung open and a man came in.

"Excuse me Sir," he said, Julian nodded. "You are needed in the stables."

"Go look for Nick -"

"I'm afraid it has to be you, sir. There's a book with the instructions and you are the -"

"Alright, alright." Julian had to agree, he knew most of the people in the kingdom didn't have the opportunity to get a good education – so it was odd when one of the villagers was capable if reading. And his help was needed, as one of the leaders of this group he had to go.

He turned to Anneliese, leaning to whisper something to her. "I'll be back as soon as I can, stay in here and don't let anyone in." She nodded, still a bit confused at what was happening. Before he left, he leaned again to kiss her. And just when he was about to kick Cherry out, he noticed she wasn't there anymore.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" cried an extremely melodramatic voice as a short man entered the room. He looked at the person who had called for him, and noticed that the expression on his face did not match at all with the tone of voice he had used. He wouldn't dare to say it, but he almost thought the King was pretending to be worried. As he closed the door behind him, the tap of the King's heels clicked against the marble floors as he got closer to where he was. "I'm so worried!" he cried again, yet clearing his throat he continued in a more serious and calmed voice. "And I have some questions for you."

The short man looked at the King, "Why, I'd be glad to have a word with you, your majesty. It is my job after all."

Preminger smirked, placing a hand on the other's man shoulder to guide him to his seat. "Have you heard the dreadful news?"

The royal advisor nodded, fixing his glasses as he walked. "Indeed I have. And if I may, I would like to ask you something as well."

The King chuckled, walking away from the advisor when he sat on the chair and then sitting behind his desk. "Of course, tell me…"

The chubby man sitting in front of him nodded, "I've been informed that you haven't sent any search party to look for the Queen. And I was wondering if there is a particular reason for you to act so carelessly in this situation."

Preminger was expecting for him to ask this, but he hadn't planned what he was going to reply. "It is true; I have not sent anyone for her even when all of the employees in the palace have requested me to. Maybe for the people who don't know what is really going on my behavior can reflect my inner carelessness, but I know better." The other man's gazed filled with confusion, "I love my wife and she's also my responsibility. And you should trust me with the decisions I make." Still not understanding what the King meant, he noticed he was also trying to lie to him.

As their advisor, he was aware of all the lies present in their relationship. Anneliese was forced to marry him, and Preminger – in order to save the kingdom – agreed with the late former Queen's wish. But, Genevieve knew that Anneliese was young enough to be Preminger's daughter – so she made an agreement to protect her. She knew it was bad enough to be forced to marry someone who doubled you in age, someone who had been there and had watched you grow up – Genevieve wasn't going to allow Preminger to end her daughter's maidenhood – unless Anneliese permitted him to. Which Genevieve knew as a fact she wouldn't. So, telling him that he loved his wife sounded pretty suspicious.

"But, your majesty," the advisor complained, "She could be hurt for all we know."

Preminger laughed, "That's my point! I don't worry about her because I know where she is!"

And he couldn't help himself, "Where is she?" he curiously asked.

Preminger stopped laughing, and he smirked at the man. "That does not matter right now. Trust me, she's fine. Now, about my questions," he started, "And this next one doesn't have anything to do with our situation, but I was wondering if it did happened… If Anneliese doesn't come back, what will happen with her title of royalty?"

The little man frowned, it didn't sound good and he was starting to be in between a rock and a hard place. For him, what Preminger was doing was completely immoral. And he felt like if he should tell him, but who was he to question the authority of a King? And even if he did, how was he going to find the Queen? Besides, this was his job, and as the royal adviser he had to reply his question. "Well, if she doesn't come back I guess that you'll be named the one and only ruler of the kingdom." And that was all it took for Preminger to grin, but the adviser continued, "But I know Anneliese, she's a very responsible woman and I have the feeling that if she's not trapped wherever she is she will come back." And his grin disappeared with that. Yet the man continued but mumbling, thinking out loud, not realizing that the King was still listening. "And if that was the case, then I guess the only way for you to be the only ruler would be if she dies."

Just moments after Julian left with the man, the door of the hut sprang open. Anneliese recoiled a bit, whoever it was hadn't even knocked. And she frowned as soon as she saw the mass of curly red hair that belonged to the person standing at the doorframe.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, Cherry smirked as she closed the door behind her.

Anneliese took some steps backwards from the woman, "Oh, come on…" the redhead started, "I just want to talk to you, Annie."

"Well, I don't want to talk." She replied, crossing her arms on top of her chest. "And it's 'Your Majesty' to you." Who did she think she was to give her a nickname? And even when she hated when people called her with such formality, she just wanted Cherry to remember who she really was.

The brown-eyed woman frowned, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, your majesty. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable." This hasty plan was going just like she wanted it to, in a matter of time she would have Anneliese fighting with her and she could even pretend to be hurt so Nick would have to force Julian to throw her out of here.

"You shouldn't be here, Julian told me not to let anyone in." Anneliese remarked.

"Please," She said, rolling her eyes at her. "He loves when I come to visit. Besides, why follow all the rules people create?" She asked as she walked closer to her. And finally being face-to-face with Anneliese, she said: "That's why you are where you are right now; you are a silly little dim nit."

Anneliese frowned, now that wasn't nice at all, she was calling her stupid! "Now, tell me something Cherry, why are you so mean to me? What have I done to you?"

"Well," said the redhead, placing a finger on her chin. "Other than stealing the man I love from my side, I think that being the awful ruler you are makes me hate you more."

Anneliese frowned, "First of all, I haven't stolen anything from you. And I must say that I have no idea what are you talking about, I am not in charge of the kingdom – Preminger is."

Cherry crossed her arms as she walked closer to Anneliese. "Really?" And deciding to ignore the last thing she said, she continued, "And do you really think Julian spent all those months just sitting here waiting for you? Having a far more attractive woman by his side?" The blonde woman frowned harder, "Men are weak, your majesty."

And just like always, people trying to make her think what they wanted. Just like Preminger had been doing, just like Erika did to get her out of the castle – it's just that this time she noticed. "Julian wouldn't do that."

"Maybe," Cherry shrugged, "But what makes you think you know him so well?"

"What a stupid question…" she muttered, "I've known him for years!"

But the redhead didn't erase that smirk on her face as she kept trying to piss her off. "How about if I tell you he's using you?"

Her blue eyes pierced into Cherry's brown ones, a serious frown upon her face. And she knew she did not need words to communicate what she was thinking. She wanted to keep her grip, and she was handling this situation just fine.

Finally Cherry spoke up, "You're good." And as she said that she dared to poke the blonde woman's shoulder with her index finger.

Anneliese was mad enough, so to have this unpleasant woman in front of her - who now was even invading her personal space - poke her was sufficient to make her unfold her arms and push her away.

"Stop it." Hissed the blonde.

Cherry seemed to be taking this as a joke, so she chuckled and prodded her again. "You stop it."

With that, the Queen didn't even think of what she was doing, she just felt this rush of what she identified as adrenaline and pushed the redhead as hard as she could – sending her to the floor.

Cherry gasped when she realized what just happened, and already being trained to fight she saw this as an invitation for a little clash – and her plan was starting to work. She somehow grabbed the Queen's hand to pull her down with her; Anneliese fell on her knees just beside Cherry. And the redhead instantly grabbed a fistful of the other's blonde hair, aiming to use her other hand to punch her.

But Anneliese wasn't that defenseless, and even when she had never done this before she managed to dodge her attempt just in time. Then she did the same thing Cherry was doing, she took a hold from the girl's red hair and started to pull. She guided her other hand to where the redhead was pulling her hair, placing her own on top of it and starting to dig her nails into her skin to make her let go.

Cherry got angrier and with her free hand grabbed Anneliese's arm, unintentionally marking the blonde woman with her nails.

Anneliese winced in pain; this made her realize that Cherry meant it. So, she handled to lower her head to bite the other woman's wrist – the one who was holding and hurting her arm. And finally Cherry pulled away as Anneliese stood up.

Both girls glaring at each other and the redhead stood up as well.

In between pants, Cherry smirked as she examined her arm. "That was pretty lame." She said as she noticed that Anneliese's attempt to mark her too had failed, leaving just a pinkish spot on her arm.

"I was just going easy on you." The other mockingly replied.

Yet, Cherry had forgotten about her plan, even when Anneliese wasn't able to hurt her she wasn't going to let her try.

The Queen recoiled when she saw the frown on the other's face. Feeling scared already, she started to look for something to defend herself on the table by her side. And thankfully she touched something hard and strong, it was polished and metallic – without thinking twice she grabbed it.

Sadly, it wasn't what she was expecting it to be – as she held it defensively in front of her, she saw nothing more than a fork pointing at Cherry.

The brown-eyed woman chuckled, "So, I see you want to play dirty…" She quickly looked for something inside the bag that hung from her waist and she continued, "You're on."

Anneliese almost fainted when she was what Cherry had brought out; a small but lethal looking knife.

She dropped the fork on her hands and looked at the woman, "Alright, it's over." She said, hoping that the other girl agreed.

But she only chuckled as she walked closer, "There's no giving up now… You started it."

Anneliese expression was now of pure fear, "No I didn't -"

And Cherry playfully giggled and raised the arm that held the knife, rapidly passing it in front of Anneliese's face. She chuckled, and starting to like it she decided to scare her a bit more. Maybe she would leave on her own!

So she moved the knife towards the blonde woman again, this time aiming to pass it just over her abdomen – just to scare her. But as she did that, Anneliese didn't noticed that Cherry was fooling around with her and when she moved the knife towards her, her instinct kicked in and she tried to hold the sharp object away from her.

A wave of pain ran through her as Cherry gasped, and as Anneliese looked down to check her hand she found her fingers holding the blade of the knife – blood already starting to drip down her hand.

They glared at each other; Anneliese released the blade and rapidly closed her hand – not wanting to show pain in front of her.

Cherry was shocked; she knew how bad this situation was about to get. She never meant to hurt her like that – well, hurt her that bad. She was just fooling around, but who was going to believe it?

Finally, a creaking sound broke the tense and silent moment. Both girls looked at the door; it was Julian standing in the door frame – a stunned expression on his face. And Cherry didn't hesitate to hide the small dagger in her bag.

The blue eyed man looked at them, "What's going on here?"

Cherry just frowned as she looked at him, Anneliese tried to hide her injured hand from him. He would probably think it would be better for her to leave, and that was something she wasn't willing to do.

But Julian knew her too well, and with just a look into her eyes he knew something wasn't right. So he walked closer, and ignoring Cherry, he rapidly noticed that Anneliese was hiding something.

Carefully pulling her fist, he gasped when he discovered the dark red stains covering it.

He glared at Cherry, and she just sighed – she was in big trouble.

Author's Note:

Well, here are some notes that I made while writing this chapter - things that I think would explain things that sound 'weird' ;)

*Anneliese is very naïve. At least I think she's way too nice and too innocent; she has always been locked up in the castle with her mother so I think that is why she acts this way. And she's just trying to defend herself, even when she doesn't know how to.

*Lily is a witch, so she does all kinds of tricks and stuff like that - And just to clear things up, she is not able to spot Erika with her magic because there is magic protecting the place where 'The Resistance' is hiding. :)

*Dominick's attitude in the movie always made me doubt a bit his integrity. I mean, he is a rich young man looking for a wife - he could have anyone he wanted. Why act so desperate when Anneliese agreed to marry him? Even when the Queen was in a hurry as well, he seemed in a hurry to marry someone too.

*And, unlike the Shrek movie, here witches don't have flying brooms xD And by the way, sorry for the poor description of the place ;)

*Maidenhood, I find this subject hard to talk about in here. I've watched lots of movies that are set in the Middle Ages and this is usually a very important subject, I figured it would be something that Genevieve would consider important when forcing her daughter to marry a man that could even be her grandfather xD Plus, it would be something that would make Julian have more reasons to hate Preminger - since he doesn't know about the commitment they made.

So, I think that's it - if you have any questions let me know ;)

I would like to thank my wonderful beta-reader again! Avatarfan445! And Barbiegirl2435 for writing the scene where Anneliese sees Julian's scar for the first time! And, to everyone who has supported and reviewed this story - you guys don't know how happy it makes me to read your reviews!

There still much to come, and if you have ideas or suggestions do not hesitate to let me know!

So please, if you read it - let me know what you think about it! Please review!

And thanks for reading!