A/N: This was a tough week for me and this chapter was not easy for me to put out.

I hope that now things are back to normal, the next one will be better.

Please leave reviews ;-)

Daylight was breaking and Victoria yawned as she woke up to the sight of Catherine and her cousin Sinjin working tirelessly on the armor.

"Good morning," the redhead turned and smiled and then went diligently back to her labor.

"Have you two been working all night?" the tan girl asked. "Are you not tired?"

"No," Sinjin replied.

"Not at all," Catherine agreed.

Victoria turned around as she got up from the chair she fell asleep in and saw Trina drinking a cup of tea.

"Did you sleep well?" Trina asked.

"I guess I must have been the only one that did," Victoria sighed. "How could those two stay awake?"

Trina smiled and passed over what looked like tea but it was black as night and its strong aroma struck Victoria immediately. She sniffed it some more and looked at Trina's face which encouraged her to drink it. Victoria shrugged and took a sip. It was piping hot like tea but the bitterness was a thousand times greater and she couldn't bring herself to taste any more.

"What...is this?"

"There is a bean that grows outside the village. I first thought them to be cocoa beans but they were not. Completely inedible raw. I had nothing available to me here to try and cook it, so I started mashing it like tea leaves. Sure enough, it proved quite the potent potion" Trina pointed to the cousins. "Those two there had a few sips every couple of hours and were refreshed every time."

"It still tastes awful," Victoria crossed her arms.

"It still works," Trina countered. "I had to come up with a way for them to work through the night. We do not have any time to lose."

"Finished," Catherine sighed. She held it up high for Victoria to see the whole thing. "What do you think?"

Victoria was floored by what her and her cousin managed in a single night. The stitch work was impeccable. It was good and thick, appreciating the strong material with her fingers.

"Let us try it on," Trina suggested.

After almost a half an hour of fitting and last-minute alterations; the two women helped Victoria with her new armor. Sinjin returned in a huff just in time to witness the reveal. His eyes were wide with admiration for how beautiful and dignified his handiwork looked on her.

"What do you think?" Catherine asked her cousin.

"You certainly look ready, Victoria" he chuckled. "But not yet." Sinjin turned around and presented a shiny sword and shield. "They have been both polished and the blade sharpened."

Victoria eagerly took the sword, "How did you..."

"The blacksmith owed me a favor. Besides, nobody can resist Catherine's charms."

The redhead's skin was blushing, almost matching her locks. She thought that the metalworker's crush on her was a fleeting thing but apparently not.

"Silence," she told Sinjin.

"Hold up the shield, please" asked Victoria.

Sinjin nodded and held up the glistening oval-shaped plate of metal. Victoria could see her reflection in the surface.

She was cloaked in leather, from her neck down. Around her entire torso and shoulders was chain mail, small links attached close together for optimum protection and movement. It would be sufficient protection for close combat but she would still be vulnerable to arrows. Victoria understood that not every armor is impregnable but she was grateful for being able to move and while she felt the weight of her armor, it was a fraction of that clunky collection of junk she wore before.

"We should be going soon," declared Catherine.

Victoria gave her a look of confusion.

Princess Jadelyn was getting increasingly agitated and anxious as the day wore on. It was a strange duality; frightful for your current situation and unsure of what will come next as well as highly pissed at who was responsible for said situation. One thing was clear: Jadelyn could not just sit here. She struggled with her manacle and was stunned to see it suddenly come undone. Finally, she was free from the chain. Now she had to figure a way out of the room.

She looked around the dark room. It was frustrating that she couldn't make much out. Jadelyn put her hands up behind her neck, huffing. Then she realized she was still wearing the necklace her mother had given her. She was notorious for falling asleep with it on her, rather than remembering to take it off. There wasn't much to it; Jadelyn detested the overly ornate type of jewelry. The necklace did have a decent sized gemstone on it.

Jadelyn was not confident it would work but she had to try. She held the stone under the shaft of daylight and sure enough the light bounced at an angle against the wall. The illumination wasn't much but it was better than nothing. Jadelyn painstakingly traversed the wall, looking for something - anything - that didn't look like just ordinary stone.

Then she found it.

This one particular slab of stone was a bit of a different color than the others. Perhaps somebody tried to escape once and replace the slab behind them. Jadelyn pushed on it and it indeed gave way. She continued to push and push the block. it was loose, thankfully, but still heavy. After clearing the wall, Jadelyn pushed the black aside and could see a way out.

Jadelyn looked back at the old woman, who was asleep now. Her name she told her was Lottie. Jadelyn was about to wake her up but she figured given the recent death of her son she needed time to rest. Besides, she wasn't sure what exactly lay on the other side and she couldn't ask for the elderly woman to risk her neck. Once she was free, Jadelyn thought, she could come back for the woman. If the lady truly did have visions and wasn't only mad; she would know that Jadelyn would stay true to her word.

She crawled into the small gap left by the absent stone and must have went for what felt like forever on her hands and knees. Jadelyn wasn't keen on getting down and dirty but that was far from her mind at the time. She knew from experience that men who thrown into dungeons rarely saw the light of day again. If she didn't try to escape, she might surely be dead.

Coming across a dead end, panic started to rise again in her chest. Jadelyn pushed against the stone wall with everything she had. It didn't budge in the slightest. She wasn't claustrophobic but even she was getting highly nervous. Was this a trap?

Suddenly, the bricks collapsed in front of her and she was dragged by some unseen force into the brightness of open daylight. Looking up from the floor, Jadelyn saw a tall mad in a robe standing over her.

"Impressive," Noxymis mused. "A princess who does not wish to wait and be rescued."

"Who are you?" Jadelyn asked as she stood up, dusting herself off.

"Oh, yes. Where have my manners gone?" He took Jadelyn's soft hand, which repulsed her. "I am King Noxymis, ruler of these lands. And future lord of the world. Your Highness will do for the time being."

Jadelyn recoiled her hand back.

"Did you bring me here?" she asked.

"Why do you ask?" Noxymis has started walking around her, admiring her physical form. "Do not like it here? In my company?"

This guy was giving her more than just the creeps. A small part of her wished to be back in the dungeon.

"If you insist, then yes; I was instrumental in bringing you to these lands."

"And what good did it do for you?" Jadelyn asked. "My father would not find your activities as amusing as you apparently do."

Noxymis grinned, "If you care to know; you served your purpose."

"What are you talking about?"

"It is of little importance, my dear. What is done cannot be undone."

"Then let me go," Jadelyn ordered. "And the old woman."

"You see," he sneered as he reached into his cloak. "I had every intention of releasing you..." he pulled out a dagger. "From this world."

Jadelyn's eyes grew wide with anticipation for her own demise.

"But I have had a change of heart," Noxymis added as he threw the dagger across the room, far from Jadelyn's grasp. "You are so beautiful after all..."

The raven-haired girl backed away from the man's lecherous advances.

"You had better not get any ideas," she warned with a growl in her tone.

"On the contrary," Noxymis said grabbing Jadelyn's arm. "You are not going to be able to resist..." he tapped her chest with his wand. The gem in his pocket glowed. "...me."

After a minute, he slowly relinquished Jadelyn's arm. Sliding his hand down, it touched hers. Noxymis then raised her hand to his face where it lay immobile for a moment and then Jadelyn's expression went cold and she scratched the right side of his face, drawing blood. He howled with pain and threw her to the floor with more force than she had anticipated.

"Impossible," he hissed. "Your subjugation should have..." Noxymis tilted his head. "Just a moment."

He fished the orb from his pocket and tapped it with his wand. From within, he could see a vision of Victoria and Trina sitting and talking.

"No! Still alive. That meddlesome witch; I suppose I did not leave her completely powerless." Noxymis then looked at Jadelyn on the floor. "As long as your heart belongs to someone else, I cannot overtake it."

"What is he talking about?" Jadelyn asked herself. "My heart?"

Jadelyn was walking along the castle grounds and rested in one of the ornate pavilions.

Victoria was assisting the stable master with tending to the horses since his usual help was ill. Jadelyn watched the servant girl with great interest. If only she understood just how intently she was regarding her.

The princess admired how the light hit her brown hair giving it the glow of honey. Her tan complexion was accentuated by her brown eyes. Victoria would do a lot of little things the other servants did not do. Like every morning, Jadelyn would wake up to freshly picked flowers in her chambers so she would begin the day with beautiful aromas. Everything about Victoria exuded warmth.

And caring.

"The servant girl," Noxymis mused. "I should say it comes as no surprise to me." He tightened his grip on Jadelyn, causing her to shout. "There should not be any trouble once I get rid of her."

"Victoria?"

"Only then will I have you as my queen," he added.

"No..."

In a flash, Jadelyn was once again facing the dark stone walls of the dungeon.

"Bastard!"

Jadelyn felt the restraint on her ankle once again, as secure as ever. It was a dream. Or an illusion. Despite that, she knew her audience with the wicked king - her captor - was very real. Her arm and chest still hurt from being grabbed by his bony hands and poked by his sorcerer's wand.

"What was that crystal he had that seemed to aid his wand's power?"

She began to weep.

"What difference did it make? Noxymis, if that is truly his name, had me kidnapped and used that to send Reinhart and Rosym into war. And what's worse, I dragged Victoria into the melee. So sweet and innocent and full of life and love. Now her blood, too is on my hands. All because I could not hide my damn feelings from that sorcerer."

Jadelyn eyed a long chain attached to the wall but not linked to anything in particular. Picking it up, along with a stool, she made her way to the wall where apparently someone once hung on the wall by their hands and feet. That was not to be the case this time. Jadelyn wrapped the chain around the hooks that held manacles. Yanking on it until she felt there was enough tautness, she then stood atop the wooden stool and began wrapping the slack around her neck. The height would only yield her a few inches but it was sufficient in her estimate to have her dangle by the chain.

"I love you, Victoria. I am sorry for never telling you. I am sorry for how Beckett's presence probably made you feel. I am sorry for...everything. Forgive me."

The distraught princess kicked the stool from beneath her feet, toppling it over.

It no longer supported her weight.