~Ben Finn POV~

The guard towering bared his large, oversized teeth above Emily and I and dragged us out of the truly disgusting hole we were crouching in, throwing us at Logan's feet. We were pulled up onto our feet, almost as if the guards were so stupid that they didn't think we could stand up on our own.

King Logan was looming over us in his full uniform of purple, red and silver. His oversized boots clinked each time he took a step and his clothes hung on his shoulders, it was obvious that he had lost a lot of weight. He would not be getting any ladies anytime soon, poor guy.

The King looked over at both of us, examining our appearances. I guess we looked a bit of a sight; our hiding spot was a bit dirty, so we had dust and dirt all over us. I patted down my white sleeves and shook my dirty blonde hair. He smirked.

"You two should have hidden better," He looked over to me, "Captain Benjamin Finn, a trusted member of the army turned into a traitor with Major Swift. You both shall be executed at the front of Bowerstone Castle." Cries of outrage could be heard from the other soldiers, held back by the menacing purple men. "QUIET!" Yelled out Logan, and everyone hushed.

He turned his attention to Emily. "Put Swift and Finn in the second carriage and Emily in mine."

I looked over at Emily. Her expression was confused and frightful. I honestly felt for her; she hadn't seen this man since she, Annabel and Walter had left the Castle in a hurry. Logan had killed her friend, and she was obviously terrified of being alone with him again. She leaned into his ear and whispered something I couldn't comprehend, and Logan nodded. What was she saying to him? When she and I were talking about random things, she'd said about how she and Logan were pretty close, spending hours joking about Annabel and Elliot, together forever. I wished that I knew what she had said to him; because whatever she had made the elite guards walk away from Swiftie's men.

Major Swiftie was pushed into the carriage by several other soldiers of Logan's, and then moved on to shove me inside too. Our rifles and swords were taken away from us and handed to one of the elite guards, the tallest and burliest of the men. Purple soldiers threw their weapons into a small compartment at the back of the carriage to save space in the seating area, since so many were sitting in there. The other red soldiers, including Grove and Tick, looked mournfully on at us, left wondering what to do. But something didn't make sense- why hadn't Logan killed them? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure as hell glad to see them untouched, but why? The tyrant King I knew would have shot them in an instant.

The carriage shook, and the horses pulled away and trotted out of the fort towards Bowerstone. So that was it: no more freedom. I felt unusually calm about it all, and Swiftie looked calm too. He looked up at me, and there was something in his eye. A glimmer of hope, and I instantly knew what we were going to do. No matter what, we'd go down fighting.

~Normal~

"Put Swift and Finn in the second carriage and Emily in mine."

I frowned. Logan had changed a lot since the last time I had seen him. Now that I was closer to him, I could see even more detail, like the wrinkles around his skin that had formed and the bags under his eyes. He looked like he had aged -and not so gracefully at that. I looked over at the red soldiers; all of them had worried expressions as they were being put into a line by Logan's men. They were stood by the wall to the left of the main entrance. They looked like they were to be killed by a firing squad. Desperately, I looked at Logan. He was the only one that could stop the madness that would occur, if nothing was to be done.

I whispered into his ear. "Don't shoot them, I'll go without a fight, but just let them go. Don't do this again."

He seemed to consider this for a moment, before agreeing to my terms and waving his men over to the carriage, and two of them hauled me over to Logan's carriages, despite my willingness to go, so I could have walked on my own. Logan's carriage was rather beautiful, with its purple interior matching his guards and castle. He'd always had a fondness for purple, although he'd never explained why. I sat myself down on one of the seats, with Logan opposite and leaned into the plump cushions. My weapons were sat right next to Logan, away from my arm's reach. Silence wasn't broken until we were well on our way towards Bowerstone.

"It's good to see you Emily," His smile seemed sincere, but it was his eyes. They were cold and emotionless.

"The feeling isn't mutual," I matched his monotone voice. I knew exactly why we were there alone, and that was for information- and I sure as hell was giving him any, so I turned my head to look at the soggy marshland of Mourningwood.

"I need to know where Annabel is."

"Why? So you can ship her off to Reaver and let her be a trophy wife for the rest of her time in Albion, or to reunite her with Elliot in the cold, hard ground?" I snapped back at him.

"I don't have a choice!" He had nothing to say after his outburst, so he leant back, pinching the bridge of his nose. He always did that when he was stressed, or had bad news. It was slightly reassuring to see him act normally, but every time I looked at him, I saw Elliot's face. His expression right before he was sent to his grave.

I had one more question to ask Logan. "Do you sleep?" I asked quietly.

"What?"

"Do you sleep at night? After killing all those people are you still able to fall asleep peacefully."

"…No."

Moments passed, and Logan talked once again. "I still need to know where Annabel is."

I looked him straight in the eye as I said, "You'll have to kill me first you bastard."

I only saw a flash of silver before Logan slashed my arm open. "Hey-"

The blade was held at my neck, blood dropping down from it. "You will tell me, and tell me now." His eyes were darting manically around, with mixed expressions of anger and what I hope was guilt. The dagger was now grazing my neck, drawing more blood. I stayed silent; I would never tell him where Annabel was. He looked at my side- there was still a bandage on it from where it was still healing.

Agony seared through me as he cut my side, digging in deeper. "TELL ME!" He yelled, but I just screamed, not saying any actual words. I could see cuts all over me with blood oozing out, then black spots began to randomly appear in my eyes, one after another- and then I blacked out.

~Ben Finn POV~

We sprang into action, knocking out a few soldiers' teeth and breaking some necks. Although I wasn't the best at hand-to-hand combat, Swiftie was surprisingly remarkable at it. We ducked and dodged blows from the purple creeps, which was pretty impressive since we were in a moving compartment. It had stopped a little bit after the fighting had commenced. In a confined space, it was extremely difficult to move around, but as the bodies dropped, it became easier to get around.

All the soldiers were on the ground, and we could hear screaming nearby. Swiftie and I looked at each other. "Emily," we said simultaneously.

We kicked the door off its hinges and jumped out to see the screaming carriage cut a corner around the road. It wasn't going too fast down the road, so after we grabbed our weapons from the now-dead elite thug, we chased after it, using the marsh as a shortcut.

"Shoot the wheels!" shouted Swiftie from behind me, who was slowing to a stop. He was older than myself, and so didn't have as much stamina- but I'd never say that do his face. If I did there was no doubt I'd be in a shallow grave. I did as commanded, using my rifle to shoot the wheels with excellent precision, If I say so myself. The carriage bumped to a standstill, the horses kicked off their reins and the screaming had stopped. Terrified, the driver ran off towards the town, leaving just Emily, Logan, Swiftie and I.

I crept over to Logan and Emily's compartment, being careful not to make a sound. We had managed to get over to the door, but there was no movement inside. Sword in my left hand, I used my right to unlock the door so I could stab the son of a bitch myself, but instead I found myself in utter shock and disgust.

Logan was gone, and Emily was on the floor bleeding to death.

"Dear God," said Swift from behind me, "Is she still alive?"

I checked her pulse. "She's alive, but barely. How far is Bowerstone from here?"

"Not too far if we take her through the sewers, but we'll have to be careful about not letting her touch anything in there. It could make her condition worse."

I nodded, and then held her bridal style. She was a sorrowful sight- her clothes were covered in blood oozing from slits in her arms, legs and sides and she was moaning in her sleep, no doubt from all the pain. Swift took her weapons and pointed towards the direction of Bowerstone, and we could just about see the tops of roofs peeking out from the trees.

"I managed to get a message to the boys, they'll meet us in Bowerstone in a day or two. Come on Finn, we best get Emily some help."

Bowerstone industrial was straight ahead, and it looked like paradise to us who had been walking for a long time now, and were weary. It was even worse than last time however inside the city walls. People were lying on the streets either dead or begging; children were carrying crates that were probably as heavy as they were; and everyone there walked with a hunched back, a solemn expression and a feeling of complete despair. People were staring at us, probably because of the bloody mess Emily was in.

"What a dreadfully sorry sight," sighed Swiftie, who looked as deflated as everyone else in industrial.

"Where should I take Emily?"

"You have a place around here, don't you? Take her there whilst I find a doctor. We should split up for a little while and lay low, stay in the house as much as possible."

My place wasn't too far away, so I managed to get there quite quickly. My home was quaint (and dusty) but I liked it, it was my own personal castle. I hurried over to the bed and placed Emily carefully down. She had a cute little frown on her face, a bit like Annabel's. Oh, Annabel. How I wish I could stand a chance against nobles.

The door to my house was kicked open, and a doctor ran in with Swift.

"Out of the way!" He barked. He kneeled over Emily attending to her wounds whilst Swift and I stepped back and watched.

"Do you think she'll make-"

"Don't." Swift interrupted. "She'll be fine. I'm going to find some inconspicuous clothing, and search for Walter and Annabel."

"I'm going to stay."

Swiftie walked out onto the street, and I sat myself down on one of the seats, watching the good old doctor do his thing. It took a long time, but eventually Emily was completely bandaged up. The doctor did a fantastic job, but for a price, so I pulled out what little money I had and hesitantly handed over the gold. I sighed. This girl owed me.

~Normal~

I woke up with the mother of all headaches and a giant pounding in my brain. It seemed almost familiar, since I was getting beaten up so much. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light, I examined the room. It was a slight mess, with dust coating every surface, a bit like the sanctuary only not as extreme. It was a beautiful little home- but whose was it?

"Psst… Emily, are you awake?" A female voice called through the door.

"Just about, yeah,"

Annabel came running to kneel by my bed and give me a huge hug. "It's been forever!"

Her new father's old sword's hilt was digging into me. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Right, sorry!" She seemed better than usual, there was more colour in her cheeks and she had gained back the weight she had lost since Elliot's murder.

"You're looking a lot better, Annabel."

"Thanks. I met Linda again, do you remember her?"

"Yeah, I remember. She was Elliot's sister right?"

"Right. We talked for a long time, reminiscing about him. It was nice."

"Do you remember that time when Percy tried to kiss you-"

"-And Elliot got a busted lip for defending me! 'You have insulted this maiden's honour'! I gave him my handkerchief after that to wipe up the blood."

"You know what? I bet after all those years he kept that handkerchief." I smiled. It was nice to be talking like this. "He loved you from the very beginning."

She matched my smile. "I know."

"Helloo ladies," Ben Finn walked in, with a bag of food in his arms, "Ah, the lovely Annabel. Changed your mind about tonight?"

I could see the dagger look Annabel was sending to Finn. "No," she said icily. She stood up and dusted herself off. "It's not safe for me to visit often, but I'll come back in a couple of days, ok?"

"Ok," I replied, "Be careful."

"I will," she said on her way out.

"What's with her?" asked Ben.

I looked over at Ben. He looked like a lost puppy, staring at the now closed door. Men are pigs sometimes, I swear.

~Authors note~

This one is a little longer than usual and a bit long winded too, sorry about that! Hope you enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review, it would really help! :)

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Emily, the rest of the fable world including Ben Finn (boo) belongs to Lionhead studios.

I'd like to thank Robyn for proofreading for me. You, my friend, are awesome.

Thanks for reading, bye!