(E) 06/11/22 Original A/N: Here's chapter 10! I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving! We obviously don't celebrate it in England lol but most of my audience comes from the US! Thought I'd add Four's POV into this chapter, who doesn't enjoy reading a Four POV? Once again, thanks for reviewing! Enjoy.

Chapter 10.

Four POV

My fingers tap on the train table, the rhythmless sound aiding my impatience. I look out the far window, waiting to catch sight of the Princess. My eyes sting with sleep still trying to hold on, being that I had to get up at 4 this morning. I knew I had no hope of reclaiming any of it, after I was woken up unceremoniously by Zeke earlier on. He had barged into my Dauntless apartment, letting me know there had been a change of plans. He chucked a pile of clothes onto me, then ran out the room. I can still hear Uriah laughing along with his brother as they ran down the hall.

Al is apparently ill, Uriah had said something about a virus going around the country. The Crown have decided to postpone Abnegation's tour until my brother's is better, leaving just Dauntless left for Tris to visit.

I left Dauntless a little after 4am, needing to get to Candor around 8. It's a longer ride from Candor to Dauntless compared to the time it would have taken to get to Abnegation. I tried to sleep on the way here, the seats are comfy enough. But as soon as I was told Tris would be visiting today, my mind seemed unable to shut down.

I look up at the clock above the train door, watching the hands make their way around it. 7:55.

I pick up my phone, opening it to the blank text screen. I rub my hands down my face, feeling foolish. I've been staring at this blank screen for the past two days, unable to think of anything to write. I hope I don't have this same problem with her in person?

I twist my head back to the window next to me. The sky is cloudless, the sun shining intensely over Candor. It's a great day to visit Dauntless for the first time, even with the majority of the faction's infrastructure in the heart of the twin mountains.

Commotion breaks out on the train platform which swiftly spikes my heart rate. The last time I saw Tris was only two days ago, but for some reason it feels much longer. The thought of the Princess brings me back to our last meeting in Erudite. I still have the bracelet she handed over, the piece had been sitting in a draw, tucked away in my home in Dauntless. I haven't had any time to take it to Tori yet. My plan was to take it today by myself, but that's out of the window. I fist the outside of my pocket, feeling the necklace through the fabric. I don't dare get it out, not wanting anyone to see it, and also not wanting to burn myself again.

The sound of train doors opening captures my attention, making me look at the motionless ones at the end of the car. I watch in suspense, waiting for her to make her way through the carriage door. I try to school my features, not wanting to come across too eager.

A flash of honey blonde hair passes the window. The door slides open finally. She stands in the doorway, catching my gaze. Something inside me is slightly disappointed, I don't know if I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this.

She storms into the carriage, taking a seat aggressively in front of me. Her sweet face is now sour, her red tinged nose emphasising her angry expression. I open my mouth, then quickly shut it again. If I've made her angry without knowing it, I don't want to dig myself into a hole.

She stares at me, expectantly. Going against my common sense, I ask with trepidation, "What's wrong?"

That question seemed to release steam, and she suddenly flooded out with her anger. "Peter is what's wrong. That boy didn't show up for the whole day yesterday! Then, he has the guts to show up to my room this morning saying it was rude of me to do the tour without him! Can you believe that? Who does he think he is? My schedule doesn't revolve around him! It barely revolves around me." She huffs, clearly overwhelmed with emotions. "This family is genuinely exhausting. Will I ever get a break from your brothers?"

"Probably-"

"No! I don't actually think I will! I'm going to die with you lot giving me a mental battering."

I look at her, waiting for more. When she doesn't say anything I ask, "Have you finished?" Her eyes light up, but not in the sweet, endearing way that I've seen multiple times before. She gets up all of a sudden, trying to move past me down the aisle. I grab her arm gently when she passes me. She ignores my hand, but thankfully stops moving. "I didn't mean it like that, Tris. Please sit back down." She thinks for a few moments, putting on the dramatics. Returning to her seat with a big sigh,she stares at me in silence. I think of something to say to fix this miscommunication without making it any worse. "What I meant was I wanted to make sure you got out what you needed to say before I put in my two cents." She doesn't look too impressed, raising her eyebrows. I decided to just carry on and hope for the best. "Peter's not been his usual self since the incident on the ship. I don't know if he actually did some neurological damage or if his ego has been permanently stained, but I think we just have to accept that he's going to be distasteful for a while. I think I heard Mum talking about getting a therapist in for him- and a full body medical examination."

She thinks for a few seconds, her face too readable to be leaving me in the dark. I can tell she's stuck between my explanation and her anger. I'm not really trying to defend Peter, he's never been a pleasant person to begin with, but he's never been this bad. I wait for her response, hoping she's mellowed out a bit. She ends up nodding, pushing herself further down into her seat.

The train starts up, taking us out of Candors station. From the corner of my eye I can see Tris shuffling around in her bag, looking for something. She ends up picking out her now working phone.

I think of my visit to Erudite. There was no need for me to go, really. I know Tris had just wanted me to pass on the message. But for some reason I couldn't stop myself from getting her belongings fixed personally. I was planning to surprise her with them when she visited Dauntless, not actually meaning to bump into Eric outside Erudite's headquarters. Despite it not being the plan, I'm glad I was there. I always knew Eric had been a bit brainwashed by our uncle and his main lackey, Jeanine Matthews, but I had always thought he had some common sense. Arthur, compared to our other uncles, is still trying to hold on to some semblance of power. What usually happens when we all start to mature and grow older, is that the uncles become more distant. Instead of being your right hand man, they become a phone call away. You're supposed to be relying on your advisors and the factions representatives, not the old leader.

My thoughts drift away from Arthur, looking back up to my travel companion. It's been strange, getting to know Tris. Knowing that she will be an integral part of your life forever, is slightly alarming. With Nita, I had been on the verge of accepting living an unsatisfying life, being unfulfilled with my wife. The thought of running a country has never enticed me, so that had never been a reason to push through this block of emotions. Having your decisions affect the people in your country is too much power, for anyone. Even with the factions, the crown has always had the final say on the big issues- poverty, food shortages, faction conflicts, country animosity. I know Eric and Peter, from a young age, have had their eye on the throne. Eric has always made a big effort with Nita; Peter too, in his own way. Out of all our classes, politics has always been their highest scoring. It makes me wonder why they don't seem to be making the same effort with Tris. She's going to hold the same position as Nita would have? Maybe they've just been shaken up since the switch?

A waving hand in front of my face gets my attention. Tris sits back in her seat. "I've been speaking to myself for the past two minutes."

I chuckle, shrugging my shoulders. "Two minutes is a long time to be speaking without a reply."

She looks unbothered, "Sure it is. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you were put on this train to let me know a bit about your faction before I get there. Instead, I've been talking to a brick wall."

I nod, looking up at her face. Her words are deliberate, but I can tell she's not taking this too seriously. "So, what do you want to know?"

Her eyes move around, thinking of things to ask. "Hmmmm," she begins, "any customs I should know of?" Suddenly looking more interested, she leans forward in her seat, resting her bare arms on the table in front. Her short black sheer sleeves move with her, flowing with the motion.

Slightly distracted, I try to think of any customs we do have. I see her raise her brows, waiting for an answer. "Oh! Yeah, I have one! Shake everyones hand when you meet them." I sit back, pleased with myself.

She lets out a puff of breath, shaking her head. Her long hair falls around her face, the shorter pieces becoming loose from behind her ears. "I already know that, everyone knows that." She continues looking at me for some reason. I stare back blankly, not knowing what she wants. Huffing again, she dramatically sits back. "Fine, it's nice to know Dauntless's own Prince doesn't know the basics of his faction." I start to try and defend myself, but she puts up a hand. "It's fine. I'll just go in blind. You know, apart from shaking their hands."

I grin over to her, unable to help myself. She looks away, her lips pulling up slightly.

We end up speaking on and off for the rest of the trip. For a majority of it she was texting on her phone. She had said she only remembered it was fixed last night and hasn't replied to any of her family back home since yesterday. She looks frustrated for a few minutes whilst texting, her phone going off constantly before she even pressed send. She ends up turning the phone off, shoving it back inside her bag. Tris turns to look out the window, obviously upset.

"Everything alright?"

She lets out a breath, looking back at her zipped up bag. "Yeah." She opens the bag again, taking out the phone. "It's just," looking up at me, "Xav's been texting me like I've been MIA for the past three months. Even Mum and Dad haven't been this overbearing, it's grinding on me." She looks far away in thought, looking back out of the window. We're finally moving through the border between Candor and Dauntless, passing under the mountains. Warm red light flickers through the train cart, bathing everything in its wake.

I've never really been jealous of much, with me not wanting to be with Nita or win the Crown. The most I've ever been jealous of was when I was a child, wanting the same type of attention my father gave to his work. That jealousy morphed into a detachment from him, which then led to the dissipation of our relationship. My father is a good enough man, he just doesn't know where his priorities should lie. I can't help but feel this simmering jealousy inside of me, hearing Tris talk about her past life and relationships. I shouldn't be feeling like this. Everyone has a past- which is quite literally, for her, unobtainable now.

I push it down, knowing it's stupid. I don't even know her relationships with the Athuan boys, let alone my own feelings. "Were you two, uhh, close?" I end up asking, not being able to help myself.

She nods absentmindedly, playing with her necklace. My heart feels like it's started to drop ever so slightly. I don't know what I expected her to say. I'm sure we were the anomaly with not being all that close with Nita, not the other way around.

"I'm close to all of them. I grew up in the Palace- which is unusual, I know." She's right. I know Tris and her brother were adopted, and I don't know the usual protocol for Princesses without parents. Nita used to live a few miles away from the palace with her parents, like the rest of the world's Princesses. The King and Queen of Athua taking in their Princess as their own is basically unheard of. That was, until Tris.

"Out of all the brothers, me and Xav just clicked. I always knew I was going to pick him." I nod along, fighting off that growing pit in my stomach. I do my best to not be awkward, even though we're blatantly talking about the boy she loves. "But the thing is," she's looking at me now, "I've never not been with them all, especially Xav. I've never had time to figure myself out, let alone figure a relationship out. The past few days have given me time to wonder if I still would have chosen Xav if I hadn't grown up with him."

"Have you come to a conclusion?"

She's quiet, thinking. "I don't know yet." She shakes her head, laughing slightly. "I'm sorry. I'm just dumping this all on you." Her head turns towards the door, getting up. "I'm going to the bathroom. You can have some peace and quiet for a few minutes." She smiles, then leaves the car.

I lean back in my chair, confused with my own feelings. She's so unlike Nita, it's overwhelming. I've grown up with someone who was dull, only thinking of themself, holding the Crown over all of our heads. I've never been so set on not becoming King of Tosken, let alone being her husband. At no time have I enjoyed time spent with Nita, and was frankly selfishly pleased when she got matched with Athua.

With Tris, I feel more comfortable. It's bad of me to be pleased with the switch, as I know she would have been, and still would be overjoyed to go back to Athua. All I know is that my life might finally be worth living with her as our Princess.

...

The train gets into the station at around 12. Our nation wide train line stops just outside of the outdoor market area, separating it from the faction run trains. I know our visitors wouldn't enjoy the process of Dauntless travel.

I hold the door open for Tris and she hops out. I follow suit, finally standing on familiar soil. It's a degree or two warmer in Dauntless, the sun blaring down intensifying that heat.

Tris looks around the open space, then looks at me, confused. "You don't have a train station?" At the moment we're standing on a patch of grass.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's a big deterrent to visitors."

She drops it after that, still looking a bit puzzled. The Dauntless rather keep themselves separate from the other factions, especially the officials in them. No person who thinks highly of themselves will willingly come to a faction that isn't built for those important people. My Mother and Father have to put up with it when they need to come visit Dauntless.

"The Dauntless are people of tradition. You wouldn't want to tell them to build a train station when they've never had one before."

Tris's eyes shine with curiosity, taking in the scenery in front of us. We're looking out over the large market, a black mass among the Tosken forest. The twin mountains are to the back of the trees, looking down over Dauntless.

"Where is everything?"

I smile, gesturing for her to walk forward. "This way."

Tris POV

Four leads me through the bustling market, zigzagging through the stalls. The people of Dauntless are reserved, most of them ignoring my presence. A few smile here and there at Four, some incline their heads, but I think most don't even realise we're there. It feels odd, but not in a bad way.

We come up to an enclosed stall, with 'TATTOO PARLOUR' hanging above. I hope he doesn't think I'm going to get a tattoo, I don't even know if it's allowed. Four opens up the waterproof sheet, making room for us to enter. I smile in thanks as I pass him, standing in the shop. The room's a decent size, with two seats and two desks at the back. Tattoo designs hang from the walls. There's a fan in the corner, flapping the paper around in the breeze.

The lady sitting at one of the desks looks up when Four lets the curtain drop. She stands up, making her way towards us. "Four!" She greets the Prince, clasping him on the arm. Her long black hair is messily half pulled up, grey highlights naturally streaking through it.

Four smiles fondly at the woman, patting her hand. "How've you been, Tori?"

"I've been good. Business has been a bit slow, but nothing terrible." She finally looks over to me, raising her brows. "Looks as if you've been busy."

Four rolls his eyes, "This is Tris." He then ducks down, speaking only to me. "Dauntless don't do titles." I nod, looking back at Tori. Her small, dark, angular eyes stare at me, without a doubt judging.

She holds out a hand and I shake it without hesitation. Her grip is remarkably strong for a small woman. "It's nice to meet you, Tris."

I smile at her, trying to harden my grip without it seeming too forced. "You too."

Realising my hand, she turns back to Four. "Not that I don't enjoy the company," she begins, "but is there a reason you're in my shop and not the compound?" I look at Four, also wondering the same thing.

He looks around, seeming to make sure we're alone. "Can we talk out back?"

Tori nods and leads the way. "Mind you, Bud's out there."

Unbothered, Four replies, "It's fine, I think he may be of use."

Tori goes through another set of curtains, thinner than the first ones. A large man sits behind a crowded desk, full of disassembled electronics. He sees us walk in and grins. "What a surprise! And you brought the Princess!" He's standing in front of us before I know it. The man is filled out, coming to the same height as Four. He is the broadest person I've ever seen, the size of the room making him look like a giant.

I smile towards him, holding out my hand first. "It's Tris."

He nods along, "Bud." He shakes with care, aware of his strength. He pats Four on the shoulder. "Did you want another tattoo, Four?" I look at Four, twisting my head ever so slightly. I didn't realise the Prince had any tattoos. They must be places that are hidden.

Four shakes his head. "Not today." He reaches into his pocket. "We're here about this." He drops the item onto the desk without care, and I just about catch a red splotch on his palm. I look over at the gem, as does Tori and Bud. I lean in closer, and see that the sapphire is frost bitten. The jewel slowly thaws, the evidence of the freeze long gone. I look back down to Four's now burnt hand, my eyes latching onto the ring of fire.

I reach out without thinking, my fingers gently tracing the angry spot. I hear him intake a breath. I removed the light pressure, sure I just aided the pain. "You shouldn't have held it for so long."

He laughs lightly, "Ah, yes. The exact thing someone wants to hear after getting hurt. Reprimanding."

I grin, looking into his dark blue eyes. I shrug my shoulders, "Sorry."

We looked back at Tori and Bud, their eyes glued on us. Bud has gone back to his, with Tori standing next to him. I feel my cheeks heat up, having completely forgotten they were there.

Four clears his throat, "Anyway, do you have any knowledge on this type of stuff?"

Bud picks up the necklace by the sapphire, then drops it straight away. I look at him in disbelief. Did he not witness anything that just happened not even a minute ago? He looks up sheepishly. "You don't truly believe something until it happens to you." Tori, next to him, shakes her head. Bud swivels around in his chair and fumbles with some items behind him. He turns back around, a thick, old looking journal in his hands. He brushes off the cover, dust particles lifting into the air. Opening it, he flips through pages, searching for the correct one. He lands on it, spreading it out flat on the table. I lean back over, Four following suit. The print is handwritten in unreadable cursive. There's a faded picture of a gem, which I guess is a sapphire. The colouring has faded with time, just a hint of the blue is left.

I look at Bud, wondering if he's able to decipher the writing. "Anything?" Four questions. He's looking hopefully over to the book.

Bud doesn't reply straight away, instead leaning over the table for a pair of glasses. Reading the text over again, he says, "This text is just about Tosken's Sapphire. I think you know most of this stuff already, Four. It's found in the Southern Shallows, deep within the lake. Only the chosen Prince is able to dive down and retrieve the gem at the allotted time. It's a crime against the Crown to retrieve any, the lake being cordoned off from the public because of this." He flips over the page, going back and forth. "It does say that anyone who does take the gem from the Southern Shallows will pay the price. The stones aren't hollow." I play with my necklace, thinking about the stone around my neck. My mother gave me her necklace early, but that didn't seem to change the diamond in any way? If I'm understanding what Bud's saying correctly, then the gems have some kind of innate knowledge? They seem to know who should have the gem and when they are to have it. This sapphire on the table, supposedly, belongs to me. But not at this moment, and not the way it was harvested. The gem seems to know that, hence the freezing burns.

Coming to the same conclusion, we all look at each other. Tori speaks up. "Where did you get this?" She looks concerned, her eyes flicking from the Prince to me. I see Four nod at me from the corner of my eye.

"Prince Arthur gave it to me, as a present from Erudite." Her concern doesn't falter with my explanation. She sits down on Bud's busy desk, looking worriedly at the bracelet.

"You know this isn't good, right?" We both nod without hesitation. She makes eye contact with Four, "This seems like an issue for the Crown. Maybe you should bring this to the King and Queen."

Four's shaking his head before Tori has even finished. "If I thought I could do that, I would have. Faction tensions are too high as it is, especially against Erudite. If I take this down the official route, I'm risking some type of upheaval." He rubs his forehead, stressed.

Tori notices, looking at him sympathetically. "Okay, we'll look into it more. I know for certain we have more of those old books scattered around here somewhere." Smiling fondly at Four, she hops off the desk. "Do you mind if we keep it here for a bit? It'll be easier to research the gem further with it within reach."

Four looks indecisive, so I decide to step in. "Sounds like a great plan." I force out a closed mouth smile, putting my palm on the back of Four's upper arm. "I think it's time you show me the rest of the faction." I feel his muscles relax slightly under my palm. I let my hand drop, having done its job. He gives me a small smile, then says his goodbyes to the two artists. I politely say goodbye, then follow Four out of the Parlour.

A phone goes off, with both of us reaching for our pockets. My hand goes into my skirt before remembering I had turned it off on the train. Four is already texting back on his phone when I look back up.

He finishes up, putting the device back in his trouser pocket. "That was Zeke. He said to get a move on."