Ok, so I thought about it, and have decided that I'm going to add a second chapter to this! I hope you like it. At the beginning of this chapter, Tony makes a reference to a play called Everyman, which is a real 15th century play. You can look it up, but the moral of the story is that everyone dies with only their good deeds to accompany them. I spent the last half hour trying to find a play that could be one Tony would reference. I plan on at least one more chapter at this point, but there'll probably be more than that.

-owl

As it so happened, Tony's meeting with King Fornell didn't end as he had been hoping. As soon as he approached the meeting place, Fornell was nowhere to be found. Instead, three archers were mounted on horses behind a line of at least ten foot soldiers with swords and spears. As one, the archers knocked their bows and aimed at Tony.

"You know guys, this really reminds me of the play Everyman," Tony said, loud enough for the foot soldiers to hear, but not the archers. "If I die from your guys' weapons, I will at least die having tried to do a good deed." Before the Investigatii delegation had the chance to attack, though, Tony had already turned his horse around and urged it into a gallop.

When he returned to the castle, he gave no response when people asked him how his meeting went other than telling them that nothing had changed in the war. His tone of voice was nearly the same one Ziva used when she was angry, so the castle residents didn't dare push for more information.

A month after Tony's failed meeting with King Fornell, the warfront had gotten closer and closer to the castle of DiNozzo. It finally reached the point where a siege had started, blocking the capital city of DiNozzo.

The warning bells rang, waking Tony from his fitful sleep next to Ziva, who had yet to return to the war front. She slept on, not even noticing the bells. He had instructed the guards to ring the bells only if the Investigatii army was upon the city. Pulling himself from the warm bed, Tony peered out the window. His and Ziva's rooms were near the top of one of the towers, so he had a good vantage point.

Along the outer wall of the city, the opposing army was visible by their campfires, and they were mainly encamped near the gates to the city. As it was dark, Tony couldn't gauge an accurate estimation of enemy soldiers. Then, looking into the lower town, he saw the army of DiNozzo clustered, filling nearly all the streets.

"Tony?" Ziva's voice came from behind him, and he quickly turned to her.

"Hey," he said, walking towards her. "Investigatii has made it to the city. Our army is huddled inside the lower town. It looks like it'll probably become a siege."

Ziva stood from the bed and walked over to the window Tony had just vacated, peering out of it. "When did our army arrive in the city?"

Before Tony could answer, there was a hurried knock on the door and Tim rushed in, panting.

"Tony, they practically chased us into the city. It's not looking good." Tim said, trying to catch his breath.

Ziva looked from Tony to Tim. "Well then, I think it is time I get back to the front."

Both men just stared at her in shock. Tim had been leading at the warfront since Ziva had gotten injured and was under strict instructions from the royal physician to rest. She had not wanted to heed his instructions, but Tony didn't want her to hurt herself more, so he made sure she did listen.

"Ziva, the physician hasn't said you could start doing physically stressful activities yet." Tony tried discouraging her.

Behind him, Tim nodded frantically.

"I have been away from my post for too long." Glaring once more at the pair, Ziva walked into her wardrobe and started getting ready.

Twenty minutes later, in full armor, Ziva made her way into the lower town, Tony and Tim a few yards behind her. As she walked through the crowd of soldiers, everyone became silent. Spotting a cart outside one of the town houses, Ziva clambered onto it and faced her army.

"I want at least half of you to make sure that every entry into the city is barricaded, the rest of you may set up your camp in the castle courtyard. We are well prepared to handle a siege."

Then she hopped off the cart and began speaking with one of the generals as they walked back to the castle.

By the time the sun rose above the horizon the city had been locked down and prepared for the imminent siege.

A fortnight passed, the siege raging onwards. While Ziva was indeed correct that they were well prepared for a siege, the person in charge of inventory had failed to account for the full army to be staying inside the city. As such, after just two weeks, the city was running out of the necessities.

"This needs to be finished soon."

Tony looked up to see Ziva standing, facing the window, her hands on her hips.

"How do you suggest we accomplish that?" Tony asked, putting down the report he was reading.

Walking away from the window, Ziva began talking. "I remember, in the first few weeks after we arrived here before we were married, I had time to explore. I found that there are tunnels under the castle, leading outside."

That got Tony's interest. "Are you sure they make it outside?" He asked.

"I followed a few of them, but never got all the way outside. Father said that the Meadth castle has tunnels like what I found here, in case of sieges. It would make sense that the tunnels would have the same purpose."

Tony nodded. "If you can find a way through the tunnels, feel free to end this siege."

And, so, Ziva began spending her days mapping out the tunnels, with Abby's help. (Abby had not returned to McGee Manor since Ziva had gotten hurt a month prior). Together they wandered through the tunnels, carefully marking them on the parchment they had brought with them.

Three days into the project, Ziva began carrying her dagger with her in the tunnels. Abby had been startled by a large rat jumping out at them, and at the time, Ziva had no weapons with her. After that she always had at least one on her at all times. They hadn't come across any other animals in the tunnels since the rat.

"Is that daylight?" Abby asked, pointing into the inky darkness past the light of their torch.

Ziva peered forwards, seeing the tiny pin prick of light that Abby had noticed. A grin split her face. "I think it is, Abby!"

They followed the tunnel, the light getting bigger as they got closer. When they were maybe eight fathoms from the light that was now clearly an exit from the tunnels, the floor was all of a sudden gone.

Ziva was in the lead, and she quickly threw up her arm to stop Abby from walking right off the edge. She looked down and saw, faintly, crests of waves. It seemed that there was an underground lake under the castle.

"What is that?" Abby asked, holding the torch closer to the edge so they could see further down. "What's floating down there?"