Not wasting any time, Phillip hurried out of the tent; when he figured Adaline and Alexznader were okay. He hurried across what was the marketplace, straight to the inner wall; separating the castle to the little town around it. There weren’t any guards on the top of the wall like the last one but there were two in front of the gate. 

Should I just say that Ian sent for me? Maybe I can trick them into opening the door for me? I was called in by the queen for some magic trick?

“That last one sounds really cliche. Just float over the wall.” Juliet commented. 

Phillip looked up the wall and felt uneasy about how high it was. 

That would use up a lot of magic though. 

“Got any better ideas, besides trying to seduce a guard.” 

I wasn’t going to seduce a guard! Phillip started to blush.

“Right because that wasn’t going to be your next idea.” Juliet said sarcastically. 

I wasn’t! I’ll just fly over the back side of the wall then. 

Phillip ran around the wall a few meters away from where the guards stood. He quickly glanced around, making sure no one else would see him. When he thought that no one would see him, he slowly breathed in and out. Calming himself down and focusing on himself and Juliet. He envisioned himself and Juliet safely and carefully getting over the wall. 

He felt himself slowly being lifted off the ground, the wind blowing at his face. His hood fell off head as they went over the wall. They safely made it on the other side of the wall, gradually putting his feet on the ground. Phillip opened his eyes and looked over towards Juliet who was stretching

“Ready?” Juliet asked. 

“Yes.” 

Phillip walked towards the castle, looking through the bottom windows to try and figure out where he was. He looked into a library, no one else was in there but he hoped that Ian was. He opened up the window and slipped in. The library was grand, hundreds and hundreds of books. Phillip walked around in awe at all of the books. He went up and grabbed a book off the shelf, only to find it blank. 

“Why is this blank?” Philliped picked up another book, also finding it blank. 

“You really think the author is going to write an entire other story just to have only a paragraph or two written out in the actual story.” Juliet answered. 

“That’s a lot of extra work. So only the pages that are mentioned in this book, turn up on the actual books.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Phillip glared at Juliet before focusing back on the task at hand. He walked out of the library, glancing down the hallways to see if any guards were coming. Finding the coast clear, he quietly walked out of the room. Juliet trotted behind him. They maneuvered their way to the second floor, occasionally seeing guards and maids. Phillip didn’t see the King or Queen anywhere, assuming they were either in their room or out in the dining room. 

Making it to the third floor, Phillip started opening up doors and peeking inside to see what room it was. When he opened up a particular door… 

“Leave me alone!” A voice shouted. 

Phillip quickly closed the door, he knew that Ian was in there but he stopped. The room smelled, it was disgusting. Phillip was glad that he hadn’t eaten anything or he would’ve thrown up again. He took a deep breath and entered the door. Ian shouted at Phillip again but he quickly entered and shut the door behind him. 

The room was utterly filthy; dirty clothes scattered everywhere, old plates of food here and there, old blankets thrown on the floor, curtain half ripped only letting a tad bit of light in. Broken picture frames, papers from the desk were thrown onto the ground, broken book shelves leaving all the books on the ground; ripped up pages crumpled up. Phillip didn’t have to even look into the bathroom to know it was just as bad. 

Not being able to see well, Phillip brought fire from his hand; lighting up the room. There was a body under the covers on the bed, rising up and down as Ian took in breaths. Phillip took slow steps to his bed, making sure not to step on anything. Juliet made a leap straight for the bed, seeing that was the only ‘clean’ thing in the room. The bed dipped down when she landed on it, startling Ian. 

A black hair, tan skin, dark clothed boy quickly shot out of the bed. His hair reached his shoulders, clearly ratted and oily. Phillip could tell by his baggy black clothes, Ian hadn’t eaten much. His nails had chipped black paint on them, where his face had smeared eyeliner. His ears had small silver hoops on them with his black messy hair tangled in them. 

Ian rubbed his eyes to see if he actually saw what looked like a tiger on his bed. When Phillip moved closer, Ian froze. He turned his gaze over to Phillip and screamed. 

“No no shhhhh.” Phillip ran over to him and tried to cover his mouth.

The fire from his hand disappeared, leaving the room to be dark. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Phillip spoke harshly and Ian became quiet. 

Phillip sighed and stuck out his hand to bring the fire back, when he looked at Ian. There were two different colored eyes staring back at him in fright. A gorgeous blue eye and a beautiful green one, both on the brink of tears. Ian’s hands were on his mouth, stopping him from screaming. 

Phillip took a second to get a better look at Ian. He was shorter than Phillip but not by a lot. He had a few pimples here and there, red nose and red puffy eyes; with mascara and eyeliner around the eyes. 

“Hi… I’m Phillip and this is Juliet…” Phillip trailed off not really knowing what to say. 

“You idiot. Tell him you don’t mean any harm and that his parents didn't send you to kill him. He looks like he’s gonna pee his pants.” Juliet huffed from the bed, before laying down. 

“Don’t worry. Your parents didn’t send us. We aren’t going to harm you, in fact the opposite. I’m here to protect you from someone.” Phillip quickly stated. 

Ian didn’t answer, only showing some relief in his figure. 

“You can speak now?” 

Phillip meant to phrase it as a statement but sounded like a question. When he said that, Ian’s hands immediately left his mouth. He opened it and a little squeal came out, which caused his hands to cover his mouth again. 

Phillit was shocked at what just happened, it seemed like Ian wasn’t trying to cover his mouth; yet his hands did. 

“You used magic on him. He was screaming and you wanted him to be quiet so now every time he tries to scream his hands cover his mouth.” Juliet informed. 

“Oh you are free to talk on your own and scream too.”

There was a beat of silence when Ian removed his hands from his mouth. He kept looking between Juliet and Phillip. 

“You’re a witch.” Ian’s voice came out raspy. 

Phillip winced at his voice. Before he continued with Ian, he searched the bedroom. Looking for an empty cup to give Ian some water. He noticed one on the window seal and went to grab it. He walked back over to Ian, filling up the cup with water. He handed the cup to Ian, who just stared at the water in awe. 

“Please drink. Yes I am a witch and this is my companion Juliet. No she’s not a tiger, she’s a cat. If you’re wondering, yes I can understand her. I am not here for the tournament, I traveled with friends to come see you.” Phillip explained. 

Ian was puzzled the whole time Phillip was talking, but he finished the cup of water before he spoke. 

“You’re here for me and not to become King?”

“Yes, I have no intention of becoming king.”

“Why not?”

“You have to be the king. You have so much to change about this world but you can’t do that if you’re cooped up inside your room all day.” Phillip clarified, taking the cup out of Ian’s hand. 

“Why me? I’ve basically been thrown out of my own family. My parents say I’m dead to them.”

“It has to be you.” Phillip argued. “You like men so it would be good to have a King who’s different.”

“Shhhh!! You can’t say those words so freely, they’ll have your head for it.” Ian shushed Phillip. 

“It’s fine, I’m just like you. I like men too.”

“Do you want to get yourself killed? They’ll take you away.”

As if on cue, the guards barged into the room. Marching through the mess and straight for Phillip. They grabbed him by the arms and started hauling him out of the room. Ian followed them, shouting at them to let him go while Phillip tried wiggling out of their grip. Phillip got dragged all the way down to the dungeon, causing a lot of commotion along the way. Halfway to the dungeon, Ian got dragged back to his room; most likely getting locked in his room. While Phillip was thrown into a cell and locked in. 

Phillip didn’t try to fight back, knowing it would only make things worse. In the cell he could think a few things through; like how he would get Ian out of the castle to go see Silas, who could be the person who kills Ian, and how he could get rid of the King and Queen.

It felt like hours had passed by until Ian came running down the hallway. He had changed out of his dirty clothes into some fresh black pants, a fancy black top with gold around the edges and red shoes along with a red sash. He had snagged a tray of food, for Phillip. A piece of bread, a small bowl of stew and a cup of water. Phillip noticed that Juliet wasn’t with him. 

He asked about her and Ian told him that he hid her in his room so no one would find her. Phillip thanked him for the food and water. Ian told him that he would go talk to the head guard about releasing Phillip or he would just steal a key to get him out. Phillip reassured him that if anything happened he would use a spell or two to get out. Once Ian left, Phillip was left alone with his thoughts again; only to have a few minutes of quiet before the King and Queen walked in. 

Phillip immediately knew from their attire that they were the King and Queen. When they came up to his cell, he just turned away from them; not giving them the time of day. The King demanded to know what was going on and that Phillip shows some respect towards ‘his’ leaders. Phillip didn’t answer him. 

“Why did you cast a spell on our son?” The Queen asked. 

“You really think I casted a spell on your son. You think that it's my fault for the way he is! You put the blame on the first person who you think is suitable for causing all of your problems! I didn't do shit to your son! There’s nothing fucking wrong with him!” Phillip snapped at the Queen. 

“Take the spell off our son and we will let you live.” She said calmly. 

“Go fuck yourselves.” Phillip spat in her face. 

The King started shouting at him, insulting him and threatening him. The Queen however remained eerily quiet. She never really did say much in the novel anyways, so it wasn’t a surprise that she wasn’t speaking to Phillip. 

The King let out all of his anger on Phillip, yelling and banging on the cell bars. Phillip had his back turned to them, not being fazed by any of it. When the King was done, he and the Queen left. When Phillip was alone again, he tried to calm himself down but couldn't do it. He let his blood boil, before ripping a bar out of its place and striking it against the wall. He continued to hit the wall until he felt better, leaving a few pieces of bricks to crumble out of their spots. 

Phillip dropped the bar onto the ground and sat down with his back against the wall. He put his head against the wall and closed his eyes.