There were clank noises coming from the cell door. Phillip opened his eyes to a blurry vision of Ian and Juliet. Phillip rubbed his eyes and stood up, before he could ask anything Ian grabbed his arm and rushed him out the door. Stumbling to keep up with Ian, Phillip ran with him all the way back to his room. 

The room had been cleaned, no longer a pig’s den. Ian shut and locked the door behind them. He then handed Phillip fresh clothes, to make him ‘blend’ in more. 

He was given a dress, with a corset that would fit around on the outside, with a waist apron, and a bandana. Phillip was about to intrude on the idea but Ian insisted and shoved him into the bathroom to change. Phillip was reluctant about the whole dress ordeal but put it on anyways. 

It went down to his knees, and the corset fit. He put the bandana around his dirty blonde hair, holding it in place. He tied the apron around his waist and looked at himself in the mirror. The dress was a dark navy blue color, with a black corset, white apron and the same dark navy blue bandana. 

He stepped out of the bathroom, finding Ian pacing back and forth while Juliet just watched him. Once he came fully out of the bathroom, Juliet started rolling around on the bed. Clearly laughing at him. Ian stared at his outfit, judgingnly. He went over to a box in his room and searched for some boots. He pulled out slip on ankle high boots and then tossed a pair of socks at Phillip. 

“Why do I have to wear all of this?” Phillip asked, putting on his socks. 

“Everyone will know who you are by what you wear and you’ll be beheaded.” Ian answered, going back to pacing. 

“I can handle a few ignorant people.” 

“I was more worried about myself…” Ian trailed off, a guilty look coming across his face. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well if someone found out I was conspiring with a witch who has the same disease as me then I’ll definitely be shunned by everyone. My parents shunning me is already hard.” Ian admitted. 

“First off, there’s nothing wrong with you. You aren’t sick. Second, who cares what your parents think. They aren’t going to be the rulers for long.” Phillip argued. “I’m here to protect you .”

“From what?” Ian questioned. 

“I- uhhhhh.”

“Tell him something about there being a witch club or something that is always watching out for injustice.” Juliet commented. 

“The higher ups sent me to protect you from an unruly ending. Our intell tells us that someone is out for you and your position. We don’t know who and that’s why I am here.” Phillip explained. 

“Someone’s going to kill me?!” Ian exclaimed. 

“Yes but I won’t let them… so why am I wearing a maids outfit. I look like a girl.”

“Oh yes. I wanted to get you out of the dungeon but having you roam around in your other outfit would cause a scene. Also can we go check out the tournament?” Ian shyly asked. 

“You are the prince, you don’t have to ask me for permission.”

Ian smiled brightly, he was happy. He not only met a witch but someone else who was like him. Someone who understood who he was, and someone he could talk to about his ‘disease’. Before they headed off, Ian made sure to check up on his appearance one last time. While Phillip was in the bathroom, Ian fixed up his makeup, his nails. Grabbed his rings and necklaces, putting them on. Feeling more glamorous now. He hadn’t felt this good about himself in a while and was grateful that Phillip was the one who got sent to protect him. 

They snuck through the castle, roaming around to dodge the guards. When they got outside, Phillip offered to float them over the wall but Ian didn’t like the idea. So he led Phillip and Juliet back into the castle. Walking straight to the library, Ian walked up to a certain table. He moved a chair out of the way and reached down and pulled at the rug. It lifted up revealing a secret door, Ian opened the door and slipped inside. Phillip and Juliet followed suit, going down into the ground. Phillip shut the door behind them, leaving the room pitch black. 

Phillip brought up the fire again and followed after Ian. Phillip never really knew where that trap door was. The novel just mentioned that Ian had a secret passageway so he was able to slip out whenever he pleased. He never frequently used it in the novel, not until Silas showed up. 

The passageway seemed to be endless but they eventually made it out. When they climbed out of the hole, Phillip understood why it took so long. They had walked from the castle to the outside of the entire kingdom. They wandered around the forest, looking for a large crowd of people, which they didn’t think would be hard to find. After wondering for a while Phillip had Juliet climb a tree to get a better view. Instead of telling Phillip where the contest was, she decided to jump from tree to tree. Leaving Phillip and Ian confused.

Phillip started to follow her with Ian right behind him. When they finally caught up with Juliet, she was perched on a branch; staring straight ahead with her tail swishing back and forth. She seemed irritated at something. 

What’s wrong?

“Something’s not right. I don't know what it is, but somethings off.” Juliet answered.

It might be the novel since we aren’t suppose to be here and Ian should be thinking about suicide right about now. 

Juliet seemed content with that reason but still seemed agitated by something. She stayed up in the trees for the rest of the way. 

When they found their way to the archery grounds, there was a whole crowd of people; mostly men, with a few women. Phillip spotted Adaline right away seeing as she was dominating the guys in archery. Phillip looked around and found Alexznader talking with a few other contestants. He pointed out the two to Ian. 

“Those are the people who I traveled with. She’s Adaline and he’s Alexzander.”

Ian followed his finger till he saw the two. 

“Wow. She’s really good!”

“Haha, that she is.”

They watched Adaline till it was Alexanzer’s turn. Phillip knew that Alex is exceptionally good at archery but no one could compare to Adaline. He knew that Adaline had shown off her skills so none of the other guys would question her ability. 

Phillip let his eyes wander around the crowd of people, specifically looking for Silas but his eyes landed on someone else. 

A tall dark, white hair with blonde highlights, man. From where Phillip was standing he saw that this man had brown pants on, black boots and a night shirt still on. His hair was cut on the sides but long on the top. If Phillip squinted he could see that his eyes were an alluring emerald green. He didn’t even notice he was staring until..

“Who ya looking at?”

Both Phillip and Ian screamed, stumbling away from the person to find that it was only Adaline. 

“Geez, don’t scare us like that. I could’ve exploded you to smithereens.” Phillip admitted. 

“You guys didn’t hear me walk over here?” Adaline questioned. 

Both Ian and Phillip shook their heads. 

“And here I thought witches were very observant of their surroundings.” 

“You know he’s a witch?” Ian asked, shocked. 

“Yes, he healed me after I got cut.” Adaline grinned, “So who are we looking at?” 

They looked towards the men, both Ian and Phillip searching for the guys that they were drooling over. 

“OH! Him!” Ian pointed excitedly. 

They followed his finger towards a tall light skin, blonde hair, man. His eyes were brown and had a messy blonde mop of hair. He also had brown pants on, black boots except had a vest over his white night shirt. 

“That’s Silas.” Adaline informed. 

“He’s dreamy isn’t he?” Ian sighed, continuing to stare at Silas. 

“He is.” Adaline admitted, also looking at Silas. 

Silas was standing with a group of guys with Alexzander chatting away. They were all getting along.

“What about you, Phillip?” Ian tore his eyes away from Silas. 

“Oh ummmm.”

It didn’t take long for Phillip to find the emerald eyes, seeing that they were staring in his direction. Unknowingly Phillip ducked down behind the bushes, covering his face with his hands. 

“What’s wrong?” Adaline asked, looking suspiciously around. 

“He was staring at me.” Phillip mumbled from behind his hands. 

“Wait, is he the one walking over to us?” Ian questioned.

“WHAT?” 

Phillip shot up from the ground and turned around to meet those emerald eyes. 

“Hello there.”