A/N: Sorry this chapter took longer than usual, I was away for the weekend and didn't have time to do any writing. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, vote if you liked it and comment you opinions below :) x

          I opened my eyes slowly, wincing in pain as a dull ache began to radiate from my eye, through to the back of my skull. The right side of my face was pressed against filthy straw, cold stone and the reek of human excrement. I attempted to lift myself into a sitting position, but a sharp,stabbing pain in my left side caused me to inhale sharply and collapse. I looked around and saw that I was in a cell with Elizabeth, who had her back to me as she leant against the bars separating our cell from Merek's. Panic flooded through me as I began to recall our capture.

"How long have a been unconscious?" I croaked, my voice catching in my parched throat. Hearing my voice Elizabeth rushed to my side and whispered,

"Six or seven hours."

"Charlie?," I murmured. She did not reply.

"Where is Charlie?" My voice shaking as I struggled to rise again. Elizabeth placed her arm around my shoulders to steady me as she replied,

"I'm sorry. They took him a little while ago. He's to be hanged at dawn."Her voice was filled with sorrow and fear, causing it to tremble as she spoke. In the weak, flickering light, I could see her long black hair was matted with straw and filth. It hung limply about her oval face that was decorated with several dark bruises. In the cell next to us I could see Merek was staring intently at the figure of a sleeping guard, whose helmet had dipped down, covering his eyes.

          "Why are they hanging Charlie?" I murmured, "The poster says he's wanted alive."

"That's the only reason they're waiting until dawn," replied Elizabeth, "My brother will be here by then. He's been following us. The guards found us because one the mercenaries you spoke to had seen the poster and tipped them off." Despite the anger and frustration I could feel welling within me, I managed to suppress my emotions, and said,

"We need to get out of here." Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement and glanced over to where Merek was crouched, still watching the dozing guard. I managed to stand up, despite the pain surging throughout my body, and walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, crouching down so I was on the same level as him.

"Escaping," he replied flatly without looking at me. I arched an eyebrow at his tone but said nothing. From this position I could see the cells housing us were the only ones. The room contained two cells and a large, wooden chest that no doubt contained our belongings. The walls were stone and windowless, a single brazier in the far corner of the room the only source of light. The sleeping guard was seated on a stool, his back against the wall, a stairwell to his right and the chest to his left. As I surveyed the room, Merek's gaze finally shifted from the sleeping guard to the locked door in front of him.

          In a swift, snake-like motion, Merek withdrew a dagger from somewhere within the folds of his tunic and put his arm through the bars, inserting the dagger into the lock. Holding it in place, he reached up to a beaded segment of his hair and pulled free a thin piece of metal, which he then pushed into the lock as well. After a few minutes of rearranging and jostling the dagger and piece of metal, a clicking noise sounded from within the lock. Wordlessly, Merek slipped through the cell door and approached the wooden chest.

The hinges groaned in protest as he opened it, causing the guard to jerk awake. Before he could react, Merek darted toward him and slid the dagger up beneath the guard's chin, causing him to convulse and produce a horrible gurgling sound, before he lay still forever. As he wiped the blood from the blade on the guard's brown tunic, I noticed the sapphire in the hilt and recognised it as my own dagger. I had thought it lost during the fight with guards, but realised now that he must have picked it up. After Merek had finished removing his possessions from the wooden chest, he made for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" cried Elizabeth in alarm, "Let us out!" When Merek did not reply she ran to the front of the cell and clutched the bars tightly, her knuckles white.

"I knew it," I muttered to myself as I watched him climb the first few stairs.

"Come back!" wailed Elizabeth, her tears leaving streaks through the dirt on her face.

"I'll pay you." I called out. Merek paused, before turning and walking back down the stairs.

"How much?" he replied, his arms crossed as he stood in front of the cell door, ignoring Elizabeth's despondent figure in front of him.

"2000 gold pieces," I replied. He scoffed at my words but did not move.

"And you can afford that?" he answered, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes, I can." I watched his expression become conflicted as he studied my face. I looked up at him, my expression calm and collected.

"Very well," he sighed, before retrieving the cell key from the guard's corpse.

          "You can't be serious. He was going to leave us!" hissed Elizabeth, as Merek began to unlock the door.

"We don't have a choice, this is the only way we live and save Charlie. People like him will remain loyal until they get their money, and I believe you've also learned an important lesson about not trusting strangers just because their words are pretty." I replied, giving her a stern look. She scowled at me but did not speak. I walked through the open cell door and extended my open hand in front of Merek.

"I'll have my dagger back now," I said, my voice hard. He handed it over to me but an expression of longing was still painted on his face. When Elizabeth pushed past him to retrieve her belongings from the chest, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't," I said, gripping his shoulder tightly in my hand, "You've already hurt her. Don't bother coming up with a pathetic apology or excuse."

"I wasn't trying to betray you, I just wasn't expecting to get caught up in something like this," he responded, shrugging off my hand.

"Leaving us in a cell with no way out is betrayal," I replied flatly. I had interacted with many people like Merek in my years posing as Skylar. While I knew there was no malicious intent behind his actions, that did not excuse them. My instincts were rarely wrong and as I had expected, he could not be trusted. People like him thought about themselves first and rarely took the well-being of others into consideration unless they saw profit in it.

          After I had donned my cloak and retrieved my possessions, I was relieved to find I still had both my daggers, my sword, and my pendant containing my parent's portraits. However, as I attached my money pouch to my belt, I realised my other pouch containing the dragon tears was missing.

"Did the guards take any of our things?" I demanded, my heart slamming in my chest as a wave of dread washed over me.

"The Captain went through everything before he put it in the chest, but I don't think he took anything..." responded Elizabeth, her expression confused.

That fucking bastard. I thought to myself, before raising my voice to say,

"Let's go, we don't have much time." I dashed up the stairs to a small landing, turned right and continued up another set of stairs. At the top was a narrow corridor that led to a thick wooden door. A barred window had been cut into the door and and the first light of morning was seeping through. Dawn had arrived. I wrenched the door open, bracing myself for confrontation, only to be greeted by nothing. The tiny village was deserted. Peering around the corner of the building from which we had emerged, I could see a small crowd in the distance.The entire village was in the town square, surrounding a large wooden platform upon which the gallows and five men stood.

          As we drew nearer to the platform I could make out the faces of the Captain and the younger guard who had survived the last night's fight. Beside them stood the executioner, a large man whose wore a black mask that covered his entire face except for his eyes. He was fastening a noose around Charlie's neck, whose face was bruised and caked with dried blood, but to my relief otherwise uninjured. The remaining man on the platform seemed to be the town herald. He was reading from a long roll of parchment, no doubt announcing the charges that would somehow justify killing Charlie. The Captain wore a smug expression as the herald spoke, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. His forearm had been wrapped in bandages, which were already soiled with fresh blood. Good, let him bleed to death. I thought to myself, feeling a small amount of satisfaction despite the circumstances. I continued to watch him and soon noticed he had my leather pouch tucked into his belt.

"We need to stop this." I said in a single, exasperated breath.

"How?"responded Elizabeth, her voice weakened by the multitude of emotions she was feeling.

"We can easily deal with two guards before Sir William gets here," I began.

"Even if there's only two guards, the townspeople will try to stop us," added Merek, "We should just leave while we still can." I glared at him and spat,

"He is my best friend. I'm not leaving him behind."

"You'll never get close enough!" he retorted, his voice filled with irritation

"I don't need to get close," I responded, unsheathing my daggers.