"Jonathan, you must consider-"

His face was a blurry, sleep-deprived mess of chaos and defeat, hands shaking as he yanked his fingers through his hair. "I would never yield to a man—to a coward who hasn't yet shown me his face on the front lines." Adeline watched as he struggled to take in a breath, to compose himself long enough to give an order. "Until I see him myself, until he is killed—by my hands or another, there is no pause for this war."

She placed her hands on either side of his face, turning his head until their eyes met. "Listen to me," Sir Adeline told him firmly, brushing the pad of her thumb over his cheek as she watched his expression soften, "you are my king. I will stand by you no matter what." Where had the time gone? When had this tired, bitter man replaced the loyal and gentle prince she had known so well? The words felt like iron chains around her throat, but she spoke them nonetheless. "But there has to be another way."

Prince Johnathan pulled out of her grip, unable to look her in the eyes any longer. "I won't. Not like that."

♔

Something about watching a king shake was enough to make Sir Garner want to hide. "Sir, he won't hold on for long. We can crush them easily—why do you hold back?"

"This kingdom is the main trading post on the continent. To entirely destroy it and populate it would take too long for us to make our money back for taking it over."

"But there's yet to be an answer."

"People are loyal to a king. That doesn't always mean the one they have. Besides," King Gavin said with a grin, "they don't even have a king."

♔THE TASK♔

Listen, listen. No competition is perfect, and we can't claim that it's been the easiest this time around. Hopefully, this year is done with the surprises, and your two judges won't be scrounging for time where they can get things finished again. Because we have been so flakey these past few tasks, we've decided to try and make it up for you in the best way we know how: Open Task.

That's right—no qualms, no buts, nothing aside from truth here. The war is still going on, but whether you choose to have another battle, a rest, or anything else, that's up to you! Get creative. Give us those emotions that y'all love to do so much. Give us your best entries, just like you always do. We're excited to see what you'll do without a prompt. Your characters have started these arches, so what will you do now to put into place these changes? How do they progress? How does war change them? What do they do now?

As an extra bonus, if anyone here chooses to send in a song or a poem that coincides with your entry, you'll receive up to two bonus points. One for sending it in—you'll get the other if we feel it really fits your entry and adds that extra pizazz.

♔WORD LIMIT♔

3500 words

♔DEADLINE♔

Monday, March 26th at 10 PM CST (Note the time change)

♔BALLOTS♔

No more ballots! This is the last challenge and it goes to:

Meric Ophelen: The aftermath of this battle will leave you hungry, but it will be a hunger far deeper that you are prepared for—your lack of food and basic provisions on the battlefield must leave you delirious.

♔A TRAITOR'S CHALLENGE♔

The results are in! For your traitors, you chose Tedric North and Andrea Novak! We are more than pleased to announce that you are wrong yet again! Which means...

Meric Ophelen: Someone sure hates you, Meric. Sorry about that. Looks like this task, beyond your hunger and apparently delirium, you'll have to experience a negative effect of your magic. Now that you have it back, watch as it betrays you. This time, worse than being gone. How will you deal now, knowing that you cannot even trust yourself?

Ansel Ellis: Whoever the traitor is, they definitely are out to get you. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done about that now except face the consequences. Failure to submit a song or poem with your task will cause you to immediately lose two points from your final score.

♔BYES AND VOTING♔

Three of you will be receiving byes and the rest will be going up for votes. Of those, only four of you will be moving on for a total of seven people in the semi-finals. Are you ready? It's time to bring the A-game.