Cristina opened the door at the bottom of the tower. She peeked out the door. "Coast is clear. Let's go." She opened the door as she and Steph snuck out. Steph silently snuck around the corner, and immediately bumped into Jason. 

"Jason!" She hugged him tightly, glad to see a familiar face. He hugged her back, but separated them quickly.

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah, yeah! The guards recognize my last name." She whispered. "Matt is the evil prince. I convinced Cristina that I'm his wife." 

"You are." 

"Jason, I know it's hard, but I need you to think about what's important here." 

Jason shut up about it. "The others are okay. Jack got wounded, Rosanna's helping him escape from the castle. Nate's right behind me."

"Nate?" Steph turned around. Cristina was standing behind her. At the sound of her voice, another called out. 

"Cristina?!"

"Nate!" Nate turned the corner and saw Cristina standing there. He rushed forward towards her, and she ran towards him. They seemed to be in slow motion. 

"Um, Jason, what's wrong with them? They're moving in slow motion." Steph pointed at them. they were moving in slow motion. Literally. 

"I think this is supposed to be a cut scene." Jason whispered. "Just give it a second, they'll go back to normal in a bit." 

Nate and Cristina reached each other and sped up to a normal speed. He lifted her by the waist and spun her around, both of them laughing. She kissed him pasionatly. When they finally separated, Cristina turned back to Steph. "Thank you, Stephanie. I hope you can corral your husband." 

"Husband?" Nate asked. 

"Prince Matthew is Stephanie's husband." Cristina said. 

Nate's smile dropped suddenly. He let go of Cristina and walked up to Steph. Jason, concerned, stepped in front of her slightly, but he ignored him, as he stood and stared at Stephanie. He was about to get angry. Steph tried to remind herself that it wasn't Nate talking; it was the character, not him. But it was hard. 

"You're trying to tell me, that this whole time, you were just using me to get back to your husband?" He said. 

"Nate, please-"

"You were pretending that your father was gone, just to get sympathy from me? What about that man in the town? The one who gave us the bread? Who is he really? Or did you lie to him, too?" 

"I didn't lie to anyone-" She cut herself off. She didn't know what to say. Jason turned a bit and looked her in the eye. He knew what she was thinking. 

"And why are you protecting her?! She lied to you, too!" Nate shoved Jason a bit, who stumbled back. 

"She had her reasons. Nate, you have to understand." Jason was doing what he could to calm him, but it was not working. 

"Oh, are you in on this, too? What exactly are you two doing? Why do you have those powers? Why do you seem to know something we don't?" 

"Nate, please." Cristina said, trying to hold him back. "She helped me escape, she's on our side."

"Maybe, or maybe she's just using us as a stepping stone. What does that matter though, if she and this guy won't tell us what's going on? Tell us what you know." Nate said. Steph saw his hand move over his dagger. 

"You wouldn't understand." Stephanie said. "Let alone believe us." 

Nate shouted and grabbed Jason by the wrist. He pulled him into a headlock before holding the knife at his throat. Jason's struggles instantly stopped as he felt the blade on his neck. Cristina jumped back in shock, while Steph's hands went to block her mouth so as not to scream. 

"Tell me what's going on, or I kill him, right here, right now."

"Nate!" Cristina tried to reach out, but he turned his head back to her. 

"Cristina, trust me, okay! I know what I'm doing." Nate said.

"You really don't-" Nate cut off Jason's remark by pressing the blade oh-so-slightly closer to his throat. 

"Okay, Okay! Just... let him go, okay Nate?" Steph held up her hands in surrender. "Just... let... him... go." 

After a few seconds of silence, Nate lowered his hands, prompting Jason to get out of his grip and stand next to Steph. Nate still had his blade raised. 

"Now tell me what you know."

Jason looked down at Steph, in a way that said, "Are you sure about this?" Steph nodded. 

"We're not from this world." She said. "Neither is Matthew." She considered adding Nate and Cristina to that list, but she didn't want to confuse them any more. 

"This world... it... we were pulled into it. We're trapped here. Jason and I can remember who we are, but we think that Matthew can't remember. In our world, he's my husband. But this world has... ensnared him, and it's put him in some sort of... spell. He think's that he's the prince. He's not. It's not him."

Both Nate and Cristina didn't say anything, but they both looked shocked. Nate's grip on the dagger tightened, but his arm finally dropped. 

"So who are you, then?" Nate asked. He was staring at the ground, not even bothering to look her in the eye. 

"I'm Stephanie." She said. "Stephanie Patrick."

"I don't want your name." He said. "Who ARE you?"

Steph stepped a little bit forward, but not enough for Nate to really reach her. He looked up to see her face again. 

"I'm Matthew's wife. His wife who is worried that he can't be saved from this spell. And I need help. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I need to save my husband. Please, Nate." 

Nate didn't say anything. 

"Nate?" 

"Nice try, Steph." He said. "But I remember what you looked like when I first met you. You're not old enough to be someone's wife." 

That's right; Nate still thought she was really a little girl. And now, he had just been convinced that Steph was lying to him. "And I don't care how of you are, I won't let your lies keep using us!"

Nate raised his blade again and lunged for Steph. She screamed and stumbled back, falling onto the ground. Cristina rushed forward and grabbed Nate's arm. Steph took the chance to shoot an orb of light at Nate, but it hit Cristina instead. It grazed her cheek. She fell back, holding her wound. Her blood dripped through her hand. 

Nate stopped for a second and saw her sitting there, holding her cheek. He gritted his teeth and turned back. In a blind rage, he raised his wepon and brought it down in blind anger. 

So blind in fact, that he didn't consider Jason jumping in front of Steph. 

Steph screamed as Jason fell to the ground. Blood spurted from his chest. Direct hit to the heart. He was dead instantly. She screamed in terror and anger. Nate dropped the blade, realizing where his actions had landed him. Cristina grabbed his arm and held him tightly. 

"Steph... I-" Nate was cut off. 

"It's Nathan Sharp! He's with the princess! Get him!" 6 guards rounded the corner, seeing the mess the group had made. 

"I'm sorry, Stephanie. I'm sorry." Cristina grabbed his arms and pulled Nate away to a window. Nate broke through it, and with one last glace at Steph, took Cristina in his arm and started to climb down; and fast. The guards looked out the window. 

"He's already gone, your highness!" One shouted. 

"Send more after them. Kill the boy, but bring back the princess." Steph looked up. She would know that deep voice anywhere. That was Mark. 

She looked up, seeing him at the end of the hall, slowly approaching them. He was of course dressed regally, but light, in a way that was better for moving around. "On another note; who is this?" He pointed at Steph. 

The guards turned around  and surrounded Steph in a circle, all pointing their weapons at her. She was still above Jason's body, Nate's knife lodged in his chest.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Mark demanded. 

"She's obviously with Nathan." A guard said.

Mark nodded. "Obviously. Very well. Take her for interrogation. If she doesn't speak, kill her." 

Before the guards could even move, they were all stopped by another voice, this one even more recognizable than Mark's; at least to Steph. "Now, now, Mark. Let's consider this."

Coming up just behind Mark was another man; slightly taller, and with a body build that was slightly slimmer than Mark's. He was wearing what looked like the same outfit as the prince from Cinderella, but with a dark purple base and gold accents. The nose, the eyes, the infamous "hair wall-" she knew who that was. 

"Prince Matthew." She said. She bowed her head, pretending to be a meek young woman; a stranger. 

"I don't think that this girl was with Nathan. That's his blade in that man's chest. Nathan killed this man. This girl is clearly mourning this man, meaning that she must have been with him, not Nathan. If anything, she and this man were against him." He explained. Even here, Matt still had to spell it out for people. 

"You make a good point, Matthew. I'm glad a man as knowledgeable as you is marrying my daughter." Mark placed his hand on Matt's shoulder. Matt rolled his eyes. Clearly, he was just as annoyed about the marriage as Cristina. 

Matt shrugged off Mark and then turned his attention back to Stephanie. His expression softened, but only slightly. He gave a bit of a smile, but it wasn't Matt's own smile that Stephanie knew so well. It was hinted with darkness. It made her uncomfortable, but this was a game. She had to play along.

Matt kneeled down and extended his hand to her. "Are you okay, miss?" He asked. 

Steph nodded and took his hand as he helped her up. "I'm sorry about Nathan's actions. What was your relationship to this man?"

Steph considered everything for a second. Evil-brainwashed-prince Matt was FLIRTING with her. And step one was to make sure she wasn't married. And if she was, then that man would most likely be killed. 

"My brother." She said. "He's a new hire in the castle. He asked me to see him today."

"Well, I'm sorry that you had the misfortune of crossing paths with Nathan." He said. "Please, let me help you." He held out his hand again, smiling at her as if nothing was wrong. Steph took a deep breath and took his hand. 

"Thank you, your highness." 

"Please. Call me Matthew."