A/N: Another song suggestion! Listen to Slip Away by Ruelle (I REALLY like Ruelle, y'all) during Calder and Eerika's scene. These songs will all be part of the playlist at the end of the book :)

"I NEED TO SEE him."

"Please, try not to speak too much, My Queen," the healer said as he prodded my neck with feathery fingers. "Your vocal cords are swollen. They will need time to heal."

He pressed into one of the tender marks Calder had left, making me wince from where I sat on the infirmary bed. I glanced over at Thorne who's face was of pure fury, body stiff with his crossed arms.

"I have to see him, Thorne," I repeated in my rasping voice.

"Not a hell of a chance," he rebuked. "That bastard burned the only document we have that was even an ounce close to helping defeat Sylvi, and then he tried to kill you! When I told you not to wake me unless someone was about to die, I didn't mean for it to nearly happen! He's in the dungeon where he belongs."

"That wasn't Calder. He was being controlled. He didn't do this to me by choice. I saw it in his eyes. He was trying to fight back the darkness before you intervened."

"Controlled? Now I definitely know you're being crazy."

"It's Sylvi. I know it. Calder hasn't been the same since he returned. It hasn't just been because of his trauma. She did something to him that gives her control over his mind. That's why he's been hearing her voice in his head telling him to kill me and everyone else."

Thorne's eyes widened, and he leaned his head forward in my direction. "Um, I'm sorry, what?"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would overreact."

"Overreact? If I had known that I wouldn't have let you within an inch of him, Eerika! And I'm certainly not letting you near him now. He'll stay in isolation as long as I allow it, and the Clan will say the same."

"You can't defy me Thorne, not on this," I spat back, making me cough slightly. I recomposed myself and threw eyed daggars at him. "I am the queen. I will go see him and not you, not the Clan, nor even death itself can prevent me. If I see fit for him to be released, he will be, do you understand?"

Thorne parted his mouth to respond but quickly closed it and turned his face away. The right choice to make.

"Move your neck in a circular motion for me please, dear," the healer instructed, and I slowly but painfully did so. The action made a bubble of sickness surface in my stomach though, and I leaned my head over to throw up into a silver bucket the healer had by my bedside.

"That's it. There there, my child," he cooed with a gentle hand on my shoulder. "That is a good sign. There is no obstruction from the swelling. Can you take a deep breath for me?"

I wiped my mouth with a cloth and did as I was asked, but the air both went in and came out wheezing. Thorne shook his head out of the corner of my eye, growling under his breath but loud enough that I could hear.

"I'll kill him."

"You will do nothing of the sort!" I squeaked back.

"Please, Captain Halvorsen, stress is not needed in this situation," the healer said. "How does your spinal nerve feel, Your Majesty?"

"It's fine," I croaked, swallowing hard.

"I would like to observe you overnight to make sure there is no hemorrhaging of your vocal cords or throat," the healer concluded, finally done with his examination. "Mr. Hansen's hold was very strenuous. We must make sure there are no lasting affects."

I struggled agaisnt the sharp pain of doing so, but I nodded. "Can I see him first?"

The healer paused as if in deep contemplation, lacing his hands together. "It is not of my liberty to speak against your wishes, My Queen. Just. . .do not sleep tonight without being here under medical care."

I looked over at Thorne once again who I could tell was not happy in the least about this. I gestured to the healer who smirked a little at my rhetorical remark.

"Why can't you be more like him?"

Thorne didn't answer, the look on his face growing even more annoyed. I stood from the bed and headed for the door, Thorne now rushing after me.

"At least let me go with you for protection in case something goes wrong!" he suggested.

I halted and spun around to face him again, looking him over. I reached out and pulled a knife from his holster, turning away from his shocked gaze and continuing on.

"I'll go on my own," I said.

I had only been down in the dungeon once since I'd set foot in the palace when I arrived to this world. It was too eery to me, making chills run through every bone in my body just standing in the doorway. It was nothing like the rest of the palace, beautiful and bright and stoic. Down there it was creepy, dark, and depressing. It looked as if it was just the place for monsters. And there Calder was in one of the cells.

As I went down there, I immediately felt déjà vu from Calder's rescue. When I took the time to look around, it appeared much like Sylvi's dungeon. Wet droplets of melted snow continually hit something in the broken corner window making the only light and sound. My heels clicked against the stone floor as I slowly walked past each cell, my heart speeding up when I saw each one was empty.

Finally coming along Calder in the sixth one, I found myself gripping tightly onto the knife by my side. I peered through the bars to see him on the floor, his head between his knees and hands laced behind his head. He was shuddering, breaths shaky and the whole sight breaking my heart.

A guard came into view from the dungeon entrance, abruptly halting at witnessing me.

"Open this, now," I ordered him, but he was at first hesitant.

"If you defy me you will take his place, now open it," I spoke harsher, and this made him nervously comply.

I ordered him away as I entered the cell, feeling my heart now up in my burning throat. It took Calder a moment to realize I was there, his body jumping in surprise as he raised his head up and saw me. There were tear stains under the gray pools of his irises, darker and emptier than they ever had been. And yet he smiled, shaking his head slowly at me.

"You're an angel."

I bent down at his level, keeping the knife by my side but out of view. "I'm right here, Calder," I assured him in my croaked voice, touching his cheek.

Calder darted his gaze all over my face, letting a breath escape him as he too pressed his palm to my face in realization.

"I thought I'd killed you," his voice shook, squeezing his eyes closed and pressing his forehead to mine. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to destroy your uncle's document, it wasn't me. I didn't want to hurt you. I tried to pull myself back to the surface, but her darkness pulled me down again and I couldn't break free. I tried. I tried. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Calder. It's ok," I told him, "You've come back to me now, that's what matters. We'll find another way to get our answers on Sverdet and find her."

"But I do not know how long I have until Sylvi takes me again, Eerika," he said, gently pulling away from me. "You were nearly dead in my hand. I lost the control over my own body just as I feared. I can't do that again. I cannot be the reason I lose you."

"It won't happen again. You're going to get through this, Calder, I promise. This isn't your fault. Sylvi did something to you to put you under her control, and I'm not going to stop until we figure out what it is and how to fix it."

"What if it is me?" he mumbled, eyes falling down to the bruises on my neck he had left. "What if this has been me all along? This darkness, born in me from her blood. At six years old I was trained, from the day you were born to murder you and anyone who would defy my mother's lust for power. What if I have finally hit the breaking point she wanted so desperately to crack open, letting that darkness into my heart that I've kept at bay for so long?"

He glanced down at the knife half hidden by my hip, quickly grabbing my hand and making me gasp in surprise. He gripped it with both hands, keeping my fingers clasped around the knife's handle as he pointed the tip to his heart.

"What are you doing? No!" I protested, trying to pull myself away but I was held on too tight.

"Please," he begged, tears swelling in his eyes again. "Please, kill me now and end this. I cannot suffer through this pain any longer, it's tearing me apart. I don't want to hurt you anymore. I'm not strong enough to fight this, Eerika. I can't do it on my own, I have tried. You have to be the one. Please. Kill me."

"No! I won't end your life Calder, how dare you ask me to do such a thing!" I cried back, my hand now shaking against his.

"The crown is better off without me. As long as I breathe I'm going to hurt you. I can't watch myself cause you pain without being able to stop it."

He pressed the tip closer to his peck, now pressing to his shirt and what I knew was so close to breaking the skin underneath.

"I don't want the crown if I can't have you!" I said, "You are not going to give up on yourself like this! You can cut me, bruise me, and break me, but nothing would ever hurt me more than losing you!"

I could tell in his anguished expression that I was starting to slowly talk him down, and this gave me the chance to prove my words. I pressed my lips to his, causing his grip to loosen and for me to pull the knife away. I threw it across the room and grabbed his face with both hands, his own coming up to my cheeks to kiss me back deeply and feel the pain he felt. I broke apart from him and pressed our foreheads together once more, wiping his tears away.

"Stay with me," I whispered to him, kissing him again. "Don't leave me."

"What if I can't?" he whispered back, bloody fingernails gently digging into my wrist. "If I fall back into this darkness--"

"Then I'll follow you into it and bring you the hell back. Every single time."

I moved my hand to place it on the back of his neck, quickly pulling it away as I felt something wet and sticky. Seeing blood coating my skin my eyes widened.

"Calder, you're bleeding!"

I gently grasped his torso to turn his body around so I could see his neck and head fully. There running up his neck were four long open wounds, red and seeping with blood.

"I tried to get her out," he said softly, making me gulp at the sight and his words. "I still feel her. I was barely conscious when she cut open the burn scar on my neck but the pain is still real. It's as if she's branded me."

I took a closer look at one of the open wounds, feeling puzzled to see something shiny embedded inside. I blinked a few times to make sure it wasn't my imagination, my mind finally coming to the realization.

"Because I think she did in her own twisted way," I said, getting up and helping Calder along. "Come on. I'm taking you to the healer right now."

"This seems nearly impossible," the healer said, examining Calder's wounds. "It is indeed iron, but I do not understand how he is still standing. In all aspects, he should be dead. The scar previously healed back over it, no one would have ever known this was here."

"She's perfected her craft," Calder informed, grunting and flinching as the healer prodded. "The iron chains she bound me with were potent enough to keep my powers away without killing me. This must be of the same creation. That is why my magic has not returned."

"Sylvi has somehow been controlling him with it," I also told the healer, "Her voice has been. . .ordering him. It may produce some type of communication signal."

"That might only be my insanity, Eerika, we do not know for sure," Calder reminded, but I was completely certain.

"You wouldn't have done what you did if it hadn't been Sylvi, Calder. I know it."

The healer did something with his pointy silver tool, making Calder jump with a deep grunt and Norwegian curse.

"Faen!" he huffed, turning his agitated gaze up to me. "Explains why my neck has been killing me. There's been such a pain, going from my nape up to my head."

"Can you remove it?" I asked the healer, hoping this would finally be the fix to everything Calder had been dealing with.

"I can, but it will take some force. It is quite far inside. I will have to use several instruments."

"Do whatever you have to. Just get it out," Calder said, gripping onto the bed edges to ready himself.

The healer glanced at me and then turned to his cart of silver instruments. "You'll want to hold his head and keep it still, My Queen. This is going to be very painful."

Calder glanced up at me and nodded, assuring he would be ok. I stepped forward and gently held his head in my hands. When the healer began cutting Calder cried in pain, clenching his teeth to try muffling it. I felt awful for him having to go through another amount of surgical pain like this, but it had to be done. Anything that might save his life and bring back the light he used to have.

The second instrument must have hurt worse, it causing him to tightly grip onto my hips and bury the top of his head into my stomach. He cried in pain through his throat, panting and grunting behind his teeth.

"Hold him firmer, my dear. I am almost finished," the healer told me.

I nodded and did as I was instructed, Calder's fingers nearly growing as tight to my waist as they had around my neck.

Calder let out a deep held-in breath as the healer pulled his hand back, revealing the sharp diamond shaped piece of bloody iron. I could feel its draining force just from where I stood, it even making the healer's face paler. He tossed it into a silver dish and closed the lid, icing it over.

"I will make sure it is disposed of forever. You will not need to worry of it anymore."

"Thank you, Acasius. Truly," Calder told him after recomposing himself.

"Yes, thank you so much," I said, Acasius patting my hand with a smile.

Calder's neck was bandaged up and he then stood, a little wobbly on his knees as he fixed his collar.

"Are you ok?" I immediately asked him, grasping onto his arm. "How do you feel now?"

"Weak. But. . .better, I think. I suppose we will know soon enough. I am sure word has already spread through the castle of what I have done, though. Is Thorne angry of me?"

"He's. . .a little pissed off, yeah, but he'll get over it. As will everyone else because I'll see to that. Thorne said I had to start being more assertive with my staff and my people, so I guess this will be the start of that. They're going to have to put up with whatever I say, no matter how much they hate it."

"Spoken like a true queen," he said with a small smile, bending his head to kiss my forehead.

Acasius cleared his throat and quickly brought us out of the sentimental moment. "You both should rest. I will still need you under monitor for the night, Your Majesty. Calder, you are free to return to your chamber."

Calder's gray gaze went from me to Acasius in slight worry and confusion. "Can't I stay with her?"

"It is. . .as you said. Word has already begun to travel. I believe it is in your best interest to lay under shadow until morning when Her Highness can clear things up. I will have you come by for your wound to be checked out then."

Calder turned his attention back to me, eyes slowly going over my red and purple bruises in the shapes of his fingertips. His expression was pained for me and disgust for himself.

"It's ok," I croaked, "I'm alright. I'll see you in the morning."

I could see as clear as anyone that he was hesitant to leave, but Acasius placed his hand on Calder's shoulder and kindly walked him out. I sat down on the bed as an aid came in to assist me, feeling a twinge in my heart as Calder's face quickly disappeared behind the closing door.

I hoped now, more than anything, that he would be the Calder I remembered when I woke.