I stared into their faces, feeling like all the things I wanted to say was locked tightly behind my lips.

Before I had a chance to say anything the woman spoke, "So how do I know you didn't kill my son using his magic like that?"

Her eyes were a contradictory mixture of concerned and suspicious.

"It'll take a lot more than that to kill Taylor," I huffed out, before think about what I had said.

King Grimstaw's deep belly laugh echoed through the room, his dark eyes sparkled in the dim light.

"You clearly know my son," he focused in on me.

"How did you know who I was?" I replied. My eyes searching him for any clue. He might have saved me from the court, but I still don't know him and he is still a warlock.

"He told me he had sworn his oath to a Vortex, a red haired girl named Cara," he smiled for a second.

"I'm Anastasia," the woman reached her hand out to me.

I grasped it, "Cara."

She nodded gently back at me, "This is Jasper."

I nodded curtly at King Grimstaw and he very subtlety nodded back at me.

"We have to get out of here before anyone talks to you," he added.

"Why?"

"Because you are not a Grimstaw warrior, you know nothing of our traditions and you are in our most sacred place. There are so many thing you could do to slip up," he sighed, "and we can't afford that."

Anastasia held a long deep purple gown in her arms, "Pull this over your clothes."

I nodded, staying silent and pulling the rich, heavy fabric over my head. I still don't trust them completely. But if they are willing to help me out of here, I guess I am better off going with them.

King Jasper closed the door soundlessly behind us and I followed Anastasia's lead walking down the corridor. The heavy stone walls felt like they were moving towards us, as if the walls of the building would collapse at any point. I threw a sideways glace at her, "Why does it feel like we could die in an earthquake?"

She looked over at me, "The castle has looked like this for centuries. I assure you that we have more pressing things to worry about than the solidness of the walls."

She locked her arm into mine, as if we were best friends walking down a perfectly normal shopping street, chatting. For a second we both ignored the fact that we were strangers and allowed the familiarity of a mutual goal to align us, no matter how flimsy that might be.

"Where are we going?" I breathed.

"Out of here," she breathed almost as silently.

We turned the corner of the corridor, I spotted the silhouette of a tall man approaching us in the dark hallway. A few flickering torches on the wall shun some light on his face. His cold harsh features told me that he was looking for any reason to question me. In the small flicker of the burning flame I saw the emblem on his pin, a sweet butterfly. But something about its wings made me think of a bird of prey.

I felt Anastasia's arm tense next to mine, as we came to a halt in front of the man.

"Good evening," her voice was cool.

"Queen," he greeted her begrudgingly.

"Nice to meet you, warrior," King Jasper added. Something in his voice made me tick, he was acting politely but something in his voice reminded me of Taylor. 

I knew we had to act briefly, something inside me told me the warrior belong to the Brownlow girl. I didn't know who she was but I knew she didn't had nothing but bad plans laid for me.

"So you are on your way out?" he asked innocently.

I could sense his force before he had even opened his palm.

"Yes, we are," I replied, sidestepping around him pulling Anastasia with me. My eyes looked on King Jasper, standing on the opposite side of the Brownlow warrior.

A glimpse of recognition flicker through his eyes, "Yes, we were just leaving. I am sure will see you soon."

He sidestepped around him. As the warrior turned to face us I could sense his power, begging to be released from his palm.

I grabbed Anastasia's arm and pushed her down the corridor. Once we were at out of earshot, I heard myself breath, "He was out to get you."

It was easier to admit that, than who he was really out to hunt down.

"Let's go find Taylor," she replied.

I nodded my head gently as we rushed through the corridor.

We reached a narrow, circular staircase wrapping itself around a beautifully carved wooden pole that seemed to stretch endlessly far up. My feet stopped as I marvelled at its beauty.

"Come on," Anastasia gave my back a gentle shove.

"We don't have time for this," Jasper added quietly.

As we stepped onto the staircase I felt the wind of power underneath my feet, I didn't have to look down to know that it belong to him. The rush of energy pulled us up the staircase as if it was the Formula One version of an escalator. The walls spun by us so fast, only a passing thought that we were going up a tower managed to rush through my head before we were thrown out onto a street. I felt my feet stumble, but Anastasia was there to prop me up. I turned and caught the last glimpse of a faint door, holding the tell tale signs of magic before it disappeared into the brick wall of a very ordinary looking building.

"Where are we?" I flicked my head around, trying to locate any building I might recognise.

"We're in Mayfair," Jasper confirmed.

"Do you know where he lives?" Anastasia asked urgently.

"Yeah, but it's not around the corner from here," I replied.

"Then we must hurry before anyone notices," Jasper agreed.

He started walking down the small street, his eyes fixed at steady flow of traffic on the main road up ahead.

"What does he mean?" I asked.

"He's the King of New York. They expect him be present in court," she lowered her voice further, "and he can't very well be gone trying to figure out a plan to protect the Vortex his heir has sworn himself to."

Her words sent a shudder down my spine as we hurried towards Jasper. He was holding open the door of a taxi.

The taxi drove down the street and I allowed myself to lean back against the seat, closing my eyes for a moment as I questioned what had just happened. I had been pushed into the warlock's royal court and somehow I had gotten out alive.

The taxi made its way up towards Holloway road. I thanked my lucky star that there was not bad traffic. My eyes caught in the flash of gold embroidery on Anastasia's gown. She certainly was not dressed like anyone from around here. Let's hope no one asks them why they are dressed like some kind of cosplay figures.

"This way Miss?" the cab driver asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, just up here on the left."

As Jasper pressed a few crisp notes into the drivers hand, I waited for Anastasia to get out. She glided out of the car, almost impossibly gracefully. Her face was calm, an almost invisible frown playing in-between her eyebrows.

"It's just up here," I pointed awkwardly at Taylor's front door.

As I knocked on it I prayed silently that he would be home, in the rush from the court it hadn't even occurred to me to call.

As he opened the door with a surprise look, I felt panic coldly grip my stomach.

"I don't have my handbag."

"What?' Taylor asked bewildered.

"The Brownlow girl must have it," Jasper added.

I nodded shortly. Some prissy warlock girl had my handbag, my camera, my phone...

"Focus dear," Anastasia gave my arm a light nudge.

My hand closed around the keys in my pocket, a small sigh of relief that at least I had them washed over me.

"How about you all come in?" Taylor added in a low voice, craning his neck around trying to see if any of his neighbours had spotted the strangely dressed visitors at his door.

I sat down on one of the rickety kitchen chairs in Taylor's kitchen, instantly feeling comfortable. One look at Jasper and Anastasia's faces told me they did not feel the same. Jasper eyes were dancing across the simple kitchen, he breathed in and looked ready to start lecturing his son. Instantly I braced myself, like you would do if your friend got in trouble with their parents when you were a kid.

"So let's talk about this," Jasper pulled out a chair and sat down.

I felt stumped, Jasper's sudden change of direction had completely thrown me off.

His eyes bore into Taylor's, "We are in this situation now and as you said before there is nothing you can do, you are bound to her."

"Yes, I am bound to Cara," Taylor's eyes locked with his father's. He was not challenging him but I could sense Taylor was not going to back down either.

I held my breath looking between the three of them, yet again feeling like a fish out of water in this magic world.

"So we need to make a plan and quick," Anastasia brought us all right back to the matter at hand.

"So what happened?" Taylor looked at me softly.

"Someone pulled me off the street," I looked up and realised that I was the only one that knew this part of the story.

"I was on my way back from a job and someone just kidnapped me on the street, the next thing I knew I was being pushed into this big room."

Jasper cut in, "I didn't know who she was until she said her name. What are the likelihood of someone else with the same name being pushed into our royal court?"

"So what happened?" Taylor asked the question to no one in particular but his eyes were locked on mine.

"The Brownlow girl got her," Anastasia explained.

"I had to show I wasn't human," I added.

"They think she is part of Grimstaw now," King Jasper added.

"That's great," Taylor smiled.

I nodded back at him. Jasper and Anastasia exchanged a nervous glance.

"As far as Taylor have told us, you have great abilities but you might not be fully in control of them yet," Anastasia's words came out soft and her hand gently squeezed around my wrist. 

All I could do was to nod back gently.

She continued, "So I think the best thing for your safety is to stay far away from court and go about your normal life. At least until Taylor is king."

I could almost sense him tense up at those last words but I kept my gaze focused on Anastasia's soft face, I looked into her eyes and what she said made sense. The royal court of warlocks just seemed scary to me, I might as well just go along with my life and let them all deal with this mess on their own.

"What if someone finds out she's a Vortex?" Taylor added.

"They know her as a Grimstaw now, so no one would make that assumption," King Jasper replied.

"What about Aaron?" my lip quivered as I pushed out the question. I knew I must still be at the top of his kill list.

"Oh, Charlet?" Jasper huffed.

"You don't think he could be a threat?" Taylor added.

"His father doesn't trust him," Anastasia's voice came out softly.

"Why does that matter?" I couldn't help but ask.

"It matters because if he says you are a Vortex, his father the head of the house won't believe him," King Jasper added.

"So we could just explain it away as rumours of a power hungry heir," Taylor finished off with a smile.

"Why would anyone believe that?" I countered.

"Unless they see you absorbing magic they wouldn't have any reason not to," Anastasia replied.

I nodded gently in reply, not really understanding what had just happened. 

She rose from her chair and pulled me up, enveloping me in a hug and whispered, "I wish we had more time, but we have to get back. Don't worry, crazier rumours than that fly around when a king is about to die."

She broke from the embrace and they both flowed out of the kitchen so quickly that it was hard to even grasp that they were ever here. I looked at the front door, down the hallway, then back to Taylor.

He shrugged his shoulders, "So I see you have met my parents."

Author's Note: Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments :) And if you enjoyed it please do take the time to be a star and press the star to VOTE :) :)