The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Darius pacing outside the tent. Again. Does this guy ever sit still? Or sleep for that matter?

"Morning, Your Highness," I mumbled as I crawled out of the tent, hair a complete disaster and eyes still half-closed. "What's got you stomping around like an angry camel at this ungodly hour?"

He stopped mid-pace and turned to me, looking entirely too put-together for someone who slept on the ground. "I've been thinking."

"Uh-oh," I said, squinting up at him. "That sounds dangerous. Should I prepare for another life-threatening quest?"

Darius ignored me, which is a shame because my sarcasm was on point this morning. Instead, he crossed his arms and said, "We need a plan. We can't just stay here forever."

"Wow, I had no idea," I said, deadpan. "Here I was thinking we could settle down, build a cute little mud hut, and start a goat farm."

He gave me a look, and I sighed. "Fine. What's the plan, Mr. Strategist?"

The leader of the group, the guy who'd dumped all that fun existential crisis-inducing history on us yesterday, came to find us soon after. He was smiling, which immediately put me on edge because, in my experience, smiles in this world are usually followed by bad news.

"You seem cheerful," I said, crossing my arms. "Should I be worried?"

"Not at all," he said, his tone annoyingly calm. "We've been discussing how to help you two return to the capital without drawing too much attention. It's... tricky, but we may have a way."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, good. 'Tricky.' My favorite word when it comes to survival plans."

Darius shot me a warning glance, and I bit back my next snarky comment. Barely.

The leader explained that they'd set up a series of checkpoints and safehouses over the years, just in case they ever needed to infiltrate enemy territory. I guess centuries of being labeled "barbarians" and "rebels" gives you plenty of time to plan your next move.

"So, we're sneaking back in," Darius said, nodding thoughtfully. "Through your network."

"Exactly," the leader said. "It will be dangerous, but it's the best chance we have of getting you into the palace unnoticed."

"Dangerous," I repeated, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Of course it's dangerous. Why would it be anything else?"

After the meeting, Darius and I wandered off to the edge of the camp, where a group of kids was playing some kind of ball game. They waved at us, grinning, and I waved back before plopping down on a rock.

"You okay?" Darius asked, sitting beside me.

"Define 'okay,'" I said, leaning back and letting out a long breath. "Because I'm pretty sure I haven't been 'okay' since the moment I got sucked into your magical soap opera of a life."

He gave me a small, almost apologetic smile. "Fair."

"I just... I don't know," I said, staring out at the dunes. "It's a lot, you know? All this talk about pendants and history and magic and saving worlds. I'm not that person, Darius. I'm not a hero."

"You don't have to be a hero," he said quietly. "You just have to be you."

"Yeah, well, 'me' is just a girl who can barely figure out what to do with her own life, let alone two worlds," I muttered.

He didn't say anything to that, just sat there beside me, his presence oddly comforting.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of preparations. People were coming and going, gathering supplies, mapping out routes, and generally looking like they actually knew what they were doing. Meanwhile, I mostly tried to stay out of the way and not trip over anything.

At one point, Darius caught me staring at the pendant again, turning it over in my hands like it might suddenly reveal all its secrets.

"It'll be okay," he said, his voice steady. 

I looked up at him, and for a moment, I wanted to believe him. But then I remembered that this was the guy whose life was currently falling apart just as much as mine, if not more.

"Yeah," I said, forcing a smile. "Sure...."

Because what else could I say? 

It wasn't like I had a better plan.

.

.

.

The morning we set out for the capital was eerily calm. The kind of calm that makes you feel like the universe is quietly laughing at you because you're walking straight into chaos without even realizing it.

I stood at the edge of the camp, watching as the rebels—or whatever they preferred to call themselves—packed up our supplies. Darius was double-checking the map the leader had handed him, looking all princely and determined, while I mostly tried not to freak out.

"Last chance to back out," I muttered, mostly to myself.

Darius glanced up, catching my words. "You don't have to do this, you know," he said, his tone softer than I expected.

I snorted. "Oh, sure, I'll just stay here in the middle of the desert with a group of people I barely know while you march off to single-handedly dismantle centuries of lies and corruption. Sounds like a great plan."

"Alexia," he said, giving me a look.

"What?" I threw my hands up. "I'm not leaving, okay? But let's not pretend this isn't a terrible idea. We're going to march into your city, tell everyone their king is a liar, and hope they just... believe us? I mean, what's our backup plan? Get dramatically executed together for added flair?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." he said, trying not to smile.

The journey started out uneventful. Too uneventful, honestly. The first couple of days were just walking, resting, walking some more, and occasionally stopping to pretend we weren't completely lost.

At one point, I turned to Darius and said, "So, this is the grand adventure, huh? Blisters and sunburns and a whole lot of awkward silence."

"It's better than being chased by assassins or giant monsters," he pointed out.

"Debatable," I said, adjusting my pack. "At least the assassins and monsters made things interesting."

He rolled his eyes, and I caught the faintest hint of a smile. Progress.

On the third day, the mood shifted. We were nearing the outskirts of the kingdom now, and the air felt heavier, like the world itself knew what we were walking into.

As we passed through an abandoned village, I noticed Darius getting quieter, his expression more guarded.

"You okay?" I asked, nudging him lightly.

He hesitated before answering. "This used to be part of the kingdom. A trade hub. It shouldn't be like this."

"Like what?" I asked, though the answer was obvious. The place was a ghost town. Broken windows, crumbling walls, and not a single soul in sight.

"Desolate," he said quietly. "This was once a place of life and commerce. My father always said it was lost to the rebellion, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

"But now you're not so sure," I finished for him.

He didn't reply, but the look on his face said everything.

By the time we stopped to rest that evening, the tension between us was palpable. I could tell Darius was spiraling, caught between the truth we'd learned from the rebels and the version of reality he'd been fed his entire life.

"Hey," I said, sitting down beside him as he stared at the fire. "You're allowed to be angry, you know. Or confused. Or whatever it is you're feeling right now."

He glanced at me, his expression guarded. "I just... I don't understand. How could my father... how could they lie about so much? And for so long?"

"Because that's what people do," I said with a shrug. "They lie to protect themselves, to hold onto power, to avoid dealing with the consequences of their actions. It sucks, but it's not exactly shocking."

Darius let out a bitter laugh. "You're so cynical."

"Not cynical," I corrected. "Just realistic. Look, I get it. Finding out your dad's the bad guy of the story? That's gotta be rough. But you're not him, okay? You don't have to follow in his footsteps."

He didn't respond, but I could see the tension in his shoulders ease just a little.

We set out again the next morning, the capital looming closer with every step. The pendant hadn't glowed or done anything weird since we left the rebel camp, which was honestly a relief. I wasn't in the mood for more cryptic magic shenanigans.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking straight into a storm.

"Darius," I said as we crested a hill, the faint outline of the city coming into view in the distance. "When we get there... what's the plan? Like, the actual plan. Not the 'let's wing it and hope for the best' plan."

He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "We expose the truth. About the pendant, about the gate, about my father. And we hope that it's enough."

"And if it's not?" I asked, my voice quieter.

He looked at me then, his expression determined. "Then we'll figure it out....or I don't know....."

I wanted to roll my eyes, to make some sarcastic comment about his annoyingly unwavering optimism, but instead, I just nodded.

We were in this now, for better or worse. And the capital was waiting.

Sneaking into a capital city with guards patrolling every street, watchtowers dotting the walls, and the added bonus of being public enemy number one? Piece of cake.

If, you know, cake was dry, bitter, and tasted like bad decisions.

The closer we got to the city gates, the more my nerves screamed at me to turn around. Darius, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to storm the place head-on. Typical prince behavior.

"Okay, Captain Courageous," I whispered as we crouched behind a boulder overlooking the city. "What's the genius plan? You're not exactly inconspicuous, and I'm pretty sure I don't blend in, either."

He shot me an exasperated look. "You could try being optimistic for once."

"Oh, I'm optimistic," I said. "Optimistic that we'll get caught and executed within five minutes. I'd just like to delay that as long as possible."

Darius rolled his eyes and pulled a worn cloak from his bag, draping it over his shoulders. "We'll use the old servant entrances. There's a network of tunnels beneath the city. My mother told me about them when I was a kid."

"Wow, secret tunnels? Of course there are secret tunnels," I muttered. "Does every kingdom come with a built-in escape plan, or is that just a royal thing?"

"You're welcome to stay here if you'd prefer," he said, giving me a pointed look.

"Ha, no thanks. I'll take my chances with the tunnels."

Getting to the servant entrance was the easy part. The city was surrounded by farmland and orchards, which provided plenty of cover. The problem was the two guards stationed at the narrow, rusted gate that led into the tunnels.

"Let's just wait until they leave," I whispered, peering through the bushes.

"They won't leave," Darius whispered back. "They rotate shifts. We'll have to distract them."

I turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, good, a distraction. And what's that going to be? Me jumping out and waving my arms while you sneak in?"

"I was thinking something a bit more subtle," he said, ignoring my sarcasm.

I glanced around, searching for anything we could use. My eyes landed on a cluster of small rocks by my feet, and I smirked. "Subtle, huh? Watch and learn."

Before he could stop me, I grabbed a handful of rocks and hurled them toward a nearby tree. They hit the branches with a loud crack, and the guards immediately snapped to attention.

"What was that?" one of them barked, drawing his sword.

"Probably just an animal," the other said, though he didn't sound convinced.

"Go check it out," the first one ordered.

I grinned as the second guard reluctantly headed toward the noise, leaving the gate unguarded. "There. Subtle."

Darius shook his head but didn't argue. "Let's go."

The tunnel entrance was damp, dark, and smelled like wet stone. Basically, my worst nightmare.

"You couldn't have mentioned the whole 'dank underground labyrinth' part earlier?" I asked as we descended the narrow steps.

"Would it have changed your mind?" Darius asked, his tone dry.

"Absolutely not," I said, though I still glared at him.

The tunnels were even more maze-like than I'd imagined. Twisting corridors, crumbling walls, and the constant drip of water echoing through the silence.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked after what felt like an eternity of walking.

"Yes," Darius said, though he didn't sound entirely confident.

"Right, because 'yes' is so reassuring when you say it like that," I muttered.

He ignored me, stopping at an intersection and glancing between the two paths. "This way," he said, taking the left tunnel.

"Famous last words," I said under my breath as I followed him.

After what felt like hours, we finally emerged in what looked like a forgotten storage room. Wooden crates and barrels lined the walls, covered in decades of dust.

"We're inside the city now," Darius said, brushing off his cloak.

"Great," I said, coughing as I waved the dust away. "Now what?"

"Now we blend in," he said, heading for the door.

I stared after him, incredulous. "Blend in? With what? I'm wearing sneakers, and you're literally glowing with prince vibes. We're about as inconspicuous as a fireworks display."

Darius paused, glancing back at me. "Then you'd better keep up," he said, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

I groaned but followed him out of the room.

The city was a whole different beast from the quiet, abandoned villages we'd passed on the way here. The streets were bustling with people, the air thick with the scent of spices and the sound of merchants shouting over each other.

Darius led the way, keeping his hood low as we weaved through the crowds. I stuck close to him, my nerves on high alert.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down.

"To the market," he said. "We need information."

"Information? From who?"

"Anyone who'll talk," he said simply.

"Great. Love this plan," I muttered.

We slipped into the crowded market, the noise and chaos making it easier to stay unnoticed. But even as we moved through the throngs of people, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

"Darius," I whispered, tugging on his sleeve. "I think we have company."

He tensed, glancing around subtly. "Stay close," he said, his voice low.

As if I was planning to do anything else.