My father sits in the gardens, hidden behind a small building. Next to him sits Tristain, the gardener's son.

"You're my best friend, I am not going to forget you. I'll be home before you know it," my father tells him. Tristain looks away from him and sighs.

"I think it is time you and I faced reality," he finally says.

"What do you mean?" my father asks with a frown. Tristain looks at him.

"You and I cannot be friends. It just doesn't work," he tells my father. He shakes his head.

"Why? I can be friends with whoever I chose!" he almost shouts.

"No, you can't!" Tristain shouts back. "Don't you understand that? You are about to go to the royal castle with the nephew of the King. It won't be long before you make new, powerful friends and I will be nothing but an afterthought. You are going up in the world. You are being groomed to be King! I am nothing but a thorn in your side. There is no place for me in your world," he says. My father sits wide-eyed.

"But..." he begins, though can't form the words. "I don't want to lose you," he finally whispers. "I am not going to let them change me, Tristain." Tristain smiles but there is no humour behind it.

"I don't think you're going to have any choice in the matter. You're going to turn out just like Lord Leander. Entitled, cruel and manipulative."

"No I'm not!" he shouts, standing up. "How can you say that after all these years we've spent together?"

"Because you won't have a choice. I don't think you really understand the world you are going into," Tristain doesn't raise his voice. In fact, his tone is that of defeated compliance.

"I won't let them change me," my father says again. Tristain smiles softly and stands up.

"Goodbye, Master Matthias," he says.

"No, don't call me that," my father pleads as the boy walks away. My father begins to cry as his friend walks away.

"Matthias!" he hears Leander shout. My father closes his eyes and quickly wipes away the tears. He neatens up his silky green jacket and steps out from behind the small building.

"Yes," he asks.

"What's up with you, have you been crying?" Leander taunts. My father sends him a cold glare.

"Of course I fucking haven't," he snarls. The older boy holds up his hands and chuckles. As my father walks toward him, Leander swings his arms of Matthias' shoulders. An uncomfortable look passes of my father's features, but he does not go to move the boy's arm.

"Oh, Matty. We have a lot of fun ahead of us. You are going to love the castle and you get to meet the princesses. Are you excited?"

"Very," My father replies. Leander laughs.

"Good. I can't wait for you to meet all my friends. We are going to show you exactly how everything works." My father gulps at the malice behind those words and I shudder.

The two of them get into a carriage. My grandfather doesn't even say goodbye to my father. Instead, he just stands with his head high and mutters "don't embarrass me," as the door closes. Then, the carriage leaves out of Baylon Manor and begins its journey to the Capital.

We race through the countryside, not stopping for anything. We've been riding for three days straight and have covered a lot of ground. As night draws in, we set up camp. We don't bother erecting tents. We do build a large fire which now has the meat of a deer roasting above it. I sit next to Nianzu and Merissa. Zoran, the Mer prince, swims happily in the river not far from our camp. He hasn't been out of water for this long for a very long time. I can't help but watch the shimmering Mer prince as the firelight makes his golden scales glitter.

"They really are beautiful," Nianzu says to me. I look up at him.

"Yes," I reply. 

"It is such a shame what has happened to them," he sighs. "I may hate Visara for what she did to me, but she made this world a better place. When she sent me away, the Mer were free and strong. Now," he stops and shakes his head. "No one deserves having to be hidden away all of those years," he sighs and I lean against him.

"No, they don't," I reply.

"Part of me thinks that Visara saw what was to come. That she knew that all her hard work was going to be undone and she knew what you had to do to free it. Maybe she locked me away for you to find." I look up at him again. He doesn't look at me. His eyes are focused on the Zoran who now leaves the water and walks toward us. His golden tail changing to glittering, scale-covered legs.

"Nianzu," I whisper. "What Visara did was wrong. End of conversation. I don't care whether it was her intention to have you help me or not. She should not have trapped you in that awful place for all that time." He looks down at me and smiles softly.

"No. But there is no point reminiscing about the past. I am free now," he grins.

"Yes, you are and you are going to help me free many more."

Zoran walks over and sits down beside Nianzu. He pulls on some trousers and a shirt, covering most of his scales. Though apparently, the Mer can reduce the number of scales on their human forms, they can't get rid of them all completely. Of course, even with the clothes hiding his remaining scales, his big gold eyes are still a giveaway.

"Nianzu," I say. "Is it possible that you give Zoran the ability to change his eyes as you did with me?" I ask. "Not now, but when we get closer to civilisation." Zoran looks over with a frown. 

"Yes," Nianzu replies. I nod my head.

"I do not want to change my eyes," Zoran tells me. I raise an eyebrow.

"We cannot have you going into the cities with your eyes like that," I tell him. "That is the first way to get us all caught and leave you with an eye less," I warn him. 

"It isn't a permanent thing," Nianzu assures him. The Mer huffs but doesn't say anything else. Nianzu roles his eyes and I chuckle. Wyatt comes over and forces his way between myself and Merissa. He flings his arm over my shoulders.

"Princess," he grins.

"What do you want now?" I ask. So far, this man has not shut up for the entire journey. I do not understand how one person can chat so much meaningless shit. He ignores my annoyed tone and carries on with his conversation as Merissa grumbles next to him.

"I was thinking that when you become the Queen, that I would make an excellent Red Guard General." I groan and push him away from me.

"Why don't you just go and give Zoran a little bit more training whilst dinner cooks," I moan. Wyatt laughs and stands up, walking over to the Mer Prince and throwing him a sword.

Zoran stands up walks over to and follows Wyatt. Merissa slides up next to me again and smiles softly.

"He's an odd one," she chuckles.

"Yes," I grin. "But it would be boring without him," I tell her.

"It certainly would," she replies. "But let's not tell him that."

"I am so glad you are all here," I say to her. She looks at me with a large grin. Merissa runs a hand through her dark brown hair and looks to the fire.

"We weren't about to abandon our sister," she chuckles as she lightly punches my arm.

"Thank goodness. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do this with you all hunting me down," I tell her.

"No, you wouldn't have," she agrees, her blue eyes lighting up. I laugh.

"You aren't meant to agree with me." She just shrugs.

"Actually," Nianzu says, leaning over me. "With my help, you all would never have been able to get her," he jokes.

"You really think so?" she challenges, her eyebrows raised.

"I know it," he grins. I laugh and stand up to check the meat, leaving the two of them arguing.

We wake as the sun rises. Quickly, we pack up our sleeping mats and blankets and get on our way. It is in the afternoon when we reach Flon Mine. My eyes widen as I see it for the first time.  We come to a stop on the top of one of the may grassy hills. Before us, the landscape transforms. The rich green grass disappears and is replaced by dry, dark mud and mounds of rubble. This surrounds a great pit. From our spot, we cannot see into the pit, but we can see the miles and miles that make up the circumference of the mine.

"How many miles around do you think it is?" I ask with a dry voice.

"Seven," Wyatt replies, his voice sounding just as grim.

"How deep does it go?" Nianzu asks.

"Last time we heard, it was just over a mile deep," Merissa replies. I gulp.

"We should get a closer look," I tell them. "Let's leaves the horses out of sight. We don't want to attract any attention from the masters." We dismount and make our way down the hill on foot. As we get closer, we begin to hear the sounds of work. The crashing of tools against rocks or the masters shouting at the centaur workers. We also hear their screams as they are beaten and worked to breaking point. I feel sick. As we get closer to the edge, my heart begins to race. I am afraid of what I am going to see. Around us, are mounds piled high with excavated stone. We clamper up one, the rocks loosening slightly as we reach the top. Lying on our fronts, we look over into the open mine.

I gasp. The pit is as deep as Merissa had said. Perhaps even deeper still. A spiralling path cut into the stone descends around the edges of the pit, leading to the bottom. All the way up the path, centaurs carry boulders up the steep paths. They walk so slowly. Their legs wobbling, their hooves bleeding and deep gashes covering their skin. They are dirty too. Dust and mud cover their bodies. They carry so much. Stones fill bags to the brim that have been attached on their backs. In their arms, they hold boulders. They take it all up to the entrance of the mine where a large stone building sits. Around the stone building is a huge open space where more centaurs work with huge hammers. They break away at the stone being brought up to them.

"What exactly is being mined here?" Nianzu asks.

"Diamonds," I reply softly. I point over to the hammer-wielding centaurs, breaking apart the rocks. "They are breaking up the rocks to find the rough diamonds. Once the rough diamonds are found, they are sent to specialists who are able to cut and shape them into the sparkly stones we all love so much. Officially, every diamond and gem found in Vivelle is owned by the King, even after sold to others," I tell them. They look at me.

"So when you become the Queen, you'll own every bit of jewellery in Vivelle?" Wyatt asks. I shrug.

"Technically yes," I reply. Their eyes widen. 

"Will you keep the mines open?" Merissa asks.

"Yes, but it won't be worked by slaves. Instead, the workers will be paid properly for the work they do. They will only be able to work a certain amount of hours a week and days off will be compulsory. There is certainly enough money being made from these mines to be able to correctly pay those who work in them."

We look back at the Centaurs and I shake my head and sigh.

"Nianzu, can you get a closer look, please?" I ask. He nods and transforms into a crow. He takes off and I watch as he flies over the mine and drops inside. Going so far as to land on a large boulder at the bottom. As he does that, we look at the security. All the way up the paths there are masters. They wear a smart, military uniform. Different to the uniforms worn by official knights and soldiers. Though they are similar in theme. Smart black coats sit tightly against their torsos, going all the way up to their necks. Done up the middle by thick gold buttons, the coats continues the golden theme with golden vine patterns around the collar. The vines also curl around the cuffs of the sleeves and the hem of the coat which stops just above their bottoms. The vines represent the golden tree of Vivelle and the Dulavelle symbol. On the right-hand chest of the coat, the full symbol that is the golden tree of Vivelle is embroidered into the dark material. On their hands, they wear white gloves and black trousers sit on their legs. Dark grey leather boots come up to their knees. Swords sit sheathed on their hips and in their hands they hold great whips.

I watch as a centaur begins to slow, her legs buckling slightly from the weight of the stones she is carrying up the hill.

"Don't fucking stop! Move!" orders one of the masters. I flinch as the crack of the whip echoes through the air as it connects to the back of her body. She lets out a scream and begins to walk again. However, after a few steps, her legs give in completely and she falls to the ground. The stones she was carrying tumble away from her. She lies on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Get up!" the Master orders. I don't see her reply, but her body does not move. The master shakes his head and pulls out his sword. My eyes widen as I begin to shake.

"No," I whisper. The Master buries it into her body. She lets out a pained scream before going limp.

"Remove this scum!" he shouts. My heart races in my chest and my hands shake from rage. Two centaurs on their way back down pick up her rear legs and begin to drag her back up to the path to the top of the mine.

None of us can say anything as we look on in horror. Nianzu returns and shifts back.

"There are a lot of masters. They stand all the way up the road. Equal in the distance apart and all armed with weapons. There are much more at the bottom, overseeing the Centaurs breaking apart the stone. All the centaurs have a collar around their necks," he stops and I look at him. His expression is dark and he gulps.

"What about the collars?" I ask.

"They are strange, Ana," he replies as he shakes his head. "They are spiked and dig into the skins of the centaurs. Whilst they work in the pits, there are chains attached to the collars. The collars are either held by a master or attached to somewhere. If the centaur moves in a way they aren't meant too, then the collar jams into their throat. If the Master is especially displeased, they can press a button on the end of the chain." He stops and gulps again. "This sets off some sort of mechanical reaction and causes the spikes to suddenly expand..." he doesn't need to say anymore. I look back to the path and watch two more centaurs dragging another dead centaur up the hill. This must have been the one Nianzo witnessed being killed. Though it is far away for me to see closely, I can make out blood around the neck and a dark collar.

I feel sick. 

"How are we going to free them? One look of trouble and the masters will press the button and that's it," Merissa sighs.

"We have an even bigger problem," Wyatt gulps and I look over in the direction he is looking.

A figure exits the grey building. They wear a slightly different uniform to the others. Similar in style, except the coat is long, coming down to the ankles. It is also undone, revealing a black shirt embroidered in more gold.

"Is that who I think it is?" I ask with a gulp.

"Fuck," Merissa mutters.

"Lady Kanya, the eldest daughter of the Future Fae Lord," I gulp. Her almost white skin is striking against the black uniform which sits over her body perfectly. Her hair is silver and hangs down her back. The front of her hair has been tied back, making her pointed ears easily visible. Even from here, I can see her large silver eyes glowing. She looks intimidating, especially in the smart military uniform she wears. That and the long, Fae sword hanging from her hips.

"She may have already seen us coming," Zoran says.

"I don't think so," I reply. "There would be more security otherwise. They probably would have met us here." There is silence as we all think. The Future Fae get visions at random times and not all of their visions are correct or easy to interpret. They also don't get visions of everything and sometimes they have visions in their dreams and forget them. Like with regular dreams. It is very possible, she has not seen us at all in any vision and does not know we are coming. It is also possible she has seen us coming and has set a trap in order to get me sent back to my father. I gulp and bite my lip nervously. 

"We can't take her in a fight," I say. What makes Kanya so special, is the fact that though she may not be able to see all things in the future, she is able to see how a fight is going to end. Somehow, she can manipulate the visions of the Fae in order to see what her opponents next five moves are before they have even thought of them themselves. Even some of Vivelle's best warriors have fallen to her in seconds.

"I think I have an idea," Zoran says. There is a large smile on his face and his golden eyes seem to glow. I frown and he licks his lips.

"It has been a long time since I fed on a Fae," he snarls. I smile and shake my head. The Fae are not immune to the enchanting beauty of the Mer. With the Mer and Sirens either in hiding or as slaves to the Fae, who would expect one to actually show up. They won't have any precautions in place to lessen the magic of the Water Folk.

"That might work," I whisper as I begin to feel a little hope. "What about the rest of the workers?" I ask.

For the next hour, we discuss our plan until finally, it is complete. I feel my heart race with a mixture of excitement and nerves as we ready to go. 

I sit on the back of Nianzu, who is now a horse. Zoran, who now has human brown eyes thanks Nianzu, sits on the back of another horse. I also wear my blonde disguise. We now ride up toward the grey building. The rest of the Red Guard follow closely behind, dressed back in their official uniform and I am grateful that Harlon convinced us to bring the uniform with us. It is with the official Red Guard uniform we are able to get past all the guards without any question or hassle. We sit tall and proud in the saddles as we approach, looking down on the centaurs and the Masters. Lady Kanya spots us and walks over slowly, a suspicious frown on her face. She comes to a stop, her eyes darting over every single one of us. There is silence for a few tense seconds as she tries to get some sort of vision of us and our reason for coming. I can see her features twist into a slight snarl of frustration as no vision appears to her. It makes me smile and I almost want to shout a massive thank you to the time god for not allowing her to see our plans.

I give the Lady a satisfied smile.

"Trying to spy on the King's soldiers, Lady Kanya?" I ask with a dark snarl. She glares at me.

"I was not made aware of the King sending anyone here. So I apologise for not being more accommodating," she says with her thick, elegant Fae accent. "If I had known, I would have had everything you needed ready for your arrival," she smiles. I smile back too, but it is cold.

"There are such things as random inspections, Fae. The King isn't interested in seeing how you are running the Mine when his inspectors are around. His Royal highness wants to know how you run the Mine when you think he isn't watching." She smiles coldly, unimpressed by our attitude.

"I can assure you, the King has nothing to worry about. As you can see everything is running smoothly," she tells us. I chuckle.

"You Fae," I sigh and shake my head. "For people who see the truths of this world, you are remarkably big liars," I snarl. Nianzu steps forward so I am looking down at her.

"Lie to me again, you pointy-eared bitch and I'll have your head," I snarl. She grits her teeth.

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly? You haven't introduced yourself," she says, trying to keep her voice professional and sweet.

"I thought a Future Fae as powerful as yourself wouldn't need us to introduce ourselves," I tell her. She takes a quick breath and I watch her hand move to her sword slightly. "But I was rude, I am sorry," I grin. "My name is Lady Amalie Baylon, the King's Neice and apprentice to the Master of Coin. As the mines of Vivelle bring in some of the biggest profits to the Crown, my uncle has decided that I should be the one to overlook them." I decide that using the identity of my cousin would be best. She is a known figure and also known to be a rude, arrogant bitch. Perfect for the role I am playing and perfect to get the fae to comply. She bows her head slightly.

"Welcome to Flon mine, Lady Amalie. What is it you wish to look at first?" she asks.

"If you could get some of your Masters to show the Red Guard down to the dig site, that would be perfect. Whilst they do that, myself and my associate here would like to look at your paperwork."

"Of course." She shouts a few orders and I step off Nianzu. I watch as the Red Guard are lead into the mine and I lick my lips nervously. Myself and Zoran are lead inside. As we walk, I continue to talk about the Mine.

"It has come to our attention that there have been many Centaur deaths here recently. More than any other Mine in Vivelle."

"Yes, there have been more than normal. But with the escape of the Princess, the Centaurs have been more disobedient than usual," she says. "In order to maintain control, there have had to be examples made," she replies. I laugh.

"You did that by killing some of our stock?" I ask. "Do you know how much it costs to just capture these beasts? Yet here you are, killing them at your own pleasure because you cannot keep them in line." We enter her office and she sits down at the desk. I don't sit. I put my hands on the desk and lean forward, looking her straight in the eyes. "If you can't keep a couple of moronic beasts from disobedience, then I do not think you are right for this role," I say with a raised eyebrow. She tries not to react, but I can see her features twitch in anger.

"As I said before, with the escape of the Princess, the Centaurs have a new rebellious..." I slam my fist on the table and she jumps.

"How did they even hear about it?" I shout. "They spend every single day of their fucking lives in these mines! No contact with the outside world other than the Masters!" She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.

"What are you trying to say?" she snarls as she stops being so friendly.

"I am saying that if you and your masters hadn't have been so fucking stupid and talked so openly about the True Trial, we wouldn't have this problem now!" She stands up and leans forward quickly. I do not flinch, but Zoran does. He stands just as quickly. I hold up my hand, stopping him from attacking. I want this to be slow. I want this wicked woman to know what is really going on before she dies.

"Sit. Back. Down," I order slowly. She glares at me and spits the next words, venom lacing her tongue.

"You are stupid if you think the Centaurs are going to join the Princess if their young are here under our command," she snarls. "If you are too stupid to even figure that out, then you aren't a woman worth obeying. I do not follow little girls with good connections who have no idea how to actually run a mine. I know how to do my job and I don't need a posh little brat telling me how to do it. So leave now, say I am doing everything perfectly and I won't slit your throat."

I raise an eyebrow and smile.

"You've forgotten something very important," I say to her, keeping my voice calm, yet cold. "There is one reason the Centaurs would join the Princess. If she promised to free their people from the mines." Just as I say those words, there is a huge crash from outside. She turns and rushes to look out of the window. Nianzu, now in his huge, monstrous bear form tears the Masters to shreds. Merissa who stayed behind with him works on breaking off the collars whilst the masters are distracted with Nianzu. She moves incredibly fast and remains unnoticed whilst they fight Nianzu. Whilst her back is turned, I drop my disguise.

"You call this being perfect at your job?" I ask. She turns to face me. When she sees my new form, her eyes widen. She reaches for her sword, but Zoran has also dropped his disguise. His perfect Mer features have returned along with his golden eyes. He steps in front of me. She stops moving and takes a deep breath as her wide eyes stare at him in awe.

"Come here," he orders with a soft voice. She gulps and slowly walks over to him. I can't help but feel transfixed at the scene before me. I can see sweat pouring down her face. She is trapped. She knows what is happening to her, yet she can't free herself from his enchanting beauty. He holds out his hand.

"Will it hurt?" I ask him. His reply is just an excited smile as she places her hand in his.

"What a fine creature you are," he says as he drags her body into his. He sniffs at her neck and kisses the skin softly. She shivers and closes her eyes. He turns her around to face him. She looks up into his eyes helplessly and in awe. Gently, he cradles her face.

"Please, don't kill me," she manages to stutter out.

"I do as my queen commands," he replies. Then his face changes in a flash. It is so terrifying that even I jump. His mouth grows wide and rows upon rows of sharp teeth appear. Gold covers his whole eye and begins to glow as do his scales beneath his clothes. The image of his monstrous form breaks her out of the spell but it is too late. She screams and tries to break free but his teeth are clamped around her shoulder before she can move. She lets out a shriek of agony as he tears away a chunk of flesh. I step back and feel a little sick as blood drips down his mouth.

"Princess," he hisses through his teeth. "You might want to go outside and help with your friends. This isn't going to be pretty," he chuckles. I nod and slowly walk out of the room as he attacks her again.

I run outside. As soon as I exit the doors, a Master comes for me. I swing my sword across his chest before he has even realised what is happening.

Nianzu has pretty much finished with all the guards up here and the Centaurs are free.  They don't know what to do with themselves. Some of them begin to run up from the Mine, running from the chaos at the bottom. The Masters don't follow. They must be heading to the bottom where the rest of my team are.

"Nianzu!" I shout as he finishes with the last of the Masters. He begins to run toward me as I run toward the edge of the mine. When I get there, I leap. Nianzu's Dragon form appears alongside me after only a second. I grab onto some fo the spikes on his back and angle myself so I am lying on his back. We dive down into the pit. As we fall, I grab my bow and arrows. I watch as a master chases some of the Centaurs up the path. I fire. The arrow hits him square in the chest. I have to do this a few more times before we get to the bottom.

When Nianzu lands, I jump off his back. It is chaos. The Centaurs have joined the red guard in fighting the masters. They are picking them off easily. Nianzu transforms back into the bear and runs into a large group of them. A couple charge toward me. I am quick to dispatch of them. I see Wyatt easily kill four Masters in only a couple of seconds. I rush toward him. As I run, I duck under to blade of a master. As I duck, I sweep my blade along his ankles before swinging around and slicing his throat as he falls to the ground. When I reach Wyatt, the fighting is pretty much over.

"Any collateral?" I ask.

"No, we managed to kill all those holding onto collars before they even realised what was happening," Wyatt says as we walk over to one of the injured Masters. He breathes heavily and moans in pain.

"How about you?" Wyatt asks as he plunges his sword into the man's chest.

"Zoran is having his fun with the Fae bitch and Merissa got all the collars off," I reply. There is a silence then as the centaurs begin to walk toward me. The Red guard goes around, disabling the collars and removing them. I smile.

"You are all free now," I say, feeling my heart racing and a smile on my face. They don't react for a few seconds. I continue anyway. "Your people are waiting for you," I shout at them. They just stare at me. I smile softly and look at Wyatt.

"Let's get them out of the mine," I tell him. He nods his head.

The centaurs, still in shock, begin to make their way up the path and out of the mine. Myself, Nianzo and a few of the others work on moving the bodies. Shaping them to form the image of a Pheonix on the ground. One that can be seen from the top of the Mine. It is hard work, dragging them around. Especially when Nianzu in bird form above can't make up his mind on where to place the bodies so that the shape is visible.

"For goodness sake!" I shout out loud as he tells me to move the body I've already moved five times.

"Can you please make up your mind?" I say in frustration through our bond.

"Move it back to how it was before," he says, completely going against what I just said. I stop and glare at the bird hovering by the top of the mine before grumbling under my breath and moving the dead master. After about an hour messing around with making the shape, it finally comes into place.

To further frame the Knights of the Pheonix, we add a few Pheonix flags. When we are done, I ride on Nianzu's back out of the Mine and meet back up with Zoran and Merissa.

"Do I want to go back into her office?" I ask Zoran who is covered in blood.

"Probably not," he replies. I sigh.

"We need to explain her death somehow," I sigh. "It can't look like a Mer feast."

"Let's just burn her body with the other bodies up here," Merissa replies. "Then we'll add another couple of Pheonix flags. 

I almost retch as I enter the office. Kanya's body parts are sprawled out across the room. Blood sprays the walls and stains the floors.

"I thought you were meant to drink the blood," I tell Zoran. He shrugs.

"I wanted her to suffer more," he replies with a shrug.

"Did she?" Wyatt asks. I look up at him.

"What the fuck does it look like?" I ask. He shrugs. 

"Yes, she did suffer," Zoran answers with a grin. Wyatt smirks at him and I roll my eyes.

"Boys, now is not the time for flirting," I explain. "Let's just pick up what we can and put it in the pile. Then we'll burn it all to the ground," I order as I reach for a stray arm and retch slightly. Zoran just laughs at my reaction which earns him a glare as I walk out of the room.

It is as we all watch the fire engulf everything, that the Centaur team turn up to take their free kin home. The centaur slaves seem to snap out of whatever shock they were in when they see their kin in the distance. I grin as there are screams of joy as the two groups unite.

"You have kept your side of the bargain," one of the centaurs says to me with a huge grin on his face. "We are now yours to command, my Queen," he tells me. He smiles and bends his front knees and bowing. His actions are followed by all the other centaurs and my eyes widen. My throat dries and I feel tears spring in my eyes. I gulp and force them back.

"They are all free now," I whisper softly. "Take them back to safety," I say with a whisper.

He grins. "Yes my Queen," he says and I notice he himself is crying as he stands to face his people. He shouts out orders in his native tongue and everyone lets out screams of joy. Wyatt wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"We did it," he says.

"Yes, we did," I reply as they begin their journey back to Tarlon.