Oriel woke up and immediately noticed that the sun was setting. It was almost time for them to leave. She felt a breath on her forehead and looked up to see Tassians face inches from hers. She had forgotten that they had both fallen asleep on the bed. She was laying on top of him with her head resting in the crook of her neck.

She gently pushed against him and sat up, straddling his waist. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she felt a pair of hands rest on her thighs. Oriel looked down to see Tassian staring back up at her. She noticed that his jaw was tightening and relaxing quickly. His eyes, now dark and wanting, traveled down to where she was sitting causing his jaw to tighten again. Her drowsiness quickly left her as she realized what she was doing and jumped off of him. Quickly, she walked over to the table and took out the map trying to distract herself.

Oriel heard Tassian chuckle and get up. She looked over her shoulder and saw that he had his back to her, stretching. She bit her lip and turned back to the map. She placed her finger over the 'x' and then another finger over where they were, approximately. They had another couple of days before they would be able to reach Queen Vega. They still have to travel at night. Even outside of the Kingdom there were still people who would be afraid of them. People aren't used to seeing people with black wings.

Oriel hadn't heard Tassian come behind her and look over her shoulder. "Still have a few more days?"

Oriel jumped. "Shit, Tassian. You scared me." She turned around and crossed her arms.

Tassian cocked his head to one side and his mouth turned down. "Ever since Dyso snuck up on us, you've been jumpier."

Oriel shrugged her shoulders. "I'm working on it."

He nodded as he stepped a half step closer to her. "Not to change the subject, but did you get enough sleep?"

Oriel leaned back against the table and nodded. She looked down at his mouth and then snapped them back up to his eyes.

Tassian kept moving closer to her until his hands rested on either side of her on the table. She worked hard to control her breathing as he started to lean down towards her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips barely brushing hers when a loud crashing sound came from behind Tassian. He quickly grabbed his sword from the table and spun around prepared to fight whoever - or whatever - the intruder was.

A small pile of white feathers lay on the floor in front of them. No movement came from it as Tassian reached forward with his sword. Oriel reached out and felt that whatever was underneath the pile of feathers was alive.

"Tassian, wait," Oriel stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. She slowly walked over to the pile of feathers. The feeling of life was slim and slowly going away. She knelt beside it and pushed the feathers aside. Her breath hitched in her throat as she looked at the mangled mess before her. A white bird lay in front of her, drowning in its blood. The bird's stomach was cut open and its insides were spilling out onto the floor.

Oriel looked up and saw torches of fire outside the window. She looked behind her at Tassian and noticed he was looking in the same direction as her. His eyes were set and serious. The muscles in his arms were contracting. She stood up and stepped in front of him, placing both her hands on his chest. "I'm sensing fear from them; not rage. They're not going to hurt us."

"Fear causes people to murder," Tassian answered her quietly.

Oriel shrugged her shoulders. "They want us gone. We're still too close to the border. They are probably afraid we're here for them." She looked over to the window. "Let me go out first."

Tassian shook his head. "No."

"Tassian," Oriel started slowly. "You're not always the best at using words. Although, if something does happen, I need you there by my side."

Tassian bit his lip causing blood to come out of the healing cut. "Fine." He stalked over to the dresser in front of the door and pushed it over.

Oriel took a deep breath as she opened the door and walked outside with her hands up. About a dozen men stood in front of her. Some were holding lit torches while others were holding various, sharp weapons. She took another deep breath before speaking loudly, "We're just passing through. Please, let us continue."

One of the men with a torch in his hand came forward. "You came from the Kingdom of Blavitara?" His voice was demanding, but Oriel felt a slight shake as he spoke.

Oriel nodded. "Yes, we are." She felt the presence of Tassian stand behind her. "Again, we are just passing through. We mean you no harm. We are - "

"We know who, and what, you are," the man interrupted.

Oriel felt Tassian step closer to her and tense up. "Who do you work for?" he harshly asked the man.

"They work for me." The mob moved aside to let a tall man walk towards them. He wore a long, black trench coat, black jeans, and a black hood. The hood kept his eyes hidden from them. The man's smile was crooked as he continued to walk towards them. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Borus and I'm the leader of this group. We know that you are the famous assassins of Queen Krathys. You do her bidding and hold no questions. What we want to know is why are you here?"

"We're here to get away from the Queen. We're done doing her bidding."

The man cocked his head to one side and his crooked mouth turn down. "I just don't believe you." He held out his hand.

Suddenly, Oriel felt her limbs were heavy and unable to control them. She grunted as her arms slammed tight against her sides and her knees buckled, causing her to fall to the ground. She heard Tassian growl before seeing his body lay in front of her the same way that she was laying. She heard footprints and was able to move her eyes to see a pair of black shoes in front of her. The man knelt down and gently grabbed her chin, moving her head to look at him. Silver-blue eyes stared back at her curiously from underneath the hood.

"It is you," he said quietly in astonishment.

"Don't fucking touch her," Tassian growled from behind the man.

Borus sighed and shook his head. "Put them in the cage. We're taking them back to the shelter." Four men came up to them as a horse pulled around towing a steel cage big enough to hold at least two people. Three men grabbed Tassian and pushed him back in the cage, while another lifted Oriel and placed her beside him.

Borus came up to the cage and closed the door behind him. He was holding in his right hand their weapons as he released whatever hold he had on them. "I'm sorry to do this to both of you, but you have to understand; I can't trust you not to kill us. Until we get to the shelter, you'll have to stay in this cage." He walked away and mounted onto another horse and took off.

Oriel moved her arms around as she started to get feeling back to them. The name Borus was familiar to her, but she couldn't think from where. She turned and looked over at Tassian and noticed how he was surveying everyone and everything around them. The cage wasn't tall enough to stand in so she crawled over and sat down beside him.

Almost as if it was instinct, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Should have allowed me to kill them," he halfway joked with her.

She gave him a small smile and shook her head. "His name is familiar. I just can't remember why." She rested her head on his shoulder. "No matter what, we'll be last ones standing."

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Author note: Thank you so much for reading this chapter! If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment or vote! Thank you again!