"My nation is bountiful and while it lacks some of the delicacies of yours such as wine or honey but I have no interest in expanding the borders of the nation. I shall return to mine. As far as Wilhelm goes ... first he will be castrated and next, well the fun truly begins for that low life."

He smiled pleasantly as thoughts of vengeance filled his head. His fingers steepled together as he gave it further thought before allowing it too fade. His hands went to the arm rests of the throne and pushed down on them as he stood.

"Enough blood shed has been spilled regarding this."

"I am glad to hear that..." She turned and began to cross back in front of the throne. She still didn't feel at ease. She had more question but now that Vek was standing she suddenly felt she should leave. This was ridiculous! Their stations were equal so why did she still feel so nervous talking to him? She knew why... It was because she was still a prisoner. Until Wilhelm was found the threat of rape still hung over her head.

She forced herself to stop once she was directly in front of the throne again. She took a couple of deep breaths then turned to face the Prince. "But what if Wilhelm eludes capture tomorrow?" She stared at the Prince's face and tried to read it as she continued to speak. "Tomorrow is the last day of the deadline and even if you are close to capturing him you do not have him yet. What will you do if he manages to escape you?" She clenched her fist and tried not to shake. "I mean, after..." She shook her head and tried again. Tears raised to her eyes in spite of efforts to stop them but she did not let them fall. "Will you still leave us alone after you have taken your revenge against me?"

His features seemed to be blank as she questioned him. He was tough to read probably from years of dealing with diplomats. "For your sake pray that he is apprehended." He paused for a moment and seemed to consider her other question.

"As I said. I will leave. Either way punishment will be mettled out though in that case I would imagine that your nation would have a divested interest in finding Wilhelm."

He walked to the window glancing out of it at the ramparts of the wall. "Again I would not trouble myself with considering matters that you have no control over."

"That is easier said than done, Highness." She moved towards the window as well, almost desperately now. "I do pray that you find him but as you have said I have no control over whether he is or not. But I cannot stop fretting over the matter whether I want to or not. The price for failure is mine to pay but I powerless to help the search succeed. All the same the thought is in my head now and I cannot get it out." She felt an urge to scream and turned away from the Prince, hoping that not seeing him would help calm her nerves. She had let herself get worked up by his statement and now her head was teaming with thoughts and imagined images of rape... Or at least she thought they were imagined. Some of them seemed connected to the nightmare she'd had days prior about the island and the monsters... Those images were the most fightening because for some reason they seemed the most real.

It took her a moment to realize she was still standing in the throne room with her back to the invading Prince. Tears were rolling down her cheeks now and she hastily wriped them away. "Forgive me, I... I forgot myself a minute there. I have but one more question and then I will leave you to your affairs..." She took one last deep breath and spoke, surprisingly calmly given the subject matter. "Will you be the one who rapes me tomorrow night if Wilhelm is not found or will you pass that burden onto your men?"

"It's forgiveable under the circumstances," Prince Vek announced dismissing her little outburst off hand but her following question caught him unprepared as he gazed at her. He was silent for a moment before answering, thinking about the question in a new light.

"One must lead by example," he answered at last, no he would handle the matter himself and while he could be cruel and send any number of his men to do the deed she was still a princess and he deemed not to demean her in that way.

With the answer given to her last question it was soon after with the onset of evening that the second day concluded. When she was in her room it was Gunthir that broke the silence first. "He likes yellow," he taunted but fortunately did not get far into the matter before there was a knock at the door and Serg entered with his customary tray and wine.

Nell did not quite understand Gunthir's taunt but she was quite certain he was trying to be rude somehow. "Whatever are you talking about?" Serg knocked and she bid him enter but she didn't not let him distract her. "Who like yellow? And why exactly should I care?"

"The Prince, though I suppose you'll find out tomorrow night ..."

Gunthir went though his typical routine of checking the wine, sniffing it then pouring himself a drink. Serg darted his eyes to him then back to Nell and poured her a drink. She could see that his hand was trembling just a little as he poured her a drink.

"Drink up, Princess, I imagine tomorrow could be quit stressful."

Nell glared at Gunthir but did not reply. Instead she took the offer glass and smiled reassuringly at Serg. "Do not be distressed, Serg. They are close to finding him." She aimed to give the groom a hope she had not allowed herself. There was no point in them both fretting about it. She walked over to her bed and set down her wine glass momentarily. "You do not have to stay for the glasses tonight but if you do stay I would ask you to turn away for a moment. I have slept in this dress for two night now but tonight I am determined to be comfortable."

As she spoke she began untying the lacing of her corset. She did not bother making the same request of Gunthir. She didn't care if he watched or not anymore. She was too exhausted by this whole ordeal to care. She really only asked Serg to turn away because she thought it would make him uncomfortable to see her in any state of undress. She only intended to strip down to her undergarments, which in truth covered almost as much as the dress, so she would not truly be naked.

"That is a bit of good new," Serg smiled, had been about to say something else but stopped himself. "You know it is my duty to bring the glasses back to the kitchen. I will stay until you are finished." He turned around as she undid the laces of her dress.

Gunthir would probably be watching her if not for is interest in the wine as he was taking deep draughts of it. He had the goblet half finished already. So much for savioring the taste.

"Wouldn't this be construed as an act of war ... given that you are held hostage. I am aware that we can do nothing at the moment against Spartha as they have essentially captured the government in one fell swoop but wouldn't your father, his royal highness, forgive me, see things that way?"

Nell shakes her head at this statement, though Serg cannot see this. She finishes unlacing her corset and removes it. She felt a rush of relief once it was gone. "We were already at war and we lost, Serg. Now we are helpless until Spartha's demands have been met. They will leave after tomorrow regardless of what happens and picking another fight with them over their war crimes were only service to start the bloody cycle all over again."

"We were?" Serg questioned as if he did not know, groomers were kept out of the loop of things and while there were whispers and rumors of what was going on Serg had not placed much faith in them. "You do have a point there though."

He frowned as he mulled this over in his mind though Gunthir intruded on his thoughts.

"Indeed you were beat, you got your asses handed to you in part thanks to Randell."

"Randell?!" Nell paused in her undressing and looked to Gunthir. "What does my father's steward have to do with any of this?"

(That'll sadly be my last post for a while. I have to go to work. TT-TT)

"You haven't realized?" Gunthir took another drink then cast his eyes towards Nell. His eyes settling upon her features for a moment as if to draw out the suspense a little longer. He then moved to answer her question. "The steward was kind enough to tell us about the secret passage down the hall from the throne room. Poor design really to have one there and not in the actual throne room itself incase you get cut off from it as you had.

"The passage came out into the bedrooms so I imagine it was not designed for this situation. Of course Spatha's coffers are a little lighter for this information."

Nell glared at the guard and immediately didn't believe his words. "You are lying! My father's steward wouldn't betray us simply for gold. He has served us for years." But he did know about the secret passage ways... Nell shook her head. "No, I don't believe it. I don't know how you learned about those passage ways but I won't let you insight me against my own people. You are only trying to upset me..." That last sentence sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. "You have no proof."

"I've heard it said by under handed people only to tell the truth when it hurts more than a lie. The only proof I would have would be Sparthian currency in his possession. It differs from yours and you'd find it with a simple search I would imagine, I mean that much gold is hard to hide after all."

Another sip of his wine as he allowed his words to sink in as he looked from the window to her. A grin danced upon his features. "Though you loose either way, don't you? Either you give in to your paranoia and look into this or you have a traitor amongst your people. Decisions, decisions, what's a girl to do?"

Gunthir's grin broadened then he took another sip of his wine.