Just as Rahn was considering her options on how to free herself from Gashi's hold, the door to the room opened again and a female interrupted him. "Gashi."

"Not now." He gritted out between clenched teeth.

"It's urgent."

"I'm busy."

"It's Daielle."

Gashi groaned and then let out a sigh as he released Rahn and took a step back. "I guess it is your lucky morning as well, my dear." He said to Rahn as he turned and walked out of the room. The room was silent as the male's boots clumped on the floor and the door closed, the sound of the lock sliding into place heard clearly.

"Are you alright?" Kahal asked Rahn as he looked at the fresh red marks on her neck.

She nodded as she coughed and cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the pain the male had caused. Eventually she made her way over and sat on the floor with her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before repeating the process. Taking long deep breaths and exhaling them slowly again and again.

"I thought you were through with all of this masked vigilante nonsense, Kahal." Joreth chastised his older brother. "You have too many responsibilities to-"

"Leave the fussing for mother, Joreth." Kietnan cut him off. "We have more important things to worry about right now."

"Yeah, like getting out of here?" Joreth responded dryly. If you haven't noticed, we've been stuck in these chains for days and haven't managed to get out of them yet." Joreth scowled and then looked over at Rahn. "Are you trying to calm yourself because you're upset with my brother for getting you into this mess?" Joreth asked. "I take it you've seen him in this outfit before, you didn't seem surprised."

"Joreth." She said calmly as she opened her eyes and met Kahal's eyes staring at her, before moving her attention to Joreth. "Please don't insult my intelligence. Of course I suspected it was him at some point." She closed her eyes again. "I am breathing this way to prepare myself." She then continued her breathing as the room fell silent again.

"Prepare yourself for wha-" Othen's words were cut off as Rahn pushed against the wall to pop her shoulder out of place and used the new range of movement that created to slip her tied wrists beneath her feet and to her front. She then stood and drew in a deep breath as she pushed her shoulder against the wall, popping it back into place as she let out a quiet grunt.

Rahn used her bound hands to remove her flowing pants that resembled the skirt of a gown to reveal her athletic shorts that went from just below the naval down to just above the knee.

She felt four pairs of male eyes on her as she reached into her inner thighs and unzipped a secret pocket in her shorts.

"What is that?" Othen motioned to Rahn's leg.

"A knife, obviously." She answered as she unzipped her other side and pulled out a little pouch of tools. The guards had searched her thoroughly, of course, but she had designed these shorts herself for this purpose. On her inner thighs there was a bit of padding, which wouldn't allow anyone to realize there was anything hidden in her pants if they were to pat her down during a search.

"Heavens above, Kahal. Where did you find this female?" Joreth asked.

Rahn turned and found Kahal watching her as she walked toward him. His face was blank as she approached him. She reached up and used the tools from her pouch to pick the lock at his right wrist. He turned his head and whispered for only her to hear. "Did you know before or after?"

She tried to remain unaffected by his voice whispering low in her ear. She knew what he was referring to. The two intimate moments they shared in her temporary dwelling. When she felt the lock to his chains click and pop open, she released his hand and moved to the other side to work on the other one.

Not turning to look at him, she whispered her response. "In between."

She freed his second hand and handed him one of her tools so he could release his own feet while she worked on the others. Minutes later, they were all free of their chains and were looking through the room for a means to escape.

They ended up having to stand and wait on someone to come open the door and attempt to rush them and fight their way out. Eventually the three younger brothers all sat against the wall, stretching out their muscles from being in the same uncomfortable position for so long. Kahal and Rahn stood watch by the door, listening for any sign of movement.

"Do you know if we're still in the underground facility?" Kahal whispered. "I wasn't conscious when I was brought here."

Rahn shook her head. "No, they were already fleeing that when I returned. I followed a group here and snuck in. We're in the forest northwest of town, near the Yaka farms. I snuck in but with so many people rushing in and out, my attire easily caught attention. I was brought here within minutes."

Kahal nodded his head. "They know who you are?"

She shook her head. "I think they assumed I was one of the females that were taken, that maybe we all got separated in our attempt to flee, but no one I've encountered so far seems to know which one I am. My guess is they're too busy to worry about it at the moment. Throwing me in here was the easiest and safest option for them."

Several minutes later, after they'd sat in contemplative silence for a while, Rahn whispered. "Did I make a mistake?"

He turned to look at her and saw she was staring off at nothing in particular.

"In helping them escape?"

She shook her head. "I could've fought when they tried to take us. At the time I didn't think it wise to show my hand yet. And then we were outnumbered so quickly, I..."

"You've done everything you can. Besides, it worked out for the best in the end. You got the females to safety and you were able to alert the guards to where the facility was. You've done the Homeland a great service, Rahn."

She turned and looked at him then. She held his gaze a moment before glancing at his brothers and then back to staring at nothing. "It wasn't enough."

"Hey." He placed a finger on her cheek and turned her face until she looked at him. "You've done so much good, Rahn. You helped Ashima during transport, you helped save us from poisoning, you saved Ashima from Zein. Those actions alone are worthy of the highest recognition."

She shook her head but he extended his palm and cupped her cheek, holding her back in place, facing him. "Then you dive head first into the next challenge, braving the unknown for your people. You protected the females who have my brother's hearts and got them to safety. And you didn't hesitate to return for my brothers. We would still be chained if it were not for you. Now we have a chance at breaking free."

She tried to shake her head again and wave off his compliments. She was uncomfortable. She didn't like the way his eyes seemed to be looking deep within her. She felt exposed and vulnerable. But he didn't let her shy away from him.

"Rahn." He whispered as he stood up straighter, removing himself from where he had been leaning against the wall, and adding his free hand to her other cheek. "You are nothing short of astonishing. You continue to surprise and impress me at every turn. And there is so much I will never be able to properly thank you for."

She stared at him for a moment, watching as his eyes slowly trailed down to where her lips had just parted in surprise at his words.

But he had pulled away from her before and she wouldn't allow him to do that to her again. She couldn't keep letting him break down her walls only to break a piece of her heart each time he realized what he was doing and thought better of it. He had made it clear that his body wanted her physically but also made it clear that his mind had told him not to get involved with her. She could only assume he thought she wasn't queen material. And she had to agree.

So no, she wouldn't let this attraction between them continue. It would only cause her pain in the end. She closed her eyes and released a breath. "Thank you, my lord. Such words from our future king are a high honor." She said as she opened her eyes and quickly stepped around him. She walked over and stood on the other side of the door, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

Kahal watched as she visibly shut him out. He glanced to see Kietnan watching their interaction while his other brothers slept. He turned and placed his back on the wall, crossing his arms as they all remained in silence, waiting for someone to come open their door and hopefully give them a chance at freedom.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three hours later, Kietnan and Joreth had taken a turn posted beside the door while the others took a rest. Rahn felt herself getting antsy yet again. She had just traded one boring room for another. And this one smelled much worse. She missed the bag of beans she hung in her temporary home, she'd love to have something to punch or kick right now.

"Relax, Rahn." Kahal said flatly from a few yards away, not bothering to open his eyes from where he was laying flat on his back with his arms raised up above his head and his ankles crossed.

Rahn was sitting with her legs crossed and her back against the wall. "I'm just sitting here."

"I can feel your restlessness from here."

"I'm fine."

"You're itching to punch something, aren't you?"

"Keep bugging me and I might."

"You can try."

"Is that a sparring offer? Now?" She raised a brow muscle at him.

He sat up and leaned his weight into his elbows, opening his eyes and looking at her. "If it will help..."

She watched him for a moment before looking away. "Save your energy. We may need it." She stood and crossed the room. "Othen, it's our turn for watch."

After they got settled directly beside each other next to the door, sitting with their backs to the wall, Othen asked. "So.. how did the females handle being captive? Were they under much duress?" Othen whispered to her.

She turned to look at him. "Lady Biechta did fine, don't worry. She's tougher than she looks."

"I...I didn't..." he looked away.

"You didn't have to ask about her directly, I knew she was who you were thinking of."

"Is it that obvious?" He asked with rounded eyes.

She chuckled.

He sighed. "But I can't... she's not..."

She turned and looked at him. "Why not?"

"She is a guest of my mothers as a potential partner for my brother." Othen whispered as he glanced to see if his brothers were listening. They didn't appear to be.

After a long moment she asked. "And they are getting along well? As a potential match?"

"I... well, not at first but then...yeah I think so. Out of all the females in the grand hall, he asked her to be his date to the production. That's evidence enough isn't it?"

"Not necessarily." She watched as his eyes came up to hers. "Have you spoken to your brother about it?"

"Yes, of course."

"You told him how you feel?"

"No, I simply inquired about his feelings."

"And he told you he can see her as his future partner and queen?" She raised a brow at him.

"Well, not exactly."

"Othen." She shook her head. "Talk to your brother."

He paused a long moment before nodding his head and leaning against the wall.

"Othen."

"Hmm?"

"No time like the present."

"Now?" His eyes rounded.

"Yes." She turned and looked at the three brothers. "Lord Joreth, Lord Kietnan. Come take your brother's place please. He needs a moment of Lord Kahal's time."

Othen's mouth gaped open at her and the other brothers all raised their eyebrow muscles in question at her commanding tone.

"Don't everyone stare at me. Move it."

Othen stood and nervously crossed the room as the other brothers did as told, Kietnan with a slight smile on his face.