Forbidden

-Chapter Nine: A Piece of Cake-

"Why is it whenever I leave for a few days something exciting has to happen? Every time I'm here it's so lame and boring and punishing." Lilith groaned to Clara and Annie as they walked down the dark halls of the castle's dungeons.

"Not the right time to say that." Annie mentioned as they continued to look for their ally that is about to die. Gwen having magic was not the only surprise that caught Clara off guard, but the fact that Lilith has been suppressing hers as well. It made sense considering her sister Lily had magic in her, however, Gwen having magic was completely random. Clara remembered how terrified and thrilled Gwen looked when she tried to explain how she was able to heal a wounded bird.

"Lady Gwen?" Clara called out with Lilith and Annie looking into the large vast of empty cells. "Lady Gwen, where are you?"

"Please, it's just Gwen. It always has been Gwen." The brunette answered as she came out from the dark corner of the cell and leaned against the dirty, tarnished bars that locked her in.

"Right... well we brought you an actual meal and I just got done with talking to Ace." Clara said as Annie passed over a small basket containing a breakfast with poached eggs, freshly made bread, fruit, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Gwen's face instantly lit up as she began filling her mouth up.

"Thank you so much! I needed this!" Gwen thanked them in between mouthfuls.

"No problem! Have you not had anything to eat last night?" Annie asked as she handed over some napkins to Gwen while she chugged the orange juice to wash down the food.

"No actually, I also didn't have lunch. I was caught right after the daily afternoon tea, so I was quite hungry." Gwen explained while handing the empty cup back to Annie.

"What in the ever-blue sky happened?!" Lilith asked as she leaned against the bars.

"Before I explain that, is Ace okay?" Gwen asked, concerningly.

"Not really. He's doing that 'Ace thing' where he tries to act tough and fearless for everyone else, but deep down he's stressed out and scared. After you were sent here, him and Lady Persephone used the pathways to get into the basement. It startled the staff working there because we didn't know if anyone outside the Defiance was in the basement at the time. He told me what had happened and everyone kind of panicked for a moment, but Ace calmed down. Him and Lilith came up with an idea to get you out. Would you proceed with the plan?" Clara said prompting Lilith to carry on with the plan.

"So, we called this plan: Elite Runaway. I'm going to assume you know you will be leaving tonight. I will come and get you out of this cell during the ball and you will be leaving with the group. I talked to Ace but instead of sending you to Asterin, you're going to go with someone else who will help you control and strengthen your abilities. It's a trustworthy place, I go there all the time to train and they can help you train your powers." Lilith explained, but the ending was what caught Gwen's attention.

"Train?" Gwen asked.

"Nuh uh! I asked a question first." Lilith retorted making Gwen huff.

"Fair enough. The past witches and wizards made it so easy to hide their powers so well, much less the rest of the Defiance hiding their affection for one another. Anyways it happened two days ago. I had some down time to myself and decided to wander around the gardens before trying to find Perce or Ace. Suddenly the biggest, beautiful bird I have ever seen in my life landed right in front of me, but the bird was injured. Very badly. One of their wings was broken completely, they didn't seem to be breathing right, and they also had a large cut on its stomach. I immediately picked up the bird to bring it to Clara so she could save it, then suddenly my hands started to glow white and the bird flew away! The blood on my hands and dress was the only thing that remained from the injured bird. I quickly rolled around in mud to hide the blood and quickly ran to Clara. This way if anyone saw me, I could have easily said that I was on my way to yell at Beatrice for not trimming my dress properly and causing me to fall."