Viv's heart jumps into her throat as Cole closes his eyes and moves in to kiss her. But just before they kiss, an alarm rises and causes Cole to fall back in shock. Cole looks around trying to figure out what happened.
Some one runs into the room. It is a short girl who, despite her height, seemed to be a bit older than the two of them.
"Serafina, what is happening?" Cole asks the girl.
"The Jelston's have broken into the castle!" Serafina explains, panicked.
"How?" He questions more worried now.
"I don't know, they must have found a way around the back."
"Viv, stay here and hide. Make sure you don't get hurt. I have to go. I'll be back once I get them out of the castle." He tells Viviana. She does exactly as he told her.
She sits in the shining room with a clear panicked look on her face. She is scared Cole won't make it back to her. Did the Jelston's really find a clandestine place to sneak in through? What is Cole going to do? Is going to fight them? She hopes not. Viv hates the idea of Cole fighting people. She hates the idea of fighting in general. It brings back the memories of her father.
Viviana stays in the dark room for a long time. She tries to listen to the voices coming from the distance. But they are all muffled. She waits for Cole to come back. Cole almost kissed her. She can't believe that. The Prince of the kingdom was leaning in to her. That is the only thought that can keep her from freaking out fully. She is of course disappointed that they didn't kiss, but it was a close thing.
Since she was sitting in silence, she forgot about the other person who was still in the room with her.
"It's going to be fine. Cole is the best knight there is." Serafina tells her.
"Are you sure?" Viviana says her.
"Of course. I've been in this castle for a long time." She assures her. "But what were you two doing in here anyway? I've never seen you in the castle before."
"Oh, we he was just helping me stay safe and away from all the chaos." Viviana tells her.
Serafina goes to sit next to Viv. For some reason, this stranger makes her feel safer just like other people in the castle. Serafina hugs her and once again tells her everything will be alright. But Viv is still not sure. She only has known Cole personally for a little while but she still cares for him deeply. More than she would like to admit.
It was now that she realizes that the alarm is still going off. There was a scream from downstairs. It was definitely a little girl. A shrill scream like that could only come from a small child. Viviana gets up. She wants to figure out where the noise from even though Cole told her to stay up there.
Viv runs downstairs despite Serafina telling her not to. Once she reaches the last step she sees blood. It was splattered on the wall like a painting. Viviana has to stop herself from screaming. She catches Cole's eye as he is standing there with a sword in his hand pressed against another man's sword.
Cole's eyes went wide as soon as he saw her. He lost his balance and fell backwards almost causing the other person's sword to slice him in half. But he blocks the sword just in time. Viviana looks away from Cole and sees the little girl. She looks like a younger version of herself. The girl looked at her. It was as if Viv was looking into a mirror to her past. She gets lost looking at the girl and forgets Cole is on the ground with a sword to his throat.
Suddenly realizing this, she was split. She didn't know whether to pay attention to this little girl who is like a younger version of her, or to try to help Cole who was on the ground desperately trying to stay alive. She knows she has to help Cole and put her own confusion to the side for now. She has to to get the other guy's attention somehow. The simple thing to do is just say something to him.
"Back away from him." She says in a meek tone. The guy holding the sword against Cole is distracted now and notices that she's there. This gives Cole enough time to get up and stand his ground. Cole takes his sword and shoves it through the man's heart. The man instantly falls to the ground dead.
Cole walks over to Viviana and hugs her.
"What are you doing down here?" He asks, "I told you to stay upstairs."
"I know but I heard a scream. So I ran down here." Cole sighs.
"That was Victoria. She is my little sister. She was adopted." He tells her.
"Oh,"
"I would've been worried too. I can't blame you for that."
"I panicked, I didn't think about it, I just wanted to know what it was and if she was okay." Viviana explains. Cole pulls out of the hug. He smiles.
"That was a very noble thing to do." He tells her. "And Victoria, next time just hid in the closet like we discussed. Got it!"
"Yeah I got it. Excuse me for wanting to be away from the place where the danger alarm went off." Victoria replied sharply. Cole sighs and grabs Viviana's hand. He brings her back upstairs to the room where they almost kissed just half an hour before.
