Chapter 7

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He rode just before the tree line ended and tied the horse onto a nearby fence. He walked back to me with a smile on his face, but I could see that behind it, he was just as terrified as I was.

He placed his hands onto his hips, "So, princess, are you ready to go back in there."

"First of all, I'm not a princess. Second, not really but I will manage just fine. I was trapped there for several years. I think that I can manage a rescue mission."

He rolled his eyes, "Princess is just a nickname. Have you never heard of one?"

I glared at him, "Rude, yes, I have heard of one. But it's not a nickname I like so you will not call me it anymore. That is an order."

"Sorry, princess, you can't order me around. Well on account you aren't really the queen anymore. But, even if you were, I wouldn't listen. I don't tend to listen to those who command respect instead of earning it."

"You are insufferable, you know that? What if I gave you a nickname? Hm, let me call you jackass from now on."

He scoffed, "Go ahead. As long as I get to keep calling you princess, I don't really care what you call me."

He was mere inches from my face, and I hadn't even realized it until now. I glared at him some more before shoving on his chest to push him away. Although he moved away on his own accord. He was like a boulder and there was no way my shove did anything worthwhile.

"Did you forget that we are on a time crunch, jackass. Let's get moving while we still have the upper hand."

He looked down at me and quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything further.

We walked carefully up to the back entrance of the palace and just as I had suspected, no guards. Noah never saw a reason to keep guards posted back here because 'no one would be so foolish to come from behind. My enemies face me like men'. How foolish was he now. His enemy was not a man so therefore would not play by his rules. I was a woman and a smart one at that. He forgets I lived inside of his home for years and had plenty of time to learn the layout of the palace.

We reached the cellar door which was a single wooden door with a round window near the top. And even better for us, it was unlocked. I shook my head and sighed at the king's stupidity. How blind I had been all of those years. Even more, it made me shiver thinking of how many times someone could have broken into the castle because the king refused to take any safety precautions. He always thought they made him look weak. I always thought they made him look foolish.

When we entered the cellar, it was just as packed as I had remembered it. Alcohol lined the walls top to bottom. Noah usually preferred strong alcohol so there was little wine down here. There were only ever a few bottles and that was for my convenience alone because I hated the strong alcohol. He likes whiskey and he had it specially made to be as bitter as possible. I had to fight him for a while to even get one bottle of wine down here. Finally, he had enough of my whining and put at least ten bottles so that he didn't have to listen to me complain for a while. It wasn't even good wine.

Once we made it to the other end of the cellar, I held up my hand to stop Jonas from moving, "Wait here for one second while I check to see if the halls are clear. From here the dungeon is only one more level down."

He nodded and stayed put like I asked him too. I walked towards the door and cracked it open. I peered through the small opening I had made myself and from my angle it had looked clear. So, I opened the door a bit more to fully peer my head out. I looked down both sides of the hallways before bringing my head back in and telling Jonas that the coast was clear.

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