Royalty [A One Direction AU]

{21} Going Downhill

The next day, Liam, Harry, Cher, Zayn, Louis, and I are taken back into the room my dad died in. My aunt is left in the cell, just as unresponsive as she was yesterday. I think losing her brother broke her completely, leaving the six of us without any adults to help us. Unless you include Daniel, who doesn't look a day over twenty-two.

As soon as we enter the main room Nick grabs Louis, pulling him away from us. Liam, Harry, and Zayn are also held back, while Daniel approaches Cher, restraining her personally. The look in his eyes makes me want to puke. It isn't hard to tell that he's completely taken by her, especially since she's the only girl here. She's one of the only female Wizards on the planet, so of course Daniel takes an interest in her.

"Nick, you know what to do." Daniel says, releasing Cher and taking Louis from Nick, who restrains Cher instead. Daniel ties Louis' arms together behind his back, holding his arms tightly. No one makes a move to get to me, but I don't try to save anyone else, either. I feel like that wouldn't be a good idea at this point, even though I have my magic back. We don't want Daniel to know, not yet.

"Daniel, are you ready?" Another Wizard asks, coming into the room. When Daniel nods, ten more enter, one at a time. Two of them grab my arms, their hands glowing. Electricity zips down my arms and I collapse, every inch of my body instantaneously electrocuted. When they release me, I'm pretty much paralyzed by the spell. Effective way to render me useless. Oh, and my friends are freaking out, because not only am I lying on my stomach, my eyes are closed, so I probably look dead.

"Let's start." Daniel says, shoving Louis onto the ground next to me. He rolls me onto my back and I open my eyes, looking at him in worry. He smiles in relief, probably happy that I'm not hurt, then he looks up at Daniel.

"What happened to our deal?!" Louis asks, and Daniel laughs.

"A deal like that has to be fulfilled on both ends, with all important information put out before the deal is made. You withheld a major piece of information from me, rendering the deal void. You can't make a deal saying to kill you, Immortal, unless you can actually be killed." Daniel says, crossing his arms and walking slowly towards Louis and I. Louis stands up, his head barely in my line of vision, crossing his arms as well.

"Your father died because his closest friend broke a promise. I don't want my friend to die because I broke mine." He says, frowning. "I should have died hundreds of thousands of years ago. I know what you're trying to do, but I also know why it doesn't work. You can't make me your slave because I'm already a slave to someone else." Daniel stops, speechless, and Louis puts out his arm, showing Daniel the small star on his wrist. "This tattoo was there when I woke up, and I have no idea of its origin. My entire life is one big secret, and the King was the only person on this planet who knew that secret. You killed the answers to my questions, and now I'll never know who I really am." Louis pauses, sinking to his knees. "The King is dead, and I failed again. Technically, his sister has every right in the world to kill me, in fact, she probably would if she was in any state to do so." Daniel must know what Louis is going to say next because he smiles, forcing Louis to stand and putting his hand on Louis' chest.

"Do whatever you like." Louis says, sighing. "I probably deserve it." The other ten Wizards copy Daniel's actions, putting their hands as close to Louis' heart as they can. All eleven simultaneously cast a mind control spell, and Louis' eyes immediately darken. Then they flicker, light, dark, light dark, until Louis closes them, sucking in a breath. When his eyes open again, the bright blue is gone, replaced by a menacing dark navy color that barely registers as blue in my mind. The spell worked. Louis is on the other side.

"Tomlinson, pick up the prince." Daniel orders, and Louis turns, carefully lifting me into the air fireman style. Daniel nods, impressed, and points down the hallway. "Take him to your room, everyone else take the others back as well." He says, and Louis starts on his way. I have no control over my body, so I let Louis carry me away from the room where so much has happened. When we arrive, Louis dumps me on a bed and disappears, and soon Liam, Harry, Zayn, and Cher are filling my vision.

"What do we do now? Louis is under Daniel's control, Headmaster hasn't moved in a full day, and Niall is paralyzed." Liam says, on the border of losing it.

"Louis is doing this for a reason." Cher says, crossing her arms and frowning. "He would never willingly let Daniel do that, not without a fight. He has to have some reason for letting Daniel take control of his mind."

"He wants to be a distraction." Zayn guesses, smiling a bit. "He wants us to get out while Daniel is distracted with him."

"Maybe, but how? Daniel won't even bother with him, Louis is taken care of, so all he has to do is get rid of the rest of us." Harry says dismally.

"So what do we do? Give up?" Cher asks, sighing.

"I guess there isn't much else we can do. The King is dead, his sister is practically dead, and his son is paralyzed and trapped. Daniel could easily march up to the Council and take the throne without a fight. Without the King, they're nothing." Liam admits, disappearing from my view.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Zayn mutters, also leaving. Harry follows the two, but Cher stays with me, resting her hand on my arm as she stares off into space, probably focusing on some thought in the back of her mind. I wonder how long this paralysis will last? However long I'm stuck, I've got time to think about everything.

My dad is dead, he died saving my life. My aunt is off in her own world, because my dad died. Louis is under some sort of mind control spell, and now he's working with Daniel. Daniel has all of my dad's power, so he's technically a Sorcerer now. And I'm paralyzed by a spell, stuck in a cell with four of my closest friends.

Is there any hope for us now?

Or is it all downhill from here?