Cyrus gazed into Antonio’s dresser mirror and brushed his messy blonde bedhead. He saw Antonio with Van through the corner of his eye and let out a grimace. He leaned in to kiss her before they parted ways and she walked up to Cyrus. “Are you ok?” she asked, while pointing to his bandaged hand. “You didn’t have that when we went to sleep.”

Cyrus raised his voice and as he did, Antonio pretended to slice his neck in the mirror and point at Van. “Uh yeah, I uh sleepwalked down to the pantry to get myself a midnight snack and I accidentally sliced my hand.”

“Oh Cyrus,” Vanessa said in a sweet sing songy voice while eyeing Antonio. “Don’t go to sleep on an empty stomach next time.”

Cyrus laughed and put his hand forward. “Yep, what kind of shenanigans will I get up to next.”

Suddenly, Van’s soft, lovelorn eyes regained their keen sharpness when she realized what he said. “But wait… didn’t you eat three whole legs of lamb?”

“Er…you know me!” Cyrus suddenly exclaimed. “I’m a growing boy. We go through so much food at the castle that I’ve caused a hunger famine in the castle town twice.”

Van caught another glimpse of Antonio who winked at her. “You’re so funny, Cyrus,” she said as her eyes glazed over and she sighed. “Antonio was right, you could be a royal clown if you wanted to hehe.”

“Hey!” Cyrus shouted, but Archibald quickly placed his hand on his shoulder.

“As much as I enjoy you greasy kids and your greasy kid bickering, we’ve got a very important day ahead of us. One that decides the fate of not only this village, but quite possibly this country itself. Bunting’s control may spread to other towns and cities if we’re not careful.”

“Got it,” Van said, back on the bed, stroking Antonio’s bare chest. “I’ll try not to let this pretty boy distract me.”

“Si,” Antonio said as he leaned against the bed and touched her face. “And I’ll try not to get lost in this little senorita’s eyes of rich dark chocolate.”

Van nearly melted from his compliment, lowering towards the bed with a mushy smile on her face. Cyrus felt like puking in response, but instead looked away.

“By the way,” Archibald asked. “Has anyone seen Miss Larson?”

Cyrus who was looking for any reason to divert his attention from the passion of Vanessa and Antonio raised his hand. “I saw her last night when I was down in the kitchen. She went outside.”

“Great!” Archibald responded with two thumbs up. “Do you know why?”

Cyrus rubbed his smooth chin wondering if he should break the news to Archibald about Jetta’s true feelings about the Majester. On one hand, he was worried about Archibald’s safety since Jetta seemed to be crazy in love with him, but on the other hand, he didn’t want to anger a former thief lord. For all he knew, he could find a marshland monkey’s head in his bed if he said the wrong thing. The young prince began to curse the fact that all of his enemies had precariously high positions in the worlds of crime and shadows.

“I…” Cyrus said, before the door was kicked open and Jetta stumbled in clutching her head.

Her eye and face were bright red and she nearly fell over her own toes when she walked in. Jetta moaned and muttered to herself as she headed in the direction of Cyrus and Archibald. She only stopped teetering in that direction when Archibald quickly put his hand out to keep her from walking into them. “Funny night to be drinkin’” he said in a deadpan voice. “Not like the whole country was at stake or something.”

“Blargh,” Jetta growled. “I just had to do something about my emotions, they were running high after all we went through yesterday.”

“Emotions over Bunting’s staging a coup?”

“I lost my empire, my father and…and…!” Jetta grunted.

Archibald put his hand on her shoulder. “What else did you lose…?”

“My reign in the war of hearts,” Jetta bemoaned, throwing her head back. “With a single heartbeat and a glint of an eye, the fortress built around my heart came crashing down and it’s left me in shambles. I’m nothing but a fragile husk groping blindly for the emotion that I once controlled so magnificently.”

“Good lord of the underworld,” Cyrus said choking. “Your breath could level a thousand fortresses.”

Archibald sighed and quickly retreated to his briefcase, he gathered a small bubbling elixir in a clear white bottle. “I was saving this for the party after we stopped Bunting, but I suppose you’re not going to be any use as you are now, Little Miss Jetta.”

“Stop calling me that,” Jetta screamed, stomping and further stumbling on the ground. “I’m going to be 36 in two months from now! I’ll be your senior. I demand you respect me as one.”

“Drink your potion baby Jetta,” Archibald said wryly.

“How dare you call me that, you devil!” Jetta howled even louder. “When I get back in control of this empire, I swear I’ll…”

Archibald quickly uncorked the tiny bottle and stuffed it in Jetta’s mouth. She gulped it down and Cyrus watched as the bloody veins in her eye smoothed back to white. She quieted down and a sad dull expression was all that remained. “What was that?” She asked softly. “My head feels better, but…I feel a little empty.”

“The ‘Morning After’ elixir,” Archibald said. “Used by partying aristocrats everywhere. Clears you of everything but the lingering regret of what you did last night.”

“You don’t know half of what I regret,” Jetta said. “But I suppose that’s not here or there. I’ve plotted out a way we can get to the mines without being detected. I’ll take you there now.”

“That’s more like it,” Archibald said. “Please don’t be upset, Miss Jetta. We’ll restore everything you once had.”

“You can’t restore it if I never had it.” Jetta muttered, refusing to look the Majester in the eye.

“Come again?” Archibald said tilting his head.

“Nothing, let’s go,” Jetta responded.

***

After the group had sharpened their weapons, Jetta lead the trio back to Nelly’s Tavern. They once again entered the darkened tunnel underneath the city. Out of everyone, Cyrus seemed the most confused. “Why are we back here?” he asked.

“Perhaps if you let me explain myself, you impotent brat,” Jetta snarled. “It’ll all make sense.”

“Ok, sheesh,” Cyrus responded, crossing his arms.

“My father designed a whole network of tunnels for smuggling. We even have a secret one connected to the mine and we’d often use it to smuggle gold and pixie dust under the noses of your soldiers before I staged my coup.”

“So this isn’t the only tunnel?” Vanessa asked.

“Nope,” Jetta responded. “This one connects to all the others and we’re going to go through the mine that way. Bunting likely has no clue about them so we’ll have an advantage that way.”

Jetta walked over to the wooden stairs they had traveled down. She walked underneath them and lifted another trap door.

“Let’s hop to it,” Archibald said, swinging his briefcase as he walked over.

As they climbed down, they reached an even lower subterranean tunnel. The size conscious Cyrus noticed the passageway was even tighter. The walls were not composed of bricks but rather just two rocks in close vicinity. The floor was made of wood bound together by nails that jutted out at odd angles. Sweat soaked Cyrus’ brow; it was even hotter than standing in the blazing sun above ground. Everyone stood tentatively, trying to decide who to send into the darkness first.

Antonio grabbed Van’s hand and stepped forward. “Vanessa and I will go first to put all of your hearts at ease.”

“We will?” Van asked, her eyes widened in the dim lighting.

“Come on, mi amor,” Antonio said, placing his hands on her metallic shoulder pads. “Our love will be the guiding light in this darkness. We have nothing to fear as long as we have each other.”

“You have such a beautiful way of phrasing things,” Van sighed. “I could use more men like you in my life.”

“Nonsense,” Antonio said with a foppish laugh. “You only need me to fulfill every one of your little desires.”

“You’re right,” Van said in a monotonous breathy voice.

Cyrus could barely suppress his urge to expose Antonio, but his concern for Van’s safety prevented him. Antonio Corazon was hypnotizing his close friend and what was scary is that he didn’t even use magic. He just had bewitching good looks and the ability to say the right thing whenever he wanted to. These talents made him a formidable foe and one who Cyrus could hardly match in ability. He would just have to look for an opening in Antonio’s facade.

As they walked further and further down the narrow passageway, the group began to hear rumbling from above. Ground tremors caused bits of rock and dirt to shuffle from the ceiling and fall on everyone. Fortunately for them, they were small chunks no bigger than pebbles and small clumps of dirt.

“They’re mining above us,” Jetta said. “We must be getting close.”

The group walked further through the tunnel, and at last, it spread apart into a circular cavern which forked into several more tunnels. The ceilings were higher but not by much. Pointed stalactites hung over them like sharpened swords ready to land in an unlucky head.

“I guess we’re in the mines now,” Archibald said. “I wonder which way we should go now…”

A loud blast sounded over them and the cavern began to shake violently. The ground below them seemed to move. It threw everyone off balance from its constant vibrations. Cyrus, being the least coordinated tumbled to the ground first, but soon, Vanessa and Antonio fell too followed by Jetta and Archibald. The blast seemed to trigger a chain reaction. More loud rumbling began and it was only Jetta screaming that warned everyone of the terror above them.

“Everyone…look above you…the rocks!”

The group scrambled to their feet but not fast enough to escape being caught in a maelstrom of falling rocks. Archibald rolled quickly out of the way, dodging a rock the size of his head. It crashed to the ground and cracked open. He fell to the ground and threw his briefcase away from the trajectory of the rocks. Cyrus, still shaking from the tremors, watched in horror as a large stalactite jostled like a loose tooth over Van and Antonio. “Van, Antonio! Look out,” he screamed.

Both swords wielders looked up but only Antonio dove out of the way. Van froze in terror as the stalactite came loose and fell towards her head. She didn’t even have a chance to scream, but right before it could kill her, Cyrus threw his body weight at her and shoved her out of the way. The two tumbled safely away from danger.

Cyrus’ head was spinning but when he opened it, Van was sitting over him. The rocks had ceased falling for the time being. She smiled at him softly. “I can’t believe you just saved my life, prince. Thank you.”

“Oh, it was nothing.” Cyrus said back. “Just looking out for a friend. I like having you around, poof head.”

Cyrus and Van turned around and saw Antonio on the ground with his hands over his head. “Is it over?” he asked.

“Thanks a lot for saving me, bat guano,” Van said in her sardonic tone.

Cyrus normally didn’t like it, but he had missed that tone, especially since it was directed at Antonio.

Antonio quickly scrambled to his feet.

“My apologies,” he said in a voice of mock concern. “I may be endlessly dashing, but I am endlessly clumsy too. You know this about me. If I hadn’t tripped, I would have carried you in my arms out of harm’s way.”

Van looked at Antonio with an icy glare. Cyrus salivated when he saw it. Oh how he had waited for this moment. Antonio looked a bit nervous, but quickly flashed a prize winning grin and brushed his hair.

“I…” Van started. “I can forgive you this time…”

She lightly punched him with a smile on her face. “You’re lucky you’re cute for bat guano.”

Antonio gave a charming laugh and quickly leaned in to kiss her. Van’s icy stare melted in seconds and it turned as soft as the gaze of a wolfhound baby. She took his hand and walked away from Cyrus. Cyrus pounded the ground and cursed quietly.

“We’re lucky to be out of that mess,” Archibald said with a laugh. “By the way, did anyone see where my briefcase landed?”

“Oi look what I found,” a deep, booming, yet female voice said.

“Hehe, lookit what we got indeed,” a weaselly female voice responded. “The Majester’s briefcase. It’s finally ours. After we use it, we can pawn it off for millions”

Cyrus turned his head to the mouth of one of the many tunnels. Bungo and Snipps were there, dressed in frocks and holding the Majester’s briefcase. As soon as they saw Archibald, the two female bandits turned tail and ran down the tunnel.

Archibald sighed. “Just my luck! There are a few things certain in this life. Death, taxes and Bungo and Snipps.”