The three others had been speaking quietly while Virgil let himself think of what was going to happen in the meeting they were about to go to. After a few moments, they stopped though and the three boys got up, Logan reached for his arm but Virgil slapped him away. 'Don't touch me' he signed

Logan must have remembered it from the last time Virgil used those signs because he seemed to understand, "Unfortunately Ann I can not say we trust you to walk on your own. You are faster than we are and have already said you would not hesitate to run if given the chance."

"It's okay kiddo, the kings a nice guy. It's just a meeting" Patton said.

Virgil picked up the notepad again, 'Promise me I won't get hurt' He directed the notepad to specifically Roman and made sure to make eye contact so he would know who he was referring to.

"I promise"

'Will I have to speak?'

Roman shook his head, "My father knows you're mute, he would have gotten a translator. he won't force you to speak unless you need to."

Virgil nodded, he thought for a moment before writing down one more question, 'What do I do?'

"What do you mean?" Roman asked

Virgil rolled his eyes and bent over the notepad again 'I may be your prisoner but I will also be representing my kingdom, something that has not been done in many years. I want help, how can I make the best impression?'

They seemed a little surprised by this, "Wow you really are a prince" Roman muttered

"And it seems he is a better one than you Roman. Or at least a politer one" Logan said, he allowed a small smile to grace his lips as Roman rolled his eyes, "If I were you, I would avoid treating anybody like you treated General Tafe."

Roman nodded in agreement, "Bow, I know its not your kingdom but it'll get you on my parent's good side. You won't be allowed near my parents so don't try. Don't bring up Remus unless someone else does first, it's a touchy subject. You might have to let them call you by your real name since we don't have trait names here. Don't use your magic, unfortunately not everyone on my father's council is fond of it. And um, be nice I guess?"

Virgil nodded, 'Fine' he signed before standing up. He let Logan take his arm, though he flinched at the touch. He was gently led out of the room and caught sight of himself in a mirror as they walked down the hall. He looked pretty messed up to be truthful. He had a thin scratch and dirt on his face from one of the many falls he had taken while running from the attack. His hair was a mess, and with his free hand, he tried to make it look better. But it was hard with no brush and only seeing himself for a second. His clothes were not in the best of shape, though luckily the cloak he had discarded earlier in the day had taken most of the damage and as the only thing he wore that showed were he was from, and his neck had a thin scratch as well from when the sword had been pressed to it.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a large pair of wooden doors, "I'll be back. You guys stay out here while I catch my parents up on what we learned about you and my brother" Roman said before he entered the room.

Patton turned to him, "Hold still okay Ann" Patton said before helping Virgil with his hair, they must have seen him playing with it while they were walking. Patton pulled their sleeve over his hand and wiped at Virgil's face and mumbled to Logan about how they should have considered this before making their way over. They looked Virgil up and down, biting his lip at the lack of success he had had before nodding.

Roman came back through the doors and gave them a brief nod before going back in. Patton followed than Logan and Virgil went. Roman immediately went to sit at his mother's side. Patton bowed to the people in the room before he also went to go sit by a woman that looked a lot like them. Virgil felt Logan's hand leave his arm, the last boy from the trio bowed and he too walked away, except he didn't take a seat, he stood to the side of the room away from the rest of them, it was then that Virgil realized for the first time in three days that Logan's clothes were not as nice as the clothes Patton and Roman wore. It wasn't something a peasant would wear, but you could tell Logan was not as high up on the social ladder as everyone else in the room was.

All eyes were on Virgil now. He took a breath, swallowing any pride he had, and bowed. He waited just as long as Patton had before he stood tall again. "Prince Virgil Black," The king said, no malice in his voice. But it did seem like he was trying just as hard as Virgil was to not do anything negative "Welcome to the Light Realm,"

'Thank you' Virgil hesitated before adding the next two words 'Your highness.' A lady with brown hair and a pastel blue dress translated the words for him. 'Let me apologize for-'

"Why aren't you speaking?" A voice said, General Tafe's voice. The voice of the man Virgil hated.

Virgil looked at him, forcing himself to not glare, to listen to the warning Logan had given him earlier 'I am selectively mute general.'

"If you're capable of speech than, speak," The general said. Roman winced at how similar the words were to his own.

'I haven't broken my silence in years for anybody, I'm not going to be doing it now' The look on people's faces shifted slightly as the lady finished the translation for him.

The queen cleared her throat, "Prince Virgil, Roman has told us that you have seen our other son, Remus. Is this true?"

'Yes ma'am. Remus and I have become great friends over the past two years. He is very brave, he helped me escape during the attack before going back to try and save my brother'

The Queen put a hand over her mouth and took her husband's hand, "He's alive, Richard our boy's alive."

The king nodded, and smiled at his wife, "Virgil, are you in communication with anyone from the Dark Realm? Are you aware of how badly the attack on your castle was?"

'I have not spoken to a single person from the Dark Realm since the night of the attack. I have no idea if the cities were targeted as well, I ran through the forest and avoided them in case those who chased me tried to attack the nearby village. I did not want to endanger the citizens that lived there by possibly exposing them' Virgil waited for the translator to catch up to him before he continued signing 'As far as the condition of the castle goes, I saw the tallest tower collapse from a distance and when I left parts of it had been set ablaze.'

Many of the people in the room began talking at once, they all spoke over each other and their voices formed a song that was ugly and hard to understand. Virgil only caught pieces of conversation before the king raised his hand in the air. The room went silent immediately, the king nodded. He seemed to have understood everything said just fine. "Why were they there?"

'I don't know.'

"How many were there?" The lady next to Patton asked

'At least fifty outside the southern wall'

"Who were they targeting?" A man a few seats away from Roman asked him

'They were attacking everyone, even our servants. I saw a man grab a twelve-year-old squire. They didn't discriminate'

"They took children?" someone said in surprise.

"Were people dying?"

"Did they have magic?"

"How far did they chase you?"

"When did the attack begin?"

Virgil took a step back at all the questions, his head went back and forth between the voices. He lifted his hands again, ready to start signing an answer but they shook. He could see everyone watching him. Everyone was asking him questions. People had begun to glare, to turn on him when he still didn't answer. He looked over at Patton, he had his fingers on the table and was signing to Virgil, one of the ones they had learned earlier. Before Virgil could see it though his mother stood up and blocked his view as she joined in the shouting.

"Were the nobles attacked?"

"Did they give you any warning?"

"Did they stop once they had the castle?"

"How many did you see dead?"

Virgil looked at the queen and king, they were talking in hushed voices and looking at each other with worry. They weren't yelling questions at him. Virgil looked at Roman, just like Patton he was signing to him. 'Are you okay?' Virgil looked at him before gently shaking his head no. Roman turned to his parents and quickly butted into their conversation. He ignored his mother's scolding as he spoke to them. The king and queen looked at Virgil.

"Why did they attack?"

"Do you know where they came from?"

"What can we do?"

"Did anything stop them?"

"Silence!"Roman's father yelled. Virgil took a step backward before the king turned to look at him sharply, "Prince Virgil, how were you informed of the attack?"

Virgil hesitated, forcing his hands to still as he started signing again 'I'm a seer. I was asleep when I was awoken by a vision telling me danger was near. If not for that vision and the help your son Remus gave me I would not have made it out'

"You have magic?" General Tafe asked, almost accusingly.

Virgil nodded, 'My mother had it and the gene was passed to my brother and I. Though most of my magical skill is visions only.' He didn't mention to them how he wasn't very good with magic, after all these were still his enemies. And you can't reveal your secrets and weaknesses to your enemies.

"Have you had a vision since that night?" The queen asked

Virgil nodded again 'two. One warned me of a horse in the woods that nearly ran into me. I avoided it, but was not aware of my surroundings and was hit by Crown Prince Roman instead. And in the second I-' Virgil stopped signing, everyone leaned forward. Virgil took a deep breath as he prepared to share the information, 'I saw my brother and Prince Remus in a dungeon. Both were injured. I'm sorry'

It was silent in the room. Everyone was surprised. Roman's mother grabbed her son's hand and Roman held it. Patton's mother leaned over to him and said something and Patton nodded obediently. Logan stared straight ahead, he hadn't looked at anybody since walking in. He probably wasn't allowed to.

"Lies!" General Tafe shouted, "Your highness this boy is playing to your heartstrings. His kingdom is most likely not in danger, this could all be a trick. He could be using his knowledge of your son to play with you. As your highest commanding officer, I must warn you that this is most likely a trick. How can we be sure he is not lying? How can we be sure this is even the real Prince Virgil Black? That the king of the Dark Realm didn't send some actor? How can we trust this boy?"

'Don't glare, don't glare, don't glare' Virgil glared, not at the general though, he forced his look towards the ground, He needed these people to help him, or at least let him go free. And so, with his glare still directed at the ground in front of him, he began signing again, 'There isn't much I can do to ease your worry. Our kingdoms have been fighting for longer than my father has been king. I have to admit that I don't trust a single person in this room, and I doubt any of you trust me. I'm sorry for crossing the border. I'm sorry I have no way to prove that I'm not lying. I'm sorry for so much worry in your counsel. But three days ago my kingdom was attacked, and I did nothing to stop it. I won't make that mistake again. So I'm going to help the Dark Realm'

Virgil looked back up again, making sure his look of hatred had turned to a look of determination as he made eye contact with the king. His father had once told him not to make eye-contact with someone you did not wish to challenge. People are like dogs, some are submissive and will crumble and submit under your gaze, while others will attack at the first sign of weakness. The king looked at him, they examined each other carefully. Then the king nodded, he had neither submitted nor attacked. Virgil was safe and so was the King "My wife and I would like to speak to Prince Virgil alone please,"

There was a hesitation before simultaneously everyone moved to the door. Virgil stayed where he was, though he had to admit he was afraid. Him, a prince of the Dark Realm, in a room with the king and queen of the Light Realm? He was preparing himself for death.

A hand grabbed onto his arm as they left and General Tafe pulled at Virgil until the young boy's ear was by the man's mouth, "Listen, boy, I do not trust your kind for a second. I'm hoping what you say is true though, your whole kingdom and family deserve to burn. Your monsters. If it were up to me the Dark Realm would be nothing but dust by now. But it's not, our rulers have been foolishly generous with you and your family. So let me remind you of this if this is a lie I will personally make sure you and everyone you love is given a long and painful death. Is that understood?"

Virgil nodded slowly and the man let him go. He was one of the last to leave the room. And as the doors closed he saw Patton giving him some reassuring look before it was just him and the king and queen of the Light Realm.