They weren't walking for very long when they came across a campground. Maybe twenty minutes or so, regardless, how it was set up told Virgil they had been here for longer than a day. They must've used a portal to get this far, meaning that there had to be at least two or three magic users working with Tafe. Portals were too difficult of a spell for someone to perform on their own, they often required multiple people.

There were six large tents set up and more than double that many fires. Horses were being groomed and fed in one area, food was being cooked in another. Half the soldiers were laughing and joking around, obviously on their break. The other half of the soldiers had primarily been in the group Tafe had been traveling with, the few working soldiers that weren't in the group were running around taking orders from whoever Tafe must have left in charge during his absence.

The group stopped moving and Tafe began shouting orders at everyone while Logan, Roman, and Patton tried to make their way over to Virgil. "Ann!" Patton said worriedly as he rushed over to him and began to look him over for injuries.

"Excuse me, Marques Patton please step away from the-"

"If you call him a prisoner I will see to it that my father makes you a prisoner," Patton threatened as he gently but firmly pulled Virgil out of the soldiers' grasp and a few paces away, enough of a distance that they could speak privately but hopefully wouldn't get in trouble for it, before letting go of him again. "It's gonna be okay kiddo, we'll figure this out alright?"

Roman nodded with determined agreement, "Patton's right, I'll write a letter to my parents and this will all be fixed."

"No, that won't help!" Patton told him.

"Why wouldn't it?" Logan asked, "Roman's parents are the ones that made the order, they should be able to put a, so to say, recall on it as well."

Patton shook his head vehemently "No, because-"

Before Patton could finish Tafe was approaching them, a small group of soldiers trailing behind him. "I thought I told you three to keep away from him," he growled angrily as he grabbed Virgil's arm and pulled him away.

"We were just talking to him," Roman muttered.

General Tafe turned to him, "Your highness, please understand. This is for your own good. Prince Virgil and his uncle have betrayed the truce. They have deceived you-"

"Wrong! Ann hates lying!" Patton said angrily.

"His own brother is named after the very act," General Tafe argued, "Now, Marquess Patton please step back."

"I won't! Virgil is not dangerous!"

Tafe barked an order and two of the soldiers stepped out of the group towards Patton. Virgil's eyes widened with concern as he tried to pull away from Tafe and protect his friend, almost immediately the general harshly yanked Virgil back to his side. Roman quickly put an arm in front of Patton and Logan pulled them both back.

"You three are going to be escorted to a tent, you will remain there until I say otherwise. If you try to leave, you will be stopped. Please boys, for your safety, stay in the tent."

"Thats fine, just let Virgil remain with us," Logan requested, "We won't speak to him if that's really what bothers you but let us-"

"Enough Logan, I will be keeping an eye on Prince Virgil myself. I don't trust him not to try to hurt someone or attempt to escape, nor do I trust my regiment with guarding him."

"Well, we don't trust you! You're a bully Mr. Tafe! And if you hurt him I'll-"

"Patton stop," Logan said calmly as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Tafe won't hurt him, that would be against the law. Even prisoners of war have rights, and the general is on his last warning." He looked up, almost smugly, towards the general, "Roman's father has already said, to disregard such a rule will result in his termination from the king's council."

Virgil could feel the grip on his arm tighten as the general smiled and nodded, "Exactly, the prince is in safe hands. Now, please, follow these young bright men and women to your tent."

Patton frowned and glanced worriedly towards Virgil, who nodded to his friend, urging them to just listen to what they were being told and go. Patton looked back towards the general and was about to argue again when a few of the soldiers standing behind Tafe began to try and herd Patton and the other two away. "Wait-!" Patton commanded but it was to late, Tafe was already dragging Virgil away while the other three were being led/pushed further into the camp.

The general's grip on Virgil's arm was viselike, that didn't stop Virgil from trying to struggle and escape though. He dragged his feet into the ground as if his weight would do anything to stop Tafe from moving him. He tried to twist and turn, hoping that maybe if he moved in the right way then maybe Tafe would have to let go because his wrist wouldn't twist that way. That didn't work either, Tafe's hand was so tight it prevented such a movement.

Virgil was pulled into a tent at the very end of the camp, slightly further apart than the other tents were to each other. He was thrown to the ground, grunting in pain as he landed, and Tafe threw his stuff on a nearby table. "You know Prince Virgil," Tafe began as Virgil moved to stand, only to be shoved to the ground again, "I must be the only one, who doesn't want anything from you. Ira wants your magic, and then the King- he insists the three of us refer to each other as royalty for some absurd reason- needs you to help gain control of the kingdoms. But I'm pretty sure there's a nostalgia aspect to it as well, at least for him anyway. But me? I just want you dead."

'To bad,' Virgil signed, not that Tafe noticed with all the talking he was doing.

"You're everything that's wrong with the world your highness. Everything. Or at least, everything I'm against-"

'Two very different things' It was very hard to sign with his hands tied, he'd forgotten that since the month had first begun.

"-And if I had it my way, you and that snake-faced brother of yours would already be dead. But I've already been warned, if I kill you, they'll kill me and I'm cut out of the deal."

'Coward. Always a coward.'

"Stop signing!" Tafe screamed, slamming his fist on the table and making Virgil flinch back. The general glared at Virgil before storming forward and lifting Virgil, high enough so that his feet hung a couple of inches off the ground. "The next time you move those fingers, I'll chop them off. I'm sure your magic will still work then. And if it doesn't, well that's one problem about you solved."

With that, he threw Virgil back to the ground and turned back to his table. Virgil watched him carefully, his hands now closed into fists to prevent himself from signing, he quite liked his fingers.

"I can't kill you," Tafe muttered angrily as he pulled a knife out of his belt and turned to Virgil with a manic grin, "But that doesn't mean I can't leave a couple of scars."

Logan watched as Roman paced the perimeter of the tent and Patton fruitlessly argued with the soldiers guarding the exit and effectively trapping them inside the cloth building made of oversized blankets and amazingly complicated over thought out long sticks. Roman was muttering under his breath, words unintelligible and worried. Patton let out an angry and annoyed sound one might compare to a growl, Logan had never seen the other like this. The soldiers had opted to ignore the normally bubbly marquess and now stood just outside the flaps of their both metaphorical and literal prison.

"I do not see why you two are so distraught," Logan commented from where he sat, "Virgil will be fine. The general has promised his safety."

"Logan," Roman began, momentarily pausing his pacing to look at the wizard with concern, "You don't actually believe that do you? You know better than anybody that Tafe isn't going to be 'just keeping an eye' on Virgil. Virgil said it himself, the general is a ruthless man with no sense of morals. And he knows, just like I do, that my parents were bluffing when they threatened to fire him."

Logan frowned and briefly looked down at the ground, he supposed it was true. All of it. It was more than an understatement to say he and the general had a poor history and even worse relationship. Probably due to his magic. Probably due to his father. Probably due to many bits about himself. And Roman's parents were bluffing, they often bluffed. But, like their sons, they were talented actors and were normally able to get away with it, obviously, the lie couldn't get past the general though.

"He won't hurt Virgil," Logan insisted, it sounded more hopeful than it did confident or factual, "Virgil is royalty. Hurting him would risk war."

Roman scoffed, "I'm not sure that would stop him. How many crusades has he taken into the Dark Realm to deliver so-called 'justice'?"

That would depend on the time frame, he's done a little over twenty-four of them in his lifetime and about fourteen while in his current title and status.

"You guys don't get it!" Patton said angrily, very angrily. Have they ever been this angry? Could this much anger fit inside of Patton? How? Patton was, well, Patton. Then again, Patton had always been protective, and they had definitely seemed to latch onto Virgil rather quickly. In their month of knowing each other Patton had grown very close to Virgil, they just had a need to protect him and help him. "Tafe is going to hurt Ann. And he's lying! Roman's parents didn't make any order! He's just-" Patton let out another sound of fueled anger as they joined Roman in his pacing.

Logan tilted his head with mild confusion, "How do you know this Patton? Such an act would be treason."

"Because he told me!" Patton practically yelled.

"Tafe did?" The other two asked in unison.

"No, Ann did!" Patton sighed before suddenly stopping in the middle of his pacing and angrily pulled his hair out of its messy ponytail before retying it into a bun as they mumbled gibberish under his breath. "He had a vision the other day, and he told me everything."

"Everything?" the other two inquired again.

"Tafe is a traitor!" Patton yelled, "He's the one who tried to kill Remus. He's working for the bad guys! In fact! He's one of the people in charge of it all!"

Logan stood now, quickly making his way over to the other two. Shock riddled both him and Roman as they watched their smaller older friend unravel with anger and worry. Roman unconsciously reached out and grabbed Logan, Logan didn't try and pull away. He knew Roman was most likely not far from unraveling himself if he didn't get some sort of comfort.

"Virgil, he figured it out! But he was afraid to tell you two. He didn't know how you'd react so he told me and I stupidly agreed to keep it a secret and if we had just told you then we could've been prepared and gotten away and protected him but now Tafe is gonna hurt him and he's just a kid guys! He's sixteen! Sixteen and going through hell!" Logan and Roman both stiffened in surprise as Patton, Patton!- cursed. "Oh my goodness this is all my fault. I knew about it. Even if you didn't, I did and I could've done something and-"

"Patton," Logan cut in, "Please, calm yourself, none of us are at fault here. Besides there are more important matters than dishing out blame, you said Virgil figure it out, correct? What did he figure out?"

Patton looked up at them, "It's a coup," he explained, "There are three people in charge. Ira Lynx-" The most notorious witch of the century and the one responsible for the death of the Dark Realm Queen, "-Kieran Tafe-" General of the Light Realm army and member of the king and queens council. "-And... someone else, Virgil doesn't know who. It won't tell him. But, that's why everyone keeps referring to them as the Kings and Queen. They're planning on overthrowing the Dark and Light Realm and taking it for themselves. They got an army of people who are mad at our kingdoms and want to see it dismantled, it's a coup!"

There was a pause and silence among them all, Roman held Logan tighter. General Tafe was a traitor. He'd tried to kill Remus. He was gonna hurt Virgil and would probably have no trouble hurting them if it came down to it. And Virgil didn't feel like he could tell them.

Patton sighed, sadly, worriedly, and angrily, "They've been trying to catch Virgil, they need him for some reason. But he keeps getting away-"

"That's stupid of them, we're making our way to them on our own. Why wouldn't they just wait for us to make our way into the figurative lion's den?"

"Logan," Roman muttered, "Not the time."

Patton took a moment to collect himself and continue, continue pacing and continue talking, "Virgil's gonna get hurt. General Tafe is going to hurt him so he won't get away again. Or he'll hurt one of us t use as leverage."

Roman released Logan, "What are we gonna do?"