...Hello? Remember me?

*awkward silence*

I'm not sure if you're still out there, since I haven't updated in a while :( All I have to say is that these last two years have been crazy. In all ways that you can imagine, and I haven't had time to sit down and concentrate on producing something for this story. This summer thankfully gave me some time to breathe and write.

Maybe you'll be happy that this is the longest chapter yet? About 5700 words I believe.

Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm really glad you all like it (or at least liked it at some point...)

THIS HAPPENED IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER:

- Halt and Co. got thrown in the cells, getting ready to face execution.

- Halt managed to put Will unconcious, take his keys, lock him up instead and escape (amagaaad...)

- Juandres got pissed off that Will "let them escape".

- Halt and Co. are preparing themselves to attend to Juandres masquerade party, in order to free princess Cassandra and Horace.

Hope this helps you guys to remember, if not you can quickly re-read that chapter ;)

Well, read, enjoy and tell me what you think?

Knock-knock-knock.

Will didn't know what to say.

All he could do, as he inspected his face in the mirror, was to stare. Carefully he brought his hand up to his black eye and to the awful mark that painfully reminded him of how his head had smashed into the bar. He winced and scowled at the pain.

It certainly wasn't a beautiful sight.

Knock-knock-knock.

It hurt really bad but he barely noticed the pain; the anger and frustration had simply overpowered the soreness radiating from his forehead. The scowl on his face hadn't disappeared in three days, not since the day he was being knocked uncouncious. Will was surprised to have had discovered a new thing about himself, and that was that he hated the Araluans wholeheartidly.

Knock-knock-knock.

Okay. Maybe not exactly hate them. But why the fuck did they have to make his job so much more difficult than it already was? Giving him an awful headache too in the process. Didn't they know that one simply did not want to piss the king of Iberion off? They weren't exactly making his life easy for him.

Knock-knock-knock.

Will couldn't wait until he caught those foreigners. He wasn't such a big fan of the death sentence, a punishment that Juandres was quite fond of, but at the moment he could only feel satisfaction knowing that the Araluans would be brought to the rope that would give their long fall a short stop.

Will brought a gentle hand once again to his face and winced. Stupid rangers.

Knock-knock-knock.

Okay. Maybe that wasn't the whole reason as to why he was so determined to catch them. Juandres had also given him a big scolding and ended it all with giving him another order, which ended with an "or else...!" Will was partly glad that His Majesty hadn't finished the sentence, but the floating ending gave his fantasy a wide span of possible scenarios.

Knock-knock-knock.

Will tiredly sighed. Who was he kidding? Of course didn't want to meet the Araluans again. Just look what happend the last time! Will brought a hand yet again to his head and hissed. The pain was making him mutter inappropriate words under his breath. The anger flared up once again and he cursed even louder.

Knock-knock-knock.

"What?!" Will roared at the door. Couldn't people just leave him alone? He took rapid steps towards the door and opened it with force.

The maid standing outside winced and nervously fingered at her wedding ring. Her eyes widened slightly at the short angry man in front of her, but she gulped and straightened up. "I-I'm sorry, sir. But His Majesty has sent me for you. He wants you to meet him immediately."

She stood there and anxiously waited for his answer, licking her lips nervously when she saw the blank glaze in Master William's eyes. "Sir?" The man blinked and closed the door in her face. Confusingly, she just stood there and wondered what she would do next. Knock again or face the King? Neither sounded too appealing.

Suddenly the door opened up again and Will walked past her with a boundle of papers in his hands once again. He strode with a steady pace and didn't seem to bother watching where he was going, nor that he had left the maid by herself without uttering a word to her.

Will couldn't see straight. He was in pain, he was tired and mostly he frustrated from his lack of luck. But there was nothing to do about it at the moment, duty called. Or rather; a man called. A fat man. An annoying man. A scary man. A man that had his fat ass on a thr-

"Hey, Will!"

He continued his walking.

"Will?"

He felt someone match his tempo beside him. "Will! Hey, what's going on?"

Will looked sideways and saw Christian raising his eyebrows questioningly at him. "What now, Christian? Did the Araluans retreave the Princess? Perhaps they found a way to get to her while we were asleep?! Is there someone else I need to interrogate?" He snapped.

"...wow. Woke up on the wrong side again?"

Will gave him a look that made Christian raise his eyebrows even further. "Because, to be honest, you look a bit..." He trailed off.

Will stopped walking and turned towards his friend with an expectant glare, daring him to continue his sentence. "I look a bit what?"

Chrisitan looked at his short friend with a bit concern. "I... Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" Will sighed heavily and scrathed his head, but winced yet again at the pain. "Was there something you wanted? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Christian scowled and crossed his arms. Very well, if Will was going to be that way. "I was going to ask you how the searching was going?"

Stupid searching...

"Not well", Will said through clenched teeth. "As a matter of fact, I'll have to acompany my men since they don't seem to be able to do a single thing right. I'll have to ask Josephine to give my paperwork to the other assistents. I'm not the only one, dammit."

"Huh. So you're going out on some field work?" Christian hid his small smile. "Well, that's about time. You could use some time outside in the fresh air and the sun. Who knows how long you've been tied to that desk lately."

"Under other circumstances I would have agreed with you. Unfortunately-"

"WILL, what are you waiting for? You think you have time to chat with your friends at the moment?"

Will winced inwarldy and slowly turned his head towards the red-haired annoyed woman. "Josephine!" He forced out a smile. "Just the pretty woman I was looking for! How about we have-"

"The only thing you're going to do right now", the secretary interrupted, "is take your damn ass down to Juandres' office. Now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He mocked her by making a salute. This only served him an irritated gaze.

"Good luck, pal." Chrisitian held back a laughter and walked away. He could feel his friend's eyes bore into his back and shook his head. Will really needed to relax.

oOoOo

Will came in just in time to see Juandres grab a man's head by the hair and smash it on the expensive table in front of him. Once...twice...thrice... Bang, bang, bang! The wine bottle that had stood upon the table tripped over, but Juandres barely noticed it. Luckily he had already emptied the bottle. Or well...depending on what perspective of the word "luck" you chose to look at.

Juandres let the man go, which made the poor fella fall down on the floor whimpering. Slowly the beaten man crawled away from the table and the angry king, and then finally sobbingly caressed his head.

"Where are you going, lad?" Juandres roared and stood up. The fat stomach that had been hidden behind the table was in clear view now, only making Juandres look even bigger and more terrifying. The man stopped his crawling and watched fearfully at the king.

"You little slime ball. You think you can run away from me? Come back here, you coward, and let's see if you dare to speak up to me like that again! Can't handle some pain? Ha! You Aslavians..."

"P-p-please!"

"Shut up." Juandres muttered and tiredly massaged his temples before nodding to a guard to move away the trembling man. "Take him away from my sight. The cell is an appropriate place, I believe."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Suddenly the man was dragged out of there, but Will sensed that the man voluntarily wanted to leave the room as fast as possible. Will scowled at the scene. Great. Another man who didn't know how to avoid pissing Juandres off. The ignorance of the men towards Juandres was truly remarkable.

"Will! About time you got here, boy", Juandres said between the gasps of breath. He sat down at his chair and wiped the beads of sweat from forehead. Will guessed that this was the first "workout" he'd had in weeks.

"What's going on, my king?"

Juandres shook his head with a small smirk at the left corner of his mouth. "Oh, no no no, my dear , I want to hear if you've caught them." The dangerous glimmer was back in his eyes and a heavy silence settled between them.

Will almost gulped. Almost. "Not yet, my king."

"Hm."

That was it. That was all the king said, and that small sound said more than a thousand words ever could. Just a simple "hm". Will was ashamed of how that small sound had such a big impact on him.

"But I'm working on it, Your Majesty. I have men posted all around the town and I'm planning on going out myself tonight to help. I'm afraid that I haven't been able to give them the leadership they need and deserve."

Juandres made a strange sounding noise through his nose."What in the- Haven't you forgotten something, maybe?"

Will frowned. Oh no...had he forgotten something? That was strange. He tried to remember, but his mind refused to give him answers and he didn't have the guts to browse through hid calendar in front of Juandres. "No...?"

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"An answer?"

Juandres glared at him.

"An answer."

"What happened to your memory, William?" Disappointment was evident in the king's voice. "Don't you use that stupid notebook of yours? What is it that we're all waiting and looking forward to?" The king threw his hands out and raised his eyebrows. "I'll give you one clue: it's on this saturday."

Saturday, saturday...saturday? A frown set on Will's face.

"Are you refering to the masquerade party, my king?"

"Bingo! Finally. Took you some time to make that connection, didn't it?"

"You're serious about still throwing that party?" These news clearly took Will off guard.

"You see me laughing?" Juandres face was everything but happy.

"I'll take that as a yes", Will muttered. "Bu-"

"Before you ask your boring and highly predictible question, the answer is 'no, I'm not going to cancel it!'. So, you'll have to wait three days until you can focus on leading, I'm afraid."

"Three days?"

"Yes. Today's wednesday. Now you do the counting yourself if you don't believe me." Juandres noticed the surprised look on Will's face and raised an eyebrow. "What, you thought that I was going to let you risk your life before making sure the event is happenig without any complications?"

Juandres looked at him like he was crazy and snorted. "I've planned my attire and mask for weeks! It's not fair if no one gets to see my briliance and elegance, not right for the people at all. You'll have time to risk your life and perhaps die afterwards, I say. I would hate to have to cancel it all off, as it is my duty as a monarch to show the people that there is a fashionable man leading their country towards great times. Make sure that doesn't happen!" He waved at Will's notebook. "Write that down so you won't forget it."

Some seconds passed and Juandres still glared at his hand. "Well, do it!"

Will quickly scrambled down a few sentences and ignored the worried voice in the back of his head.

OoOoO

Three days later

"You've got the plan?" Halt muttered under his breath to his friends.

Alyss was standing right beside him with a big, red dress and a glittering silver mask covering her eyes. Her blood red lips shot him a smile and she nodded as she tried to fight back the nervousness. Or was it excitement? She couldn't tell. "Yes."

Gilan was standing on Halt's left side, with a modern black cape over a white button-up shirt. His face was also covered with a mask, but his was black. As was Halt's. They were all facing the gate to the white and popmous castle with a fake invitation in their hands. A fake invitation that was graciously made by Halt himself. Gilan had smoothly stolen one from a boney gentleman, and it took Halt only half an hour to put his talents at use.

"And you, Gilan?"

"Yes, of course. I'll use my wonderful charm, avoid the guards, get the keys from our short friend Torres and discreetely get down in the cellar."

"You remember where it is located on the map?"

"Yes."

"Alyss?"

"Yes", she nodded. "Now let's do this."

She put her arm on Halt's and he led her to the guard. Since they didn't know the language fluently they trusted Alyss to have learned some phrases from George. When they met the guard she gave him their invitaions, threw him a pretty smile and looked him in the eyes with ease, as the many years of training had made her an excellent actress.

The guard looked at her and smiled back. His posture went a bit more relaxed and his smile developed to a confident smirk as his gaze travelled down her form. His eyes went to the invitation and then back to hers, which made the courier to give him one of her finest smiles. The guard was just about to give it back to them and let them in when he frowned and looked down at the invitations again. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it...

Halt then cleared his throat as to say: 'come on buddy, we ain't got all day.' Halt convincingly made the impression of an important upper class-man by raising his eyebrow. Just as he suspected the guard got a bit nervous and nodded to them to get inside.

"Gracias, señor", Alyss said with a smile that immediately disappeard when they were out of the guard's sight.

As they entered the Great Hall she let out a big breath. The enormous Hall was increadibly huge and very, very...majestic. There was food everywhere, servants carrying champange, crystal lightenings, music, people dancing and laughing... Decorations were lightening the place up.

"Wow", Gilan said with a small laugh. "The king surely knows how to throw a masqerade party."

"Where is he?" Halt asked with a whisper, ignoring his former apprentice's praise.

Alyss looked around and then finally spotted His Majesty sitting by a table on a raised platform, laughing out loud with a glass of red wine in his hand. She inspected his company and narrowed her eyes. "He's sitting over there, but I cannot see Torres anywhere."

"Dammit. We need to locate him before we proceed." Halt said and let go of her arm. "We must split up. We'll meet each other at the end of the stairs in twenty minutes, if nothing get's in our way."

They all nodded and went in different directions, trying to spot their little "friend". There was no question about that he was the one that held the responsibility to search them down, and to stop them from invading the party. They had successfully managed to avoid Torres' tries to catch them in the big capital, but this was a whole different scen. Halt was actually surprised that it was so easy to get in, but he was even more surprised that Juandres still decided to have the party in the first place. The thought that maybe it was a trap, and that they were expected, glinted in his mind. That, or the king had been dropped a couple of times as a baby.

Alyss held herself in the shadows, but her smile never faltered. She made her best to look like she belonged there, in the midst of rich and arrogant people. She may have attended king Duncan's banquettes, but this was somehow different. The fashion in clothes, hair, acting... As much as she wanted to observe her surroundings she had something else on her mind. Or rather, someone.

She managed to avoid bumping into people, but unfortunately managed to upset alot of women by stepping on their dresses. She quickly flashed them her smile and walked away before they began to yell at her. Just as Alyss was escaping a situation like that a man walked into her side, making her stumble backwards and failing to find her foothold in her stupid high-heels.

With gritted teeth she prepared herself for the awkward fall, but a pair of strong arms found themselves under her armpits; making the expected fall to never come. Alyss sighed with relief. She put on a grateful smile on her lips as the man that had caught her helped her steady herself.

But just as she turned around her smile began to freeze on her face. In front of her stood a short man with a gentle smile and questioning brown eyes. Half of his face was still pretty beaten up, and she tried not to smirk at it. He wore no mask, but he had a nice suit... And there were still papers in his hands. She started to wonder if they ever left his side. The side of William Torres, the man that she was searching for.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

Where the hell was Gilan? Alyss forced herself to relax and act normally.

"Thank you, Sir", she said in the Common tongue (Araluan) with a pretended gallican accent, since her Iberonin was close to non-existent.

His smile went even broader and he bowed his head slightly. "It's easy to fall in this crowd, mylady", he said with his own accent. Then a frown set on his face.

Alyss tried not to look insecure. Was the mask covering enough? Had he seen through the accent? Did he recognize her voice? Was she too stiff? She tried to act more casual and took a deep breath. She observed that with her heels she towered even more over the Iberionan. If Will minded, he did not let it show.

"I hear that you're from Gallica", he said with a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that we had any foreign guests."

Alyss laughed to buy some time to form an answer. How familiar could this man even be with the guest list? He couldn't possibly know every name of the visitors? "I'm a dear friend of a guard here, and clearly he was allowed to bring a guest of his own." She gestured to herself in a playful manner.

William scowled and shot her a small smile. "Oh really? And which guard would that be?"

Gulp. Jeez, did he know every name of the guards too? "Alejandro", she slowly pronounced a name that she had heard in the taverns.

William slowly nodded and made an "aha" noise. "You're a friend of Alejandro Ramirez? I've always liked that man; easy to work with."

Alyss tried not to sigh out of relief. "Well, I've always respected him for his work and contribution for this kingdom." Suddenly, as if on an impulse, she raised her head and caught Halt's eyes. He nodded and gestured towards a door that probably led to an empty room. She discreetely nodded and turned her attention towards William.

He nodded at her and took a few steps backwards, ready to move on. "It was nice to meet you, mylady, but duty calls-"

"Oh, so you work here?" Alyss interrupted and smiled warmingly, desperately trying to keep his attention. "That's interesting. Exactly what is it that you do?" Genuin curiousity sipped into her voice.

William smirked. "I'm not going to bore such a lovely lady as yourself with uninteresting subjects. If you excuse me, I have to-"

"No, please", Alyss quickly interrupted him. "You have to let me repay you somehow. After all, you did save my life", she joked and winked.

"It's nothing, really", William quickly gave her a playful smile that (Alyss almost couldn't believe it) charmed her. Was this really the same man that locked her and her friends up? The same arrogant and nonchalant man that angered her immensely?

Yes he is. He's still the same man who helped the king of Iberion to put a ransom on the princess of Aralua.

William was about to say something else when something stopped him. His eyes were stuck slightly to the left of Alyss and she turned her head...only to see Gilan moving in the shadows again and disappear from her eyesight. She worriedly gazed at William.

Distract him.

"Are you-"

"I am really sorry, and it pains me to leave a madam as yourself, but I really have to go", William rushingly said. A scowl had appeared on his face and lines out of worry were put on his forehead. It didn't suit him.

Suddenly he had rushed off so fast that Alyss almost lost him out of her sight. She backed and approached Halt. Halt seemed comfortable enough to have a relaxed posture. Alyss frowned at first, but quickly put the pieces together.

"Gilan got in his eyesight on purpose, didn't he?"

Halt didn't answer, but he needn't to do that for the shadow of a smirk already confirmed her statement.

Will quickly elbowed, ducked and wriggled through the mass of people. He could have sworn that he saw one of the Green Ones; the tall one. Will couldn't explain why he was so sure, but the feeling he had in his stomach told him that the man indeed was the Araluan.

He stopped moving; he had reached the location where he last saw the lean one. Where had he disappeared to? William quickly observed his surroundings. Pretty girls, well-upholstered women, snobbish old men, childeren running around... Where the hell was he?

"Will?"

Will snapped his head towards the voice and relaxed a bit when he noticed the short woman in a flattering green dress and a black glittering mask covering the upper half of her face.

"What is it?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I saw one of them here, Dani", he whispered as he continued searching around with his eyes.

"Here?"

"Yes."

Daniella stood by him with a glass of champange in her hand and casually looked around. "Clothing?"

"White shirt, black cape, black mask. It was the tall one."

"Well...that was helpful", she muttered under her breath. Will understood why, nearly everyone were clothed that way.

"Stupid guards", Will muttered and Dani raised her eyebrows. "I told them to look out for them. One of them should have tapped my shoulder with some news by now, don't you think?"

Daniella snorted, but said nothing.

But then she noticed someting in the corner of her eye. A man quickly disappeared into a closed off hall. Daniella grabbed William's arm and gestured towards the spot. Will frowned.

"Of course. They are searching for the cellar", Will muttered and quickly followed with Daniella shortly behind him.

They slipped through the small barricade and continued with rapid steps down the hall. The music and the sound of people talking slowly faded away until it became only an obscure noise. Daniella's heels clipped so loudly that she kicked them off before continuing barefoot in silence next to her dear friend.

The hall was dark and was lightened up by torches that casted shadows on the walls and made it harder for Will to see clearly. He strained his eyes and ears as he sneaked through. Daniella took her mask off and left it on a chair they walked past; her eyes just as searching as his.

Suddenly Will heard something behind them and quickly turned around. The imposter was leaning against the wall in a cool manner which made Will frown. The Araluan wasn't supposed to feel comfortable in the "enemy's" castle. He got an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"Hello", the tall man greeted as he removed his mask. Will indeed saw that this was the same lank man he had thrown in the cell only a week ago.

"Hello", Dani casually said as she carefully slipped a hand in a pocket she had on her dress where Will knew a sharp dagger was lying. Will took a small step forward, only to stand in front his friend. Will knew that Daniella could fight well, but he still didn't like the thought of his dear friend possibly getting hurt.

The tall man smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You, my little friend, have something that we need."

"Yeah..." Will slowly dragged the word out, ignoring the man's emphasis on his height. He was practically immune to those provocations. "Whatever it is that you want: you can't have it." He shrugged theatrically and then crossed his arms. Nonchalantly he raised his eyebrows in a confident manner. "Pretty stupid of you breaking your way into this castle, trying to corner me. Brave, but stupid."

"Oh really?" Now it was the Araluan that raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"You mean besides the fact that you all will get caught, let's say, within thirty minutes?" Will smirked. "I'd say that you're pretty screwed."

"You seem pretty sure that we won't knock you out and lock you up in a room somewhere before you even have the chance of warning the guards."

Will's smirk slowly faded. He strained his mouth, trying to look as if his head wasn't sore, but he knew that the tall man could see through it. "Ha ha", he laughed without humour. "Really funny. That was a hilarious move from your part, by the way. Really clever."

The Araluan gave up a slight snort.

Will carefully put his papers down on a small table that was placed next to him, before he took another step forwards. "I have no other choice but to arrest you. Again."

The tall man removed himself from the wall and Will could imagine how the man would tower up over him if they got any closer to each other, but he didn't let that faze him.

"How's it going, Gil?"

Will resisted the urge of wincing when he heard the addition of a new, deep voice. The shorter and older man was now leaning against the wall a little bit behind...Gil, was it?

"Geez", he heard Daniella mutter behind him, and he understood what she meant. They hadn't even noticed that the older man had approached them.

"Well", Gil answered the man without turning around. It was as if he knew the older man was there already. "I've got our friend Torres and his companion cornered here, but he doesn't seem too worried about that. Seemes to me that he thinks he'll be able to take us both down."

Daniella almost frowned in annoyance. Typical men, always excluding the women. But more than often that worked in her favour, for she always managed to give them a surprise. She gripped the dagger she was so familiar with and pursed her lips.

The older man raised his eyebrow and Will almost gulped. Almost. "How's the head?" He asked him and gestured to Will's forehead.

Will's face remained neutral. "Just fine, thank you." He could almost hear how they both inwardly laughed at him. "Aren't you Araluans just filled with manners?" He couldn't help to add a sarcastic touch to it.

"Let's hurry up", the older man said with a straight face to his younger friend, who nodded. Time seemed to run out for them? Suddenly the Araluans both quickly strode towards them, but Will was already prepared.

A quick exchange of looks between him and his trusted friend was all he needed before they drew out their sharp daggers from underneeth their clothing. As the tall man was quickly making his way on to Will, since they were closer to each other, Will was already taking rapid steps towards him. Wanting to take out the ones closest to him. He ducked, twirled and cling!, their both knives collided.

The tall man seemed a bit surprised and Will almost snorted. What, he thought Will only signed papers for living? He couldn't be more wrong. As the man, Gil, quickly regained his posture Will managed to get the upper hand and produced another sharp knife with his left hand. He didn't waste no time, but quickly aimed to jab the man in the gut. However the tall man seemed to predict his move and dodged the knife while trying to do the same to him. Will twisted his body and was about to protect his torso, but surprisingly the Araluan didn't go for a killing stab but instead tried to immobilize his sword hand.

Will didn't have the time to process why the man hesitated on killing him, but his alertness to the theratening ranger in front of him made him reposition himself from his moves and dodged some fast jabs towards him before he managed to lock both of the older man's arms with one swift move and hit him in the face with his armbow with a none restrained force. So hard he almost thought he heard a small crack coming from the ranger's nose.

The other man stumbled backwards in complete surprise and Will was about to charge on the man once again, before he heard his name being shouted out.

"Will!"

Gabriella was shouting his name, and in only a milisecond, Will adverted his gaze from his opponent to see how his friend was doing. This proved to be a mistake; in that little moment the ranger managed to make him lose his balance by giving Will a right hook to his jaw. In surprise from the unexpected punch Will tumbled to the ground, but recovered quickly and managed to trip the tall man with his legs. As the man was falling Will swiftly retrieved the knife that had been kicked away from his hand and was about to make his killing move - easy and quick - until something bumped into his side.

Once again Will fell to his side and scowled in irritation when he noticed that Daniella was left unconscious by the wall. Though he was pleased to see that the older man hadn't made it out of the fight without a single scrath - his clothing was shredded and torn in plenty of places. Daniella never went down without a good fight, and Will knew that this man had plenty of experience in the art of war. The older man hadprobably tried to go easy on her at first. Will was pleased that the Araluan had gotten himself a surprise by underestimating his friend.

Will was about to get up on his feet but the tall man was casually pointing a throwing knife at him. A knife Will was certain that would hit him with just a flick of the man's wrist. So he leaned back at his elbows and did the only thing a defeated man can do lying on the ground - he glared. Panting and furious, all Will could do now was to scowl up at the two foreigners. This was not the ultimate situation to find yourself in - being forced to look up at two well trained foreigners.

"She doesn't have the key", the older man said, "but I know you do."

Question: how do you save time?

Answer: you play stupid.

"What key?"

"You know very well which key we're talking about", the taller one said with a hint of irritation. "You are the king's puppy, of course you have every key for every goddammed room in this building", he muttered.

"Hey, don't be disrespectful", Will dared to ignore the throwing-knife and swiftly got up on his feet. Lying on the floor made him more uneasy that he thought it would. "There's no need to use a demenaning nickname on me." He dusted off his hands. "Comparing me to a little dog won't work in your favor."

Will saw the exact moment when the older man had had enough with his try's of avoiding the question, but he didn't have the time to react when sudden strong hands grabbed Will's collar and pushed him up against the wall with a knife pressed against his throat.

The quick change of scenary almost threw him off guard and he lost his breath, but he regained his composure quickly. Or well, as quickly as you can with a knife threatening to take your life. The knife glistened in his peripheral vision, though he somehow managed to pretend as if it didn't faze him one bit. But Will had an uneasy feeling that the older man could see right through his act of nonchalance.

"Perhaps this will?" the man in front of him asked with a threatening gleam in his eyes.

"...perhaps it will", Will whispered. Would this man really kill him? Will didn't know the Araluans well enough to be the judge of that, but what he did know was that Juandres' act against their island (with the kidnapping of the princess and whatnot) wasn't really working in his favour. "How about we try to bring this conversation down on a civilized level?"

Will could see how the older man nearly rolled his eyes at Will, no what he did next was worse that that. A punch landed on his stomach and made Will loose all air in his lungs and drop down on the floor from the unexpected act.

At least the knife is off your throat, he dryly thought.

Will thought he heard the man say; "Too late for that", and if it hadn't been for his aching body, he might've dreaded their upcoming actions more that he already did.

Shit.

I like movies with fighting scenes, but I'm not quite sure how I am at writing them haha. Hopefully not too ridiculous...

Anyway, hopefully you ain't too mad at me and perhaps can tell me what you thought of this chappie? :)

/JoJo