Axel had relaxed against the wall, closing his eyes with a soft breath of air escaping his lips. He couldn't help but wonder how this would end. An execution he was sure - the only question was how they were going to do it. He supposed he just hoped it would be quick.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there for, in the dark, but it was long enough for him to doze off at one point and then wake up again as the steady drip of water in the corner of the cell became a larger puddle.

He opened his eyes when he heard the door open at the far end of the hallway, wrinkling his nose when the guards moved it on his cell. He just rolled his eyes at their harsh snap of "get up," but he couldn't do anything other than cooperate for now.

His hands were bound behind his back with chains again, this time connected to the metal collar he now wore. He was marched across the cell and out through the hallways, and into the castle.

The doors were huge, looking over him as he entered the room, and he couldn't help but look around with wide eyes - more out of curiosity than anything. He'd never seem any kind of building like this before. The barracks he lived in were basically just like a dorm room or something like that - small, kinda dirty, and there were a lot of guys that lived there. But this? This was expensive. Something more than he'd ever seen or been around.

He did move to glance around at the people around him as they entered the large room where he assumed the trial would be. He met their eyes one by one, making sure his face was neutral.

He met the kings eyes last, letting a slight and somewhat cocky smile twitch onto his lips slightly. "Not wasting any time then, are you," he drawled, accent heavy through his words. It was a power move though, speaking before the king. Meeting their gaze. Showing that he really wasn't afraid of them.

He was scared, of course, but he wasn't going to show it. Besides, he wasn't that scared.....it was just nerves he could shove down and swallow. Nothing more. He'd faced death many times - this was no different .

Lorelai wasn't sure to be offended at the knight's remark or impressed by his daring. She looked to her father, whose expression was lax and knowing. He'd seen this display before, mouthing off to the King in a show of defiance, hiding deep-rooted fear.

The Queen, however, stared down the man with a harsh scowl. Lorelai gave a humorless laugh inwardly; she'd gotten that look many times.

The advisors murmured amongst themselves, all grey-haired and bearded to varying degrees. Each of them had been in the previous monarch's court.

"I've never been one to waste time," King Erich replied. "That may not bode well for you, you know."

He leaned forward and steepled his fingers, brows creasing with focus. He looked wise and immersed, like a wizard peering into his crystal ball. He pursed his lips and let his eyes fall to the floor, contemplating, before settling his gaze back onto the young man.

"I want you to answer me, and I want you to do it honestly."

King Erich narrowed his eyes.

"Who attacked first? Your men, or mine? I have only gotten their side of the story, now it is time to hear yours."

The King hadn't arrived until the fighting was already in progress, and was told that it was a planned ambush.

Lorelai was suddenly more invested than she should've been, her expression troubled and conflicted. Her father could've been injured, or worse, in the attack. If that happened, she probably would be rallying for this knight's execution.

However, she couldn't help but believe, again, that the blame was being pinned on the wrong person. The knight, who was simply doing his job, was not the one at fault here, but the ruler he served under. Lorelai knew this would keep happening, over and over again.

No amount of knights killed on the enemy's side was going to change anything.

Axels gaze shifted around the room slightly,between the royal family and the group of advisors or council members muttering in the corner. That's what he assumed they were, anyway, given their age and fancy robes. He could really only guess at what a throne room was supposed to look like, since this was the first time he'd ever seen one.

He brought his gaze back to the king as he spoke, and a small laugh escaped his lips. "Yeah, because I'm fairing just great so far," he snorted, his expression shifting into more of a sneer before he quickly replaced it with his normal mask. "We both know how this ends," he added, wrinkling his nose slightly. "If you don't want to waste time, why are we even here," he asked, voice sounding vaguely exasperated.

The king had already moved on again, asking him a question. Axel felt his eyebrows raise slightly, debating whether to actually be honest or not. It really wouldn't matter. "My group might have hit first, but your group was heading to attack one of our villages," he noted, jaw tightening. He let the words settle slightly. A village. Civilians would have gotten hurt in the fight. An ambush in the forest was better.

"I don't know if you've figured this out, old man, but no one wins in war. It's just....who's going to loose less," he added with a shrug. "Everyone gets hurt when it comes down to it."

That was probably not the honesty the king wanted to hear, but that was the truth. And if he wasn't willing to hear it, then he was more of a fool than Axel had realized.

He didn't expect to survive this encounter. The trials were a law, but the outcome was always the same for people like him. But even if his words made the king uneasy, it made him more cautious...well, it had been worth it, he supposed.

Lorelai's expression hardened into something shocked, completely taken aback. Her father had sent men to... attack a village? Where innocent lives would be lost!? She put her palm to her mouth, not wanting to be seen gaping helplessly in front of the court.

Lorelai always believed her father wasn't a particularly violent man, except for when he felt the kingdom was threatened — but what threat could a village pose? Why not go directly to the enemy?

Was her father so desperate to win this war?

Her heart heavy with disillusionment, she looked to the King, even though she couldn't bear to look at him in this moment. Hands clenched tightly together, King Erich was glowering furiously at the man. He was amused by his earlier insolence, but he pushed his luck this time, drawing the King's wrath.

Lorelai let her hand fall from her lips and frowned at her father, then looked to the knight standing before the royal family. She'd always heard rumors about his division's brutality, how they were vicious animals, barbarians, every nasty name you could think of.

But this one... he was right. Right about no winning side of a war. Sure, he might've worded it in too brash of a way for Lorelai's liking, but maybe that sort of bluntness was the only way to be heard.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a slamming fist against the long table. Her father had parted his lips in a wide snarl, like a wolf, prepared to yell out a death sentence.

Lorelai had to act quickly. She leaned toward the King.

"Father!" she whispered, getting his attention before continuing on, getting an appalled glance from her mother. "I believe we should keep him alive, as leverage against the enemy. Think about it — wouldn't you be worried if one of your toughest soldiers was captured?"

King Erich met her words with an interested raise of his brows, sinking back into his seat. He said nothing in response to Lorelai, just looked ahead, and closed his eyes for a short moment as he made his final decision.

He opened his eyes again.

"My daughter has presented me with a solution I cannot ignore..." he paused, briefly, as if to inwardly affirm his verdict. Then he went on.

"You will be held here, alive, for now, in the dungeons. I advise you to accept for this situation for how it is, and if you disrespect me once more, I may change my mind."

Axel may have let his temper get the better of him, calling the king and old man, but it got the attention of the rest of the royal family at least, as well as the council members. He didn't expect them to care very much, but at least he'd gotten to them a little bit.

He sneered back at the king as the anger rose in the older man, the slamming of his fist not really doing anything to scare him. He was nervous about how he'd be killed....but he'd steeled himself long ago that he would die in battle or as a result of a battle. This verdict would not change that.

He didn't look away from the kings face as he opened his mouth, about to seal his fate with the simple point of a finger. The power admittedly disgusted him. There was no real difference between that man and Axel himself outside of that one little thing. Power. And money, he supposed. But they worked hand on hand. You needed money to have power.

He was taken back slightly when one of the younger members of the royal family leaned over to whisper something in the kinds ear. She looked like a princess of some kind, based on the way he listened to her, sitting back and closing his eyes to think.

Axel examined the girl closely, admittedly a little confused. He was curious....she'd have known what type of soldier he was. If he got out of the prison, and he could if he really wanted to, he could kill them all in their sleep without a second thought and be gone by the time the maids came in the morning.

But she had suggested something that went against the death sentence the king had been so ready to call out. It was interesting, to say the least.

He looked back to the king as he spoke up again, lifting his eyebrows slightly in a sort of surprise. "Don't think I have much of a choice," he noted dryly in response to the kings comment, just letting out a soft chuckle at his threat, making it clear the man wasn't really controlling him.

He was still in these chains because he chose to be. He was biding his time....waiting for when he could make his move. He wasn't sure what he was going to do once he got out....it would be a death sentence if he tried to go back now since he'd failed in his mission.

But....he figured that getting up and out and trying to start a new life was better than just rotting away in the dungeons. His king would not care that he was captured. There were plenty of them in his group, and they had rules. If you failed a mission, you died. You either came home a victor or you didn't come home.

He threw the guards holding him a somewhat annoyed look as they yanked on the chains holding him, moving back towards the dungeons at a brisk pace. It didn't take long before he was back against the wall there, listening to the water drip down slowly beside him

He let out a soft breath once the guards were gone, the door closed and locked behind him, body relaxing against the wall he was chained to. Well....this had been a kind of crazy day. He hadn't expected any of that to have happened, and yet here he was. It was odd.

Lorelai stared after the man as he was dragged back toward the dungeons. There was some part of her that second-guessed her idea. Had she prevented the man's death, like she intended, or did she just delay it? She supposed that only time could answer her question.

"Do you doubt my decision? Do you not realize that we could get useful information out of him? The King suddenly asked, interrogating his advisors, most of whom looked unsettled by the turn of events. But when they were called out, they instantly leapt into a chorus of praises for their monarch.

Lorelai's face wrinkled up with disgust. Yes, father, and you only came to that conclusion based on a proposal that I made, she thought. He was acting like he knew that the whole time.

This was a side of the King Lorelai had never seen before, and she did not like it.

As soon as her father dismissed everyone, Lorelai sprung out of her chair and fled the room before she could be intercepted by her mother, who had been biting her tongue to keep from lecturing her in front of everyone.

She wandered down the hall, her mind racing — it had constantly been this way from the moment that knight was hauled into the castle.

She was nearing the grand staircase, which led up to the floor where the royals' chambers were located. To the left of it was a dark alley, which led you to the pits of the castle, and one would eventually reached the dungeons. She gazed into the shadows, wondering...

Wondering if her negotiating worked only on her father or if she really did have a knack for persuading people. If she could convince the knight to be cooperative, maybe his life would be spared in the end. Perhaps he would be released, or given the choice to serve in the Naerenth Royal Guard.

At the very least, if he displayed good behavior, he could possibly be freed from those chains.

Why restrain him, anyway? Lorelai thought. He's already in a cell, surrounded by guards. It makes no sense.

She shook off the thought, getting back to the present. She'd put off her grand plans, at least for today. Lorelai knew that if she were captured, put on trial, face possible execution, then be imprisoned in an enemy's castle, she'd want to be left alone for a while.

She'd just have to try later.

Axel had relaxed in his cell once there was no sign of any guards. Well....relaxed as much as one could, chained up to a wall in a prison. He couldn't see much either, so he wasn't sure how many other prisoners might be down here. He didn't hear any chains though, so maybe this was a special area meant for dangerous people. Or maybe they just made a habit of executions rather than prisons.

He wasn't sure, but it did make him wonder why he had been kept alive so far. He assumed it was because they wanted to ransom him off, or get information out of him. A small chuckle pulled itself from his throat when he wondered what kind of torture methods they'd try to use. He'd been trained not to respond to any of it.

He dozed off eventually, since he didn't exactly have much else to do. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that for, but the creaking of the door to the hallway woke him. He had to squint as the light appeared, a pair of guards approaching his cell and slipping into it.

They closed the door behind them, snickering to themselves. The one closest to Axel was holding some sort of metal pipe or bat, the end of which he pressed under his chin, forcing him to lift his head up. He was already glaring at the guy, but it was still a power move to move his head like that.

He sneered at the guards as they started talking - they were making the threats he assumed they'd made. Talk or else get beaten. Unluckily for them, he could take a good beating without so much as batting an eye. "Talk outta your ass some more why don't ya," he noted, knowing the consequences of a comment like that.

He was right, too - the pipe was drawn back, only to slam across his chest in a way that knocked the breath out of him. The other guard fell on him too, soon after. He wasn't quite sure how long they hit him for, but by the time they drew back he'd slumped onto the ground, consciousness flickering in and out.

Even so, he forced himself to breathe steadily, to not give any indication of something they wanted to see. They'd know he was hurting, of course ....he was beaten and bloody, but he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of crying out or trying to escape their blows. He just took it quietly, outside of a few rude comments here and there.

Once they left again though, to report that they'd gotten no information from him to the king no doubt, he just closed his eyes again, shifting to the side slightly to spit out the blood that was in his mouth, and examine the extent of the damage.

He was pretty beat up - a few ribs were likely broken, along with his nose. He'd broken those things before though, and it didn't seem too serious. Other than that, it would be a lot of bruises and spots where the pipe had broken skin. Blood was splattered around the cell - on the walls and the ceilings and the floor, but he hadn't lost too much. He wasn't actively bleeding out. He wouldn't die from this, most likely.

With that note, he let his head fall back onto the ground with a soft groan, closing his eyes again. He'd need rest of he wanted to heal. Of course, he assumed they wouldn't give him that chance, but even so he could do his best. He'd get out of here eventually, and he had to be ready.

Lorelai was halfway up the grand staircase when she spied two guards coming out from the hallway that led to the dungeons. She slowed her pace, listening. They were barking to each other in sharp, furious tones, one was waving his hands around animatedly.

"He's a disrespectful rodent, that's what he is! Should've been sent to the gallows..." the first complained.

The second gave him a sharp clap over his shoulder. "Don't let 'em get under your skin. We'll make him talk, one way or another."

Lorelai gnawed on her bottom lip. Perhaps it was necessary that she speak to the prisoner earlier than she planned.

She waited until the guards were far enough away, then raced down the stairs, almost stumbling over the final step, and ventured into the dim corridor.

The only light was provided by torches hung along the walls. The shadows stretched on, almost endlessly, before curving into a stairwell which spiralled downward.

It was after descending these steps that Lorelai reached the dungeons, equally as dark. In one of those fleeting, unimportant thoughts, she wondered if she was underground.

Carefully hesitant, she traipsed down the aisle, on high alert. True, it's not as if she were banned from coming here - this was part of her family's castle. But she had already talked her father into sparing the prisoner's life. How would it look if someone caught her talking to him?

She continued on. Rows and rows of empty cells yawned ahead of her. There were puddles of some mystery liquid on the stone floors that she dodged with precision. She told herself that it was just water, because she didn't want to wonder what else it could be.

Towards the back of the dungeon, that's where she found him. He stood out because, other than Lorelai, he was the only living soul down here.

With a deep sigh, she prepared herself, then approached his cell.

Axel had drifted off again at some point, letting himself sink into a sort of light sleep. There wasn't much else to do, and he didn't exactly want to feel the bruises forming on his body, nor the way his ribs ached each time he took a breath. Sleep was easier.

It wasn't light enough to keep him asleeo when the door at the end of the hallway creaked open though, and his eyes opened as he heard the creak of hinges.

He forced himself up into a sitting position with a wince, leaning gingerly against the wall behind him in a position that was.... slightly less uncomfortable than if he was supporting his own body.

He waited silently as the footsteps approached the cell, muscles in his jaw jumping as he composed himself. The footsteps were light though, nervous - they hardly sounded like the footsteps of a guard. He frowned slightly, admittedly a little confused.

His eyebrows raised upwards in surprise when he saw the girl there. It was too dark to see very much, but he could make out her outline against the light from the door behind her.

"Pretty gutsy, coming all the way down here, princess," he mused, a sort of amused smirk twitching one side of his mouth upwards. "What can I do for ya," he added, clearly just teasing a little bit. He obviously couldn't do much like this. But he was curious as to what she was doing here, though.

Lorelai hardly batted an eye as he poked fun at her - she'd heard worse things through the course of her life. She took note of the way he sat, braced against the wall, somewhat tense. As if in pain.

"It's not about what I can do for you," she began, "but what we can do for each other."

She inched closer, just a tiny bit. Her words sounded awful cunning, in an uncharacteristic fashion, but she had no intent of manipulating him. Lorelai could never manipulate anyone - her eyes reflected too much humanity.

"What you said when you were on trial, you were right," she then echoed his words, verbatim, "no one wins a war."

"I can tell you're not afraid of death, aren't you? Still, you're needed here. There's a cause that's greater than yourself, than both of us."

She continued on, elaborating. "The people of our kingdoms are suffering because of this war, but if you cooperate, we can put a stop to it. We can convince my father to work towards peace."

"Whether or not we can make that happen is up to you," she then added, with bitter irony - bitter at the whole situation, "...no pressure."