On the floor lay unconscious Juli and a dying Michael, who could barely move. He saw a shadow and tried his best to get up, unwilling to let anyone take Juli. He turned over and saw a figure in a green and white robe taking Juli. He tried crawling to the person, then held their legs and looked up. "Please, leave her for me," he pleaded, and his eyes closed. The next place he woke up was in a bed. He tried getting up but felt a sharp pain all over his body.
"Michael, you are one resilient human being, you know," came a familiar voice. Michael looked over to see one of the chief maids in the palace.
"Simeria, please, where is Juli?" he asked anxiously.
The lady laughed softly. "I see, so you found the other half of your soul. Well, she is there, awake and waiting for you to see her."
Michael forced his body to get up and walked to the bed where Juli lay. "Michael, you're going to—" Before Simeria could finish, Michael fell down and hugged Juli tightly.
"You didn't have to fight. I will fight for you, even if I must die doing it, for my life is a small price to pay for you, my queen," he whispered before falling asleep on top of her.
Simeria chuckled as she looked at the two. "So, Juli, who are you, and what's your true identity?"
Juli nodded and spoke, "I am Juli of Britannia, daughter of King James, and next in line to the throne that Elara Floxinia usurped."
Simeria's eyes filled with rage as she rushed forward to capture Juli. Michael immediately woke up and slapped Simeria down to her knees. "Don't you dare touch her. You don't know what she went through," he growled.
Simeria spoke in a low tone, "But she is Britannian. She has to die."
Michael walked up to Simeria, holding her chin upright. "Listen, maid. The only one who will be dying is you if you lay your hands on her. Now give me a rundown of the situation. I know we are not in Scotland. How long were we out, and how did you find us?"
"Young prince, your Uncle Drake told us to place hidden mirrors within the cave to reflect images of those inside to those in the palace. We noticed you and the girl but couldn't see your faces well due to the sand covering them, so we sent out our strongest guard to kill you and the girl. When I say 'we,' I mean the maids who followed me to gather some resources. But when we saw you fight, we knew it was you, so we rushed in before the guard killed you. As usual, you killed the guard and broke the odds. From there, we took you and the girl to the border of Scotland and Zeeland, where we stay now. We had to flee because the monarch of Britannia sent her guards to kill us, and the person on the throne of Scotland is a dictator who doesn't care about his people. In fact, rumors say he was put in by the monarch of Britannia."
Michael added another reason to his "WHY TO KILL ELARA" list. Juli looked at Michael and saw the pain in his eyes, but suddenly they changed, filled with determination and light.
"Simeria, show me who we have, BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING SCOTLAND BACK TODAY." Juli looked at Michael as if he had lost it, but she soon understood. The current monarch of Scotland wouldn't expect an attack so early. Michael planned to catch them off guard and perform a coup to regain power and fight Elara.
Juli stood up. "Let's move, Michael. We have a nation to take."
Michael smiled as they followed Simeria outside the small cottage they were in.