Damian

We have been walking up this damn mountain for almost an hour when Jae finally calls out, "We are here." I'm not sure what I was expecting but, 'here' is just an empty field. I don't think I was expecting much from a group of rebels, but I expected something. What's worse, it's about midnight and if they try to kill me, I won't have enough energy to fight back.

"So um…" I started, "where are we?"

Anna chuckles and says, "Tess keeps an illusion over the house 24/7 so we won't be spotted."

I was still skeptical, but Anna nudged her head towards Mel. I watch as she takes a step forward and then disappears. Well damn. I turn to face Anna and Jae, but they are gone too. Nervous, for some reason, I swallow my emotions and step forward. I opened my eyes because, apparently, I had them completely shut. My jaw nearly drops as I see a large house made of a dark shade of wood with giant windows along the walls. Two steps lead to a front patio with a couple of couches and a coffee table in the middle. Two white pillars were holding the roof up, and there was a giant door.

Anna breaks the silence and says, "Let's go inside."

I follow Mel and Jae through the main doors. There is a large greeting area with giant stairs in the middle. I watch as Mel goes up the stairs, but Jae and Anna go in a different direction. I decided to follow Jae and Anna since Mel would probably kick my ass if I tried to follow her. I follow Anna and Jae into a large conversational space with couches and a fireplace. Sitting on one of the couches is a woman, who has a beer bottle in hand with porcelain white skin. She has short hair the color of midnight, and her eyes the color of gold. Next to her is a man with his arm around her. He had dark ebony skin with his hair tied up in a ponytail. He had broad shoulders and his body is well defined. Across from them is a man with silky blonde hair, and bright sapphire eyes. I recognize him as the man I ran into today. That must be how they figured out I was in town.

The woman with gold eyes sets her beer bottle down and walks over to me. She puts her hand out and says, "The name is Tess, nice to meet you, Prince Damian."

"No need for formalities," I say, "call me Damian."

"I take it you didn't have any problems coming here?"

"Well…" I laugh but Jae chimes in.

"Mel attacked him," he simply states.

The man with dark skin chokes on his drink, and Tess and the blonde man laugh.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" The man who had his arm around Tess asks.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Derek," Jay says.

"Always knew she was a bit*h," the blonde man says. Everyone glares at him and continues to bicker about if what Jae said is true or not

"Enough." Tess says calmly, but its impact causes the entire room to sit still. "Damian, I apologize for my friend's behavior, but, knowing her, she had a reason for doing that."

"I second that!" Anna chirps in after taking a sip of her drink.

"Anyways," Tess continues, "I would like for you to join our group. Although there are only six of us, the havoc we have caused the government is unlike what anyone has ever seen. With you as an ally, I am confident that we will meet our shared goal; to destroy the King for the benefit of the citizens." Tess continues to hold eye contact with Damian trying to see which side he is leaning towards.

Damian thinks to himself, "I am aware of the kind of havoc their group has caused to be able to gain the attention of the King. But six people? That's crazy. It's suicide. Then again what else am I going to do? They're the only rebellion group to gain the attention of the government, and it's not like I'll be able to kill my brother on my own."

"Alright," I decide, "It's not like I have anything else to do."

Tess immediately tones down her seriousness and shouts, "Bring out the booze! We've got a reason to celebrate."