Rose sat on the hard stone floor, her leg chained to the wall, ensuring she couldn't approach the door. She stared down at the ground, her mind vacant, and her face revealing little emotion.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"Guards,"

Silas's Scottish brogue announced.

Though Rose immediately recognized his voice, she didn't dare look. The large metal door to her cell opened, allowing light to filter into the room.

"Leave us,"

Silas ordered as he entered, the door shutting behind him.

Silas walked over and sat next to Rose on the floor, letting out a sigh as he crouched down.

"Hey,"

Silas spoke, pausing to gauge Rose's response.

Rose remained silent, still fixated on the stone floor.

"I came to check on you,"

Silas said.

"The guards were telling me that you were being uncooperative. Then again, knowing you as well as I do, I shouldn’t have expected anything less."

Silas chuckled to himself and glanced at Rose, who still showed no reaction. His laughter ceased abruptly, a twinge of guilt creeping in as he looked back at the ground.

"I brought food, your favorite,"

Silas said, placing a plate in front of her.

"Can't have you eating prison food now, can we?"

Rose glanced down at the food—a generous plate with a roll and a bowl of beef stew. A spoon rested atop the bowl.

"I remember when we were kids; you had this meal every day for a month,"

Silas reminisced with a laugh.

"I was beginning to worry you had gone mad, but I guess you just really liked it."

"This isn’t my favorite food,"

Rose said, not touching the plate.

Silas stared down at the food.

"T-this isn’t your favorite food anymore?"

he spoke sadly to himself. He paused, seemingly surprised by the information, then quickly regained composure.

"I'm sorry; I wasn’t aware,"

he said.

"I guess I should have expected as much. After all, everything changes with time. The buildings, the culture, the people."

Silas scrutinized Rose and continued,

"It’s sad, you know. To come home after four years of the same battle and find out that life has moved on without you."

Silas laid his head back, closed his eyes, and took a breath.

"I wasn’t always out on that battle, you know? I was captured by Fullheim during the second year of the war. I was kept in a dungeon, not too different from this one. Just darker... and bloodier."

Rose exhaled, her fists clenched as she listened. She wasn’t angry; she was sad—listening to her old friend wither away. Now, to find that while she thought he was dead, he was actually captured by the enemy.

Silas looked at her with sad eyes.

"Please talk to me,"

he said softly.

"I know you think I'm a monster, but you don’t understand what I've sacrificed to protect this kingdom you care about so dearly. It would have been so easy to give in to the torture, to accept my fate and give up everything I know about our kingdoms. But do you know what kept me going? What kept my mouth firmly shut? It was the knowledge that every second I stayed lying in that dungeon was another second I was buying for you. You and the rest of the kingdom. And when the pain became too much, I began to lose consciousness. I would drift off, knowing that I was keeping you safe. That I was protecting you because that is all that matters."

Rose closed her eyes, fighting back the tears.

"I knew that I was protecting the one person I cared about most in the entire world,"

Silas said, looking down at Rose, who appeared to still be unresponsive.

"R-Rose, would you just look at me? LOOK AT ME!"

Rose jumped, her eyes meeting Silas's. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I-I’m still the same man you cared about before the war,"

Silas said, holding her shoulders and gazing into her eyes.

"I’m not on the battlefield; I’m right here. But you don’t see me. I’m here, but you look at me like you don’t see me! And that right there hurts more than the torture chamber ever could."

Tears fell from Rose’s eyes; she was terrified and sad at the same time. Silas exhaled, wiping the tears from her eyes, his expression sad and conflicted.

"But... Maybe I have changed. Maybe I am different, but that was through no fault of my own. That was your mother's doing, sending me off to fight in some pointless war. I am what she made me,"

Silas paused and looked back to the ground.

"I always loved the stories she told us. Your parents would sit and watch us for hours, watching us play Knight and Damsel in distress. Though your mother would laugh when more often than not, you were the knight. And from the corner of my eye, I could see your father smile. Despite your parents' noble blood, they always made sure I was taken care of. Things used to be so much simpler back then. We believed in good and evil. Right and wrong. You and I... were always on the same side. I miss who we were back then, but times must change. And so must we."

Rose noticed a shift in his tone and quickly looked away from him again, her eyes wet with tears that she quickly wiped away.

“I didn’t just come here to reminisce; I need your help. The eight carriages from Fullheim have arrived, our people are fed, healthy, and protected. But they aren't happy, not fully. The people are whispering of dissatisfaction at the cost of this aid. They don't want to give up this kingdom's name or its flag. They are afraid this place will just become another cog in the empire's war machine. The people need hope... They need you,” Silas spoke, his Scottish brogue carrying a mix of urgency and sincerity as he looked down at Rose. “My rise to king would go a lot smoother with you by my side. Your support would ease the masses as we transition into joining the mighty empire of Fullheim.”

Rose felt her heart stop for a moment. Silas was always an amazing friend, and in a way, she loved him, but she wasn’t in love with him. Maybe if things were different. If she didn’t lose him to war and they remained by one another like they promised all those years ago. There was a time that she thought she’d be with him forever. But she is not that girl anymore. She loved Jacob. She bit her lip softly; rejecting him would most likely land her family in trouble. She already didn’t know if they were okay. But she felt sick marrying a man she feared. Especially not this Silas.

“I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but I need you to help curb the feeling of unrest during its assimilation into the empire.”

“So our name and flag will change...” Rose said softly.

“Well yes, our kingdom would have to give up its name and flag. They are symbols of its sovereignty, of its separation from the empire. Erasing it, and the culture of this kingdom is a necessary step to bringing it into the empire.”

Rose gripped her skirt with her hands, “Feels like you're erasing all the work my family has put into this kingdom.”

Silas growled in annoyance, “I don't see what the problem is. It's a small price to pay for the safety and prosperity that the people will receive because of it.”

Silas sighed, “But there are those who call me a traitor, those who are loyal to your mother and the kingdom's long history. The fools. But pride is a dangerous concept, with deadly consequences. The fools can’t see I'm doing this to protect them all. Because it's for their own good, even if they can’t see it yet.”

Rose turned to look at him, a mix of pain and anger on her face coming off as a glare.

“Be very careful who you glare at, your highness... Frankly, I don’t give a damn about this kingdom. I’m not doing this for them,” he snapped. “I’m doing this for you because you care about it. I’m doing this to make sure this kingdom is safe and secure. If this is the path it takes to complete it, then so be it.”

Silas looked Rose in the eyes, “And if you don’t like my methods, tough. I promised your mother I'd do what it takes to protect you, even if it means protecting you from yourself.”

“Silas,” Rose said softly.

“When I am crowned King, you will be there by my side,” Silas demanded. “But until then, you’ll be here. I hope you take this time to think of ways to curb people's opinions. This is for your own good too, Your highness; you’ll learn in time.”

Silas stood, dusting his clothes off and moving to the door, “Guards,” he spoke, and the door opened. Before he left, he turned and looked down at Rose, “I hope you make the right decision,” Silas turned to exit, the door slamming behind him, “and if you don’t... I’ll make it for you.”

Rose sat silently for days; she refused to eat or sleep. She only sat in silence in the same spot, thinking about what she should do. Silas came to see her every few days. His concern turned to anger as he saw Rose’s stubbornness, until one day he received notice from one of his guards that Rose's health has declined rapidly. Silas made his way down the stairs to the dungeon, immediately walking past his guards and making his way to Rose’s cell.