Small drops of water fell slowly down to the stony ground, splashing loudly as the sound filled the quietness.

Each small sound they made sent shivers down Aerin's spine. Every single cell he'd pass was empty, not a soul was in the place.

Elgar accompanied him up to the entrance of the place but had refused to follow him down the steps of the small tower. He'd just stayed by the door, witnessing how the darkness below enveloped Aerin's figure as he descended slowly to the forgotten cells.

As Aerin reached the deepest point of the dungeons, he slowly lit a candle, being careful not to move a lot and cause it to disappear. As he walked, he could make out the soft sniffles of someone farther away.

Aerin started to quicken his steps, dragging them along the floor as he walked as fast as he could, he raised a hand to block the wind so the candle wouldn't flicker and extinguish.

As he reached the person who cried silently, he slowly neared the candle towards them. Beneath the dim light of the candle, he could partly see strands of golden hair on the floor, strands that could only belong to Mara.

"Mara?".

The soft sniffles stopped immediately and a sob escaped from the person.

"Aerin?", a small broken voice asked.

His breath hitched and desperately reached for the wall beside him, he dragged his hands along the stone and his fingers curled continuously, trying to grasp something.

His fingers finally wrapped around metal, and he pulled at it. The sound of metal screeching echoed throughout the numerous cells, cold wind blew strongly and his feet faltered making him almost fall because of it. 

Aerin tried pulling down the handle, he bit his lip as he kept trying to lower it, he could feel his face draining from the effort as his lungs demanded for air, he groaned loudly until he finally heard something click and the handle falling quickly with the sound. 

He heard Mara gasp and he ran to her.

"Mara? Are you okay?", he asked.

She didn't answer, he could feel her breath against his cheek.

"Mhm..", she groaned.

"You have to get up", he whispered, "I'll take you to my room", he grasped her hands and she screamed, making him flinch and remove his hands from hers. 

He froze as he heard her moan in pain.

He then heard footsteps, metal clanking against the floor as they moved quickly. He crawled to Mara and sat beside her, resting his back against the cold wall, he surrounded one of her cold fingers with three of his own, being careful not to hurt her while he tried to warm her in the only way he could think of.

The loud footsteps sounded nearer, his heart thumped loudly in his chest as the person approached them. He closed his eyes and tightened his fingers around Mara's. 

"Aerin are you here?", he heard a voice tremble from the cold, the voice was quiet but still recognizable to him.

He opened his eyes in surprise.

He could see Omar standing outside the cell with a torch in his left hand, the fire lit almost the whole space around them.

He sighed in relief.

"Omar? What are you doing here?", he whispered, as if someone else were present in the room.

"That guy, Elgis I think, told me you were down here looking for someone", he whispered back, "it was sooo boring up there you know? Rowan is very social but me? Nah, I hate talking to people, and they expect me to address royal-"

"Omar, can you please just help me?, Aerin asked, Omar's rambling made his head ache making him feel even more overwhelmed.

Omar huffed but still walked towards him. Light shone over Aerin and Mara, but the sight of her made Aerin gasp.

Mara's whole face was covered in bruises, purple and dark red blotches covered her from head to toe, her fingers were covered in cuts and her whole arm had deep slashes

Her once long golden her now reached her neck, lacking color and falling crisply to her cheeks.

Aerin looked pleadingly at Omar and he understood, he gave him his torch and walked up to Mara, slowly surrounding her with his arms as he carried her carefully.

Aerin started walking up the steps towards his room, looking from time to time at Mara, who was sleeping deeply between Omar's arms. 

Who did this? 

Tears trickled down his cheeks silently, his chest heaved rapidly but he tried to look composed. The sudden feeling of being lost in an unknown place filled him every time he looked at Mara, the person who'd taken care of him as if he were her son. 

*** 

Rowan stared at Aerin as he slept, his limbs looked as if they were in an uncomfortable position, but he didn't want to disturb his sleep.

Aerin sat beside his bed, his head was placed between the woman's arms as she combed his hair with her fingers. She smiled at him, a hint of sadness came with it as she did so.

"You should take him with you", she said, she looked up slowly at Rowan,  "he'll just suffer in this place".

Rowan gulped, the woman's face was beaten beyond recognition, and the look she gave him made him clutch his fists angrily.

Who could do this to someone? It's just so cruel.

"This isn't a good place to live in anymore", she said, "everything is being handled by the wrong hands, and the curse makes people desperate. If Aerin stays here he won't survive, he'll be exploited until the day he dies".

Rowan stared at her.

"Everyone knows he can save us from the curse, yet they don't know the price for it", she looked at him pleadingly, "please take him away".

Rowan finally nodded.

"I will, I wasn't planning on living him here," he said, "but if he's coming, I'd rather do it the right way", he finished.

Mara looked at him confused.