Cecily woke slowly for once. Her consciousness came first, followed by the feeling of her body resting against a plush material, and then her eyes peeling open to reveal the dimly lit room.

Instinct hit her next. The hunter's body reacted, reaching out to grasp the short sword that gently rested on her hip.

She gripped it for a moment, took in the former prince and future king laying on the second couch on the other side of the room and the blanket that had been gingerly thrown over her prone form, and relaxed.

She pushed the blanket away and threw her feet on the floor, scolding herself internally for not checking the perimeter of the obtuse mansion.

She stood, quiet and gentle, and walked to the hall on the far side of the room where a she found a hallway. Cecily through one last glance to Zeph, and then she was gone.

It was definitely not small, not by any standard, but it was strangely quaint - it was lived in. The paint on the walls was fading, and some of the furniture was chipped. It was a summer home for the royal family, at one point, but now it was her palace, and she was the king.

One the walls of her mansion, hung old pictures of the royal family. Some of the pictures were beautiful by design - a photo snapped from a high tower, showing the scenery of a forest Cecily didn't recognize, a painted portrait of the former king, queen, and Zephyr.

However, some of the pictures were beautiful by nature.

The hunter was gentle in removing the one that caught her eyes. It was a picture that captured a story. A young Zephyr sitting in a tree, looking up to a woman just a few branches above her who wore her age with a wild grace. It was the small, curved nose that gave her away as Zeph's mother, the former queen. That, and the way he looked at her.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Cecily tensed, one hand instinctually reaching towards her weapons.

She relaxed when she saw Reiko leaning against the wall, watching her with lazy eyes.

He huffed a laugh. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Didn't know I could."

Cecily shrugged, not feeling up to defending herself at the moment.

She gingerly hung the wooden frame back on the wall, before continuing her search of the mansion.

Reiko wasn't far behind.

"How long was I out?" She finally asked, peeking into the kitchen and taking stock of how much food they had to hold them over.

"Bout twelve hours, give or take. We ate, tried to anyways. Unsurprisingly, none of us actually know how to cook."

"We've lived in that shelter for long enough to know that."

"True. Orion and Alma took a power nap before they got too hungry and came up for food. They fell back asleep. Separate beds. I made sure."

"The first or second time?"

"Second. I didn't notice they were gone the first time. Zeph wanted to stay awake, but he was out pretty fast."

"Understandable."

Digging through the supplies, Cecily took out a red apple and started eating it while she continued the tour of the mansion.

"Have you slept?" She finally asked.

"A bit, when we first got here. I wanted someone to be awake at all times."

Cecily hummed in agreement.

She turned a corner and was finally faced with a set of stairs. The mansion's layout was easy enough to understand, it was practical.

"The top floor's all bedrooms," the guard said as he followed her up.

"You've been here before," Cecily stated.

"Or I've walked around the place out of boredom," he countered.

"Or both."

"Or both."

Cecily didn't pester him further on the matter. Instead, she explored each of the bedrooms - five in total - and one bathroom. Besides the basic furnishings such as clocks and lamps, they were all empty. No weapons or anything of the sorts. There were a few servants entry way that were easy enough to find.

After a short while, the hunter had most of the mansion mapped out in her head.

"You should sleep," Cecily finally said. "You look tired."

And he did. His steps were slower than normal and he struggled a bit to keep up. Bags hung under his eyes and his head slumped one way or another as they walked.

He shrugged. "I was waiting for you to wake up."

"I'm awake."

He shrugged again.

"Too many ghosts in the house?"

"You could say that."

There was a lapse of silence before Reiko let out a long sigh.

"A long long time ago..." He started, "I used to come here with Zeph. It was back when we were more acquaintances than friends. When being his guard was my job not this. See, my family they were..."

There was a silence, but the word hung between them.

Slaves.

"They were not the most fortunate people, and I was born into their misfortune. But I lived, and I have the scars to prove it."

"And the bum leg."

"Of course you noticed that. Anyways, when I was freed, it was already too late for my parents, so it was just me. Orphans of those circumstances always got a choice. We could hope a family would find us, or we could work for the palace. My family was already dead, so I was the youngest to give myself up. The queen took notice of me. When she came up to me I thought I'd done something wrong, but she just asked me if I wanted a friend. You'd never believe who she introduced me to."

In all honesty, Cecily did care, but the story was droning on. So she sat at the bottom of the stairs and he followed suite.

"That's how I met Zeph. She wanted me to be his guard and his friend. Not many kids running around the palace who weren't rich brats. I thought he'd be the same, but I was wrong."

"As usual."

"Shut up. As I was saying, though, this was one of the first places we went together. It feels like a home to me, and now it's yours, I guess."

"In a way. But your welcome whenever. As long as you don't annoy me."

He ignored her jab and continued on. "If we don't die."

Her gaze flickered to him before she rolled her eyes. Slowly and carefully, she brought her warm, human hand to the back of his neck, drawing him back to reality. He almost leaned into the touch.

"We'll survive."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, the corner of his lips twitching. "You got a plan?"

Cecily smiled.

---

Zephyr woke to a gentle light and the familiar sight of his old vacation home. For a moment, he was back to being a child. He could feel his mothers cool hand card through his hair and hear his fathers soft laughter - the laughter he reserved for only his family and close friends.

When he was fully awake, he could see light streaming in through the faded white curtains that hung around the windows all around the room.

"Hungry?"

He turned over so that he was laying on his back.

Red hair brushed against his cheeks. Cecily's elbows rested on the back of the couch. Her obsidian black eyes watched him closely. The gaze reminded him of when they'd first met; cold and calculating.

"A bit," he replied, unphased. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long. I was about to wake you up."

She shifted so she was no longer leaning over the back of the couch, but instead, heading in the direction of the room Zeph knew was the kitchen.

He was close to follow behind.

It was always weird when he stepped into a kitchen. Normally, he'd have his food served to him in the dining room - already cooked and seasoned.

He remembered last night when they had all attempted to cook something and failed miserably. They'd stuck to eating raw vegetables.

Now, he looked at the steaming pot sitting on the stove. A welcoming smell wafted through the room.

"You can cook?" He questioned, a bit suspicious as to what she was cooking.

The former prince remembered her taking some poison ivy from the backyard of her house. Her old house, he supposed. This was her house now.

She shrugged, opting to take a knife from the block and grab a carrot from cabinets.

He watched her cut it with ease, straight into the pot.

"Let me help?" He offered.

She watched him for a second before setting down a knife and cutting board. Of course she already knew where everything was stored. As far as Zeph knew, her head was a one-way door. Information could go in, but never out.

Cecily grabbed another knife from the block and handed it to him by the hilt.

"Do you know how to use that?" She questioned.

He looked at her with irritation, but couldn't say anything.

She nodded and bumped his shoulder before setting a new carrot in front of each of them.

They worked for what felt like an hour before Orion and Alma came stumbling in, a hungry look in their eyes. A sleepy eyed Reiko wasn't far behind.

---

Reiko looked at the stew that was set out before them. All five of the competitors watched Cecily and Zeph's every movement as they set out bowls and spoons for all of them.

The guard had to admit he had been surprised to walk in on the hunter and the future king bantering over a delicious smelling stew. He'd shared a look with Alma and Orion, who had also been in the same room, and he knew they had the same thought.

But, the light was starting to come back into Zeph's eyes. There was the beginning of a smile creasing his lips. He was happy.

Now, he watched Zeph take a seat between him and Cecily.

"Alright," the future king started, "no one gets to make fun of me if it's horrible. Wasn't my rec- Ow." Reiko turned to see Zeph rubbing his other shoulder. "You don't need to be so rough."

They didn't waste time eating.

The food was delicious not in that it was gourmet or fancy or overly seasoned, but that it tasted like home. It tasted like rainy days stuck inside and a thousand variations.

They had so much that none of them would be hungry for days.

"So the plan," Reiko finally said, as he leaned back into the chair. "You have a plan now, don't you?"

Cecily scoffed. "Do you expect me to do everything?"

"But you do have one, don't you?" Orion asked.

"Most of one," she admitted. "But it's rough."

"I wanna know what the poison ivy's for," Alma said.

"We going to sneak into the back doors?" Orion asked.

"Disguise ourselves as guards?" Reiko offered.

Cecily shook her head. "We're going to walk right through the front doors."