"You are going to kill me?" Isadora asked Gareth. She didn’t believe this was her brotherly figure. Why would he kill her? Well, she had herself to blame partly but this was not the Gareth she knew. There was something, some inner force that drove him to act this way. Did it have to do with the fact that she had fallen for Alexander? Was Gareth... Jealous?

And now that she thought of it, she had never seen Gareth so hell-bent to kill someone. The look in his eyes when she mentioned Alexander’s name answered it all. But she had never for once thought about such a possibility. She had always taken Gareth as a brotherly figure to her since they were young. But the Gareth standing in front of her was different.

"Why are you doing this Gareth?" Isadora asked. Gareth paused on his tracks startled by her question. Would he really kill her? Definitely no. That was the last thing he would do. But she had to denounce Alexander’s love first if she wanted to live. And about his uncle, he’d know what to do about it. If Griffin wanted to kill her, he would have to do it himself. Gareth couldn’t bring himself to even lay a finger on her.

"Do you love him, Isadora?" He asked instead, lowering his sword. Isadora was taken aback by the question. So what she thought was actually true. He was just jealous. So what if she loved him? Would he kill her?

"I did. But from the reaction I got from him today, I don’t love him anymore," she decided to be honest. Gareth let out a silent sigh as he raked his hands through his hair. He didn’t know how Griffin would take it.

And as if speaking of the devil himself, Griffin walked inside the room, his hands on his back.

"I can see you chose to come home instead dear," he said eyeing Isadora curiously. Isadora swallowed the lump in her throat. The way he looked at her, she knew it was not going to be alright.

"You may leave us Gareth," he added. Gareth hesitated for a while. He didn’t know what would happen to Isadora but he sensed Griffin was planning something bad. His gaze darted between the two as he weighed his decision in his mind. Neither did he want to disrespect Griffin nor leave Isadora in danger. He had risked so much just to lose her to her own uncle.

"Are you deaf or what?" Griffin asked when Gareth hesitated to leave the room. Gareth clenched his fist before he took he sheathed his sword. His hand hung mid-air as if he wanted to say something but he gave up. He looked at Isadora one last time and she smiled back at him. That at least gave him some hope. But hope for what? Isadora would be termed as a traitor and the punishment for that was well known. The least she could get as a princess was being locked in the dungeon forever. Damn! He didn’t want that. He cursed Isadora for having come here. She only ran from one problem to facing a more complex one this time.

Gareth eventually left the room after which it became eerily silent. Griffin moved to the nightstand and poured himself a glass of water. A glass of water! That surprised Isadora. Never in her entire life had she ever seen Griffin drink a glass of water. This was a sight to behold. He’d always have a glass of wine. Or maybe he drank water as a substitute for wine, she thought.

"I still remember how you grew as a toddler to the lady you are today. I raised you as my own daughter Isadora. And when I saw how lonely you were, I brought Gareth to keep you company," he said and gulped the contents of the glass. Isadora just stared at him wondering where he was taking this conversation.

"My brother would have wanted the best for you, which is why I treated you as my own daughter and gave you everything you needed. I made you the strong woman you wanted to be and supported you in everything Isa." He let out a deep sigh.

"But what did you do? How did you repay me? You went and fell in love with the enemy?" He slapped his forehead in irritation. How he hated Alexander. And to think that he had even laid a finger on his precious niece... He couldn’t even bring himself to think about it. He wanted Alexander’s head ASAP. That was the only thing that would cool the soon-to-erupt volcano in him. Anger was an understatement of what he was feeling right now. And Isadora, didn’t she know the consequences of her actions? Or was she so naïve to fall in love with the looks of that guy?

"I’m sorry uncle. I should have...." Griffin held his hand in a gesture to stop Isadora from what she was about to say.

"I want to hear nothing coming from your mouth Isadora. You failed me as your king and uncle as well. Did you even consider the consequences of your actions?" He asked, raising his voice now. And as far as Isadora could remember, this was the longest of talks she’d ever had with her uncle. The last time they had talked for this long was when he was trying to explain to her younger version that her parents were no more. But this time was different. She was being scolded.

"What you committed was treason!" He said with a firm voice. Isadora lifted her face to look at her uncle’s angry face. No hint of emotion was detectable on it. She, better than anyone else, knew the punishment for treason. Was her uncle really going to execute her? A tear ran down her face when she imagined what she had brought upon herself. All this because of love? Love was cruel and not good as people used to say. If this was what it had brought to her, she had every right to think so.

"You’ll face the consequences of your stupidity alone!" Griffin declared.