"Now are you sure that you're ready?" Alastair asked Damien the following morning, "The king will be here at any moment."

Drake sat watching from the window sill where Lyra lay looking out the window. She was tracing her finger along the glass following the motion of a butterfly about a hundred feet from her. Jordan was leaning against the wall sitting on the soft white carpeted floor. Both were tired they hadn't had much rest due to the loud cracking of thunder shaking their rooms every five minutes.

"Calm down," Damien sighed. Drake could see clear as day even through his sleepy eyes that Damien was unhappy and fit to be tied. The Damien he knew wouldn't have let a muscle of his face twinge even if he was that angry.

Alastair turned on him irritatedly, "You will behave. No tricks Damien. Not today."

"Again," Damien flashed his eyes at Alastair, "what will you do? What can you do? Whatever you do to me," he gestured to himself, "you do to her," he finished his ultimatum by pointing at small innocent Lyra, who was still sitting on the window sill watching the butterflies in the courtyard, paying little to no attention to her father and Damien as she continued to trace her small finger along the warm glass.

Alastair smiled at him, "You know everything don't you boy?" Damien shrugged with an arrogant smile. "Well, the answer is no!" He hissed. "I could take you to another time and kill you and not a single scratch would find its way onto Lyra's porcelain skin."

As Damien opened his mouth to say something through his shock there was a loud bang on the door and an array of people flooded the room.

"Come here quick," Alastair muttered, grabbing Damien by the arm and straightening his jacket, fixing the gold buttons, and tightening his small tie, finishing with a meaningful and slightly threatening look. In turn Damien rolled his eyes.

"Alastair!" The flamboyant king announced almost before the doors had swung open and he strolled in. Drake frowned. The man had a terrifying face, not ugly actually far from ugly. He was very handsome, but still terrifying. Maybe it was his abnormally sharp teeth or how his mouth seemed to stretch just a little too far across his face when he smirked, any ways a wave of cologne, smelling of roses rushed through the room with the king, making Drake forget about his face briefly.

Even Damien gave a small cough as his eyes began to water a bit.

"Your royal highness," Alastair immediately stooped down into a low bow, only rising when the king had gently touched his shoulder.

Both of the men's eyes fell onto Damien, expectantly. As Drake watched him smile, he wondered if he'd actually bow, but he did, hastily swinging his arm across his side and leaning forwards. When he stood, he spoke, "Your highness, it's nice to see you so . . . soon."

Alastair sighed. He wasn't supposed to speak to the king before being spoken to.

Damien took no heed of it though, "Why have you come to see me so soon?"

"Damien," the time traveler hissed.

However the king said, gently, "No, no, Alastair, the boy has a right to know and in fact I'd like to get this over with rather quickly. I have more important things to attend to. You see, Damien, your power is very intriguing and I want you to work for me as . . . I don't know, what's a good name to throw on you . . . um how about chief advisor to the king, all right?"

Damien cocked an eyebrow at the haughty king, "Well, what does this job require of me?"

"What does it require of you?" The king's demeanor changed as quick as light. He seemed furious all of a sudden as he leaned over the circular table separating him from Damien. "You are asking me for a job description? Are you serious?" He stopped to laugh angrily. "I can't even . . . for fuck's sake boy anyone would kill for this! And you a lowly street urchin is being handed the job on a golden platter when you have done absolutely and utterly nothing, except exist!"

Damien raised his eyebrows, appearing amused by the king's outburst. He smiled. "Yes, me the poor and lowly street urchin, do forgive me my king for simply asking what you want me to do! For how can I do what I do not know?"

There was a loud screeching as the king's long, painted finger nails slid across the table in frustration, leaving marks not dissimilar to those baring Damien's arms. Damien narrowed his eyes at him, challengingly. "If you refuse to do this, Damien, I will kill you. I'll kill her."

"I don't care about her," Damien snapped, "and besides, do you really think that I can't stop you from trying to kill me?"

"Me?" The king smiled, "No of course not, but ten guards with completely soundproof earmuffs over their ears? I think it's highly likely. So make your decision wisely."

Drake glanced around the room. Damien could control them with mere gestures. He wondered if he'd fight. However instead Damien glanced at Alastair who appeared to be on the verge of hysterics and then slowly spoke, "Fine, my lord, but I demand you to tell me right now what you are making me do, exactly."

The king frowned, "But you aren't making me actually do it?" He laughed. "All right. You are to act under the pretense of my chief advisor-"

"I'm sorry a twelve year old?" Damien scoffed at the king, "Oh wait not just any twelve year old, a street urchin twelve year old who has done nothing to earn this job!"

The king, flashed a furious glance at Alastair as Damien continued to laugh. Drake frowned this king was an idiot to think he could control Damien.

"Yes!" He shouted at long last, "Yes, and your actual job will be to make sure that I get my way all the time. Simple enough?"

"Mhm," Damien smiled, wiping the tears from his eyes.

That made the king frown. Drake imagined that after all Damien had done to fight against him up to this point, the king expected one last final fight. There was a rustling to his left as Lyra stood, smoothing out her flowing white dress.

"King Alexi," her small honey sweet voice seemed so strong and mocking, "don't worry. You've cornered him long ago. He has no other option than to accept your . . ." she laughed, "accept your demand. He's simply putting up a fake fight because he's so furious over it. In fact for the past ten minutes while you thought that he was cleverly throwing words of anger at you, he's actually been focusing on several ways to kill you here and be done with you."

Alexi stared at her in shock with his mouth gaping wide open. While, Damien eyed her suspiciously. He was probably trying to decide who's side she was on, when Alastair broke the silence, "S-so I think that leaves us at Damien needing to sign some sort of contract, your highness?"

"Right," the king growled, glancing between Lyra and Damien with a frown. "Here," he took out a single sheet of paper out from under his gold embroidered coat and held it out to Damien, "sign it."

Damien looked around the room once more, eyeing the guards with a sigh and then taking the paper from the king and a pen from Alastair, he held the paper against the wall and signed it with hot binding, golden ink. Sealing Alastair's betrayal and the king's ultimate power over him, but before he let the king go he threw on a devilish smirk and faced the guards, pointing a finger at them and then raising his hand to his ears as if he were removing something from them. Immediately the guards followed his action and removed their earmuffs.

"You can leave," he growled, turning to face the king darkly as the guards marched out of the room. He shot him a smirk before making a sarcastic sort of bow, swinging his arm in large curving motion and stooping low as he laughed in a boyish way.

The king studied Damien for a moment, realizing how dangerous and uncontrollable he actually was and then took the paper and rolled it up carefully, tucking it back under his coat, "That will be all. You'll spend five months of the year with me in the palace until you are an adult and don't have to spend these required four months each year with her."

With one last smile from Damien it was over.