I'll pay you!

"Teach me" Skye said before he could stop himself.

'Seriously...? Again why am I always going to her? She's... smart' Skye's face darkened as he realised how useful she was.

"No" Anberine replied bluntly to his dismay.

"I'll pay you" Anberine paused in order to flash him a look.

'And he hints that I'm cheap' she muttered darkly.

"Seriously? YOU pay me?" Anberine asked with a look of disbelief.

"You who have royal tutors want a peasant like me to teach you?" she asked while eyeing him oddly.

Skye flushed from her words.

"I get it! I'm an ass I'm sorry" Skye scowled as he scratched the back of his head as he avoided her confused stare.

"I... I had someone in Defence Class, he actually admitted that he respected me and... I- look I don't want to be a disappointment, the last thing I need is my father and the courts to have a go at me for failing a subject and since you are capable of achieving THIS" Skye gestured to the table's continents.

"I really need help" Skye mumbled softly as he slowly looked at her with a deflated look.

"Don't ever call me names and make my life here harder than it already is" Anberine said as she took her bag strap and placed it on her shoulder.

Blinking in surprise Skye perked up from her words.

"You-?!"

"Six o'clock morning tomorrow, don't be late" Anberine said bluntly before leaving him to his own devices. "And make sure you give me something useful" she added causing him to wince from his own words.

'I really need to think before I speak' he muttered wearily before slouching on the chair, looking up at the ceiling Skye withered at what he agreed to.

'(You really do)' The voice agreed to his dismay.

'Do shut up' Skye muttered darkly.

'(Make me)'

~

"Is it me or is the prince becoming weirder since your outing?" Helga asked as Morgana handed her an orange, thanking Morgana Helga started to peel it slowly.

"Now that you mentioned it, he has gotten moodier" Morgana commented before spotting Merlia's odd look as she was talking to Mordred about their magic studies with Anberine.

Percival and Gawain who were reading books looked up with perplexed looks.

"It is rather strange Bery" Marcus commented as he handed Anberine a bottle of ink for her fountain pen.

"Do you think the lake washed off the spell?" Anberine asked looking worried thanks to the comments that confirmed her suspicion.

"We don't truly know for sure, after all he's not bullying you. He's just being moody" Mordred commented earning him a snort from Gawain.

"When was he not?" Gawain asked before getting slapped by an orange peel thanks to Helga.

"Walls have ears Gawain" Helga warned sternly earning her an eye roll from the smirking male.

"She's not wrong" Percival commented as he turned a page in his book, taking an owl's feather he used it as a bookmark and looked up at the group who had worried expressions.

"The question is what is going to happen now if it is true. He's going to realise that we did this to him sooner or later"

Silence greeted them minus the sound of scratching on a book.

"For now let's just observe him and see what he's up to" Mordred looked at Marcus who nodded.

"Did he do anything to you?" Merlia asked Anberine who stopped writing due to going still, seeing this Merlia's brows went up in surprise.

"What did he want?" Helga asked before taking a bite of the orange slice.

"To teach him potions" Morgana groaned from this.

"Well of course since he's flunking his studies" Mordred muttered darkly.

"If this keeps up he'll be kicked out and deemed useless to even us" uneasy looks filled their faces.

"Then... does that mean we need to rethink our plans? But how will we overthrow Uther if Skye is removed from taking the throne?" Helga asked feeling complete uncertainty.

"I can't take any more of Uther, my little sister sent me a message. Mother is sick and we know that the medicine to help will be scarce because of the king thanks to the prices and lack of ingredients due to the locations are not in the exiled lands" Helga said as she saw their grim looks.

"My sister is only eight, she shouldn't have to worry about things like this" Helga added as she felt Percival's hand on her shoulder.

"We know Helga, don't worry we'll try to work something out" Merlia said softly as Helga rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.

"Is the cost going really up again?" Anberine asked as she folded her arms on the table.

Helga as she looked at Anberine broke down into a sob, seeing this Anberine felt her eyes sting from tears.

"What illness does she have?" Anberine asked surprising Helga, despite being unable to stop Helga continued to cry as Anberine got up to hug her distressed friend.

"Her cold is getting worse, they think she might have pneumonia" Helga replied earning winces from Mordred, Morgana and Gawain.

"I'll try to brew something up, don't worry about it Helga. The quickest I can do is tomorrow lunch time will that be okay?" Anberine asked stunning the group at how willing she was to help.

"But Anberine-"

"You owe me nothing, friends helps each other out plus this is a life. Who are we to turn our backs on them because the king deems them lost causes" Anberine said causing a grateful smile to appear on Helga.

"You really are too good to us Bery" Helga said while hugging Anberine.

"I will find a way to return the favour" Helga said softly as Percival rolled his eyes at the display.

"Now that that's over, what are you going to do with the prince? You can't just teach him considering who is watching" Percival commented causing an emotional Helga to stick her tongue at him, seeing this he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I might have to, if I don't who knows what he'll do to me... besides I do owe him for putting that spell on him" Anberine said surprising the group.

"You owe him nothing! He shouldn't have tormented you-" Morgana snapped.

"And reacting like that is what got us into this mess" Anberine reacted with a firm look that left Morgana uncomfortable.

"Take the moral high ground even if it leaves us with dirt in our mouths. At least we have eyes from a lot of people this time so he cannot hide his actions. People I'm sure are talking about potion's class and what that would result in. If we do this he would no doubt have to pay us back somehow right?" Anberine added as she placed her hands on her waist.

Merlia as she watched smiled at how selfless her friend was even, if the person didn't deserve it.

"Wouldn't be you if you didn't help out" Merlia sighed with a wider smile.

Marcus who was still giving Anberine a withered look drooped his shoulders in defeat.

"For now observe him and see what he's up to, if he's sincere we might be able to work with him" Mordred said earning him a nod from the group.

"You can count on me" Helga said despite having semi scratchy voice thanks to her crying, wiping her tears with a sleeve she smiled softly.

"So we know what the plan is, for now don't act like something is wrong and just see if the potion has worn off or not. If it has we can try again IF we deem it necessary" Merlia agreed.

"Only IF no one is to take matters into their own hands. We agree as a group" both Light and Dark dwellers nodded in agreement before resuming their activities.