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Shiori slipped inside the palace by disguising herself as one of the guards. Her mission was to infiltrate the palace and watch the Light prince. The Dark Lord wanted to know if the prince would pose as a threat to the dark nation. Shiori was skeptical at first because she knew that the Dark and Light nations were on neutral ground ,but maybe the Dark Lord knew something that she didn't. She stood by the door of the throne room. The head guard ordered her and two others to guard the prince. Perfect, she thought. Now I can keep a close eye on the prince.

Another deep sigh and the Prince got up slowly. He paced in front of the woman, never taking his eyes off of her. He was frustrated, and he wanted her to know this. He stopped dead in his tracks and spoke. "Now, you've gone and hurt my feelings Shiori. He I was trying to be the nicest person you could ever meet. You come into my home, hell, my very own room uninvited and you can't answer a silly question. Let me ask you another question: Have you ever been tortured with light? No need to answer, it was rhetorical. You see, light can have the devastating power of even the best fire benders, but it can also be used slowly. You see, standard torture with light bending is simply letting you bask under three light benders who do nothing but shine unconcentrated light onto your bare body.

You will be tied down. You will first begin to heat up and sweat. Then, your skin will become red and you will begin to burn. Afterwords, your skin will begin to swell and boils will appear. Soon after that, they will burst, leaving you with permanent scaring and a loss of quite a but of bodily fluids. Your mouth will become dry, you will vomit, you will hallucinate, you will burn. Most people are only able to withstand our torture for nor more than three or four hours. Our record is seven, but that person died." Maxwell took one step towards Shiori and spoke with a soft and reassuring voice. He again lifted her chin while she sat so she could look up into his eyes. "Trust me, you don't want that. I would deeply hate myself to see a sweet flower such as yourself wilt in that manner. Come now...Just open up."

She looked into his eyes and was almost lost in a trance by his unique eye color. She shook her head and said, "You flatter women to get what you want from them hmm? You think sweet words will get me to tell you everything? No. I want something else." She stood and locked eyes with him. "I'm not your ordinary woman that you meet on the street...your grace."

Maxwell smiled at Shiori's response, because for some reason he was flattered. Now instead of holding up her chin, she stroked her cheek only once. It was soft, extremely smooth, very desirable. As he stroked it he spoke: "It may seem like flattery to you, but in reality, it's merely preservation. The preservation of beauty and life...Unfortunately that is irrelevant. He took a step back an actually sat on the ivory table in front of her. He continued to look at her face, analyzing it, looking for any trace of weakness. "You said you were after something...What is it?"

She touched her cheek were he stroked it. She moved her hand. ''I am willing to trade. I will tell you what you want to know only if you give me your word that you will not harm my nation in any way. That includes hurting my Lord." She showed determination in her eyes as she spoke. She was not going to back down to him.

I accept on behalf of the Nation of Light. You have my word that nothing shall happen to your nation or your lord. How ever I myself have two condition. If your nation harms us or is caught spying on us, we will null this agreement and do what seems fit. My second condition, is that you must live here in this castle and serve me as my personal assistant. Do not worry, I will not threaten your integrity." Maxwell had his hands in his lap wait for an answer.

She bit her lip as she thought of his proposal. "Live here? Away from my nation? I cannot. They will think of me as a traitor ,a failure. Is there no alternative?" She looked at the prince for a hint that maybe there was another way. She did not see any and thought more about the consequences of her actions. She thought of his description of their way of torture. None of her choices appealed to her.

There it was. It was written all over her face. She was genuinely worried and Maxwell had finally gotten to her. On the inside, he was chuckling over his personal victory. "Do not worry. I'm sure that if you explain the situation to them, it will be understandable. Also, keep in mind I know your face and name, do you think your nation would want you back as a spy anyways? If anything, when worse comes to worse and if your nation decides to attack, you have a front row seat to the slaughter. Remember, if you accept you can only talk with your nation one time under our supervision. After that, you must cut your ties. Understood?"

Shiori lowered her head. She was furious and there was a hint of sadness. How could she allow this to happen? She bit her lip hard and she started to bleed. As the blood ran down the corner of her mouth she said "If i were to accept, what would I be doing as your personal assistant?"

Maxwell chuckled loudly, his hand over his stomach by impulse. "You'll be my personal assistant! It's simple really, you'll handle some simple tasks every now and them. If anything, you'll be around for company especially when I go on my usual travels. Is that better?"

"A submissive woman's job. Torture would be better then that." She thought of what her family would say. She was sure that her mother would have picked torture as well. She looked at the prince. "Can I have some time to think?" His words were buzzing through her mind. The fact that she would be forced to leave her nation and be reduced to a simple companion to the young prince made her the most angry. She will be doomed to a life filled with guilt and misery.

Maxwell shrugged his shoulders. This woman had no idea what was in store. He took his wine glass and emptied it. After setting it down, he leaned it and talked softly yet again. "Your not really in a dominant position here now are you? Besides, you'll come to learn that traveling with me isn't really what one would call "Conventional" for a Prince. As for time, you'll only have as much time as you want so long as you stay within my sight. Sound good to you?"

"I understand....I need some fresh air. Can I go to light lake?" She said. She was very nervous and it seemed like the walls of the room were closing in on her. At least at the lake she would get fresh air and a little space away from the prince. She wanted to think of a way out of this mess. She hated the thought of not being able to fight or spy. Her mother would be disappointed in her.

Another deep sigh, and Maxwell shook his head. "Like I said, the only way I will allow that is if I'm with you. I have a feeling that my guards will simply not be enough. I hope you can understand that. If you wish for some air, the balcony is right there. It over looks the entire kingdom, even the lake. Keep in mind, if you were to jump, you'd die from the impact with anything below...Besides, does being my assistant sound that bad? You'd be surprised what you'll come across with me. You might enjoy the next trip: The Fire Nation seems like a good place to travel."

She shook her head. "Fine." She walked over to the balcony and looked down. Indeed it was a long fall. It would kill any ordinary person, then again she wasn't ordinary. "I'm sorry ,but being your assistant would be terrible. You don't understand. I love fighting and spying. Its a great thrill." She sat on the ledge of the balcony.

Maxwell shrugged his shoulders again. "Who said there wouldn't be any fighting? And if you're thinking about jumping off, I wouldn't suggest it. I will blind you as soon as you lean back. No one on this world will be able to survive a fall like that blind. I will also set this entire nation on high alert, no one will enter or leave. It will bring much tension to the world council and war could abrupt. You need to think smart here. If you truly wish to protect your kingdom, you will abide by me guidelines."