~ The Black Market ~

"I'm sorry Your Highness," Esme apologized, bowing her head. "Your Majesty ordered me to dispose of any letters addressed to you from now on."

"What?" Winter asked, rolling out of bed. "Even from Prince Henrik?"

Esme nodded. "I dare not speak for His Majesty, but I think it has something to do with the presence of black magic at your birthday banquet. It'd be safer if you remained isolated from high society for the time being."

Winter groaned, slipping her feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers Esme had laid out on the floor. She had decided to accept Catrina's invitation in order to do some digging, but her plans were automatically shut down by the King.

"Any news on the investigation?" She asked, tugging at the blankets covering Aiden in order to wake him up.

Esme shook her head. "I do not know a lot regarding those kinds of matters. I apologize, but it would be best if you directly consulted Prince Alexion or the knights."

Winter nodded, poking Aiden's soft cheek. She let out a distressed sigh. Aiden had grown extremely tired these past few weeks due to the amount of physical training he underwent during his lessons.

Aiden fluttered his eyes open and turned over in bed with a tired expression. "I'm up, I'm up."

"Your Highnesses," Esme said, flattening the blankets that Winter had tossed aside. "His Majesty has ordered another bed and some furniture for your room. Since you wish to remain in the same room, His Majesty would like to make it more comfortable for the two of you."

"Alright," Winter replied, heading towards the vanity mirror in order to prepare for the day.

Esme had become her source of information for the time being. Alexion was far too busy with the investigation to have daily tea with Winter, so he stopped meeting her. He was the only one who openly informed Winter of matters within the Palace and answered her questions honestly. Everyone else chose to shield her from the information.

However, Esme's field of information was a lot narrower than Alexion's. She mostly shared gossip and rumours with Winter, informing her of what she heard from other servants or maids. Winter tried to coax Sir Emris and Ezekiel into sharing information with her, but the details they told her were very brief.

Winter watched her reflection in the mirror as Esme brushed through her hair. She still hadn't figured out what to do about the information regarding Catrina Laurente's direct connection with black magic. As far as Winter knew, Catrina still hadn't begun to use it and if she did its obvious alterations to her appearance hadn't taken place yet.

"Aiden," She called with a stiff neck.

Aiden, whose hair was being brushed by another maid next to her, met her eyes in the reflection of the mirror. "Yeah?"

"Who are your teachers?" She pried, searching for a connection between his tutors and the Laurente family.

In the novel, Aiden was clearly the one Catrina had originally targeted. She was written as a faithful lover who supported his schemes and helped him overthrow the King. Nevertheless, Winter couldn't help but feel as if the novel's contents had been twisted. Maybe Catrina had manipulated him.

"Uhm," Aiden thought, eyes half-closed from fatigue. "Captain Casey teaches me swordsmanship and most of my other subjects are taught by either Professor Lucius or Professor Corbin. We have the same magic teacher."

Winter smiled softly at him through her reflection. "I see. Are they nice to you?"

Aiden nodded, which garnered a sigh from the maid who tried to tame his golden curls while he moved around.

Winter tried to remember the names he had mentioned, but her mind turned up blank. None of the people he mentioned had been in the book.

Just how deep did Catrina's influence go? They had obviously met by chance, but that meeting wouldn't happen until Aiden was sixteen. More importantly, Winter could easily plant a wedge between the two since she recognized Catrina's original hair colour and already hated the girl.

Is that why Catrina was targeting her instead of Aiden? Perhaps her plan was to get rid of Winter entirely in order to gain Aiden's full trust. After all, Winter's death was a huge influence in the original novel.

After Aiden excused himself first to leave for training before breakfast, Winter slipped into a loose fitting dress with Esme's help.

"Esme," Winter asked softly as the maid fastened the ribbon on the back of her casual gown. "Have you ever heard of the Black Market?"

Esme's hands froze. "Yes, Your Highness. However, you must never bring up such a vulgar place. It is a dangerous place that the Empire has been trying to shut down for a long time."

Winter supposed as much. Peregrine had told her the same thing when she asked about books on Black Magic.

"Does Your Highness wish to have breakfast now?" Esme asked, quickly trying to change the topic. "Unfortunately, Your Highness' family members all seem to be busy with matters regarding the investigation. It will just be you this morning."

"I'll wait for Aiden, so we can eat together. What's my schedule like for the day?"

"Your Highness has free time until after lunch. After lunchtime, you have a magic lesson with Professor Peregrine and Prince Aiden."

"When will I see Duchess Rowena?"

"You have a lesson with her scheduled for tomorrow morning."

Winter nodded, admiring her finished reflection in the mirror. North peered at her with observant eyes from her branch in the corner of the room. She seemed to like her outfit today, too.

"I'll take North outside today," Winter said, reaching an arm out for the bird. "I want to visit Etrix at the mages' tower."

North stretched out her flame coloured wings and flew obediently to Winter's outstretched arm. She was getting bigger and bigger each day. Her weight was almost too much for Winter to handle now.

Esme hesitated. "Very well, I shall call for Sir Rothomore."

~***~

The walk to the tower was particularly beautiful. The scenery of the Royal Palace never failed to take Winter's breath away. Whether it be the faithful servants who greeted her at every corner or the endless greens and pinks of nature, Winter found it all breathtaking.

"Did you sleep well?" Ezekiel asked her, looking at the necklace he gave her.

She nodded. "Quite well, thank you."

North nuzzled her feathers into Winter's silvery hair. Winter giggled, reaching a hand up to the bird in order to pet it.

"Are you seeing Etrix today?" Ezekiel asked, almost choking on his words with disgust.

"Yeah," She replied, eyes admiring the fields of grass around them. "I want to ask him about the investigation."

It was half of the truth. She wanted to gain information about the investigation so far, but she also wanted to ask Etrix for a favour. Since Etrix was a mage, he was allowed to leave and enter the Palace as he wished in order to deal with official mage business. She was going to ask Etrix if he could acquire a book on Black Magic for her.

It was a risky thing, but Winter needed to find out more in order to better piece together her situation. She hoped deep down that they would be able to connect the Laurente family to the black magic incident, but she knew the investigation was progressing very slowly.

She had considered tipping them off with information, but if she was wrong then she would be suspected.

"If I wanted someone to look into something for me, then who would I ask?" She asked her knight.

"Well, I'm only one of your many options." Ezekiel claimed, face turning red. "But you also have great sources, since you're a Princess. You could ask a guild or the Shadow Unit."

"Shadow Unit?"

"They're a small unit of mages who typically operate in secret," He explained. "They're popularly known amongst the knights. They're also said to be the King's underlings, working directly for him. I've never seen them, of course. They could also be legend, but I'm sure if you pry you'll be able to find out. You are the Princess, after all."

Winter nodded, looking up at her destination. The tower looked down at them from its place that cut into the blue sky. With stone statues and grey bricks, the tower looked like something out of a nightmare.

"Shall we?" Ezekiel asked, extending a gloved hand to her.

Winter slipped her hand into his. It was time.