Noted

Anastasia was exhausted after the tea party. Although Lord Henry had been more than pleasant company, she had felt her ability to keep up with the conversation begin to wane after only thirty minuets. Perhaps her sisters were right. She should have spent the day resting. Anastasia knew though that there was no time for rest. However, she did not have to over work herself.

So, she requested a fresh serving of tea be brought to her private garden, along with some of the paper work she had missed tending to from yesterday's fiasco. Letting the maid prepare her garden for her work, she changed into something simpler and more comfy. A simple white muslin gown with an accompanying long robe of soft pink, would service her just fine. She also took care in taking down her hair and tying it back with a simple bow. This way, when the breeze swept across her gardens, she didn't have to contend with it sweeping her hair across her face with it.

Deciding against shoes entirely, she made her way into her garden, where everything was now set up for her on the picnic table. She took a moment to get comfortable, adjusting the pillow that the maids had brought to fall just right against her lower back. She then took a moment to simply take in the late afternoon, with the shadows beginning to elongate due to the positioning of the sun above her. For a moment, she felt better, but that quickly was disrupted when she looked before her.

The tea that was rich honey in color and still steaming from its warmth looked enjoyable and the ink well and quill that sat towards the back of the scene looked inviting. But the stack of papers brought down from her office seemed to tower over everything. The pile had seemingly tripled since yesterday, unnerving her. The simple truth was, there was no rest for the weary, and she was very weary.

Nonetheless, she picked up her quill and began at the top of the pile. Most of the pile was simple proposals which meant lots of reading and writing notes on what needed to be changed. For the most part, this was the second, if not third or fourth check of the work done by her advisors. Her advisors mostly handled the groundwork of the kingdom, but it was Anastasia who added the ornate simplistic detail.

As the pile of papers transferred it's height from one stack to another, Anastasia decided to take a small break. She stretched as she walked around and the maids cleared the finished work and cold tea. After a few minuets, she returned to the table, and noticed something she had not seen previously.

A folded piece of paper was placed beneath the vase of roses that her sisters had brought her earlier that day with the breakfast they had shared. When her sisters had left it was not there, and she did not recall seeing it before now, so she questioned the maids about its presence.

"Rose, what is this?" she asked while picking it up.

"I'm not sure your highness. It was there when I brought out your tea this afternoon." Her maid bowed slightly before moving on to her next task.

Meanwhile, Anastasia asked aloud to anyone else who might be listening, "Does anyone know where this came from?"

However, before she could hear another response she was taken aback by the wax that sealed the note. Black wax pooled around the edge of a crest that seemed familiar, but not immediately identifiable. She dismissed everyone before taking a seat at her table once more.

A shudder ran down her spine as she checked her surroundings, half expecting to see someone emerge from the tree tops or the bushes beside her. However, her gardens were completely still. It was quiet, and for once that brought no comfort. Now fully alone, she tentatively unfurled the folded edges to reveal the contents of the letter.

*Your Majesty,

Death be not yours, nor you death's.

If I could have but one wish for you it would be that, but I cannot in good conscious ignore the threats that you face unknowingly and expect my wishes to come true.

Your highness, I intend you no harm but I know of those that do. I must insist upon a meeting sooner rather than later if not for me than for you. Something beyond you is coming, and I would be in the wrong to not warn you of it's dangers.

Prince Taren *

Surprisingly, Anastasia was not unnerved by this note. Instead, she was numb. This was not her first death threat, if that was what this was. However, it was the first time that the enemy had requested her audience so cordially, but that was not unexpected either.

What Taren had not accounted for was the fact that this was her court. She knew it's in and outs more than he did, meaning she knew how to set the perfect rap for him, and he had played right into her hands.

She needed him to think her weak, naïve, and an easy target so that he would revel his plans thinking she was too weak to act in defiance. Now, he requested her audience. All she had to do was keep up he façade a little longer, and then she might be able to get beyond this all.

"Margarete, please retrieve my secretary for me." Anastasia called into her room where a maid had been getting out clothes for dinner. The maid quickly left, soon bringing in one of Anastasia's secretaries.

Without even a greeting, she spoke, "Tomorrow morning, at 9 AM, I need the magnolia gardens to be reserved and no one invited in unless they are on a list Baron Weston will give you this evening. Please see that an invitation to join me is sent to Prince Taren's rooms exactly at six o'clock this evening. Also see that Baron Weston meets me as soon as dinner is over. I will need his assistance."

"As you wish your highness." The secretary responded as he bowed and quickly went about his assigned tasks. Satisfied with her work for the day, Anastasia let herself relax. Prince Taren would soon find out what it meant to play with a Queen. In the meantime, her tea had grown cold and she longed for a fresh cup.