"You seem distracted, Sasha, dear," Ruby noted, staring at her with narrowed eyes. "Is it your flower? Is he proving to be a challenge?"

Sasha blinked, snapping back to the moment. She had not realized that she had been staring blankly in the air, thinking about West and the surprising visceral reaction she experienced three nights ago.

Ruby sighed and smiled at her with understanding. "Mayhap we should postpone the talk about the upcoming ball and talk about this current quandary you have."

Sasha opened her mouth to say that there was nothing she wanted to talk about her flower, but Ruby held up her hand, stopping any objections.

"What is it? Is he not to your liking?"

Apparently, he is more to my liking, was the first answer that came to Sasha before she scoffed, shaking her head.

"Then you are not to his liking?"

She frowned. "I cannot be certain, but now that I think of it, I might not be to his liking after all." Not that she cared, really. What concerned her was her own reactions to the man—his stares, his words... his very presence. It was dangerous for her and her mission because she may potentially lose control of her faculties as she did three nights ago.

"Whyever would you say that? How does he act around you?" Ruby asked, frowning.

Sasha lifted one shoulder. "He stares at me as though he is angry."

"Or hungry," Ruby corrected with a chuckle. "New Belles often cannot distinguish the difference between the two."

"No, he must have been quite full. It was after supper."

Ruby's shoulders shook with laughter. "I meant hungry for you, dear."

"Oh." Sasha cleared her throat, shifting in her seat, heat rising to her cheeks. "Then you are entirely mistaken. He is most often angry with me. And he clears his throat too often. He would not meet my eyes. He shifts in his seat as if he is ready to up and leave. Or make me leave."

Ruby's lips opened in astonishment as she listened. "Sasha, you innocent girl! Oh, you have been in the Library too long. I cannot imagine how innocent the others are if you are this... this naive!"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Dear, I wager that your flower is this close—" Ruby showed her the very small gap between her two fingers, "—this close to pouncing on you and you there you are thinking he does not want you?"

"How do you—"

"Simply believe me, Sasha," Ruby interrupted, holding her hand with a dramatic sympathetic smile. "Now, what you ought to fret over now is how you can make him suffer even further so that he shall give you what you want."

Sasha was suddenly interested.

What she wanted was to go back to the Library. And the only chance she had of going back was if she could finish her mission. And she could finish the mission if she found proof—or lack thereof—of West's crimes against the kingdom. And she could only do so if she could get access into his estate where most of his secrets may be hiding.

"How? How do I do that?" she eagerly asked.

"Sasha, how much do you know about the sexual act between a man and a woman?"

Sasha blinked.

"You have been in the library for five years and I know how you ladies spend your time. Do you even read books on romance?"

Again, another blink.

Ruby sighed. "There are many pleasures one can have in the act, Sasha. It is not always abhorrent as what your face tells me."

Her face flushed. "I did not mean—"

"A woman can feel many things with the right man, Sasha, trust me, and the same could be said for a man," Ruby assured with a knowing smile. "He will do anything for a brush of a hand, a touch—a kiss."

Sasha absorbed everything Ruby said.

"And most often, women use this weakness to exercise power over a man. We give them a taste, but not to its fullest. The man shall crave more, wanting everything. But we do not give it. We cannot. Not yet. Because we want more. If we give in too early, there will be nothing more to crave and chase. The leash we have around them will become loose and they will go astray."

"Then you suggest I do not engage in a sexual act?"

"Not too early, of course. Not until you feel ready or feel you can control him."

"Then how do I achieve that?"

Ruby smiled. "Tease, Sasha. There is nothing more potent than the power of teasing. A man will do anything to move the teasing forward. They will die for a taste of heaven the teasing hints."

Sasha gulped. She had a signed agreement with West. They could not engage in a sexual act. Yet she could not tell Ruby that perhaps this was not a strategy she could use.

Although the teasing was something she could consider.

Would she be able to taunt him? Entice him to be a little more open?

It would not hurt to try, would it?

*****

"Can we find out more about Elizabeth Blackwood?" Sasha asked Gabrielle the following night. "Could she have been a Belcourt lady?"

Gabrielle blinked; pale green eyes curious. "Why? If he believes she left Belcourt, why would he wish to know about his mother?"

She shook her head. "It was I who thought we should know more about the woman. If we find out more, it might help me find the person he is looking for."

"Sasha, need I remind you of your true mission?" Gabrielle regarded her with narrowed eyes. "You are to spy on the man and not for him."

"I am not spying on Belcourt. I am telling you, am I not? I need to give him something. Otherwise, he will grow impatient than he already is. I need to accommodate his demands the best I can so he learns to trust me."

Gabrielle sighed, nodding her redhead. She had tied her thick red curls behind her and was wearing breeches and a shirt yet again. "It is possible that Elizabeth was a Belcourt lady. I shall try to find out more." When Sasha only answered with a nod, Gabrielle gave her a small smile. "Please forgive me if I seem to be pressing you. I understand that your mission is not at all easy. You need to make a man trust you and that alone can be quite hard."

Sasha nodded again. "I do understand why you find the need to press me." She looked around her parlor. "Perhaps I can look into Elizabeth Blackwood in the Library. I know where they keep all the records of all present and previous Belles."

"No, Sasha, you cannot go to Belcourt yet. Your flower may be watching you. Why do you think I come here to see you instead of asking for your presence at Belcourt?" Gabrielle closed her eyes for a while and when she opened them, she gave Sasha a gentler look. "Sasha, do you think you will be able to make things a tad more comfortable between you and your flower?"

At first, Sasha could not comprehend the woman's words. But one look and the meaning sank in. "I am planning to. I shall try my best, but know that I was never trained for this. It feels like I am walking on water and the fear of sinking down is constantly in my mind."

Gabrielle nodded. "Please, do try, Sasha. You were chosen by Belcourt for this task because they believe you can do more. Allow things to be a little bit wicked."

Sasha groaned inwardly.

Gabrielle's lips twitched into a small smile. "Once you do, he will be impatient. And with impatience comes careless actions. We want him to be careless, do we not?"

"He is already impatient, I am telling you, and yet he is still as calculative as he was when we first met."

"You know what I meant with the impatient I was talking about."

Of course, she did.

She sighed. "I feel lacking with every passing day, Gabrielle, but know that I try my best." No, she never truly tried her best and she knew that. All she ever did was argue with West. And if they were not arguing, she was trying to stay away from him because he could make her feel things that she feared might be her downfall.

She stared at Gabrielle, the only person she could talk freely about her mission. "Can I ask an honest question?"

The woman nodded.

"Why are we suspicious of him? If he is merely trying to look for his sister? Could it not be the reason for the letter the crown prince had intercepted?"

Gabrielle moistened her lips before she spoke. "I also only follow orders, Sasha. I do not know everything." But there was something in the woman's pale green eyes that told Sasha there was more she was not telling. "Focus on your task. Get proof of any plans he may have against the kingdom. Any trivial thing can be useful. Do you not wish to return to the Library?"

"We do not even have proof that he is plotting something, Gabrielle. Simply because his mother fathered another man's child? Because his father was loyal to the previous king? Because he receives letters from London? Too many men in Sutherland are in the same situation as he is. I honestly do find this matter ridiculous."

Gabrielle's face hardened, and so did her voice. "You are not in the position to question Belcourt in this regard. You are from the Court of Flowers, and the Court of Libraries before that. Neither court has the authority to question or demand such things." For the first time, Sasha had a glimpse of what Gabrielle truly was. Her light green eyes were far from affable, her beautiful face suddenly free of any hint of the woman who had always been friendly with her, replaced by something tenacious and unforgiving. The shiver that ran up Sasha's spine was justifiable for Gabrielle was indeed someone she should not nettle. "When Belcourt asks you to do something, you do it. It is how you repay the years they cared for us."

Sasha nodded, utterly understanding the woman's loyalty to Belcourt. Neither of them would be here now if the orphanage had not opened its door for them. But neither of them would also be here if Belcourt had not thrown them into a bizarre world that was far from what they had expected when they were still in the Common Court.

Gabrielle's face began to soften and a long, awkward silence fell between them.

Finally, it was Gabrielle who spoke. "I hope that you now identify your boundaries, Sasha."

"I do. Pardon my carelessness."

"Forgiven." Gabrielle looked out the window. The snow had fallen again. "I was trying to prolong delivering the news I am asked to give you for I am certain it shall cause you more distress."

Sasha stiffened in her seat, but in her mind, she was preparing herself. "What is it? Tell me now."

Gabrielle looked away from the window and met her gaze. "Belcourt wishes to inform you that you will have to entertain another flower."

Sasha's entire form froze. It was as if someone cracked the frozen lake beneath her feet. "W-what?"

"He wishes to remain anonymous, Sasha. You cannot speak about him to anyone. No one at all."

Sasha frowned. "Why?"

Gabrielle gave her a forced smile. "I am certain he would want to tell you himself." Sasha nodded, swallowing foreboding feeling. "Would you wish me to tell you who he is?"

No, she did not wish to know.

But yes, she needed to know because it seemed that Gabrielle knew Sasha was familiar with the man.

"Who?"

"Albert Louis Davercher."

Sasha's heart stopped. "You mean—"

Gabrielle nodded her head. "Yes, the crown prince."