The clatter of her boots on the cobblestone ground were the only sound that Astrid could hear, as she walked the path to the place she had termed her nemesis. She should have been back at the inn, sleeping, well, not exactly sleeping, but she would have used her time for something entirely different and more interesting than what she was doing now.

The scowl on her face deepened, as she came to stand in front of her nemesis; Tom's tools. Damn council and their damn late summonings.

A faint light shone from the small squared windows of the building, causing shadows to form as shapes on the wall. Astrid looked back to the street, empty and desolate, so unlike Silva, that had always bustled with people even late into the night. She pursed her lips, she hated what had become of Silva, all because of some crazed individual.

She clenched her fists tightly, oh, if only she could get her hands on that person, she'd–

"—Do you plan on standing there all night?"

She looked up at the voice, and saw a certain blonde leaning through the window, a smirk on his face.

"Shut up, Kanye." Astrid said as she pushed open the door, entering into the dimly lit room.

Kanye turned from the window to face her the moment she entered the room, the familiar smell of wood made her blasè, in her opinion, the smell of ale was better than the woody smell that always accompanied Tom's tools.

Astrid took a full look at Kanye, he couldn't stop bouncing from heel to heel, putting more pressure on the wooden floor. His green eyes shone brighter than they usually did, his hands were folded behind him and his cheeks had a rosy look, she could only guess one thing.

"You're happy." she said crossing her arms.

He began to smile brightly, "Well since you asked, I–"

"Whatever it is, I don't care." she turned and walked to the shelve that hid the entrance to the hidden passageway, not that the brotherhood did much job of keeping it hidden anyway.

"But you asked." replied Kanye as she moved the shelve rather forcefully out of the way, revealing the narrow passageway dimly lit with few candles, the door had been left open.

"I didn't."

"But–"

Astrid turned to pin Kanye with a glare, which made him pause on what he was going to say, his lips pursing tightly.

"Well, the council is here, you know." he said instead.

Astrid scoffed, "I had better go meet them, then." she turned away from him and was about to step into the passageway, when his next words stopped her.

"Princess Sara is here too."

She didn't turn, but a wide smile formed on her face, she had heard from Alexander, patting her hair back, she continued into the passageway, "pull the shelve back, will you?" she called out, back to Kanye.

Astrid couldn't help but fasten her steps, Sara, when was the last time she saw her, she couldn't help but be excited, maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't be so bad anymore.

As she got closer to the meeting room, she could hear raised voices coming from within, Sara's being the loudest, the tone of her voice bore her temper. Astrid smiled deeply, Sara would always be Sara.

Taking a stance, she kicked the door open, one had to enter in a grand style anyway, the shouting died down immediately as pairs of eyes flickered to her, one looking extremely excited.

"Always the grand entrance, Asti." Astrid couldn't help but feel pleased at the familiar nickname, Sara never forgot, she never did.

"Could it be an illness? I cannot seem to help it"  she replied smugly.

Sara chuckled, her anger forgotten, like a raging storm calmed. Sara definitely changed over the years, Astrid couldn't help but notice how much she looked like princess Celestine, at the same time noticing how frail she looked, her grey eyes that were once so full of life, now had a dull look, grief shone in them. She could feel tears begin to form in her eyes, blinking it back she rushed to hug Sara, taking her frail body into her arms.

"I have missed you." whispered Astrid, her voice thick with pain.

"And I, you." Sara whispered back, clinging to her like her life depended on it.

"This is touching and all, but can we get back to the matter at hand."  the voice of Bertha caused them to let go of each other, Sara squeezed her shoulders, her eyes blazing with fury, then turned to face the council.

"Why do I feel that, you all are out to ruin the brotherhood, first Selene revealed herself barely two years after taking over, and then she started a rebellion, a bloody rebellion, against the royal family! Which backfired, to show lack of proper planning, and then the king vowed to get rid of the brotherhood, and now there are serial murders, serial murders in Silva." a pause then, "all these Selene, just five years of you being the leader."

Astrid, who was earlier confused, then realized what all the shouting had been about, they had told Sara about the rebellion. She was among the people that kicked against it, along with Alexander, but what was their word against an agreement by the council.

"You were always so smart Sara, see how you grasped everything in just one go." said Oscar, Astrid couldn't help but chuckle quietly, despite his age, Sir Oscar was still oblivious and goofy.

"When mother was alive, there was order. Now all I see is bloody chaos!" Sara continued, her voice growing louder.

"Don't you dare talk about order, Sara." Lydia sneered, rising to her feet, "you broke the order when you ran away from Silva, choosing to wallow in your self pity and grief, we were all grieving, but we understood our duties, and you, if you were even as half as good as your mother, you would not have let this excuse of a human, become the leader." she concluded pointing at Selene.

"Don't you dare, Lydia! I did what I had to for the brotherhood." Selene also rised to her feet, sending a cold glare to Lydia.

Astrid had to admit, that was the most interesting meeting she had witnessed with the council, since forever. Trust Sara to turn things upside down. Smiling, she leaned back on the wall, one had to enjoy it while it lasted.

"I would not have left Silva, if the brotherhood didn't abandon my mother's case. Your leader was murdered and you all did nothing about it. Makes me wonder if it was all planned." she ended with a pensive tone.

A chill passed over the room at Sara's words, silence growing that even a pin drop would be heard, even Astrid was shocked, did Sara really believe the brotherhood was responsible?

"How dare you!? How dare you suspect the brotherhood?" Bertha broke the deafening silence, she also rose to her feet, glaring at Sara with unhidden hatred.

"Enough!" Bertram's voice boomed across the room, "we will not talk about this matter again." Lydia, Bertha and Selene all sat down at Bertram's voice, Sara clenched her fists tightly, after a moment of hesitation, she also sat down. Selene might be the known leader, but Bertram had the real power.

Astrid's heart went out to Sara, her friend had carried her grief with her through the years that passed, she couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for her.

"I just wish we could have this meeting, without all the argument." Julia's complacent voice said, she had been quiet, not reacting to any words that had been exchanged. Her face the picture of docility.

"This would not have happened if only I was listened to. It's such a shame really, that I'm not heard here." Arthur decided to take advantage of the silence to speak, his voice filled with self pity, Astrid could only roll her eyes.

"Coming back to the matter at hand, Sara will present herself to the king, it is almost dawn but I'm sure she'll have a few hours of sleep before the palace is opened to outsiders." said Selene.

"And of course, she'd have to get a presentable dress too," Alanna, who had also been quiet spared Sara a look, "I guess I can spare her some of my daughter's."

"What am I supposed to do in the palace?" asked Sara.

This time, Edward replied, "You will spy on the royal family and other members of the court, gather information for us. We first need to find out how the replica heirloom was made, perhaps that would give us a lead to finding the killer. Basically, you will be our eyes in the palace."

"The palace also holds records hand written by members of the royal family, logs and diaries, that should help us decipher if the hand writing truly belongs to Celestine. And we need to know the meaning of the words written." Selene got to her feet, walking to one of the shelves, she grabbed a scroll and brought it back to the table.

Selene spread the scroll open, to reveal a map of Silva, Astrid left her place on the wall to stand beside Selene, peering down at the map, she saw red dots and crosses marked on some parts.

"These are the locations of the victims houses, I have assigned some members in disguise to speak with their families, surely we could get something from them." Selene said as she pointed at each dots and crosses.

"I can go speak with them." said Sara.

"No, your job is in the palace." replied Edward in his monotonous voice.

Sara's only response was a glare at Edward which he ignored.

They continued to discuss plans on how to find the killer till the early hours of the morning, when the sun began to peak from the clouds, sending a thin stream of sunlight into the room. Fortunately, there were no arguments except for the constant snide remarks passed by Bertha to Selene and Augusta trying to defend Selene.

Clyde, with his usual pessimistic self only remarked at how they would all get killed before the plan was executed, and Oscar only dropped oblivious comments, not at all bothered by the plans.

Astrid was exhausted, and she could see that Sara was too, she couldn't wait for them to be alone, there was a lot of catching up to do.

"Now that we have settled on one thing, we should disperse to our homes, Sara here, needs as much sleep as she can get before she goes into the palace, anymore plans can always be discussed later." Edward said interrupting what Selene was going to say, sometimes Astrid wondered if Selene never felt fatigue.

"There is something Selene said that keeps bothering me though." said Sara as she leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms.

Selene only raised an eyebrow, finally taking a seat.

"Did the spies you placed around the market square to find the body before the royal guards, not see the killer?"

Astrid winced, raising her hands to touch the bump at the back of her head, which was thankfully covered by her mass of dark hair, the night she guarded the market square was not one she could easily forget, not when there was an injury to remind her. That was the night, she realized this killer, whoever it may be, was cunning and well informed.

She turned to see Selene and the other council members were already staring at her, sighing, she started to recount the events of that night.

*"*"
"Do I have to do it, this is murder we're talking about. Why not send Tom?" whined Astrid from where she sat across Selene.

"This is a shared task Astrid, Tom's presence is required on the morrow, yours is required tonight." Selene replied, not bothering to look up from the scrolls placed on the table.

Astrid decided to try another tactic, "But I'm a girl."

This time, Selene looked up, however only briefly before looking back at the scrolls, "The brotherhood was started by a girl, and believes in gender equality, I wouldn't be the leader if it wasn't so."

"But is it really necessary to guard the market square, that murder could have been a one time thing for all we know."

"A one time thing that was enough to rid the brotherhood's existence from Silva." Selene replied, her voice firm, she looked up at Astrid, "I cannot and will not take chances."

Dang it, why was it so hard to get out of this one?

"I think you're being paranoid, there's not going to be another murder, and even if there is, the spy with the royal coroner, Gavin right?  He'll retrieve the replica heirloom and that note.. like he did with the recent victim." Astrid didn't think it was going to be any trouble.

Selene sighed tiredly, giving Astrid a fed up look, "Gavin can't continue to do that, it's way too risky." Then, she looked at her pointedly, "leave now Astrid." 

Kissing her teeth, Astrid stood up and left the room, there was no use in trying to persuade Selene, she was like that, hard as a rock once her mind was made up, however, instead of going through the shelve, she turned to another path carved through the wall, following the candle lit path, she got to a dead end.

Astrid placed her hand on the wall, feeling each slab of brick that made up the wall, her hand moved till she got to a slab, pausing for a moment, she gave the brick a push inside, seconds after the wall opened to reveal an empty alley.

She stepped out into the alley, as the wall closed behind her with a light thud, "At least the brotherhood was sensible enough to carve out another entrance or rather exit." With a last look at the wall, she turned and began the walk to the market square.

Too risky my foot, she thought, wasn't Gavin's job as a spy to help the brotherhood? What she was doing was even more risky. No, not risky, stupid. This wasn't a serial case as she knew Selene suspected, why she suspected so, Astrid didn't know, perhaps Selene knew something, but it didn't surprise her, Selene was full of secrets.

"Could you get to the important part Astrid." Bertha said impatiently.

Astrid only continued, not deigning to reply.

It didn't take long for Astrid to get to the market square, it was quite fast anyway, considering how empty the streets were. She sighed again, of course it was empty, as she had guessed, Selene was only being paranoid, serial murder in Silva, ha, that was laughable.

She took quiet steps to the average looking fountain, and sat at the edge, she couldn't help but feel comfort at the sound of the crickets and the gentle night breeze. Suddenly she felt an intense stare coming from behind her, turning around she could see no one, it was just her at the square, but still she couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched.

Astrid was about to stand up when she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, her hand raised up to touch it, and she winced, the pain was so intense, she could feel black dots forming in her eyes, swaying, she fell to the ground, darkness taking over.

"Astrid wasn't sure how long she was unconscious or what caused her to fall unconscious, except for the registered pain at the back of her head, it was a wonder her memory was still intact, placing a palm on the ground, she pushed herself up, it took a while for her vision to clear, but when it did, she wished it hadn't.

A whisper fell from her lips, "Oh shit."