Astrid paced about the marble floor of Sara's room, furiously chewing on her nails. It was the early hours of the morning, soon the sun would rise to the sky fully and Astrid still couldn't understand what had just happened.

Suddenly, she stopped pacing and turned giving an intense glare to the lady who didn't seem to understand the trouble that was brewing.

"Do not glare at me Astrid. It was really nothing." said Sara from where she sat with a stitched arm on the sofa.

"You call what happened nothing? You got attacked Sara, and the culprit has not been captured." Astrid crossed her arms tightly, and turned to pace again but then decided against it. She went to sit beside Sara instead.

"I know you are worried, but it was only a cut—it doesn't even hurt that much." stated Sara.

"It could have been more. I don't understand why you wouldn't take this seriously. This wasn't a usual attack."

Sara opened her mouth to speak but Astrid continued.

"This was a planned attack, there was a false riot, the royal guards were distracted and the palace was the most vulnerable. Then the culprit went straight to your room and attacked you. It would have been worse if the guard hadn't shown up when he did. You should be worried Sara." she concluded, finishing her rant, but Sara only smiled looking the calmest ever. Astrid realized Sara knew something.

"Tell me Astrid, how did my attacker know the direction to my room?" Sara asked quietly with an intense look on her face.

Astrid drew her body closer to Sara's, "What do you think?"

Sara stood up, walking around the room as she spoke, "There is only one explanation Astrid, our killer is in the palace. As much as I do not want to say this, my family might be a suspect."

Astrid sighed as Sara turned to face her, she looked confused, in pain and sad.

"So you think Selene and the council may be right?"

"I, I, I don't know." replied Sara in an uncertain voice.

Contrary to what she had thought, Sara was worried, very worried. She only did a better job at hiding it.

A knock on the door made them both turn, Astrid already knew who it was before the door opened.

Alexander half–walked, half–ran into the room, his eyes fixed on Sara. Once he got in front of Sara, his hands grabbed her shoulders with such gentleness, it made Astrid wonder if he was really a trained guard. His eyes roamed over her body, once they got to her stitched arm, they took on a dark look. Astrid felt pity for whoever was responsible.

"I feel fine Alexander." Sara was saying before Alexander wrapped her in his arms with a tight hug like she was his lifeline.

Feeling like she was intruding on whatever was going on, Astrid left the room without being noticed by the duo. She walked out of the sitting room to the not so empty hallway. She guessed the attack was the reason for the number of guards placed at every corner of the west wing.

She relaxed slightly, such a thing wouldn't, shouldn't happen again. If I hadn't sneaked back to the palace and alerted a guard...

Astrid shook her head, she didn't want to think about the fear she felt when she saw the intruder in Sara's room, she had planned to sneak into Sara's room and give her the scare of her life, but when she saw the attacker, she rushed to find a guard. She couldn't stop wondering how the attacker got into the palace, it reminded her of the assassination attempt on the king, her heart clenched at the thought of the king. Something was happening, something big.

Realizing she was out of the west wing, she sighed, where to go? Where to go?

Just then a hand grabbed hers, dragging her into a room. The door closed behind her. Adjusting her eyes to the dim light of the room, she was met with the face of the person that made it possible for her to always sneak into the palace.

Immediately dropping into a curtsy, which was difficult with how much her knees trembled, "Your Majesty." She dropped her eyes to the ground.

"Your Majesty? I thought we were past that already." his voice enveloped her, sucking her in like a void never to be seen again. She found herself unable to resist leaning closer to the inviting presence of the man before her.

"I dare not call the king by name." Astrid responded tightly with her eyes firmly fixed on the ground, and still dipped in a curtsy. His hands then came up to her face, lifting her jaw, she met his eyes.

"Look at me Astrid, why haven't you come to see me?"

His older eyes held a deep longing, of what she knew. Astrid didn't fail to notice his tired eyes, the faint stubble that spread across his jaw and the lines on his forehead. The past few months had not been easy on him, but still she wouldn't, couldn't waver. No, no not anymore, not while Sara was here.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty. I have to accompany Sara."

The king took a step closer to her, her trembling knees could no longer take the curtsy as she stumbled backwards. "Sara is fine, I made sure of it. What I want to know is if you've gotten tired of me, or perhaps you have found yourself a younger lover, more vibrant than I am."

Unable to respond, Astrid only shook her head, she knew she was already getting lost in his stormy grey eyes that the royal family possessed. But his were different, older, wiser and definitely more experienced.

He took another step closer.

"Tell me Astrid, do you no longer fantasize about me curled up between your legs?" he continued.

Astrid swallowed thickly, her legs were barely holding her up, "I—"

Another step closer, and her back hit the wall. She could feel the king's breath on her face as he spoke. "When the queen died, then few months after my dear cousin passed away and Sara her daughter ran away from Silva. I was devastated, you were there Astrid during those cold and lonely nights."

"Your royal concubine was also there, she still is." Astrid managed to get the words out. Silvanus help me.

"Ingrid isn't you. I miss you Astrid." his face was closer now, the beating of her heart intensified. She loved how he never failed to say her name, it made her feel appreciated.

Sara should never hear of this, was all Astrid thought before grabbing his hair and giving in to what she knew would be a long night or rather morning.

*"*"*"*

Sara didn't realize how much she craved it from him till she received it. The soothing hug that made her feel reassured of everything going back into place.

She squeezed tightly, she didn't feel shy about it, Alexander did the same. They stood there, holding each other till Sara began to feel her legs protesting. She broke out of the hug first and looked up to his worried face. "I'm fine."

He sighed and ran a hand along his face, "I'm sorry."

Sara pursed her lips together, "What happened was no fault of yours. There's no need to apologize." the words were familiar, after all it was the routine whenever she got hurt. He would always blame himself and apologize.

Sara took his hands in hers, "Come sit with me. There's something I want to tell you, it might help with finding the culprit."

They both sat at the sofa, Sara was acutely aware of the close distance between them and the warmth that emanated from Alexander's body.

"Did you notice anything?" he asked oblivious to the heat that slowly crept up her cheeks. She was glad for the sun that had not risen up fully and the poor lighting in her room.

Sara cleared her throat, "It was definitely a man, he had a regular voice but his face and hair were covered. I stabbed him in the palm though, it was very deep. It'll be very difficult to hide a wound as deep as that and I'm sure he's still in Silva."

Alexander nodded deeply, "I'll inform Prince Damien, and a search would be rallied up to find any man with such injury. It'd be hard to find him though, it is easy to hide in Silva."

"There's something else."

Alexander gave Sara a questioning look.

Sara hesitated, was there any use in telling him? Coming to a decision, she continued. "He had grey eyes. It is uncommon in Silva aside from my family. But his voice wasn't familiar neither were his mannerisms. And he said he had no plans of attacking me." she finished in a rush.

His eyes widened, "You don't mean?"

"I don't know Alexander. I just—everything is just so confusing and it's as though every day that passes brings another mystery to plague me. And I can't stop thinking about the dead victims." she paused, then in a quiet voice continued. "what if I'm the killer's next target?"

Sara was at the verge of tears, she prided herself in being a strong and unflinching person, but she was lost.

"Over my dead body. I got distracted last night by that false riot but it will never happen again." Alexander grabbed her face wiping the stray tears from her cheeks, "I would die before I let anything bad happen to you, and I am as serious as the sun is in rising every day. You will never get hurt again, I promise."

Sara nodded her head in a daze, wasn't she the one who survived alone in the forest for five years? So why wasn't she insisting that she could protect herself? Why did her heart leap for joy at his mere words? Her eyes flicked to his lips and she found herself licking hers, looking up she saw his eyes were on her lips. They were dangerously close now, just a few inches more and their lips would meet.

His fingers moved to the side of her face, gently caressing, till it got to the back of her neck where a scar lay covered by her hair. He traced it slowly making her shiver, "I was so angry when you got this wound." he whispered.

Sara suddenly opened her eyes that were already closed, "How do you know when I got it? I was already living in the forest."

Alexander seemed to have realized what he said as he opened and closed his mouth with no words coming out. He slowly withdrew his hands, standing up from the sofa. The moment was long gone.

"Is there something I should know?" Sara asked.

"Well—"

Just then, shouts came from outside her room, Alexander rushed to the door as she followed behind.

"Don't move, I'll find out what it is." he called back as he raced out of the room.

But Sara followed anyway.

The west wing was quiet, the guards placed were nowhere to be found. Once they left the west wing and found their way to the foyer, it was pure commotion, guards and maids were found running towards one direction—the courtyard.

Sara and Alexander shared a look, and she wondered what was going on. Alexander grabbed a running maid and pulled her to a stop. "What is going on?"

It was then the maid noticed Sara and gave a curtsy, "It's the prince Damien, your highness you have to put a stop to it. He'll kill them."

On hearing kill, Sara felt dread. What could Damien be up to?

Both her and Alexander moved in the direction of the courtyard, whatever it was sounded serious. On getting there, a small crowd consisting of the palace workers were gathered, hence they couldn't see the front. Walking into the crowd, they found their way to the front and Sara received the shock of her life.

The king was seated on a makeshift throne, with Richard standing beside him, his hands folded behind and his face cast downwards. Ingrid stood behind the king, a hand on his shoulders. They were all dressed in royal apparel.

What shocked her though, were the two young men on their knees by the fountain, bound tightly. Their bodies were battered, cracked and broken with various blood stains. They looked like every ounce of life had been sucked out. Sara couldn't recognize them but she didn't have to as the maids behind her started talking.

"Prince Damien will definitely kill those guards."

"Oh, I feel pity for their families."

"What I feel pity for is Silva, what would those dignitaries think of us?" another replied.

It was then Sara noticed the said dignitaries, all in their night robes they stood together at a distance from the fountain. Sara couldn't see the expression on their faces but one of them stood out, the man with hair as red as hers, he wasn't looking at the bound guards though, his eyes were fixed on her.

A cold wind blew and Sara wrapped her coat around her body and looked away from them or rather him, the sun was up now but it did little to bring warmth to her as she shivered in dread. Towering over the guards was her second cousin Damien, second prince and commander of the royal guards, but at that moment he looked very much like an executioner sentencing death on his prisoners.

"Yesterday night while I was out hunting, the most unusual thing happened." Damien started, his voice booming over the courtyard, "a royal member was attacked in the palace. While the guards were distracted by the false riot, someone sneaked into the palace armed to kill. I will not rest till I find that person and make him pay."

The silence in the courtyard was deafening, Damien's words didn't sound like a threat but rather a future to come. Sara walked closer to the bound guards, why were they there if finding the attacker was Damien's goal?

Her question was answered soon enough as Damien continued.

"These guards were meant to secure the gates with their lives, so I wonder how an intruder got into the palace so easily." he chuckled, "no matter though, I will use them as an example to what will happen to any who wishes harm on the royal family."

The sound of drawn sword made Sara's heart jump, he wouldn't right? He wouldn't.

The shouts and exclaims of the spectators made her realize what was going on. Sara couldn't stop herself from running towards them, even as she heard Alexander screaming her name.

"Stop!" she shouted, but it was of no use as the sword came crashing down chopping off their heads.

Blood splattered over her face as she fell to her knees watching their heads roll off their fallen bodies.