Daniel's POV:

I found her something decent enough to wear... not like I just somehow planned in the back of my mind to bring something just in case or anything...

In that dark green that matched her eyes, or the black bottoms like what she wore when we first met.

She didn't question it too much, and I thanked her for it.

Half of that may have had to do with what I'd offered her.

Regardless, I still needed to get ready and introduce both my plan and Caroline to my mother.

I had a special shirt I wore on occasions when I felt like it was needed. One both backless and sleeveless, but came about halfway up my neck, and hugged tight everywhere else.

Then with a loose jacket overtop. Just in case I ended up needing what this shirt was built for.

I turned back towards the bed once I was dressed, spotting her sitting there with her hands fidgeting ever so slightly in her lap with a wide, faraway look directed at the wooden floor.

These nerves still didn't suit her, but with what I'd just put on her mind, I couldn't blame her.

Then there's the notion of seeing her parents when she's supposed to be elsewhere.

I wondered if they'd noticed yet. Or cared enough to track her back here.

I guess we'll see, but for now...

"I'm gonna go make sure she's awake," I spoke soothingly, making my way to the door that connected to the room my mother was staying in.

Caroline straightened quickly, but gave me a nod before I went in.

Surprisingly, but also... not, I stepped into a well-lit room with my mother already dressed, sitting expectantly in the lounge facing my direction.

The feeling that she'd expected me made me pause for only half a second before I continued in and gently shut the door behind me.

"Well?" She asked before I could get a word in.

"I found her," I rejoiced quietly as not to sound too boyishly excited.

Her grin was telling and knowledgeable hearing something she must have obviously already known. It's not like these walls were thick enough to deter her royal ears.

She stood and elegantly brushed herself off, before the click of her heels on the wood approached me.

"Good, and did you happen to accomplish your actual job in the meantime?" She jabbed in her typical playful manner.

"I did, I sighed out. Almost one in relief that the hard part of this trip was seemingly already over. That, or I was just more rejoiced over what had come out of it already, "Or at least I think I did. I wanted to run it by you first, a-and introduce you to her, but I know we don't have much time before we have to meet with them again."

Her eyes switched to the door I came from, and softened under the notion of who was on the other side.

"You better tell me quickly then.

I did just that, getting on with an abridged version of everything that happened.

How and where I found Caroline, her relation to the Ardigans, her explanations and pleads, my own thought process shifting and changing as she did, and then finally, the conclusion I'd come to after it all.

My offer... my plan to give them what they wanted in exchange for letting their daughter go from the confines they'd created for her, and the weight they refused to take from her shoulders.

I may have gotten a little too deep into it, because once I was done, I'd lifted my head to see my mother's lips pursed and her eyes wide.

Not in complete surprise at least. I could catch a hint of excitement and pride in there as well.

It warmed me to see her approval without her having to explicitly say anything.

Still, I wanted to hear something.

"So...?" I pressed.

She simply bowed her head to me, looking at me the same way as before.

"If that's the decision you've come to, then I'll happily support it. You've seen it for what it was, and gathered your sources accordingly. From my perspective, you've done everything right, even as far as following your heart and looking out for one of your subjects. You've done better than I would have."

"Well, you did dump this onto me because you didn't want to deal with it," I reminded her.

Her smile only grew.

"And look what came out of it."

I rolled my eyes at her tone, knowing that she was right.

"Now come on! I wanna meet the girl who had you so wrapped up these past weeks."

"Wait- Mom hold on-"

It was too late, she was already all but skipping into my room full of excitement before I could even get the chance to warn Caroline.

I stumbled into the room after my mother, but not before my mother could suck in an excited gasp, and I watched Caroline jump up onto her feet in a panic at the sudden arrival.

"M-My Lady," She greeted, bending down into a tense bow that sent the ends of her hair nearly spilling onto the floor.

"Oh, dearest, there's no need for that," My mother responded, pausing her prior excitement for a moment to let her regalness shine through, and calmly approach her, "Vivvian will do just fine in close quarters."

Caroline straightened with a perplexed confusion, trying her best to take in the image of a Lady.

Her eyes flickered to me, and in that time I sent her the best 'I'm sorry for the sudden intrusion face I could muster.

"I um-" Caroline began to say something, but couldn't seem to get it all the way out.

It was obvious to anyone that she was overwhelmed. Most were in the presence of one royal let alone two.

"My my you are gorgeous," My mother began, holding her hands out a bit with palms facing upwards towards her, "So you're the Ardigan's daughter?"

There was a different kind of blush than what I was used to seeing cross her face while she hesitantly set her hands into my mother's.

Like she wasn't at all used to this kind of affection or compliments.

Well... with how her parents treated her...

"I- Yes, that's me." She managed to get out, still flashing looks over to me as if to make sure she was doing this right.

I don't think she could do it wrong. I was clear to me that my mother already adored her.

"I see. I'm so sorry to hear of what's been happening to you here, and I'm most excited to welcome you to the castle if that's truly where this course takes us."

I notices Caroline's shoulders drop, and heard her soft sigh before her hands tightened around my mother's.

There was a look exchanged that I didn't quite understand, but the both of them seemed to

"Now then, My mother began, "Is there any worry with you coming with us to speak with your parents."

"Maybe a little," Caroline admitted, "Surely inwardly, but I can't assume their course of outward action if you wish me to accompany the both of you."

My mother nodded.

"You're more than welcome to stay here if you wish."

She shook her head almost immediately.

"No. I wish to face them."

A grin curled the edges of my mother's lips.

"I suppose we'll see then. Daniel is going to take the lead, while you can stay a step back with me. Sound good, honey?" She turned her head back to face me.

Well sure, I had no complaints.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

We exited the vicinity just as we discussed, not before I gave Caroline my own reassuring squeeze of my hand before taking the lead.

I could sense her unsurity, but could also feel her will. That confidence of hers.

She was trying to build it back, but it was slipping. She was understandably nervous.

I forced my focus straight ahead as soon as the crowd around us started to gather. The whispers and murmuring already beginning.

My mother could handle whatever I couldn't right now in terms of comfort, despite how much I wished it was me instead.

We traveled to the designated meeting spot with the crowd we'd apparently pulled with us in tow.

Elenora and Augustus Ardigan already stood in front of their capitol building with the same smiles they greeted us with yesterday.

Or at least they did, until they looked past me and towards my mother, then spotted their daughter right along with us.

Augustus couldn't catch his shock and confusion in time, meanwhile, Elenora's moment of rage slipped out first.

They held it together well enough until we got into speaking range.

Elenora was the first to speak, and did so right to her daughter.

"Caroline, what on earth are you doing with-"

Gasps cut through the crowd as my wings sprouted from my back, and extended to where she was hidden from them. Both Caroline and my mother.

Just what I was prepared to use them for.

It was partially an intimidation tactic. One that was obviously working and had them both stopping dead in their tracks and rethinking their next move.

This conversation didn't directly involve either of the women behind me. This next chat in accordance to their clan only had to do with me.

"I'm the one you need to be speaking to this morning," I began, "Let us get on with it as intended, shall we?"