Edric chuckled and cleared his throat to hide his response to the letter. The shapeshifter had been watching him warily, but now he was very intrigued with whom this gem apparently belonged. He continued reading:

If the person who handed the gem to you is a shapeshifter or a petite woman dressed in red, then I can only inform you of my misguidance of trusting such a friend. I am Princess Evanna Goodrich-

Edric gritted his teeth. The princess of Dunhurst? Why.. The princess must be severely ill to seek a method like getting a gemstone from the Flori. The two kingdoms must have formed an alliance. But how!? King Osian must have provided something in return, something important enough for King Thalanil to give up such a precious stone.

Edric sighed; he did not need to read any more of what was on the letter. His eyes flickered back to the shapeshifter, who was looking more and more uncomfortable under his gaze. So this woman stole from a princess who is presumably dying. Edric smiled cunningly. This could actually work in the king and queen's favour.

The Flori would not want to see their precious gemstone missing, their pride would not allow it, and to find out the Lyvarian's have it would be something of a sight indeed. Those dirty woodland elves may even grovel at their feet to get such a sacred gemstone back. And the princess is precious enough to the king for him to make an alliance with the Flori to heal her. They, too, would do anything for the princess to be healed.

The Lyvarian's will be seen as the weaker kingdom if the Flori are the only ones allied with the human kingdom. That can never happen. We have helped the humans far too much for them to turn a blind eye and not seek to become allies.

"*Get me 500 gold coins.*" He ordered to no one in particular before his eyes became icier to the shifter. "This.." He raised his hand, "Is a parchment from the princess of Dunhurst.." He said coldly.

The shapeshifter's eyes widened, and she looked at the parchment in his fingers. Cilv's eyes landed on the emblem on the right corner of the paper, and she clenched her hands together into fists. She did not have enough time to double-check; all she saw was the unknown writing and presumed it was correct..

"My lord, please let me explain! I-"

"Silence!" The black-haired elf cut her off with his sharp tongue. "This does not prove the authenticity of the gemstone.. However, we will buy it for a reasonable price."

Cilv gulped, her heart pounding at what he might suggest. She was not one to back down from a fight; he was unbothered by the price of 2000 gold coins, so they must be carrying such a sum on them. She could steal from them, but as her eyes swept across the 19 other men, she knew the odds were not in her favour.

"How much?" She asked in a calm voice, not revealing her wariness of how the situation was now turning on her.

One of his men came forward and placed a sack of gold coins at her feet. Cilv crouched down to investigate but halted from the sword pointed at her chest. She raised her hands and placed the gemstone in the black-haired elf's outstretched hand. "I only wanted to check how much was in here.." She murmured. She knew already from the size of the sack that it was more than she anticipated after hearing Evanna's name.

"500 gold coins for the gem and your service," The elf replied and sheathed his sword. Cilv's eyes lit up, but she knew to stay wary. They could still shoot her and take the money back. "Begone before I change my mind." He waved his hand and turned his back on her. Cilv picked the sack up and put it inside of her bag, weighing it down by a lot. She needed a horse to cart this load around.

She sighed but knew to get to high ground first. Cilv put the bag on her back and sprinted off to the shrubbery on the side, watching the queen's right hand smile at the gem and place it in the inside of his coat pocket. She was about to climb the tree, but the horses turned around and started returning the way they came. Cilv's brows drew together at this.

From what she heard of the elven scouts in Direwood forest, she swore that the Lyvarian's needed to meet with the Flori. Maybe they did not want to risk bringing the gem with them. But that meant it might take another month for them to return altogether. She shrugged; it didn't matter to her. Now she had a bunch of coins she needed to guard with her life!

Cilv began walking away, feeling the weight of the gold pulling her bag down and causing her back to already ache. It would have been troublesome to carry 2000 gold coins. She smiled and shook her head; she underestimated the princess. Evanna wore a mask of complete confidence in Cilv's actions and acted as though she trusted her.

She should have known better than to trust a woman of such nobility. They were taught from a young age to hide behind their smiles. But she knew Evanna was not hostile to her; they spoke so comfortably together and even seemed like friends, so it couldn't have all been a lie. Why was she suddenly feeling quite.. annoyed? Annoyed because she felt guilty.

Why did she feel guilty!? What is this!? She definitely spent too long with the humans. She was a lone wolf, unwelcomed by many and happy only to look out for herself. Being around others was stressful!

"Yep! They are looking for the princess. He said he'd pay handsomely for worthy info!"

Cilv stopped walking. She was near a human village and was starting to hear a conversation between two men. They were on horses; her eyes scanned the area before landing on two figures who were leaving the village towards her.

"Imagine seeing the princess! She is a bonny lass!" The second man replied.

"I don't care of her beauty, but of the gold I coulda earned!" Replied the first man.

Cilv started running towards them, the pair not noticing the masked figure approaching them quickly until she scared the horses.

"Woah! Watch it!"

Cilv pulled her hood and mask down and smiled at them. The pair instantly flushed red at her sudden appearance. She hid a smirk as she got closer to the horse and held onto the rein, her eyes locked with the first man. "What were you fine gentleman talking about?" She fluttered her eyelashes.

The first man leaned forward but blinked his eyes and smiled. "Oh, there are just rumours about the princess of Dunhurst missing, and some mercenaries are rewarding anyone with information about her whereabouts!"

"Oh really?" She bit her lip, "and where are these mercenaries?"

"We canne tell such a young lass about some crooks! It would not fare well with me!" The second man exclaimed on the horse beside the first man.

"Well, maybe you could help me get to them?" She purred.

"We aren't going to Kuramji, ma'am," The first replied. Cilv smiled at the man's idiocy of revealing the location; she was not too far away from Kuramji. She wondered how much she could get from the mercenaries. After all, she was expecting 2000 gold coins for the gem.

"That is no problem at all.." She murmured before pulling him off of his horse and hopping up into the saddle. The second man went to grab his sword, but Cilv already spun the horse around and started galloping away.