***

The queen walked into the adjourning sitting room to find a very tensed Mr Mclears.

She narrowed her eyes as she felt something wrong with his behaviour. The man stood as he saw the queen approach. He made a bow and remained standing. The queen took a seat before waving away her entourage.

She was quite disgusted with the man before her. Though she knew she was the one who had invited him over, she still glared fiercely at his timely arrival. She has eyes in every corner of the palace and was informed the moment Lady Steinhouse arrived.

Her husband's niece stopping by the palace was not uncommon, as the king himself had decreed that she be allowed in every corner of the palace. A decree he had never extended to her.

Though the widowed lady was a common face in the palace, she was alarmed the moment she was informed they were having a conversation behind closed doors. This rarely happened. The lady had never hidden her dislike for her and never appreciated her presence, so she stayed out of the way, so as not to embarrass herself. Not only was the woman sharp-tongued, but she also had the support of the king who would not care to defend her.

She had a bad feeling about today. Something is certainly going on. The moment she heard that they were talking behind closed doors, she found herself going in that direction. Only to be told that this man had arrived to see her. She could have gone nevertheless, but that court lady beside her talked her out of it. Glancing at the court lady leaving with her entourage, she found herself clenching her hands. This girl was brought from her home country of Northern Lan. She more than any, understood this girl's importance above all else. Swallowing her anger she looked back at the now sweating Mr Mclears.

“Sit” she commanded and the man sighed and sat.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Mr Mclears said, sitting down.

“Have you done as I asked?” the queen asked.

“Asked?” Mr Mclears asked, very flustered and the queen narrowed her eyes.

“I talked about the clad coming into the capital. You have made your preparations to guide them, I presume?” she asked. Mr Mclears felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, as he saw her narrow her eyes.

“Yes. Yes. They have since agreed to take on the job. Everything is ready for when they will arrive,” Mr Mclears said hurriedly.

The thought of the plan going well made her smile. Those were the best assassins in the east countries. If anyone could take on Lady Wickshire, it's them. She looked at the sweating man and nodded. He may not be much of a man, but he knew where to stand when the tide changed, that was important.

As the court lady walked out of the sitting room with the maids in tow, she knew this was the best time to search the queen's heavenly cloud palace. She knew that she should not have talked out against the queen like she had done, but she was never one on the queen's side. Seeing as the queen had rushed to join the king and his niece the moment she heard that they were discussing behind closed doors, she had no intention of helping her. She understood more than any that the queen valued her face more than anything. Asking her if she was hurrying to interrupt the king's conversation because she was worried about him, was a way to show her that all knew that she did not like the Lady Steinhouse and they all thought she was going to cause a commotion. Seeing the look on the faces of the maids, she knew the queen would not keep going to the king's study, so as not to lose any face.

She waved away the maids and they left. Only then did she make her way to the heavenly cloud palace. She saw the same guards at the door and nodded to them. Before now, she had settled them. Unlike other guards that would have taken money, she knew just what they needed. The queen that trusted no one; would not leave guards at her door that she had not insured would never betray her. By taking care of the guard’s family behind the queen's back, they were on her side. Not just the guards, but all the maids that followed the queen. She had found out where their families were held by the queen and changed all of the queen's men to her own.

The queen may think she received reports from her men but did not know they had all been changed out. Though the queen thinks none in the heavenly cloud palace would dare betray her, she did not understand that the true power was this court lady.

She immediately walked to the queen's heavenly cloud palace, where a maid was waiting for her.

“Where?” she asked the maid, not minding her cutesy.

“This way,” the maid led her through the queen's small garden,

towards the chambers. Only then did she stop. She pointed at a door in the lavishly decorated room.

“That's where Her Majesty's royal crown set is kept,” the girl said.

“Open it,” she instructed.

“It's locked. Only her majesty has the key,” the maid said timidly and the court lady turned cold.

“Why did you have me come all this way if you did not have the key?” she scolded the girl before her.

“Forgive me. Forgive this useless one, my lady. Her Majesty had the key taken from me. She had added another key to the set and collected it from me. The only other key is with the royal curator,” the maid quickly rushed to apologize. The court lady was fuming. She had worked so hard to make her way here and she could not reach her goal.

“She added the key to the royal treasury, my lady. The royal treasurer gave it to her. I saw it myself. Immediately she received it, she retrieved back the key from this slave,” the maid hurried to appease the lady, giving as much information as she knew. The court lady paused. So it is that? Smirking, she turned to leave. She must not be found here.