Lady Aconia sat in her cell in the dungeon. The burlap sack she'd been forced to wear for the wedding had been discarded and a red cotton dress had been given to her. Nothing like the silks and velvets she was used to and deserved.

Her mother had sent her a letter, chastising her for her behavior this week. It was all for appearances. The Aconia family was not known for its secrets, but hers had been spilled. Now they had to pretend not to know about such dealings as they all had dabbled in. Though perhaps attempting an assassination inside the Pink Palace was a stretch even for them.

Ammorettallia let her head fall to the pillow on her stony cot.

She could have gotten away with it. Why had he failed her? It couldn't have been just the equipment's fault. He'd killed someone for her before. Her late cousin was entombed at the family mausoleum and had been there for her crimes against her.

She'd had a crush on the Prince and was a year younger than her. Beautiful as well. With that perfect heart shaped face. She had to be disposed of.

If anyone was going to become the Queen, it was her. Queen Ammorettallia Anne Julietta Pink the First. A crown of ruby carnations would have suited her well. She was the perfect match for his highness.

But then the ceremony inviting all of the candidates to the palace came.

The Phlox girls were too set on destroying each other. Their shenanigans cutting each other's favorite dresses and messing with their meals was comical. They couldn't see beyond themselves. Petulia had been an easy pawn, with her rash moods getting the best of her. It was easy for her to manipulate her into thinking the bacon faced Gladys was mocking her with her smiles. From there, the two of them were under her thumb.

But the Kuchen House...

Aster was clearly the prettiest and most thoughtful. Fortunately, she came off as too pure and his highness merely gave her equal treatment as he did all the girls. When she had been chosen to present his sword to him and not Aster, she was sure the crown was within her grasp.

But then that bit of ragweed had become an upstart.

Chammielle.

She mulled over the many ways she could have her killed. Even from prison, there were still those who were loyal to her. It was too late for her to become the Queen here by marrying Prince William, but there were others who would beg her for her hand. She'd get her vengeance and live out the life she deserved.

Footsteps came down the corridor and she sat up. Torchlight heading her way.

"Lady Aconia..."

The voice was hushed and she traipsed to the barred door.

"What news?"

"They will not sentence you until the feast is over. We are working on your escape for the last day. It will be difficult, and our chances of getting you free without discovery is almost impossible. But I believe we can accomplish this."

She shook her head. No, she'd leave and keep all her contacts here without exposing them. A plan came to mind.

"No. We will wait until after I am sentenced. When I walk out of here I want my people undiscovered and in place to do my bidding."

"My lady, if they choose to execute you..."

"They don't have the stomach for such things, I assure you. And even if they did it would not be the same day. That little weed thought to put me on display as she wed in that ridiculous crown... I will put her on display. A corpse to hang outside the palace gates when I return."

"Yes...my lady."

Her spy left her to her thoughts. It wouldn't be long now. Her path to the throne had simply gotten a bit longer.

...

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had tea with her sisters.

Ianthe, Chryssia and herself had all gathered in Aster's room. Lord Applebalm had stepped out for the moment and the four of them were finally alone. Save the two knights posted outside the door.

"Chammielle! I am so happy for you!"

She smiled at her sisters. She'd abandoned the silks and velvet and ridiculous volume in favor of her peasant bodice and skirts. The long sleeves of her chemise were tied up at her elbows and she sipped tea with them in complete comfort.

"I am happy you didn't have to do something you didn't want to. You could have told me earlier, you know."

Aster laughed at that.

"Very well, I shall tell you everything I want from now on. To start, I want to marry Xavier. He's simply the sweetest man in the world!"

She nearly choked on her tea but saw that her sister was indeed sincere.

"Does he feel the same way? Oh, what am I saying, of course he does."

Chryssia leaned forward to pour herself another cup and seemed surprised.

"He does?"

Chammielle nodded at them, "Of course. He was Aster's secret admirer."

The girls gasped in unison and she could not believe it.

"Don't tell me you hadn't figured that out yet. Sweetheart, he hasn't told you so himself?"

She shook her bright blonde hair about her like a halo.

"No! He gets too tongue tied when he's not talking of medical procedures or reading from a page. He only blushes and glances at me when I talk to him!"

Chammielle sighed.

"I suppose I expected that. Alright, a wish list of husbands it is. Chryssia, your Jacob has spoken of marriage to you, yes?"

Her face turned pink and she cupped her cheeks as she nodded her head.

"Yes...he says when I turn eighteen he will ask the Dowager Queen to match us. He is saving up for a gift to earn her favor."

"And you want to marry him?"

"From the moment I met him..."

"Then tell him to save up for a house in the capital instead. The two of you are so besotted with each other I cannot stand to see you beg to be together. You have my blessing and I will seek audience with her majesty myself on your behalf."

The girls squealed and Ianthe interjected with her own deep groaning.

"Oh! But if only I knew my dear Duke so well! He's off on business and I only receive two letters from him per day!"

She smirked at the melodrama.

"Only two? My, however shall you pass the day? How many times have you read them through?"

Ianthe put her hand to her head and Chryssia and Aster were enrapt with her performance. Truly she would make an excellent operatic actor. If only she could sing so well. The drama simply oozed from her very being.

"Three times. I cannot bear to wait for the letters to come each day and so wake with the dawn to read the ones previous. Then write the depth of my feelings to send out with the morning post and receive his first letter..."

Chammielle listened, a fixed smile on her face. She wondered if she ever sounded like this with Will.

Her thoughts went to the gentle kisses he'd bestowed upon her lips last night.

So warm, so soft and chaste. She'd wanted more but could not ask. Her breathing had turned to sighs and his tender words had lulled her as he traced her freckles up and down her arm until she had less fortitude than whipped cream trifle. He'd left off and kissed her hair and she couldn't speak but to say his name. His arms around her and they fell asleep together.

"So you'll tell them, won't you?"

"Hmm? Oh, right."

She'd gotten lost in her reverie and tried to refocus on her sisters.

"Mother and father aside, no one else could possibly object to such a courtship. The Duke's castle is far too large and your rooms would be so far apart... Not to mention the many servants there to act as your chaperones."

The idea irked her but she could say nothing at this point. It was up to their father to turn her request down. The Castle of Wells was a great distance from Kuchen or the Capital. The two might be in love but she wasn't about to send her most passionate sibling across the country to live under the roof of a man she was not engaged to.

At least not without her own spy to go with her.

And a small battalion of knights.

"Oh! I saw you kiss the Prince at banquet last night! The two of you must truly love each other!"

She waved Chryssia off, not sure what to say.

"We...well...we are married. It's an adjustment, but...I do care for him...and he...well, he's very affectionate...and sweet...and he brought me tea in bed this morning..."

She mumbled and played with her teaspoon, not sure what she was saying any longer.

She glanced up at the girls and they were making goo goo eyes at her. Chryssia even had her hands clasped together and tilted by the side of her head.

"It's...it's not love...not yet anyway. It can't be."

The three turned to one another in turn and began their own conversations. They did this sometimes. Agreeing and putting on a show to prove their point to her.

It irked her.

"Ianthe, when did you know you loved the Duke?"

"My dear, Aster, from the moment we danced together. He recited poetry and compared my form and my mind to an ancient Dryad full of the passion and beauty of Spring. His words are not all pleasing, but he is passionate to see that someone understand him. And in my soul I crave for it to be myself that can accomplish such a task... Chryssia, what of your Jacob?"

She sighed prettily and her purple eyes glittered like stars that had just been born.

"I remember it like it was just yesterday... I was standing outside the shop waiting for father, he was picking out a tea to bring home and the strong smells were making me sneeze. This boy walked up to me, so much taller than me and I was smitten by his curious smile... He kissed me and it tasted like lemon drops. I told him that day I would marry him..."

She sighed once more and the two turned to their bedridden counterpart.

"Aster, what of your doctor?"

"I woke from surgery and he was at my side. His head rested on the covers near my thigh, holding my hand with both of his. His glasses had fallen off and I saw his long eyelashes and pink lips... It was love. I knew it. From that moment, every time I saw him, I saw something new to love. Before I knew it...it was...Xander."

Chammielle stood as she realized the door was opened. The shocked face of Lord Applebalm was there, and he dropped the tray of fresh bandages he was carrying.

"F-forgi-"

He turned to make a hasty exit.

"Knights to me! Stop him!"

The Knight's grasped him about the shoulders and turned him back around. His face was red and he looked like he'd rather be in a dark room where no one could see him. Chammielle strode to the door and faced him.

"Girls, I believe we must leave the good doctor alone with his patient for now."

Chryssia and Ianthe stepped around her and exited, giggling quietly. Chammielle stood her ground and faced her sister's secret admirer.

"I know it was you who sent her those gifts. She's a bit much, but it would make me happy to see you two talk things out. If your temperaments do not go well together, I understand and so will she. Please, you'd be doing me a favor just talking with her and sorting this out."

He seemed caught. His eyes trying to meet hers but darting to the young invalid in the bed. He didn't seem like he wanted to run anymore though. That was assuring.

"I...I couldn't...I couldn't leave her...not if she can accept m-me..."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper into his ear.

"I believe you'll find that once you have her attention, she will want nothing more than to earn yours. She is the most accepting person I have ever known, and my dearest companion. Someday, she could be yours as well. She seems to want to try."

She patted his shoulder and then walked past him. The door closed behind her and she turned to the posted knights.

"Remain, and do not let anyone in or out for one hour. If you hear something, you may act. Otherwise, leave them be."

"Yes, your highness."

"Yes, your highness."

She nodded and turned back to her sisters a few feet from the door. The matching shock on their faces had her stopped in her tracks.

"What?"

"You..."

"You're really very good at that."

She turned back to the knights and saw the reverence on their faces.

"Am I?"

...

She'd returned to their room, and Will was waiting for her.

"How was tea with your sisters?"

She smiled, the events from earlier still on her mind.

"Good. Good... They all want to marry their secret admirers from the ball. Asked me to put in good words here and there."

He chuckled and took her hand, holding it in his own and brushing his thumb over it.

"How expedient of them."

"Yes. They believe in love at first sight like the story books talk about..."

She let her fingers trail up the hairs his loose sleeves exposed.

"Will...why did you choose me?"

He tossed his head to the side and lightly pulled her to him.

"When I was riding off in the carriage after tea, you were the only one I could think about."

"That's all? That's all it took for you?"

He smirked and tipped her chin up to touch his nose to hers.

"I may have wanted to hear you scold me again. You were very elegant about it."

She chuckled but ducked her head.

"What's wrong?"

"A little while ago, I asked the guards before my sister's room to do something for me... I ordered them. Directly. I've never done that before in my life. It wasn't like telling the girls to get ready for bed or anything. But...I don't know. It was pointed out to me that I'd gotten good at it."

He held her close and she breathed in his scent, letting it calm her.

"That is a good thing, isn't it? To know what you want and say it well?"

"I suppose... I've only been your wife for...three days now. I've never seen myself as princess material before. But now that I am one..."

"Ah...I see."

He pulled back from her and kept a hold on her hand. He reached back to the couch and retrieved a book.

"Here, I brought this for you. I thought of our game and wondered if it might help you know me a little better. It's my diary from boyhood. This is from when I was twelve, the year I began swordsmanship with the masters. A lot of who I am today began that year."

She stroked the supple leather cover. It had gilt pages and tooled carnations over the cover. They most likely had been fully painted at one point, but it seemed time and frequent use had removed a good portion of it. It was a well loved friend from when he was a child.

"Will..."

"Here, turn to the 20th of March. That was a pivotal day."

Her fingers slipped in at the edge of the papers. She found April and turned it back until she reached the day he told her of.

Today was difficult. I don't know how else to say it. A squire I've known for a year just heard I was the Crown Prince and now he doesn't treat me like he used to. I never lied to him. But he keeps his eyes down and purposely loses when we spar now. It's only been one day and I want to give up because of this. Master Cretienne told me I need to continue, not for the Pink Crown, but for myself. I don't think I understand. If people are going to look at me different then why be a prince at all? I'm not going to quit yet. But I'll give it a week before I decide. Father won't make me continue if I don't want to.

She finished the entry and looked up at him.

"Even your friend couldn't look at you the same?"

He shook his head.

"No. It took me a while to understand why. But that day I did learn a valuable lesson. Being royalty did give me authority, but no one really realized what I had without my title before my name. You've always been well read, full of wit, and able to take me down a few notches... Just because people show you your due respect now, doesn't mean you've changed. They just finally see you in the proper light."

She hugged the book to her chest. Considering his words.

"Oh, and he wasn't my friend. He was my rival. Always bragging and saying he'd beat me, even though I got the upper hand most of the time. But that day, he learned a little humility. Jacob told me he learned to quit running his mouth off at everyone that day. He's now a trusted city guard."

She smiled at that.

It was a position of power. But you had to know how to wield it. Like a sword. It had the power to maim or kill, but also to protect and defend.

"Will, can you teach me how you handle a sword?"

He stepped closer and dipped his head so that his lips pulled lightly at hers without fully taking them. She sighed, her attention diverted in one fell swoop.

"How about...tomorrow?"

"Mhmm..."

Then he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.