Edith listened to the brush glide through her hair in a steady rhythm before feeling Tabitha begin a braid a section of her hair. She started by creating two braids at the front before coming over her head and joining into one at the back. The two girls were surrounded by complete silence until her door suddenly creaked open, Edith gave a frustrated sigh not even looking to see who entered.

"Next time you enter without knocking, I shall personally lop your hand off." She said curtly only to receive a familiar nervous chuckle causing both her and Tabitha turn their heads.

"My apologies little sister." Charles said with his ever so charming grin plastered on his face. He quickly rapped a couple times on the door to give the illusion of knocking before stepping in any ways. "Father has summoned you, he's sitting in the throne room as we speak. It's probably best to make haste, he seemed serious." Charles said subtly making his way to the nearest dresser to take advantage of having a excuse to nose around his sisters room. Edith gave him a look of distaste as Tabitha tried to refocus on her hair.

"Yes yes, I'm sure everything father says sounds important to you Charles, but some of us have better things to do than entertain a drunk." Edith said with a eye roll which was met with a sterm look from her brother.

"Edith, thats-" Charles began his usual lecture when Edith said something wrong. It always started how she was disrespectful and rude, then led into how she isn't held to much standard and should appreciate all that is done for her, blah blah blah.

"Oh Charles dont start. I get it. After Tabitha finishes my hair I will meet him in haste. Now stop nosing around my room." She huffed giving him a look almost causing Tabitha to lose her grip on the last bit of brade. Her brother gave her and Tabitha a nod and another of his heart melting smiles before making his way out her room leaving the door cracked behind him. She wrinkled her nose at the scenario but decided to leave it seeing as she was going to be exiting soon anyways. Tabitha regained full focus without Charles in the room as a distraction and quickly finished the elegant braids leaving only two whisps on eit side of her face undone. Edith stood up from her chair before moving towards the door.

"When I return, I expect my room to be in a state of excellence." Tabitha nodded and smiled as she always did and saw her off. Edith took her time drifting through the halls, taking the most complex roots she could think of. The last time they called her in like this was she was 16 and they had forced her to give up learning fencing saying she had no need for it, there were always guard around, and it was rather unlady like. She let out a irritated sigh, what aspect of her life were they going to take away next she wondered. As this thought crossed her mind she reached the doors to the throne room. They are giant wooded doors with a tigers face etched into it, she pushed the right door wich swung open with ease to reveal the throne room. It was a symbol of elegance, the floor made of marble and gold. Beautiful healthy vines twisted around the throne and a marble life-size tiger statue sat on either side of the thrones each sporting marble crowds bathed in gold. Her mother and father sat in their respective thrones. Oddly Charles stood on her Father's side and Cedric stood on her mother's. Charles held a look that screamed guilty child and Cedric looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else. Her father had a sterm expression and her mother looked rather blissful, she immediately knew something was up.

"Edith." Her father started making her eyes narrow. "Our kingdom has been surrounded by war and death for as long as I can remember. I want to make a land where everyone can come together. Where nobody gets treated lesser or slaughtered because of their origins, there is only one way to make that happen my dear. That is with a alliance." Edith nodded even though she knew half of what he said has not true, he didn't care about how people got treated. The only thing he cared about was the war and that was because he was forced to funnel millions of gold in it when he'd much rather just spend it on booze.

"And your point is father?" She asked causing both her father and mother to give her a look.

"My point is, a alliance requires a promise, and you are that promise. You shall be wed Edith, your suitor will be arriving tomorrow." Wed? Tomorrow? What? This was the first Edith was hearing of this, which was not a common occurrence. Usually one of her little flies had been listening from the wall, and would quickly come report any sort of information they gathered to her for a extra coin or two so this must of been real hush hush.

"To the head of which kingdom?" She said after a dreadfully long silence, what was supposed to settle the mood simply made the tension sky rocket.

"Well Edith.. your to be wed to the youngest son of the Linettra Family." These words hit Edith like a bag of bricks, married to the YOUNGEST son. Yet another line of spoiled little boys standing directly between her and true power.

"This is unacceptable." Edith spat without thought, both her brothers looked at her with shocked faces. Her mother looked heartbroken and her Father's face had flushed red with anger. Her father opened his mouth to speak but it was her mother's words that came out.

"Edith Rose, you don't say that, this is beyond you and your stupid opinions and desires. It's bigger than that, this is the whole kingdom at stake. He shall arrive tomorrow and be met with a banquet, you should greet him at the door with a smile and a kiss, then the two of you will be married within a few weeks and get to creating a Aire. We will bestow titles and properties upon the two of you after your arrangement darling, it will not be the end of the world but a start of a new one. Plus I've heard he's quite handsome." Her mother said leaving little room for argument, unluckily for her Edith had enough room for argument to work with.

"I will not attend the banquet, I will not kiss him at the door, I will not jump to bare his children, and I do not care about his looks, I do not want stupid titles such as dutches, there is no start of a world without the end of another. All I care about is his power and from where I'm sitting, it looks like he doesn't have any." This time her father didn't let her mother jump in.

"He has much more power than you do Edith and much less than I do, so the both of you will do as I say, and you will do as he says. If not your other option would be Grainer. Is that what you would prefer?" Edith wrinkled her nose at the thought of the island. There was no true power there, there was nothing to take over exempt a bunch of tribes, and they all hated each other so it would be a constant battle of control, although the other option didn't get her any farther up the totem pole of power either. Despite that she already knew her choice.

"No." She said causing her father to lean back in his chair with a smug look on his face.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow you will attend the banquet and at least meet you husband to be." He said before giving a dismissive wave of his hand and standing from his throne, and just like that he was unwilling to renegotiate. He says that he only delt with official problems on official time, unless it was a matter of life and death. Edith turned to the door and walked out in silence as her mother and father began to chat amongst themselves. Edith was so lost in thought she didn't notice Charles had followed her until his hand was on her shoulder.

"Edith! I'm so sorry, I wasn't told about that until I returned from getting you, otherwise..." he trailed off obliviously expecting Edith to infer.

"Oh no worries brother, it's not as if it's my whole life being traded away for a peice of paper that says 'I promise not to fight you' from a kingdom that we hate or anything. Oh- wait." Charles flinched at her words.

"I'm sorry-" Charles said in a pained tone, she could tell he truly had nothing to do with it but that didnt change how she felt. She stopped walking and turned to address her brother.

"For what Charles, for not taking the leap and marrying a Linettra daughter so I don't have to waste my life on the youngest son." Charles didn't say anything for a moment.

"W-well that's different as I'm the Aire and you know that. Besides, they have no unmarried daughters." He stammered, Edith rolled her eyes and turned around without another word. She made her way swiftly back to her room and swung the door open causing Tabitha to jump.

"Edith! Welcome back my lady. Did something happen?" She asked quickly recovering from her surprise and greeting the princess with a curtsy.

"Did something happen? What a stupid question, look at me Tabitha, you tell me what you think. I know you've got a brain in there other wise you wouldn't be breathing." The girl looked down guiltily and muttered a apology. Edith let out a sigh deciding to confide in her handmaiden, who was she going to tell anyways, plus soon it would be common knowledge. The kingdom would meet her to be husband at the gates with gold, food, and festivities. She was sure even the outer rink would be ecstatic. During banquets like this four banquet halls would open each on another side of the castle and people from all over Esteil would come to join in the festivities. It only happened on special occasions such as crownings, royal births, and well weddings. "My parents have arranged for me to wed. He shall be arriving tomorrow." Tabithas eyes lit up.

"Oh that's wonderful ne-" one look told her everything she needed to know "I mean, that's awful, just awful. I'm sorry my lady." She said laying her hand gently on Ediths shoulder for comfort. Edith didn't really see a point in getting mad at her assumptions, she was sure the rest of the kingdom would react in a similar way.

"Only time will tell how this is going to turn out. Perhaps if I play my cards right this could be beneficial to me after all." She pondered aloud, Tabitha gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and a nod that didn't make Edith feel any better but in all honesty she appreciated her idiot of a handmaidens support, obviously she wasn't getting it anywhere else.

Edith spent the hours after her parents abrupt announcement pacing and fuming. She had ranted to Tabitha not only about the engagement but about each and every little detail she could. She nit picked her whole existence to her handmaiden who stood mostly in silence, every so often pitching in a line of feedback. She was in the middle of a sentence when there was a soft knock on the door. The room went quite as Ediths eyes landed on the door ready to verbally slaughtered whoever was on the other side. Tabitha looked nervously between the door and Edith before tentatively making her way over and pulling the door open. On the other side stood a nervous looking servant who awkwardly offered Tabitha a letter. She muttered a thank you and swiftly shutting the door.

"What is it." Edith hissed eyes trained on the nice white paper clutched in her handmaidens hand.

"A letter my lady, from... your mother?" She said as she hurriedly rushed to her princesses side. She handed the letter over to Edith who thoroughly examined the letter. It was wax sealed, a tiger nicely molded in, and the word Giana written down is beautiful cursive she recognized to be her mother's.

"Well don't dottle Tabitha, go get the letter opener." Edith barked causing the frizzy haired girl to rush off to Edith's desk. She scrambled through drawers as Edith flipped the peice of paper in her fingers. Finally, after checking the last drawer, she pulled out the letter opener and promptly opened the letter.

"Read it aloud would you?" Edith instructed before taking a seat on her bed. Tabitha gave her a nod.

"It reads 'Edith darling I know your upset but in time you'll realize that this is for the best. Tonight we will be having a family dinner, Owen and Erin shall be returning before the moon has reached its peak tonight. I expect to see you at dinner, and please if you bring your handmaiden, make her presentable. Love, your mother <3'" Tabitha finished with a sigh, Edith sat in silence for a moment. She had no desire to go and have a family dinner but she didn't care to know the consequences of not going. Her eyes flicked to Tabitha taking in her appearance. Her clothes were nice, a nice silky green dress but her hair was a frizzy mess.

"Why is it every time I turn around you look like a poodle that's been struck by lightning?" Edith hissed grabbing a section of the mane to inspect it more closely, her face began glowing red in no time.

"It's the humidity! It makes it all frizzy!" Tabitha argued, Edith mearly shook her head and waved her away.

"Go brush your hair so we can go." She ordered, Tabitha gave a quick nod before rushing off. It wasn't long before the two of them made their way to the dining hall. When they arrived everyone, except the twins, had arrived and had been seated. The dining table had four chairs on either side, although more can be added, and one chair at each head. At the head of the right side was Ediths Father and at the head of the left was Charles. To the left of her father was her mother, next to her was Sebastien of course. Then two empty seats which Edith promptly dismissed, no way she was sitting next to Sebastien. Across from those two seats were two more empty seats, she and Tabitha made their way over. She sat down next to Ron to avoid being close to her eldest brother. Tabitha sat down quietly beside and gave a sweet smile to Charles who kindly returned it.

"Edith dear! I'm so glad you finally came down, I see you have yet to change so I'm sure you came in a hurry." Her mother greeted her making sure to throw a jab in there. She narrowed her eyes at her mother.

"I see no reason in soiling two dresses on such a sour day." She shot back causing her mother to peirce her lips.

"Edith calm yourself. I think this will be good for you." Cedric chimed in lazily, he seemed to have said it absent-mindedly.

"And I think a shower would be good for you Cedric, and perhaps a life of your own so you can keep your nose put of mine." Edith spat back causing Ron to choke on his drink. Cedric was pulled out of his trance and he quickly gave his sister the stink eye.

"Edith Rose! Cedric is just trying to be supportive." Her mother scolded, Cedric grimaced obviously regretting his words.

"Then he should be supportive of his own relationship. Shes quiet the lady that council girl is, I sure hope my suitor dedicates as much time to me as Cedric does to her. I mean just look at those love bags." Edith said sarcastically pointing at Cedrics tired looking face and blinking more times than necessary. "Cedric can be supportive of me when he can support his head without passing out for more than 10 minutes." There was a silence around the table except for Ron who was trying to subtly hold back a laugh. Eventually another competitor stepped up.

"Edith please." This time it was Charles.

"Oh dear big brother, I- I don't know what's come over me. I'm acting like a witch, won't you forgive me." Edith said voice dripping in sarcasm. "Is that what you want Charles, is that what you'd like me to sa-" just then the door to the dining hall flung open and in ran three hounds who almost immediately began howling with excitement. After the dogs, two familiar looking men paraded in. One of then wearing a cloak made out of a tiger, the hood being the tigers head. The other holding a spear in one hand and a tiny ball of fluff in the other. Immediately tensions dropped.

"Owen, Erin!" The king cried, every person in the room wore a smile outside of Edith. Owen, the one in the cloak, swept forward addressing his sister first.

"There she is! I can't believe you of all people are to be wed, now stand up and give your brother a hug." With those words he pulled her out her chair giving her no time to contradict. He then pulled her into a suffocating bear hug. Once he released his grip on her Erin quickly took his place in a much more comfortable hug before handing the fuzzy bundle to her without warning.

"We picked this up from Grainer and thought it would be a good betrothal gift. Give him something that resembles you." Erin said with a grin. She looked down at the fur ball and realized quickly that this was actually a beast in the making.

"Oh.. my.. this is.. lovley.." she said holding the soon to be apex predator in her arms. The thing wiggled closer into her warmth causing her to soften up a bit. "This will be the gift of a life time." She stated causing a happy chatter to fill the room. Her mother seemed particularly happy with her comment and began going into detail about her arrangements saying she's already had flowers lining the streets and intended on inviting every lady, lord, and distant cousin she could think of to join the celebration.

-the next day-

Thanks to the Twins diner went over smoothly the rest of the night. She had left as soon as she saw the opportunity and had allowed the little tiger to sleep in her bed with her. The morning however didn't go so smoothly, she was awoken by trumpets which was definitely not a everyday experience. She carefully sat up and checked to make sure the tiger was still there. It was snuggled against her leg, it looked so peaceful she almost felt bad moving as she claimed out of her bed and made her way to the window. When she peered out she realized that today was the day her suitor was to arrive and she had woken up dreadfully late. People were already lining up on either side of the entrance to catch a glimpse of the new coming royal. Music had already began to flood the inner circle and tropical flower petals had been spread over the path leading to the castle. There was a sudden pick up in excited chatter from outside which clearly indicated that the Linetteians had arrived. Edith couldn't help but note that the crowd was a bit thinner than the population of Feria, perhaps not everyone had gathered yet or maybe not everyone supported the union of the kingdoms. Either way Edith knew she couldn't sit around and dottle. She needed to find Tabitha and chew her out for not waking her up on time. Luckily Tabitha had already picked out a deep emerald green dress made of silk. It was off the shoulder sleeves and gold vines embroidered into the skirt. The fabric was loose and flowy, making it super comfortable while being effortlessly elegant.

Downstairs the rests of the royals had lined up to greet the prince going from eldest to youngest and the king himself was atop a white friesian stallion. He along with his with a group of guards rode to formally greet the young royal, cheers only grew as the king made his way down the trail. When he reached the gates he gave a wide grin, whilst Edith's mother began to pace inside. The plan wasn't to introduce the two until the banquet had began but Giana was nervous all the same. She knew her daughter wasn't a fan of the arrangement and had a feeling in her stomach the meeting would not turn out well. If only Edith could keep that tongue of hers sheathed, even just for the day. The palace had been decked out from top to bottom with vines made of of gold and floral flowers. Even the staff wore more elegant clothes than usual, she had sent Tabitha just this morning to fetch a new hair peice for her daughter. A beautiful crown peice made of gold twisted to look like the headress of a Greek goddess, subtle yet stunning.

"Welcome to Esteil Lord Vesper. It's a pleasure to have you, and your company within my kingdom. All of Feria and Esteil welcomes you, please come in." The king gave the prince a swift bow of respect. He took in the grand view of his ontarage nonchalantly, a normal view for the king. The people of Esteil had followed the group to the gates gathering around to take in the new flashy sights cheering all the way, a few stayed inside, whether they were just trying to avoid to crowd or unhappy with the situation was in the air.

The king watched the price smoothly dismount and put on a radiant smile with satisfaction, already being lulled in by his charm. After the prince's question his eyes flicked over the crowd, seeing no stable hands in the immediate vacinaty he looked to the closest guard. A younger man whom was stationed at the gate. The royals hadn't prepared to receive horses even if it seemed like a oblivious thing, as they used boats as their main form of transportation. The only time they did use horses was with carriages in case they needed to travel inland, for sports, and at events such as these so they often had guards double as stable hand, only keeping a couple farrier and some elite trainers and a maybe 5 hands in the stables to care for the horses, those in the calvary are expected to care for their own steeds.

"You'll have to do, won't you show the gentleman to the stable?" The king asked with a look that said 'this isn't a question'. The guard dipped his head and walked to receive the reigns. The king then admire the black mare. She looked like the very symbol of elegance, Lares nodded in approval before letting out a chuckle. "Yes, those words would certainly describe my daughter." For a moment his smile grew tight but quickly corrected itself, hardly noticeable unless you were paying close attention. While Lares did think they were fitting words he couldn't help but think for all the wrong reasons. Even he knew his daughter didn't exactly have the reputation for being nice, not to the same extent as others though as he often did his best to avoid interacting with her. Matter of a fact, he did his best not to engage with most his children, the exceptions being Charles and the Twins. The others he found a little draining. He though Ron was too uncaring and often doubted the legitimacy of his royal blood due to his pronounced features. He found Cedric dreadfully boring but as of late he has been forced to spend more time with him due to his ties to the councle. Edith was well, Edith, she reminded him far to much of his wife and she never had the decency to keep her mouth shut. The only reason he favored the twins was because of their avid hunting and close bonds to Grainer. Oh and Sebastien, he hardly remembered that his last son existed, he didn't have any interest in bonding with him. He might of well been a royal pet, the only time he gave him the time of day was at the dining table and even that was rare. After a moment he dismounted and passed his own reins to the knight to his right, the knight gave his king a nod of understanding before leading the horse towards the stable figuring the others would catch up once they had finished.

"The mare is excellent, Edith should be most grateful." He said then signaled to the guard to take the mare as well before giving Vesper a wide grin and a motion to follow him. "We've stood here long enough don't you think? No need for some stand off here, come inside! My wife has been preparing nonstop for your arrival." With that he turned around, a clear signal for the guards to open the door. Inside where his family was once lining up only stood his wife, Charles, Ron, and Sebastien. For a moment the kings eyes flashed with rage but he quickly covered it up. Giana looked at the now open door with a face of bliss, she was far more excited for her daughters marriage than anyone else. Charles had a wide grin on his face looking like a picture perfect Aire. Ron was now sitting on the bottom steps to the throne cleaning his nails with a dagger and Sebastien was standing next to Giana stiffly knowing that this wasn't going as it should. Lares made his way smoothly to his wife and leaned in to give the appearance of a kiss on the cheek.

'Where is everyone else' he hissed, his wife pulled him into a loving hug to extend the conversation without drawing suspicion.

'The Twins ran off as soon as you left to God knows where and Cedric said he needed to use the bathroom.' She whispered back before pulling away from her husband and focused her eyes on Vesper. While the king mentally murdered his children the queen gave the new prince a grin.

"You must be Vesper! Oh it is just darling to meet you! I hope you can forgive the uncomplete welcome! My children unfortunately have a mind of their own, so they tend to wander." Giana said with a chuckle coming closer to better inspect the three arivals "My name is Giana, although I'm sure you knew that. I'm simply overjoyed to have you joining us your highness!" She said, even though her words were laced with excitement her tone was still relatively even. She then turned to her sons whom were still in the room and motioned them over. All three lined up Charles standing closest to his mother with the same charming smile, Sebastien in the middle now holding his head high trying to mimic his brothers confident attitude, then Ron who had now sheathed his dagger and stood with a vacant expression, his mind obviously somewhere else.

"This is Charles, my eldest! Sebastien, my youngest, and Ron, the black sheep, who needs to smile." She said with a soft laugh and a pointed look. Ron plastered a smile on his face and gave Vesper a bow along with his brothers.

Meanwhile Edith had finished getting dressed upstairs and was now waiting for Tabitha to finish her last braid. She was going for a simple style, two long braids in the front each one reached about to her hips. After she put in the last hairbow she fitted the crown atop the princesses head with a proud smile.

"You look stunning my lady." Tabitha complimented, Edith gave her a sneer but her handmaiden ignored it. "You know, I think that marriage won't be as bad as you think. Perhaps you'll even enjoy it." Tabitha suggested.

"Yes, just as much as a tiger likes to jump through hoops I'm sure." Edith bit back rubbing the tiger cub who was now curled in her arms sleeping peacefully, causing her handmaiden to shake her head softly.

"Truley Edith, I mean you can't go unmarried forever. Obviously this had to happen at some point. Why not now? You are a princess after all, that is what princesses are supposed to do" She said absent-mindedly

"I like you Tabitha, I really do, but you still need to watch your mouth." Edith growled causing Tabitha to draw back and apologize. Edith decided to dismiss it for now, perhaps she would circle back later. "Please tell me you plan to dress appropriately tonight. I can't have you looking like, well, like you." She said giving her a once over. Tabitha bit her lip and nodded her head.

"Well I was planning on wearing the dress for the wedding?" Edith gave her a look of distaste.

"That dress was made specifically for you to wear to the wedding, if you wear it tonight I'll set it on fire with you in it. Use one of my dresses, and for the love of everything holy, do your hair."

The queen smiled in delight at his words and let a grin claim her face "handsome and charming, isn't Edith lucky" She asked no one in particular whilst settling on her throne next to her husband, Vesper's knight's smile flying over her head. Ron on the other hand silently flicked his eyes between the knight and the prince careful not to let his suspension show on his face. Lares stayed silent, a smile on his face, he had accepted long ago his wife was much better than him at flattery and charm. Giana laid her hand gently on top of her husband's, eyes now flicking between the night and the gentleman in waiting.

"Ah yes of course, it is a pleasure to meet the both of you! I do hope you find Feria to be at least half as comforting as Vicar." She said offering each one a smile, although the one given to Eirnar was a tad brighter "No worries dear, I prefer silence in servants anyways. Much less of a hassle. Now did you want connecting rooms, or would you prefer separate?" Giana asked focusing her gaze back on Vesper, yet another one of her nasty traits. Unless you have a title, your of little importance to the queen. Charles cleared his throat ready to shift the conversation.

"May I start by saying It is a true honor to host the three of you, especially you Sir Vesper. To answer your question yes, I have three other brothers and you will be introduced within the hour if it means I must hunt them down and drag them to you myself." Charles promised before once more eloquently shifting the conversation "If it would be appealing to you I'd love to show you the ball room. We've set it up specifically for you and gathered the finest of gifts to welcome you to both the kingdom and the family. I'm sure my other brothers have gathered there to greet you. Although if you'd rather rest first I'd be happy to show you to a room." Charles offered grin never once wavering his hand pointed in the direction of the ballroom, the ballroom was a large room with a glass ceiling. You could see nothing but blue skies and passing birds. The room itself was usually open but had now been lined with tables that held food, gold, and jewls. There was also a giant portrait of the family hung on the far wall depicting the royal family just younger, Edith was 16 in the painting and it was not 100 percent accurate to appearances, Rons features weren't nearly as pronounced making him look much more handsome, neither of the twins had beauty marks under their eyes, and Edith had a smile on her face.

Sebastien had fallen back now standing on the bottom stare of the thrones and Ron still stood in silence where he had been before scoping out the three Linetteians. His gaze focused mostly on Einar and his sword, no trust in his eyes. Ron was the least trusting of all his siblings, although he had been in the most battles against linerette and had seen the most people die. Charles had also been in a few skirmishes but usually he could figure out a diplomatic way around it, much preferring peace over war. The Twins too had engaged in battles but not often as they spent so much time in Grainer, matter of a fact, since the two of them were 16, they had spent more time in Grainer than Esteil. Cedric had never been in a battle himself, instead he gave commands from the sidelines until the councle had offered him a position. Edith was never presented the opportunity due to her gender and Sebastien was always considered to young by the king and the head knight despite the fact Ron had started a year younger than him.

Upstairs Ediths eyes raked down Tabithas body as she was now sporting a maily white dress with gold lining the edges and long sleeves, the dress was already lowcut and off the shoulder so her breast unfortunately were a bit big for it causing them to poke out a bit more then they should and her stomach looked particularly bulged but it seemed to be the only one that fit. If she had been made aware of her handmaidens lack of appropriate clothes she would have had a dressed designed the day before, which made Edith a bit more snippy than usual that it wasn mentioned.

"Well I suppose this will work, you'll have to wear a top though. The last thing I need is all the linerettes thinking your a floozy." She hissed before glancing in her closest, she found a cloak of tiger skin and fitted it on her handmaiden shoulders. It buttoned in the front hiding the ill-fitting dress top. "Theres not much I can do about your pudge, but that should fix the top part." Edith said with a satisfied look. After that she grabbed the tiger cub off her bed and placed it into her handmaidens arms knowing she wasnt fond of the small beast, Tabitha reeled back nervously but was careful not to drop it.

"It's a kitten Tabitha, it's eyes are still blue. Don't be such a baby, I suggest you make it like you now or it won't be so friendly when it's a blood thirsty, 200 pound hunk of muscles, claws, and teeth." She said looking at her through narrowed eyes knowing her words would only make the blonde more nervous, she couldn't help but let a smirk creep onto her lips as Tabithas eyes began to fill with fear. "Anywho, I'm simply starving. I'm going down to the kitchen so I might eat before tonight. Watch after the beast would you? I'm not exactly sure what it eats, I suppose I might find Owen and ask him while I'm out. Hopefully it's not a man eater yet, that would be unfortunate for you, now wouldn't it? But Im sure you can manage that long, can't you?"

"Uh- I.. suppose?" Tabitha answered warily causing Edith's smile to widen.

"Perfect, I'll return within the hour." Edith said now by her door. Tabitha gave a awkward smile and a swift bow making sure the cub wasn't to close to her. After watching the reaction Edith slipped out the door with a laugh that echoed down the halls. Edith had no intention on returning soon, matter of a fact she intended on spending her last few hours of freedom alone, whether it be walking the halls or lounging I'm the garden, unfortunately things never seemed to go according to her plans. She had only made it down a couple halls before she saw Cedric snoozing in the library, his head down on a book and arms folded around him to block out the lantern sitting on the table infront of him. Edith clenched her teeth, if he was here he obviously wasn't in the throne room greeting her husband to be. She marched over to the table, grabbed the nearest book and smashed it loudly against the table waking up her brother instantly. When he popped up his eyes were wide with surprise, his hair looked as if it hadn't seen a brush in years, and there was a small bit of drool on the right side of his mouth.

"Cedric!? You've got to be kidding me, you look like you've been in a tornado. What are you doing here? Your supposed to be-" Cedric raised his hand blinking from the sudden light as if to silence her. "Don't you DARE try to make me be quiet, you don't even have your top buttoned correctly. What are you doing here anyways??" She interrogated, her brothers hand went to his shirt which was in fact buttoned incorrectly.

"I'm sorry." He muttered sleepy trying to fix his top. "I had went to the bathroom, but I ran into Darrian and he gave me this book. It seemed interesting so I stopped at the library to do a little reading before your suitor arrived and I.. I guess I fell asleep." He said grabbing the book infront of him and holding it up still partially opened. It was bright red with a golden title 'Poisons, Toxins, and Venoms of Esteil' Edith reread the title a couple times before grabbing the book from his hands and slamming it shut trying not to come off as interested. Books such as these were scarce and hand written only for the eyes of the councle, despite that the pages were white and the cover was flawless hinting the book was relatively new, perhaps designed particularly for her brother.

"Darrian is a old fool, he's filling your brain with nonessential information. I don't understand why he would give you this when you have so many more important things to be doing." She hissed, Darrian was in fact not a fool, he was the head of the very council Cedric was working so hard to join. He was tall, old, and looked like a textbook wizard. Long beard, heavy cloaks, giant ears. Maybe that last part wasn't textbook, but it was a prominent feature Darrian had, not that he was a wizard of course, he simply reminded Edith of one. He was actually wise and quite famous in esteil for his guidance, but Edith knew she needed to bring him down to get Cedric to listen to her. She stuffed the book under her arm and went around to her brothers side to adjust his shirt growing bored of watching him fumble. "You really need a gentleman in waiting, or perhaps a maid if you find it more fitting. Everyone is tired of seeing you dressed like a Neanderthal, even Ron thinks it looks like your from Grainer with the way you dress." Edith said making sure to throw in a comment about Ron, Cedric and Ron were often at eachothers throats. The classic brains vs bronze set up. Cedrics face scrunched up.

"Ron said that?" He asked letting his sister fix his buttons.

"Oh yes, he said that and more." Edith said careful not to let her voice take a smug tone. It was true Ron had mentioned it in passing, so Edith technically wasnt lying. Cedric rolled his eyes as a scowl took over his face.

"At least I bathe." He hissed before reaching towards the book still stashed safely under Ediths arm. She quickly took a step back causing Cedric to give her a annoyed look. "Hand it over Edith." He said holding out his hand expectingly.

"Nope, sorry brother but this thing has caused enough of a distraction for the day. You can retrieve it from me after I'm wed." She said with a dismissive wave, no way in hell she was going to give up this gem so soon. Cedric scowled and was about to argue back but Edith quickly changed the topic "By the way, you've got dried spit on your face. Clean it off and get moving, perhaps find a brush on your way. You've already missed the prince's arrival. Father will have your head if you miss the gifts as well." Cedric quickly stood up in a panic and swiped at his face.

"Missed it? damn it. Forget father, mother will never forgive me." He hissed trotting towards the door muttering curses.

"Brother, if you see the Twins won't you send at least one my way? I need to ask them something." Cedric muttered a yes as he hurried out the door and Edith pulled the book out with a small smile. She had no interest at the moment to use the information she had just got her hands on, but it was useful information all the same. She considered taking it back to her room but didn't really want Tabitha to know she had it, so instead she took it to one of her favorite hidey holes. A hidden tunnel once used by staff but abandoned since Edith had discovered it. She was sure there were more around the castle and had found a couple, but they were relatively simple and only spanded from one room to another, this one in particular was hidden not to far from her room. If you took a left after walking out, walked to the end of the hallway and took a right there was a huge mahogany bookshelf at the end of the hall. If you ran your hand along the wall on the middle shelf you'd find a small button, illusive to the eye but had a slightly different texture. Once you've pressed it a small panel comes loose on the far right side just a shelf down, inside that panel is a lever. Once you pull that the bookshelf pops loose and can be opened like a door. This particular one led to one of the many galleries cutting out a few winding hallways. It was just a simple dark hallway leading from one side to another, there were lanterns that lined the walls but they have since went out, because of this Edith always kept a lantern on the bookshelf. She grabbed and lit it before making her way down the hall. It wasn't a long stretch, maybe 100 yards. She went half way down before bending down and pulling up a loose board on the far left side. Something she had discovered years before, it definitely wasn't a spot you step on by accident unless you were in a group. Then she sat down deciding to read a little bit before she headed back to her room. She only made it about 5 pages in before deciding she needed to head back, sure that diner couldn't be terribly far away, so she slipped the book into the floor before reapplying the board and heading out this time leaving through the gallery.