It is the season for love and murder in the court of Ravaeryn.
After a chance encounter one winter night, Lady Catarina de Fontaine had fallen hopelessly in love with Julian, the Crown Prince. However, upon discovering his untruthfulness, she immedi...
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1711, Aethiel Palace, Kestramore City
"Black leather boots with gold buckles, you said ?" Cosmina murmured as she and Catarina walked over to the dining hall. "I don't think that a soldier would be wearing gold on their feet."
"Then who could it be ?" Catarina urged frantically.
"Perhaps a butler ?" Eleanora suggested.
"Or the King," Jessamine chuckled. "He could certainly afford to wear boot with gold buckles."
They now arrived at the dining hall, and Catarina could see King Guillaume seated at the head of the table. While he was surely charming in his youth, and quite frankly still is, Catarina was disgusted at the notion of falling for a man who is the same age as her father.
"No, not possible," Cosmina said in a hushed whisper. "I doubt he has time to run around in the maze. But I did see the Prince on that day..."
Catarina's eyes lit up, and she subconsciously glanced over at Julian who was sitting on the other end of the table. Perhaps if she snuck under the table, then she could see what kind of shoes he wore.
"Prince Julian ?"
"No, Prince Marcus."
She shifted her view towards the young Prince Marcus de Lavilliers, sitting in between his mother and sister, proudly holding a Terrawinian white rabbit in his arms. The little boy's thick-rimmed glasses had almost fallen off the tip of his nose, so he pushed it back up using a silver spoon, earning him a lecture from his mother, the Queen.
Prince Marcus only half-heartedly listened to the Queen's lectures, and his eyes began to wander around wildly, finally catching Catarina's gaze. The little prince squinted his eyes to get a better look at her, and gradually a wide smile began to form on his lips.
Catarina awkwardly smiled in return, then almost immediately she turned towards Cosmina and hissed, "Surely he didn't have the strength to carry me all the way to the Princess's chambers."
Cosmina smirked. "We'll never know."
Sitting beside Julian was a man that she had never been before, his greyish blue eyes cold and full of disdain. He was as big as a boulder, making the lean and scholarly Crown Prince look like a scrawny young boy in comparison.
"Who is that ?" she whispered to the three girls.
Jessamine peered over to take a look at the said man, and her eyes shone with recognition. "That's the general of the Northern Wing, the Duke of Devereaux," she stated in awe. "My father said that he is one of the best strategists that this kingdom has had in five hundred years. A great and powerful man he certainly is."
