It looked like it was about to rain, so we decided to cut our walk short, heading into the palace via the back entrance. Laughing at Henrietta's analysis of the debutantes, we rounded the corner into a larger hallway, where I walked smack into a large body, falling back onto the wooden floor. I had to lean on Eric even after he had helped me up, watching in bewilderment as the man I had run into bowed, apologising profusely to the princess. It intrigued me that when he turned to me instead, he spoke slow enough that I could lipread.

The young man had dark brown hair which curled almost to his ears, and a bewildered, slightly wary expression which smoothed out into a mild smile. His clothes were Ilragese in style and, whilst they seemed to be tailored to him, he looked like he was almost popping out of them, such was the broadness of his shoulders. Henrietta elbowed me subtly and I realised I had been looking at him for too long. He offered to kiss my hand and I allowed him, watching how his grey eyes seemed to dance when they caught mine. As we parted, the princess practically dragging me away, Eric provided a card saying:

Andrey Rimmer. Courtier. Son of Lord and Lady Rimmer of Galavon, deceased.

I nodded, glancing back as he hurried off down the corridor.

Henrietta greeted me with raised eyebrow, laughing as I shrugged.

"He's the first decent looking fellow I've come across in months." I admitted, fighting another glance back.

"So will you come to Maman's parlour tomorrow, now that you have greater motivation than a Princess's request?"

I barked a laugh at the card, almost hearing the sarcasm, as we walked the corridor to the older palace again.

My heart sighed a little when we reached my door. There were two black clad soldiers sitting either side of it, but they didn't seem to faze the princess, so I tried not to let them faze me. One of them stood and opened the door silently. Stepping inside, my heart sank further to see Gavrila, who was sat on the bed waiting.

Henrietta stopped abruptly, drawing herself up to her full height as she stared her husband down. Eric came to stand next to me so I could see what he wrote, as he wrote it.

H: "What are you doing here? We were just out walking."
G: "I need to talk to Evie alone."
H: "Fine, I'll leave Eric with you to transcribe
G: "Alone. Take him with you and join the Debutantes in the middle parlour."

"I want Eric to stay here." I blurted out, I may have interrupted the conversation but I needed a word in and Jemima wasn't back yet. Gavrila shot me a look, I tried to let it roll off my shoulder. "Communication is much easier when he's with me." Before Gavrila could challenge me further, I turned to the princess, "Thank you for the walk, your highness. It's been a lovely excursion."

I dropped a curtsey to her as she glanced between the two men and I once more before leaving.

Hesitatantly, I sank down onto the chair at the vanity table, whilst Eric sat on the chair by the bed. His expression was totally unreadable.

Gavrila stared me in the eye as he spoke. Whilst I still couldn't hear him, I could feel the vibrations running out from his chest. The ear whistles increased tenfold as I waited for Eric to pass me the card.

"I want to ask you a question. I want to ask you why you're suddenly using my sexuality against me."

The blood drained from my face as I stared back at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Gavrila reached behind him to chuck a common newspaper at me. The headline felt like a rock in my gut.

MARGUERITE MAJESTY

The headline itself mocked, what was worse were the names I spotted through the article. Felix Grey, Hannah Ivory, Jason Teller. By each of their names was a quote. I decided not to read them. This newspaper was just the local one for the commoners in the south though.

Eric nudged my arm with another card.

"That's just the one from Oldcliff though. It led to this. And eventually, it led to this."

Once I looked up, Gavrila tossed me two more newspapers. The first was national, still common. It carried a similar headline and the byline questioned whether he was actually fit to rule. The second paper was far more worrying, written for the upper class across the nation.

CRITICS QUESTION ROYAL BABY'S LEGITIMACY.

There was another written card ready and waiting for me as I tried to hold back my tears of guilt.

"I've done wrong things under Thomas's rule I know, but believe me, that baby is mine and I will love them as such. How dare you start these rumors when you knew firsthand that they weren't true?"

The tears were swimming in my eyes as I met his gaze. He didn't look so angry as I'd expected, instead he just seemed hopeless.

"I never started this. My maid - my maid asked about rumors of you being a - a..." I didn't want to say the word. It felt disrespectful. "I told her not to think that. They asked me to lead them but I was too afraid to speak to you and-"

Gavrila stood up, stopping my hasty explanation in its tracks. He snatched the pad from Eric to scribble on it himself.

You were afraid to speak to me? So you told them to launch their accusations at me in public instead? Or hide them about my bedroom?

I watched as he wrote, stuck to the spot in fear. When I tried to interrupt, he held a warm hand to my mouth, then carried on writing.

Why were you afraid? Did you think I was lying when I told you I loved you? Do you think I do only like men?

I barely had time to finish reading before he took my face in both his hands and pressed his rough lips to mine. It was so hard not to kiss him back.

See? What the hell does it matter who I kiss, who I fuck, when it comes to my ability to rule? I wish you had stopped for a second to think about what's going to happen to me as a result of your actions.

Before I could open my mouth to try again to explain myself, he dropped the pad into my lap, then walked out the door.