It took a little bit of time, but eventually I pulled myself together. No matter how the plot changed, or how terrified I was, I could not let Autumn get kidnapped tonight. That was the only path I refused to go down. All I could do was trust in my preparations.

I got changed, leaving the blue ball gown behind and changing into my black sparring clothes. I tied my hair back and wrapped my hands to protect my fists. Poisons went in one pocket, antidotes in another. I strapped knives to my arms, waist and legs. Feeling better now that I was armed head to toe, I went in search of Captain Alexander.

When Autumn and I had first come to the capital, he and a group of the guards I frequently sparred with all volunteered to follow us and arrange for security. Although not thrilled about losing the captain of his guard, Autumn's father agreed that in the end, his daughter's safety took first priority. I was thrilled to have a team that I was already close to, and as the dreaded night that I had worried about for so long approached, we had met multiple times to plan out how best to protect her.

"Tonight's the night." I smiled at the Captain as I entered the room, trying to lessen the tension somewhat.

He took in my outfit and multiple weapons and sighed quietly. "Any chance I can convince you to stay in Lady Autumn's room tonight and let us handle protecting both of you?"

He really was a kind man, but his concern was wasted on me. I shook my head, ignoring his disappointed expression at my refusal. We spent some time going over patrol schedules and guard placements. Alexander had done his job well, there was someone I trusted at every major path to Autumn's room at all time. It would be nearly impossible for any intruder to reach her. I thanked him, but before I could go check on my other preparations, there was one last thing.

"Did you get the thing I asked for?"

He frowned, pulling out a small red vial with an attached strap. "The container has been made to your specifications. I'm afraid to ask what this liquid is that you had me place in here, or where you got it from."

I took the vial from him, strapping it to my wrist. "Thank you for this. It's better that you know as little as possible about the contents."

"Can you at least tell me what it is for?"

I placed a hand over the container, focusing my magic. An illusion hid the vial from sight, leaving only the appearance of bare skin. Thanks to my training with hands over the last year, this illusion spell should remain in place for twelve hours unless I consciously removed it or I ran out of magical energy. I hoped I wouldn't need it at all. I considered Alexander's question, staring off at the wall my mind already filled with considering all the terrible possibilities.

"It's my last resort, for the worst case scenario."

With that I left and went to check on Autumn. As I entered the room, she raced towards me, eyes wide. She grabbed me by the shoulders, nervously questioning me.

"Are you okay? Why did you run away from the party?"

"..." it was kind of hard to easily explain.

Autumn leaned forward, whispering. "Did Duke Harrington say something to you?!"

She stepped back, muttering to herself. It was difficult to completely understand her but I caught the words "idiot" and "make him regret..." I laughed and gave her a hug.

"Duke Harrington was a perfect gentleman. I left the party for a completely different reason."

"He really didn't say anything at all to you?" She stared at me in disbelief.

I briefly thought about his communication spell which warned me to be careful, but that didn't seem to be what she was looking for. I shook my head. "No."

She was muttering under her breath again: "Coward, you... cry tears of regret...I'll... with a dull knife."

I hoped I was just hearing stuff out of context. Just in case I decided

"Tonight was the night I was supposed to drug you. I assume they will try to kidnap you." I helped her pack some items. "You're going to stay in a different room tonight. All the possible entryways will be heavily guarded, I'll also set traps around." I patted her on the shoulder. "So I don't want you to worry. I'll make sure you're safe."

Autumn didn't look reassured "What about you?"

I shrugged, "I'm going to be camping out in your usual room in case they show up. If we can catch them in the act of trying to kidnap the prince's fiancé, all the better."

"That doesn't sound very safe for you! Is someone going to be there to help you? I can talk to the Duke..."

"Don't bother him." I interrupted, "I'll be fine. Trust me."

She still appeared nervous, but I refused to back down. Even in the worst case scenario and Autumn was kidnapped, I wanted him involved as little as possible. If it came down to it, I would rescue her myself.

I settled Autumn into her new room, setting traps at the windows and doorway. After carefully instructing her on how to disarm them in case she needed to escape the room, I headed out. Captain Alexzander's men were already in place.

I settled into her old room, hiding myself in the dark corner of the room with a small illusion spell. Again, I was glad I had sent Autumn away, her magic cancelling constitution would have made it impossible to magically hide myself. Sighing with relief as I felt the spell take hold, I relaxed with my back against the wall. Now all I could do was wait.

I felt nervous, on edge, but I forced myself to remain still. The ending I had written myself what seemed a lifetime ago, played endlessly in the back of my mind, taunting me.

In the book, Autumn was successfully kidnapped. They demanded ransom but Savalle's true goal was to lure the Prince nearby where he had set a trap. Once he had him where he wanted him, Savalle planned to make his true demand- the throne for her life. Unfortunately James intercepted the ransom message and went by himself. After defeating countless numbers of Savalle's henchmen, he sacrificed himself to kill Savalle and save Autumn. It was my worst nightmare. All I could hope is that by protecting Autumn, I could prevent him from meeting his end tonight.

I would not accept such an ending. I would destroy it with my own two hands. And if all else failed, and the plot continued on course despite my efforts... well, I had a back up plan for that too.

Hours passed, but anxiety kept me awake. Each shadow taunted me, I saw assassins in every corner. I gripped my knife in my hand, so tightly my fingertips were numb.

I kept waiting.

Just as I was about to shift positions, a small globe of light moved towards me. A communication spell? I rewatched out to touch it, and heard a calm male voice in my head:

"Meet me in the garden, it's a matter of life and death."

What was going on?

I made my way over quickly, my mind racing with all the possibilities. Had something happened to Autumn? Was he ok? He said it was a matter of life and death, so whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

As I entered the garden, things seemed relatively peaceful.

"..." I looked around, but didn't see any trace of the Duke.

"James?" I finally called out softly, but the only answer was silence.

Something was wrong.

I decided to go back and check on Autumn, just as I turned around to go, however, I was confronted by William Savalle. Still wearing his formal black clothes from the party earlier, he now stood silently just a few feet away.

He smiled widely, an expression that didn't reach his eyes.

"Hello Katrina, I see you got my message." I backed away a few steps, shaking my head. I thought back to the message I received. I had assumed it was James who sent the communication spell, since we frequently passed them back and forth. The voice in the message did sound similar, but it was too late to regret not recognizing it properly now. William stepped closer, his presence overwhelming me. I broke out in a cold sweat, frantically looking around to assess my escape routes. I had to get to Autumn!

"I won't let you take her!" I snarled, trying to jump past him. As I moved beyond him I felt a blow to the side of my neck, knocking me to the ground.

As darkness overcame me, I heard him walk closer and stand over me.

"Foolish. Whatever made you think that my target was that girl?"