Voices tittered across the ballroom, whispering at the cries of the hysterical woman, and the news she brought.

"What is the meaning of this?" The king's voice boomed. He rose from his throne and strode toward the woman. "What has happened?" He said in a softer tone, kneeling before the woman on the floor. She wept openly.

"I was watering the flowers in the gardens, and I strode around the hedge near the edge of the forest, and there he was!" She broke off in sobs. The king placed a hand on her shoulder kindly. The female elf sniffled and stared up at the king. "He was covered in blood, his throat slashed!"

Shocked whispers filled the room. Murderer, slaughter, killer. The words echoed throughout the chamber. The atmosphere grew tense, a ripple of fear permeated the room. Setia got the impression that this was an unheard of occurrence, murder in their midst. Then Setia caught wind of the surrounding voices.

"It was them." She heard Lina's shrill voice.

"The dark elves show up and then a councilor is killed?"

"They brought this with them."

Setia's heart raced, her palms sweat. She stared around her at the angry stares that followed her, the suspicious glances. She struggled not to fold in on herself under the angry glares. Lina's face was covered in a sinister smirk.

(Ding! Court approval meter has decreased to 5%. Warning, dangerously low!) Eli's voice rang in her head. She gasped. If it hit zero, she failed!

She looked up at the unsure eyes of Prince Niall, and the guarded expression of the Queen and King. Her lip trembled. She begged herself not to freak out.

She felt a hand on her back, pushing her toward the exit. She looked up to find General Liandris behind her.

"Move toward the exit, go. Let's get out of here." He swept her from the room and took her down a series of winding corridors until they exited an enormous set of doors into the gardens. The moon hung high in the air, and Elarion continued marching forward, guiding her until they were a ways away from the castle. Then he spun on her. His icy blue eyes were brilliant in the moonlight, his dark tunic complimented the elegant knot of his black hair.

"A councilor is dead." He said matter-of-factly.

"It would appear so." Setia answered slowly. Cautious.

"You were with the Prince all evening, I saw you." He said. Her shoulders slumped in relief.

"Yes." She answered.

"Was it one of your men?" He asked seriously, his brow arched. Setia bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"No, I had nothing to do with this! I'm here for talks of peace." She said earnestly. She did not know who had killed the man, but she had not ordered it.

"I believe you." He said immediately. She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You do?" She asked suspiciously. She distinctly remembered over hearing him questioning her motives to the Prince the night before. He nodded, his mouth in a straight line.

"I do not trust you, but I don't believe you are stupid." He said in a nonchalant tone. Setia scoffed.

"Well, I'm glad that is the case. You believe whoever did this is stupid?" She asked. He nodded.

"I believe it would be stupid for you to have someone slaughtered on the night of a ball in your honour. You are from the enemy kingdom, so you would be the obvious suspect. Too obvious." He said. Setia nodded. She remembered the sinister glimmer in Lina's eyes and shook her head. There's no way she'd stoop to slaughtering someone, would she?

"None of my men would have harmed your councillor, General." Setia spoke with confidence. Elarion nodded and gazed around the empty gardens. He gripped Setia's arm firmly.

"Let us take the back way to your suites, princess. It's best you lie low until we settle this." He said grimly.

"So you mean to lock me in my room until you find the killer? I can't help?" She asked.

"The people suspect you, the best course of action is for you to stay under the radar." He breathed. Setia sighed and nodded. She didn't like it, but knew he was probably right. They geared the people to burn her at the stake. She didn't know why he suddenly wanted to help her. He had seemed so against her presence earlier.

They walked around the gardens until they were beneath the terrace of Setia's suite. There were vines that wound their way up the wall, next to the terrace. Setia sighed and narrowed her gaze in determination. Lifting her skirts, she tied the hem of her dress around her waist, so her legs and thighs were on full display. She saw Elarion avert his gaze.

"My lady! What are you doing?" He asked as Setia gripped the vines and was climbing. His cheeks were bright red.

"Don't tell me you've never seen legs before, General. I'm climbing up to my suite." She stated, as if it was obvious.

"None so lovely, Your Highness." He muttered, shaking his head and opened his palm. He blew on his palm, and a balm of light shimmered from his hand. A cloud of wind gathered and solidified beneath Setia, and lifted her to the balcony, as Elarion raised his hand. Her jaw dropped. This was the first she had seen of magic in this world. She stepped off of the upward gust and on to her terrace.

"You did not think to use magic?" He called, amusement in his voice. Setia blundered.

'Help! Eli, what should I know about magic? Can I do magic?' She gasped in her head.

(The dark elves, and particularly the royal family, hold dominion over shadows and the dark arts.) Eli's voice sounded in her mind.

"I did not think the dark arts would be useful right now." Setia called back. Elarion blinked. The blush was fading from his cheeks.

"Stay here tonight, my lady. We will try to settle this as quickly as possible." He said to her and bowed. Setia nodded, and he turned on his heel to stalk back into the darkness.

Setia leaned against the railing and let out another deep sigh. She stared up at the moonlit night and thought to the bloody corpse that had been found in the gardens. She had been with the prince on the balcony, and then with Elarion at the bar, in full view of everyone. Yet people wanted to hate those who were different.

She turned and walked through the large doors that led to the terrace, and stepped into her suite. The warmth of the room rushed to her. She walked to her bedroom and fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her cuff let out the familiar Ding! And she felt a weight on the bed above her head. She peeked up to see Eli's little snout staring down at her.

"Someone has been in here." Eli said, gazing around the room. Setia froze, gazing around the room. Nothing looked like it had been touched.

"I wonder what they were looking for." She muttered. Rising from the bed to stride into her closet, she stripped out of her gown, letting it flow to the floor. Sighing once she was free from it in relief, she searched through the shelves and found a long, old-fashioned nightgown that was covered in lace. She shrugged and pulled it on over her head.

Seeing a drawer in the room's corner that appeared slightly ajar, she walked toward it. That shouldn't be open unless a servant had left it open. She reached forward, grasping at the handle. She pulled it open and gasped.A massive, bloody serrated knife sat in the drawer. And she knew where it had been.