“There are some men here requesting an audience with you, Your Highness. They say you’ve been expecting them?”

Gisella smiled at the guard standing in front of her. It was about time they got here. Come to think of it, they were actually right on time. Ivan had made good on his promise, it seemed.

She stood. “Good. Take them to the throne room. I’ll be with them in a few minutes.”

At her command, the guard nodded and gave a short bow before hurrying out of the room. Gisella sat down again. May as well make them wait a while.They’d made her wait long enough, after all.

She reached up and pulled a pin out of her hair, sending half of it tumbling down her back in loose waves. She might as well redo her hair as long as she was sitting there. Do it up a bit looser, perhaps. Reaching for her comb, she began pinning.

Normally she would have her handmaiden do her hair for her, but she’d gotten rid of her most recent girl just two days ago. It was hard to find someone she liked enough to keep around. They were either too talkative or too shy. The shy ones always fumbled, dropping things out of nervousness and overall ruining everything. The only time they ever spoke was to apologize. At least the ones who talked too much didn’t break things.

She’d only ever had one handmaiden worth keeping around. And that had ended worse than any of the others she’d ever had. She’d mostly given up on finding someone who knew what they were doing.

Putting in one last pin, she looked herself over. After a moment, she decided it looked better than it had before. A handmaiden would likely have done it better, but this would have to do for now. She’d have a new handmaiden by tomorrow. It wouldn’t matter for much longer.

She took a step towards the door, then stopped. Actually, this wouldn’t have to do at all. Turning back towards the mirror, she pressed her fingers together and twirled them. The loose hairs she’d missed instantly twisted themselves together in reaction, and she pressed some more pins into her hair to hold them. It wouldn’t do to be wasting concentration on keeping her hair up, after all.

Pleased with it for now, she walked out of the room, her heels clicking satisfyingly against the stone floor of the hallway. She’d taken long enough. The men would be anticipating her arrival quite anxiously by now. And that was just how she liked it.

As she reached the throne room, the guards outside the door opened it and she entered grandly. The men’s heads turned to look at her as she strode up to her regular seat on the throne, her long dress trailing behind her. It was a good thing she had servants to clean the floors, or her few favorite dresses would no doubt be ruined by the dirt men like these dragged in.

Taking a seat on the polished throne - one of the few things she truly loved about her small castle - she affected a pleasant smile towards the four men. Even she had to admit, however, that it didn’t quite reach her eyes. While she may have been pleased enough to see them, they were late. And late didn’t fit into her agenda.

“Hello, Ivan,” she said coolly, breaking the tense silence. Ivan gave a small bow and stepped forward.

“We’ve brought the girl,” he said, gesturing to a small body slung over Boris’s shoulder. Ivan’s steel-gray eyes met hers. It was clear he was upset with having to wait on her. “Now, about our payment-”

Gisella cut him off. “Let me see her first.” He wouldn’t get anything from her until she was satisfied they’d delivered on their end.

Ivan narrowed his eyes in displeasure, but gestured to Boris who then lay the body on the ground. Rolling it over, he revealed the face of a young girl, unconscious, with pale blonde hair surrounding her face like a halo. She looked younger than Gisella had expected. And she was unconscious. This small fact amused her. Had the girl been that much trouble?

“This is her, then? Princess Mirabel?” Ivan nodded in response. “Well, I do hope she wasn’t too much trouble for you four. Such big burly men, I’m sure a sweet princess was no problem for you lot.” She smiled condescendingly at them. Seeing the girl, she suddenly thought she knew the significance of the discussion on the other end of the mirror. Hair. Girl. She wasn’t stupid, contrary to popular belief. She understood more than others thought she did. That had always been her advantage growing up.

Ivan’s face was dark with a scowl when he spoke next. “The girl was fine. No trouble at all. Now, on to the matter of payment, if you will.”

That right there told her all she needed. The girl had been trouble. She had to admit she was surprised; the girl didn’t look like much. But she of all people should know not to judge by appearances.

As Ivan continued scowling at her, she rolled her eyes and produced a small coin bag, tossing it at his feet. It jangled as it hit the ground. To be honest, she’d almost decided not to pay them. They’d been late, after all, and Ivan had lied to her more than once. In the end, however, she’d simply decided to cut the payment she’d originally agreed to. She knew Ivan well enough from their previous acquaintances not to entirely doublecross the man.

She also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t split the money with his comrades. He’d either run with it, or he’d take care of the others so he wouldn’t have to worry about them. Whichever method best suited him at the time.

He bent and retrieved the pouch at his feet. Glancing at her suspiciously, he tugged it open and peered inside before cinching it closed once more. He pocketed the pouch and glared at her, but said nothing to his companions. Gisella smiled; she’d expected that. He would definitely keep the money for himself.

She snapped her fingers. In a moment, the heavy doors of the throne room opened, and the guards who had opened the door for her earlier strode in.

“Take the girl to one of the empty rooms in the west end,” she said, gesturing to where the princess lay on the floor. “And make sure to station a guard outside the door.” She wasn’t taking any chances; she knew nothing about this girl at the moment, but if she was to keep her captive until everything had gone accordingly, she would have to take precautions.

“You sure you don’t need a hand there, chums?” Boris asked with a chuckle as the two guards bent to retrieve the small princess. They seemed to expect her to be heavier than she was, and had stumbled as they lifted her.

The guards ignored Boris, however, and one of them took the girl and slung her over his shoulder with relative ease. Unconscious or not, she was still a lightweight. Gisella almost rethought wasting a guard on her room, but then decided it was probably best to be safe. Was she paranoid? Perhaps. But it had saved her skin more than once.

The door fell closed behind the guards and Gisella’s thoughts returned to the current situation. The four mercenaries still stood before her, saying nothing. She raised an eyebrow at them.

“What? You have your payment, I have the girl. What more do you want?”

Boris opened his mouth to speak, but it was Ivan who answered. “Nothing, Gisella.”

This caused both of Gisella’s eyebrows to shoot up her forehead. How dare he act so familiar with her. “Would you care to rephrase that, Ivan?” she said coolly, spitting the man’s name out threateningly.

Ivan narrowed his eyes, but conceded. “I meant, of course, Your Highness.” His tone was less than cordial, but it would have to do.

“Wonderful,” she replied, exerting an effort to sound chipper. “If that’s all, then, I suggest you take your leave. I have other business to attend to.”

Ivan nodded, and gestured to the other men, leading them out of the room. Boris’s face was dark, however, and Gisella knew that if he had spoken first, the conversation would have gone far differently.

But instead of dwelling on that, she stood. After all, she did have other business to attend to. It was about time she found out how Lucerne was handling things.

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A/N Here it is. Another chapter. Gisella's POV this time - I found her a little odd to write, to be honest. I hope you guys enjoyed. You'll be seeing more of her soon x3 This probably isn't my best chapter ever, but at least it's written :P Let me know what you guys think down below? Thanks :3 Love you all xx

(Also, lookie at the picture on the side! Mirabel, drawn by the lovely PaigeyLou :D She did a really good job with it. Isn't it just gorgeous?)