Elliot had left for another trip. Eva's dependence on him for company was pathetic, really. She had other friends. However, Walter was visiting another old soldier, Jasper had fallen ill, no doubt due to the blizzard, and her loyal canine companion couldn't have a conversation.

She'd read, for the first day, and soon managed to read through every book in her room. Since the Royal library was filled to the brim with various other bored palace-dwellers, Eva had decided not to go down to fetch more reading material. Most of them would not stop talking about him.

Reaver. She'd stayed in her room, bored out of her mind, only to avoid him and the mention of him. Of course, he spent most of his time either overseeing his various factories or in his manor, but he tended to be a recurring presence whenever she ventured into the hallways of the castle. If not in the flesh, in the words of gushing aristocrats. Women often spoke of his appearance, men of his wealth, and some, those Eva had grown a strong distaste for, spoke of that dance.

Eva had assumed it was nothing. Elliot had laughed when she had told him, shrugging it off as typical behaviour from that man. Walter had simply made Eva promise not to get too involved with Reaver, and she happily agreed. She did not actually like him, and Walter was right in saying where Reaver went, trouble followed, like a loyal hound.

However, to some people, it was more then that. Eva had once been approached by one of the aforementioned people, who'd asked, in all seriousness, if it was going to be a Spring wedding. Even Logan had appeared to have heard their whispers, and actually gave her an hour of his time to make sure the gossip was only gossip, not truth. Despite making Reaver so powerful, it was obvious to Eva that Logan did not want her to become too involved with the man. At least, all this irksome gossip had reassured Eva that Logan still cared about her.

It did mean that she very rarely left her room. She didn't want to hear about it, so she remained in the one place where she wouldn't. And during her now two days of virtual isolation, she had learnt how to play multiple new ditties on the piano forte, virtually memorised the works of Mourir, and attempted to write prose. Suffice to say, that had not ended well.

Eva was combing her hair for the millionth time when she heard a knock at the door. Standing, she brushed the crumbs (from breakfast) off her cobalt skirts, and spoke. "Come in." And lo and behold, Reaver strolled in.

Eva made sure her sigh was obvious. "Oh, it's you." Joy of joys, the very thing she had been avoiding had waltzed into her only safe place.

He smiled that awfully irresistible smile, giving the princess a little bow. "In the flesh."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Why are you here, Reaver?" She hadn't summoned him, and she was absolutely certain that Logan had not.

"To be your hero yet again, fair Princess." Yet another cryptic sentence. Hero in which sense? Or was he just being an ass?

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." Perfectly fine until he strolled in, as ever.

"Nonsense. You've been in this room for days, and you have had no company, or exercise." The way he said it suggested that he knew why, and Eva wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"What I do is none of your business, Reaver." She spoke coldly. "Don't you have factories to be overseeing?" He was supposed to be a busy man, and yet he always found the time to come and annoy her.

"I have a wonderful thing called 'overseers'. I pay them, they work." He would always find time for her. "And I always enjoy a morning stroll."

Eva was starting to see where this was going now. "No. Absolutely not, you are not dragging me off again to play your ridiculous games!"

And yet, as ever, he ignored her words. He calmly tossed Eva's cloak onto her, with perfect accuracy, and approached, taking her by the arm and walking into the cold air, shutting the doors behind them with one smooth gesture. He noticed that she wasn't even struggling, and smirked at her. "See? Not so bad."

She couldn't overpower him. Instead, she resolved to simply act cold towards him. "I'm cold."

"Perhaps we should hold each other closely and share body warmth."

"You..." Eva did not think there was a word that could possibly describe how much she despised Reaver.

"Lost for words, my dear princess?"

"You ass." That would do for now.

"Such dreadful language, one wonders where you got it from." Most likely her mother. Sparrow had called him such dreadful things, it made for the perfect pillow talk. He missed the fond way she had insulted him, her snark never fading.

"You already know." Eva had no doubt in her mind that if she didn't shut down this aspect of the conversation, he would have an excuse to say more then two sentences and enrage her further. She knew he had known her mother, though Walter talked about Reaver the least. Walter hadn't spared the details about her mother's language, so Eva supposed Reaver would be aware.

"If it wasn't your mother, I would assume it was Sir Walter." He felt the need to make her taunt him, to anger her into being snarky. Because he almost couldn't tolerate seeing her despondent, hiding from the world. Reaver knew she was her mother's daughter, but all those years of court etiquette and being kept on the castle grounds had most likely faded all that indomitable spark away. Most of it, anyway.

"You wouldn't know." He never talked to Walter, though she suspected that Walter preferred it that way. She'd even asked, once, and Walter had taken the time to explain just how many times Reaver had betrayed her mother, or attempted to. But Eva just felt that with a man like Reaver, you had to expect betrayal. Reaver would only do things that benefited himself.

"If it isn't him, it's either your butler or your dear Elliot, and neither seem the type." He needed to push her, to see that glorious anger spring...

"You do love to hear yourself, don't you?" She half-snapped, reining in her anger. Speaking of Walter was bad enough, she didn't want to talk of Elliot with Reaver. Avo only knew what kind of atrocities Reaver could spread if she have him fuel.

"I love to hear you, dear princess, but you're so timid. Like your father...if it was that book seller. Perhaps it was the alchemist...no, the servant..she really did sleep around, didn't she?" Just keep pushing, it never failed with Logan, though his anger was a cold fury that bored Reaver immensely.

"You're a fine one to talk!" Eva had tried to be refined, but he just had to bring up the worst things. "You speak of sleeping around, you have warmed every bed in Albion!"

"Except from yours, though we can change that..." He smiled a seductive smile. She was sixteen, but age didn't matter to him.

"You scoundrel!" Eva yanked herself away, finding a strength she never knew she had, shoving Reaver away from her and running to the relative safety of her room.