"We should have a picnic!"

Maria, Nick and Cecilia were having breakfast when Cecilia made that announcement at which the other two turned to look at her startled. It had been three days after the wedding. Maria's uncle had promised Loveday a trip to London as soon as they got married so they had left just yesterday and wouldn't be back for two weeks.

"Why?" Maria voiced the question that was obviously running through Nick's mind too. Cecilia grinned at them. "Oh come on sweetie since the wedding we have been so busy with helping Loveday preparing for her trip with your uncle that we haven't done anything else. And I don't think Nick here had done much either. We should get out and have fun! Maybe we could invite our De Noir friend as well." Cecilia said, her green eyes shining with excitement. Nick nodded. "We don't know how much longer father will allow as to stay here…..we might as well make the most of it." He pointed out.

Maria frowned at that, for it was the truth. The twin's parents, even though they adored Maria and knew their children would be safe staying with her, had been skeptical with letting the twins stay in Moonacre Valley longer than planned. At first they wanted for their children to return home the day after the wedding as planned. But, with a letter full of pleadings from Maria's and Cecilia's side and long promises of not getting into trouble and being very responsible from Nick's side, the three of them had managed to extend the twin's visit a bit longer. The only downside was that their father could send a letter any moment he wanted, requesting for them to go home.

Eventually Maria nodded, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Sure, why not. Let me just check with Miss Heliotrope so she won't have a heart attack when she cannot find us." She said sitting up from the table and moving towards the door. "Great! I am going to inform the De Noirs. Don't worry, I remember the way!" Cecilia said also standing up. Maria turned around at that, narrowing her eyes and looking at her best friend suspiciously. "Can't it wait? We can go together later in the day." She pointed out, not so excited by the idea of Cecilia wandering around in the woods by herself. The ginger smirked at her friend's reaction. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be fine! And besides, I want to make a daily pastime annoying the De Noir boys till they crack." She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Maria met Nick's gaze and they both rolled their eyes at the girl's childlike behavior. "I will prepare your horse." Nick said and left the room.

Cecilia went to follow him but Maria stopped her. "Maybe you want to spend some time with your favourite blonde haired, blue eyed De Noir…" Maria said teasingly with a smirk on her face. Cecilia glared at her. "Yeah right…..because I am head over heels for that vain, narcissistic, childish, arrogant Casanova….." she said, her voice deep and edgy. Maria eyed her knowingly. She had teased the ginger about boys before but she had never got such a hostile and defensive reaction. Maybe there was something going on…..

"See you later, sweetie. And stop making such foolish assumptions." Cecilia chirped, smiling widely and giving Maria a hug. The girl raised an eyebrow at her friend's sudden change of behavior. But she didn't get a chance to comment on it because Cecilia, as soon as she let her go, vanished.

A few minutes later, the ginger was putting on her brown boots in Maria's room, ready to leave. Her eyes fell on her reflection in the mirror and she absentminded smoothed down her hair, which was braided in a fishtail, and run a hand over her dress's green skirt, straightening it. But her hand stopped in mid air as she realized what she was doing. Maria's comment came to mind and her lips turned into a put. She glared at her reflection. "You are absolutely not trying to look good in front of anyone." She muttered to herself through her teeth. Then, realizing how stupid her actions were, she huffed disapprovingly and headed out the room.

As she rode her horse inside the forest, she took in the peaceful aura of the place. Even though she would never exchange London's exciting and buzzing atmosphere, it felt refreshing having a change in her surroundings. The fresh air that went into her lungs made her feel more alive than ever and in night the rhythmic sounds of the forest nearby the manor lulled her to sleep.

At the thought of her nights, a memory of two nights ago flashed before her eyes. She frowned, remembering waking up at her best friend's scream. She had been too sleepy at that moment to full process what had happened and when she had tried in the morning talking to Maria about it, the girl had changed the subject of discussion almost immediately.

Maybe a certain De Noir would know what was going on…

With that thought, she made a mental note to ask Robin about it as soon as she could.

With the corner of her eye, she caught a sparkle between the roots of a tree on her left. Giving in her curiosity she stopped her horse and turned to see if it had been just her imagination playing tricks on her. That was not the case as she could now she clearly something sparkling, half-hidden under the fallen leaves of the tree. With an elegant jump- she should remember next time to thank her father for those horseback riding lesson he had insisted on- she was standing on her feet and moving towards the object.

Being careful not to get her dress dirty, she kneeled down and moved aside the leaves. Her eyes widened and her jaw hanged open as she got a full view of the sparkling object. It was a black leather choker with a pendant hanging from it. The pendant was made of gold, shaped as a sun, with a large ruby at its center, which was what was sparkling and had caught her attention. She stared at the jewel in pure awe, twirling it between her fingers. It was beautiful.

She couldn't even think why someone would leave something like that in the middle of the forest. But without giving it a second thought, she put the jewel inside one of the saddlebag she had on her horse's saddle. She could ask about it at the De Noir castle once she got there. And if, in the end, no one claimed it, she could keep it.

For the rest of her trip, her mind was at the jewel inside the bag. She couldn't explain why but the pendant had a tremendous effect on her. When she had first touched it, it had been like a jolt of energy had run down her entire body. And now, she felt like the jewel was calling her, begging her to keep it with her.

Soon the De Noir castle came to sight and her thoughts drifted away from the jewel. She passed through the gate- thankfully the guards had recognized her and didn't stop her- and she dismounted, her eyes scanning the yard for any familiar face. Soon she caught sight of Peter. She waved at him, catching his attention. The boy walked towards her, a smile on his face.

"Miss Bishop, what a lovely surprise. Can I help you?" Peter asked as soon as she reached her side. "Oh for heaven's sake, Peter, stop calling me that. You make me think of my father's oldest sister, who is 45 years old and unmarried." Cecilia laughed, wrinkling her nose at the thought of her aunt Beatrice. The woman was a rather unpleasant company.

"Ok, then, Cecilia, what can I do for you?" Peter said with a gentle smile. The girl had realized the older boy was most probably polite and kind to everyone he met.

"I have something to say that concerns you, John, Lysander and Robin. Do you know where they are? I will explain everything soon." Cecilia said. "Sure, they are inside. Let me go and get them. I'll be back in a bit." Peter said and, not waiting Cecilia's response, he headed inside the castle.

A few minutes later, he reappeared, the other three De Noir boys following him closely. Cecilia rested her eyes on Lysander without even realizing it. The boy caught her gaze and winking at her, which only brought her back to reality. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. Other girls in her position would blush and giggle nervously. But she was Cecilia Bishop. And she wouldn't be smitten by some Casanova.

She chose to ignore the fact that she had been the one who had looked at him in the first place.

"Good morning, my beautiful nymph!"

She didn't make an attempt to suppress the groan that came out of her mouth at the sound of Lysander's words. That boy never knew how to give up, did he?

"Give the girl a break, lover boy." John said, stepping between the two. Cecilia sighed, relieved that she didn't have to shut up Lysander herself.

"So, Peter told us you have something to let us?" Robin said. Cecilia turned to look at him puzzled, detecting the slight worry in his voice. The boy's eyes stared at her and she was sure that he was worried, even though he hid it well. Something clicked inside her mind as she saw him eyeing the place around her.

He was thinking that for her to come here without Maria, something had happened to the girl. He was worried for Maria.

A wide grin spread on her face at that thought. Those two were truly adorable.

"Well, we thought that it would be a great idea to have a picnic. And by us, I mean me; Maria and Nick just went along with it. So I came here to ask you if you would like to join us. The more the merrier. And anyway, I am very certain you know the area better than Maria, given the fact that she only came here a few months ago." Cecilia explained. She saw the worry wash away from Robin's face as the boy realized she wasn't bringing any bad news. She must have been smiling knowingly, because the boy looked away from her. Even though he seemed calm, Cecilia, who had always been good at reading people, caught the slight tensing of his shoulders, a sign of nervousness. The boy looked at his friends who turned to look at each other. "I'm in." John was the one to speak first. Peter nodded positively, showing that he agreed as well. "I couldn't imagine losing an opportunity to spend more time at your lovely presence." Lysander said with a charming grin.

"You never stop, do you?" Cecilia exclaimed loudly, crossing her arms. Lysander's grin widened and his eyes light up. "Well, how can I? The price I am trying to win is too enchanting to lose." He said. Cecilia raised an eyebrow at him. "I am not a price. And you won't win me over even in your dreams." She said, glaring at him angrily.

But what she witnessed next shocked her at such an extent that her anger vanished. For a split second, Lysander's eyes and he seemed almost disappointed at her rejection. But as soon as she blinked, the sadness in his eyes was gone and he was sporting that infuriating smirk once more.

It must have been her imagination…..

"So, Robin, are you in?" she said, forcing herself to focus on something else instead of the blonde. The boy was causing her a migraine.

"Sure, why not? It will be fun." The boy said his tone and eyes betraying just slightly his excitement.

"Then, it is settled. We can meet tomorrow morning at the Manor. I trust you will find an excellent place for us to have our picnic." Cecilia said and as soon as the boys agreed, she bit them goodbye. But before the De Noir went back inside the castle and she left, Cecilia remembered that she wanted to talk to Robin about Maria. So she asked the boy to stay back.

He looked at her, puzzled at her actions. Cecilia took a deep breath, thinking carefully about her next words.

"I worry for Maria. She woke up screaming in the middle of the night two nights ago. And she looks exhausted. She tries to hide it but I know her all too well. I don't think she is sleeping. And she won't tell me what is going on. Do you know something?" she said, her voice a pitch higher than usual, something that always happened when she was frustrated with something.

Robin's gaze darkened. The boy clenched his fists tightly, angry at himself. He hadn't talked to Maria when her uncle had asked him to. He had thought she was getting better. But now that he was thinking about it, she had seemed paler than usual at the wedding. And he must have been blind to not notice then that she had some faint black circles around her eyes.

"Hey, look, whatever you are thinking, it is not your fault." Cecilia commented, noticing the sudden change in his body language. When she got no response from the boy, who was now staring hard and angrily at the ground, she reached out and tugged at his sleeve. That caught his attention and Robin turned to look at her. He saw the worry in her eyes. So he took a deep breath and felt his tensed up body relaxing a bit.

"Cecilia, I get that you are Maria's best friend and you seem like a nice person. But don't take this the wrong way; I would like to take care of this by myself. Don't try to get her to talk to you. That will most probably make her shut you out even more. She will tell you whatever she wants to tell you when things are better. Do you trust me to let me handle this?" Robin said, his calmness surprising even himself.

Cecilia narrowed her eyes, anger suddenly consuming her. Had he just told her that she couldn't help Maria so she should just not get involved? Maria liking him or not, the boy was crossing a dangerous line. Maria had been her best friend for almost her whole life. Who was he, who had known Maria only for a couple of months, to tell her what to do?

But he wouldn't tell her that if he didn't know what he was doing, the logical part of her pointed out. She might have spent only a handful of hours in total at his company, but Cecilia knew he cared about Maria and wouldn't try to hurt the girl. So she sighed and nodded her head.

"Fine, I won't get involved. That doesn't mean that I like this, don't have any illusions. And be very careful not to cause Maria any harm, or I will hunt you down myself and kill you." She said her voice cold and sharp. She looked so threatening that Robin actually took a step back and away from her.

"You have my word. I would never hurt her." Robin said. Immediately thoughts of before the curse was broken came to mind, of how he had tried to kidnap Maria. He flinched, shaking slightly his head to chase away those thoughts. Fortunately for him, Cecilia didn't catch that.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Cecilia said and, turning around, she walked towards her horse and mounted it. Soon she was exiting the front gate and entering the forest once again.

Only when she was halfway back home, did she realize that she had forgotten to ask about the chocker that was still in her saddlebag.

Next chapter will be the picnic! Expect a lot to happen then!

What do you think of the mysterious jewel Cecilia found? And how do you think Robin will handle Maria's nightmares? Will she talk to him or just shut him out? I would love to know your opinion so please leave a review!

Oh, and to anyone who had any suggestion for future chapters, I welcome all thoughts and will consider any idea you have with great respect and thought!