After getting direction as to where Mason's room was, since Shelby had never seen it, she went straight there after she left Abigail. The girl was a little nervous leaving the princess there alone, but as she was leaving, Gavin showed up, and she was much more comfortable knowing that Gavin was there. Gavin also nodded consent after Shelby told him she was going to go apologize to Mason.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," he had said. "Even though you're not the one at fault." So, eventually, after walking up a few more flights of stairs and down several halls, Shelby found the prince's room. She hesitated a moment or two out in the hall gathering her bearings, and the knocked on the door gently. She was afraid he wouldn't hear, but Mason's voice called out from in his room for her to come in. Shelby took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Mason was sitting at a desk in his room, frowning over a paper, and looking a lot like his mother.

"Mason?" Shelby said quietly. The prince turned at the sound of the girl's voice.

"Shelby?" he said, and stood slowly. "What are you doing here?" His tone was back to his normal, gentle nature. Shelby shifted back and forth on her feet.

"I, um, came to apologize." Mason's expression softened. "For, you know, yelling at you." The prince actually smiled a little bit.

"I started it," he said.

"I know," Shelby said, her eyes squeezed shut. "But I yelled back. I'm sorry," she added hastily. Mason walked across the room leisurely, and took her hands.

"It's alright," he said softly. "Don't worry about it." Shelby found it hard to look him in the eye. He touched her chin. "Hey," he said after a pause. "Smile." So Shelby tried. Mason loved working with Shelby. She was very responsible, and mature, and knew how to take care of herself without relying heavily on others, but was also gentle, and knew how to work with people with touchy personalities. Shelby was beautiful inside and out, the prince thought. Especially when she smiled. Shelby untied the cloak around her shoulders and returned to Mason.

"Thanks," she said simply. Mason smiled at her.

"You're welcome," he replied, with a short nod of his head. Shelby tapped her foot once or twice. Then she turned to leave. "Wait," Mason said. Shelby turned on her heel again, raising a questioning eyebrow. "You didn't give me the chance to apologize." Shelby crossed her arms.

"Well, go on," she said in mock short-temperedness. Mason smiled, as if amused by her emotion.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," he sniffed. Shelby smiled a little.

"That's alright," she said. She turned to leave again, but as she reached the door, she paused again. "Do I have permission to leave?" she asked obnoxiously. Mason smiled at her genuinely.

"Yes," he said. Shelby bowed in teasing sarcasm, and then turned ad headed back up the hall.

Shelby decided it was probably best if she went back to tend Abigail. The princess might be sleeping again, but Shelby knew Abigail might want to get up and walk around like she always did, but it was probably not good for her health to be up already. So, Shelby went back to the princess's quarters to find Gavin still sitting in a chair next to Abigail's bed. She was asleep, as Shelby had presumed.

"Shelby," Gavin greeted formally.

"How is she?" Shelby asked. Gavin shrugged.

"She fell asleep a few minutes after you left. She seems to be sleeping soundly enough." He brushed a piece of Abigail's golden hair out of her face. "And her temperature has gone down." Shelby nodded tiredly. Gavin studied her. "I think you should go back to sleep, too, Shelby. You shouldn't be up and around yet, either." Shelby wanted very badly to go back to sleep, but she wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the princess. As if reading her mind, Gavin continued. "I'll look after her, don't worry," he said. "I'll make sure she doesn't try to get up or anything." After a moment, Shelby sighed. She was tired and exhausted, and she knew she wasn't going to convince Gavin otherwise, so she took his advice.

"Okay," she gave in eventually. "Just watch over her."

"I will," Gavin said. "Get some rest." So Shelby walked slowly back to her room, and passed out on her comfortable bed.

"Shelby," a soft voice said in her ear. Shelby's eyes fluttered a little, and then opened. A young maidservant was hovering over her. "Sorry to wake you," she apologized. "But the Queen would like to speak with you." Shelby rubbed her eyes, expecting this. She got up, and combed out her now loose hair with her fingers, trying to look the slightest bit presentable.

"Alright," she said. "Where is she?"

"The courtroom," the maid said. Then with a slight bow, the girl exited the room. Shelby cracked her knuckles and looked around her dim-lit room before leaving to have an audience with the queen.

Unlike the other times the queen had requested to speak with Shelby, Cassandra wasn't frowning over papers of files. Instead, her hands were crossed over each other, and she stared, unyielding at the door. As Shelby drew closer to the massive desk, the young girl took notice of Cassandra's concentrated knit eyebrows. Shelby also noticed that no one else was in the room, a rare occasion indeed. Shelby bowed politely before sitting in the small chair at the case of the large wooden desk.

"Hello, Shelby," the queen said, her authoritative voice echoing in the almost empty halls. Shelby simply nodded in reply. After a thoughtful silence, Cassandra continued. "I have called you to describe details of the alleged attack." Alleged? Shelby was almost shot! It was alleged. Before Shelby had time to get angry, she realized that the queen was only being diplomatic, and that it was her job not to believe everything she heard. Cassandra noticed the girl's silence, and pressed on. "Who else was at the scene?" Shelby noticed how the queen poised herself at the edge of her chair as if awaiting bad news. Shelby took a deep breath.

"The man who held Abigail was tall," she explained. "He had dark hair. I didn't really see much of his face; I shot him from far off." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember all the details. "The second man, the one who shot at me; he was shorter. A little more round. He also had dark hair." Cassandra rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"It doesn't sound like any wanted criminals," she said eventually. "Perhaps it was just some citizen who doesn't agree with the government." The queen herself said this, but Shelby didn't believe, and she knew Cassandra didn't either. But Shelby couldn't blame her. Peace had made itself known for the past few weeks, and Cassandra wasn't ready for any sort of violence again.

"Yes," Shelby said steely. "That must be it." Cassandra could sense the girl's doubt, and with good reason.

"Very well," the queen said. "If you see anything suspicious, don't hesitate to tell me, Horace, Mason, or anyone else you can trust." She looked warily around the cold courtroom, as if expecting someone to jump out of the shadows. "I don't like the way this happened. I sense something rising." Shelby silently agreed. Things were definitely more than they seemed. Then again, they always were, so it came as no surprise to either of them. "Well, Shelby, I do believe it's time for lunch. I won't make you come to the dining hall; I will have someone bring you something." Cassandra stepped away from her desk, down the steps of the raised dais, and over to Shelby. She placed a small hand on the young teen's shoulder. "Thank you for your help," she said genuinely. "I appreciate all your hard work lately. I hope that you will recover soon." She gave Shelby a warm smile. "Get some rest." Shelby nodded.

"I'll try," she promised.

As the queen said she would, she had some servants send Shelby lunch in her room. Shelby was glad they sent it when they did; if it had been only minutes later, she would have been out again. The maid from before brought in a silver tray that comprised a savory-smelling soup, a tall glass of water, and a doughy bread. Shelby tried her best not to inhale it all, but the soup put her in higher spirits, and the bread was just how she liked it, slowing melting in her mouth. As she ate her lunch, Shelby stared into the blazing fire place. The flames danced around in the pit, giving off a hearty heat. For that, she was grateful, as she was very aware of the coldness the coming winter was bringing. Being sick certainly wasn't helping her temperature, but she tried not to notice too much. Shelby drained the rest of the soup's broth, and gulped down the water. She placed the silver tray on the bedside table and crawled under the warm covers again. She didn't expect sleep to come, but that was alright. She continued to stare at the mesmerizing flames, thinking about her life. Shelby knew it was a rather ridiculous thing to think about, being only fifteen, but she felt she had seen a lot over the past few months. She got herself in a dangerous business, working for the government, but she didn't regret it in the least. Abigail was a good friend to her, and she hoped and prayed that the princess would be well soon. Mason and Gavin were good friends to her as well, and she made a mental note to remind Gavin to give her sword-fighting lessons. But something was nagging in the back of Shelby's mind as she lay there. What had happened back at the lake was haunting her. She didn't really focus much on who the people were, and she didn't care, either. But she did worry about what they did. The leader of the last group of rioters had been captured, to she thought. They had got news that her father and Halt himself had caught him, so there was no doubt that a man was caught, but Shelby was rather concerned with the alternative. That they caught a fraud. Shelby swallowed and forced herself to think of something else. It was possible, and maybe even probable, that it was just some random outsider who didn't agree with the government. Even if there was still some remaining people left in the terrorist groups, it wasn't like it would keep happening. The main leader had been contained, Shelby convinced herself. She gnawed on her comforter, turning ideas around in her head. Her head started to get dizzy, and she blamed it on her fever. Even though she didn't expect it, sleepiness and dreams over took her in a matter of minutes.

She woke up at what she guessed to be six o'clock in the evening. Shelby was aroused from her sleep by the sound of a light tap at the door. Normally, people wouldn't wake to the near-silent sound, but Shelby was a very light sleeper. It was both a blessing and a curse. She could wake up to the slightest trouble, but the sound of anyone moving around at night woke her. In any case, she sat up a little groggily. After sleeping at such odd times during the day, Shelby was beginning to become disoriented. Her body was telling her it was morning, when the sun was clearly setting. She teetered over to the heavy door, and pulled open with some effort. In front of her stood Mason. As etiquette demanded, Shelby stumbled over herself to bow politely. When she regained her posture, Mason wore a slightly amused smile.

"You know you don't have to do that," he mentioned when she was stood straight.

"It's polite," Shelby mumbled. Mason snorted.

"Not to me. I hate formalities."

"Well you'll have to get used to it," Shelby said. "You'll be king someday." Mason sighed, as if the fact put weight on his shoulders.

"I know," he said eventually. Shelby stretched.

"So what are you doing here, anyway?" Mason let that smile creep up again.

"Dinner," he said simply.

"What about it?" Shelby said bluntly. Mason laughed a little too quickly, leaving her with the impression he was nervous. She tilted her head to one side.

"My parents are both busy the evening and won't be coming to dinner in the dining hall," Mason explained. "And I thought we should go somewhere."Shelby frowned.

"What about Abigail?"

"Gavin," Mason continued. "He said he'd keep her out of trouble." The tip of Shelby's mouth threatened to become a smile.

"Okay," she said shortly. She stepped into the hall and shut the door behind her. "Where should we go?"

"I was thinking Jenny's restaurant," Mason replied. Shelby nodded once.

"Sounds good," she said. They both started walking down the hall that Shelby alone occupied. Usually, it was overly quiet, since Shelby made virtually no noise moving around, but with Mason walking around, enough noise was circulated to sound like a whole army. Shelby took note of the fact as they walked around the marble floors, smiling beside herself. As the two passed a large window, Shelby noticed the brilliant setting sun.

"When it's not cloudy here, it's rather beautiful," she noted.

"Yes it is," Mason said carefully, though Shelby got the hint he was talking about more than the sunset. She flushed a little. Walking so close to the prince, she could detect the quiet authority in his green eyes, and notice he smelled of cinnamon. It was a strange thing to notice, yes, but she did notice.

For being the closest restaurant to the castle, Jenny's Inn/Cafe seemed to take forever to get to while they were walking in silence. However, they finally reached the restaurant, and Mason held the door open to let Shelby pass. She stepped into the cafe to be greeted by the sweet-smelling warmness that seemed to be omnipresent in Jenny's restaurant. Just as Mason let the door close behind him, Jenny herself stepped out of the kitchen. She spotted the prince and Shelby instantly.

"Hello!" she greeted with a wide smile. "Welcome!" She ushered them to a table a little set apart from the others. "I'll be right back to let you order." She disappeared behind the counter again. Mason and Shelby exchanged amused glances. Jenny was so bubbly, it was almost comical. As Shelby awaited Jenny's return, she noticed the nervous fluttering in her stomach. She wished it would go away, but of course, it didn't heed her. Shelby bit her lip and forced herself to think of good things. For heaven's sake, she thought, I'm eating dinner with Mason. That made her smile.