Pansy wandered aimlessly through the castle as she felt her stomach churn with nerves. She felt a gathering, restless energy fill her feet as she tried to find something to occupy her mind. She kept thinking about Neville's swollen face and bloody back as the whip marred his skin. She looked around and found that she had walked herself to the very same hothouse where it had happened.

She peered in and saw Neville's tools strewn across the floor as his jobs lay unfinished. Maybe she could help him by tidying up the mess. She felt a twinge of nerves as she thought about what her father would say at the thought of her cleaning. It was a servants job. She paused before she remembered Neville's reaction when she had said the same. He enjoyed it. Maybe there was something to it that could calm her nerves. She sighed and set to tidying.

It was the least she could do after the punishment he had received on account of her presences. She picked up the broken bits of pottery first before reaching for the broom. She had seen the maids using them often enough to know how they worked. She pushed the dirt clumsily off the path first before she got the balance right, then started to feel like she was making progress.

Once the path was cleared, she moved the pottery pieces to the bench with the tools, she didn't know what Neville would want to do with them.

With the way cleared and the terracotta pieces off the ground, the place looked almost as it had before. The only thing left was a lonely looking plant that had been discarded in the altercation. She picked it up and looked at it. She knew enough about plants to know that the soil was much too dry for a plant to last long. She looked around for the water source. Every hothouse had one somewhere. A spring that fed the plants within. She stopped and listened and heard a faint, trickling noise. She smiled in satisfaction as she headed towards the source.

Once there she found a pot large enough for the plant and dowsed it with the water. She turned to leave when she noticed some discarded vials by the pool. They lay on the ground, the blue glass shimmering in the daylight. She collected them up and carried them over to the bench and dropped them inside one of the broken pots. She turned and looked at the hothouse and smiled. Neville had been right, it had felt good and seeing it tidy again made her feel slightly better. She turned to leave when she almost collided with a chest. She reared back before glaring at the man before her.

"Looking for your lover?" Zacharias asked smugly.

"Not any more, apparently I've found him, my beloved." She sneered as she tried to step around him.

"If we are to wed, you will not have anywhere near the freedom your father allows you." He tried to grab her wrist, but she pulled it out of his grasp.

"Fear not my darling. If I have my way, we will not be wed long."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" The sallow-faced man asked.

She glared at him as she crossed her arms.

"Ah, my beloved, I see that for once we are on the same page. When you're my wife, I'll poison your tea."

"I'll drink it gladly." She growled.

"Make a wish, and count to three, it may come true."

She uttered a sound of disgust before leaving the greenhouse. She stopped and turned back

"You shouldn't be in the greenhouses. Get out."

"Neither should you, your highness." He replied "The Ardanian isn't here. I hope he doesn't scar too much, I've heard that women do so hate the feeling of flogged skin."

"Say what you want, but I bet you'd have soiled yourself at half the punishment." She sniggered as she turned to leave. A hand grabbed her wrist, jerking her back around.

"You be careful what you say to me, you spiteful little mutant. If you were poor, you'd have been tossed out with all the other unwanted children to be food for the dogs. If we are to be wed, You'll be lucky the same fate doesn't befall you. Be nice to me, and I may keep you around."

"How dare you touch me. I would rather be a dog's dinner than share your bed. You pathetic little worm. Now, unhand me!"

He let her go, and she jerked her arm away. "Get out of the gardens before I call the guards. You disgusting whoreson."

She could see the white hate fill his gaze as he glared at her. She felt a quick flash of fear before she felt the anger surge up again.

"You'll regret that, Princess." He spat as she turned away.

"No more than our wedding day." She shot back as she released a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. She turned and walked away.