Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy the last chapter! This next chapter will continue with Alcina uncovering more information about Charlotte. Hope you guys enjoy!

Alcina and her children had retired to the study after their refreshing bath. Having collected the history books from the library to look them over. She told them to get to work looking for any insignia with twin dolphins.

"What is an insinga?" Daniela asked.

"Insignia, dearest."

"Insignia."

"Correct. An insignia is a symbol of a household. We have one," she said, pointing to her necklace. "Ours is a flower with twin swords."

Daniela inspected her mother's necklace curiously.

"Two dolphins."

"Yes," Alcina said, patting her hip gently. "Go on and start looking for me."

Daniela bounded to where Bela was seated on the floor. Flipping through pages and speaking with Bela if she found something. Bela would look the page over and shake her head and go back to her own research.

Alcina taking a moment from flipping through the files of the maidens, observed Cassandra laying on her back with a book resting over her face.

'Honestly! Does that child truly believe I am sitting her and falling for that?' Getting up from her seat, she approached Cassandra and stood over her, waiting.

After a few moments, Cassandra slowly slid the book down from her face and stared up at her mother with raised eyebrows.

"Mother?"

"Any luck?" she spoke calmly, arms crossed.

"Not yet."

"Can you repeat to me what it is you are supposed to be researching?"

Daniela opened her mouth, but Bela slapped her hand over her lips. Oh how she wanted to watch their mother tear Cassandra a new one, or at least enjoy watching Cassandra sweating bullets. Unable to answer her mother's question.

"Two dolphins?"

"More."

Cassandra frowned. More?

"A two dolphin what, Cassandra?"

"Oh! A two dolphin insomnia!"

Bela snorted in laughter.

"Cassandra take that book and sit with me at the desk."

Grumbling to herself, Cassandra stuck out her tongue at Bela before plopping herself down in a chair next to her mother.

"Do I have to?"

Alcina opened the book to the first page and stabbed her finger into it.

"Look."

"Stupid. Dumb…" Cassandra continued to mutter to herself as she flipped through the pages.

Alcina tuning Cassandra out, continued to flip through the files. Skimming through many of the names with little interest. Some; however, intrigued her. One maiden's file in particular was over twenty years old. She set the file down and grabbed the next one.

'Oh Akila… I could never forget about you, my child.' She ran her finger over her file, smiling sadly. 'I truly wish you had survived.' Breathing in to compose herself, she kept going through the files until finally she found Charlotte's. "Interesting."

Cassandra glanced up at her mother, curiously. Seeing a smile appear on her mother's face as she read.

'So, she was one of the children shipped from the Abbess. Age 17. O negative. 5'6…' she turned the file around, raising a brow. She had left a lengthy note for herself in the back. 'This one is truly unique. She can do any job and perform without fail, unlike these other worthless blood bags. If only someone would make a cloning machine. To have a never ending supply of Charlotte's. Half would be staff and the other half used as vintages. I will keep her around for as long as I can. I am not sure what to do with her at this point. Anya has taken her under her wing and teaching her the ropes. Perhaps when Anya's time comes to be removed, I may have Charlotte take her place… I do not know much more about her beside her being an orphan. I inquired the Abbess and she explained the child was dumped on the church doorstep as an infant. There was no history of her parents. She was a good little worker. Took care of the other children, but there was something off about her. According to the Abbess, Charlotte would stare outside for hours. Her eyes set straight ahead in search of something. A purpose? Answers to why she was abandoned? A coldness when she was pulled out of her trance. Hating that someone had torn her from her daydream. And when the day had come for her to be sent to the castle, she turned and looked at the Abbess, silently. Accusingly. As if she knew all along she could not be trusted. Intuitive.'

The note did not age well, but it all made perfect sense to Charlotte's words about getting revenge. All the other children she grew up with in that orphanage. She knew their fates and wanted to put an end to it. An end to Alcina…

"But she has nowhere to go now. She is a foreigner in this village. She does not know anyone, which means she is unaware of the dangers lurking out in the wilderness."

"Mother?" Cassandra said.

"It is nothing. Just our little rat who is under the illusion she has escaped us."

"Oh."

Alcina stroked her hair turning and looking to her other daughters. They remained seated on the floor in front of her desk, flipping through page after page, staring at pictures of crests; castles and other medieval forts.

"Mother," Daniela got up and stood next to her with a book.

"What did you discover?" Alcina looked down at the page, seeing Daniela had uncovered a picture of a dolphin. "You are getting closer." She smiled at her, not having the heart to tell her that was not exactly what she meant.

"This one, Mother?" Bela now rose to her feet and set the book down in front of her.

"Oh," Alcina said. "Yes, this is certainly something important. Good work, my dear."

The photo was of the twin dolphins and underneath the photograph was a small blurb. The twin crests belong to an old family name. One Alcina had heard of in her past life, but had paid no mind to. Mircea Cel Batran who had defeated a Grand Vizier, which allowed the Ottoman Empire to reign from 1397-1404.

"'Batran'?" she repeated.

Bela and Daniela stared at her as she pondered this, flipping to the next page to see a little more information.

"Batran's family tree appear to be the Veche Tomis family. They did not exactly belong to noble status, but they gained wealth from killing. Ahh, the family of Veche Tomis split up into smaller colonies all over Romania in order to protect the land from foreign invaders."

Daniela looked at Bela perplexed, while Bela just shook her head in just as much confusion.

Alcina bookmarked the page and sat back in her chair, watching Cassandra rise up from her chair to stretch and wander over to the window.

"What does it mean?"

"It means Mother Miranda will be very pleased with all our hard work."

From the window Cassandra had begun to bounce on the heels of her feet. Something of interest had clearly caught her eye. She making soft chittering noises as she zoomed from the first window and over to the second. This was grabbing the attention of Daniela and Bela.

"What is it you see, Cassandra?" Alcina said.

Cassandra looked at her uncertain how to answer, or rather unsure what it was she was even observing. It was then did the other two join her, she pointing near a cluster of trees. There did not appear to be anything out of the ordinary until the creature scurried out in the open. Cassandra jumped up and pointed excitedly.

"There! There. Fur is like fire."

"'Fur is like fire'?" Alcina mused, this now claiming her attention as she stood behind them and tittered. "That my darlings is called a fox, and yes Cassandra its fur does look like the color of fire."

Cassandra nodded her head and smiled, her countenance expressing: 'I told you so.'

"Another!" Daniela said eagerly.

"Where?" Bela said, standing on her tiptoes. "Oh! I see."

"They must know one another," Alcina said. "See how they run together now?"

"I cannot see them anymore," Daniela said.

"They will return again," Alcina said. "I am sure they are headed home." Thanks to her impressive height she could still see the animals running in the direction of the mountain. The wheels in her mind beginning to turn as she considered the possibility of Charlotte hiding out.

Perhaps that is where she has gone. There were trails that led through the mountain. Many shepherds would bring their sheep, or villagers simply going for a hike, but what lay on the opposite side of it? Was there another village nearby? Odd she never even considered that, which made her think yes. And if so, had Charlotte planned to take that route from the beginning. Already having a safe haven for the servants to go?

'So close and yet so far away…' she thought, looking down at the feel of Daniela wrapping her fingers around her hand. She released a heavy yawn, the activity from the morning finally catching up to her, and the other two for that mattered.

Knowing Rednic was probably still replacing the glass in the window, she led her brood out of the study and to her bedchamber. Inside they all filed onto the bed, snuggling deep into the blankets. Not even Cassandra complained about being bundled up with her siblings. She the first to fall right to sleep soon followed by Bela and Daniela.

"Sleep well, my loves," she kissed each one on the cheek and tucked them in. Elegant digits stroking through their hair as they drifted further and further into sleep.