Dishes out chocolate ice-cream to InChrist-Bilios. Can't believe the rest of you passed this up!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Raoul and Aleia were still talking, Captain Garse happened to walk by.

"Aleia! What are you doing here? I heard the king forbade you from coming here."

Aleia turned around slowly. "Well, he did, but I—"

Raoul cut her off. "It was my fault, Sir. I asked her to come because the assassin said that he would talk to her and I wasn't getting anywhere with him."

"And, Captain, when I talked to him, he called me Princess. He knew who I was!"

"What! But he's been locked up there since the day you found out!"

"I know; that's why you have to let me spy some more, so I can figure it out."

Garse was still caught up in what the assassin had said. "But how could he—did he say anything else."

Raoul answered. "No, Sir, he just said he'd known for a long time."

"That's—that's impossible!"

"Apparently not," Aleia replied. "But, Captain, you ignored my question. I want to do some spying again."

The captain turned to her, frowning. "Aleia, you were one of my best spies and I really wish you could, but I can't let you do that. You're a princess."

"Exactly! I'm a princess, so I order you to let me do it."

"The king has ordered me not to."

"But I—I'm—he wanted to talk to me, so it's only fair that I should get to find out who he is."

"I wish I could, Aleia, but if the king found out about it..."

Aleia sighed.

Then Garse got a funny look on his face. "If the king found out I knew about it, he could have me beheaded. The only way you could do it is if you, say went on missions with a few people, say Raoul and Josh, and they gave you all the information they got from me, without me knowing about. Of course, you would never do that I'm sure."

Aleia smiled. She got the message. "Oh, I see what you mean. We could only do it if you had no knowledge to tell the king. It's really too bad, it could have been so much fun to spy with Raoul and Josh. Now why don't you get back to your work, Captain?"

Garse smiled. "That I will."

Raoul had been watching the whole sequence closely. "Well, that went well."

Aleia nodded. "Let's go find Josh."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aleia was lounging in her apartments when a maid delivered a letter to her. She opened it. It was from Raoul, she'd know his handwriting anywhere. It was dark, like he'd pressed the pen down very hard, and the letters where very blockish. The note read—

The assassin disappeared last night. The guards said he was there one minute and gone the next. Apparently he simply vanished. Will look into more later.

-Raoul

Aleia frowned. He couldn't have simply vanished, it wasn't as if he was a specter or something. She got up and began to walk to the spy quarters to talk about it more with someone. On her way, she passed Duke Kevar's quarters. He was, unfortunately, still staying with them. Aleia hoped he would return soon. She nearly passed the door without a thought, when she heard voices.

"Listen, I can get you the crown, but when the time comes, you must be ready to do what I say without questioning it," a voice said.

Aleia's first thought was the assassin, but when she listened closer she realized the voice was decidedly feminine.

"Well, what are you going to want me to do?" That was the duke.

Then there was something which sounded like a snarl and, "I can't reveal my plan to you before it happens. You just have to trust me. It will only be something necessary to make you king."

Aleia listened a little longer, but she couldn't make out any voices anymore. The duke was plotting with someone, but who? And it was a woman, what would a woman do to make the duke king? Aleia was quite flustered with this new turn of events. She would have to tell the spies, then probably her father and keep a close eye on the duke herself. Who knew when he would try to seize the crown.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was that ok? Did a seem a little rushed, I wrote it rather fast... Reviews would be appreciated.